Graboid

Graboids are a species of subterranian Invertebrae that first appeared in the movie Tremors. They live in abundance in the Great Desert where they are seen preying upon camels, Utahraptors, and Humans that get there unannounced. they themselves however are preyed upon the much larger Diablos, and dreaded Greater Krayt Dragon which dive their bodies into the ground to pull them out. The creature is able to pick up the sound of footsteps above the ground similarly to the Ringed Sandworm and will erupt from the ground before using its many sharp tongues to swallow and shred its victim whole. They are a nail in scientists sides since they usually interrupt their studies to snatch one. as a Sneaker class creature(Subclass: Grappler), Graboids reach lengths of 9.144 meters in length. during wars they too burst from the ground and use their large tongues to shred human soldiers before retreating again.

## Biology

Graboids are depicted as subterranean animals, superficially resembling gigantic worms or larva, with long, serpentine bodies. When fully grown, a mature American Graboid can measure up to 30 feet long, and 6 feet across at its widest point, and may weigh 10-20 tons. From the information presented in Tremors 4, it takes them about 3 months to attain this size. Anatomically speaking, the Graboid is a tube wrapped with thick skin-muscle, which is necessary to manipulate its external spines. Presumably, it must also possess a semi-rigid internal structure (though not a true endoskeleton) since it can burst through concrete (though such an impact kills it). Less dramatically, the Graboid's ability to lift its upper body into the air, as well as bear the weight of the soil through which it moves, also suggests a semi-rigid internal structure. The internal cuttle-bone structure is probably coupled with a strong musculature. It is logical to assume that a Graboid propels itself underground partly with its surface spines, and partly with an overall motion of its body. A strong internal musculature would enable the Graboid to flex its entire body, undulating in a curling, corkscrew motion through the ground. Graboids completely lack eyes as they live underground. Their heads consist of a massive, black, armored beak, which is used to push aside the dirt whilst digging. The beak opens up like a grotesque flower; it consists of a wide upper jaw, a thinner lower jaw, and a pair of hooked mandibles on either side, they measure three feet long. Whether they possess a skeleton or not is unknown, though a faux scientific document written by the Sci-Fi channel hypotheses they have a semi-rigid internal structure, similar to the internal cuttle-bones of certain cephalopods, such as cuttlefish.

Graboids have a trio of long, powerful, serpent-like tentacles, which are prehensile and have a reach of at least ten feet. Normally kept retracted in the Graboid's throat, these tentacles were initially mistaken for the actual creatures, causing the characters in the first *Tremors* film to underestimate their underground opponents. The Graboid's common name is derived from these prehensile tentacles, which "grab" prey and suck it down the Graboid's hungry gullet. The three "tongues" each have a mouth, teeth and two pairs of horn-like projections on the upper jaw and lower jaw. The tentacles are used in other ways besides grasping. Other purposes of these erstwhile appendages include sensing very subtle vibrations and feeling around basically acting as the arms and hands of the creature. However, unlike human hands, the tentacles have taste sensors inside the mouth-like jaws. So when a tentacle's jaws close on something, the Graboid can quickly tell if something is worth reeling in to eat. While at times, these tentacles appear to have minds of their own, hissing and writhing like snakes, they, like an octopuses tentacles, are simply extensions of the creature. Food is typically swallowed whole, though early in the original *Tremors* film as well as with on planet individuals, they are shown to dismember and decapitate their prey, this was shown again with human prey this likely points to necessity if it senses other prey approaching and needs to start after them. They apparently have a slow metabolism, at least for the sterile ones like El Blanco Jr, as it was only hinted at to defecate in the last episode of the series.

A Graboid's hide is thick and leathery, with a rough, pebbly texture, giving them a reptilian appearance (though they are not reptiles). This makes them very hard to kill with anything short of saturation bombing or large-bore rounds, usually from guns designed for large animals such as elephants and buffalo. Graboids possess immense physical strength, able to topple over mobile homes, tow along with an object heavy as a pickup truck without slowing down, smash through brick walls and pull an entire station wagon underground. Encircling their bodies are short spikes, which all move in unison to push the Grabboid through the dirt (more specifically Pleistocene alluvial Soil), similar to the setae on an earthworm. Their top speed is around 15-20 mph in good loose soil. Therefore they are able to burrow faster than a human can run; a Graboid cannot catch motorized vehicles like cars or dirt bikes, as shown in *Tremors 3: Back to Perfection* and seen during a test to see their strength when Jack's truck was able to outrun a Graboid. Also, it was been shown throughout the series and Tremors 4 that galloping horses can outpace Graboids. With armored head and mobile spikes working together in unison, a Graboid can "swim" through the loose soil at high speed like a shark in the water, though they are incapable of tunneling through solid rock. Graboids (and their nymph and imago forms, the Shrieker and Ass Blaster respectively) have distinctive orange blood. Graboids also have a powerful stench, which is made evident on several occasions throughout the first film. Though underplayed in the 2nd and 3rd films, the Grabboid's stench becomes a critical plot point in *Tremors 4* which that knowledge saved a couple of almost preyed upon Professor Tsuki. Juan is able to identify the Graboids as being the unseen killers in the silver mines where they are small and jump from the ground extremely fast with a hard shell on their back, hunting by sound, shedding their shells and growing to become matured Graboids later in the film due to them sharing the same vile odor. The Graboids' greatest weakness is that it is unable to tell the terrain of the environment it is in before it's too late, which is demonstrated when Earl and Val trick one into running into a concrete wall, and when Val tricks Stumpy into running off of a cliff.

For obvious reasons, it has been all but impossible to directly observe the creature underground; observations of the surface soil above a Graboid's route, however, show that such soil is sometimes humped erratically, producing a series of rises and falls rather than a continuous ridge. This disturbance of the ground is consistent with a writhing, flexing mode of travel. Furthermore, when a Graboid surfaces, it often does so while turning its head or body in a circular motion, supporting the corkscrew theory of locomotion.

The Graboid appears to respirate the same nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere as other terrestrial animals. Witnesses have heard Grabboids sometimes expel blasts of air. This implies that Graboid's possess lungs. Whether these lungs resemble vertebrate lungs is unknown. On a related topic, the Graboid, Shrieker and Ass Blaster all have closed circulatory systems; their reddish-orange blood has been well-documented. This suggests that they possess a cardiopulmonary system, a heat pump, and an oxygen-based blood-transport system.

The Graboid would seem to require astonishing levels of energy to propel its prodigious bulk underground faster than a human can run above ground, yet it does so almost routinely when pursuing prey. It is possible that the Graboid spends most of its time in a torpid or dormant state to recover from these short, intense bursts of activity.

The Shriekers' rapid self-replication and the Ass Blaster's ability to generate volatile chemicals capable of launching it skyward suggest extremely efficient metabolisms. Like the Graboid, however, these creatures appear to need rest while digesting food and after prolonged expenditures of energy. Supporting this theory is the observation that, when fully fed, an Ass Blaster collapses into a "food coma" in order to digest and to regain its equilibrium.

Curiously, in addition to its feats of speed and its ability to digest large prey, the Graboid has even shown an occasional willingness to eat metal. One of the creatures swallowed a large metal drum containing Burt Gummer, and there is also a report of Graboids attacking a station wagon. Did the Graboids involved in these incidents attack because their bodies are capable of deriving useful nutrients from inorganic objects? Or, as is considered more likely, did the car's vibrations (or Gummer's movements inside the barrel) mislead the Graboids into thinking they had found living prey?

It is possible that the Graboid's underground life gives it access to elements or chemicals that "supercharge" its digestion and metabolism. Because the surface-dwelling Shrieker and Ass Blaster also show a similar level of digestive/metabolic ability, the discarded body of their parent Graboid might provide them with these required chemicals. It is also possible that this ability is simply inherent in all three species. Regardless, it remains one of the most impressive aspects of their physiology.

Graboids are shown to be ravenous carnivores, always on the hunt for food. Indiscriminate eaters, their diet includes but is not limited to sheep, cattle, horses, donkeys, coyotes, and even humans. They are known to be cannibalistic when the opportunity presents itself; El Blanco consumed an Ass Blaster in *Tremors 3*. Lacking eyes or a nose, they're shown to hunt by sensing seismic vibrations, which are produced by sounds and movements. Because they are unable to tell the difference between edible and inedible vibration sources they adopt a policy of "eat first, ask questions later," simply swallowing whatever sets off their vibration sensors and regurgitate anything that does not taste good. Inedible objects can be spat out with amazing force, being propelled high into the air. Due to the sensitive hearing they use for underground navigation, Graboids are so sensitive to sound they *must* retreat from loud explosions, which cause them great pain due to sensory overload. For the same reason, Graboids are unable to hunt during rainstorms. The scientific explanation for this is based on the fact that scientists recently learned that rain is one of the loudest sounds underwater in the ocean.

Graboids are ambush predators, preferring to sneak up on their quarry, though they are shown to chase it down with great determination. They erupt from the ground and use their tentacles to ensnare prey, pulling them into their mouth. The tentacles wrap around the prey, biting into its flesh or hooking the prey with their horn-like spikes. When the prey attempts to flee by climbing, Graboids will simply dig away the earth under the hiding place, undermining it until it collapses or sinks low enough to allow the Graboid to pluck off the hiding prey. When they are unable to break down the prey's hiding spot, the undaunted Graboids will continue circling it like sharks until it ceases making vibrations. Usually, they wait so long the prey dies of dehydration or starvation, i.e. several days.

## Moveset

Moves: Take down, Roar, Shriek, Slash, Crunch, Coil, Body slam, Thrash(thrashes its whole body around dealing slight fatigue to itself), Dragon Breath, Fire fang, Earth fang, Sandstorm, ThunderWave, Earthquake, Stone edge, energy ball, Sacred sword, Stench up(Causes immediate MegaFatigue and SuffocationBlight to foes who inhale the fumes), Mucus Spit, Clamp, Roaring Sphere, Rock smash, Giga Impact, Draco Meteor.

## Discovery

Discovered in 3090, Professor Tsuki had been studying a currently alone Diablos hatchling waiting for its mother to come back behind a set of rocks when her partner began getting pulled under the ground. she of course instead of helping him used a heat scanner to see beneath the ground and saw the graboid dragging him under. she made note of the new hazard she and her teams would now have trouble with.

## Trivia

Graboids are the first creature from the Tremors franchise to appear on Thanator B.