Alpha Wyrm

ARC-708B, better known as the "Alpha Wyrm", is a variation of the Whispering Wyrm introduced during The Classrooms' Halloween 2024 update. Players frequently refer to the Alpha Wyrm with he/him pronouns. Despite being another variant of the wyrm species, the Alpha Wyrm's more aggressive behavior and bulk design have led to its association with masculine pronouns.
=== Appearance ===
The Alpha Wyrm is entirely green and noticeably bigger than the Whispering Wyrm. Its face features a flat nose similar to the Momo Wyrm, a large double chin and a facial structure inspired by Frankenstein’s monster. This design choice aligns with its Halloween-themed release.
While its body shape is similar, the Alpha Wyrm's larger size causes its head and tail to clip through walls more frequently, making it appear less polished than the Whispering Wyrm.
----
=== Behavior and Mechanics ===
The Alpha Wyrm behaves almost identically to the Whispering Wyrm:
* It reacts to sound-based disturbances, entering an alerted state before chasing players.
* It shares the Whispering Wyrm’s kill animations, but these feature the Alpha Wyrm's model.
* A minor difference is that the Alpha Wyrm can smell by default, which can be verified in Custom Mode.
* Players have noted it feels faster, but this has been proven false through testing. Its movement speed matches the Whispering Wyrm's precisely.
* The voiceline timings for the Alpha Wyrm were not adjusted to account for its slowed-down sentences. As a result, the Alpha Wyrm may abruptly interrupt itself mid-voiceline to start another. This behavior likely stems from the Alpha Wyrm being overlooked during development.
The Halloween update announcement described the Alpha Wyrm as "the most difficult form" of the Wyrm, but this claim has been criticized. For example, the optional "Walk on Walls" feature, available in Custom Mode, was not activated by default for the Alpha Wyrm, making its difficulty comparable to its predecessor.
----
=== Voice and Animations ===
The Alpha Wyrm’s voice is significantly deeper and slower than the Whispering Wyrm's. This effect was achieved by simply slowing down the original Wyrm's voicelines and mouth animations, with no additional modifications. Players have confirmed this by speeding up recordings of the Alpha Wyrm to match the Whispering Wyrm's exact voicelines.
----
=== Development and Reception ===
Initially speculated to be a reskin or a limited-time Halloween entity, the Alpha Wyrm has been confirmed as a permanent addition to The Classrooms. It has its own Custom Mode icon and designation as ARC-708B, suggesting potential lore relevance.
However, the entity has been criticized for its lack of originality. Its identical mechanics to the Whispering Wyrm, coupled with minimal visual and behavioral changes, have disappointed players who expected a unique challenge.
Some players speculate that the Alpha Wyrm may have been a last-minute addition for Halloween, designed primarily to draw attention to the game. This is supported by the absence of an ARC document and the relative simplicity of its development.
----
=== Lore Implications ===
Despite the inclusion of an ARC designation, the Alpha Wyrm has no documented lore connections. Whether it holds any deeper significance or is just a holiday addition remains to be seen.
It is considered a hazardous phenomenon, following the description of its predecessor, the Whispering Wyrm, in its official document.
----
===Bugs and Glitches===
The Alpha Wyrm shares the same bugs and glitches as the Whispering Wyrm, with the exception being its AI tracking. This is because the Alpha Wyrm inherited its AI behavior from the Whispering Wyrm, who's behavior had already been improved.
----
=== Miscellaneous Details ===
* The Alpha Wyrm's head collision remains identical to the Whispering Wyrm's despite being a larger size, allowing players to see inside its head.
* Its tail and head frequently clip into walls, a problem originally present with the Whispering Wyrm but significantly worsened due to the Alpha Wyrm's larger size.
* The larger size of the Alpha Wyrm also makes it harder to jump over its tail without getting killed.
----
=== Applies to all Wyrms ===
When a wyrm spawns, its mouth is completely open, likely due to an unnoticed development oversight. This resolves itself when the wyrm begins speaking, as the talking animation closes its mouth at the end. However, during its time speaking, the game considers the mouth already closed, causing an instantaneous adjustment to the closed state as it begins.
If a wyrm begins speaking while the game is paused or the inventory is open, its voicelines and mouth animations will continue until the current line ends. Afterward, it will remain silent as the in-game timer controlling its voicelines is paused alongside the game.
When a wyrm changes direction while roaming, its tail twitches briefly, jolting forward by about an inch. This twitch is an indicator of a directional shift, which is useful when the player is following the tail but cannot see the head. A twitch suggests that the wyrm may likely now be moving toward the end of its tail—in the direction of the player. This moment offers a chance to take cover in a safe position outside the wyrm's usual roaming path, such as hugging the outer walls, as wyrms generally traverse through the center.
If a wyrm catches sight of the player for a split second—such as from a slight movement—it will not enter its chasing state. Instead, the wyrm will become alerted, slithering to the location it saw movement. To avoid death, the player must move away quickly, as remaining still will not prevent its arrival to the location.
Enabling "see still" and disabling "see moving" causes wyrms to detect still players as intended, but it does not update its AI to stop rotating its head according to the player's location. Additionally, enabling "walk on walls" can cause it to slither on the void as if it was solid ground, clip heavily, fly erratically, or rapidly change positions.
A wyrm's tail often clips into itself and walls, especially when "walk on walls" is enabled in Custom Mode. A wyrm's tail contains specific non-lethal spots, such as its end or exact middle. While it is technically possible to stand on these spots without dying, it is highly risky. Additionally, the portion of a wyrm's tail directly behind its head has no collision, allowing the player to walk through it without dying. Testing this interaction is best done in Custom Mode with the wyrm’s sight and hearing mechanics disabled to avoid alerting it.
It is possible to look inside a wyrm's head by moving behind it and carefully moving forward, as the kill collision at the back of its head is slightly misaligned.
When exposed to a flashlight, all wyrms reveal a small white dot in the center of their pupils. In the updated kill animations, a glitch can cause the pupils to disappear entirely, causing the background to become visible through their eyes.
All of the wyrms share the same distinctive head holes on either side of their head. A single, thin strand of hair is present just below the head, on the neck area of each wyrm.