Glassworm
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Glassworm | |
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Length: |
Up to over 100 meters (330 ft)[1] |
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The Meridian Glassworm (French: tisseuse de roches, translating to "Weaver of Rocks" or "Rock Weaver",[1] and sometimes referred to as a sandworm[2]) is a massive creature living underneath the surface of the human outer colony of Meridian.[3] Popular tales claimed the glassworm was either left behind by the Covenant, or created during the glassing process. Despite its erroneously-given name, the creature is native to the planet and predates the world's glassing in 2551. They were sporadically encountered throughout the 25th century, though mostly lived inside the planet's mantle until the superheating and vitrification of the surface brought them further up and made their sightings more frequent. This led to their name, given by the Liang-Dortmund Corporation teams working to rehabilitate the planet in the post-war era, with popular rumour suggesting that the creatures were left on the planet by the Covenant after the Battle of Meridian.[1]
While the History of Meridian series of documentaries produced by Free Frontier Education claims that the invasion of Meridian killed all life on the moon,[4] their Meridian Codex series has a specific entry focusing on the glassworm and its history.[1] The creature was known to be simulated aboard the UNSC Infinity for War Games.[5]
Glassworms remain a significant threat to de-glassing teams operating on Meridian (in particular their mining rigs), and workers are instructed to immediately shut down all mining equipment should one be sighted.[1]
In-game information[edit]
Halo 5: Guardians[edit]
The glassworm is only visible as an Easter egg on the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer map The Rig. To activate the Easter egg, a player needs to ground pound a platform above the hole in the middle of the map, which will cause two canisters to come out of silos. When the canisters are shot, a glassworm will come screeching out of the sand and swallow a distant rig.
Production notes[edit]
The glassworm is a reference to the science fiction series Dune, specifically the sandworms which roam the desert planet Arrakis and are known to devour mobile mining rigs whole.
The glassworm was implemented by The Rig level designer Adrian Bedoya and artist Shon Mitchell. The easter egg was concieved of by Bedoya due to his personal hobby of sculpting creatures in Zbrush, leading to him wanting to put a creature in-game somehow. Bedoya spent a few evenings out-of-work sculpting the glassworm in his own time, before handing it to Mitchell who handled the animations, VFX, and in-game implementation.[2][6]
Gallery[edit]
The glassworm devouring a rig
The worm displays its massive size
A render of the raw high-poly sculpt of the worm.
A render of the raw high-poly sculpt of the worm.
Model render of the glassworm
List of appearances[edit]
- Halo 5: Guardians (First appearance)
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Joyeuse Occasions (Retrieved on Nov 19, 2025) [archive]
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Post-Launch Carnage Report (Retrieved on Dec 23, 2019) [archive]
- ^ Halo 5: Guardians, multiplayer map The Rig
- ^ Halo 5: Guardians, Mission Intel: The History of Meridian 6/6
- ^ Halo 5: Guardians, multiplayer map The Rig
- ^ Adrian Bedoya // Level Designer, Halo 5: Guardians (Retrieved on Mar 18, 2024) [archive]
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