History ComicBook / XenozoicTales

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Different names have developed for the dinosaurs (slithers), which makes sense if you assume that dinosaur books weren't a priority inclusion in the underground shelters. Examples include tyrannosaurs (shivats), allosaurs/deinonychus (cutters), triceratops (macks), and pterosaurs (zekes). Inexplicably, every isolated city seems to have independently used the same names. Averted in the case of mammoths which are called mammoths.
* CoolCar: Modified to run without gasoline. Any car that has to outrun charging styracosaurs is automatically cool.
* CoolPet: Hermes, Jack's pet "cutter" (which looked an awful lot like a Deinonychus or a Velociraptor) in the cartoon.
** Hermes is a [[CallARabbitASmeerp "cutter"]] but what dinosaur that is varies. In the comics and the cartoon, he's portrayed as an Allosaurus; in the toy line and the video game he's a Deinonychus, probably to cash in on the Jurassic Park 'raptor's popularity.

->''"How did extinct species come back to life? Hard to say — but it should be noted that it's at least consistent with some pre-Darwin theories attempting to explain fossils, which hypothesized grand life cycles affecting world-wide ecology over millions of years."''
->''"Whatever. It had dinosaurs."''

->''"How did extinct species come back to life? Hard to say — but it should be noted that it's at least consistent with some pre-Darwin theories attempting to explain fossils, which hypothesized grand life cycles affecting world-wide ecology over millions of years.
->Whatever. It had dinosaurs."''

->"How did extinct species come back to life? Hard to say — but it should be noted that it's at least consistent with some pre-Darwin theories attempting to explain fossils, which hypothesized grand life cycles affecting world-wide ecology over millions of years.
->Whatever. It had dinosaurs."
-->-[[http://www.toonopedia.com/xenozoic.htm Don Markstein]]

* WeirdMoon: Earth picks up an extra moon after the cataclysm.

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Used in the dream sequences when Hannah ends up unclothed. Jack gets the SceneryCensor treatment.

* BlondGuysAreEvil: Vice Terhune, the first boss, is introduced punching a chained dinosaur and has a spiky blond hair.

%%* CompetitiveBalance:
* DegradedBoss: Lash T. and Wallace become frequently-recurring sub-bosses later in the game.

The series was popular enough to have several [[SpinOff spin-offs]], usually under the ''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' label, including a Saturday morning cartoon by {{Nelvana}}[[note]] and animated by {{APPP}}[[/note]], an RPG setting, two video games (an arcade BeatEmUp by {{Capcom}} and a visual novel for the UsefulNotes/SegaCD), and even comics published by other companies during the lengthy gaps between issues of the main title.

* EvilutionaryBiologist: Dr. Fessenden has this as his M.O. He thinks that a fusion of human and dinosaur DNA is the next step in human evolution.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In some stages, the enemies will wake up Shivats (Tyrannosaurs) to attack you. Unfortunately for them, the Shivats are just as happy to attack the bad guys as well as the good ones.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Picking up food restores health.
* KnifeNut: The Razor and Blade {{Mook}}s specialize in knife-throwing, and Slice, the boss of the fourth level, primarily uses knives. On the player side, Hannah has better control over knife weapons than the others.

* OneWingedAngel: After initially mutating into slightly stronger a PaletteSwap of one of the earlier bosses, Dr. Fessenden turns into a three-headed, six-limbed monstrosity with both human and dinosaur parts.

* SkippableBoss: During the fight with Tyrog, it's possible to kill the flying organism part after it detaches from a dead host, avoiding the second and/or third stage of the fight.

The series was popular enough to have several [[SpinOff spin-offs]], usually under the ''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' label, including a Saturday morning cartoon by {{Nelvana}}[[note]] and animated by {{APPP}}[[/note]], an RPG setting, two video games (an arcade BeatEmUp by {{Capcom}} and a visual novel for the [[SegaGenesis Sega CD]]), and even comics published by other companies during the lengthy gaps between issues of the main title.

* LicensedGame: Both an RPG and two video games, one of which was an arcade side scrolling BeatEmUp by good ol' {{Capcom}} and is considered a classic in its genre. The other is a visual novel for the SegaCD is which less well remembered.

* CompetitiveBalance:
** '''[[color:blue:Jack]]''': [[JackOfAllStats of All Stats]], of course.
** '''[[color:red:Hannah]]''': FragileSpeedster
** '''[[color:green:Mustapha]]''': LightningBruiser
** '''[[color:orange:Mess]]''': MightyGlacier

The world first appeared in ''Death Rattle'' #8 in a short story called ''Xenozoic!'' which introduced the characters and concepts. This was rapidly spun off into its own series under the name ''Xenozoic Tales'', which premiered in February, 1987 and ran through issue 14, published in October 1996. Never officially canceled, creator Mark Schultz (not the Christian singer) still insists he'll be getting issue 15 out at some point. Don't hold your breath. Issue 14 didn't show up until two years after issue 13, largely due to the lushly detailed artwork Schultz drew. It's somewhat better known under the label "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs", which was the title of the first trade and rapidly supplanted the actual title in the minds of many fans.

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/XenozoicTalesDarkHorse01small.jpg]]In 2020, the Earth is shaken by upheavals and disaster. Mankind retreats underground, hiding in shelters, waiting for the end, kept alive by the mechanics working on the machines. So dependent are the survivors on the mechanics that they become a cult, a religion.

* ExecutiveMeddling: According to Schultz himself, another reason why the cartoon died early. The suits wanted it to be a [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Turtle]]-killer, and Nelvana was trying to break away from making cartoons made for older audiences at the same time, leading to problems. And then there were concerns over adding Hannah to TheMerch, since the suits thought that female characters belonged in [[{{Franchise/Barbie}} the pink aisle]] only.

* KnifeNut: The Razor and Blade {{Mook}}s specialize in knife-throwing, and Slice, the boss of the fourth level, primarily uses knives.

* WasOnceAMan: Many of Dr. Fessenden's experiments involve this.

* SomewhereAPalaeontologistIsCrying: It has to be admitted. Not because Schultz didn't know better, but because he very consciously chose to discard it to make a better story. Schultz dinosaurs, at least in the later issues, are actually very well-researched and as accurate as he could make them.