The list of fictional worms is categorized by media. The word "worm" includes earthworms, and mythological and fantastic creatures descending from the Old English word "wyrm", a poetic term for a legless serpent or dragon.
John Brunner's 1975 novel Shockwave Rider describes computer 'tapeworms' as capable of reproducing themselves as long as networked computers enable their survival.[5]
The Conqueror Worms is a 2006 novel by Brian Keene.
The 2016 children's novel Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Naughty Nightcrawlers from Neptune features a wise worm named Nimrod Nightcrawler, who serves as the main antagonist of the book. He hates living on Neptune due to the methane gas blocking out the sun on the surface of the planet, and after seeing other evil geniuses from other planets that have failed to take over Earth, he decides to follow in their footsteps and take over Earth himself.
"The Worm of the World's End" is an apocalyptic being first mentioned in The One Tree, Book 2 of the second trilogy of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever fantasy series written by Stephen R. Donaldson. Its slumbering body is said to underlie the land and ocean, and its thrashings will destroy the world when it awakes. By the end of the Second Chronicles one is left wondering if it really exists, or whether it is an allegory for the world's eventual fate. However the more recent books make it clear that the worm does exist, but that it is nowhere near as large as readers may have imagined. However, its hunger will nonetheless lead to global ruination.
Sandworms play a major role in the science fiction novel Dune and in its film and TV adaptations (Dune universe).[1]
Diary of a Worm (2003), written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Harry Bliss, is a journalistic account of a worm's daily life.[6]
Lowly Worm is a fictional character that makes frequent appearances in Richard Scarry's children's books.
César Aira's "The Literary Conference" (2010) features giant blue worms, the product of a science experiment gone awry, that destructively tumble down mountains toward the Venezuelan town below.
The Septimus Heap novel Flyte introduces creatures known as Landwyrms, worm-like creatures with deadly tails that secrete acid.
Walter the Worm, a worm which makes minor/cameo appearances in various of the Mr. Men books, appearing in the background of almost all of them. Not named as Walter until latter-day additions to the Mr. Men canon. He later received his own book in the series.
The Middengard Wyrm (A Court of Thorns and Roses) is a gigantic, blind worm monster that navigates by scent, and is described as being pinkish-brown and having an enormous mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth. It is killed by the main character of the series, Feyre, who evades its senses by covering herself in mud, and then lures it into a trap made of the bones of its previous victims.[7]
In the Star Wars universe, space slugs, also called exogorths or "giant asteroid worms",[14] are silicon-based gastropods, capable of surviving in a vacuum. First seen in The Empire Strikes Back.
Phish performed a version of the song "Swingtown" in Amsterdam, about giant worms in the city's sewers, known as "Wormtown".
"Inchworm", a song first recorded by Danny Kaye and since covered by several other artists, asks an inchworm to appreciate the beauty of marigolds rather than measuring their length.
In the 2005 film King Kong, a giant bloodworm-like predator called the carnictis lives in the rents and chasms of Skull Island. They grow to be 7–13 feet long, and they kill a character named Lumpy in the film.
In the Alien series, Alien Chestbursters are Xenomorphlarvae that incubate within a human host and rip out of the chest cavity when partially mature.
The giant flesh-eating worms from pre-Cambrian times in the TV series Primeval. These worms live on sulphur gases which come from the anomaly; oxygen is poison for them.
Doctor Worm, the titular character in the They Might Be Giants song, a worm that can play the drums. Not a real doctor. Featured on Nickelodeon's Kablam
In the Worms series of video games, Boggy B, Spadge, and Clagnut are named characters who appear in title songs and the like.
The Sweet Worm from Hamtaro (Japanese "Hamu Hamu Paradai~chu!" season), a giant worm who ate the sweets in Sweet Paradise, then went through metamorphosis and turned into Sweet Butterfly.
Winny the Worm, mascot of Whiteworms Studios and main character in a series of stop-motion short films.[17]
Jane Prentiss, a woman whose body hosts a large colony of worms, and is the main antagonist from season one of the horror anthology podcast The Magnus Archives.
Turner the Worm, a comic strip written by Paul Rose for the now-defunct UK Teletext service.[18]
Mr. Dinkles from the trolls series.
The Worminis, Pickle's pets from ToddWorld
Metal sandworm, more likely giant whirling tunneling tornadoes of metallic scrap, in the film Vexille.