History Main / SentientSands

* ''ComicBook/{{Firestorm}}'': The villain Eddie Slick/Sand Demon was a metahuman who gained sand powers after being buried in the Nevada desert and mutated by the sand exposure. He could turn his entire body into sand. Firestorm defeated him by solidifying his sand body into glass and then shattering him.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Las Noches, the palace where [[BigBad Aizen]] and his cohorts of Arrancar reside, is guarded by a massive Hollow made of sand called Lunuganga. Another similar giant Hollow is encountered much later. In both cases, they live in a wolrd which looks like an infinite barren desert of sand and petrified trees.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' has an enemy made out of sand called Gerune who appears in the Sand Temple. It somehow looks like a sand BedsheetGhost and in its regular form is invulnerable to almost anything except for the Sand Wand. This item, which is used to create elevated platforms out of sand, will paralyse them and make them solid, and Link will be able to destroy them in that state.
** In ''ALinkToThePast'', Link would encounter a type of literal sand-man, called the Geldman, in various desert environments. These became recurring enemies in the series.

* Crocodile of ''Anime/OnePiece'' became living, moving sand in human form after eating the Sand-Sand Fruit.

* ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' has the Shifting Sands which serve as both the location and guardian of the gems of the Belt of Deltora. As their name implies, the Sands are constantly shifting and changing which results in people getting lost as they travel the desert. ''Secrets of Deltora'' reveals that the Shifting Sands are actually a massive sentient organism known as the Hive.

Compare RockMonster. See also ElementalEmbodiment.

* ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' has Danke Sand and No Sandkyu, living sand dunes with eyes, a mouth and arms. While Danke Sand is an ExtremeOmnivore, No Sandkyu is a very picky eater in contrast.

[[caption-width-right:350:"You won't like me. I'm coarse, rough, and irritating...and I get everywhere!"]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/45_trpassable_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When on the beach or in deserts, be watchful of [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Palossand]]... These things sure are affectionate!]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/palossand_2.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Such an affectionate dude.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/45_trpassable_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When on the beach or in deserts, be watchful of [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Palossand]]... These things sure are affectionate!]]

[--[[caption-width-right:350:Illustration by [[https://jubileus57.tumblr.com/post/148879547554/shirodesuna-the-haunted-sandcastle-pok%C3%A9mon-sorry Jubileus57]]. Used with permission.]]--]

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the episode "Sleep No More" featured Sandmen as the MonsterOfTheWeek, which were literally [[HumanoidAbomination humans made from sand]]. It's later revealed they were made from "sleep dust" (the crusty substance in your eye) and that Sandmen could be created from any human after being exposed to an electronic signal.

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[[AC:Comic Books]]

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': One of Spider-Man's usual foes, William Baker/Flint Marko (aka the Sandman), is made out of sand. He became this way when he hid out on a beach to evade the law, but said beach was the test site of a nuclear bomb, and the radiation bonded his molecules to the sand around him.

[[AC:Film -- Animated]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:Webcomics]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode ''Sand Castles in the Sand'' has Spongebob and Patrick building increasingly militarized {{Palatial Sandcastle}}s to war against each other. Spongebob manages to build an entire human-like crew (and a bull) made out of sand which are fully sentient and able to move at will. Unfortunately, they are as easily destroyed as regular sand structures. Also, the sand gargoyles from Spongebob last sandcastle fly away at the imminence of said sandcastle's bombing.

Most often, the sand golem will have a definite form that just happens to be made out of and living into sand. But in very rare cases, most notably in the Creator/StephenKing novel Beachworld, the vast ShiftingSandLand itself will be sentient.

* Crocodile of OnePiece became living, moving sand in human form after eating the Sand-Sand Fruit.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': One of Spider-man's usual foes, William Baker/Flint Marko (aka the Sandman), is made out of sand. He became this way when he hid out on a beach to evade the law, only for said beach to become the test site of a nuclear bomb, with the radiation bonding his molecules to the sand around him.

* ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'': The Sandman, or Sandy for short, is made enterely of sand. He does not speak, but communicates through sand images that he conjures above his head.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'' the episode "Sleep No More" featured Sandmen as the MonsterOfTheWeek, which were literally [[HumanoidAbomination humans made from sand]]. It's later revealed they were made from "sleep dust" (the crusty substance in your eye) and that Sandmen could be created from any human after being exposed to an electronic signal.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode ''Sand Castles in the Sand'' has Spongebob and Patrick building increasingly militarized {{Palatial Sandcastle}}s to war against each other. Spongebob manages to build an entire human-like crew (and a bull) made out of sand which are fully sentient and able to move at will. Unfortunately, they are as easily destroyed as regular sand structures. Also, the sand gargoyles from Spongebob last sandcastle fly away at the imminence of said sandcastle's bombing.

* ''ComicBook/{{Firestorm}}'' rogue, Eddie Slick/Sand Demon was a metahuman who gained sand powers after being buried in the Nevada desert and mutated by the sand exposure. He could turn his entire body into sand. Firestorm defeated him by solidifying his sand body into glass and then shattering him.
* William Baker/Flint Marko (aka The Sandman) from the rogues gallery of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' is made out of sand, stemming from when he hid out on a beach to evade the law, only for said beach to become the test site of a nuclear bomb, with the radiation bonding his molecules to the sand around him.

** Sandmaarghs are a variant of Blarggs, a type of vaguely dinosaur-like monsters [[MagmaMan made out of lava]] and found in [[LethalLavaLand fire-themed levels]], that are instead made out of sand and found in [[ShiftingSandLand desert-themed levels]]. They first appeared in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' , where they usually lurk in the sand and rise out to attack Mario when he gets close, and in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam''.
** The Sandoons enemies from ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' are little more than, well, sand dunes with eyes and three pink antennae. They only appear in the Dozing Sands.

* The ''Series/BlakesSeven'' episode "Sand" features a planet covered with living, carnivorous sand, which tries to trap visitors and force them to breed so that it can have a [[PeopleFarms farmed population]] to feed on.

[--[[caption-width-right:300:Illustration by [[https://jubileus57.tumblr.com/post/148879547554/shirodesuna-the-haunted-sandcastle-pok%C3%A9mon-sorry Jubileus57]]. Used with permission.]]--]

* The ''Series/BlakesSeven'' episode "Sand" features a planet covered with living, carniverous sand, which tries to trap visitors and force them to breed so that it can have a [[PeopleFarms farmed population]] to feed on.

[[caption-width-right:350:When on the beach or in deserts, be watchful of [[PokemonSunAndMoon Palossand]]... These things sure are affectionate!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'': The Sandman, or Sandy for short, the Guardian of Dreams is the oldest of the Guardians and the first Guardian chosen by Man in the Moon which is also made enterely of sand. He does not speak, but communicates through sand images that he conjures above his head.

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode ''Sand Castles in the Sand'' has Spongebob and Patrick building increasingly militarized {{Palatial Sandcastle}}s to war against each other. Spongebob manages to build an entire human-like crew (and a bull) made out of sand which are fully sentient and able to move at will. Unfortunately, they are as easily destroyed as regular sand structures. Also, the sand gargoyles from Spongebob last sandcastle fly away at the imminence of said sandcastle's bombing.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The goblin cleric Redcloak has the habit of summoning [[ElementalEmbodiment elementals]] based on the elements of the real-life periodic table, rather than the classical four elements. One of them is a [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0901.html Silicon elemental]], which he summons in a desert and which takes the form of a colossal, vaguely humanoid pile of animated desert sand. The titular Order has a difficult time fighting it, since their swords and arrows just pass right through the loose sand.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''. [[http://scp-wiki.net/scp-440 SCP-440 ("Sand-Based Ecology")]]. SCP-440 is an anomalous form of sand from which certain creatures are created spontaneously. The sand is made up of silica (silicon dioxide), which makes the creatures SiliconBasedLife.