Ice Worm

<infobox>

 <title source="title1" style="font-weight:bold; text-align:center;">
   <default>Ice Worm</default>
 </title>
 <group layout="horizontal">
     
 </group>
 <image source="image1">

</image> <label>Category</label> <label>Type</label> <label>Diet</label> <label>Description</label> <label>Affiliation</label> <format></format> <label>Age</label> <label>Description when cooked</label> <label>Description when cured</label> <label>Inhabit</label> <label>Attitude</label> <label>Health</label> <label>Damage</label> <label>Adult Damage</label> <label>Juvenile Damage</label> <label>Drops</label> <label>Perks</label> <label>Biome</label> <label>Location</label> <label>Active During</label> <label>Size</label> <label>Length</label> <label>Respawn Time</label> <label>Bioreactor</label> <label>DNA</label> <label>Voice Actor</label>

<label>Debug ID</label> <format>

• {{#explode:icewormspawner||0}}
• {{#explode:icewormspawner||1}}
• {{#explode:icewormspawner||2}}
• {{#explode:icewormspawner||3}}

</format>

<label>Coordinates</label> <group layout="horizontal"> <header>Food & Water</header> <label>Food</label> <label>H₂O</label> <label>O₂</label> </group> <group layout="horizontal"> <header>Food</header> <label>Raw</label> <label>Cooked</label> <label>Cured</label> </group> <group layout="horizontal"> <header>H₂O</header> <label>Raw</label> <label>Cooked</label> <label>Cured</label> </group> <group layout="horizontal"> <header>O₂</header> <label>Raw</label> <label>Cooked</label> <label>Cured</label> </group> <group collapse="open" class="tab-eggs"> <header>Egg</header> <group layout="horizontal"> </group> <label>Category</label> <label>Description</label> <label>Biome</label> <label>Incubation</label> <label>Bioreactor</label>

<label>Debug ID</label> <format>

• {{#explode:{{{debugspawnegg}}}||0}}
• {{#explode:{{{debugspawnegg}}}||1}}
• {{#explode:{{{debugspawnegg}}}||2}}
• {{#explode:{{{debugspawnegg}}}||3}}

</format>

</group> </infobox> The Ice Worm is an aggressive leviathan class fauna species that tunnels beneath the surface of the ice. They are ambush predators, drawn towards the vibrations produced by movement and certain machinery on the ice's surface. Ice Worms are exclusively subterranean creatures and do not swim.

Appearance

The Ice Worm has a very long body, the top side of which is completely covered by a thick segmented exoskeleton. Beneath these plates are another set of triangular plates that stick out horizontally, each with a backwards facing spike. The underside of the creature is bare and unprotected, lacking any protective plating. The underside is grey in color and has two rows of parapodia used to grip the ice running parallel down the body.

The head is mainly comprised by a single huge plate which tapers into a long, thick horn sticking straight out from the head. This horn is super-heated and allows the Ice Worm to melt through ice in order to burrow. Below the horn, the creature's four mouth-parts can be seen. Each is long and curved with a solid black exterior and fleshy red interior. The inside of the upper and lower pair is lined with black spines. The tail ends with a pair of long and thin spines.

Behavior

The Ice Worm travels just below the surface of the ice, producing a distinct trail of pushed-up snow accompanied by a jet of steam. It is attracted to noise and vibration, and will surface to attack their source.

The Thumper appears to produce a sound frequency that deters Ice Worms, and can be used to safely traverse Ice Worm territory for as long as its battery lasts.

Once above ground, Ice Worms will roar loudly before attacking. If the player or Thumper is a reasonable distance from the Ice Worm, the Ice Worm will lunge at the target. After it has lunged at the player, it will either emerge back out of the ground to do another attack or it will poke at the player from underground with its horn. If it is closer to the target it will do one of many close-range attacks.

While tunnelling, it can dash at the player, and if it catches them, will spear and fling them into the air, before swallowing them whole.

When an Ice Worm enters hunt mode, they begin to rapidly attack the player, using dive attacks, pokes, spear attacks, and whip attacks.

If the player is currently riding a Snowfox, the player takes no damage and is removed from their vehicle.

If there is a Snow Stalker within their vicinity, an Ice Worm will eat it suggesting it as their primary known source of nutrition and sustenance.

It is impossible to kill an Ice Worm, as it does not have a hitbox. It is also impossible to scan a living Ice Worm, and as such, scanning the Ice Worm carcass in the Arctic Spires is the only way to obtain its databank entry.

Databank Entry

<tabber> Ice Worm= (No target detected) |-| Ice Worm Bones=

Ice Worm Bones

<poem>Scans of the ice worms bones show that they have a surprising degree of flexion in them. This likely allows the bones to compress inward when the ice worm is burrowing. A total rigidity in the bone structure might result in deformation of the skeletal structure over time. There is evidence of muscle insertions that would manipulate the compression or decompression of the ice worm’s long rib cage. These ice worm bones appear relatively intact; it seems that other large land predators in the region tend to leave the worm carcass alone after death.</poem>

Source: Scan bones in Ice Worm Boneyard

</tabber>

Design

The Ice Worm's design draws heavily on the real-life bobbit worm. Though far greater in size, the Ice Worm shares the hard parapodia running down the body and an ambush-reliant lifestyle.

The tail spines of the Ice Worm are similar to the distinctive cerci seen on the rears of earwigs.

Inspiration also may have been taken from the larvae of Platerodrilus species, otherwise known as trilobite beetles. The dorsal side of the Ice Worm's body shares many similarities in shape and color with the larva of these beetles.

The Ice Worm's head bears a striking resemblance to this image of a deep-sea tubeworm and was likely based on it.

The concept of a worm- or centipede-like arctic monster with red-hot spines may be taken from the Remorhaz of Dungeons & Dragons.

The concept of the Ice Worm's behavior as well as the primary means of circumventing said behavior (i.e., a Thumper) are heavily based upon that of the Sandworms and the titular Thumpers from the Dune novels.

Sounds

File	Type
File:Sfx creature iceworm attack fling 01.ogg	Fling attack
File:Sfx creature iceworm breach 01.ogg	Breach
File:Sfx creature iceworm closeshake 01.ogg	Close shake
File:Sfx creature iceworm death 01.ogg	Death
File:Sfx creature iceworm dive 01.ogg	Dive
File:Sfx creature iceworm emerge debris 01.ogg	Emerge debris
File:Sfx creature iceworm emerge voice 01.ogg	Emerge voice
File:Sfx creature iceworm flinch 01.ogg	Flinch
File:Sfx creature iceworm idle exhale 01.ogg	Idle exhale 1
File:Sfx creature iceworm idle exhale 02.ogg	Idle exhale 2
File:Sfx creature iceworm idle exhale 03.ogg	Idle exhale 3
File:Sfx creature iceworm idle inhale 01.ogg	Idle inhale 1
File:Sfx creature iceworm idle inhale 02.ogg	Idle inhale 2
File:Sfx creature iceworm idle inhale 03.ogg	Idle inhale 3
File:Sfx creature iceworm jumpattack long 01.ogg	Long jump attack
File:Sfx creature iceworm jumpattack short 01.ogg	Short jump attack
File:Sfx creature iceworm move ice loop 01.ogg	Move ice loop
File:Sfx creature iceworm move icebreak loop 01.ogg	Move ice-break loop
File:Sfx creature iceworm poke long 01.ogg	Long poke
File:Sfx creature iceworm poke short 01.ogg	Short poke
File:Sfx creature iceworm roar 01.ogg	Roar 1
File:Sfx creature iceworm roar 02.ogg	Roar 2
File:Sfx creature iceworm roar 03.ogg	Roar 3
File:Sfx creature iceworm runstart 01.ogg	Run start
File:Sfx creature iceworm spearattack cut 01.ogg	Cut spear attack
File:Sfx creature iceworm spearattack retract 01.ogg	Retract spear attack
File:Sfx creature iceworm spearattack stuck 01.ogg	Stuck spear attack
File:Sfx creature iceworm swipe 01.ogg	Swipe
File:Sfx creature iceworm tunnel 01.ogg	Tunnel
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo close 01.ogg	Close voice 1
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo close 02.ogg	Close voice 2
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo close 03.ogg	Close voice 3
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo disappear 01.ogg	Disappear voice 1
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo disappear 02.ogg	Disappear voice 2
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo disappear 03.ogg	Disappear voice 3
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo run 01.ogg	Run voice 1
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo run 02.ogg	Run voice 2
File:Sfx creature iceworm vo run 03.ogg	Run voice 3
File:Sfx creature iceworm whip 01.ogg	Whip

Gallery

<tabber> In-Game=

• 

  An Ice Worm above ground

• 

  Roaring

• 

  Attacking a thumper

• 

  Digging back into the ground

• 

  Tail straight in the air

• 

  Retreating into the ground

• 

  Side sweep attack

• 

  Jumping

• 

  Ice Worm lunging

• 

  Size comparison with the player

• 

  Close up on Ice Worms mouth with the player inside

• 

  Ice Worm Scanning

• 

  An Ice Worm in the Arctic Spires

• 

  A dead Ice Worm

|-| Concept Art=

• 

  Ice Worm final design head-shot - by Alex Ries

• 

  Ice Worm final design - by Alex Ries

• 

  Ice Worm final jaw variants - by Alex Ries

• 

  Ice Worm final head variants - by Alex Ries

• 

  Earlier design - by Alex Ries

• 

  Earlier still - by Alex Ries

• 

  Early Ice Worm -by Alex Ries

• 

  Ice Worm color variant concept art

|-| Models=

• 

  Model from Sketchfab

|-| Other=

• 

  Ice Worm in the cinematic trailer

• 

  The Ice Worm in Below Zero's promotional image, chasing after Robin

</tabber>

Trivia

• The Ice Worm is the only known non-extinct land-based leviathan on Planet 4546B.
• The Ice Worm shares its name with a real animal that lives in glacial ice.
• The Ice Worm is closely related to the Shadow Leviathan.
• The Ice Worm is one of the few Leviathans to be terrestrial in nature.
• Using the debug id icewormspawner spawns in an older version of the Ice Worm, with different behaviors. E.g. The Thumper will instead attract the Ice Worm, which is the opposite of the intended effect.
• The creature's existence and behaviour - namely hunting sources of vibration from Thumpers and other machinery - is a clear homage to the Sandworms of Arrakis from Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune. Also like its literary counterpart, the Ice Worm is nigh invulnerable to most weapons and forms of attack, and is the apex predator of its environment.

References