Sandworm

Sandworm
First appearance	Wario World (2003)

The Sandworm (referred to as Big Scorper in the game's European website despite this being the name of an unrelated enemy) is a scythe-armed monster in Wario World. It is the boss of Greenhorn Ruins, and the second of the three bosses in Excitement Central (the others being Greenfist and DinoMighty).

The Sandworm is fought in a large sand pit that continually pulls Wario towards the center. Its main attack is spitting spiked balls at Wario; Wario can easily damage it with repeated attacks. The Sandworm cannot be stunned; when it loses one of its health skulls, it instead becomes temporarily invincible, and either slashes after Wario with its scythe-like arms, or burrows to the center of the arena and starts spitting many spiked balls in random directions. When this happens, the sand pit pulls Wario in much faster. If damaged enough, it will also strike back with more powerful moves, including slicing Wario with its arms. Defeating the Sandworm gives Wario access to DinoMighty.

The Sandworm also appears in Pecan Sands as a regular enemy, where its attacks are a bit faster, but it is fought and defeated in the same way. This time, it only takes four cycles to defeat instead of five, and during its invincibility phases, it will only attack with its scythes.

Gallery

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  The Sandworm sticks its head out of the sand.

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  The Sandworm reveals its sharp claws.

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  The Sandworm in Pecan Sands.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	アンツキラー Antsu Kirā	Ants Killer
Italian	Scorpione Scarlatto	Scarlet Scorpion

Trivia

• The Sandworm, along with Dual Dragon and Red-Brief J, are the only bosses that do not require throws to defeat, as they cannot be used at all; the Sandworm cannot be grabbed and carried, and there is nothing to pick up around its arena.
• The Sandworm and Greenfist are the only bosses whose names are never mentioned in-game. All of the other level bosses are mentioned by Spritelings in their respective levels, while the boss-only stages that the world bosses appear in are named after the bosses themselves.
• It appears to be based mostly on antlion larvae, which make sand pits like the one in which the Sandworm is fought and have very large jaws that they use to catch and eat arthropods that fall into said pits. Additionally, its Japanese name references antlion larvae, which largely prey on wandering ants. Its scythe arms seem to reference the praying mantis, an animal whose arms are shaped like scythes.