Vermicious Knids

Vermicious Knids is not in willy winks is pronounced K'nid) are a species of amorphous, shape-shifting aliens that invade the Space Hotel USeA in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They are also mentioned in the 1971 feature film adaptation, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, except on this occasion they are referred to as being one of the species of animals that inhabit Loompaland. The vermicious Knid is also mentioned in James and the Giant Peach. At the end of the story, when Miss Spider is emerging from the peach, the Chief of Police cries "It's worse than [a giant scorpula]! It's a vermicious Knid! Oh, just look at its vermicious gruesome face!"

Description

Official Description

"In their natural form, vermicious knids are huge, dark, egg-shaped beings that are quite at home in the vacuum of space. Their homeworld is the planet Vermes, a planet located (as stated in dialogue) 184,270,000,000 miles away from Earth (this would place it at 52 times Pluto's distance). Their one weak point is that they are show-offs; they cannot resist shaping themselves to spell the word "SCRAM" - the only word they know - before they attack. Willy Wonka knows that this interval is ideal for escaping an encounter with the K'nids."

Overview

Wonka claims that Knids travel at super speeds, with the rate of 1,000,000 miles per day being their version of casual exercise or commuting to work, and when they are baiting a Knid by towing the space shuttle at 3,400 miles per hour, Wonka warns Charlie that despite their breakneck speed, the Knid considers this dawdling, so they must be precise in their trap.

Another gruesome fact is that Knids are carnivorious, feeding on any species they can find (except other Knids). Willy Wonka tells Charlie at one point the planets of the Solar System were populated with many peaceful species, but they are all now extinct due to the Knids' discovery of Mars, Venus and other jovial worlds, to which their inhabitants were killed (specially as food for Knids). Wonka says humans and animals of Earth have been spared this horrible fate due to Earth having an atmosphere, which is dangerous to enter from space, which is why Willy Wonka outfitted his Great Glass Elevator with retro-rockets and heat shields. Knids, however, do not have these, and as a result would burn up if they attempted to invade Earth. Wonka also tells Charlie that shooting stars are in fact Knids who are burning to death, due to their stupidity or boldness in attempting to attack Earth despite the well-known warnings.

Behind the Scenes

When Nestle created their interpretation of Wonka's world to sell chocolate bars under the name "Wonka", they released a number of downloadable flash games. In all these games, Knids seem to have entered the factory and have the appearance of a flying green blob with two red eyes.