Stock Dinosaur Archetypes

Dinosaurs are undoubtedly the most famous and popular prehistoric creatures in fiction and popular culture. Palaeontology has uncovered dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes with all manner of unique appearances and biological features, which have lent themselves to appearances in numerous works of entertainment since the early 20th century.

Since their appearances in professional paintings like those by Charles R. Knight, literary works such as The Lost World (1912), and its film adaptation in 1925, dinosaurs have seen varied interpretations and depictions due to the inherently speculative nature of reconstructing them from often fragmentary remains. Much about how their bodily features looked and what purpose they served is open to speculation, whether a given feature was for self-defense, traversing great distances, to showcase itself during mating seasons, to regulate its body temperature, and so on. A common method has been to draw comparisons with and thus base reconstructions on modern-day animals, allowing the public to easily distinguish one dinosaur from another.

On another note, dinosaurs can sometimes be seen as prehistoric or real-world equivalents to fantastical creatures, such as dragons and unicorns, so their showcasing in fiction can often come across as rather reminiscent of these creatures. Dragons are an especially notable case, as the earliest dinosaur remains were mistaken for dragon bones, and both creatures (especially in the case of large theropods) are shown in very similar ways: brutish, territorial, and inspiring fear towards everyone else they come across.

Common dinosaur archetypes include...

• Theropods: The most common two-legged archetypes, theropods comprise all currently known meat-eating dinosaurs and likely serve as adversaries and threats in whatever setting they reside in with the relentless persistence to go along with it, though they can be given sympathetic and even heroic roles. They also have been categorized into small, intermediate, and large sizes as a way to showcase a power gap and level of threat to their prey. Types of theropods in fiction include tyrannosaurs, spinosaurs, maniraptorians, carnosaurs,^note Older readers may recognize "carnosaurs" as including all large theropods, but studies in the 1980s and '90s found that not all of them were closely related. Currently the term covers only the allosauroids like Allosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, and their close relatives. and abelisaurs, to name a few.
• Herding Herbivores: One of two different stock portrayals of herbivores, these dinosaurs have a tendency to be sociable herd animals and are defined by their peaceful nature and tendency to stick with one another. They can also be skittish, shy, and territorial at times. They suffer an unfortunate stereotype of being stock food source for theropods in fiction. Herding herbivores include hadrosaurs, iguanodonts, hypsilophodonts, and sauropods.
• Fighter Herbivores: These herbivores differentiate from their herding counterparts by being more short-tempered and territorial towards those outside their kind and even members of their species, though both types do overlap at times. They are also well-known for possessing natural weapons they use to ward and fight off predators. Examples include ceratopsians, pachycephalosaurs, ankylosaurs, and stegosaurs.
• Weird Dinos: These dinosaurs are defined by their colorful and flamboyant appearance, which is complimented by having a similarly weird personality. These can overlap with the other aforementioned types and are likely to be herbivores, omnivores, or egg-eaters and be covered in fluff and feathers to accentuate their bizarre style. Weird dinosaurs usually include ornithomimids, oviraptorids, and therizinosaurs, though hadrosaurs, sauropods, and some better-known theropods also qualify at times.
• Pterosaurs: The dominant fliers of the Mesozoic world, including the largest aerial creatures to have ever lived. Lest you find yourself talking to serious dinosaur nerds, it should be noted that pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, but are on this list due to their strong association with their terrestrial counterparts both in history (like terrestrial dinosaurs, they existed only during the Age of Reptiles) and modern media. They mostly tend to be seen as the prehistoric equivalent of birds — or, in older works, bats — and their attitude can range from peckish, placid, and ambivalent to soaring menaces who like to pluck out prey with their feet or peck them with their beaks.
• Marine Reptiles: Ocean-dwellers who dominated their habitat around the same time as dinosaurs did. Much like pterosaurs, they aren't dinosaurs but count for this list for similar reasons as above. Their archetypes range from placid and migratory sea cruisers like ichthyosaurs to unparalleled apex predators like mosasaurs and plesiosaurs and play a role in depicting prehistoric seas as a tough, dangerous place to live in.

These tend to be the most common types of dinosaurs seen in entertainment works as well as which behavioral and physical traits they possess to give themselves their own identity from one another. Of course, some works can provide alterations to each dinosaur's personality traits and give them a more bizarre or unconventional archetype to fulfill. Of course, there can be subversions to how a dinosaur is normally depicted in favor of a more distinct approach.

While birds are technically dinosaurs, given that they descended from coelurosaurs, they are exempt from the list, mainly because birds themselves have diversified into numerous different species that embody their own archetypes and normally don't tend to be associated with dinosaurs in most works of fiction.

Due to the numerous depictions they've received, some dinosaurs have developed a definite archetype for themselves, be it based on their status as a fearsome apex predator, a mob of nimble hunters, a gentle giant, a solitary recluse, or being close-knitted to their herd members and family. It should be noted that the full accuracy of dinosaur behavior mostly comes down to educated guesses made by paleontologists based on fossil findings and by fictional works determining which animal would they share the closest personality traits with. As a result, depictions can range from getting along with humans and generally animal-like to outright Prehistoric Monster levels, clearly overlapping into Artistic License – Paleontology.

This trope is not about what species of dinosaurs are prevalent in works, but rather how certain types are chosen to be character archetypes to provide for a work's setting. For more depth into dinosaurs in general, see the Useful Notes page regarding Dinosaurs and for a deeper look into different dinosaur clades and specific dinosaurs in popular culture, see Prehistoric Life - Dinosaurs and Stock Dinosaurs (True Dinosaurs) respectively.

Certain aspects of this trope tend to overlap with Stock Animal Behavior as a dinosaur's personality make up for one part of its archetype and adds to the "Stock Archetypes" For its more fantastical counterpart, see Dragon Variety Pack, which places emphasis on different kinds of dragons as well as personality traits.

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List of tropes that overlap with distinct archetypes:

• Aquatic Hadrosaurs
• Aquatic Sauropods
• Gentle Giant Sauropod
• Goofy Feathered Dinosaur
• Headbutting Pachy
• Raptor Attack
• Savage Spinosaurs
• Social Ornithopod
• Spinosaurus Versus T. rex
• Temper-Ceratops
• Terrifying Tyrannosaur
• Terror-dactyl
• Toxic Dinosaur
• Tough Armored Dinosaur

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Dinosaur Sanctuary: Zig-Zagged; while several types of dinosaurs are shown, much of their usual depictions in pop culture are subverted, instead providing them with more natural, believable personalities that can be seen with almost any other animal. The Giganotosaurus and Tyrannosaurus that reside in Enoshima Dinoland are shown as placid animals that are rather needy and childish in nature, given they rely on their human keepers to keep them happy and satisfied, Masaru the Triceratops is a Gentle Giant, Eiger the Spinosaurus is a docile fish-eater who was unable to fish properly until his enclosure was expanded, and Momiji the Stegosaurus is a Mellow Fellow. That said, the Centrosaurus, Troodon, and Pachycephalosaurus have more typical personalities, but still shown in a realistic light, keeping them from being monstrous. Even the most aggressive dinosaur that is shown, an Allosaurus named Ichigo, only became dangerous because she became panicked by construction workers and killed her keeper out of distress, which unfortunately caused mass panic to label dinosaurs as untamable Prehistoric Monsters and taint the reputation of dinosaur sanctuaries, something which the protagonists seek to rectify.
• Dragon Ball: A mix of real and fictitious dinosaurs make up a decent variety in the setting's universe and they're all pretty recognizable in traits and personality, with Tyrannosaurus and Ferocisaurus being persistent, rampaging predators though not above being the subject of jokes. Triceratops and Apatosaurus are shown as herd animals and can fight back if offended and pterosaurs come in predatory and friendly flavors, such as Maraikoh in the Buu Saga, who is friends with Gohan and Goten. There are also a couple of dragon-like dinos that act very much like a T. rex would.
• You Are Umasou: The main dinosaurs are pretty complex; Tyrannosaurus are fearsome predators as shown with Baku and Gonza, but are also capable of being nice and affectionate, even towards herbivores, as demonstrated by the protagonist, Heart, who was raised by a Maiasaura and himself becomes a father-figure to an Ankylosaurus he names Umasou. While the Maiasauralive up to the title of Good Mother, they can also be very aggressive when it comes to egg looters and the herd leader is a rare example of a herbivore being a Hate Sink, showing condescension and hate towards Heart for simply being a carnivore despite his good nature. The other dinosaurs are more stereotypical, with predators shown as persistent and willing to raid nests and herbivores being placid unless attacked, though the narrative makes it clear they're only doing what they do in order to survive a tough world.

Comic Books

• Age of Reptiles: This episodic series always has a large theropod, such as Tyrannosaurus, Allosaurus, and Spinosaurus playing a major role in some way. Despite the work being rather gritty and dark, the dinosaurs are depicted rather realistically and their numerous acts of aggression are because the world they live in is just that perilous. The aforementioned predators are also motivated by familial matters that make them sympathetic to a degree and "revenge" is also a large theme for the former two, which furthers the cynical tone of the stories. Herbivores like Triceratops and Paralititan are herd travelers as usual, but are depicted in a more harsh and aggressive light, with the latter even displaying a vengeful streak when a herd of them brutally kills a Carcharodontosaurus for killing an infant of their herd.
• Jurassic League: Befitting of who they're based on and the overall setting, the main dinosaurs are either theropods or fighter herbivores, and while their dietary and personality archetypes are played straight, their roles are given a mix of whose a hero and villain. Batman is a vegetarian, crimefighting Allosaurus named Bat-Walker, Superman is a friendly and optimistic Supersaurus going by Supersaur, Wonder Woman is a fierce, warrior Triceratops who goes by Wonderton, The Joker is a venomous, crazy Dilophosaurus called Jokerzard, and Darkseid is a domineering, scheming Ankylosaurus, among many other dinos.
• Xenozoic Tales: In a post-apocalyptic setting, dinosaurs are referred to in simpler terms, such as "Shivat" (Tyrannosaurus), "Cutter" (Allosaurus), "Mack" (ceratopsians), "Wahochuck" (Stegosaurus), "Hornbill" (Parasaurolophus), and "Sambuck" (Apatosaurus). While the carnivores do pose a threat at times, all the dinosaurs are depicted as normal animals with their own way of living, with each of them embodying typical stereotypes common with their depictions in other fictional works. In fact, dinosaurs tend to be a source of interest for human villains who would like to either subject them to genetic mutations for their own curiosity or to hunt them down in the hopes of wanting to sell their body parts to the black market, and the protagonists take it upon themselves to defend the dinosaurs from being attacked, provided the dinos themselves don't get hostile to the heroes too. Some dinosaurs can even be tamed, as shown by one of the protagonists, Jack, who has a pet Allosaurus he calls Hermes.

Documentaries

• Dinosaur Planet: Most archetypes in the series, such as territorial and aggressive theropods like Daspletosaurus, Aucasaurus, and Tarascosaurus, skittish, placid, and sociable herbivores such as Maiasaura, and more aggressive herbivores in the form of Prenocephale and Einiosaurus play this straight. Velociraptor and Pyroraptor are more complex in that they're depicted more as struggling survivors and are more sympathetic than the usual depiction of raptors. The same is true for Saltasaurus as while it's mostly a non-confrontational herbivore, they can be territorial regarding mates and are largely apathetic to their own young.
• Planet Dinosaur: The documentary focuses on then-existing scientific findings and evidence to dissect and identify how dinosaurs behaved, socialized, traveled, hunted, and ate and focusing on several different types, such as Daspletosaurus and Mapusaurus being shown as hunting in packs and mobs and getting involved with in-fighting regarding food, Gigantoraptor being flamboyant during mating seasons and willing to risk its life defending its nest even against sandstorms, Nothronychus and Stegosaurus being generally placid unless attacked and showing toughness with their natural weaponry, etc...
• Prehistoric Planet: The series uses this trope interestingly; while played straight with what dinosaurs are used, their archetypes are a mix of being played straight or subverted. For one, Tyrannosaurus and Mosasaurus are shown as more placid predators, the former even being shown as a more cautious animal than usual whereas Carnotaurus is depicted as a "weird dino" that tries to attract a mate with a flashy dance way much like with ornithomimids and oviraptorids. On the herbivores' side, Dreadnoughtus is a boorish, fighter sort of sauropod while hadrosaurs and Triceratops are depicted as amiable social animals, though the latter still has their moment of being a fierce fighter.
• Walking with Dinosaurs: Being a Trope Codifier for modern depictions, this show focuses on depicting dinosaurs in a more complex light, best shown with Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus being shown as sympathetic and struggling predators and Leallynasaura being a protective parent in spite of its skittish and reclusive nature. There are also pterosaurs in migration and the toll their journey takes and Olphamosaurus having to bear the burden of caring for their young in a dangerous coast. Still, the series doesn't shy away from usual depictions like placid sauropods and herd-traveling iguanodonts and hadrosaurs.

Films — Animated

• Fantasia: The Rite of Springs segment shows a cast of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and marine reptiles living like how any other animal would, such as Pteranodon swooping in the air to catch fish only to be caught in the jaws of a Tylosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Anatosaurus, Ornithomimus, and Brontosaurus grazing for food, Triceratops traveling in herds. There's also a Tyrannosaurus that shows up to terrorize the herbivores and a Stegosaurus fighting said predator to defend itself and its home and Ceratosaurus being opportunists who closes in on a herd that is stuck in thick mud. It was one of the earlier examples of dinosaurs being given very particular roles that they'd become quickly identified with.
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus is depicted as a fearsome, yet maternal and sympathetic role with a mother and her three young who eventually warm up to Sid, with the mother still being feared by the other dinosaurs. The antagonistic predator instead goes to a Baryonyx named Rudy whose main trait is having a grudge against Buck for knocking out one of his teeth. Almost every dinosaur is unpleasant, though they're more territorial than leaning on Prehistoric Monster; Triceratops don't tolerate the presence of other animals other than herd members, Ankylosaurus attacks the main herd upon first notice, and Guanlong are opportunistic pack hunters. Pterodactylus are mean. The exceptions are Brachiosaurus, which doesn't mind the herd sliding at its tail and back, and "pterodactyls" which are placid enough to be tamed and ridden upon by Buck, albeit briefly.
• The Land Before Time: One of the main elements of this franchise's setting is that each sort of dinosaur is given a simple-sounding title, like "Longnecks" and "Sharpteeth" to make them more identifiable from each other. Even so, there are still a lot of other ways they stick out from each other...
  • The various types of herbivores in the first film have different personality traits to distinguish each other more drastically, which contributes to each kind of dinosaur having relations that are distant and cautious at best and outright discriminatory at worst. For example, Littlefoot is a Longneck (Apatosaurus) who is raised with good principles by his loving mother and tries to befriend anyone he meets. In stark contrast, Cera is a Threehorn (Triceratops) who is bought up to be haughty and bossy, traits influenced by her father who is quite stern, gruff, and generally not sociable with other dinosaurs. Later films show that most herbivores generally get along very well, provide for each other, and would put aside their differences to help one another against predators. These traits are best shown with the aforementioned Longnecks, Swimmers (hadrosaurs), Spiketails (stegosaurs), Clubtails (ankylosaurs), and even fliers (pterosaurs), though there are a few examples of unkind and even antagonistic herbivores.
  • Carnivores usually come under two types; Sharptooth for larger predators and Fast-Runners for raptors and smaller carnivores, and given that the protagonists mostly consist of herbivores and children at that, they play antagonistic roles. To make them further stand out, they don't speak and are mostly shown as persistent and unkind foes who won't stop in trying to devour the kids if they can manage. Some films have managed to show Sharpteeth in a more sympathetic light, as shown by Chomper and his parents and the animated show goes to feature Ruby, a Fast-Runner (Oviraptor) who similarly gets along with plant eaters and becomes a member of the core gang. It's also emphasized that Sharptooth's growling and roaring in contrast to the herbivores speaking just fine is actually their own language and that predators too can learn to talk if they practice on that and that Sharptooth as a whole type is really just animals doing what they could to survive and see another day, with the only truly evil one being the Sharptooth from the first film and that's if the novel adaptation is taken into account.
• Speckles: The Tarbosaurus:
  • In the first film, most predators are not malicious, only hunting to survive. The titular Tarbosaurus is no exception; he kills animals as he needs something to eat, but he's also a devoted mate to Blue Eyes, loves his family, and would defend his children. The herbivores are usually sociable and live in groups and herds, but the bigger ones like Torosaurus and Ankylosaurus will fight if provoked, and Pukyongosaurus is shown as a majestic sauropod that means no harm. The only exceptions are the Tyrannosaurus, One Eye, who is shown as a vindictive sadist from the get-go, and the Therizinosaurus which is an irate, mean animal with nothing goofy about it.
  • The sequel, Dino King 3D: Journey to Fire Mountain retains Therizinosaurus as an antagonist, but uses it in a different way with Slash, a juvenile who sides with a Deinonychus pack which is depicted as a gang who kidnaps infant dinosaurs to sacrifice them to a giant creature in the titular Fire Mountain. Tarbosaurus is also given a more heroic showcase with Speckles and his son, such as befriending a Saichania, Monoclonius, and Carnotaurus, though in the case of the latter, only an infant, Blade is shown becoming friends with Jr. as a pack serve as intermediate adversaries for Speckles, Fang, and Cy defending a Pukyongosaurus nesting ground.

Films — Live-Action

• The Lost World: Arguably the Trope Maker given its release in 1925 and the first movie to show them in a good variety, the dinosaurs are mostly stereotyped as territorial and aggressive, as shown with Allosaurus, Agathaumas, and Tyrannosaurus. Trachodon and Triceratops is more sympathetically portrayed, though the former only serves to be killed and eaten (oddly also shared with Pteranodon) while the latter is a mother defending her calf. Finally, the Brontosaurus is seen attacking humans, though this only takes place when the dinosaur is taken to London, meaning that it's likely the sauropod is lashing out due to being in unfamiliar lands and acting out of distress and panic.
• King Kong (2005):
  • The films feature Vastatosaurus rex, Brontosaurus baxteri, and Venatosaurus which are descended from tyrannosaurs, sauropods, and raptors respectively. All of them are beefed-up versions of their prehistoric versions and they proved to be as dangerous as you'd expect with the V. rex and Venatosaus being vicious, persistent killers and the Brontosaurus being capable of great destruction when set in a panic, though they tend to be rather placid animals. The ceratopsian descendent, Ferrucutus cerates is shown as aggressive, attacking the rescue crew shortly after stumbling across one another.
  • The companion book, The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island provides additional information regarding the creatures shown in the film as well as introducing new ones. There's Ligocristus a hadrosaur that lived in herds for safety and traversed on waters for protection if needed, a stegosaur named Atercurisaurus that was territorial and was not easy prey for predators but was a dying race due to its overspecialization and competition against other sauropods, an omnivorous spinosaur known as Avarusaurus, an incredibly unconventional titanosaur with a nose horn and a thick, shortened neck going by Diablosaurus, a quadrupedal abelisaur called Tartarusaurus that was the dominant predator of Skull Island's coastal regions, and a nimble- piscivorous allosaur named Aciedactylus.

Franchises

• Dinosaur King This trope is played in a pretty interesting fashion, with different sorts of dinosaur types representing a certain element; large theropods are fire-type, spinosaurids and sauropods are water-type, ceratopsians are lightning-type, thyreophorans are earth-type, ornithischians are leaf-type, small and intermediary theropods are wind-type. The anime expands on their depiction to show that dinosaurs usually tend to act much like animals would, just wandering, sleeping, drinking, and usually minding their own business until the D-Team, the Alpha Gang, and Space Pirates barge in with the intent of capturing them to varying results. The main dinosaur characters have more distinct personalities, such as Chomp the Triceratops being very childish and affectionate of his partner, Max while Terry the Tyrannosaurus is quite temperamental and doesn't like being coddled at.
• Jurassic Park: Being a series about dinosaurs being bought back to life in a modern setting, this is to be expected...
  • The theropods surprisingly zig-zag on this trope; while Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor are mainstays in the series and are depicted as apex predators, an unusual case for the latter as it's the definitive "small theropod" in general media, intermediary theropods in film adaptations were almost nonexistent, with their only active depictions being in video games with Carnotaurus and Allosaurus taking up this spot in the Arcade and PlayStation adaptions of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It wasn't until Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom that Carnotaurus, Allosaurus, and Baryonyx were formally introduced as the series's main "intermediary theropod", though they never really got as much focus as T. rex and Velociraptor did. The film's main antagonist, the Indoraptor is bulky and sizable enough to be overwhelming by size while still being lithe enough to fit in mansion corridors. In the novels, the medium theropods were represented by Dilophosaurus (which was shrunken down in the film) and Carnotaurus in the first and second books respectively.
    • While Tyrannosaurus is the series' mascot, there have been other "giant theropods" like Spinosaurus, Indominus rex, and Giganotosaurus who took the role of the star carnivore and villain in the films they appear in. Depicted as similarly vicious, persistent, and territorial for the most part, Tyrannosaurus was given a small number of virtuous qualities, particularly being Good Parents as a way to make them more down-to-earth in comparison to its contemporaries, with only Giganotosaurus seeming to be closer to the real animal by simply being a territorial predator, in comparison to the more malicious and directly antagonistic Spinosaurus and Indominus.
    • Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous depicts "intermediary theropods" as recurring threats, starting with Toro the Carnotaurus being the most active antagonist of Season 1. Succeeding him is a Baryonyx trio who simply see the Campers as prey and are prone to becoming irritated, though they're not above attacking other antagonists as well when they're done being messed around, as Tiffany could attest to.
  • Most of the herbivores are peaceful dinosaurs who usually don't mind the presence of humans, though there are a few occasions where they can become dangerous. The sauropods and ornithopods are usually placid herd animals whose appearances tend to inspire awe and wonder. Of the ceratopsians, Triceratops is much tamer compared to its usual depictions, while the aggressive and territorial stereotype is instead displayed by Sinoceratops and Nasutoceratops^note though Triceratops tends to be depicted as aggressive in video games based on the series. The stegosaurs and pachycephalosaurs are shown in the more stereotypical display of being stereotypically bossy, and ankylosaurs are normally rather mellow, only becoming aggressive when threatened. The only herbivore to be truly aggressive and territorial is the Therizinosaurus in Jurassic World Dominion, which goes as far as killing a deer for simply being in its way.
• Transformers: The Dinobots are an Autobot subsidiary (usually) whose members have alt modes based on the most recurring and famous dinosaurs in fiction. The usual lineup consists of Grimlock (Tyrannosaurus), Slag/Slug (Triceratops), Sludge (Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus), Snarl (Stegosaurus), and Swoop (Pteranodon). Not surprisingly all of them show personality traits that are common with how their alt forms are shown in fiction, such as Grimlock being a team leader and a Blood Knight, Slag and Snarl being hot-tempered, and Sludge being a Gentle Giant. Throughout the franchise, the Dinobots are some of the most consistent characters regarding characterization, even if the shows succeeding Generation 1 would only have around 3-4 members and bring in a new Dinobot like Scorn (Spinosaurus).

Literature

• The Dinosaur Lords: Sauropods and hadrosaurs are shown as easygoing animals who don't prefer to fight other animals, though they can be and are tamed by knights and monarchs to be used as mounts either for resource and food carriage or as beasts of battle. The same thing also applies for ceratopsians, who are rather aggressive and are better suited for being used in conflicts. Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus are also shown as mounted beasts, though they show a surprising amount of loyalty and affection towards their tamers in addition to retaining their ferocious reputation as apex predators.
• Dinotopia: Most of the dinosaurs in the series are civilized animals who prefer to lead a unified life of peace and prosperity. This unsurprisingly includes sauropods, hadrosaurs, iguanodonts, and armored herbivores. The carnivores remain predators who eat meat but are shown to be intelligent enough to at least negotiate with others for food such as smoked salmon if it means getting them in a good mood and allowing them entry into the Rainy Basin. There are some alterations done to the television series, though, with a lot of the herbivores being bossy and unsure of outsiders and predators acting more stereotypically than their literary counterparts.
• Raptor Red:
  • Utahraptor is seen in a more layered and empathetic role, much different from how raptors are shown since Jurassic Park. While still a feared apex predator, they're not without their struggles and vulnerabilities, as Red struggles to find a mate and is less effective as a predator without her partner.
  • The other theropods, namely Acrocanthosaurus, Deinonychus, and even a segnosaur, are shown as adversaries for Red and her family. The Acrocanthosaurus proves to be their most persistent foe regarding hunting grounds while Deinonychus are rival pack hunters that serve as the book's Final Boss. The segnosaur, despite not being a carnivore, is still a territorial herbivore that vehemently tries to defend its cave home when Red and her family arrive there.
  • The herbivores either play their archetypes straight or subvert them. Austrodon and Iguanodon are herd-travelers and generally non-confrontational, though they can be dangerous if provoked. Gastonia is fairly territorial and attacks anything it doesn't really recognize and the diplodocid is one of the more aggressive sauropods shown in fiction as it quickly attacks Red and her sister as soon as he recognizes the Utahraptors.
  • A pterosaur - called 'the old white dactyl' - acts as a sort of raven to the Utahraptor wolf: he follows Red's pack as the moving centre of his territory, sampling from their kills once they're done, and even leading them to carrion he can't break into. He's also depicted as being even smarter than the (for their time) very intelligent Utahraptors, and like a bat has a much longer lifespan than a non-flighted creature of his size. Other pterosaurs are more minor backdrop characters, mainly interacting with Red's family as opportunistic scavengers.
  • Raptor Red mentally sums up the sea of her world as "slimy things - grabby things - too-crunchy things - big, fast, scary things." It's a vast, unknown place she can't comprehend, though not without its charms.
• Quintaglio Ascension: Set on a moon where dinosaurs were taken there and thrived, thus avoiding extinction, they continued to evolve, though still retaining traits that are shown and depicted in usual dinosaur types.
  • The Quintaglios are humanoid Tyrannosaurus^note they were stated to be Nanotyrannus in the book, given that Far-Seer was released in 1992, but over the years, Nanotyrannus has since been debunked with specimens of the species being now identified as those of juvenile Tyrannosaurus with human-like sapience and having developed a culture akin to that of 16th Century societal norms and ethics. That said and given their ancestry, Quintaglios are carnivores and are territorial over resources, food supplies, and their young. As they're smaller than tyrannosaurs, but still much taller and longer than your average human, they would be the "intermediary theropods" of their setting.
  • Theropods are represented by the Terrorclaw, Runningbeast, and Blackdeath which are all descended from Dromaeosaurus, Ornithomimus, and Tyrannosaurus respectively. Terrorclaws never appear in the books, only mentioned, Runningbeasts are more horse-like and are used as mounts by Quantaglios and Blackdeaths are treated as apex predators who are deemed impossible to kill by Quintaglios as the use of weapons during hunts is forbidden. There's also the Fangjaw, a quadrupedal carnivorous theropod that hunt giant herbivores and is among the hardest animals for a Quintaglio to kill.
  • Herbivores include Shovelmouth (hadrosaurs) which travel in herds and are seen as a food source by the Quintaglios as well as beasts of burden to travel on, Hornface (ceratopsians) that are similar to Shovelmouths in addition to being territorial and harder to hunt, Armourbacks (ankylosaurs) which are noted to be very hard to kill, and Thunderbeasts (sauropods) which happen to be biggest animals living in the Quintaglio moon and are gentle animals that are also very hard to kill.

Tabletop Games

• Warhammer: While they're only dinosaurs in appearances, the fauna of Lustria do fulfill a number of traditional dinosaur roles...
  • Carnosaurs, which look like an amalgamation of Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus are the usual dominant predators of Lustria and are defined by their voracious appetite and tendency to react aggressively towards any intruders they stumble across. Because of this, they are revered by the Lizardmen and tamed carnosaurs are known to be among the strongest cavalries in the setting, which says something as Carnosaurs are said to be the reason there are no dragons in Lustria.
  • Among other theropod-like beasts in Lustria is the Cold Ones, raptor-like hunters who are as vicious as the JP-like raptors they take inspiration from, only that their intelligence is rather dim, the Spinosaurus like Troglodon which dwells in grottos and other watery bodies, is blind and relies on its senses to track its prey, and injects venom with its bites. Finally, there's the famed Dread Saurian which towers even Carnosaurs and are the true apex predator of Lustria, its presence and reputation being awed and feared by all other fauna and the Lizardmen.
  • The supposed "herbivores" are also pretty aggressive, with special mention going to the Stegadon a Triceratops/Stegosaurus hybrid that is omnivorous in nature and is known for their temperamental attitude, which could cause widespread destruction if left unchecked. The ankylosaur-like Bastiladon and the aptly-named Thunder Lizard also follow suit as destructive beasts who are willing to digest meat as they would vegetation as well, at least for Thunder Lizards. Lizardmen see them as valuable mounts to tame and travel in.

Video Games

• Carnivores: Zig-Zagged rather bizarely. All of the herbivores shown are docile but without their nature to be social animals and with the exception of Triceratops, Chasmosaurus, and Iguanodon they're all panicky and flee at the first sight of you or your gunshot, which even includes Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus. On the carnivores' side of things, Allosaurus and Spinosaurus are portrayed as "small" and "medium" theropods respectively, a far cry from how they're usually shown in other works. Beyond those, the dinosaurs play their expected roles with Tyrannosaurus getting perhaps the most extreme form of being an apex predator. The trope is played straighter in the Dinosaur Hunter HD and Reborn versions where herbivores are more sociable and aggressive, depending on the species.
• Dino Crisis: The series runs the gamut on its theropods, whose depictions are no less different from the usual depiction of dinosaurs being savage monsters as seen in many older films. Specifically, Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus always fulfill the "small" and "large" theropod whereas the intermediary theropod archetype is occupied by the Terizinosaurus in the first game, Allosaurus in the second game, and Carnotaurus in Dino Stalker respectively.
• Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West both have mecha variants in the form of the Thunderjaw (T.Rex), the Plowhorn (triceratops), the Bellowback (theropod), Sunwing (pterosaur), Clawstrider (velociraptor), the Slaughterspine (spinosaurus), and many, many more alongside other mechanical versions of regular animals like monkeys or hippos.
• Monster Hunter: For a given definition of dinosaur...
  • Regarding herbivores, the hadrosaur-like Aptonoth and sauropod-like Larinoth behave and react just like any hadrosaur and sauropod would in how most other works would depict them as. Even the ankylosaur-like Apceros are more like peaceful creatures who just like to wander places. The more aggressive herbivores would be the Kestrodon and Gastodon, which are more pachycephalosaur-like, though the former tends to be placid unless attacked while the latter gets antsy about anything they get their eyes on, and finally, there's the ceratopsian-inspired Monoblos and Diablos who are solitary beasts that can and will attack anyway that they see as intruding their grounds.
  • For theropods, Bird Wyverns are essentially smaller theropods with a few like the Kulu-Ya-Ku and Tzitzi-Ya-Ku from Monster Hunter: World being intermediary theropods, with the former usually acting as mooks for a leader and tend to be common spawn enemies while the latter two act like mini-bosses with the addition of being skittish and prone to escaping whenever things go tough for them. The giant theropod archetype is filled in by Brute Wyverns like Deviljho, Glavenus, and Anjanath, who prove to be challenging bosses and behave much like any apex predator would, up to and including engaging in territorial fights against other monsters.
• Saurian: As the game takes place in the Hell Creek Formation and intends to be the most realistic simulation of the setting possible, its fauna, including dinosaurs are given some form of ecological role to play out. Tyrannosaurus is depicted as the apex predator, while Dakotaraptor, Acheroraptor, and Pectinodon fill the medium and small theropod predator categories respectively, with them competing with each other regarding territory and food sources, depending on their growth rate. On the herbivores' side of things, Anatosaurus and Ornithomimus is the most obvious herd dinosaur with herding being an in-built game mechanic to ensure defense and survival for players. Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and Denversarusus are the resident tanks and prefer to be alone, with Triceratops in particular having very territorial males who lead herds that consist only of females and young. Finally, there's Thescelosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus to fill up the role of additional dinosaurs and playing roles that are typical of how they're depicted in wider media.
• Star Fox Adventures: Sauria's residents consist of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and wooly mammoths with human-level sapience and intelligence for the most part. The ceratopsian EarthWalkers serve as the planet's royalty and display a sense of authority for their kind and to other races. There are also the thyreophoran ThornTails, ornithomimid-like LightFoots, sauropods in the form of LongNecks, and pterosaurs who go by CloudRunners who are all usually friendly and willing to aid Fox in their quest to stop the villainous SharpClaws who are essentially humanoid carnosaurs and tyrannosaurs. One of the very few non-sapient dinosaurs is the tyrannosaur-like RedEye tribe that is prone to attacking anything they get their eyes on.
• World of Warcraft: The world of Azeroth has its fair share of dinosaurs that are inspired by popular species and their character types in fiction. They are the tyrannosaur-like Devilsaurs that are shown as apex predators, gentle yet territorial ceratopsians in the form of Direhorns, vicious pack hunters like Raptors and Falcosaurs, tough and temperamental thyreophoran-like Ankylodons and Stegodons, peaceful sauropods in the shape of Brutosaurs, and predators of the skies and seas that come in the form of Pterrodax, Skyscreamer, and Threshadon. All of them are capable of being tamed by players to be used as mounts and can serve as powerful and durable cavalries.

Western Animation

• Dinotrux: Dinosaurs in this show are defined by what vehicle hybrid they are, though their personalities are more dynamic than one would expect. Ty Rux, a Tyrannosaurus Trux is an excavator and possesses immense power, but appearances and his species' reputation aside, he's a very lovable and caring individual who'll do anything for his friends. D-Structs, on the other hand, acts more like a typical Tyrannosaurus; gruff, territorial, and aggressive. There's also Ton-Ton the Ankylodump, Skya the Craneosaur, Dozer the Dozerceratops, and Garby the Stegarbasaurus who fill traditional dinosaur roles found in their species like being gentle giants, and big eaters whilst also acting as a dump truck, crane, bulldozer, and garbage truck respectively.
• Extreme Dinosaurs: The dinosaur team of the same name is composed of members of the most popular species in popular culture and their core personalities consist of being tough and gruff, but also being softies to compliment their nature of being cool heroes, though not without certain dinosaur stereotypes. The main villains are a pack of raptors who fight against the Extreme Dinosaurs in their efforts to regain reptile supremacy at the cost of making Earth inhospitable for all other animals and are shown as vicious, condescending creatures who think highly of themselves.

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