The Worm (aka Grey Rock Worm) is the final enemy type encountered in Penumbra: Overture and a minor enemy in Penumbra: Black Plague.
Description[]
The Grey Rock Worm is a massive grey colored worm, with a large gaping mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Like all worms, they do not have eyes. They have a thick, durable exoskeleton protecting them from any means of attack.
Behavior[]
The worms tunnel deep underground around both the Iron Mine and The Shelter. Their exact eating habitats are unknown; however, they will pursue Philip suggesting they may be carnivorous or territorial. Like most worms, they are blind. According to the research conducted by scientists, they have no sense of smell and track exclusively by vibration.
It is unknown if they are social, but there are many of them living around the Iron Mine and Shelter.
Gameplay[]
Penumbra: Overture[]
The first worm is encountered directly before Philip reaches the Iron Mine for the first time. The worm breaks out of the door, in pursuit of Philip. After Philip runs away, the worm will slither to the abyss below.
Later, another worm will pursue Philip after entering the Chemical Storage area of the Iron Mine. After chasing Philip, it will be stopped after Philip breaks a support beam, collapsing the mine.
Penumbra: Black Plague[]
A vision of a worm will be encountered in the dream sequence, shortly before meeting Clarence for the first time.
During the events of Black Plague, Philip will find a corpse he can remove the hand of, which allows him to bypass fingerprint scanners. After finding the corpse, it will fall through a floor grate and an encounter with a worm will occur. Philip will need to dodge the worm's attacks and flip the transformer switch when the worm is touching the wire, electrocuting it.
History[]
Cave art suggests that the worms have been native to the region for thousands of years. The species was not officially discovered until the 1970s, where they would be documented by Dr. Peter. This followed more research by scientists in the Iron Mine, who managed to recover some baby worms for experimentation. These experiments proved a failure though, as the worms eventually died within captivity. Some adults were also captured, but broke out before the events of Penumbra: Overture.
It is unclear if they have any relation to Tuurngait, but the worms have lived alongside it. It is possible they are infected, similar to the dogs. As the documented adults are much smaller than the worms encountered by Philip. Though it is possible the scientists mistook adolescent worms as adults.
Trivia[]
- It is possible the worms are infected by the Tuurngait.
- It is unclear if the second worm encountered in Penumbra: Black Plague is real or a trick by Clarence.
- In the first worm encounter in Penumbra: Overture. The player has a second way of surviving the encounter. If done swiftly, it is possible to move around the worm and access the area the worm initially came from. After this, if the player jumps on the other side of the pit in the following area. The worm will slide down this hole similar to the abyss in the hallway.
- The worms are the only deadly enemy encountered in both Penumbra: Overture and Penumbra: Black Plague.
- Other than Wilbur Frisk, the worms are the only enemy in the Penumbra series that can't be killed with weapons or physics objects.
- The worms bear similarities to the Graboids from the Tremors series. They are both large, mysterious, blind worms which track and kill humans using vibrations.
Gallery[]
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| Penumbra enemies | |
|---|---|
| Clarence • Dogs • Dr. Richard Eminiss • Wilbur Frisk • Slugs • Spiders • Tuurngait Infected • Worms | |