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Graboid

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The Graboid, (also known as the Dirt Dragon or Tu Long (土龙 - Dirt Dragon), in the 19th century), is a fictional invertebrate species that is the primary antagonist of the Tremors franchise. The creature made its debut in the 1990 film Tremors, and reappeared in all its sequels Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996), Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001), and prequel Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004). It was also featured regularly in the series' spin-off Tremors: The Series (2003), with El Blanco being a recurring character. A variant was featured in the 2015 film Tremors 5: Bloodlines and Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell.


Life Cycle[]

It seems that considering the information presented in the movies this entire life cycle can take place in about 9 months, however due to the eggs ability to hibernate for extended periods of time this is likely the reason that the creatures were virtually unknown up until the late 20th century. The 4th Tremors movie is the first chronological reappearance of the Graboids, it begins a time when Graboid pockets are reawakened all over the world as suspected by scientists (according to Burt).

Graboids' Eggs[]

These are laid by Ass Blasters.

Dirt Dragons[]

Burts hunting trophy

Dirt Dragons are the baby Graboids from Tremors 4, also known as Dirt Dragons and Tu-Long. So far they have only appeared in Tremors 4.

Graboid[]

The standard Graboid is the only creature to have appeared in all four entries, and also the 2003 TV series of the same name. There are two known species: one in North America and the other in Africa. in both species, the Graboid is the first stage in the creatures' life cycle. In Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, which is a prequel taking place in 1889, thus before they got their current name, they are referred to as "dirt dragons". The name "Grabboid" was invented by the shop owner character in the first film, Tremors, Walter Chang; who was subsequently eaten by one. Some of the other names that were considered for the Graboid by Melvin and Walter included "Snakeoids", "Suckers", "Suckoids" or "Mega-Worms". Promotional material written by the Sci Fi Channel classifies them as Devonian Era invertebrate predators, possibly Cephalopods.

Shrieker[]

After eating a large amount of food the Graboid dies but its tongues live on and begin the transformation by turning into Shriekers. When a Shrieker is born, it blows out the side of the Graboid leaving a dead 50-foot worm with a hole in its belly.

Ass Blaster[]

The Ass Blaster is the next and final stage in the Graboids evolution and is the worse. To become one Shriekers have to eat a large amount of food and give birth to at least one Shrieker before entering their cocoons. When the Shrieker emerges it sprouts wings and spits flames out its rear giving it its name. Before the Ass Blaster dies it eats a large amount of food and spits one Graboid Egg out its rear beginning the cycle of terror all over again.

Species[]

African Species[]

The African species presumably has a similar life cycle to the American species, but unlike the American species, which is only seen in the Northern Hemisphere, the African species is found in the Southern Hemisphere, or at least Africa. It is unknown when this species branched off from the American species, but archaeologists find a skeleton of one, indicating that this is not a new evolution. After seeing the skeleton, Burt describes this species as longer and slimmer. While not a biologist he describes this species as more evolved and efficient, better adapted to their environment. The Shrieker stage was never seen, possibly indicating that their life cycle bypasses it all-together.

Arctic Species[]

The Arctic species appear to be the evolutionary link between the two species having traits from both, although it is believed to predate either, indicating that the Desert American species and African Species diverged from this singular species. They look and behave similar to the desert North American species, but have traits of the African variant, such as breaching. Also as with the African variety, they have no Shriekers and develop Ass Blasters, but as the desert American Graboids, there is no apparent cooperation between Ass Blasters and Graboids.

It is unknown if the Arctic Graboids have a more developed skeleton structure like their African relatives. Most likely not if African Graboids did convergently evolve their skeletons rather than being an ancestral trait lost in only American Graboids.

Burt believes they may be modified in some way to be bio-weapons, although, given his normal levels of paranoia, this wasn't likely though Mr. Cutts became interested in the idea.

Origins[]

From where or what the Graboids originate is intentionally kept very vague; the creators of the film were unconcerned with this detail, offering no explanation as to where the Graboids came from in the original film (wanting to avoid the typical clichés of the monster movie genre). The main characters even satirize this convention by attempting to guess where they came from—outer space, nuclear mutations, genetic engineering, and prehistory are all offered up as possible explanations.

The answer was revealed in Tremors 2, when a fossil Graboid spike was discovered and dated back to the Precambrian - the Graboids are apparently from Earth or have at least existed on Earth for a very long time. Strangely, during Precambrian life on Earth was mostly unicellular and there was no prey large enough for Graboids to eat. A write-up by the Sci-Fi channel for Tremors: The Series rectified this by saying the fossil was incorrectly dated and actually from the Devonian period, though they don't rule out a possible extraterrestrial origin.

Though they resemble worms, in Tremors 3 the United States Department of the Interior calls them "desert reptilians". Later an elaborate write-up on the SyFy channel's Tremors: The Series homepage (written as an in-universe Department of the Interior report) classified them as cephalopods based on their intelligence, beaks and tentacles. This same promotional material gives the Graboids and their later forms their scientific names.

As a result of the name of the series, "Tremors", many fans colloquially (and incorrectly) refer to the Graboid beasts as "tremors". The result of this was that on-screen in Tremors 3, a tourist erroneously refers to one as a "tremor", only to be corrected by the character "Desert Jack" who replies, "They're called Graboids!"

In Tremors 5: Bloodlines, the second breed of Graboid is shown to have evolved at some point. It is unknown when this happened, but it is not a recent occurrence as archeologists discovered a skeleton belonging to this breed in Africa where the breed seems to be localized. This one has evolved to be more adapted to their environments such as detachable tentacles (called Grabbers) and nocturnal Ass Blasters.

Notable Individuals[]

  • And the longest surviving worm in the first movie, who grabbed Val and Earl's truck and lost a tongue trying to keep the truck still but loses a tongue at the end; He also is responsible for killing Chang and testing the Houses, such as the Chang's Store, Stumpy. Killed when Val tricks him into burrowing through a cliff.
  • The albino Graboid, El Blanco
  • In Tremors 5: Bloodlines a Graboid appeared that was known simply as The Queen Bitch. She acted as the leader of a nest of Graboids and Ass Blasters, but were of a different more evolved breed apparently native to Africa. The Queen Bitch worked to preserve the bloodline of the African Graboids by protecting her nest and the eggs within. After the destruction of the nest and the remaining Graboid and Ass Blasters, the Queen Bitch attacked a nearby village where a single egg remained. The villagers, Burt and Travis Welker lured her into a lightning trap where a grounded lightning strike forced her to the surface where Burt and two local villagers Nyala and Lucia opened fire on her. A second lightning strike went straight down her throat, causing her to explode and killing her.

Notable Incidents[]

Victims[]

Tremors (1990)[]

  1. Old Fred - Sucked underground
  2. Carmine - Eaten offscreen
  3. Howard - Crushed by a rockslide
  4. Doc Jim - Eaten alive while sucked underground
  5. Megan - Trapped in car while sucked underground
  6. Nev-Caltel Worker #1 - Seen dead
  7. Nev-Caltel Worker #2 - Seen dead
  8. Walter Chang - Swallowed whole by Graboid
  9. Nestor - Sucked underground

Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)[]

  1. Oil Worker - Swallowed whole by Graboid

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)[]

  1. Buford - Gobbled by a Graboid

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)[]

  2. Big Horse Johnson - Muldooned and pulled underground
  3. Old Fred - Drop dead severed head fried
  4. Black Hand Kelly - Billy Drago-ed to his death by a Graboid

Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015)[]

  1. Dr. Swan - Killed in Flagranite Graboid-0
  2. Lucia - Killed in Flagranite Graboid-O
  3. Erich Van Wyck - Triple lindy-ed by a Graboid - 1 hr 1 min in
  4. Den's Co-Pilot - Channard Cenobite cosplay fail - 1 hr 10 mins in
  5. Shopkeeper - The jerky's made of people

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)[]

  1. Aussie - Eaten quickly down under
  2. Yankee - The Carmine Manuever (Dragged away and eaten offscreen)
  3. Dutch - If it bleeds, it must be Norweigan (Eaten offscreen)
  4. Dr. Silke Daanen - Jaws did it first! (Water Graboid kill)
  5. Dr. D - Pulled through window into Graboid gullet
  6. Dr. Charles Freezze - Wait! We gotta swap insurance info! (Dragged away from car wreck)
  7. Darpa Agent #1 - Dragged away by Grabber
  8. Darpa Agent #2 - Killed offscreen
  9. Darpa Agent #3 - Eaten a flambé

Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)[]

  1. Pretty Boy - These kills get shittier (Sucked through a porta potty)
  2. Mohawk - Offscreen kill: the continuing
  3. Burly Hunter - Offscreen kill: The annoyening
  4. Dr. Alistair Richards - "I have learned to delegate" -Queen Graboid
  5. Bowtie - Missing reel (Eaten offscreen)
  6. Bill - This Bill becomes blah...death
  7. Burt Gummer - This didn't happen. Nothing to see here (Eaten by Queen Graboid)

Deaths[]

Tremors (1990)[]

  • Graboid #1 - Knocked itself dead
  • Graboid #2 - Shot in the wrong god damn rec room
  • Graboid #3 - Blown up by pipe bomb
  • Stumpy - Launched off a cliff

Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)[]

  • Graboid #1 - We have the technology
  • 11 Graboids - Montaged to death
  • Chain Graboid - Tankin! out by Burt
  • Graboid #14 - Remains of offscreen death wiped from car
  • 3 Graboids - Killed offscreen by Burt's cluster charge
  • Graboid #18 - Discarded carcass after evolution
  • 10 Graboids - Killed offscreen or transformed into Shriekers

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)}[]

  • Graboid #1 - Knocked itself dead on Burt's Graboid Barrier
  • Graboid #2 - Death by Shrieker birth

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)[]

  1. Graboid #1 - 4th film offensive punt gunned
  2. Graboid #2 - If only it could see-saw
  3. Graboid #3 - We have the technology: industrial edition - Won the Burt's Hunting Trophy because it's the return of the practical Graboid deaths.

Tremors 5: Bloodlines (2015)[]

  1. Graboid - Got trucked up!
  2. Queen Bitch - Lightning never kills twice

Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)[]

  1. Graboid #1 - Gas-blasted
  2. Graboid #2 - Don't wizz on the electric fence - Won the Burt's Hunting Trophy because it was a great payoff to a classic Tremors Plan.
  3. Sally Graboid - Practically blown up in every way

Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)[]

  1. Graboid #1 - Life finds a way (Evolved into Shriekers)
  2. Graboid #2 - Shoot the red barrel!
  3. Graboid #3 - That's one dynamighty explosion!
  4. Queen Graboid - But what did it cost? Everything... (Launched off cliff and blown up)
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