Wyrms


 * "Wyrm" redirects here. For the summoning familiar, see Desert Wyrm. For the slayer monsters, see Strykewyrm.

The Wyrms are thought to be the ancient ancestors of dragons that went extinct several thousand years ago due to evolution and heavy involvement in the God Wars.

Wyrms were far stronger than dragons, and were often used as riding animals in the God Wars. A single wyrm was capable of destroying massive cities and wiping out entire armies, making them invaluable assets to those that were able to tame them. This was not an easy task, though; wyrms were incredibly difficult to control, and those that rode them, the Dragon Riders, were highly valued by their masters. They were even used by Zaros as personal bodyguards.

When telling the story of the Tears of Guthix, the NPC Juna mentions these creatures: The colossal Wyrms, of whom today's dragons are a pale reflection, turned all the sky to fire, while on the ground armies of foot soldiers, goblins and trolls and humans, filled the valleys and plains with blood.

By the end of the God Wars, the wyrms' heavy involvement in combat had left their race decimated. With little prey remaining, climate shifts occurring in many locations, and perhaps other unknown changes, the few remaining wyrms presumably evolved into the dragons that inhabit Gielinor today. Some, however, did not fully evolve, such as the Brutal Green Dragons that inhabit the Ancient Cavern beneath Baxtorian Falls.

Wyrms today

 * Desert Wyrm familiars are a type of small wyrm from the Spirit Plane.
 * The Strykewyrms, of which there are Jungle, Desert and Ice varieties, may be related to the ancient wyrms.