History VideoGame / Worms

* 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'' used that same logo.

* 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 game in the series where every letter is normal.

* MadeOfExplodium: '''''EVERYTHING!'''''
* MagikarpPower: Everything you consider useless as a weapon - because in worms, there is actually no such thing as a useless weapon.

* CutsceneIncompetence and CutscenePowerToTheMax: Sort of. The amusing opening animations tend to feature stuff that couldn't happen in game.

** The most notable examples being the Fire Punch and Dragonball weapons, homages to ''VideoGame/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.

** KAMIKAZE!

** One of the most common effects during SuddenDeath. The water will rise after each turn, slowly taking the map down and eliminating worms that weren't able to save themselves.

* 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 referance 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 farily long tangents about nothing in particular.

** ''Worms Armageddon''
*** The game itself 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.
*** The theme song:
---->Then came the {{nuke|Em}} and the disease tumbling down\\
If the bug didn't get you, [[RiseToTheChallenge you probably drowned]]\\
But [[{{Determinator}} the Worms battled on]], through hunger and pain\\
Living to fight, just a victor again.

* DisappearedDad: Boggy B's father left to serve in war when his son was two years old, and hasn't returned since. Wormsong 2011 has this as a plot point; The plane arrives to defeat the last enemy standing, and Boggy recognizes his dad driving it, but when he tells about it to his teammates and General, he's told there was no plane and that Boggy probably imagined it, leaving him confused.

* 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 Wormsongs, which tell stories of a military soldier named Boggy B.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: To quote the song Wormsong '95 - "It was all too much for Boggy as he watched his best friend die. His heart filled with rage, and he gripped his rifle tight. Charging down the hill, he had to have revenge. What had Spadge done to come to such an end?"

* ThemeTune: Wormsong, written by [[http://www.lynnemusic.com/ Bjorn Lynne]]. Four versions of it - Wormsong '95 from the original, Wormsong '98 from ''Worms Armageddon'', Wormsong '03 from ''Worms 3D'' and Wormsong '11 from ''Worms Reloaded'' - have lyrics and little stories to go with them. [[note]] The '11 version is actually a "thank you" gift for the fans, and Bjorn Lynne had nothing to do with it at all; though it later became the main theme for ''Reloaded'' as of an update. [[/note]]

** ''Worms''
** ''Worms: Reinforcements''/''Worms: United'' (expansion pack)
** ''Worms: The Director's Cut'' (a limited edition sequel released only for the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}: can be thought of as "''Worms 2'' for the Amiga". Brought in a lot of weapons made popular by ''Worms 2'').

** ''Worms 2''
** ''Worms Armageddon''
** ''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)

** ''Worms 3D''
** ''Worms Forts: Under Siege'' (more of a focus on constructing buildings than worm-on-worm warfare)
** ''Worms 4: Mayhem'' (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)
** ''Worms: Ultimate Mayhem'' (an UpdatedRerelease, coupling the content and an upgraded version of ''Worms 4'' game engine with most of the content of ''Worms 3D'')

** ''Worms: A Space Oddity'' (Wii)

*** ''Worms: Reloaded'' (PC port of ''Worms 2: Armageddon''
** ''Worms: Battle Islands''

** ''Worms Revolution''

** ''Worms Battlegrounds'' (console port of ''Clan Wars'')

** ''Worms WMD'' (UsefulNotes/XboxOne, [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows 10]] and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch)

** ''Worms: The Director's Cut'' (a limited edition sequel released only for the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}: can be thought of as "''Worms 2'' for the Amiga". [[OlderThanTheyThink Brought in a lot of weapons made popular by Worms 2]]).

** ''Worms (2007)'' (UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade and PSN)

** ''Worms: A Space Oddity''
** ''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) that's also been released for the PC as ''Worms: Reloaded''

* TeleportersAndTransporters: At least four different varieties of teleporters are available:

* SniperScopeSway: 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.

In the early 90s, bedroom coder and UsefulNotes/{{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 [=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]].

** ''Worms: Ultimate Mayhem'' (an UpdatedRerelease, coupling the content and an upgraded version of the game engine of of ''Worms 4'' with most of the content of ''Worms 3D'')

** ''Worms'' (UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade and PSN)
** ''Worms 2: Armageddon'', a sequel to the above game (which is not directly related to the similarly-titled Second Generation game ''Worms: Armageddon'') for XBLA (and eventually PSN) that's also been released for the PC as ''Worms: Reloaded''

** ''Worms Rumble'' (First real-time combat game in the series.)

* AprilFoolsDay: Several hoaxes and jokes were laid out in the early days by Team 17 to fool players, ranging from a ''Worms'' game on the UsefulNotes/Commodore64 and UsefulNotes/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.

** The [=AI=] in ''Worms 2'', ''Armageddon'' and ''World Party'' 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.

** 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. Not surprising since the game is an ObviousBeta. Some problems include attempting to fire Bazookas through obstacles and damaging itself; walking off cliffs and losing turns; and whiffing Fire Punches.

* FacePalm: In Worms Reloaded, worms will smack themselves in the face when they hurt themselves.

* 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.

* 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.

* LockAndLoadMontage:
** A trailer, released way-back-when, 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]]]].
** The intro of the first game on UsefulNotes/PlayStation.

* 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. There are also ''Wormsongs'', that has been part of the series since the first title, and all of them tell stories about a military soldier named Boggy B and his battles, though they still don't explain franchise's backstory.

* ObviousBeta: The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''Worms: Open Warfare'' has several problems that point to it being a rushed job: simplistic menus, buggy worm and weapon physics (e.g. worms can force themselves under another when walking uphill, grenades/cluster bombs never come to rest, numerous problems with the ninja rope), graphical and audio glitches, and a [[ArtificialStupidity broken AI]].

* PreorderBonus:
** ''Worms Reloaded'' comes with extra maps, bonus hats, a discounted price and early access for preorders. There was also an exclusive hat for the Soldier in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', the Lumbricus Lid that replaced his usual grenades with Holy Hand Grenades. It even plays the same Halelujah sound clip should you perform the suicide taunt with The Equalizer.
** Those who preorder ''Worms Revolution'' on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} get ''Worms Armageddon''. Oh yeah, and hats, gravestones and such.
** ''Worms WMD'' came with ''All Stars Pack'' which included hats, vehicles, weapons and few missions from other video games, see ShoutOut bellow. All of it's content became available to everyone later on.

* RiseToTheChallenge: See StalkedByTheBell.

** ''Worms WMD'''s "All-Stars Pack" featured a lot of official content from other video games, including VideoGame/RocketLeague, VideoGame/SaintsRowIV, ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''[[note]]Exclusive to Steam version[[/note]], VideoGame/YookaLaylee, VideoGame/{{Broforce}}, VideoGame/GoatSimulator, VideoGame/PAYDAY2, VideoGame/{{Unturned}}, VideoGame/OrcsMustDieUnchained, VideoGame/TheEscapists and various titles by Creator/{{Rare}}[[note]]Exclusive to Xbox One version[[/note]].

** 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 ''eleven'' of the eighteen worms, including [[HoistByHisOwnPetard two of his own, indirectly causing him to be the first eliminated]].[[/note]]

** 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.

* TunnelKing: Some weapons, such as the Blowtorch, allow the player to quickly dig through terrain.

* BatterUp: The baseball bat is 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.
* BiggerStick: Parodied in one of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFfxld5sk0U intro videos]] for ''Worms 2''.

* 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.

** ''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's also BloodierAndGorier, a jarring contrast to the ''Worms'' norm of BloodlessCarnage style of cartoon violence.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Professor Worminkle’s final fate is being left in the Stome 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.]]]]

* KamehameHadoken: The Dragon Ball weapon[[note]]Despite its name, it's not a reference to ''Manga/DragonBall'', but to ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', as in many soundbanks, 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.

* 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 leaves you stranded in the Stone Age for all eternity.]]

** A trailer, released way-back-when, displayed a Worm spending a good thirty seconds grabbing weapons from the wall and loading up, before [[AssKickingPose turning to menace the camera]]...[[spoiler: only to tremble then collapse under the weight of all the weaponry]].

* EnoughToGoAround: Many of the superweapons are like this, where uses are 'in' crates that anyone can grab.
* 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 leaves you stranded in the Stone Age for all eternity.]]

--->Then came the {{nuke|Em}} and the disease tumbling down\\

** The first-generation ''Worms'' games have a gritter and (only slightly, considering this is ''Worms'' we're talking about) more realistic atmosphere and gameplay.
** ''Flockers'' proves to be the darkest games 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's also BloodierAndGorier, a jarring contrast to the ''Worm's'' norm of BloodlessCarnage style of cartoon violence.

* EdibleAmmunition: The Banana Bomb.

* FixedDamageAttack: Some weapons do a fixed amount of damage, such as the Shotgun always dealing 25 a shot, and Fire Punch always doing 30.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Worms Armageddon''
** The theme song:

** The game itself 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.

* NiceHat: In some games you can slap on helmets, beanies, paper bags and ''cement mixers'' on your worms. An update in ''Worms W.M.D.'' added a hat editor so that players could make their own.

** ''Worms Reloaded'' comes with extra maps, bonus hats, a discounted price and early access for preorders. There was also an exclusive [[CoolHat hat]] for the Soldier in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', the Lumbricus Lid that replaced his usual grenades with Holy Hand Grenades. It even plays the same Halelujah sound clip should you perform the suicide taunt with The Equalizer.

In the early 90s, bedroom coder and UsefulNotes/{{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 [=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]].

** 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.