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1[[quoteright:600:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/worms_2.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:600:"Oi, nutta!"]]
3
4->''"Incoming!"''
5
6In the early 90s, bedroom coder and Platform/{{Amiga}} fan Andy Davidson decided to make an ''Artillery''-style TurnBasedStrategy game with a large arsenal of outlandish comedy weapons and - for reasons known only to himself - warring annelids. Showing his game idea -- ''Total Wormage'' -- at a games fair, he caught the eye and imagination of games company Creator/Team17, who offered to develop the game. The result was ''Worms''. With weapons ranging from the relatively sane Bazooka, Grenade and Shotgun to the bizarre [[BaaBomb Sheep]], Banana Bomb, and the devastating [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Holy Hand Grenade]].
7
8The warring annelids were originally set to be VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}, for the first several years of the game's existence. Only when he started trying to sell the game to games companies did he change it from "Lem''Artillery''" to [[CaptainErsatz something less copyright-infringing]]. Some versions of the game still mention "''[[LawyerFriendlyCameo ***Artillery]]''" in the credits or title screen.
9----
10!!''Worms'' games throughout the years have included:
11
12* First Generation
13** ''Worms'' (1995) (originally for Platform/{{Amiga}} computers. [[PortOverdosed Was ported to just about every contemporary game system of its era]]. [[labelnote:A list of ports]]Platform/{{Playstation}}, [[Platform/MegaDrive Sega Mega Drive/Genesis]], [[Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]], [[Platform/MicrosoftWindows DOS]], Platform/{{Macintosh}}, Platform/GameBoy, Platform/SegaSaturn, Platform/AtariJaguar[[/labelnote]]
14*** ''Worms: Reinforcements'' (PC only expansion pack. Bundled together with the original game as ''Worms: United'')
15** ''Worms: The Director's Cut'' (a limited edition sequel released only for AGA Platform/{{Amiga}} computers: can be thought of as "''Worms 2'' for the Amiga". Brought in a lot of weapons made popular by ''Worms 2'')
16* Second Generation (a smoother, more cartoony graphical overhaul)
17** ''Worms 2'' (PC exclusive)
18** ''Worms Armageddon'' (PC, with ports to Platform/{{Dreamcast}}, Platform/{{Playstation}}, Platform/Nintendo64 and Platform/GameBoyColor)
19** ''Worms World Party'' (Intended as a console exclusive to the Dreamcast and [=PS1=] by Titus Interactive but it did receive a PC port, brought in the Wormpot for randomizing gameplay. Also released for Platform/GameBoyAdvance and mobile devices)
20*** ''Worms World Party Remastered'' (UpdatedRerelease available on Steam)
21* 3D Generation ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 3D]])
22** ''Worms 3D'' (PC & 6th generation consoles)
23** ''Worms Forts: Under Siege'' (PC, [[Platform/Playstation2 PS2]] & Platform/{{Xbox}}. More focus on constructing buildings than worm-on-worm warfare)
24** ''Worms 4: Mayhem'' (PC, [=PS2=] & Xbox. Refined and addressed most of the criticisms that ''Worms 3D'' picked up; unfortunately the game was a financial flop, largely killing off the 3D ''Worms'' line)
25*** ''Worms: Ultimate Mayhem'' (an UpdatedRerelease for modern systems, coupling the content and an upgraded version of ''Worms 4'' game engine with most of the content of ''Worms 3D'')
26* Third Generation (back to 2D, but with vector graphics for the Worms)
27** ''Worms Open Warfare'' (handhelds)
28*** ''Worms'' (2007) (Platform/XboxLiveArcade and PSN port of ''Open Warfare'')
29** ''Worms Open Warfare 2'' (handhelds)
30** ''Worms: A Space Oddity'' (Platform/{{Wii}})
31** ''Worms 2: Armageddon'', a sequel to the 2007 game (which is not directly related to the similarly-titled Second Generation game ''Worms: Armageddon'') for XBLA (and eventually PSN)
32*** ''Worms: Reloaded'' (PC port of ''Worms 2: Armageddon'')
33** ''Worms: Battle Islands'' (Wii & PSP)
34** ''Worms'' (Facebook)
35* Fourth Generation (2.5D graphics and new gameplay features)
36** ''Worms Revolution'' (Computers, [[Platform/Playstation3 PS3]], Platform/Xbox360 & Platform/PlaystationVita)
37*** ''Worms Revolution [[UpdatedRerelease Extreme]]''
38** ''Worms 3'' (mobile)
39** ''Worms Clan Wars'' (computers-only)
40*** ''Worms Battlegrounds'' (console port of ''Clan Wars'')
41* Fifth Generation (full return to 2D)
42** ''Worms 4'' (mobile)
43** ''Worms WMD'' (Platform/XboxOne, Platform/Playstation4, [[Platform/MicrosoftWindows Windows 10]] and Platform/NintendoSwitch)
44*** ''Worms WMD Mobilize'' (mobile)
45* Spin-offs
46** ''Addiction Pinball''/''Worms Pinball''
47** ''Worms Blast'' (puzzle game with similarities to ''Puzzle Bobble'')
48** ''Worms Crazy Golf'' (golf from an Artillery game perspective, with Worms weaponry)
49** ''Flockers'' (while not an official ''Worms'' title, it is developed by ''[=Team17=]'', and [[ADayInTheLimelight mainly stars the sheep]] from the franchise itself as they attempt to escape the Worms' weapon factory; where the worms themselves serve as the [[AdaptationalVillainy antagonists]]. Notable for being the only game to feature [[BloodierAndGorier bloodshed]])
50** ''Worms Rumble'' (First real-time combat game in the series)
51
52The most popular game is probably ''Worms Armageddon'', which is still being patched and modded to this day to keep compatibility with modern machines despite its age, and is even available on the Platform/{{Steam}} service.
53
54See also ''Music/{{Wormsong}}'' for the tropes about {{Theme Tune}}s from the series.
55----
56
57!!'''''Worms'' provides examples of:'''
58
59* AbnormalAmmo: Sheep and Pigeons can be shot at opposing Worms, and you can call in airstrikes for more sheep, carpets, explosive mail, and who knows what else.
60* AccidentalAimingSkills: The AI tends to make some of the most spectacularly improbable shots purely by accident, as the AIRoulette decides that they'll pick this turn to miss their intended target. Human players frequently do these too.
61* AllThereInTheManual: ''Worms World Party'' included a handy little guide named the Wormopedia that gave rundowns and extra tips on all the weapons in the game, the passive effects gained from utility crates and even some extra trivia like the origin of the Concrete Donkey, Light Side Vs. Dark Side, and fort building with Girder Starter Packs.
62* AnvilOnHead: In ''Blast'', both this and various other heavy items will be dropped on a player's head if they shoot a bazooka off the screen (as dropping it into the water on their side causes it to rise). It is possible to fire a shot and quickly move out of the way which is useful for getting rid of a color you don't want/need and the AI will do the same. Said weighted item can also bounce off of your head and into the opponent's field to hit them.
63* AprilFoolsDay: Several hoaxes and jokes were laid out in the early days by [=Team17=] to fool players, ranging from a ''Worms'' game on the Platform/Commodore64 and Platform/ZXSpectrum, A UFO Weapon in ''Worms 2'', an expansion for ''Worms 2'' that consists of baby worms dressed up for bedtime called ''Night Fight'', etc.
64* ArtilleryGame: A comedic take on the genre, with ballistic-toting cartoon worms in place of tanks.
65* AwesomeButImpractical:
66** The Armageddon weapon's meteors take out almost the whole map. It's down to luck as to whether any of your Worms will survive. It helps if you burrow one or more of your worms deep into the ground first.
67** ''Worms 2'' allowed players to edit weapon settings to crank up or down the damage weapons do and how many times certain weapons could fire per turn. Setting weapons to their maximum stats results in them being so destructive that they can take out large sections of the map in one go, often [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard damaging its user in the process]]. The minigun, in particular, can either wipe the entire map in one go, or cause your worm to take damage and fall into the hole it's just made after one shot.
68* ArtificialStupidity: It's easy to make an [=AI=] that can hit the target every time. It's ''hard'' to make one that can convincingly ''miss''.
69** The [=AI=] in second generation games does insane efforts to never hurt a teammate, even if choosing to hurt them would allow them to kill the only enemy worm left that has only 1 health point. Given the ImprobableAimingSkills with the Bazooka of higher [=AI=] levels, and the final Deathmatch level in ''Worms 2'' (Two worms of yours vs 15 Level 5 ones), this ''needs'' [[AIBreaker to be exploited to win]] (Though sometimes they forget about it and they Fire Punch you and any unlucky teammate). With enough practice, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2r7P_8cpr0 no amount of enemy worms will be enough to beat you]]. They also never take grenade bounce into account - if it does not blow up on your worm when it hits the ground, they will not do that shot. Similarly, when setting up dynamite, they merely walk away instead of jumping away - as a result, they always get caught in the blast.
70** The [=AI=] in the mobile game ''Worms 3'' does incredibly stupid things like setting up dynamite next to an enemy worm... and stay still, no further from the dynamite than its target. More often than not, they kill themselves and the opposing worm does not die.
71** The [=AI=] will also occasionally make some ''very'' strange choices in the usage of their weapons (e.g. Bazooka tunneling instead of hitting the obvious target nearby, or using a bazooka to shoot someone right next to them). In some installments, they cannot use the variety of weapons. In some games they are all too happy to tunnel with ''air strikes'', even if they have limited ammo for them.
72** Sometimes they'll ''skip a turn for no apparent reason,'' even if their enemy is literally ''in front of them.''
73** The Stupid [=AI=] in ''Reloaded'' deliberately invokes this trope. The improved smarter AIs will sometimes do stupid things as well like getting caught in their own explosions, or maybe they're making a [[SuicideAttack sacrifice]] for some [[ArtificialBrilliance higher strategic value]]. It's hard to tell.
74** As of ''Revolution'', the AI will often fail to account for the game's newest features - [[WreakingHavok physics objects]] and water physics. The AI will sometimes destroy physics objects next to them during their turns, even if it results in water bursting out from a water bottle and washing them into the sea. And the AI will sometimes leave the water if they're submerged... Only to ''go back in'' before their turn ends. And they don't account for indestructible terrain, either.[[note]]This has resulted in, on occasion, the enemy AI switching to a submerged worm and then ''having him try to shotgun tunnel through indestructible terrain'' to try and get to an enemy ''half the map away''. This specific example can be found in the "Brawn-Mower" mission, and this is ''after'' said submerged worm proceeds to shotgun the water vial that got him submerged in the first place. He'll die ''long'' before your worms even reach him, with absolutely no attempt to get out of the water. It might not happen every time, but it's ''hilarious'' when it does happen.[[/note]]
75** The AI in the DS version of ''Worms: Open Warfare'' probably takes the cake for doing the stupidest things in a Worms game, even on the highest difficulty. Some problems include attempting to fire Bazookas through obstacles and damaging itself; walking off cliffs and losing turns; and whiffing Fire Punches.
76* BaaBomb: Sheep exploding. Flying sheep with capes exploding. Flying, swimming sheep with capes and snorkels exploding. Sheep that have been launched from cannons exploding. Sheep spawning from destroyed weapon crates, then exploding. Cloned sheep exploding in herds. Sheep dropping from a plane and exploding. Sheep ''[[IncendiaryExponent that have been set on fire]]'' dropping from a plane and exploding while La Marseillaise blares in the background. And, in ''Director's Cut'', sheep ''using Ninja Ropes'' and exploding.
77* BabyPlanet:
78** ''Worms World Party'' features one in the background of its title screen.
79** Also on the title screen of ''Worms 3D''. It even spins!
80** The single player mission "In Space, No-One Can Hear You Clean" from ''Worms 3D'' is set on and around one.
81** A case of DevelopersForesight in ''Worms 4: Mayhem''. It is possible to launch your worm into space using a strong explosive weapon (ideally a Holy Hand Grenade) and a combination of Wormpot settings: Super Explosives, Double Damage and Low Gravity. Barrels lying around are a bonus. Once you fly high enough, the sky around you changes and you can spot the round [[SingleBiomePlanet planet covered in water]] beneath you. The planet is quite smaller than what would be realistic and you can't escape its gravity even if you get far enough to barely see it.
82* BagOfHolding: Some games include a Plunder setting, that let worms keep any kind of weapon they had in the last round, while replenishing all their starting weapons.
83* BagOfSharing:
84** All worms on the same team have access to the same pool of weapons and items.
85** Zig Zagged with ''World Party'''s wormpot setting "specialist worm" that gives each worm on the team specific weapons, but once that worm died, the respective arsenal is transferred to another worm.
86* BagOfSpilling: In a multi-round versus match, the Regular arsenal setting gives each player a fresh arsenal of weapons and items each round, ignoring what they had remaining in the previous round. Averted with the other settings; the Plunder setting allows teams to keep what they had in the previous round as well as giving them a new arsenal each round, and the Survival setting gives each team only one arsenal at the very beginning that carries over but is never replenished.
87* BatterUp: The baseball bat deals modest damage but a large amount of force, making it incredibly useful for knocking other worms into the water. The home run jingle will play if you knock them off the edge of the screen.
88* BiggerStick: Parodied in one of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFfxld5sk0U intro videos]] for ''Worms 2'', where the two worms pull out bigger and bigger arsenals to threaten each other until one literally drops the hammer on the other.
89* BloodlessCarnage: Though some of the games, like ''Armageddon'', gives the option to turn blood on. It's basically the equivalent of a minor graze. ''Flockers'' completely averts this by being BloodierAndGorier.
90* BondOneLiner: When a Worm is killed, a comment like "[[HelloInsertNameHere Playername]] is 6 feet under" or (in the case of [[SuperDrowningSkills falling into the water]]) "Playername sank like the Titanic" is displayed at the top of the screen.
91* BoringButPractical: A few weapons, but exemplified by the Shotgun which has great range, good damage output, and is usually readily available.
92* TheBusCameBack: Some of the craftable weapons in ''Worms W.M.D.'' are weapons that appeared in previous games in the series, but were removed at some point:
93** The Super Banana Bomb from the second generation games is one of the Banana Bomb variations.
94** The Mine Strike from the second generation games is one of the Air Strike variations.
95** The Ming Vase from the second generation games is one of the Dynamite variations.
96** The Sheep-on-a-rope, a Sheep variation, once appeared in ''Worms [=DC=]''.
97* CharacterCustomization: ''Worms 2'' and ''Armageddon'' allowed the player to create their own sound schemes using .wav files. A massive amount of fan made schemes abound, ranging from ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'' one liners to ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNightPart2'' quotes.
98* CherryTapping: The Prod is a slight that pushes a worm a very short distance. ''Worms Reloaded'' awards the player an achievement for winning a game this way.
99* CirclingBirdies: In 3D installments. The star variation in ''3D'', and the bird variant in ''Forts: Under Siege''.
100* CoolButInefficient: Several of the weapons, as well as some methods of getting around.
101* CombatPragmatist: One of the easiest way to kill an enemy worm is to make it fall in the water - instant death assured.
102* ConservationOfNinjutsu: Because of how turns work, when a team of worms starts to dwindle down, they "move faster" than they did before. The game always ensures that players alternate turns, and because there's fewer worms on the team to cycle through, they get to act more frequently. At the extreme end of 1 vs 8, the 1 worm is basically moving ''eight times'' as fast as all the other worms. This helps narrow the advantage the 8 might have in such a situation, making spectacular (and usually hilarious) comebacks more likely.
103* CriticalExistenceFailure: In many of the games, the Worms ''blow themselves up with a [[PlungerDetonator demolition plunger]]'' when they run out of HitPoints. This "corpse explosion" will occasionally damage or even kill other worms that happen to be in the area of effect. It can turn the tide in close matches.
104* CutscenePowerToTheMax: The amusing opening animations tend to feature stuff that couldn't happen in game.
105* DarkerAndEdgier:
106** ''Worms Armageddon'' is much darker in its premise than any of its earlier and later incarnations. The notable detail is an ambient style soundtrack ranged from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0NCRNl6NOw dark and atmospheric]] tracks to an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPJe0NLvyA&list=PL088AC497B7078300 arguably nightmarish]] ones.
107** The first-generation ''Worms'' games have a grittier and (only slightly, considering this is ''Worms'' we're talking about) more realistic atmosphere and gameplay.
108** ''Flockers'' proves to be the darkest game developed, even topping the first-generation ''Worms'' tonewise. To clarify: despite using the third-generation designs for the worms, the landscapes and the environment are downright dark, gritty, and nightmarish. It puts into perspective as to how the sheeps (the titular ''Flockers'') are treated by the worms themselves (read: as disposable weapons) and the aim is to lead them to freedom while avoiding death traps (and later the worms). It is also Bloodier and Gorier, a jarring departure to the general norm of Bloodless Carnage style of cartoon violence.
109* DeathFromAbove:
110** Air Strikes, Napalm Strikes, Mail Strikes, Flaming Sheep Strikes, Carpet Bombs, Concrete Donkeys. There are plenty.
111** ''WMD'' adds in attack helicopters armed with a chin-mounted gatling gun to spray the surrounding area with bullets.
112* DeathIsCheap: Fallen worms are back for the next battle as if nothing had happened. Even in campaign mode, the whole team is back for any following cutscene and the next battle in the story, even if only one worm survived.
113* DelayedReaction: In ''Worms W.M.D.'', worms no longer scream when an explosive is about to blow near them. They do so ''after'' it blows up.
114* DifficultButAwesome:
115** A number of weapons, but perhaps the poster child for this is the Super Sheep, which while finicky, can fly to any place on the map and explodes upon contact.
116** The AI's ImprobableAimingSkills showcase how the simple bazooka and grenade can be ridiculously lethal in the hands of a master.
117* DisasterDominoes:
118** Some of the most spectacular and memorable shots set off chain reactions of exploding barrels, crates, mines, etc., killing worms which then explode, setting off more barrels...
119** The "Bow 'n' Arrow" scheme is this personified. Played on maps that resemble giant pachinko boards with mines on all the dots not occupied by worms, players shoot at the mines with bows and arrows to send them flying. Maybe the mine will take out the worm you want. Maybe it'll miss everything. But most likely the chain reaction will take out half of the worms on the map, including several from your own team.
120* DiscoDan: Can be chosen for an outfit and voice in ''Worms 4 Mayhem''.
121* DiscOneNuke:
122** Players will often use the Ninja Rope item to grab crates and boxes with powerful weapons early in the game, though the AI can do this as well.
123** The thing about getting a crate shower from a utility crate in the second generation games is that they have an equal chance to spawn any weapon in the game even if they were set to never spawn in that particular scheme. Case in point: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9M5ZbVs9Vo this game]] that was meant to rely heavily on melee weapons winds up a lot shorter than intended due to one player getting an ''Armageddon'' on the very first turn from a crate shower.[[note]]He kills ''twelve'' of the twenty-four worms, including [[HoistByHisOwnPetard three of his own, indirectly causing him to be the first eliminated]].[[/note]]
124* EdibleAmmunition: The Banana Bomb, also known as the "soft fruit of doom". Not that any worms are likely to survive eating it, of course.
125* EnoughToGoAround: Many of the superweapons are like this, where uses are 'in' crates that anyone can grab.
126* EvilAllAlong: [[spoiler:Professor Worminkle from ''Worms 4: Mayhem'' turns out to be this. He only used your team to prevent himself from getting fired and almost leaves you stranded in the Stone Age for all eternity.]]
127* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin:
128** Some weapons are this combined with {{pun}}s: Mike's Carpet Bomb is an airstrike... ''using rolls of carpet'' and the Mail Strike is an airstrike... using ''letters''.
129** The "reckless" AI in Reloaded will make careless and often suicidal decisions if it means doing damage.
130** There's also the Sheep Launcher in ''Armageddon''.
131* ExplodingBarrels: Full of napalm in the second generation games, full of poison in ''Worms 4: Mayhem'', just generically explosive in other games.
132* ExploitedImmunity: Some games have Armageddon; an indiscriminate meteor storm that targets the whole map. It can be used to invoke this trope if you've prepared a lot of girders and/or dug your team deeply into the ground.
133* FacePalm: In ''Reloaded'', worms will smack themselves in the face when they hurt themselves.
134* {{Fartillery}}:
135** The [[SmellySkunk Skunk]] from ''Worms Armageddon'' onward releases poison this way.
136** The Old Woman farts in a few games as she walks. It's only cosmetic in some games, but actually poisons worms in others.
137** One of the weapon variants you can craft in ''Worms WMD'' is the Super Flatulence Sheep. It's essentially a Super Sheep that constantly farts a trail of poison gas as it flies, and just one can easily sicken most of the worms on a map.
138* FireAndBrimstoneHell: A terrain type in the original game.
139* FixedDamageAttack: Some weapons do a fixed amount of damage, such as the Shotgun always dealing 25 a shot, and Fire Punch always doing 30. Since it's unreasonably difficult to aim a bazooka or grenade well enough to deal their theoretical maximum damage, this is quite helpful.
140* FloatingLimbs:
141** Worms' hands ever since the third generation and onward. Furthermore, they disappear when not in use. ''Worms 3D'' in particular played with this in the cut-scenes where worms would be knocked away by something but their limbs would stay, moving around as if still attached.
142** If one looks closely at the Homing Pigeon's design in the 3D games, its feet aren't attached to its body.
143* FloatingPlatforms: Terrain continues to hang in the air after you blow up the land supporting it. It just wouldn't be the same without it. It also leads to some of the more amusing moments where chunks of terrain can be reduced to tiny little dots that still register collisions with worms, ropes and weapons. Cue players blowing themselves up by firing a bazooka at a dot of terrain in front of them that they didn't see.
144* ForcedTutorial:
145** ''Worms Armageddon'' forces you(r team) to play the basic training disciplines before you can start the campaign with that team.
146** In ''Worms Revolution'', not only do you go through a short tutorial before getting to the main menu, but there are ''eight'' tutorial levels before starting the real campaign.
147* ForgottenThemeTuneLyrics: Most versions of the game have the Wormsong refrain without the lyrics.
148* GameMod: ''Worms Armageddon'' in particular is still being maintained by fans of the game employed by [=Team17=], who have added many, many things to keep it up-to-date and relevant with modern computers.
149* GatlingGood: The Minigun, a super weapon in the original but more common in the second-generation games. In ''Worms 2'', cranking all of its stats to the maximum makes it the most overpowered weapon in the entire game, making it capable of wiping out literally the entire map in one turn.
150* GodIsGood: God Himself is the announcer in ''Worms Forts: Under Siege'', is in charge of the tutorials, and will happily help His followers below if they can find the ammo to invoke His miracles.
151* HaveANiceDeath: "_____ is an ex-worm" is a classic example, as is [[GameOver "_____'s team is no more..."]] Later games add more death messages, such as "_____ is six feet under."
152* HeroicComedicSociopath: VERY prevalent in every game. The Worms seem to be not only desensitized to death, but occasionally laugh whenever someone dies.
153* HilariousOuttakes: ''Worms 4: Mayhem'' featured Creator/{{Pixar}} style outtakes with the animated characters. ''Worms Ultimate Mayhem'' gave them voice acting like everything else and also featured genuine flubs from Guy Harris.
154* HolyHandGrenade: Straight from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', and hits hard as hell with its huge blast radius.
155* HomeRunHitter: The Baseball Bat, even though many of the more powerful weapons can easily send worms flying off the map as well. In some of the 2D games, batting enemy worms into the water will prompt the 'Charge!' theme to play.
156* HomingProjectile: The Homing Missile (obviously), the Homing Pigeon, and the Silver Bullet, in increasing order of reliability. There was also the Homing Strike only found in ''Worms 2'' which unleashed a whole swarm of Homing Missiles.
157* IdleAnimation: Several to choose from.
158* ImprobableAimingSkills:
159** AI driven worms throwing Grenades down a shaft so that it bounces off of an object, rolls up a crater and gets lodged inbetween your worm and a wall half a second before exploding is not uncommon. The improved AI in ''Worms Reloaded'' plus the fact that grenades stop dead when they roll into a worm makes this more common.
160** The "Cocky" AI in ''Worms Reloaded'' does this [[InvokedTrope on purpose]]. It chooses to do the most difficult (but still viable) shots possible in order to show off.
161* InAWorld: {{Invoked|Trope}} by the "Movie Trailers" voice option in ''Reloaded''. [[FriendlyFireIndex "In a world where worms can't trust one another..."]]
162* InstantGravestone: The games have dead worms blowing themselves up with a dynamite plunger and instantly being replaced with a gravestone.
163* LargeHam: The Thespian voice set, which is basically worms trained in classical acting. Has gems such as "FEEL THE POINT OF MY RAPIER, YOU SCOUNDREL!" for damaging an enemy worm, "'ZOUNDS! I AM UNDONE!" after killing an enemy and the randomly said "A DONKEY, A DONKEY, MY KINGDOM FOR A DONKEY!" , a Theatre/RichardIII quote rendered in-context.
164* LastDitchMove: Worms blow up when they die, damaging others near them.
165* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Professor Worminkle’s final fate is being left in the Stone Age where he intended to leave his students. He tries to keep his cool, but then [[VillainousBreakdown loses it]] and gives out a BigNo as the [[IrisOut cutscene ends.]]]]
166* LethalJokeItem: The silliest weapons also tend to be the most deadly ones.
167* LiesToChildren: The origin of the Concrete Donkey. Andy Dennis as a child was led to believe by his parents that the concrete donkey in their garden was a real donkey encased in concrete and held at their leisure.
168* LighterAndSofter: ''Worms 2'' and onward, save for ''Worms: Armageddon'', and especially, ''Flockers''.
169* LockAndLoadMontage: The intro of the first game and one of its trailers displayed a Worm spending a good thirty seconds grabbing weapons from the wall and loading up, before [[AssKickingPose turning to menace the camera]]...[[spoiler: [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome only to tremble then collapse under the weight of all the weaponry]]]].
170* LukeIAmYourFather: A dying Tin Can Wally attempts to pull one of these on the lead Worm in ''Worms 4: Mayhem'', but [[KilledMidSentence dies before he can complete his sentence]].
171* KamehameHadoken: The Dragon Ball weapon[[note]][[NonindicativeName Despite its name]], it's not a reference to ''Manga/DragonBall'', but to ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', as in many sound banks, Worms say "Hadoken" when using it[[/note]], introduced in ''Worms 2'', involves the user throwing an energy ball at the target, knocking them a decent distance away.
172* MadeOfExplodium: '''''EVERYTHING!''''' Nearly all weapon attacks result in explosions that damage the terrain and blow away nearby worms. Even animals blow up.
173* MagikarpPower: Everything you consider useless as a weapon - because in Worms, there is actually no such thing as a useless weapon.
174* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: At least in ''Armageddon'', worms have two different animations that play some random time after receiving damage - one being waving their fist angrily, and the other being an annoyed side glance. The first animation plays when the worms receives enough damage, while the second plays when the worms receives very little damage or just under the arbitrary limit. Since each shotgun shot deals maximally 25 points of damage, and the minimum for the first animation seems to be either 26 or 30, worms usually react to being shot with a shotgun with an annoyed side glance. It gets even more ridiculous if you shoot them twice, resulting in them losing 50 points of damage - the first animation will play if you shoot them fast enough not to let them play the second animation, but otherwise, they'll just make the second animation after each shot. Considering that worms usually have 100 points of health, it comes out as "Oh, I just lost half of my health. Annoying."
175* MakingASplash: ''Revolution'' has a few weapons that create "dynamic water," which acts much differently than the water at the bottom of each map. Dynamic water can also be randomly generated in a map.
176* MiniMecha: The mech, a bipedal war machine that can fly for a short time, and their primary means of attacking is to slam its fists (which can be charged to inflict the most damage and leave a large hole on the ground on impact).
177* MissionPackSequel: ''Worms World Party''. In all fairness it added a few new modes and restored a number of ''Worms 2'' features that had been left out from ''Worms Armageddon'', but a lot of buyers felt cheated afterwards.
178* MyBrainIsBig: Scientist worms in Fourth Generation titles have enlarged craniums.
179* MythologyGag: Some of the craftable weapons in ''Worms W.M.D.'' resemble weapons that appeared in earlier games in the series:
180** The Demon Strike works similarly to the Napalm Strike from the second generation games, only that the missiles blow up when they make contact with the floor, instead of mid-air.
181** The Training Shotgun is a combination of the regular Shotgun with the Laser Sight tool from the second generation games.
182* MultiplayerOnlyItem:
183** Both ''Worms Armageddon'' and ''Worms World Party'' feature Invisibility, an utility that renders the entire team invisible to other players, which lasts until someone from the team fires a weapon. It appears only in online battles, which by default are restricted to human players.
184** In ''Worms Blast'', there are a few weapons that are useless against AI-controlled opponents. A good example is the tentacle monster, which, if it catches a player, requires you to quickly mash a button in order to not get killed - AI enemies ALWAYS come out of it unharmed, meaning that it only causes them to be immobilized for like 5 seconds. The utility that [[InterfaceScrew reverses the controls]] doesn't seem to have any effect either.
185* {{Nerf}}:
186** In most games after ''Worms 2'', the Bazooka and Grenade had their base damage reduced from 50 (2-hit kill on perfect hits) to 45 (3-hit kills).
187** In ''Worms 2'', the player can invoke this trope with the custom weapon schemes by cranking all the damage settings to the absolute minimum.
188* NerfArm: As a rule of thumb, the more unlikely a weapon sounds, the more powerful it will be.
189* NonActionGuy: ''3D'' has civilians that only appear in certain campaigns. They cannot fight at all, and are easily recognizable by a top hat they are wearing.
190* NonDamagingStatusInflictionAttack: ''Armageddon'' has the "Shove!" attack, which does no damage but moves the enemy 10 feet away. Ideally, off a ledge or into a booby trap.
191* NonSequitur: The 'Cricket' soundbank adds completely unrelated comments to the end of its cricket phrases, such as commenting on a lovely flock of birds or informing the player the worm likes wine before blowing themselves up. This is a reference to real life Cricket commentators who, as a result of how much standing around and waiting for the weather to clear can occur in a typical test match, often go off on fairly long tangents about nothing in particular.
192* NoPlotNoProblem: Worms are trying to kill each other with nasty weapons. Why? Who knows? More to the point, who cares? Later games have a ''Story Mode'' that still doesn't really explain why the worms goes out into war to solve their problems. The closest there is to an overarching story is in ''Music/{{Wormsong}}s''.
193* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Worms will take damage if they strike the landscape at a fast enough speed, and if this happens to the active worm, the turn will end... except with some transport tools.
194* OhCrap: Worms will respond to timed explosives that are a second from going off. In ''Reloaded'', they actually scream whenever they see it coming.
195* PatheticDroopingWeapon: A ''Worms 2'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5hxhgJAlEw cutscene]] includes a Worm pointing a gun at an enemy Worm wielding a sword, only for the latter to pull out a shotgun that leads to the former Worm's gun to droop in response.
196* PercentDamageAttack: The Battle Axe cuts the target's HP in half.
197* PerfectPlayAI: CPU opponents on the highest settings are able to perfectly calculate bazooka shots to compensate for the wind, and can fire off grenades and related weapons such that they explode right as they hit the target worm.
198* PictorialLetterSubstitution: Most games' logos change the "o" of "Worms" to a grenade. It's occasionally something different such as a nuclear symbol, a planet, a water balloon, a spiked metal ball or a cross mark. ''Worms W.M.D'' is the only video game in the series where every letter is normal, and ''Worms: The Board Game'' uses that game's logo.
199* PinballSpinoff: ''Worms Pinball'' for the [=PS1=] and PC.
200* PowerUp: Many, such as Double Damage, extra superweapons and health.
201* PressXToDie:
202** Most of the games have an item called the Surrender. When used, the player's team will be removed from the match, although its members remain on the landscape waving white flags and can be knocked around by the remaining teams.
203%%** KAMIKAZE!
204** Heck, all weapons can be used to to kill yourself (or your teammates), and it regularly turns out that having one or two worms sacrificing themselves for the greater good is a good idea. Or you just want to show your opponent that you can use your team as a suicide squad and still kick his ass.
205* PricelessMingVase: Like everything else, the vase explodes. More specifically, it is a dynamite-like weapon which yields a very large explosion after 5 seconds and sends shrapnel everywhere. Then the shrapnel explodes too.
206* ProductPlacement: A can of ''Creator/RedBull'' is a rare utility item in ''Worms 3D''. It serves both as a SuperSerum and HealingPotion.
207* {{Pun}}: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_United_Kingdom_postal_workers_strike Mail strikes]], literal carpet bombs, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Miners%27_Strike mine strikes]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep) cloned sheep]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_bullet_theory magic bullet]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow_disease#The_BSE_epidemic_in_British_cattle mad cows]]... and probably a lot more.
208* RandomDrop: All sorts of weapons, items and even health pickups can be randomly dropped in crates scattered around the map.
209* RiseToTheChallenge:
210** One of the most common effects during Sudden Death. The water will rise after each turn, slowly taking the map down and eliminating worms that weren't able to save themselves.
211** In ''Blast'', shooting a bazooka into the water on your field causes the water to rise, potentially bringing you closer to hitting your head on blocks and being sunk. Collecting a star lowers the water level and a special weapon lets you equalize the water level between both fields.
212* RocksFallEveryoneDies: How the Armageddon works, and its typical results.
213* ScratchDamage: The Battle Axe weapon normally halves the HP of the target, rounded up. This means that the only way of dealing a killing blow with it is to hit a worm who has 1 HP.
214* ShortRangeShotgun: Inverted in most the Worms games, with the shotgun being your primary ''sniping'' weapon. Played straight in Worms Rumble, in that it fires a spray of shots that is more likely to kill quickly if you're up in your target's face.
215* ShoutOut:
216** The most notable examples being the Fire Punch and Dragonball weapons, homages to ''Franchise/StreetFighter''[='=]s {{Shoryuken}} (Dragon Punch) and Hadouken {{Fireball|s}}, and the Holy Hand Grenade's ShoutOut to ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. Some of the default voice packs actually have worms say "Shoryuken!" or "Hadouken!" when using the former two.
217** The beta demo of the game made it even more blatant as it just called them 'Dragon Punch' and 'Fireball' before they were swapped around for the actual release.
218** The PricelessMingVase references an [[BrokenTreasure ancient comedy trope]], French and Indian Nuclear Tests, Mad Cows, and most of the Strike weapons (particularly the French Sheep Strike, with its burning lorry...) also shout out to other events, things and tropes.
219** The two main playstyles of "Lightsiding" and "Darksiding" reference, of course, ''Franchise/StarWars''. (The styles seem inverted: in ''Star Wars'', Light Side fighting is mainly defensive while in ''Worms'', Lightsiding is offensive; with the Dark Side seeming vice versa. However, what the two Dark Sides have in common is that they engage in tactics that can be seen as sneaky/cowardly. So in Worms, Light vs Dark is more of a case of [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen overt]] versus {{co|mbatPragmatist}}vert.)
220** There are {{Shout Out}}s just about everywhere in the Worms series, right down to the ''voice sets'': "Formula 1" is the Worms doing the best impersonation their squeaky voices can handle of legendary British motor racing commentator Murray Walker. "There was definitely contact there!"
221** The classic Ninja Rope was a ShoutOut to Franchise/{{Batman}} and his GrapplingHookPistol. The beta even called it a Batrope.
222** In the story of ''Worms 4 Mayhem'', one of the levels includes a clock tower with a wire running down to two lamp posts, with a very familiar [=DeLorean=] beneath it. By hitting it with an explosive weapon, it's possible for [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture the DeLorean to explode, leaving a pair of fire trails behind.]] The icing on the cake is that after completing the level, as part of the story you and your team travel back in time.
223** The DiscoDan voice in ''Worms 4 Mayhem'', when missing a shot, delivers lines straight from the lyrics of Music/MichaelJackson's song "Blame it On the Boogie" ("Don't blame it on the sunshine", "Don't blame it on the moonlight").
224** The Holy Hand Grenade ("Haaaa-llelujah!") comes straight from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
225** One of the hats that are available from the beginning in ''Worms W.M.D.'', Unicorn, has hair that resembles [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rainbow Dash]]'s mane.
226** The "Stooges" soundbank features various catchphrases from ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' shorts, saying things such as "Spread out!" when an explosive lands nearby, "Look at the grouse!" when launching an air raid or "Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk" when using an animal or "drop and run" weapon. The voice itself sounds like a strange mix of Moe and Curly, sounding more like one or the other depending on the voice clip.
227* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: ''Way'' down the silly end, and loving every second of it.
228* SmellySkunk: A weapon in ''Armageddon''. Once deployed it will walk around and, after a few seconds, spray toxic fumes which poison nearby worms.
229* SniperScopeSway: Averted in the early game, where weapons always have perfect stability. Slapping a laser sight on a weapon allows for perfect aiming even at improbable distances.
230** In ''Worms 3D'', this happens when the player is using the shotgun since, as in all other Worms games, the shotgun works more like a two-shot sniper rifle.
231** Played even straighter in ''Worms 4: Mayhem'', where the shotgun still sways, along with an actual scoped sniper rifle.
232* SphereOfDestruction: The explosions of most weapons in the 2D games leave perfectly circular craters.
233* StalkedByTheBell: When the round timer runs out, varying things can happen: all Worms reduced to one health, all Worms poisoned (via a UsefulNotes/{{nu|clearWeapons}}ke), and/or [[RiseToTheChallenge the water level starts to rise]]. The latter is a problem due to SuperDrowningSkills.
234* StealthPun: Homing pigeon. It's of course a type of a pigeon, but here it's also "homing" in a way a homing missile is.
235* StereotypicalSouthAsianEnglish: One of the voices you can select for your worms in ''Armageddon'' is "The Raj", in which the worms speak with an exaggerated South Asian accent. Features of this voice set include the singsong cadence of speech, use of the present participle, and a somewhat verbose vocabulary (for example, when other voice sets would respond to a missed shot with lines like "Missed me!" or "Bad Shot!", The Raj's line is "You are having bad eyesight!").
236* StuffBlowingUp:
237** There's stuff you'd reasonably expect to explode, like grenades and bazooka rockets. Then there are sheep, bananas, pigeons, carpets, concrete donkeys, more sheep, cows, envelopes, and ''grannies''. Shoot a supply, health, or utility crate, and it will explode, and if the crate contained a sheep-based weapon, the sheep might jump out of the crate and then explode when it lands. Kill a Worm and it explodes, leaving behind a small gravestone which given enough provocation ''also explodes''.
238** This is also the only reason why an entire team can get wiped out with one prod. That and [[LuckBasedMission really lucky placement]].
239* SuperDrowningSkills:
240** Being submersed in water kills instantly regardless of health unless you skip over it. Then again, if you're being skipped over water, odds are you're flying off the side of the level...
241** In ''Revolution'', dynamic water merely acts like poison, chipping away the health of worms in it at the end of a turn.
242* SpotlightStealingTitle: The spin-off ''Worms Pinball'' was originally named ''Addiction Pinball'' on its PC release before being renamed for the [=PlayStation=] port.
243* SymmetricEffect: In ''Armageddon'', the titular "Armageddon" airstrike launches highly destructive asteroids randomly across the whole map, causing tremendous devastation that can potentially reduce the entire landmass to a few small islands. A worm very deep underground, or protected by electromagnets, may be able to withstand it; otherwise, it's just a way of quite literally leveling the playing field.
244* TakeThat: The Nuclear Bomb in ''Worms 2'' plays La Marseillaise before causing the level to sink. The French nuclear test becomes an Indian Nuclear Test in later games.
245* TakingYouWithMe: The worms self-destructing upon death can be a [[ThanatosGambit (usually)]] unintentional example: if there's a nearby enemy with very little health left or inches from being knocked off stage, the small explosion can kill them. As for straighter examples, there are the Kamikaze and Suicide Bomber weapons: the former does more damage and has higher knockback and range, while the latter does little damage upfront but poisons nearby worms, potentially making it the more devastating option during longer games.
246* TankGoodness: ''WMD'' has tanks, armored vehicles equipped with a cannon that fires two shells in a salvo, takes a brief pause before repeating the same pattern until the third shot is made.
247* TeleportersAndTransporters: At least five different varieties of teleporters are available:
248** The classic Teleport lets worms move almost anywhere on the map, but immediately ends their turn when used.
249** ''Reloaded'''s Emergency Teleport warps every worm on a team to a random spot on the map.
250** ''Mayhem'' instead of an item has teleport pads that can move worms from one pad to another, once per turn. They can also be destroyed and add a little extra damage to the explosion.
251** ''Revolution'' introduced the Teleswap, which lets worms switch places without using up a turn.
252** ''Clan Wars'' introduced the Teleport Gun, which allows worms to shoot a spot on the map and immediately warp there without wasting a turn.
253* ThemeMusicPowerUp: Used in ''Blast'' when Blast Mode is activated and a remix of Wormsong starts up.
254* TheyKilledKennyAgain: Any worms who died in a war during gameplay always come back alive and well for the next round.
255* ThisBananaIsArmed: Every game starting with ''Armageddon'' has had a number of silly weapons, the sillier the more dangerous. Including a literal Banana Bomb (a Banana as a Cluster Bomb but stronger). The Banana Bomb & standard Sheep have actually been there since the Original game, but it was ''Armageddon'' when the silliness really took off.
256* ThisIsGonnaSuck: When a worm is about to get royally fucked by a weapon, they'll either nervously say something like, "Oh dear!" or just plain scream in panic.
257* ThrowThePin: Played straight in one cutscene in ''Worms 2'': We see a worm pulling the pin from a grenade, the camera cuts to the "victim" worm - who is hit on the head by the pin. Cut back to the attacking worm, who proceeds to do an EvilLaugh - [[OhCrap then notices that]] [[BigNo he's still holding]] [[EpicFail the grenade.]]
258* TitleDrop: The Armageddon weapon in ''Worms Armageddon''.
259* TooDumbToLive: The worms have no sense of fighting back or fleeing when they're attacked.
260* TrashTalk: If you screw up a shot, expect other worms to point out your stupidity. "OI, NUTTA!". They'll also chew you out for skipping turns or running out of your turn time. "BORING!"
261* TropeCodifier: For ''Artillery''-style turn-based strategy. Despite being preceded by a number of similar games, newer games with a similar style of play (such as ''VideoGame/HogsOfWar'') are inevitably knows as "''Worms'' clones".
262* TunnelKing: Some weapons, such as the Blowtorch, allow the player to quickly dig through terrain. Becoming one is quintessential to being on the Darkside and ''Armageddon/World Party'' will note what worm falls to the Darkside in the post-match screen for using said tools.
263* VariableMix: ''Blast'' uses this across the game, even changing in the main menu depending on where you are. For gameplay, the music will become more intense and rapid as blocks inch closer to either player or in puzzle mode (such as when time is running out).
264* VideoGameStealing: ''Reloaded'' introduced the ability to steal a weapon from another team. This was reworked into the close-range Stick Up in ''Revolution''.
265* VideogameFlamethrowersSuck: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] by the flamethower fixed turret in ''Worms: WMD''. It's fire actually behaves much more like that of a real-life liquid flamethrower than a Hollywood gas one. It still fails to obscure the users' position with smoke, but that would be pointless to begin with considering the 2D antfarm-view nature of the game. While it can indeed damage buildings, your grenades will do significantly more. While it still explodes if you do enough damage to it, [[DefeatEqualsExplosion this is true of all the game's fixed turrets]].
266* VisualPun:
267** Worms will pull out a skipping rope when skipping a turn.
268** The Carpet Bomb is literally an air strike that drops explosive bouncing carpets.
269* WarHasNeverBeenSoMuchFun: Particularly with the cartoony direction of the series from ''Worms 2'' onwards.
270%%* WarIsGlorious
271* WaterGunsAndBalloons: Water pistols and water balloons (called water bombs) are part of the arsenal in ''Revolution'', ''Clan Wars'' and ''Battleground''.
272* WeaponTombstone: If Donor Cards are set, the last worm on a team can drop such a card upon dying instead of the usual InstantGravestone. Picking up this card gives all the utilities and superweapons that worm's team had. [[MadeOfExplodium It can be blown up, too.]]
273* WhatTheHellHero: Your worms will berate a teammate for getting them caught in the crossfire.
274* WhenItRainsItPours: Happens in the 3D installments.
275* WhoopeeCushion: ''Clan Wars'' introduces the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Whoopsie]] Cushion, which bounces around the battlefield while emitting poison gas when used.
276* YouFightLikeACow: PLENTY of this going on. Enemy worms will take any opportunity they can to lambast your combat skills.
277* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: The second generation games have a setting where the last worm in a team drops a donor card when killed. Whoever takes the donor card gets all extra weapons that team had.
278----
279-> ''Trope-tan is an ex-worm''

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