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Author Frank Herbert’s original sci-fi novel Dune launched one of the most beloved outer space adventures in all literature. Many books followed, and as a result, the Dune saga explored several topics from the eyes of various characters. For example, the monopolies on vital resources, the fallibility of great leaders, and the power of ecology and religion. But what about the aliens?
For the most part, the Dune universe lacks aliens such as Klingons or Wookiees, but it does have the mighty sandworms – armored giants that prowl the dunes of the arid world, Arrakis. Everyone who lives or works on Dune knows what the sandworms are. However, most people don’t truly understand these exotic creatures.
Warning: Dune lore spoilers ahead.
10 Sandworms Sense Prey Via Rhythmic Vibrations
The sandworms don’t have eyes, nor do they use their sense of smell to attack their human prey. Instead, the sandworms of Dune sense vibrations in the sand, making them incredibly sensitive and perceptive. No vibrations or impacts on the sand go unnoticed.
In particular, regular and rhythmic patterns attract the worms’ attention, such as footsteps or vehicles driving along the dunes. If someone carelessly walks around like that, they’ll meet a sandworm before long.
9 Sandworms Can Be Ridden As Mounts
Anyone visiting Arrakis/Dune might believe the mighty sandworms cannot be tamed or kept as pets, and for the most part, that’s correct. The sandworms cannot be domesticated or trained. However, the wandering Fremen use them as mounts like they’re giant, legless horses.
Fremen attract a worm on purpose and then use ropes and hooks to climb onto its back. The Fremen also pry open a plate on the sandworm’s body to expose its inner flesh and discourage them from going back under the dunes.
8 Sandworms Are Nearly Indestructible
Sandworms are impossible to kill. These mammoth creatures have naturally thick armor plating from head to tail, and no one – not even the elite Sardaukar or the Harkonnens – have found a way to kill them. As such, no one can claim a sandworm as a trophy buck.
Sandworms are able to shrug off lasgun shots, which is saying something. And it’s not even clear whether nuclear weapons can kill these beasts as no one is willing to nuke Arrakis into oblivion to find out. Consequently, they’re generally avoided instead.
7 Sandworms Are Revered As Shai-Hulud, The Maker By The Fremen
The nomadic Fremen have a special name for the sandworms: Shai-Hulud or the great Maker. The Fremen don’t see the sandworms as demons or monsters, but rather, a vital part of Dune’s brutal ecology. Even if they could, they wouldn’t dare harm a sandworm.
The Fremen view the sandworms with awe and respect, which is a key part of Fremen culture. The Fremen are angry that outsiders both try to kill them and attack the sandworms. They know that thugs like the Harkonnens could never appreciate the savage beauty of the sandworms.
6 Sandworms Make The Spice Melange
The spice Melange is the most vital resource in the Imperium. It extends people’s lives and allows guild navigators to perform the calculations necessary to guide spaceships. Spice is mined in the sands of Dune, as everyone knows, but it’s tough to mine the Spice when the sandworms keep attacking the miners.
Only the Fremen know that the sandworms actually make the spice themselves, hence Maker. This is one of the reasons the Fremen tribes respect the worms. So, killing the worms to make mining Spice easier would only mean no more spice after a time.
5 The Sandworms Are Very Hot Inside
Many aspects of sandworm biology are known from the original Dune books. However, director Denis Villeneuve didn’t have much time to explore this topic in his 2021 movie. It’s clear the worms are big and hungry, but subtle details from the books help paint an even clearer picture of these creatures.
Some Dune characters note that when sandworms emerge and open their mouths, intense, furnace-like heat emits from them – hotter than the Arrakis sun itself. The sandworms are like engines on the inside, and their hellishly hot breath carries the scent of cinnamon.
4 Sandworms Can’t Stand Water
It’s no coincidence that the giant sandworms live on the driest planet in the Imperium. They thrive on Dune/Arrakis, and if the worms were transported to another world, such as the temperate Caladan, they’d suffer greatly and die. These worms must only live in a desert biome.
Sandworms don’t need water to survive. In fact, water kills them. Consequently, ordinary water is poison and can be used to deter the worms if the carrier knows what they’re doing. A sandworm will simply break apart and die in agony, as the climax of God Emperor of Dune showed.
3 Sandworms Are Made Of Sandtrout
The sandworms aren’t born in their titanic forms. Instead, they go through a larval stage known as sandtrout. Countless sandtrout can be found all over Dune. Fremen children like to play with sandtrout, which are a common sight in the deep desert, although spice miners like the Harkonnens and Atreides family don’t bother with them.
Sandtrout assemble and grow to form a sandworm over many centuries, and that’s how the sandworm lifecycle works. Notably, sandtrout are the ones responsible for locking away all of Dune’s water so the adult sandworms can survive.
2 Sandworms Have Many Teeth
The sandworms don’t typically chew things. However, they do have mouths filled with thousands of sharp teeth, which makes them a fearsome sight. Nearly all artistic impressions of the sandworms show their sharp teeth, although the length may vary.
The resourceful Fremen have a long-standing ritual to collect sandworm teeth and use them as ritual knives known as crysknives. Such knives are sharp but can break, coining the Fremen ritual battle phrase: “May thy knife chip and shatter!”
1 Sandworms Almost Went Extinct Twice
The sandworms aren’t an endangered species during the main events of the 1984 Dune movie or the 2021 version. However, later in Dune lore, this species is pushed to the brink more than once. First, Paul’s son Leto II attracted all sandtrout to his body to become a human sandworm and the only one in existence – a species of one.
Leto II later arranged his own death, causing countless sandtrout to scatter across Arrakis and restart the species once his body fell apart in a river. Later, the sandworms almost died out again after the Lost Ones returned. Eventually, just one sandworm remained until it was shipped to another desert world to survive. No one could afford to let the lone survivor die.
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