| 1 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 2 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_cast.jpg]] |
| 3 | !Original Series (1999) |
| 4 | !!New Blood |
| 5 | [[folder:''Coelophysis'']] |
| 6 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwdbook_coelophysis.jpg]] |
| 7 | The first dinosaur to appear, and the main character of this episode. |
| 8 | ---- |
| 9 | * AbusiveParents: All too willing to devour their own babies if they are low on food. |
| 10 | * ActionGirl: The one we most frequently see and who appears to be the pack's leader is female. |
| 11 | * ActionSurvivor: The one animal along with the cynodonts, ''Peteinosaurus'' and ''Plateosaurus'' that survived the trials and tribulations of the Triassic. ''Placerias'' and ''Postosuchus'', to put it bluntly, weren't so lucky. |
| 12 | * AdaptedOut: One of the four protagonist animals along with ''Diplodocus'', ''Liopleurodon'' and ''Leallynasaura'' to be absent from the Arena Spectacular, apparently to avert MisplacedWildlife on the part of ''Plateosaurus'' (who was native to Europe, as opposed to North America like ''Coelophysis''). It's noteworthy in that it's the only one of the four to be ''replaced'' by another dinosaur--in this case, ''Liliensternus'', a similar theropod that [[ShownTheirWork actually did coexist with]] ''Plateosaurus''. |
| 13 | * AdaptationalSpeciesChange: The stage show changed the ''Coelophysis'' into the ''Liliensternus'', possibly because it's bigger, so it was easier to portray as a costume that could fit a person inside, and because ''Liliensternus'', unlike ''Coelophysis'', actually coexisted with ''Plateosaurus''. |
| 14 | * AnachronismStew: The episode is set 220 MYA, but ''Coelophysis'' isn't definitively known from the Chinle Formation until about 208 MYA. This might be because the earlier coelophysid, ''Camposaurus'', which actually did live at that time, was often considered a species of ''Coelophysis''. |
| 15 | * BigEater: It is constantly seen eating or trying to eat, and everything is game to it. |
| 16 | * EatsBabies: Of their own kind! And the cynodonts... |
| 17 | * ExplosiveBreeder: We don't see them laying eggs, but they keep breeding even during the dry season until there is nothing left to eat but themselves. |
| 18 | * FragileSpeedster: It's faster and more agile than any other reptile of the time, but it's also more fragile than the other reptiles. |
| 19 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: Thought introduced as potential predators of ''Placerias'' right away, it is hard to picture them as such until they become TheSwarm, and by that point even ''[[TheWorfEffect Postosuchus]]'' is in their sight. Doubles as one for Theropod dinosaurs, who will soon become the dominant predators on Earth, and remain such for 140 million years. |
| 20 | * JackOfAllStats: It is not notable for anything in particular (except perhaps [[ExplosiveBreeder explosive breeding]]) yet it is thanks to that lack of specialization that it is so adaptable and has become the most common resident vertebrate in the area. |
| 21 | * LaserGuidedKarma: A ''Coelophysis'' eats a baby cynodont, the cynodont father later hunts a baby ''Coelophysis''. Not that the ''Coelophysis'' would care much, because they [[SubvertedTrope also eat their own young]]. |
| 22 | * NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: During the tail end of the dry season, food becomes so scarce they start hunting juveniles of their own species (notably, the supposed evidence of ''Coelophysis'' cannibalism has [[ScienceMarchesOn since been discredited]], although most predators will eat their own kind given desperate circumstances, including humans, so it's not necessarily implausible). |
| 23 | * OffingTheOffspring: Whenever food gets scarce, they will eat their own babies without a second thought. |
| 24 | * TheSwarm: At the end of the episode it gangs up to kill a dying ''Postosuchus''. |
| 25 | * VillainProtagonist: Not exactly the most sympathetic main character of the series. |
| 26 | * WhosLaughingNow: Despite being small and fragile, at the end of the episode they eat the resident top predator (''Postosuchus'') and meet with their gigantic relative, ''Plateosaurus''. Both scenes herald the true beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. |
| 27 | * ZergRush: Not at first, but they eventually use this on ''Postosuchus''. |
| 28 | [[/folder]] |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[folder:Cynodont]] |
| 31 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwdbook_cynodont.jpg]] |
| 32 | A close relative of mammals trying to raise a litter in a burrow underground. |
| 33 | ---- |
| 34 | * ActionSurvivor: Represents the future of the mammals. |
| 35 | * AllAnimalsAreDogs: They are decidedly dog-like in their behavior, including barking at threats and having close social bonds. |
| 36 | * AllThereInTheManual: The tie-in book ''Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History'' confirms that it was based on isolated teeth from the Chinle Formation then attributed to large cynodonts (which in 2005 was named ''Kraterokheirodon'') but its appearance and behavior were based on the Early Triassic ''Thrinaxodon''. [[note]] A case of ArtisticLicensePaleontology and ScienceMarchesOn, since the aforementioned teeth were attributed to traversodonts, a different type of non-mammalian cynodont that were usually ''herbivorous'', and ''Kraterokheirodon'' was later determined to be undiagnostic beyond being an amniote of some kind, a common fate of tooth taxa. [[/note]] |
| 37 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: They are related to the gorgonopsians that were the dominant predators before the archosaurs, and also to the mammals that became dominant after the dinosaurs. But right now, they are [[OvershadowedByAwesome completely overshadowed]] by the archosaurs and limited to play a marginal role -- both plot-wise and ecologically. |
| 38 | * BattleCouple: Males and females stay together while raising their young. |
| 39 | * CuriosityIsACrapshoot: What becomes on one of the pups. When the male goes off hunting, one of his pups follows him to the burrow's entrance out of curiosity, only to then get eaten by a ''Coelophysis''. |
| 40 | * EatsBabies: ''Their own'' babies, and also the babies of ''Coelophysis''. |
| 41 | * MeaningfulName: "Cynodont" means "dog tooth", and indeed, these ones act very canine-like, down to barking and wagging their tails. |
| 42 | * MixAndMatchCritters: They look like a lizard and dog hybrid. |
| 43 | * MostWritersAreHuman: It's based on two teeth, and doesn't even have a name, but they're the characters treated with the most sympathy in the episode, with focus on the unique and close bonds between mates and their offspring (which is purely speculative, as we don't actually know if non-mammalian cynodonts cared for their young). It's probably not coincidental they are the animals most closely related to humans in the episode. Even when they kill and eat their own children, it's portrayed as a very grim necessary evil. |
| 44 | * NoNameGiven: They are only referred to as "cynodonts" rather than by genus name as with every other animal in the episode. This is because they are based on two teeth fossils which did not have a name until 2005 (dubbed ''Kraterokheirodon''). However, when the teeth were named, the original cynodont classification was called into question, so there's no conclusive evidence of cynodonts from the Chinle Formation other than the rat-sized ''Kataigidodon'' (and even it is very fragmentary). |
| 45 | * OffingTheOffspring: When they have to move out because of the ''Coelophysis''. |
| 46 | * PapaWolf: Until the ''Coelophysis'' discover the burrow and the pair decides the young aren't worth defending anymore. |
| 47 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The pups. [[ShootTheDog And then they had to die]]… |
| 48 | * RuleOfCool: They are larger than the local fossils imply, and there is no fossil evidence for the eating of young as a defensive measure. |
| 49 | * ShootTheDog: The narration acknowledges that the cynodonts eating their babies was a necessary evil; if they are to move out and start anew, they won't be able to bring their young with them. It was likely a choice between killing the young quickly or leaving them to get eaten by the ''Coelophysis''... |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:''Placerias'']] |
| 53 | [[quoteright:193:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8aa55ce25b112e30844b955fd6789172.jpg]] |
| 54 | The species chosen to represent the obsolete basal synapsids of the past. |
| 55 | ---- |
| 56 | * ButtMonkey: Representing all the species that can't survive the Triassic, and basically serves the episode simply as prey for ''Postosuchus'' and ''Coelophysis''. However, it must be noted that ''no'' single species dominated the entire face of the Earth as they did, and none since save humans. |
| 57 | * DumbDinos: Ironically, it and ''Postosuchus'' serve that role in contrast to ''Coelophysis'', the real dinosaur of the episode, being depicted as sluggish and lumbering relics from a bygone age that are destined to be supplanted by the dinosaurs. |
| 58 | * DumbMuscle: Not too bright, but definitely brawny and armed with sharp tusks. |
| 59 | * FatalForcedMarch: They're shown being forced to migrate in a desperate attempt to find new greenery when the dry season lasts longer than normal and all the vegetation in the region has already either been eaten or dried to a crisp. The pessimistic narration and the fact they don't come back when the wet season finally arrives at the episode's end strongly suggests a grim fate for them. |
| 60 | * LastOfHisKind: They are described as being the last surviving species of an ancient and once-successful group of reptiles (the group isn't named in the episode, but the group is obviously dicynodonts), although since the episode aired, slightly later surviving dicynodont species have been found. |
| 61 | * MightyGlacier: Between its size, strength, and sharp tusks, it's too much for most of the local predators to tackle, but it's also ''desperately slow''. |
| 62 | * MightyRoar: One scares a ''Coelophysis'' away with an impressive, guttural bellow. |
| 63 | * MonsterMunch: The EstablishingCharacterMoment of the ''Postosuchus'' is predating on them. |
| 64 | * StockSoundEffects: Some of their vocalizations are the same elephant roars used for the ''Triceratops'' in ''Film/OneMillionYearsBC''. |
| 65 | * ParentalNeglect: In the novelization, they are said to be R-type breeders, with females laying large numbers of eggs but after hatching, the young have to fend for themselves and few ever reach adulthood. They are allowed to travel with adults in a herd but recieve little protection from their older herd mates. |
| 66 | * ToothyBird: Downplayed. Unlike most dicynodonts, ''Placerias'' didn't actually have large tusks, they had tusk-''like'' protrusions of bone jutting directly from their skull (tusks were present but practically vestigial and would not have been visible from the sides), which is not portrayed in the episode. |
| 67 | * UncertainDoom: They're last seen marching off in search of food and water during the dry season after the river runs dry, with the implication they didn't make it through the harsh drought. |
| 68 | [[/folder]] |
| 69 | |
| 70 | [[folder:''Postosuchus'']] |
| 71 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_postosuchus.jpg]] |
| 72 | The main large predator of the time period. A quasi-crocodilian creature. |
| 73 | ---- |
| 74 | * AdaptationalBadass: Unlike the ponderous hulk shown in the episode, in the novelization, ''Postosuchus'' is shown to be capable of running, with the narration describing it as "fast", though it still relies mainly on ambush hunting akin to a big cat. |
| 75 | * AdaptationExpansion: The cause of the ''Postosuchus''' injury is never clearly explained; the narrator only said it was injured during its last hunt. In the book, however, it is stated the ''Postosuchus'' was injured by the tusk of a ''Placerias'' after a desperate attack driven by hunger. Furthermore, it tries to give one last fight against the ''Coelophysis'' pack and manages to kill one before succumbing to its wound. |
| 76 | * AlasPoorVillain: Technically it is no villain and just a predator, but its death nonetheless is one of the most depressing scenes in the series. |
| 77 | * ArmorIsUseless: Its tough osteoderms are no hindrance to the ''Coelophysis'' in the end and did not protect it from an ultimately fatal wound sustained during an offscreen fight with a prey animal. |
| 78 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Its marking behaviour drew some criticism from scientists, as no evidence suggested such behavior. It was also far too slow and clumsy, and should have been at least facultatively bipedal. The animal occasionally rears on its hind legs throughout the episode, however, just not to walk bipedally. |
| 79 | * BadassInDistress: It was injured in the middle of the episode, the injury ultimately lead to its agonizing death near the end of the episode. |
| 80 | * BigBad: Main predator in "New Blood" (besides the ''Coelophysis'', but they're sort of the protagonists). |
| 81 | * CoolVersusAwesome: In the book it fights a ''Plateosaurus''. |
| 82 | * DoomedHurtGuy: The female in the episode is cut on their thigh during an offscreen hunt. The injury gradually worsens over the course of the episode (set over the course of several months) and eventually kills her. |
| 83 | * DumbDinos: Ironically, it and ''Placerias'' serve that role in contrast to ''Coelophysis'', the real dinosaur of the episode, being depicted as sluggish and lumbering relics from a bygone age that are destined to be supplanted by the dinosaurs. |
| 84 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Eating a ''Placerias'' alive. |
| 85 | * GenderFlip: Partially in the book; the ''Postosuchus'' that attacks the ''Placerias'' herd is still a female, but the one that is injured and later killed by the ''Coelophysis'' flock is changed to a male. |
| 86 | * MightyGlacier: Huge and powerful, with jaws that can kill most prey in a single bite, but so large and heavily armoured that it's very slow and has to remain on four legs at all times to support its weight (note that this isn't believed to be the case in real life anymore). Its weight proves to be a hindrance when one gets injured on its leg, meaning it can no longer chase after prey. |
| 87 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Not a true crocodile but part of a related branch of archosaurs (being closer to crocodylomorphs than dinosaurs) and shares its extant relatives' armored scales and scutes. |
| 88 | * PrehistoricMonster: Played with. While it's portrayed as a villainous creature for much of the episode, it's also shown as a real animal with weaknesses and vulnerabilities towards the end of the episode. |
| 89 | * StarterVillain: It's the biggest threat to the earliest dinosaurs, before evolution takes hold and the dinosaurs come to dominate the land. |
| 90 | * StartsWithTheirFuneral: The Triassic segment first flashes the situation during the worst of the drought, including a shot of the ''Postosuchus'' skull on the ground. |
| 91 | * StockSoundEffects: Its roars are, of all things, modified versions of ''[[StockScream the Howie scream]]''. |
| 92 | * VillainProtagonist: Shares this role with ''Coelophysis''. |
| 93 | [[/folder]] |
| 94 | |
| 95 | [[folder:''Plateosaurus'']] |
| 96 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_plateosaurus.jpg]] |
| 97 | Appearing only in the end, as a harbinger of the takeover of the dinosaurs. |
| 98 | ---- |
| 99 | * ActionSurvivor: Along with ''Coelophysis'', ''Peteinosaurus'' and the cynodonts, though more blatantly as it represents the future success of the dinosaurs. |
| 100 | * AdaptationExpansion: In the tie-in book, it's shown scaring off a ''Postosuchus'', showcasing how it large size keeps it safe from predators. |
| 101 | * AdaptationalBadass: In the book it manages to win against the ''Postosuchus'' in a one on one battle. |
| 102 | * AdvertisedExtra: It is always mentioned as one of the characters in the first episode, yet the only thing they do is showing up at the end and being noted for being big. |
| 103 | * AnachronismStew: The giant species of ''Plateosaurus'' didn't appear until the Late Norian, several million years after the date the episode is supposed to be set (around the early Mid Norian). |
| 104 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Their anatomy has some general mishaps; the skull is a weird rounded shape rather than the rectangular shape of the real animal and their thighs are abnormally huge. They were also actually obligate bipeds rather than quadrupeds, [[ScienceMarchesOn but this was not known as the time]]. |
| 105 | * CoolVersusAwesome: Its adaptational fight with the ''Postosuchus''. |
| 106 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: Their presence, according to the narration, is meant to represent the future success of the dinosaurs. When they show up, they scare away the ''Coelophysis''! |
| 107 | -->"This is the shape of things to come..." |
| 108 | * GiantEqualsInvincible: To quote the narrator, they are simply too big to be threatened. |
| 109 | * MisplacedWildlife: Actually came from Germany (''Plateosaurus'' was probably chosen despite its geographical displacement because prosauropods of the Chinle Formation are only known from footprints). |
| 110 | [[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:''Peteinosaurus'']] |
| 113 | [[quoteright:278:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_peteinosaurus_2.jpg]] |
| 114 | A small pterosaur, appearing in a small role. |
| 115 | ---- |
| 116 | * ActionSurvivor: Implied, seeing as it represents the future success of the pterosaurs (who would one day rule the Mesozoic skies). |
| 117 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: It's depicted as a specialized insect hawker; while pterosaurs like ''Peteinosaurus'' were likely insect eaters, they don't have any adaptations that suggest that they would be at all good at hawking insects out of the air (that was more the forte of ''Anurognathus'''). |
| 118 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: Like ''Coelophysis'', its main role is to show the humble origins of a group of (future) large archosaurs, in this case pterosaurs. |
| 119 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: Has a lot of scenes, but never interacts with the other animals. |
| 120 | * MisplacedWildlife: Actually came from Germany and Italy. Hand waved by the narrator, who states that it and its kind arrived "from far and wide" because it was attracted to the insects at the water hole. Its inclusion is especially odd since teeth and jaw fragments from Texas were referred to the contemporary ''Eudimorphodon'' in the '80s (something that is acknowledged in ''Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence''). Had the series been made now, the actually North American ''Caelestiventus'' could have been used instead, although it lived slightly later. |
| 121 | * SuperiorSuccessor: It's depicted as easily usurping the position of aerial apex hunter from the insects that had dominated the air for a hundred million years prior to its evolution. |
| 122 | [[/folder]] |
| 123 | |
| 124 | !!Time of the Titans and The Ballad of Big Al |
| 125 | !!!''Allosaurus'' |
| 126 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 127 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_allosaurus.jpg]] |
| 128 | The largest predator and main antagonist in "Time of the Titans". |
| 129 | ---- |
| 130 | * ArtEvolution: The ''Allosaurus'' model gets better in the special ''The Ballad of Big Al''. |
| 131 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: |
| 132 | ** It was four times its actual size. This mistake is largely thanks to a close relative ''Epanterias'', which did reach such sizes (and in fact probably exceeded them) and there was a lot of confusion between the two. However, ''Epanterias'' may, in fact, simply be a large specimen of ''Allosaurus''. |
| 133 | ** It's portrayed in ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' with the crest horns above the eyes, instead of in front of them, as in real ''Allosaurus''. The skull is also unusually wide, even though allosaurs have narrow skulls. The issue with the crests is fixed by ''The Ballad of Big Al'', but the unusual width is not. |
| 134 | * AdaptationalExpansion: In the episode, after the crèche escapes the forest fire, we only see them being watched by some ''Allosaurus'' who are resting in the shade. In the novelization, however, they get attacked by a mob of ''Allosaurus'' and two of the ''Diplodocus'' get brutally mauled to death. |
| 135 | * BigBad: The main antagonists of "Time of the Titans" and the only predators that really pose a threat against the ''Diplodocus''. |
| 136 | * CombatPragmatist: After isolating a sick ''Diplodocus'' from its herd, Big Al and the other ''Allosaurus'' prefer to wait until it collapses from sunstroke, rather than attacking it outright. And for good reason; when Big Al tries to approach the Diplodocus, it finds the strength to whoop him good! |
| 137 | * BloodierAndGorier: In the episode, the ''Allosaurus'' are shown quickly dispatching a sauropodlet and later, one attacks the main female ''Diplodocus'' but only scars her back before being fought off by a larger ''Diplodocus''. In the novelization, however, after the crèche escapes the forest fire and rest by a river, they get attacked by several ''Allosaurus'' (including a 40-foot adult), and two of the adolescent ''Diplodocus'' get brutally mauled to death, [[BloodIsSquickerInWater with their blood spilling into the river]]. |
| 138 | * CoolVersusAwesome: The climax featuring it battling the ''Diplodocus''. Later in the special "The Ballad of the Big Al", a pack of ''Allosaurus'' hunts a herd of ''Diplodocus'', making it the biggest epic of the entire series. |
| 139 | * EatsBabies: Of ''Diplodocus'' and of [[MonstrousCannibalism its own kind]], if given the chance. |
| 140 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: First seen attacking the young ''Diplodocus''. |
| 141 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: The "Lions of the Jurassic" as the narrator puts it. |
| 142 | * GiganticAdultsTinyBabies: As shown in "The Ballad of Big Al". Although not as dramatic as ''Diplodocus'', the change in sizes from newborn to adult is still comparable to large crocodiles. |
| 143 | * HistoricalDomainCharacter: Big Al is the first creature in the franchise that is based on a particular individual. |
| 144 | * InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Sex between ''Allosaurus'' is not gentle, as Big Al learns when he hits puberty. |
| 145 | * LightningBruiser: It is the largest and strongest predator of its episode(s), and it is also built for speed. |
| 146 | * MamaBear: Chronologically, the first dinosaur species we see caring for its young. |
| 147 | * MixAndMatchCritters: Though it applies to most theropod dinosaurs, the making-of of "The Ballad of Big Al" highlights that it is like a large flightless bird in some aspects, and like an alligator in others. |
| 148 | * MonstrousCannibalism: Older ''Allosaurus'' can predate over the younger ones. That includes their own mother after her maternal instincts fade. |
| 149 | * RedBaron: The narrator calls it "the lion of the Jurassic". |
| 150 | * SeriesMascot: Out of all the species shown in the series, this is the one most used in advertising, along with the obvious '' Tyrannosaurus'' and ''[[RaptorAttack Utahraptor]]''. It even personifies dinosaurs at the end of ''Series/WalkingWithMonsters'', where it is shown to evolve from the [[FromNobodyToNightmare humble archosaur]] ''Euparkeria''. In ''The Ballad of Big Al'', it even gets a special all to itself, making it arguably the "mascot species" of the entire franchise. |
| 151 | * StockSoundEffects: Their adult roars seem to be lower-pitched screeches and caws from the ''Film/JurassicPark'' ''Velociraptors'' as well as chimpanzee screams, while the babies croak like baby alligators. |
| 152 | * TheSwarm: In "The Ballad of Big Al", several ''Allosaurus'' gather after the trail of a sick ''Diplodocus'' and succeed in bringing it down. They don't do this in a concerted manner, however, as they're not exactly social animals. |
| 153 | * WouldHurtAChild: It kills a young ''Diplodocus'', and later in the special ''The Ballad of Big Al'' it's shown to be cannibalistic. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Big Al]] |
| 157 | The main character of ''Series/TheBalladOfBigAl'', based on an individual skeleton found in Wyoming. |
| 158 | ---- |
| 159 | * AgonyOfTheFeet: The injury that ultimately does Al in is a broken toe. Said toe becomes infected and later undergoes necrosis -- that is, ''the tissue inside the toe dies and starts rotting while Al is still alive''. |
| 160 | * AnimalsNotToScale: A strange example, as he's based on a specific individual fossil (known as MOR 693). Al is depicted in the episode as being over 10 meters long at the end of his life, but the actual fossil is of an animal less than 8 meters long. |
| 161 | * AscendedExtra: Starts as the main antagonist of "Time of the Titans" and becomes the protagonist of "The Ballad of Big Al". It even personifies the arrival of the Age of the Dinosaurs in a small cameo at ''Series/WalkingWithMonsters''. |
| 162 | * BadassInDistress: Poor Al... With over 44 skeletal injuries in his fossil, he had a tough life and died young due to a foot injury. |
| 163 | * BodyHorror: Al's toe injury doesn't look that bad with flesh over it, but what an absolute horror it is in his skeleton! |
| 164 | * {{Bookends}}: After Al dies, his body is inspected by two infant ''Allosaurus''. |
| 165 | * ComingOfAgeStory: "The Ballad of Big Al" follows a male ''Allosaurus'' from birth to early adulthood. Unfortunately, this [[ForegoneConclusion also includes]] [[ShootTheShaggyDog his death]]. |
| 166 | * CradleToGraveCharacter: The special starts with his hatching and ends with his death. |
| 167 | * DeathByIrony: |
| 168 | ** Big Al is "saved" from being trapped in [[QuicksandSucks quicksand]] when a larger ''Allosaurus'' scares him away from a trapped ''Stegosaurus''. The larger ''Allosaurus'' proceeds to become trapped and die there in his place. |
| 169 | ** His fatal injury is produced when he trips while hunting ''Dryosaurus'', among the less challenging game of his lifetime. |
| 170 | * DownerEnding: Big Al dies of starvation and injury at the end of the special. |
| 171 | * ForegoneConclusion: We are shown Big Al's skeleton at the start of the episode. |
| 172 | * LikesOlderWomen: At one point, Al encounters the excrements of an adult female ''Allosaurus'' whose smell shows she is in heat, and he promptly begins uttering some mating calls to lure her. When she appears, she rejects Al, because, even though he has achieved sexual maturity, he's still too young for her. Al has none of it and begins making advances at her, only to get violently injured by the older female. |
| 173 | * NonHumanUndead: Big Al's ghost visits his own skeleton at a museum exhibit. |
| 174 | * StartsWithTheirFuneral: The special opens with the skeleton of Big Al in a museum exhibit, which is then visited by his ghost. |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | !!!Other |
| 178 | [[folder:''Diplodocus'']] |
| 179 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_diplodocus.jpg]] |
| 180 | A large sauropod, and the main protagonist of "Time of the Titans". |
| 181 | ---- |
| 182 | * AdaptationalAlternateEnding: The episode "Time of Titans" has a more dramatic ending, where the main female gets attacked by an ''Allosaurus'' and saved by an older ''Diplodocus'', but in the novelization, it ends with her as a mature adult laying her own eggs in the forest, [[BookEnds completing the cycle]]. |
| 183 | * AdaptedOut: Absent from the Arena Spectacular, presumably for staging reasons[[labelnote:Specifically]]The average diplodocus as long if not longer ''than the average venue for it''[[/labelnote]]; One of the four protagonists to suffer this fate. However, the even taller and heavier (but shorter lengthwise) ''Brachiosaurus'' is still present. |
| 184 | * AnimalsNotToScale: It's depicted as being able to reach over forty meters in length, but ''Diplodocus carnegii'' is only known to have reached up to 26 meters (even taking into account ''Seismosaurus'', which was later sunk into ''Diplodocus'' as ''D. hallorum'', it's still only up to 32 meters long). That said, taking into account how modern animals have very variable sizes, it's not impossible some individuals very rarely managed to reach such sizes. The contemporary diplodocid ''Supersaurus'' ''is'' known to have reached such sizes, however. |
| 185 | * BigDamnHeroes: The adult herd, when assisting the main female. |
| 186 | * BigEater: They must eat constantly to keep those massive bodies healthy. |
| 187 | * CheerfulChild: The infant ''Diplodocus'' have some shades of this, sounding similar to toddlers and are playful when not in danger, [[spoiler:which makes their deaths all the more heartrending.]] |
| 188 | * ComingOfAgeStory: The episode follows a female ''Diplodocus'' from the time she hatches from her egg to her first mating. |
| 189 | * CoolVersusAwesome: The climax featuring it battling an ''Allosaurus''. |
| 190 | * DwindlingParty: The dozens of chicks born at the beginning of the episode are gradually whittled down to just two by the end by predators, accidents, and natural disasters. |
| 191 | * ExplosiveBreeder: A subversion. The main ''Diplodocus'''s mother lays dozens of eggs, but only two live to join an adult herd. |
| 192 | * FreeRangeChildren: They don't take care of their newborns, which is justified by the babies being quite precocious. |
| 193 | * {{Gasshole}}: In a moment of ToiletHumor, it farts on the camera. It is justified because digesting such large quantities of vegetation inevitably produces lots of intestinal gases. |
| 194 | * GentleGiant: They don't voluntarily hurt other animals unless threatened. |
| 195 | * GiantEqualsInvincible: Such a huge animal that very few predators ever try to attack them. They can be singled out and held at bay to the point of exhaustion, however, as shown in ''The Ballad of Big Al''. |
| 196 | * GiganticAdultsTinyBabies: A large adult is over 40 meters in length. An egg is as big as a football. |
| 197 | * KillItWithFire: At one point, the ''Diplodocus'' siblings must flee a devastating forest fire that kills all but three of them. |
| 198 | * MightyGlacier: As an adult, it is too large and heavy to move particularly fast, but given their great strength and power, they don't really need it. |
| 199 | * NeverMessWithGranny: The eldest female is the herd's leader, and she's no slouch in a fight. |
| 200 | * PerspectiveFlip: "Time of the Titans" is the ComingOfAgeStory of a female ''Diplodocus'', with the failed attack of an ''Allosaurus'' as a climatic scene. The special "The Ballad of Big Al", set in the same formation and featuring the same fauna, is the ComingOfAgeStory of a male ''Allosaurus'', with the successful attack on a ''Diplodocus'' as a climatic scene. |
| 201 | * RankScalesWithAsskicking: The old female is the leader of the herd, and she will [[MamaBear whip anyone who dares to mess with her herd]]. |
| 202 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: They only vary in size and it is never elaborated, but the large ones are apparently centenarian. |
| 203 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: As young they are very neotenous, with large round eyes, small bodies and high pitched voices. |
| 204 | * SeriesMascot: Though not to the extent of the three theropods (''Allosaurus'', ''Utahraptor'', and ''Tyrannosaurus'') it is often featured in promotional material and related media, and has become a TropeCodifier for the show's depiction of diplodocids. |
| 205 | * TailSlap: Its main means of defense against large predators like ''Allosaurus'', other than its size and the ability to rear up onto its hind legs and threaten to crush an enemy. |
| 206 | * TeamMom: The herd's matriarch. |
| 207 | * TheirFirstTime: The main female ''Diplodocus'' has her fist mating session near the end of the episode. Presumably, it's the first time for the young male she mates with as well. |
| 208 | * TropeCodifier: This restoration helped popularize the idea that diplodocids marched with their tails and necks straight at all times. |
| 209 | * TurtleIsland: A land version. Each gigantic ''Diplodocus'' has the power of changing the landscape through feeding and defecating alone, and carries its own flock of ''Anurognathus'' with it. |
| 210 | * UniformityException: In the novelization, the main female ''Diplodocus'' is described as being darker in color than her conspecifics (possibly being melanistic). |
| 211 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Three survive the forest fire, two join the adult herd some days later. The shot of an ''Allosaurus'' interested in the siblings in the middle leave little doubt about what happened to the missing sibling, however. |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:''Ornitholestes'']] |
| 215 | [[quoteright:303:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_ornitholestes.jpg]] |
| 216 | A smaller carnivore dinosaur that harasses the young early on. |
| 217 | ---- |
| 218 | * EatsBabies: Kills a baby ''Diplodocus''. They also stalk the ''Allosaurus'' babies in "The Ballad of Big Al". |
| 219 | * EvilEggEater: It's described as an egg thief by the narrator, and even though it isn't seen eating eggs, there several ''Diplodocus'' egg shells that are smashed open by it. The species as a whole is portrayed a menace to all mother dinosaurs. |
| 220 | * FeatheredFiend: Oddly the only theropod besides ''Iberomesornis'' shown with feathers in the series, although it's only a few quills over its neck. |
| 221 | * FragileSpeedster: Small and swift, but not very tough. |
| 222 | * MamaBear: As a teenager, Big Al encounters an ''Ornitholestes'' mother taking care of her nest, and even though he is bigger than her, he nonetheless decides to let her be because she is shown to put up a rather fierce defence. |
| 223 | * ShoutOut: Its design is clearly heavily inspired by Greg Paul's influential ''Literature/PredatoryDinosaursOfTheWorld'' which first portrayed ''Ornitholestes'' with a crest of feathers and nose horn (the latter of which has since been discredited). |
| 224 | * StarterVillain: The antagonist in the early days of the ''Diplodocus''' youth, but by the time they're grown, he's no longer a threat. |
| 225 | * StrongFamilyResemblance: Aside from the nose horn (which it didn't actually sport) and lack of a raised toe claw (which later studies suggest it ''might'' have had), it's pretty similar to the Cretaceous raptors we met later, as both of them are coelurosaurs and ''Ornitholestes'' might even be a primitive member of the maniraptorans (the same group as dromaeosaurs and birds). |
| 226 | * WhosLaughingNow: When it sees that its former prey is too big to tackle, it is compelled to flee. |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:''Stegosaurus'']] |
| 230 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_stegosaurus.jpg]] |
| 231 | An armoured herbivore appearing in a minor role, confronting the ''Allosaurus''. |
| 232 | ---- |
| 233 | * AccidentalHero: Saves the young ''Diplodocus'' from the ''Allosaurus'' accidentally -- it walks into the scene when they are being attacked by ''Allosaurus'' and reacts defensively against the ''Allosaurus'' without paying attention to the ''Diplodocus''. Unfortunately, this extends to also killing one of the ''Diplodocus'' by accident. |
| 234 | * AccidentalMurder: As it's swinging its spiked tail at the ''Allosaurus' to ward them off, it inadvertently kills one of the baby ''Diplodocus'' that was walking next to it. |
| 235 | * AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the novelization, the bull ''Stegosaurus'' doesn't harm any of the young ''Diplodocus'' but still wards off the attacking ''Allosaurus''. Later, when the main female gets separated from the crèche following the forest fire and an ''Allosaurus'' attack, she spends several days following a ''Stegosaurus'' herd on the plains, who don't mind her presence, until she stumbles upon a herd of adult ''Diplodocus''. |
| 236 | * AnimalsNotToScale: Stated to be seven tonnes, but the largest ''Stegosaurus'' were maybe just over five tonnes in real life. And according to the tie-in book ''Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History'', ''Stegosaurus'' here is ''13 meters long'', when the largest known specimen is less than 9 meters and most are smaller. |
| 237 | * BewareMyStingerTail: Its spiky tail is its main weapon of defense. |
| 238 | * CoolVersusAwesome: Almost happens between it and the ''Allosaurus'', but the predators decide to retreat before fighting it. |
| 239 | * CoversAlwaysLie: Appears in the opening credits of ''Chased by Dinosaurs'' despite being completely absent from the series. It perhaps replaces ''Therizinosaurus'' as a way to not spoil the surprise, since all other animals in the shot are from the episode "The Giant Claw". |
| 240 | * DumbMuscle: Had the smallest brain of all the dinosaurs of its size. Still, it's not an easy target. |
| 241 | * RuleOfCool: The flushing of blood into its plates as a way to scare predators was merely conjectural at the time. [[note]] And is disproven now that we know stegosaur plates were covered in horn[[/note]] |
| 242 | * TheUnreveal: In "The Ballad of Big Al", two stegosaurs start to get "intimate" while the narrator tells us that mating is a difficult process for them. So difficult, in fact, that scientists don't know yet how it happened. However, instead of engaging in speculation, the ritual is cut when Al walks by and the stegosaurs switch to defensive mode. |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[folder:''Anurognathus'']] |
| 246 | [[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f3a51dbd4a80350f815b791b557923ba.jpg]] |
| 247 | A small, bat-like pterosaur that feeds on the insects infesting the skin of the ''Diplodocus''. |
| 248 | ---- |
| 249 | * AnachronismStew: A relatively minor example; the episode is set during the Late Kimmeridgian, but ''Anurognathus'' is known from the Mid Tithonian, about two million years later. |
| 250 | * AnimalsNotToScale: In "The Ballad of Big Al", the model seems to have been recycled for a much larger generic pterosaur. At one point, the nearly adult Al catches one that looks half as long as an ''Allosaurus'' head. |
| 251 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: No evidence exists that ''Anurognathus'' or any pterosaur related to it had symbiotic relationships with any dinosaur (granted fossils can't tell us that). In fact, research done since the documentary's release suggests that anurognathid pterosaurs were actually nocturnal, swift-like creatures that spent the nights hawking insects out of the sky and hiding in the trees during the day. Oddly, they're the only pterosaurs in the series with visible pycnofibres. |
| 252 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Plays the part of an oxpecker, which had not evolved yet. In RealLife, it was most likely the counterpart of a bat (or rather, bats are modern counterparts of it). |
| 253 | * HistoricalUglinessUpdate: Largely due to a lack of knowledge about anurognathid anatomy in the '90s. Here, it's restored as a largely scaly, drab-colored, gargoyle-like little critter with a theropod-ish head, but new anurognathid fossils discovered not long after WWD aired revealed that these animals had short, muppet-like faces with huge eyes and they were covered in fuzz, [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Life_reconstruction_of_Sinomacrops_bondei.png making them a lot more conventionally cute]]. |
| 254 | * MisplacedWildlife: Shown in North America despite only being known from Europe. Lampshaded in the companion book. ''Anurognathus'' did have a relative (called ''Mesadactylus'') that lived in North America, however, but this was not known at the time. |
| 255 | * NoisyNature: Makes helluva lot of noise for such a small animal.... |
| 256 | * PaletteSwap: ''Peteinosaurus'', but with a shorter tail and differently shaped head. |
| 257 | * RuleOfCool: The speculative symbiotic relationship between them and the ''Diplodocus''. The two animals didn't even live on the same continent, and ''Anurognathus'' is not known to have existed with any large dinosaurs. |
| 258 | * TheSwarm: Though non-malicious, they journey in large groups. |
| 259 | [[/folder]] |
| 260 | |
| 261 | [[folder:''Dryosaurus'' and ''Othnielia'']] |
| 262 | [[quoteright:252:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_othnielia.jpg]] |
| 263 | [[caption-width-right:252:''Othnielia'' in "Big Al".]] |
| 264 | Two small ornithopod dinosaurs (hypsilophodontids, specifically) that appear mostly in the background and follow, or forage around larger herbivore dinosaurs. |
| 265 | ---- |
| 266 | * ArtEvolution: ''Othnielia'' was first restored as a PaletteSwap version of ''Dryosaurus'', but later got its own model. |
| 267 | * FragileSpeedster: Their only defense is numbers and running away. |
| 268 | * KillItWithFire: One is burned to a crisp in the aftermath of the forest fire. |
| 269 | * LivingProp: They aren't paid attention in "Time of the Titans" and are used to show the diversification of dinosaurs and how many niches they occupy, both large and small. They gain a little more importance in "The Ballad of Big Al", since they're vulnerable to ''Allosaurus'' before sauropods become so. |
| 270 | * MonsterMunch: Surprisingly averted, and due to a DeusExMachina, no less. See UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom. |
| 271 | * PaletteSwap: They shared model in "Time of the Titans" but hung around separately and had their color patterns already established, so they were clearly intended to be different species. They get different models in "The Ballad of Big Al". |
| 272 | * SocialOrnithopod: The two of them are almost exclusively seen travelling in flocks and are sometimes around larger herbivores as well. |
| 273 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Those two ''species'' in this case. They barely have an impact on the plot, and the narrator almost pays them no attention. |
| 274 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Big Al receives his fatal injury while hunting ''Dryosaurus''. Ironically, they're among the less dangerous creature he faced in his life. |
| 275 | [[/folder]] |
| 276 | |
| 277 | [[folder:''Brachiosaurus'']] |
| 278 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwdbook_brachiosaurus.jpg]] |
| 279 | The largest dinosaur in the first series, a sauropod from a different family. |
| 280 | ---- |
| 281 | * AdvertisedExtra: Despite being featured in many trailers and accompanying material, when they appear they are just noted for their size and leave the show soon after. |
| 282 | * AscendedExtra: Has a more important part in the Arena Spectacular, where it is upgraded to resident sauropod in place of AdaptedOut ''Diplodocus''. |
| 283 | * GentleGiantSauropod: They are never seen getting violent. |
| 284 | [[/folder]] |
| 285 | |
| 286 | [[folder:''Apatosaurus'']] |
| 287 | [[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwdapatosaurus.jpg]] |
| 288 | A close relative of ''Diplodocus'' that appears in ''Series/TheBalladOfBigAl''. |
| 289 | ---- |
| 290 | * PaletteSwap: The CGI model is clearly just a slightly tweaked version of the ''Diplodocus'' model. |
| 291 | * UndergroundMonkey: It's depicted as a darker-coloured, stockier version of ''Diplodocus'' with a shorter neck and no spines on its back. TruthInTelevision on the stocky part since ''Apatosaurus'' is a robustly-built diplodocid with a similar skull. |
| 292 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Zig-zagged. They replace ''Diplodocus'' as the most common, "smaller" sauropod in "The Ballad of Big Al". However, they hold their necks somewhat taller and seem to prefer more wooden environments along with ''Brachiosaurus''. ''Diplodocus'' still appears as a prey for ''Allosaurus'', living in a larger herd in a more open area. |
| 293 | [[/folder]] |
| 294 | |
| 295 | !!Cruel Sea |
| 296 | [[folder:''Eustreptospondylus'']] |
| 297 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_eustreptospondylus.jpg]] |
| 298 | A theropod that survives as a scavenger in the Jurassic islands of Europe, and the only dinosaur to appear in this episode. |
| 299 | ---- |
| 300 | * ActionSurvivor: It is hard to imagine a dinosaur surviving in a small island arch surrounded by sea monsters, let alone a decent-sized theropod. And yet ''Eustreptospondylus'' manages. |
| 301 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: One is eaten by ''Liopleurodon''. |
| 302 | * AnachronismStew: The only ''Eustreptospondylus'' skeleton is around 162 million years old; the episode is set 13 million years later. The megalosaur that would've been around at the time was the larger ''Torvosaurus'', though it lived in Iberia. |
| 303 | * AnimalsNotToScale: It's portrayed as being 5 meters long, the estimated size of the only ''Eustreptospondylus'' fossil, but said fossil is considered to be a juvenile animal. The adult is hypothetically estimated to have reached anywhere from 7 to 10 meters long. |
| 304 | * ArtEvolution: Restored first as an awful green, lizard-looking animal in the test footage of the original, unreleased pilot. |
| 305 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: It's said to be one of the largest dinosaurs inhabiting the European archipelagos during the Late Jurassic. That is flat-out wrong (even for its time), as large dinosaur fossils from the Upper Jurassic of Europe and especially Britain have been known since the 19th century, including stegosaurs, giant sauropods and larger theropods (such as ''Megalosaurus'', the first non-avian dinosaur ever named). |
| 306 | * BigEater: Always shown either eating or trying to eat. |
| 307 | * CirclingVultures: Plays this role when the ''Liopleurodon'' is stranded and dying on the beach. |
| 308 | * TheConstant: As the only actual dinosaur in the episode, it serves as a reminder that the Age of Dinosaurs is still going on despite their irrelevance in the aquatic medium. |
| 309 | * DecoyProtagonist: [[TheWorfEffect Used deliberately in the prologue]] to [[EstablishingCharacterMoment establish]] ''Liopleurodon''. |
| 310 | * HiddenDepths: A surprisingly good swimmer despite not appearing to be built for it. |
| 311 | * MisplacedWildlife: The novelization of "Cruel Sea" shifts its location to the ancient Vindelicisch islands, which are part of present-day Germany. However, ''Eustreptospondylus'' is only known from a single specimen from Britain (it's implied rogue individuals swam far and wide between islands). |
| 312 | * MonsterMunch: Although it does other things in the episode, the prologue where it serves as this is the most memorable. |
| 313 | * PaletteSwap: ''Allosaurus'', but with a modified head and recoloured brown. |
| 314 | * PragmaticVillainy: They don't attack the stranded ''Liopleurodon'' while it is alive. Instead, they prefer to wait for it to suffocate to death. |
| 315 | * RuleOfCool: It's depicted as a coastal island-dwelling dwarf and actively swimming between islands to find food due to being found in marine deposits. This was suggested at the time, but there was also the opposing theory that it was a normal dinosaur that merely got washed out to sea when it died (which is known for some other dinosaur species). ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' chose the more intriguing option, but nowadays the latter is considered more likely, especially considering the idea of ''Eustreptospondylus'' being a dwarf has been refuted: it was actually just a juvenile. |
| 316 | * ScavengersAreScum: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] for the most part. The narration acknowledges that they lead a difficult life, being the largest of the few dinosaur species in their region and being fair game for marine predators like ''Liopleurodon''. They're shown as needing to swim from island to island in search of food and two of them fight over the paltry remains of a dead turtle. That being said, they are demonstrated to be opportunists, preying on the much smaller ''Rhamphorhynchus'' and feasting on the old ''Liopleurodon'' after it dies from being stranded. |
| 317 | * WhosLaughingNow: At the end of the episode, several ''Eustreptospondylus'' gather to eat the stranded ''Liopleurodon'' who had eaten a ''Eustreptospondylus'' at the beginning. |
| 318 | * TheWorfEffect: Somewhat similar to the top predator in the previous episode, ''Allosaurus'', and introduced stalking a fish while the narrator speaks of how "the largest predator of the Jurassic stalks its prey". That largest predator is revealed to be ''Liopleurodon'', and its prey is ''Eustreptospondylus'' itself. |
| 319 | [[/folder]] |
| 320 | |
| 321 | [[folder:''Liopleurodon'']] |
| 322 | [[quoteright:468:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ee5b52b03db5b162bb44ab446ed66338.jpg]] |
| 323 | A gigantic sea reptile. The undisputable top predator, and one of the main characters in the episode. Also appears in ''Sea Monsters''. |
| 324 | ---- |
| 325 | * AdaptationalLateAppearance: Instead of popping up in the opening scene, in the novelization of "Cruel Sea", ''Liopleurodon'' is the last of the five main animals to show up, likely to build up suspense for the arrival of the "largest predator to live on Earth", with an earlier paragraph saying how the ''Cryptoclidus'' crawl onto land after sunset to escape ''Liopleurodon''. The iconic scene where it snatches an ''Eustreptospondylus'' also happens towards the end of the story. |
| 326 | * AdaptedOut: Absent from the Arena Spectacular, most likely because an underwater scene would be too hard to stage. One of the four protagonist animals to suffer this. |
| 327 | * AlasPoorVillain: Mirroring ''Postosuchus'', it becomes a victim of the environment (a sea tempest that disorients it and leaves it stranded on a beach) and ends eaten by dinosaurs he would have barely paid attention to, while in his prime. |
| 328 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: The trope made flesh. It preys on everything found in the area, including sharks, other sea reptiles and even shore dinosaurs. |
| 329 | * AnachronismStew: Similar to most of the other animals in the episode, it's only known from fossils dates several million years before the time period of the setting (using ''Pliosaurus'' would have been more chronologically accurate), although this is probably partly due to the fact later ''Pliosaurus'' species were at the time considered to be ''Liopleurodon''. |
| 330 | * AnimalsNotToScale: A rather infamous example. It is ridiculously huge, even considering the inflated estimates of large pliosaur size estimates at the time, being depicted as an utter leviathan, only exceeded by the largest blue whales in size. More accurate modern mass estimates for ''Lioplueorodon'' put it at 3.3 tonnes tops, making this one more than forty-five times heavier than the real animal. |
| 331 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: It's much larger than its real-life counterpart was. |
| 332 | * ArtEvolution: Has a dolphin-like grey coat in the test footage of the unreleased pilot. |
| 333 | * BigBad: In all the sense of both words. |
| 334 | * BloodIsSquickerInWater: The result of any encounter with ''Liopleurodon''. |
| 335 | * CreatorProvincialism: Its appearance and HistoricalBadassUpgrade probably owes a lot to the fact that it is known mostly from England and France. |
| 336 | * DeathByIrony: After being stranded, it suffocates under its own massive weight and it is powerless to stop the ''Eustreptospondylus'' (like the one it killed in the beginning of the episode) from eating it. |
| 337 | * TheDreaded: It's the most feared creature of its environment, and the most powerful carnivore featured in the entire series. |
| 338 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: Killing a predatory dinosaur (''Eustreptospondylus'') in [[OneHitKill one bite]]. It happens right at the beginning of the episode and it's one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series. |
| 339 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Works as one of the Killer Whale, excluding its solitary nature and absurdly large size. |
| 340 | * {{Flanderization}}: In the original test pilot for WWD, ''Liopleurodon'' was depicted at a more modest 60 feet and 60 tons, which were controversial (and since debunked) estimates at the time based on a single large pliosaur vertebra. In "Cruel Sea" proper, however, this had ballooned out into 25 meters and 150 tons, with the HandWave that the ''Liopleurodon'' we were following was an unusually large specimen, over a hundred years old. Notably, the American cut of the series shrunk it back down to 60 feet and 100 tons. |
| 341 | * HazardousWater: Pretty much '''the''' reason you wouldn't wanna swim in this ocean. |
| 342 | * {{Handwave}}: We are told that the featured ''Liopleurodon'' is really, really old -- a centenarian or close to it, actually. That's why it's also really, really big compared to even the wildest estimates of this animal's size at the time the show came out. |
| 343 | * HistoricalBadassUpgrade: It was certainly '''not''' the size of a blue whale in reality, which would make it a contender for ''largest animal ever'' at almost 30 meters long; nor is there any reason to think it came near the shore to hunt land animals like a crocodile or a killer whale. |
| 344 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: The [[ThreateningShark sharks threatening]] the ''Ophthalmosaurus'' mother scatter when it gets near. |
| 345 | * LightningBruiser: A fast swimmer despite its huge size, and the most powerful predator on the planet. |
| 346 | * MixAndMatchCritters: [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Crocodile and Killer Whale]] have a baby, it grows to the size of a blue whale. |
| 347 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Not a crocodile itself, but it lunges out of the water to ambush a ''Eustreptospondylus'' like a crocodile attacking a wildebeest. |
| 348 | * NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: The old male ''Liopleurodon'' is described as the largest carnivore to have ever lived, the uncontested apex predator that even the sharks dread... but he dies a slow and undignified death from being beached and is eaten by scavengers. |
| 349 | * OneHitKill: Apparently fond of this, as both ''[[HazardousWater Eustreptospondylus]]'' and ''[[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe Ophthalmosaurus]]'' learn first hand. |
| 350 | * PrehistoricMonster: Easily one of the most monstrous beasts in the series. |
| 351 | * RuleOfCool: |
| 352 | ** At the time of production, ''Liopleurodon'' was estimated at most at 20 meters in length, not 25 meters as in the show. And even that was a controversial maximum estimate. |
| 353 | ** The entire introduction scene (epic as it may have been), wherein the ''Liopleurodon'' eats a ''Eustreptospondylus'' by leaping out of the water and grabbing it by the tail. Granted it's not ''impossible'', but there is no fossil evidence of anything similar and it requires so many unlikely conditions (''Liopleurodon'' coming to the shore despite the risk to strand itself, ''Eustreptospondylus'' to stand right on a cliff deep enough for ''Liopleurodon'' to appear right next to it, ''Liopleurodon'' somehow detecting ''Eustreptospondylus'' outside the water without making itself obvious, etc) as to render it practically impossible. WordOfGod is that it was based on attacks by killer whales. |
| 354 | * SeaMonster: It lives at sea, and it's certainly portrayed as a terrifying monster. The only thing keeping it from qualifying as a {{kaiju}} is the fact that it can't come onto land. |
| 355 | * SeriesMascot: One that didn't really stick. It was heavily hyped up as the show's most iconic animal (along with ''Allosaurus'', ''Tyrannosaurus'' and ''Utahraptor'') back when it first aired, but most later releases have downplayed its role, since [[ScienceMarchesOn its portrayal hasn't aged very well]]. |
| 356 | * ShroudedInMyth: Not in the actual plot, as it came before humans, but in the way [[IntendedAudienceReaction it's presented to the audience]]. It comes, feasts on its prey, and goes about its merry way. |
| 357 | * SlasherSmile: The restoration of the head looks as though it's constantly sporting one. [[OutOfCharacterIsSeriousBusiness It noticeably fades when it's beached]]. |
| 358 | * StrongerWithAge: Due to the fact that reptiles don't really stop growing, the main specimen's age (over a hundred years old) is given as the reason for his prodigious size. |
| 359 | * SuperNotDrowningSkills: They can hold their breath for over an hour before needing to resurface. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since they're as big as whales. |
| 360 | * TropeCodifier: The series made ''Liopleurodon'' and pliosaurs in general a lot more popular than they were before. |
| 361 | * VillainousRescue: Scares off a group of sharks stalking the birthing ''Ophthalmosaurus''... [[SubvertedTrope only to attack it itself]]. |
| 362 | * VillainProtagonist: It's arguably the actual main character of the episode. Way more memorable than any other creature in it, at least. At the same time, it does nothing but killing and scaring animals before dying, solidifying its "villain" status. |
| 363 | [[/folder]] |
| 364 | |
| 365 | [[folder:''Ophthalmosaurus'']] |
| 366 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_ophtalmosaurus_3.jpg]] |
| 367 | A small ichthyosaur that acts as the third, and debatably main protagonist of the episode. |
| 368 | ---- |
| 369 | * ActionSurvivor: You have to be to survive in these waters. And they do it on their own since they are born. |
| 370 | * AnachronismStew: A contemporary of ''Eustreptospondylus'' and therefore too old to appear in the episode's setting, which was obviously chosen because of ''Liopleurodon''. Several close relatives are known from the episode's time, although only from Norway and Russia. ''Aegirosaurus'' could have also been used to be more contemporarily accurate, as it is known from the same formation as ''Rhamphorhynchus''. |
| 371 | * ComingOfAgeStory: A particular ''Ophthalmosaurus'' pup is followed from birth to the aftermath of its first storm. |
| 372 | * DeathByChildbirth: After a brutal fashion. A female has complications giving birth, which attracts [[ThreateningShark sharks]], and eventually also the ''[[AlwaysABiggerFish Liopleurodon]]''. |
| 373 | * EatsBabies: It's isn't shown, but it's stated that the adults would eat the young of other ''Ophthalmosaurus''. |
| 374 | * FragileSpeedster: They rely on speed to get away from sharks and larger sea reptiles. |
| 375 | * FreeRangeChildren: They are on their own the moment they leave their mother's cloaca. |
| 376 | * HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: One is cut in half by a ''Liopleurodon'' bite. |
| 377 | * HeroicDolphin: How they're portrayed. |
| 378 | * MixAndMatchCritters: A four-finned reptile masquerading as a dolphin. |
| 379 | * PuppyDogEyes: It is probably not a coincidence that they have comically large eyes and were chosen as the "heart" of the episode, which is one of the darkest in the series. |
| 380 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The little baby ''Ophthalmosaurus''. |
| 381 | * SupportingProtagonist: They take over the plot several times, but it remains an ensemble. |
| 382 | * WhatMeasureIsANonCute: It's as much a predatory reptile as any other, but it receives a lot more sympathy. |
| 383 | [[/folder]] |
| 384 | |
| 385 | [[folder:''Cryptoclidus'']] |
| 386 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_cryptoclidus.jpg]] |
| 387 | A small, seal-like plesiosaur. |
| 388 | ---- |
| 389 | * AnachronismStew: Also contemporary of ''Eustreptospondylus'' and ''Ophthalmosaurus''. The genus ''Kimmerosaurus'' (seen in ''Series/PlanetDinosaur'') would have been more accurate. |
| 390 | * AnimalsNotToScale: Stated to be eight tonnes, but the real animal was less than one ton. Worth noting is how in ''Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence'', ''Cryptoclidus'' being lighter than the largest pinnipeds such as elephant seals and walruses (who can tip the scale at 4 tons and 2 respectively) is cited as a reason for why ''Cryptoclidus'' could have moved around on land. |
| 391 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Between their weight and nonfunctional wrists and elbows, it was already unlikely that plesiosaurs could come onto land. Even with the knowledge of the time when the episode came out. |
| 392 | * BlackBeadEyes: The model got this despite being a sea reptile. |
| 393 | * EatDirtCheap: Swallows stones to keep from being too buoyant. |
| 394 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Besides coming onto land, it's depicted as rather curious and playful, not unlike a seal. |
| 395 | * GracefulInTheirElement: Large and clumsy on land, fast and beautiful in the sea. |
| 396 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: Not focused on, but present in the cast. |
| 397 | * MixAndMatchCritters: A bit like a mix of a seal and a sea turtle. |
| 398 | * NoisyNature: Makes bellowing noises on land. |
| 399 | [[/folder]] |
| 400 | |
| 401 | [[folder:''Hybodus'']] |
| 402 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_hybodus.jpg]] |
| 403 | A small Jurassic shark, appearing once in a while in the episode. |
| 404 | ---- |
| 405 | * AllThereInTheManual: Only called "sharks" in the episode but gets properly named in ''Sea Monsters''. Averted in the American cut of WWD. |
| 406 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: They used to be top predators before sea reptiles came about. Now they are permanently outclassed. |
| 407 | * AnachronismStew: At the time of the show's production, ''Hybodus'' was still used as a wastebasket taxon, with hybodont fossils ranging in age from the late Devonian to the Maastrichtian being lumped into it, [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Hybodus_fraasi_%28fossil%29.jpg including some exceptionally preserved fossils from Late Jurassic Europe]]. Late research concluded that ''Hybodus'' was restricted to the Lower Jurassic. |
| 408 | * BlackBeadEyes: As expected from a shark. |
| 409 | * CirclingVultures: They start swimming around the moment an animal has trouble. |
| 410 | * DemotedToExtra: In the novelization, it's relegated to one or two fleeting references about it being a danger to the young ''Ophthalmosaurus'' without any proper sequences showing it or describing its distinct appearance. |
| 411 | * EatsBabies: They eat baby ''Ophthalmosaurus''. |
| 412 | * MonsterMunch: We're told that the ''Liopleurodon'' oftenly preys on sharks. |
| 413 | * SpikesOfVillainy: Subverted. They're defensive spines, and they need them to protect themselves from the ''Liopleurodon''. |
| 414 | * SuperNotDrowningSkills: Its only advantage over the sea reptiles is that it doesn't have to hold its breath. |
| 415 | * TheNoseKnows: They can smell blood. They're sharks. It comes with the territory. |
| 416 | * ThreateningShark: They are the apparent main predator of ''Ophthalmosaurus'', or at least their young, although they're second fiddle to the ''Liopleurodon''. |
| 417 | * YouCanRunButYouCantHide: One patrols the reef, waiting for a hiding baby ''Ophthalmosaurus'' to return to the surface to breath. As the narrator reminds us, the advantage of being a shark is that you don't need to do that. |
| 418 | * WhosLaughingNow: They follow a wounded ''Liopleurodon'''s trail. Also qualify in a meta sense, giving that sharks will survive to the present unlike non-turtle sea reptiles. |
| 419 | * TheWorfEffect: Also a victim of this in order to shill ''Liopleurodon'' as the top predator, this time in the water. |
| 420 | [[/folder]] |
| 421 | |
| 422 | [[folder:''Rhamphorhynchus'']] |
| 423 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_ramphorhynchus.jpg]] |
| 424 | A gull-like pterosaur. |
| 425 | ---- |
| 426 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: |
| 427 | ** It appears to be [[AnimalsNotToScale a lot smaller than the real animal]], which had a six-foot wingspan. |
| 428 | ** Its beak wasn't useful for skim-feeding and would have submerged to fish, either partially or totally. |
| 429 | ** Additionally, they have the same "rapid flapping" flight that the other rhamphorhynchoid pterosaurs in the series have, despite the fact that ''Rhamphorhynchus'' was actually a seagull-like soarer. |
| 430 | * BigEater: Fish, insect larvae, horseshoe crab eggs; it seems that as long as it's meat, they'll eat it. |
| 431 | * ButtMonkey: They're depicted as rather expendable; some get eaten by a ''Eustreptospondylus'', others have their bones shattered during a severe storm. |
| 432 | * CirclingVultures: At the end, a flock of surviving ''Rhamphorhynchus'' can be seen flying over the dead ''Liopleurodon'' while the ''Eustreptospondylus'' are eating him. They are presumably going to join the ''Eustreptospondylus'' in the scavenging. |
| 433 | * DiurnalNocturnalAnimal: Subsequent research has indicated it's likely the species was actually nocturnal, while the contemporary ''Scaphognathus'' and ''Pterodactylus'' would have been diurnal. |
| 434 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Essentially the Jurassic equivalent to a seagull. |
| 435 | * MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: TruthInTelevision. ''Rhamphorhynchus'' had a lot of very sharp teeth in its mouth, which it used to keep a grip on slippery fish. |
| 436 | * PaletteSwap: It uses the same body as ''Peteinosaurus'', but with a different head, modified tail, and recoloured. |
| 437 | * NoisyNature: Makes loud honking noises throughout the episode. |
| 438 | * ScaryTeeth: Its mouth is full of long, pointy teeth, though it's harmless as long as you're not a fish. |
| 439 | * TheSwarm: Downplayed. There are lots of them and they show up in great numbers wherever the food is, but they never cooperate with each other and aren't dangerous. |
| 440 | [[/folder]] |
| 441 | |
| 442 | [[folder:''Limulus'']] |
| 443 | A horseshoe crab genus with a long fossil history. Live-acted by modern horseshoe crabs, as they continue to exist. |
| 444 | ---- |
| 445 | * TheConstant: They didn't even need to splice footage as horseshoe crabs come naturally to breed in the filming location, Bahamas. |
| 446 | * ExplosiveBreeder: Each female lays thousands of eggs, which they have to because pterosaurs almost eat as much. |
| 447 | * LivingRelic: They were there 100 million years before in the Triassic, and they are still around 150 million years later, for that matter. |
| 448 | * NoNameGiven: Just called horseshoe crabs. |
| 449 | * RogerRabbitEffect: Portrayed by live, modern day horseshoe crabs. |
| 450 | [[/folder]] |
| 451 | |
| 452 | !!Giant Of The Skies |
| 453 | [[folder:''Ornithocheirus'']] |
| 454 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_ornithocheirus.jpg]] |
| 455 | The main protagonist of the episode, a large and elderly pterosaur. |
| 456 | ---- |
| 457 | * AdaptationalJerkass: In the novelization, he doesn't steal a fish from another pterosaur species but from a juvenile conspecific, and he continues to do it again and again for the rest of the day. |
| 458 | * AllForNothing: The episode's protagonist, an old male, flies across the world to mate, but dies without accomplishing his goal. However... [[BabiesEverAfter Implied in the book (and the documentary, albeit in a "blink-and-you-miss-it" sense) to show that his journey may not have been completely pointless:]] |
| 459 | -->Despite this ignominious end, the old male was a success. In his 40 years of life he probably sired several thousand offspring and it is likely that some of them were on this beach, competing and succeeding where he finally failed. |
| 460 | * AnachronismStew: Twofold. The formation in which the South American ''Ornithocheirus'' (now known as ''Tropeognathus'') was known is dated to around 110 million years old, making it about 17 million years too old in the episode. The proper ''Ornithocheirus'' and type species from England (O. ''simus'') lived even later, around 105-100 million years ago. |
| 461 | * AnimalsNotToScale: Depicted as having a 12 meters wide wingspan, but described ''Tropeognathus'' fossils at the time only gave the animal a 6 meters wide wingspan. The oversizing in the episode was based on then-undescribed remains which have since revealed a size of just under 9 meters. Even at the time, a conclusion of 12 meters was massively optimistic and considered unlikely, chosen only because [[RuleOfCool it was more spectacular]]. |
| 462 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Though he's comparatively more accurate than the other pterosaurs in the series, he still skim-feeds and is far too clumsy in the air and on the ground. Visibly, he also lacks pycnofibres, though said fibres are actually mentioned by the narration at one point. |
| 463 | * BloodierAndGorier: His death is considerably more violent in the book (simply put, the rival males more or less try to ''tear him apart'' every time he attempts to land). |
| 464 | * CombatPragmatist: During the fishing scene, he attacks a smaller pterosaur to get a fish to eat. |
| 465 | * CompositeCharacter: Of the smaller, British ''Ornithocheirus simus'' and the larger, Brazilian ''Tropeognathus mesembrinus'', who was previously sometimes classified as ''Ornithocheirus mesembrinus''. The show's main pterosaur consultant (David Unwin) thought they represented the same species (specifically the female and male morph), which also influenced the migration storyline. |
| 466 | * ContinuitySnarl: When it cameos in ''Series/ChasedByDinosaurs'', Nigel Marven cites it as the biggest flying animal ever, even though in ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'', ''Quetzalcoatlus'' made an appearance and was given a larger wingspan (by about a meter). |
| 467 | * CreatorProvincialism: The genus ''Ornithocheirus'' was first named in the UK, although the individual in the episode is based on a South American species that was later reclassified. |
| 468 | * {{Determinator}}: He would've stopped at nothing to get to his mating grounds. And later, even when he's driven away and then slowly dying of starvation and heat stress, he's ''still'' calling for females to mate with him. He fails, but points for trying. |
| 469 | * DiesWideOpen: We are treated to a close up of the old deceased ''Ornithocheirus'' clouded dead eye. |
| 470 | * DidNotGetTheGirl: Exaggerated. He fails to attract even ''one'' of the female ''Ornithocheirus'' that have arrived at the breeding grounds, but instinct forces him to continue calling for a mate and he eventually dies from exhaustion after using up all his energy in a futile endeavour. However, he was more successful in previous mating seasons and fails on this occasion due to his age and has been relegated to the fringes of the breeding grounds, where he's less attractive to the females. |
| 471 | * DisasterDominoes: If the rainstorm that occurs early in the episode hadn't happened, he would have reached the breeding grounds earlier and may have found his preferred spot as in previous years. |
| 472 | * DyingAlone: In the documentary, as he's quite far from the center of the breeding grounds by the time he dies. In the book, he's surrounded by other dead and dying ''Ornithocheirus'' at the place he dies, though that's not particularly ''good'' company. |
| 473 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: Sort of an albatross analogue, with a dash of pelican in there as well. |
| 474 | * ForegoneConclusion: His death is shown ''right at the opening narration''. |
| 475 | * GiantFlyer: 12 meters wide from wingtip to wingtip (for the record, this was a high end estimate at the time and most modern estimates put it at just over 8 meters; still very large but outsized by several species of azhdarchids). |
| 476 | * TheHeroDies: He dies from a mix of heat stress, hunger and exhaustion at the end of the episode. |
| 477 | * HowWeGotHere: His dead body is shown in the opening narration and the Narrator announces to the viewers that we'll get to see the story of his last journey. |
| 478 | * ReallyGetsAround: It's implied that, in his forty years of life, he's been attracting a ''lot'' of lady pterosaurs during the mating seasons and has likely sired thousands of offspring in the process. Justified in that this is simply how his species is shown to propagate in in the program (we get an example when one of his rivals is shown to have more success). |
| 479 | * RuleOfCool: The producers chose the largest possible size estimate for this pterosaur to use in the show. In reality, a wingspan of just over 8 meters is more likely even for the large specimen the estimates were based on. |
| 480 | * ShootTheShaggyDog: Travels the whole world to mate, dies without mating a single time. Subverted in the book, which implies that his death wasn't completely in vain, as his offspring from past mating seasons were most likely on the beach as well. |
| 481 | * SparedByTheAdaptation: He lives in the arena spectacular, though he does have a brief run in with some raptors. |
| 482 | * StartsWithTheirFuneral: The opening narration shows him dead. |
| 483 | [[/folder]] |
| 484 | |
| 485 | [[folder:''Tapejara'']] |
| 486 | [[quoteright:204:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d6749cf5ffa8f1bc2d63f92e3e418d2d.jpg]] |
| 487 | A smaller pterosaur, appearing in the start of the episode. |
| 488 | ---- |
| 489 | * AnachronismStew: The formation in which the ''Tapejara'' species (now known as ''Tupandactylus'') was known is dated to around 110 million years old, making it about 17 million years too old in the episode. |
| 490 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Its proportions are utterly screwed, its crest has weird ridges that make it look like some sort of fish fin, and it lives on the beach, eating fish, when even back then the idea that they were terrestrial omnivores with frugivore leanings was the most common interpretation. In the book, they're depicted as scavengers, being described as "combing the lagoons for carrion". This was unlikely in real life, though as omnivores they might have eaten some carrion from time to time. |
| 491 | * BizarreSexualDimorphism: The males are twice the size of females and have much larger and more colorful crests (used as display features). This isn’t directly confirmed in tapejarids but is known to very much be the case with the famous ''Pteranodon''. |
| 492 | * CompositeCharacter: According to supplementary material, they have a wingspan of 5 meters, but T. ''navigans'' (the species on which the desing is based on) had a wingspan of under 3 meters, while the larger T. ''imperator'' did grow that big but had a very different, even more extravagant head crest. Coincidently, both of these species have since been placed in the ''Tupandactylus'' genus. |
| 493 | * GiantFlyer: Smaller than the ''Ornithocheirus'', but still large for a flying animal. |
| 494 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: We see them during their own mating season, but we never see what their other activities are. |
| 495 | * NoisyNature: Justified, being a mating colony. |
| 496 | * PaletteSwap: It uses the same body model as ''Ornithocheirus'', only with a swapped head and different colours, even though tapejarids had proportionately shorter wings and longer legs than ornithocheirids. |
| 497 | [[/folder]] |
| 498 | |
| 499 | [[folder:''Iguanodon'']] |
| 500 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_iguanodon.jpg]] |
| 501 | A herd-living dinosaur, appearing as the main large herbivore of the episode. |
| 502 | ---- |
| 503 | * AdaptationalBadass: In the novelization, the first ''Iguanodon'' to get pounced on by a ''Utahraptor'' actually fights back after the predator falls off him, using his thumb spike to stab the raptor's shoulder, leaving her with a limp arm. |
| 504 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Two different species are shown: a smaller, mostly brown one in North America; and a larger, green one in Europe. A third, mostly sand colored one appears in South America in "Chased by Dinosaurs". |
| 505 | * CowTools: They have conical claws on their hands. They're not shown using them. |
| 506 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: The North American species is striped like a zebra, walks around in herds, and even makes a zebra-like whinny at one point. It being a genus of large herbivores that are widespread across North America and Eurasia and get preyed on by smaller, pack-hunting carnivores (ala grey wolves) also brings to mind ''Cervus'' deer (elk, red deer, sika). |
| 507 | * MonsterMunch: They do what all large ornithopods do in dinosaur media: serve as prey for the predators. |
| 508 | * PaletteSwap: A more justified example than most in the series, the North American and European ''Iguanodon'' use the same model, only with different colours, although since they're meant to be the same genus, they would obviously look very similar (however, the North American ''Iguanodon'' is now known as ''Dakotadon''). |
| 509 | * SocialOrnithopod: As typical for its species, ''Iguanodon'' is normally seen wandering in small to medium-sized herds and is sometimes accompanied by a lone ankylosaur. |
| 510 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Always accompanied by the ankylosaur ''Polacanthus'' or ''Gastonia''. |
| 511 | [[/folder]] |
| 512 | |
| 513 | [[folder:''Polacanthus'' and ''Gastonia'']] |
| 514 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_polacanthus.JPG]] |
| 515 | A small ankylosaur shown traveling alongside the ''Iguanodon''. |
| 516 | ---- |
| 517 | * AdaptedOut: In the novelization, it's only shown with the American ''Iguanodon'', and is oddly absent in the part taking place in Europe (depite most of its purported fossils coming from Europe). |
| 518 | * MightyGlacier: It's much stronger than the local carnivores, but not particularly fast. |
| 519 | * MisplacedWildlife: Played straight in the British cut, ''Polacanthus'' is known only from Europe, but it is also shown to live in in North America. The American cut corrects this and identified it as the American ankylosaur ''Gastonia''. |
| 520 | * NighInvulnerable: Due to its thick armor and spikes. ''Polacanthus'' dissuades ''Utahraptor'' from considering it prey, despite being much smaller than ''Iguanodon'' (and even smaller than the European ''Iguanodon''). |
| 521 | * PaletteSwap: Inverted, despite representing two different genera, they are completely identical. The original cut and accompanying material even claim that they are the same genus, but this is corrected in the American cut with the American ''Polacanthus'' being identified as ''Gastonia''. |
| 522 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Enjoys traveling with ''Iguanodon''. |
| 523 | * ToughArmoredDinosaur: A ''Polacanthus'' is cornered by the ''Utahraptor'', but its armour is impregnable to them. |
| 524 | [[/folder]] |
| 525 | |
| 526 | [[folder:Pliosaur]] |
| 527 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_plesiopleurodon.jpg]] |
| 528 | A large pliosaur swimming the young Atlantic while ''Ornithocheirus'' flies above it. |
| 529 | ---- |
| 530 | * AllThereInTheManual: It's not named in the episode or any of the tie-in books. It's identified as ''Plesiopleurodon'' in ''Dinosaur Worlds'', a series of games based on WWD. Though, see InformedSpecies... |
| 531 | * AdaptedOut: No pliosaur appears when the ''Ornithocheirus'' crosses the ocean and fishes for food in the novelization, though here, that scene takes place earlier (between South and North America), and him flying over the Atlantic is glossed over. |
| 532 | * AnachronismStew: If it's meant to be ''Plesiopleurodon'', it's about 30 million years too early. ''Monquirasaurus'' (then lumped into ''Kronosaurus'') would make more sense, but even it wouldn't show up for another 10 million years. The similar ''Sachicasaurus'' would be a perfect fit, but it wasn't described until much later. |
| 533 | * InformedSpecies: It's identified as ''Plesiopleurodon'' in the tie-in video game, but ''Plesiopleurodon'' was not only quite small (with a skull only 71 cm long) but lived much later than 127 million years ago (being known from the Cenomanian, 98 mya). ''Kronosaurus'' (or rather ''Monquirasaurus'') would be a better match. |
| 534 | * HazardousWater: It appears to show that ''Ornithocheirus'' should cross the Atlantic fast and without getting close to the water. |
| 535 | * PaletteSwap: This creature's a ''Liopleurodon'' without the black and white coloring. This is at least justified, because ''Plesiopleurodon'' was considered a very close relative of ''Liopleurodon'' [[ScienceMarchesOn at the time]]. |
| 536 | * SeaMonster: It's scary and lives in the sea, at least. |
| 537 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To the ''Liopleurodon'', down to using the same model. |
| 538 | * WackyWaysideTribe: It's literally in the middle of the ''Ornithocheirus'''s flight from North America to Europe. |
| 539 | [[/folder]] |
| 540 | |
| 541 | [[folder:''Utahraptor'']] |
| 542 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_utahraptor.jpg]] |
| 543 | [[quoteright:233:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/458c9533211389734534b057ecaba882.jpg]] |
| 544 | A comparatively small theropod capable of punching above its weight because it hunts in packs. It appears in one scene. |
| 545 | ---- |
| 546 | * AllThereInTheManual: The episode doesn't address it, but both the American cut and supplementary material (notably ''Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence'') explains that the European ''Utahraptor'' was a speculative idea based on the apparent fact that North America and Europe shared other dinosaur genera (like ''Iguanodon'', ''Polacanthus'', and ''Hypsilophodon'') during the Early Cretaceous thanks to a hypothetical land bridge. [[note]] A dated notion, as the alleged American fossils of ''Iguanodon'', ''Polacanthus'', and ''Hypsilophodon'' have since been recognized as either distinct genera or ''nomen dubia''. [[/note]] |
| 547 | * AnachronismStew: Retroactively. It's since been found that ''Utahraptor'' lived much earlier than initially thought, around 140-135 million years ago rather than 125 million. |
| 548 | * AnimatedActors: According to the making-of, it chain smokes and speaks in ReceivedPronunciation behind the camera. |
| 549 | * ArtEvolution: They get red mane-like feathers and wings in the Arena Spectacular. |
| 550 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: In the novelization, their social behavior is expanded on and it strongly parallels extant lions, with the females doing most of the hunting while being beholden to a dominant male, and it's also mentioned that populations that live on plains form larger packs, while those inhabititing forests hunt alone or in small bands (mirroring African and Asiatic lions). Them being a Transatlantic, pack-hunting predator also brings to mind gray wolves. |
| 551 | * GeniusBruiser: The first creature we see that's capable of pulling off complex hunting strategies. |
| 552 | * {{Jerkass}}: The two more dominant keep [[ButtMonkey the third]] at bay while they're eating, even though there's more than enough food for everyone. |
| 553 | * KillerRabbit: The much larger ''Iguanodon'' should destroy ''Utahraptor'' on a one on one fight. It flees terrified instead, and with good reason. |
| 554 | * {{Leitmotif}}: A very distinct one compared to the other creatures in the series, punctuated by [[JungleDrums tribal drums]]. |
| 555 | * LightningBruiser: Well suited for running (although only for short distances) and fighting. |
| 556 | * MisplacedWildlife: '''''Utah'''raptor'' in Europe, anyone? The idea was that they were a Transatlantic predator (akin to modern wolves and brown bears), [[AllThereInTheManual but it's not properly explained in the episode]]. |
| 557 | * MixAndMatchCritters: What you may get if you cross an eagle with a big cat. It's also basically ''Deinonychus'' in appearance, but given ''Utahraptor'''s size (because the latter was not known from good remains at the time). |
| 558 | * RaptorAttack: For the time, it was mostly averted. Lack of feathers aside, they are accurately depicted as sprinters and ambush predators, have to attack as a pack to bring down a mid-sized ornithopod (''Iguanodon'') and realistically avoid the heavily armored ''Polacanthus''. The episode also acknowledges that they share a common ancestor with early birds like ''Iberomesornis''. |
| 559 | * RuleOfCool: Do you think it's a coincidence that the producers chose the very biggest known dromaeosaur species for the series? |
| 560 | * SeriesMascot: Appears in the logo and promotional material, and also chairs ([[AnimatedActors literally]]) the making-of. |
| 561 | * SloMo: Used when the ''Utahraptor'' jump over the fleeing ''Iguanodon''. |
| 562 | * VillainOfAnotherStory: Although they pose no threat to the ''Ornithocheirus'', they antagonize the ''Iguanodon'' relentlessly. They're not evil, though, just predators. |
| 563 | * VocalDissonance: Oddly, the ''Utahraptor'' is only heard making hiss-like noises akin to a squamate, even though the more basal T. rex and carnosaurs are shown uterring more complex roars, and the ''Ornitholestes'' and ''Dromaeosaurus'' make appropriately bird-like chirps and screeches, as does the far more primitive ''Coelophysis''. |
| 564 | * WolverineClaws: Downplayed because it's only one located on the foot rather than the hand, but it's still fully retractable and devastating. |
| 565 | * ZergRush: They attack in groups. |
| 566 | [[/folder]] |
| 567 | |
| 568 | [[folder:Small Pterosaur]] |
| 569 | A small pterosaur, seemingly a basal pteranodont, who is seen as a background character throughout "Giant of the Skies" and at one point gets mugged by the ''Ornithocheirus'' |
| 570 | ---- |
| 571 | * AdaptedOut: Does not appear in the novelization, and the pterosaur that gets robbed of its fish by the ''Ornithocheirus'' is instead a juvenile conspecific. |
| 572 | * AnachronismStew: If it's indeed ''Ornithostoma'', who lived during the late Albian, about 22 million years after the date of the episode. Though later finds would show that a crested ''Ornithocheirus''/''Tropeognathus'' relative called ''Caulkicephalus'' did live in Barremian Britain. |
| 573 | * ButtMonkey: Its one spotlight scene shows it catching a fish and then getting attacked by the ''Ornithocheirus'', who steals its fish. |
| 574 | * TheGenericGuy: Represents a more normal-sized Early Cretaceous pterosaur compared to the gigantic ''Ornithocheirus''. Being smaller is shown to have its benefits, as it makes it easier for it to take flight, while ''Ornithocheirus'' has to wait for strong updrafts to get airborne. |
| 575 | * NoNameGiven: It's only called a "small pterosaur". Given that it looks like a diminutive pteranodontid, it might be meant to be ''Ornithostoma'', a small-bodied basal pteranodontid (or alternatively an azhdarchoid) that was sympatric with ''Ornichocheirus'' at Cambridge Greensand in England. |
| 576 | [[/folder]] |
| 577 | |
| 578 | [[folder:''Iberomesornis'']] |
| 579 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_iberomesornis.jpg]] |
| 580 | A small gregarious bird that harasses the ''Ornithocheirus'' briefly during his travel. |
| 581 | ---- |
| 582 | * AllThereInTheManual: Identified only as "birds". |
| 583 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Very brightly colored, even when compared to non-avian dinosaurs. Referred to as "tiny feathered jewels" in the book. |
| 584 | * FeatheredFiend: They attack the ''Ornithocheirus'' fiercely when he intrudes into their nesting grounds. |
| 585 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: They're the first birds to appear, and while minuscule, they're already threatening to pterosaurs, which are disadvantaged due to their more delicate wings. Mesozoic birds don't appear again in the series, but are referenced in the final episode set 40 million years later, where it's mentioned that birds are thriving and have effectively replaced the declining pterosaurs. |
| 586 | * KillerRabbit: Tiny compared to the ''Ornithocheirus'', to the point of being mistaken for insects next to him, but no less vicious. |
| 587 | * MamaBear[=/=]PapaWolf: These birds are violently protective of their nesting grounds. |
| 588 | * MisplacedWildlife: They appear in some place of Europe that's explicitly not the Iberian Peninsula, an island at the time -- yet the only remains were found in Spain. |
| 589 | * RuleOfCool: The ZergRush behavior is completely speculative, since the only known remains consist of one headless skeleton. It's not necessarily unlikely though, since many small birds today will "mob" larger predators to protect their nests. |
| 590 | * SuperiorSuccessor: Although much, much smaller than the ''Ornithocheirus'', it's noted that their feather wings are able to get wet with no issues, are more durable, and enable more nimble flight through dense forests, making them superior to the thin, leathery wings of pterosaurs, and are already in the process of gradually outcompeting them (note that this was based on now-outdated knowledge of pterosaurs). |
| 591 | * ToothyBird: Justified, the group it belongs to only rarely evolved beaks. |
| 592 | * ZergRush: A flock of them harass the old ''Ornithocheirus'' and forces him to leave. |
| 593 | [[/folder]] |
| 594 | |
| 595 | !!Spirits Of The Ice Forest |
| 596 | [[folder:''Leaellynasaura'']] |
| 597 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_leaellynasaura.jpg]] |
| 598 | A small ornithopod dinosaur, and the main protagonist of the episode. |
| 599 | ---- |
| 600 | * ActionSurvivor: Despite their unimpressive aspect, they're the only dinosaur we see capable of living through a challenge not often associated with them -- a polar winter. |
| 601 | * AdaptedOut: Absent from the Arena Spectacular. Along with ''Diplodocus'', ''Coelophysis'' and ''Liopleurodon'', it's one of the four protagonists to be left out of the stage show. |
| 602 | * AnachronismStew: Downplayed compared to most examples in WWD, as it did live during the Albian, but about 4-5 million years before the setting of the episode. |
| 603 | * BadassAdorable: Tiny [[RedShirt ornithopod]] dinosaurs they may be, but they are the only animals among the ones we see that can thrive in the winter climate. |
| 604 | * CowTools: Despite being vegetarian, they have small forward-facing canines. |
| 605 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: A small, herbivorous dinosaur, that can last the winter much better than the larger, more fearsome dinosaurs. |
| 606 | * DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the show the lead female ''Leaellynasaura'' is killed by an "polar allosaur", while in the novelization its an sub-adult male that meets his end, the lead female ''Leaellynasaura'' instead meets her end freezing to death being unable to survive the winter, before her corpse is eaten by a ''Koolasuchus''. |
| 607 | * PaletteSwap: Uses the same model as ''Othnielia'', but with different colours. |
| 608 | * FragileSpeedster: Speed is about the only defense they have against predators. |
| 609 | * InformedAttribute: It's said they have huge eyes for the dark winter conditions, but since all the small ornithopods uses the same model, they all have the same-sized eyeballs. |
| 610 | * [[OffWithHisHead Off with Her Head!]]: After the lead female is killed by the "polar allosaur", the predator rips her head off. |
| 611 | * RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Their large eyes and small beaked snouts make them this. The hatchlings take this up a notch. |
| 612 | * RuleOfCool: The only confirmed remains of this species is a single skeleton without tail and hind legs, so everything related to its social nature and use of communal nests to survive the winter is speculative. |
| 613 | * SocialOrnithopod: The episode focuses on a ''Leaellynasaura'' matriarch who struggles to maintain control and look after her flock during a time of harsh winter in Early Cretaceous Australia. That, and the species can sometimes be seen alongside the larger ''Muttaburrasaurus''. |
| 614 | * StartsWithTheirFuneral: The episode begins with a lone ''Leaellynasaura'' that froze to death in the winter, then shows the carcass being eaten by ''Koolasuchus''. |
| 615 | * TeamMom: The lead female. When she gets eaten, the whole clan falls apart. |
| 616 | * TookALevelInBadass: Compared to the other small ornithopods, who barely get more than being a LivingProp and MonsterMunch in other episodes. In fact, small ornithopods made most of the dinosaurs in the area for about 45 million years, unlike everywhere else. This suggests they were better suited to cope with polar conditions than other dinosaurs. |
| 617 | [[/folder]] |
| 618 | |
| 619 | [[folder:Polar Allosaur]] |
| 620 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_australovenator.jpg]] |
| 621 | The main antagonist of the episode, a carnivorous summer guest. Identified retroactively as ''Australovenator'' by BBC. |
| 622 | ---- |
| 623 | * AnachronismStew: Along with ''Koolasuchus'', the "polar allosaur" stems from the early Aptian Wonthaggi Formation, so it should have been extinct for 14 million years and would not have met ''Leaellynasaura'', though we have since found fossils of a different megaraptoran that was sympatric with the little ornithopod (nicknamed the "Otway Claw"). |
| 624 | * BigBad: The main predator and the one who causes the biggest conflict by killing the lead female. |
| 625 | * InformedSpecies: The new BBC website identifies it as ''Australovenator'', even though it doesn't look like one. Unsurprisingly, because the series aired a decade before the description of ''Australovenator'' and megaraptorans as a group. ''Australovenator'' also turned out to be much younger than initially thought, making the retroactive connection between it and the "polar allosaur" a new example of ScienceMarchesOn, though the latter likely was a megaraptoran. |
| 626 | * LivingRelic: Implied. It is nearly identical to another dinosaur that lived 30-40 million years before in a less remote location. We know now that this isn't the case because of ScienceMarchesOn. |
| 627 | * NoNameGiven: Originally called "polar allosaur" or "dwarf allosaur", as the remain that inspired it was only assigned provisionally to a ''nomen dubium'', ''"Allosaurus" robustus''. The American cut alternatively went with calling it a "carnosaur". |
| 628 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Not identified by a specific genus, because it was based on dubious fragmentary remains that had been tentatively assigned to ''Allosaurus'' around the time. The program went with the interpretation that it was a close relative of ''Allosaurus'', but now it's considered more likely to have been a megaraptoran, a group of predatory dinosaurs that was not established until 2010. |
| 629 | * PaletteSwap: Of the original ''Allosaurus''. This was justified at the time, because it's based on a fossil that was tentatively classified as a species of ''Allosaurus'' (although even then it was questioned), although it's now considered more likely either a megaraptoran or an abelisaur. |
| 630 | * RuleOfCool: A more threatening enemy than ''Koolasuchus'' was needed, even if there was just an ankle bone to justify it at the time. And ''polar allosaur'' sounds freaking awesome. |
| 631 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: To ''Allosaurus''. |
| 632 | [[/folder]] |
| 633 | |
| 634 | [[folder:''Koolasuchus'']] |
| 635 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_koolasuchus.jpg]] |
| 636 | A large crocodile-like amphibian, the last of the temnospondyls. |
| 637 | ---- |
| 638 | * AnachronismStew: ''Koolasuchus'' was long gone by the Mid Albian, as its fossil stem from the early Aptian Wonthaggi Formation instead. The area where it lived did become warmer and even got crocodiles just before the time of the episode, which likely drove ''Koolasuchus'' to extinction, as mentioned in the episode. It was also not a contemporary of ''Leaellynasaura'', though it did coexist with similar small ornithopods like ''Galleonosaurus'' and ''Qantassaurus''. |
| 639 | * AmphibianAtLarge: Though it's only distantly related, it ''looks'' like an ten-foot-long salamander. |
| 640 | * BlackBeadEyes: Has the typical black, emotionless eyes of an amphibian. |
| 641 | * DarkIsEvil: It is completely black, unlike any other creature in the series, and it has an unsettling air around it. Subverted in that, just like every other creature in the show, it's merely an animal trying to survive. |
| 642 | * GracefulInTheirElement: It takes it a long time to move on land, but it is scarily fast in the water. |
| 643 | * LastOfHisKind[=/=]LivingRelic: The last survivor of the temnospondyls, a group of large predatory amphibians that first evolved 200 million years before and were already past their prime when the dinosaurs appeared. It survived in polar latitudes that were too cold for crocodiles and their relatives. |
| 644 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: It acts very much like a crocodile, which explains why its group was driven extinct everywhere else by crocodylomorphs. |
| 645 | * NightmareFuelStationAttendant: It is huge, creepy-looking and an [[ParanoiaFuel ambush predator]], so it manages to be one of the scariest creatures in the series despite being almost useless on land. All of its appearances have a rather ominous feel to them. |
| 646 | * PrehistoricMonster: A salamander made NightmareFuel. |
| 647 | * RuleOfCool: Honestly, would you have this in the episode or a crocodile? |
| 648 | [[/folder]] |
| 649 | |
| 650 | [[folder:''Muttaburrasaurus'']] |
| 651 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_muttaburrasaurus.jpg]] |
| 652 | A large iguanodontid ornithopod, appearing as summer guests to the territory. |
| 653 | ---- |
| 654 | * DumbMuscle: A couple gets lost on the migration north... which they do every year. |
| 655 | * GentleGiant: They are absolutely not a threat to the local ''Leaellynasaura'' browsing with them. |
| 656 | * MightyGlacier: Slow, but strong. |
| 657 | * MisplacedWildlife: The episode is set in a rift valley joining southern Australia to Antarctica, but ''Muttaburrasaurus'' is only known from central Queensland, more than a thousand miles away. The episode justifies this by it being a migratory animal. |
| 658 | * MonsterMunch: Subverted. Though they are presented as a potential prey for the polar allosaur, they are far from defenseless and the predator doesn't even tries to attack the bigger individuals, running from them when they show signs of aggression. The only ''Muttaburrasaurus'' the polar alosaur is seen eating is an old male who died of natural causes rather than predation. Adding to that, they have their own subplot not related to be a prey item. |
| 659 | * NoisyNature: The noisiest of the bunch, with their bellowing calls. |
| 660 | * PaletteSwap: Uses a modified ''Iguanodon'' model. |
| 661 | * RuleOfCool: The inflatable sacks to use in calls. Proposed for many ornithopods and makes sense, but it is not entirely proven. |
| 662 | * SocialOrnithopod: Just like ''Iguanodon'', and can occasionally be seen browsing alongside the smaller ''Leaelyynasaura''. |
| 663 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Plays the same part as its relative, ''Iguanodon'' and also looks like it. |
| 664 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: A pair that gets lost in the forest end up preventing the ''Leaellynasaura'' sentry from detecting a polar allosaur, which allows it to kill the matriarch. |
| 665 | [[/folder]] |
| 666 | |
| 667 | [[folder:''Steropodon'']] |
| 668 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_steropodon.jpg]] |
| 669 | An opportunistic monotreme mammal, related to the modern platypus. |
| 670 | ---- |
| 671 | * AllThereInTheManual: The species is only identified in supplementary material. |
| 672 | * EvilEggEater: Downplayed as it's not really evil, but given that the ''Leaellynsaura'' are the protagonists and are trying so hard to keep their eggs safe for the next generation, it fits this role as an occasional pest that needs to be driven off. |
| 673 | * InformedSpecies: It's live-acted by a coati, which looks nothing like a platypus (''Steropodon'' likely also didn't look like a platypus since it lacked a beak, but most certainly not like a coati). The American children recut ''Prehistoric Planet'' even states that it is a coati and that they already lived in the Age of the Dinosaurs. This makes it a massive case of AnachronismStew and MisplacedWildlife, as coatis appeared in South America over 90 million years after the episode's setting. |
| 674 | * RogerRabbitEffect: Played by a live-action coati. |
| 675 | * WackyWaysideTribe: One becomes a brief challenge to the ''Leaellynasaura'' when it tries to steal their eggs, but it is easily driven away and never comes back. |
| 676 | [[/folder]] |
| 677 | |
| 678 | !!Death of a Dynasty |
| 679 | [[folder:''Tyrannosaurus rex'']] |
| 680 | !!''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' |
| 681 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_trex.jpg]] |
| 682 | One of the latest, largest and [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs most famous]] theropod dinosaurs, with the most powerful bite of them all. |
| 683 | ---- |
| 684 | * ActionMom: The mother ''Tyrannosaurus'' fights off anything that poses a threat to her young. |
| 685 | * AdaptationalUgliness: In the novelization, the main female is described as having half her face covered in scars, being quite old, [[DisabledInTheAdaptation and walking with a slight limp]]. |
| 686 | * AllForNothing: The individual in the episode tries to have a surviving litter in a volcanic environment that is making it difficult for eggs to hatch. She finally manages to do so, but dies trying to raise them, and the two surviving chicks are killed by the asteroid just hours later anyway, so whether or not she would have survived to raise them is moot. |
| 687 | * ArtEvolution: The design changes a lot between this series and the sequels, ''Sea Monsters'' and ''Prehistoric Park''. |
| 688 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Its proportions are really ungainly and rather ugly compared to the real animal, including abnormally long legs, a very thin tail and neck, an unnaturally blocky and short skull with a bizarre frill at the back, a too-narrow chest, and rounded hoof-like claws. It's rather strange they managed to mess up the anatomy of one of the most famous and well-known dinosaurs so badly. |
| 689 | * BodyHorror: The up close shot of a dead ''Tyrannosaurus'' fetus, which was [[BannedInChina cut from the American version]]. |
| 690 | * CainAndAbel: Implied. The older hatchlings pick on the third one, who later disappears. The narrator speculates that it was killed by the other two but it is never confirmed. |
| 691 | * CameraAbuse: In the prologue, the mother ''Tyrannosaurus'' roars to the camera and covers the lens with saliva. |
| 692 | * ContinuitySnarl: ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' (accurately) stated that ''T. rex'' only existed for the last 2 million years of the Cretaceous (same for the making-of special), only for ''Series/SeaMonsters'' to show it alive 75 million years ago (about 7-8 million years before its time). |
| 693 | * DarkIsEvil[=/=]DarkIsNotEvil: Zigzagged between the two. It's nearly all black as well as a menacing apex predator, but it's also very sympathetically portrayed and a TragicMonster. |
| 694 | * DemotedToExtra: The main female is less prominent in the novelization, with her time fasting while guarding her new nest being completely glossed over. |
| 695 | * DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: While she still meets her end after a fight with the ''Ankylosaurus'', unlike the show in where she dies a slow death from internal injuries, in the novelization gives her a much quicker death as the ''Ankylosaurus'' beats the mother ''Tyrannosaurus'' to death before departing with her own baby ''Ankylosaurus'' . |
| 696 | * DoomedHurtGuy: The mother ''Tyrannosaurus'' is hit by the ''Ankylosaurus''' tail club; the blow doesn't cause any visible wounds, but it does result in catastrophic internal injuries which cause a slow and painful death. |
| 697 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Appears in the pilot while the HighConcept of the series is being described. |
| 698 | * GiantEqualsInvincible: Played with. An adult ''Tyrannosaurus'' is too tall to be killed by a volcanic gas pool, unless it lowers the head, and everything alive seems naturally wary of it including male ''Tyrannosaurus''. But then ''Ankylosaurus'' shows that there is ''one'' animal that is not afraid nor in any way incapable of taking on a female ''Tyrannosaurus''. And later [[DiabolusExMachina the asteroid]] squishes the tyrannosaurs flat along with all the other dinosaurs. |
| 699 | * GiganticAdultsTinyBabies: Although they are larger at birth than the ''Allosaurus''. |
| 700 | * TheHeroDies: The lead female ''Tyrannosaurus'' dies from internal injuries after being hit by the ''Ankylosaurus''' tail club, though given the asteroid crashes on Earth the morning after her death, she was not long for this world anyway. |
| 701 | * HeroicSacrifice: The mother would have kept distances with the ''Ankylosaurus'' if it wasn't too near to her children. She gets a tail clubbing for her trouble, which breaks her femur and damages several internal organs before she dies. |
| 702 | * InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Male ''Tyrannosaurus'' must be very careful when around females, if they want them to mate rather than killing them. |
| 703 | * LastOfHisKind: The genus is only 2 million years old at the time of its extinction. Most dinosaurs lasted 10 or more. |
| 704 | * MamaBear: Woe betide the animal [[TooDumbToLive stupid enough]] to mess with her kids... Unfortunately, this leads to her death, when her maternal instincts drive her to face an ''Ankylosaurus'' head-on that accidentally wandered to close to her chicks. The ankylosaur attacks her instinctively, causing fatal injuries. |
| 705 | * MonsterIsAMommy: The mother spends the whole episode trying to raise a family. |
| 706 | * MoreDeadlyThanTheMale: The female is larger and more aggressive than her mate, who must appease her to make sure she won't attack him (note that this sexual dimorphism is based on evidence now considered incorrect). |
| 707 | * NoisyNature: They are constantly roaring and growling. Sometimes it is for specific reasons like guarding a territory, calling up mates, etc. But others they seem to roar just for the sake of it -- after hunting or [[UncertainDoom killing/scaring away]] an egg-stealing mammal. |
| 708 | * TheNoseKnows: They have one of the best senses of smell among the dinosaurs and it is their main tool for hunting. |
| 709 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: The mother loses her first batch of eggs to a volcanic gas release. Of the second batch, only three hatch, and one is likely killed by its own siblings. No wonder she is so paranoid about keeping the remaining chicks alive, leading to the inversion of the trope and her own death. |
| 710 | * PleaseWakeUp: The surviving baby ''Tyrannosaurus'' stay by their mother's carcass, unaware that she is dead. |
| 711 | * ScaryTeeth: They're serrated and as big as steak knives. |
| 712 | * SeriesMascot: The undisputed king, with ''Allosaurus'' and ''Utahraptor'' following. |
| 713 | * SheIsTheKing: ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' translates to "tyrannical king of lizards", but the protagonist of the episode is a female ''Tyrannosaurus''. |
| 714 | * ShootTheShaggyDog: The mother never has a surviving litter. She dies, and then her last two children get killed in a planetary wide extinction event. |
| 715 | * StockAnimalDiet: Depicted hunting and feeding on hadrosaurs and ''Triceratops''. |
| 716 | * TerrifyingTyrannosaur: The narrator describes ''Tyrannosaurus'' as "the dinosaurs' most infamous predator" and "specifically evolved to kill other giant dinosaurs." And they are extremely territorial and hostile to other members of their species, only tolerating each other during mating sessions. |
| 717 | * ThroughHisStomach: Gender-flipped; the male courts the female by offering her a dead ''Triceratops''. The narration indicates that the female will attack him if he doesn't do this. The meal pacifies her and makes her more willing to consider him a potential mate. |
| 718 | * TragicMonster: This episode follows a female ''T. rex'' whose only goal in the episode is become a mother, but her first litter of eggs die off and from her second litter only 3 are born and 1 of them go missing, only for her to die while protecting her 2 surviving offsprings, before they too meet their end during the K-T Extinction event. |
| 719 | * VillainProtagonist: Averted. This is perhaps the most sympathetic, if not downright ''tragic'' ''T. rex'' ever put to film. |
| 720 | [[/folder]] |
| 721 | |
| 722 | [[folder:''Ankylosaurus'']] |
| 723 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_ankylosaurus.jpg]] |
| 724 | A large armored herbivore that comes into conflict with the mother ''Tyrannosaurus'' and gravely injures her. |
| 725 | ---- |
| 726 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Its beating of the mother ''T. rex'' is longer and much more violent in the book than in the show. |
| 727 | * BewareMyStingerTail: Downplayed, as the tail club has no spikes. Still a very powerful weapon, as the mother ''Tyrannosaurus'' learns firsthand. |
| 728 | * ChekhovsGunman: Appears briefly in the opening as a seemingly innocuous cameo... It later [[HeroKiller kills]] the ''T. rex''. |
| 729 | ** ChekhovsSkill: It is mentioned during the introduction that it evolved specifically to deal with tyrannosaurs. |
| 730 | * CurbStompBattle: The mother ''Tyrannosaurus'' has no real chance against it. |
| 731 | * DiabolusExMachina: It walks into the ''Tyrannosaurus'' chicks by accident, which makes their mother confront it, and it mortally wounds her as a result. |
| 732 | * TheDreaded: The narrator says the ''T. rex'' would [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness normally retreat]] from an ''Ankylosaurus''. That alone should tell you just how scarily formidable this beast is. |
| 733 | * DumbMuscle: Described as having a very small brain, and its lack of intelligence leads it to attack anything it perceives as a threat. |
| 734 | * HerbivoresAreFriendly: Averted, if not Inverted. Aside from the mass extinction itself, it's the closest thing the episode has to an antagonist. |
| 735 | * HeroKiller: It succeeds where others would not even think about: killing a female, adult ''T. rex''. |
| 736 | * NighInvulnerable: Ankylosaurs prove the ArmorIsUseless trope wrong. Even ''their eyelids'' are armored. |
| 737 | * NonMaliciousMonster: As far as the ''Ankylosaurus'' is concerned, it merely defended itself against an unusually aggressive ''Tyrannosaurus''. |
| 738 | * OneHitKill: Although in the long run only, as the mother ''T. rex'' can limp away before dying. |
| 739 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: In the book, the beating of the ''Tyrannosaurus'' mother continues for a while, instead of being made of a single hit. |
| 740 | * ToughArmoredDinosaur: They're so heavily protected that not even ''Tyrannosaurus'' can hurt them, and actually normally flee from them, and one is able to kill a ''T. rex'' in a single hit. |
| 741 | [[/folder]] |
| 742 | |
| 743 | [[folder:''Anatotitan'']] |
| 744 | [[quoteright:190:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4ac9826240d9f84fe2ec8a516bac5c1d.jpg]] |
| 745 | A large ornithopod dinosaur of the new hadrosaur family and the main prey item of the ''Tyrannosaurus''. |
| 746 | ---- |
| 747 | * AdaptationalBadass: While in the episode, they are merely MonsterMunch, the novelization aknowledges that an adult ''Anatotitan'' is no easy prey for a T. rex and is capable of killing the latter. One herd of duckbills stands their ground against the male T. rex and he backs off. |
| 748 | * AdaptationalExpansion: They are given more scenes in the noveization. Notably, we see a nesting colony tacking care of their young, but the latter get killed by an incoming ash cloud brought by the winds following a distant volcanic erruption, which suffocates the hatchlings. |
| 749 | * AnimalsNotToScale: It's portrayed as being considerably smaller than ''Tyrannosaurus'', but in reality the reverse is more often true. |
| 750 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: |
| 751 | ** There is a brief mention that hadrosaurs evolved in lush swamps. This reeks of the century-old, disproven theory that hadrosaurs were [[AquaticHadrosaurs semi-aquatic]]. |
| 752 | ** The model has thumbs, unlike real hadrosaurs. This is probably because it was modified from the ''Iguanodon'' model, rather than made from zero. Its forelimbs are also much too stocky, more like ''Iguanodon'', compared to the very thin and gracile forelimbs of hadrosaurs. |
| 753 | * BoringButPractical: There is only a vague reference, but the reason for the success of the hadrosaurs is that they evolved battery teeth comparable to the molars of mammals. This allowed them to chew their food before swallowing it. |
| 754 | * DecompositeCharacter: In the novelization, both ''Anatotitan'' and ''Edmontosaurus'' appear in supporting roles, though the fact files aknowledge that the former could be a synonym of the latter (which has since become the prevailing view). |
| 755 | * MixAndMatchCritters: ''Iguanodon'' evolved a duck head. |
| 756 | * MonsterMunch: Like every other boring large herbivore, their existence seems to revolve around being eaten. |
| 757 | * NoisyNature: They actually ''eat'' noisily. |
| 758 | * PaletteSwap: Made from a modified ''Iguanodon'' model, resulting in it having unusually stiff thumbs. |
| 759 | * SocialOrnithopod: Typical for a hadrosaur, ''Anatotitan'' is almost always seen travelling with a herd. |
| 760 | [[/folder]] |
| 761 | |
| 762 | [[folder:''Torosaurus'']] |
| 763 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_torosaurus.jpg]] |
| 764 | Another large vegetarian dinosaur, this time of the horned ceratopsian variety. |
| 765 | ---- |
| 766 | * AccidentalPun: ''Torosaurus'' means "Perforated lizard", in reference to the large gaps in its skull frill. It has nothing to do with [[TorosYFlamenco the Spanish word for bull]]. |
| 767 | * BodyHorror: A male loses a whole horn during rutting season. |
| 768 | * CompeteForTheMaidensHand: They are introduced as males fighting for the right to reproduce. Later, they are shown taking care of their young. |
| 769 | * DeathOfAChild: It's noted that they are not producing many young because volcanic activity is causing their eggs to develop incompletely. One of the young that managed to hatch is also hunted and killed by a pack of dromaeosaurs, which is noted to be a huge blow to their population. |
| 770 | * DyingRace: It's noted that they are struggling to maintain their numbers because of an abnormally high number of stillbirths due to increased volcanism. The death of just one baby from predation is cited as a major blow to a herd. It ends up being a moot point when the asteroid hits though. |
| 771 | * MamaBear[=/=]PapaWolf: When attacked by dromaeosaurs, they form a wall around their young. This, unfortunately, proves futile. |
| 772 | * RuleOfCool: |
| 773 | ** Except for the somewhat baffling appearance of ''Triceratops'', this is the only ceratopsian that appears in the episode, despite the former being ''far'' more common and well-known. Surely the facts that this is one of the largest ceratopsians, with the largest horns, and possibly the largest skull of any animal ever, is merely coincidental. |
| 774 | ** Altering the color of the frill by pumping blood on it and using it in interspecific conflicts is speculative. |
| 775 | * SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: They replace the [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs stock]] ''Triceratops'', but are virtually identical. In fact, some scientists even proposed that they were actually the same animal in different growth stages. [[ScienceMarchesOn As of now]], the consensus is that they were indeed different animals. |
| 776 | * UncertainDoom: After a male in heat loses a horn in a fight, the narrator says that it will never mate again. It is unclear if this is because the male will never win a fight, due to lacking one horn, or because it will die from its injuries and will never have the chance. Naturally, [[MetaphoricallyTrue considering that the asteroid hits just months after]], it could be that it will not mate again for the same reason no other non-avian dinosaur will. Its doom is a lot less ambiguous in the novelization, where it gets attacked and killed by a male ''T. rex'' to present to the central female as a mating gift. |
| 777 | [[/folder]] |
| 778 | |
| 779 | [[folder:''Triceratops'']] |
| 780 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_triceratops.jpg]] |
| 781 | Another ceratopsian related to ''Torosaurus'', which is hunted by the male ''Tyrannosaurus'' and presented to the female as part of an [[ThroughHisStomach appeasing mating strategy]]. |
| 782 | ---- |
| 783 | * AdaptationSpeciesChange: In the novelization, the male ''Torosaurus'' from above that lost its horn in a dominance fight fills the role played by the ''Triceratops'' here, getting ambushed by the ''T. rex'' while it's still exhausted and licking its wounds |
| 784 | * AnimalJingoism: The only one shown was killed offscreen by its eternal cultural nemesis, a ''Tyrannosaurus''. |
| 785 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Only shows up briefly as a dead corpse, even though in reality ''Triceratops'' was by far the most common large animal in the region, making up nearly ''half'' of all large dinosaur fossils from the Hell Creek Formation (by contrast, ''Ankylosaurus'' only makes up 1%, ''Edmontosaurus'' makes up 20%, ''Tyrannosaurus'' 24%, and ''Torosaurus'' was so rare it doesn't even register as a single percentage). |
| 786 | * DemotedToExtra: A sort of meta example. ''Triceratops'' is undeniably one of the most popular dinosaurs and a must-show in any DinosaurMedia alongside ''Tyrannosaurus'' (and for good reason, as it was by far the most common large dinosaur in the region), but here it's just shown as a single gnawed carcass. |
| 787 | * KilledOffscreen: Killed by a ''T. rex'' offscreen and shows up only as a carcass. |
| 788 | * PosthumousCharacter: Shows up only as a carcass. |
| 789 | [[/folder]] |
| 790 | |
| 791 | [[folder:Unnamed small ornithopod]] |
| 792 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_thescelosaurus.jpg]] |
| 793 | An unnamed small vegetarian dinosaur chased by the equally unnamed dromaesaur in an early scene. |
| 794 | ---- |
| 795 | * LivingProp: Yeah, small ornithopods continue to exist. That's about it. |
| 796 | * MonsterMunch: Appears as a showcase of predator-prey interactions along with the dromaesaur, although it gets away. |
| 797 | * PaletteSwap: Very obviously a recycled model of the ornithopods from the "Time of Titans" episode; they didn't even bother to change the colour in this case. |
| 798 | * NoNameGiven: Not even in supplementary material, although a possible identity (''Thescelosaurus'') is fleetingly mentioned as part of the Hell Creek fauna in the book. |
| 799 | [[/folder]] |
| 800 | |
| 801 | [[folder:Dromaeosaurus]] |
| 802 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wwd_dromaeosaur.jpg]] |
| 803 | A small predator shown menacing young ''Torosaurus'' and ''Tyrannosaurus'' eggs. |
| 804 | ---- |
| 805 | * AnachronismStew: Narrowly averted. The species was supposed to be the slightly older ''Dromaeosaurus'' while in production, but was changed to an unnamed member of the same family.[[note]]''Acheroraptor'' and ''Dakotaraptor'' would later be discovered in the portrayed formation.[[/note]] |
| 806 | * AdaptedOut: It does not physically appear in the novelization, it's only alluded to in the prologue for "Death of a Dynasty". |
| 807 | * EatsBabies: Of ''Torosaurus'', ''Tyrannosaurus''... and really, likely anything it can get. |
| 808 | * EvilEggEater: One sneaks up to the nest of the mother ''Tyrannosaurus'', hoping to get a bite, only to be scared off by the mother's roar. |
| 809 | * JackOfAllStats: It can run after small ornithischians, steal eggs from ''Tyrannosaurs'', or team up with others to take young ''Torosaurus''. |
| 810 | * LightningBruiser: Very fast and very powerful. |
| 811 | * NoisyNature: After failing to catch a small ornithopod, it roars pointlessly as if it wanted to scare the prey further. |
| 812 | * NoNameGiven: Only called "dromaeosaur", as it was not supposed to be a particular genus, probably because no species of dromaeosaur to coexist with the other animals in the episode had been described at the time of production (nowadays, they could've used either ''Acheroraptor'' or ''Dakotaraptor''). |
| 813 | * PaletteSwap: Uses the ''Utahraptor'' model recolored. Not unjustified, as ''Dromaeosaurus'' was a very close relative of ''Utahraptor'' and was believed to have the same proportions at the time, despite being much smaller. |
| 814 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Appears to be trying to do this before the meteorite hits. Not that it would help. |
| 815 | ** StockFootage: This sequence is actually the previous one where a dromaeosaur flees from the MamaBear ''Tyrannosaurus'', just mirrored. You can even see the nest. |
| 816 | * RaptorAttack: Scaly pack hunting depiction. |
| 817 | * WolverineClaws: Like any other raptor. |
| 818 | * ZergRush: Implied when hunting the young ''Torosaurus''. |
| 819 | [[/folder]] |
| 820 | |
| 821 | [[folder:''Didelphodon'']] |
| 822 | [[quoteright:265:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/247d65297793af3ac83c1723279a7a87.jpg]] |
| 823 | A tenacious mammal, and the only animal thriving in the harsh Cretaceous environment. |
| 824 | ---- |
| 825 | * ActionSurvivor: Who knew a stuffed panda could survive in a volcanic area with dinosaurs. And do well! That said, the genus itself became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous, along with the dinosaurs. |
| 826 | * BadassAdorable: At least until their mean temper shows up. |
| 827 | * BadOlBadger: A tough, aggressive burrowing mammal that both acts and looks the part. It isn't related to badgers, though -- it's a marsupial. More complete fossils (at the time ''Didelphodon'' was only known from a skull) have also indicated it wasn't actually badger-like, it was more otter-like in body shape. |
| 828 | * BigEater: Shown constantly eating or trying to eat, despite its small size. |
| 829 | * CirclingVultures: Much of its behaviour borders on this. It feeds on ''Tyrannosaurus'' eggs (dead or alive) and a ''Torosaurus'' carcass left by the dromaeosaurs. |
| 830 | * EatsBabies: Depicted feeding on a dead unhatched ''Tyrannosaurus'' fetus and scavenging the carcass of a baby ''Torosaurus'' that had been killed and eaten by raptors. |
| 831 | * EvilEggEater: It has a knack for ''Tyrannosaurus'' eggs, some of which are [[BodyHorror well into development]]. It's also an unpleasant mammal, getting into fights with other ''Didelphodon'' for the spoils. |
| 832 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: As a large mammal by Mesozoic standards (10 kg), it symbolizes the coming Age of Mammals. |
| 833 | * HistoricalBadassUpgrade: They are everywhere during the episode and seem to be almost driving the dinosaurs to extinction by themselves, and the ''Tyrannosaurus'' in particular. This is ironic considering current knowledge and the fact that it was also driven to extinction by the asteroid. |
| 834 | * TheSwarm: When there are enough of them. |
| 835 | * TooDumbToLive: Repeatedly shown raiding ''Tyrannosaurus'' nests without watching out for the parent; two get eaten this way. |
| 836 | * WhosLaughingNow: Its role and actions in this episode mirror those of ''Coelophysis'' in the first one, with the dinosaurs filling the shoes of the cynodonts and ''Postosuchus''. It's taken 160 million years, but mammals are finally getting their vengeance (although ''Didelphodon'' itself went extinct in the K-Pg extinction event along with non-avian dinosaurs). |
| 837 | * ZergRush: In a gag sequence in the Making Of special, against the ''Tyrannosaurus''. |
| 838 | [[/folder]] |
| 839 | |
| 840 | [[folder:''Quetzalcoatlus'']] |
| 841 | [[quoteright:190:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quetzalcoatlus_p1_6562.jpg]] |
| 842 | One of the last and largest pterosaurs, appearing in a plot-irrelevant short scene. |
| 843 | ---- |
| 844 | * AnimalsNotToScale: Downplayed. At 13 meters, its wingspan is about two meters longer than that of the real thing (though the novelization puts it at a more accurate 11 meters). Ironically, however, its stunted neck and legs make it much shorter in height when standing (the real animal was nearly as tall as a giraffe on the ground). |
| 845 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: It is ''[[PropRecycling Ornithocheirus]]'' with [[PaletteSwap different colors]], a stubby crest (as [[ScienceMarchesOn it was believed to have]][[invoked]] in TheNineties) and no jaw crests. If you look closely at its [[http://web.tiscali.it/dinosauriweb/quetzalcoatlus.jpg official artwork]], you'll see that it even has [[ToothyBird teeth]]![[note]]Though the cinematography in its segment proper at least makes an effort to hide this last detail by primarily showing the model from a distance or at angles that make the teeth hard to see.[[/note]] Its neck is also way too short, even considering the knowledge of the time. |
| 846 | * DeathByAdaptation: It is killed by ''Deinosuchus'' in the book, whereas the threat is only implied in the TV series and it flies from the lake unscathed. |
| 847 | * GiantFlyer: Described as being a "thirteen meter giant". |
| 848 | * InformedSpecies: Looks and acts very little like an actual ''Quetzalcoatlus'', even considering ScienceMarchesOn. |
| 849 | * LastOfHisKind: In the line of "Giant of the Skies", it is introduced as one of the last pterosaurs, clinging to the GiantFlyer niche while the birds have swallowed everything else. |
| 850 | * MisplacedWildlife: A bizarre [[InvertedTrope inversion]]. It's depicted as normally being a coastal fishing animal that just happened to fly into the continent for a visit, despite only being known from inland terrestrial ecosystems to begin with in real life. |
| 851 | * PaletteSwap: It's an obviously modified model of the ''Ornithocheirus'', resulting in it having ''teeth''. |
| 852 | * ToothyBird: The real ''Quetzalcoatlus'' was toothless, unlike its portrayal here. |
| 853 | * UndergroundMonkey: Beyond its small head crest and different color scheme, there is no notable difference between it and the ''Ornithocheirus'', as they are both piscivorous, coastal [[GiantFlyer Giant Fliers]]. They even make the same distinct calls. |
| 854 | [[/folder]] |
| 855 | |
| 856 | [[folder:Hell Creek Crocodilian]] |
| 857 | [[quoteright:190:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2febf86f923c6a91339bb56684ea696c.jpg]] |
| 858 | A giant crocodile that appears in a couple of scenes. It has a larger role in the book, where it is identified as ''Deinosuchus''. |
| 859 | ---- |
| 860 | * AdaptationExpansion: Has a more prominent role in the novelization, where several hunt a ''Quetzalcoatlus'', and later confront the mother T. rex after she killed a duckbill, managing to drive her and her chicks away from the kill. |
| 861 | * AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: A red crocodile? [[AluminumChristmasTrees It does occur in modern crocodilians]], albeit as an environmental reaction. |
| 862 | * AnachronismStew: If it is meant to be Deinosuchus it is this, as the genus is not known from the end of the Cretaceous. |
| 863 | * AnimalsNotToScale: It's weight is stated to be 1 ton, but no crocodilian genus from the formation was known to reach that size. And if it is meant to be ''Deinosuchus'', the real animal would have weighted ''several'' tons. |
| 864 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: It's described as ''Deinosuchus'' in the book, but the traits it has in both the show and the novelization do not match with that crocodilian. It actually resembles the region-accurate ''Thoracosaueus'' more than anything else, despite said animal not receiving a mention in any of the show's supplementary materials. |
| 865 | * TheDreaded: Drinking dinosaurs (and pterosaurs) are always looking out for them. |
| 866 | * HazardousWater: As if it wasn't hard enough to drink in a semidesert with few waterholes and the threat of them being poisoned by volcanic activity. Naturally, there should be giant dinosaur-eating crocodiles in them as well. |
| 867 | * NoNameGiven: At least within the series. The book says its ''Deinosuchus'' |
| 868 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Due to its huge size it is a major predator. |
| 869 | * PlotIrrelevantVillain: Their only impact in the ''Tyrannosaurus'' storyline is ironically positive. By attracting the attention of the ''Anatotitan'', they make them react later to the ''Tyrannosaurus'' female, allowing her to hunt an ''Anatotitan'' easily. |
| 870 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: To the ''Anatotitan''. |
| 871 | * WritersCannotDoMath: The novelization describes ''Deinosuchus'' as stretching 12 meters in length and weighing ''2 tons''. Yeah.... |
| 872 | [[/folder]] |
| 873 | |
| 874 | [[folder:''Dinilysia'']] |
| 875 | [[quoteright:190:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d10b4e7e0f09bd1bf2475e1d8011eb94.jpg]] |
| 876 | A snake that finds itself harassed by juvenile ''Tyrannosaurus''. |
| 877 | ---- |
| 878 | * AllThereInTheManual: Only named in supplementary material. |
| 879 | * AnachronismStew: ''Dinilysia'' is not found at the end of the Cretaceous, but from 20 million years earlier. |
| 880 | * BaitAndSwitch: It's introduced as though it were a potentially menacing predator to the baby ''Tyrannosaurus'', but it's shown to be far too small to be any real threat to them. |
| 881 | * BlackBeadEyes: Like many snakes. |
| 882 | * MisplacedWildlife: It lived only in South America. |
| 883 | * OhCrap: When the baby ''Tyrannosaurus'' get too close for comfort. |
| 884 | -->'''Narrator:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments The snake does not like what it can see!]] |
| 885 | * RogerRabbitEffect: Live-acted by a ball python. |
| 886 | * TooSpicyForYogSothoth: It watches the baby ''T. rexes''. It then regrets watching them when they get way too close for comfort. |
| 887 | * VeinOVision: Like all snakes, it has heat-detecting organs that help it locate its common prey, small mammals. These are shown as [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality thermal vision]] in the documentary, although they work unrelated to its eyes in reality. |
| 888 | [[/folder]] |
| 889 | |
| 890 | !Other |
| 891 | !! ''Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History'' |
| 892 | [[folder:Phytosaur]] |
| 893 | A large Triassic archosaur that convergently evolved to look and behave like a crocodile. Appears only in the novelization. |
| 894 | ---- |
| 895 | * FantasticFaunaCounterpart: To Nile crocodiles, as they congregate in large numbers in the shrinking bodies of water during the dry season, dig burrows and go into a dormant state to survive the prolonged drought, and their relationship with the ''Placerias'' mirrors that of crocs and hippos. Like hippos, the adults ''Placerias'' don't fear the phytosaurs (they even mate in the water while surrounded by phytosaurs) but younger animals are fair game. |
| 896 | * NoNameGiven: They are only called "phytosaurs" and never by a specific genus like ''Smilosuchus'', ''Machaeroprosopus'', or ''Redondasaurus''. |
| 897 | * NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Though not true crocodiles, they look the part and fulfill the same ecological role, though it's stated that they won't attack fully grown ''Placerias''. |
| 898 | * SatelliteCharacter: They appear numerous times in the novelization of "New Blood" and even have a minor subplot which mirrors the struggle of extant Nile crocodiles during droughts, but they only ever appear together with the ''Placerias'', and never interact with the ''Coelophysis'', cynodonts or ''Postosuchus''. |
| 899 | [[/folder]] |
| 900 | |
| 901 | [[folder:Metoposaur]] |
| 902 | A large Triassic amphibian known as a temnospondyl. Appears only in the novelization. |
| 903 | ---- |
| 904 | * AmphibianAtLarge: It's a fairly large amphibian, though nowhere as big as ''Koolasuchus''. |
| 905 | * EndOfAnAge: Competition with riparian reptiles such as phytosaurs is shown as being one of the reasons why the dominance of temnospondyls (like the local metoposaurids) is coming to an end. |
| 906 | * NoNameGiven: They're only called "metopsaurs" and never by a specific genus. Given the location, they are most likely ''Apachesaurus''. |
| 907 | * WackyWaysideTribe: They only appears once in the novelization of "New Blood", mainly to showcase more of the Late Triassic wildlife and foreshadow ''Koolasuchus'' becoming the last of its kind, with Triassic temnospondyls already becoming displaced by riparian reptiles such as the phytosaurs. |
| 908 | [[/folder]] |
| 909 | |
| 910 | [[folder: Gliding Reptile]] |
| 911 | [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin A reptile that glides]], thanks to elongated ribs covered in a membrane. Appears only in the novelization. |
| 912 | ---- |
| 913 | * BitCharacter: The biggest offender in "New Blood", as it only appears twice and very briefly. First as the kill of the male cynodont, and later, it gets compared with the ''Peteinosaurus'', who took the evolutionary leap from gliding to powered flight. |
| 914 | * NoNameGiven: It's only called a "gliding reptile". Given the Late Triassic setting, it's likely meant to be a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuehneosauridae kuehneosaurid]], specifically the North American ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarosaurus Icarosaurus]]'' |
| 915 | [[/folder]] |
| 916 | |
| 917 | [[folder: ''Coelurus'']] |
| 918 | A small Jurassic theropod. Appears only in the novelization. |
| 919 | ---- |
| 920 | * CurbStompBattle: A trio of them get confronted by an adult female ''Diplodocus'' and she instantly kills one by slamming it into a tree. Given the massive size difference, it's to be expected. |
| 921 | * EekAMouse: A herd of 20-ton sauropods gets spooked by a trio of jackal-sized theropods. Unfortunately for the ''Coelurus'', the ''Diplodocus'' quickly retaliate and kill one of the predators. |
| 922 | * UndergroundMonkey: Other than lacking a nose crest, they are essentially identical to the ''Ornitholestes'', being another coyote-sized opportunistic coelurosaur. |
| 923 | * WackyWaysideTribe: They only show up twice, both times getting spooked by the ''Diplodocus''. |
| 924 | [[/folder]] |
| 925 | |
| 926 | [[folder: ''Nanantius'']] |
| 927 | An Australian enantiornithean. Appears only in the novelization. |
| 928 | ---- |
| 929 | * BitCharacter: Only mentioned in one paragraph in ''Spirits of the Ice Forest'', to show that enantiornitheans continue to thrive after the events of ''Giant of the Skies''. |
| 930 | * MisplacedWildlife: Downplayed, but it's only known from further north in Queensland, not in Victoria. Though like the ''Muttaburrasaurus'', they might be summer migrants. |
| 931 | * UndergroundMonkey: More or less the same thing as ''Iberomesornis'' but living in the polar forests of the Australian-Antarctic rift valley. |
| 932 | [[/folder]] |
| 933 | |
| 934 | !! ''Walking with Dinosaurs Arena Spectacular'' |
| 935 | [[folder:The Narrator]] |
| 936 | The show’s host. |
| 937 | [[/folder]] |
| 938 | |
| 939 | [[folder:''Liliensternus'']] |
| 940 | A fairly large Triassic theropod. |
| 941 | ---- |
| 942 | * AdaptationalSpeciesChange: Replaces the ''Coelophysis'' that was the protagonist in the show's first segment. This change is probably pragmatic, as it, unlike ''Coelophysis'', actually did coexist with ''Plateosaurus'', and is much larger, making it easier for it to be played by a man in a puppet suit. |
| 943 | * CanonForeigner: The only dinosaur in the live show to appear solely there and nowhere else. |
| 944 | * EatsBabies: It hunts baby ''Plateosaurus''. |
| 945 | [[/folder]] |
| 946 | |
| 947 | !!''Walking with Dinosaurs [=3D=]'' (2013) |
| 948 | [[folder:Patchi]] |
| 949 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JustinLong |
| 950 | |
| 951 | The protagonist, a ''Pachyrhinosaurus''. |
| 952 | ---- |
| 953 | * AdaptationalBadass: In the video game, where he even wins against a rival male bigger than him. |
| 954 | * BigDamnHeroes: He pulls this off in the end, leading the herd to save Scowler from the ''Gorgosaurus'' pack. |
| 955 | * BorrowedCatchphrase: When Scowler says "One more thing, Patchi...", Patchi sighs and mutters "I know, I know...eat your dust." |
| 956 | * BuffySpeak: Calls the ''Chirostenotes'' "skinny necked pecky things". |
| 957 | * ChekhovsGun: You see the hole in his frill the ''Troodon'' made eariler? He later uses it to break Gorgon's arm and finish him. |
| 958 | * ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Juniper. |
| 959 | * HeroicBSOD: He goes into this after Scowler leaves him for dead, even welcoming the scavengers coming in to eat him. But Alex tells him to live or die for something worth dying for like Bulldust did, giving him the resolve to rejoin the herd. |
| 960 | * IdiotHero: Was this at the beginning. Begins to shape up [[spoiler:after Scowler nearly loses the herd in an icy lake.]] |
| 961 | * SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Tries using this after Scowler teases him for liking Juniper. |
| 962 | * TemptingFate: He tells Juniper that they never know what they might find in the forest, but trips over what he thinks is a log. It's not; it's a tail of a sleeping ''Gorgosaurus'', and he finds himself blocked by the dinosaur's feet and tail, and his face closer than an inch away from its soles. |
| 963 | * UseYourHead: As expected from a ceratopsian. |
| 964 | [[/folder]] |
| 965 | |
| 966 | [[folder:Alex]] |
| 967 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JohnLeguizamo |
| 968 | |
| 969 | The protagonist's friend, an ''Alexornis''. |
| 970 | ---- |
| 971 | * DeadpanSnarker: Makes a side remark at anything. |
| 972 | %%* LemonyNarrator |
| 973 | %%* TheMentor: To Patchi. |
| 974 | * TheNarrator: Of the movie. He often shares the narrating with Patchi, though. |
| 975 | * RunningGag: While talking about something, he'll see bugs flying and quickly eats them. |
| 976 | * ToothyBird: Although somewhat realistic, since many similar birds had teeth and all, Alex's design is seemingly more oriented towards cartoony bird appearences, having a "beak" with teeth instead of the feathered snout of known enantiornithe snouts. |
| 977 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Patchi--best shown when he gives him an inspiring speech after he crosses the DespairEventHorizon. |
| 978 | * WhatTheHellHero: He couldn't believe it when Patchi tells him to let him die, so he scolds him and says that if he's going to die...then he should die for something worth living for (his love for Juniper). |
| 979 | [[/folder]] |
| 980 | |
| 981 | [[folder:Juniper]] |
| 982 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Tiya Sircar |
| 983 | |
| 984 | Patchi's LoveInterest. |
| 985 | ---- |
| 986 | * ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Patchi, having been his friend since they were calves and becoming his mate in adulthood. |
| 987 | * DeadpanSnarker: Has her moments. |
| 988 | -->'''Scowler:''' Remember, they can smell fear!\ |
| 989 | '''Patchi:''' Sorry...[[ToiletHumor that's not fear...]]\ |
| 990 | '''Juniper:''' (''annoyed'') I think I just stepped in some "fear". |
| 991 | * FlatCharacter: Your basic love interest character who follows the male protagonist around on his adventures and has her occasional DamselInDistress moments. |
| 992 | %%* UseYourHead |
| 993 | [[/folder]] |
| 994 | |
| 995 | [[folder:Scowler]] |
| 996 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Skyler Stone |
| 997 | |
| 998 | Patchi's older brother. |
| 999 | ---- |
| 1000 | * AssholeVictim: After being a JerkAss for the whole film, he is firmly made into this when he gets nastily mauled by Gorgon and left for dead by his herd. |
| 1001 | * BigBrotherBully: He pretty much entertains himself by picking on Patchi throughout the film. |
| 1002 | * BigBrotherInstinct: When he sees Patchi return [[spoiler:after kicking him out of the herd]], the first thing he does is warn his little brother to keep away from the attacking Gorgosaurus and get to safety. |
| 1003 | * BreakTheHaughty: When he leads the herd into Ambush Alley and tries flee from the ''Gorgosaurus'', getting himself caught and nearly killed as a result while his herd ditches him. Alex lampshades this and nicknames Ambush Alley "Scowler's Folly". |
| 1004 | * CatchPhrase: "Eat my dust!" |
| 1005 | * DirtyCoward: Once the ice starts cracking, Scowler shows his true colors as a selfish coward rather than a true leader and ditches most of his herd to get himself to safety. After leading the herd into Ambush Alley, Scowler tries to flee from the ''Gorgosaurus'', but [[HoistByHisOwnPetard since he was in front as leader]], he ends up lagging behind and makes himself vulnerable to Gorgon's attack. |
| 1006 | * DrunkWithPower: As bad as he is to start with, he gets worse after [[spoiler:becoming leader of the herd]]. |
| 1007 | * FaceHeelTurn: Takes a turn for the worse after becoming DrunkWithPower. [[spoiler:He then has a HeelFaceTurn after Patchi saves him from Gorgon.]] |
| 1008 | * HateSink: Especially during his [[spoiler:KickTheDog moment towards Patchi]]. Seeing Gorgon tear him apart and his herd leave him after that is somewhat satisfying. |
| 1009 | * HatedByAll: After how nasty and hateful he's become, his herd seems to be willing to disown him as their leader and leave him to die in the jaws of Gorgon (although fear may have helped). |
| 1010 | * HeelFaceTurn: Repents after Patchi saves him from Gorgon. |
| 1011 | * HeelRealization: Scowler finally realizes how bad he had been when Gorgon overpowers him in battle and the herd abandons him, and when Patchi saves his life and convinces the herd to do the same, he apologizes to his little brother for the way he treated him their whole lives and surrenders his leadership to him. |
| 1012 | * IHaveNoSon: [[spoiler:He says he has no brother to justify his reason to not listen to Juniper when she tells him off for not letting her help Patchi. But then immediately subverted when Gorgon is mauling him and his herd practically disowns him as their leader.]] |
| 1013 | * ItsAllAboutMe: He's very selfish, and this gets turned up a notch when he [[spoiler:becomes leader of the herd]]. |
| 1014 | * JerkassToOne: While he is rather nasty, it's Patchi whom he mostly picks on. |
| 1015 | * KickTheDog: After he mauls Patchi during their fight, he [[spoiler:kicks him out of the herd and refuses to let Juniper help him]]. Thus, LaserGuidedKarma soon comes after him in the form of Gorgon. |
| 1016 | * LaserGuidedKarma: Shortly [[spoiler:after leaving Patchi to die]], he attempts to cowardly flee from Gorgon at Ambush Alley to be caught and mauled to near death. Plus his herd doesn't bother to help him and run away, basically disowning and abandoning him to die [[spoiler:much like how he did with Patchi]]. |
| 1017 | * MoreHateableMinorVillain: Being a selfish and nasty jerk makes him even worse than the actual main villain Gorgon, who is merely a predator. |
| 1018 | * NeverMyFault: He does not blame himself for almost letting the herd drown in a near-frozen lake. |
| 1019 | * SmugSnake: The moment where he stops being a haughty BigBrotherBully is when Gorgon and his pack attack the herd. |
| 1020 | * TheSociopath: Shows shades of this when he gets DrunkWithPower. He doesn't seem to care when he lead the herd in a near-frozen lake which caused a few members to drown, and [[DirtyCoward he is quick to fleeing to save himself upon seeing the cracks in the ice]]. [[spoiler:The he mauls Patchi and leaves to die just for saving the herd from drowning]]. He then once again tries to flee when Gorgon attacks, which gets himself nearly killed and this causes him to become repentant, especially when Patchi saves him. |
| 1021 | * TemperCeratops: The most aggressive and bad-tempered of the ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' characters. |
| 1022 | %%* UseYourHead |
| 1023 | [[/folder]] |
| 1024 | |
| 1025 | [[folder:Gorgon]] |
| 1026 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_8594.jpeg]] |
| 1027 | A ''Gorgosaurus''. Supposedly the BigBad of the film. |
| 1028 | ---- |
| 1029 | * AnachronismStew: ''Gorgosaurus'' actually became extinct a few million years before the time the film takes place. |
| 1030 | * BerserkButton: Apparently, due to his eyes narrowing, he does not like Patchi calling him "tiny arms". |
| 1031 | * BigBad: The closest thing to one in the 3D film. |
| 1032 | * GenderBlenderName: Sort of. The word "gorgon" generally applies to female monsters. |
| 1033 | * GeniusBruiser: He is intelligent as he is powerful and fast. |
| 1034 | * LaserGuidedKarma: He unknowingly inflicts this on Scowler, [[spoiler:who had just left his own brother to die in a ditch]], by attacking and nearly killing him near the climax of the film. [[spoiler:Gets on the receiving end of this after Patchi defeats him by breaking his arm and several of his teeth]]. |
| 1035 | * LightningBruiser: ''Gorgosaurus'' is better built for speed than ''Tyrannosaurus'', partially due to having a tibia longer than the femur. |
| 1036 | * MisplacedWildlife: ''Gorgosaurus'' is only known from southern Alberta and Montana, not Alaska. Again, this is because its portrayal is based on Alaskan fossils later identified as ''Nanuqsaurus''. |
| 1037 | * NonMaliciousMonster: He's not evil. Just a predator following instinct. |
| 1038 | * PredatorsAreMean: Subverted. He is never depicted as evil or malicious, but rather just hungry and wanting to feed his pack. |
| 1039 | * TerrifyingTyrannosaur: Being a member of Tyrannosauridae and the primary predator of the story, Gorgon is naturally a terrifying antagonist to Patchi and his herd. |
| 1040 | [[/folder]] |
| 1041 | |
| 1042 | [[folder:Bulldust]] |
| 1043 | An older ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' and the leader of his herd. He's also Patchi and Scowler's father. |
| 1044 | ---- |
| 1045 | * BigDamnHeroes: He saves his sons from Gorgon before the latter could eat them...[[spoiler:but at the cost of his life]]. |
| 1046 | * HeroicSacrifice: He keeps Gorgon away from his sons [[spoiler:but dies in the process]]. |
| 1047 | * TheLeader: Of his herd. |
| 1048 | * LargeAndInCharge: As Alex puts it, he is Patchi's "six-thousand pound papa". |
| 1049 | * PapaWolf: To the point that he [[spoiler:dies to save both his sons]]. |
| 1050 | %%* UseYourHead |
| 1051 | [[/folder]] |
| 1052 | |
| 1053 | [[folder:Azhdarchids]] |
| 1054 | A trio of lesser antagonists. |
| 1055 | ---- |
| 1056 | * ArtisticLicensePaleontology: They do have a level of accuracy to them (they ''were'' designed by pterosaur expert Mark Witton, after all), but there are still some mistakes here and there; they have pointy wing tips[[note]]real pterosaurs had round wing tips[[/note]], their wings bend the wrong way when on the ground[[note]]an error present in the original and--ironically--disapproved of by Witton when he saw the original[[/note]] and their diet is shown to include fish and carrion[[note]]carrion was not entirely out of the question for azhdarchid pterosaurs, but fish were unlikely as they lacked adaptations for an aquatic lifestyle (besides aquatic launching, which was only used in emergencies)[[/note]] |
| 1057 | * CirclingVultures: Serve this purpose at one point. |
| 1058 | * {{Giant Flyer}}s: Though the movie shows that they're just as competent on the ground as they are in the sky. |
| 1059 | * HatesBeingTouched: The one in the middle hates it when the one on the left sidles up to it and lets it know with a squawk. |
| 1060 | * TheLeader: The one in the middle appears to be this for the flock, as the other two tend to back down to it when it gets angry. |
| 1061 | * NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: The left one often sidles up to the middle one and at one point tries to seek warmth from it. The middle one doesn't like that at all. |
| 1062 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: They're comic relief characters for the majority of the film that hardly even qualify as "villains"...[[spoiler:until they take advantage of Patchi's state of despair in the aftermath of his duel with Scowler to try to [[EatenAlive eat him alive]]]]. |
| 1063 | * QuirkyMiniBossSquad: Come off as such, being less threatening antagonists who cower at the sight of the BigBad. |
| 1064 | * TerribleTrio: Though they used to be a quartet before Gorgon got his jaws on one of them. |
| 1065 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Characters / WalkingWithDinosaurs
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
