[[quoteright:250:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/earthwormjimLOGO.jpg]]

A much-loved platform game from Shiny Entertainment. The title character (created by cartoonist [=Doug TenNapel=]) is an earthworm mutated by [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum a mechanical super-suit from space]] into a somewhat awkward super-hero, who takes it upon himself to stop the machinations of the Evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated, Festering, Sweaty, Pus-Filled, Malformed Slug-For-A-Butt and rescue the beautiful Princess What's-Her-Name. His adventure takes him from the scrap heaps of New Junk City to the sweltering fire-pits of Planet Heck (home of the aptly-named Evil the Cat) to Level 5, the lair of the evil MadScientist who invented Jim's super-suit, Professor Monkey-for-a-Head. All the while, Jim is pursued by Psy-Crow, Queen Slug-for-a-Butt's right-hand man who is intent on getting the suit back.

Yes. It's ''[[WidgetSeries that]]'' kind of game.

In the sequel, Jim must traverse the galaxy again, this time to save Princess What's-Her-Name from a
ShotgunWedding to Psy-crow. Jim's travels take him through such exotic locales as collapsing underground tunnels, intestines (while wearing a cave salamander costume), a carnival run by Evil the Cat, and a planet made up entirely of paperwork.

The third game, ''Earthworm Jim 3D'' for the Nintendo 64 and PC, had Jim taking a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind after one too many falling cows to the head. [[PolygonCeiling Needless to say]], [[DisContinuity it wasn't very well received]]-- in part because the original developers had sold the rights to the character to another development team.

The franchise is currently struggling to revive itself, with a [[VideoGameRemake remake]] of the original game promised for the Playstation Portable, but [[VaporWare eventually cancelled]]. A new, fourth game, is now rumored to be in the works, along with a new cartoon and motion picture, supervised by franchise creator Doug Tennapel.

Received a [[Series/EarthwormJim cult-classic animated adaptation]].
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This game features examples of:
*AnticlimaxBoss: Bob the Goldfish
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Pete the Puppy. Aww, what a cute little pu--''[[NightmareFuel OH GOD!!]]''
*BrickJoke: [[spoiler:The cow.]]
*CanonImmigrant: Snot
* DisContinuity: ''Earthworm Jim 3D'' and the GBA rereleases are often subject to this.
*DropTheCow: Quite literally.
*DownTheDrain: Down the Tubes
* {{Cats Are Mean}}: Evil the Cat. He is in the words of the creators "the manifestation of evil in its truest form (the cat)".
*EarWorm: Basically every musical piece in the game, which ranged from creepy ''Danny Elfman''-like weirdness, to classical music, to funk/electronica/pop.
*EasyModeMockery: In talkie versions, instead of the ending you get a lecture about worms and a very uplifting speech if you finish on hard.
*EscortMission: For Pete's Sake, although the puppy you're escorting ALSO happens to be the biggest threat of the level.
** Also, several levels in the sequel in which you have to use a giant marshmallow to save Petey's children from being thrown out the window. It's roughly 357% less aggravating than the first game's Petey level.
*ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: In the PAL versions, "The Villi People" level was called, "Jim's now a Blind Cave Salamander!"
*GainaxEnding: Done for hilarious effect in the second game: [[spoiler:''"And so, having defeated the nefarious [[strike:Psy-crow]] COW, our hero, [[strike:Earthworm Jim]] the COW, wins back the heart of the lovely [[strike:Princess What's-Her-Name]] COW."'']]
* {{Gasshole}}: The boss of New Junk City.
*LandfillBeyondTheStars: Subverted with New Junk City, which appears to fit the trope, but [[AllThereInTheManual research on the game]] reveals that the level takes place in ''TEXAS''.
*LevelAte: The TropeNamer, from ''EarthwormJim 2''. It's made of burgers, bacon, cheese, fried eggs, and other delightfully fatty foods. Also, it's the [[IncrediblyLamePun 8th level]].
*MadScientist: The inventor of Jim's suit, [[MeaningfulName Professor Monkey-For-A-Head]].
*PlatformGame
*PopQuiz: Spoofed in [=EJ2=], where the quiz halfway through "Villi People" features ridiculous joke questions like "If cigarettes cause cancer, what causes Capricorn? A) [[IncrediblyLamePun Poor-fitting shoes in southern France]] B) Dental Floss C) [[AmericanCustomaryMeasurements One and one half pounds]] of butter"
*PortingDisaster: The first game was on many systems, but with the exception of the Sega CD and PC version, it got worse with each one! It lost a level on the SNES version, and you should expect what happened when they tried to port a game that pushed the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo to the very limit onto the Game Gear and Game Boy. Also, [[DisContinuity PLEASE don't remind a fan of the series of those atrocious GBA ports.]]
*RuleThirtyFour: One of the characters is [[FurryFandom anthro]], so no surprise there.
*SaveThePrincess (parodied)
*SchmuckBait: Parodied in the manual for the SNES version - it claimed that the X button "turns on the porch light of Mrs. Schultz in Germany. So quit pressing it!" So naturally, what did everyone who read the manual do? Press the button. In the end averted [[spoiler: as it does nothing at all.]]
** Shows what you know. It's made her complain about it for years, is what it does.
** Done again in the manual for part 2, where the D-Pad "withdraws all moneys from your bank account and transfers them to Shiny Entertainment. It also makes Jim move."
*ScrappyLevel: The original's "Down the Tubes" and "[[EscortMission For Pete's Sake]]", and the sequel's "The Flyin' King."
*ShaggyDogStory: Both original games. Both times for laughs.
*SoundtrackDissonance: "What The Heck?" starts with a snippet from Mussorgsky's "Night on the Bald Mountain", then switches to elevator music backed by screams of pain.
** Of course, it's probably all too fitting considering the screams are apparently from actual people.
*WidgetSeries: A bizarre American example. Trying to make sense of these games will only cause severe migraines.
*WombLevel: "Intestinal Distress" in the first game, and "Villi People" in the second.
*AWorldwidePunomenon: Just one example: the boss of LevelAte is a fire-breathing steak named Flamin' Yawn.
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