History Main / PrimateVersusReptile

* In ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', [[TheHero Optimus Primal]] transforms into a [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys gorilla]] and [[BigBad Megatron]] transforms into a [[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]]. The opening theme song even ends with a scene of Megatron attempting to bite Primal's head, while Primal holds the jaws open with his bare hands.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Comics]]

[[folder:Fanfics]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

** The TropeCodifier is ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'', in which the titular ape fights a [[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]] (called “the Meat-Eater” in the script), a serpent-like plesiosaur and a [[PteroSoarer giant pterosaur]].

* In ''Film/Rampage2018'', the climactic battle of the film is between the gigantic gorilla George and the even more gigantic crocodile Lizzie, after Lizzie quickly kills George's previous opponent, Ralph the giant wolf.
* ''The Adventures Of Hercules II'' has a scene where King Minos uses the powers he got from the Gods to turn into a giant T. rex, then a giant snake. Hercules, in response, turns into a giant ape. The fight is hand-drawn animation traced from the monster fights in ''Film/KingKong1933''.

* Inverted in ''Series/{{Primeval}}''. At the end of the first season, a Gorgonopsid and a Future Predator fight against each other. While the Future Predator can inflict some bad blows on the Gorgonopsid, the Gorgonopsid is far superior to him and can eventually kill him.
** The Future Predator is a further developed bat from the future, which actually has a physique similar to a primate. Technically, the Gorgonopsid is not a real reptile, but a synapsid, but still qualifies for this trope.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7KIfzYc9SA Godzilla Vs Kong]] web animations created by Website/YouTube user Joe Connelly show a clash between the Film/MonsterVerse versions of Godzilla and Kong, but [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] the trope [[spoiler:by making Kong ''much smaller'' than Godzilla, thus the match becomes [[CurbStompBattle extremely uneven]].]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/Primal2019'' episode "Rage of the Ape-Men" has a fight between the [[FrazettaMan ape-man]] warrior Krog [[spoiler:who is under the effect of a strength-inducing serum that turns him into a KingKongCopy]] and the tyrannosaurus Fang. The roles are very much inverted, as Fang is sympathetic and one of the protagonists, whereas Krog is the cruel champion of the evil ape-men.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The ''Series/UltramanNeos'' episode, "King of the Biosphere", is a WholePlotReference to King Kong. HEART, on a mission to rescue a Japanese scientist trapped in an island full of monsters, comes across King Bamos, a friendly, mammalistic kaiju (who looks like King Kong crossed between a lion and a pug) who is constantly at war against the island's resident hostile monsters, the Tyrannosaurus-like Rock Eaters, which Bamos frequently kills in order to protect his human companions and the island's native fauna.

* Pretty much every incarnation of Franchise/KingKong has had one of these fights.

* The ''Series/UltramanNeos'' episode, "King of the Biosphere", is basically a WholePlotReference to King Kong. HEART, on a mission to rescue a Japanese scientist trapped in an island full of monsters, comes across King Bamos, a friendly, mammalistic kaiju (who looks like King Kong crossed between a lion and a pug) who is constantly at war against the island's resident hostile monsters, the Tyrannosaurus-like Rock Eaters, which Bamos frequently kills in order to protect his human companions and the island's native fauna.

Symbolically, the trope works because the primate is automatically more relatable, therefore more sympathetic, than the more repulsive reptilian monster (because ReptilesAreAbhorrent).

When the opponent is a dinosaur, it works as a ClashOfEvolutionaryLevels - the more "modern" primate fighting and more often than not defeating the more "primitive" dinosaur calls back to the mammals' supplanting of reptiles as the dominant animal class on Earth following the K-T extinction, to which humanity owes its existence. The inverse to this point-of-view is that the dinosaurs are an "elder race" that is stronger, wiser, more advanced, firmly established, and much more accomplished than the primates who are a "younger race" and thus largely unequal and inferior to the dinosaurs as a civilization and species.

On a side note, it should be noted that, while ''Homo sapiens'' is indeed a member of the primate family, this trope relates to non-human primates, so the numerous works such as ''{{Film/Anaconda}}'', ''Film/LakePlacid'', and the like that feature average (or super) humans battling snakes, crocodiles, ''[[RaptorAttack Velociraptors]]'' etc. don't apply here. Similarly, birds are technically classified as reptiles, being dinosaurs and all, but this trope only refers to reptiles in the traditional "scaly" sense, so works with primates battling birds and feathered non-avian dinosaurs also don't apply here.

A clear {{subtrope}} of BehemothBattle. The giant ape is generally a KingKongCopy; however, that's not always true. Similarly, the giant reptile is often a {{Notzilla}} or a TRexpy, if it's not based on a real dinosaur. Compare SpinosaurusVersusTRex, a similar monster fight in which both fighters are reptilian, as a StockShoutOut to a [[Film/JurassicPark3 much later movie]].

On a side note, it should be noted that, while ''Homo sapiens'' is indeed a member of the primate family, this trope relates mostly to non-human primates, so the numerous works such as ''{{Film/Anaconda}}'', ''Film/LakePlacid'', and the like that feature average (or super) humans battling snakes, crocodiles, ''[[RaptorAttack Velociraptors]]'' etc. don't apply here. Similarly, birds are technically classified as reptiles, being dinosaurs and all, but this trope only refers to reptiles in the traditional "scaly" sense, so works with primates battling birds and feathered non-avian dinosaurs also don't apply here.

** The TropeCodifier is ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'', in which the titular ape fights a [[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]]-like dinosaur only known as the Meat-Eater, a serpent-like plesiosaur and a [[PteroSoarer giant pterosaur]].

** ''Film/{{King Kong|2005}}'' (2005): The film ups the stakes by Kong fighting not one, not two, but ''three'' Tyrannosaurus (named Vastatosaurus in this film, [[TRexpy a fictional genus that is supposed to be the descendant of Tyrannosaurus]]).

Ever since Franchise/KingKong brawled against several {{prehistoric monster}}s in his [[Film/KingKong1933 1933 debut]], and more famously against Franchise/{{Godzilla}} in ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla'' -- pretty much cementing the two in pop culture as ''the'' iconic battling {{kaiju}} -- filmmakers (and other creators) have found the image of a giant ape (or a primate-like creature) fighting a giant reptile too iconic, symbolic, and [[RuleOfCool just plain awesome]] to resist. As a result, dozens of homages to the scene have sprung up over the years, as well as variations on its imagery and themes.

* Invoked and averted in a fanmade ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' segment where Bart, having gained {{Reality Warp|er}}ing powers, conjured up [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E5TreehouseOfHorrrorIII King Homer]] and [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS27E5TreehouseOfHorrorXXVI Homerzilla]] for them to fight. Rather than brawl for his amusement, however, the two monsters teamed up and rampaged through Springfield.

* Invoked and averted in a fanmade ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' segment where Bart, having gained {{Reality Wrap|er}}ing powers, conjured up [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E5TreehouseOfHorrroIII King Homer]] and [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS27E5TreehouseOfHorrorXXVI Homerzilla]] for them to fight. Rather than brawl for his amusement, however, the two monsters teamed up and rampaged through Springfield.

* The cover of ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes: Colony'' features an ape facing off against a scaled dinosaur.

* While ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' plays this trope straight, the "good primate" and "bad reptile" roles are inverted, as the titular hero is a dragon and the Apes are a villainous race of barbaric savages.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7KIfzYc9SA Godzilla Vs Kong]] web animations created by Website/YouTube user Joe Connelly show a clash between the Film/MonsterVerse versions of Godzilla and Kong, but [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] the trope [[spoiler:by making Kong ''much smaller'' than Godzilla, thus the match extremely uneven]].

** In the largely-forgotten sequel, ''Son Of Kong'', his son battles what appears to be a nothosaurus (called a Dragon by supplementary material), and early relative of the plesiosaurs and pliosaurs.
** ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a fight between Franchise/{{Godzilla}} and Kong.

** ''Film/{{King Kong|1976}}'' (1976): Although there are no dinosaurs in this film, Kong gets to fight a giant snake.

** The TropeCodifier is ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'', in which the titular ape fights a [[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]], a serpent-like plesiosaur and a [[PteroSoarer giant pterosaur]].
** In the largely-forgotten sequel, ''Son Of Kong'', his son battles a nothosaurus, and early relative of the plesiosaurs and pliosaurs.

*** And of course, ''Film/GodzillaVsKong''.

** Played with in the sequel, ''Film/WarOfTheGargantuas'', with hairy heroic mammalian Sanda fighting his [[EvilTwin "twin"]], Gaira, who's [[GreenAndMean green]], [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent scaly]], and [[ToServeMan eats people]].

** The TropeCodifier is ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'', in which the titular ape fights a Tyrannosaurus rex, a serpent-like plesiosaur and a giant pterosaur.

** ''Film/{{King Kong|2005}}'' (2005): The film ups the stakes by Kong fighting not one, not two, but ''three'' Tyrannosaurus (named Vastatosaurus in this film, a fictional genus that is supposed to be the descendant of Tyrannosaurus).

* In ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', [[TheHero Optimus Primal]] transforms into a [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys gorilla]] and [[BigBad Megatron]] transforms into a TyrannosaurusRex. The opening theme song even ends with a scene of Megatron attempting to bite Primal's head, while Primal holds the jaws open with his bare hands.

* ''WesternAnimation/KongTheAnimatedSeries'': Par for the course, given that not only is Kong Island populated with dinosaurs--most of whom were actually docile toward Kong and his human allies but, you know, ''TyrannosaurusRex'' and raptors--but the BigBad and his flunkies had the ability to merge with animals of their choice, many of these being reptiles, naturally.

When the opponent is a dinosaur, it works as a ClashOfEvolutionaryLevels - the more "modern" primate fighting and more often than not defeating the more "primitive" dinosaur calls back to the mammals' supplanting of reptiles as the dominant animal class on Earth following the K-T extinction, to which humanity owes its existence. The inverse to this point-of-view is that the dinosaurs are an "elder race" that is stronger, wiser, more advanced, firmly established, and much more accomplished than the primates who are a "younger race" and thus largely unequal to the dinosaurs as a civilization and species.

When the opponent is a dinosaur, it works as a ClashOfEvolutionaryLevels - the more "modern" primate fighting and more often than not defeating the more "primitive" dinosaur calls back to the mammals' supplanting of reptiles as the dominant animal class on Earth following the K-T extinction, to which humanity owes its existence.

A clear {{subtrope}} of BehemothBattle. The giant ape is generally a KingKongCopy; however, that's not always true. Similarly, the giant reptile is often a {{Notzilla}}, if it's not based on a real dinosaur. Compare SpinosaurusVersusTRex, a similar monster fight in which both fighters are reptilian, as a StockShoutOut to a [[Film/JurassicPark3 much later movie]].