Vermicious Knids are a fictional species of amorphous aliens that invade the Space Hotel USA in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. 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 and prey on the Oompa-Loompas. The other named animals are the Hornswogglers, the Snozzwangers, and the Whangdoodles.
In their natural form, Vermicious Knids are huge, dark, egg-shaped beings who do not have any teeth, but swallow their victims whole. The Knids are quite at home in the vacuum of space, originating on the planet Vermes, a fictional planet located (as stated in dialogue) 184,270,000,000 miles 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. Wonka knows that this interval is ideal for escaping an encounter with the Knids.
According to Willy, numerous sentient alien species have been wiped out by the Knids' predations. Wonka claims that the only reason humans have escaped this fate is because the Knids - not being heatproof and not possessing retro-rockets – cannot enter Earth's atmosphere without being burned up by friction. In fact, Wonka says, what humans believe to be shooting stars are really shooting Knids burning up as they enter our atmosphere.
In Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, a swarm of Knids take advantage of the new Space Hotel USA to lie in wait for humans. When the transport capsule brings the first guests to the Space Hotel, the Knids attack, devouring some of the guests and leaving the survivors to retreat to the capsule. Unfortunately the transport capsule, unlike Wonka's Great Glass Elevator, is not Knid-proof, and the Knids again attack, damaging its rockets and leaving it unable to return to Earth. Wonka, Charlie, and Grandpa Joe decide to rescue the damaged capsule by towing it back to Earth. One Knid wraps itself round the Elevator, then the rest form a line, and the end one forms a hook, planning to hook onto the one wrapped round the Elevator and tow it away. However the Elevator then returns to Earth, and the Knids burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere.
The Vermicious Knids also make a brief appearance as, again, an animal species native to Loompa Land in the 2005 adaptation Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Wonka travels to Loompa Land in search of new flavors for candy, and when a giant green hornet-like animal (a Knid) attacks him he quickly kills it with a machete. Ever in search of new flavors, Wonka tastes the blood on the knife, but finds it wholly unsuitable for use in candy.
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 these games, Knids seem to have entered the factory and have the appearance of flying green blobs with single red eyes.
The etymology of the name was not provided by Dahl. Pronunciation of Knid is said in the book to approximate adding a schwa between the "K" and "nid", or in Dahl's words, "K'nid". Cnidaria is the name of the taxonomic phylum containing stinging aquatic invertebrates such as jellyfish and coral, itself derived from the classical Greek word for nettle, κνίδη. Vermicious is a real word, meaning "worm like".
The Vermicious Knids are also mentioned in several other Dahl stories, including James and the Giant Peach (after police see that the peach has landed on the Empire State Building) and The Minpins.
Read more about this topic: Snozzwanger