History Main / GoofyFeatheredDinosaur

* In ''Literature/{{Carnosaur}}'', a major part of what makes the carnivorous dinosaurs terrifying is how bird-like they look and behave, which causes an UncannyValley effect in many people who expect dinosaurs as big, lizard-like creatures. Darren Penward, who resurrected the dinosaurs, is shown to be a firm believer of the then-controversial dinosaur-bird connection theory. This would be considered an aversion, if it weren't for the fact that none of the carnivorous dinosaurs in the book possess feathers.

* In ''Literature/{{Carnosaur}}'', a major part of what makes the carnivorous dinosaurs terrifying is how bird-like they look and behave, which causes an UncannyValley effect in many people who expect dinosaurs as big, lizard-like creatures. This would be considered an aversion, if it weren't for the fact that none of the carnivorous dinosaurs in the book possess feathers.

** {{Defied|Trope}} with the ''Pyroraptor'' and ''Therizinosaurus'' in ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'' -- both are given decent feathered coats, but they are also treated as legitimate threats. Special mention goes to the ''Therizinosaurus'', which is one of the most aggressive animals in the franchise--it delivers a OneHitKill to a deer in its territory just for being there, and soon after is clarified as an herbivore to anyone unfamiliar with it in the audience.

* ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'': Defied in the fourth book, ''Journey to Chandara'', where feathered dinosaurs appear for the first time in the series and are treated with a sense of wonder as much as the scaly dinosaurs.
* ''Literature/PrimitiveWar'': Defied. A majority of carnivorous dinosaurs in the books are feathered, and many of them are terrifying. The ''Utahraptor'', ''Tyrannosaurus'', and ''Yutyrannus'' are notable examples.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': The Raptoricons from the Fun Publications story, "Life Finds a Way", zigzag this. Three of them, Thrashclaw, Slice, and Shred, are feathered ''Dromaeaosaurs'' with varying degrees of scientific accuracy. Shred plays this straight, being a small and fluffy ''Velocirapto''r with a goofy and lighthearted personality akin to a typical ''Transformers'' KidAppealCharacter. Thrashclaw and Slice, however, are large and intimidating-looking warriors, with Thrashclaw being a scale-feather combo and Slice being fully feathered.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': The Raptoricons from the Fun Publications story, "Life Finds a Way", zigzag this. Three of them, Thrashclaw, Slice, and Shred, are feathered ''Dromaeaosaurs'' with varying degrees of scientific accuracy. Shred plays this straight, being a small and fluffy ''Velocirapto''r with a goofy and lighthearted personality akin to a typical ''Transformers'' KidAppealCharacter. Thrashclaw and Slice, however, are large and intimidating-looking warriors.

* ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved'': Defied with the feathered dinosaurs, most of which are portrayed as dangerous. ''Yutyrannus'' in particular is feared by everybody, and ''Deinonychus'' is almost purposely-built to be a boss-killer due to its attributes for attacking large prey. Played for laughs in [[https://twitter.com/arkjeremy/status/858051213371346944 this piece]] of the ''Yutyrannus'' made for AprilFoolsDay.

This, however... [[TheCoconutEffect hasn't gone well with the mainstream media]]. People like their big, scary, roaring and sulking lizard creatures, even if the actual animals [[RealityIsUnrealistic were anything but hulking monsters]] (in fact, most dinosaurs are and were small). Even many dinosaur enthusiasts (many who grew up on media such as ''Film/JurassicPark'', despite the film depicting dinosaurs as warm-blooded bird-like animals according to newer theories, even if it was still [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology inaccurate]] at the time) [[IRejectYourReality are averse to the idea]]. Dinosaurs in media still tend to be based on older reconstructions, either because the artists didn't care enough to make them accurate, because they didn't know better, or because they simply don't like the contemporary reconstructions.

Adding to this is that a piece of media that ''does'' want to get the science right and isn't afraid to give its dinosaurs feathers is also likely to try to depict them as the animals they were, rather than the [[PrehistoricMonster monsters]] and [[DinosaursAreDragons dragons]] as which they've historically been depicted. For people who prefered the "cooler" monstrous versions, the feathers became symbolic of the perceived "softening" of dinosaurs.

As a consequence of the above, feathered dinosaurs in media tend to be joke characters; they're goofy looking and often goofy acting, particularly making failed attempts at flying which frequently happens with ''Archaeopteryx'', arguably the most famous of all feathered dinosaurs.[[note]]There is a common misconception that feathers evolved for flight, when in reality they evolved first for warmth and display while flight came much later. After all, flightless birds still possess feathers.[[/note]] A major exception to this rule is the dromaeosaurs, a.k.a. raptors, which ''definitely'' had feathers due to fossil evidence (with the biggest kicker being the [[https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2016/12/feathered-dinosaur-tail-amber-theropod-myanmar-burma-cretaceous/ discovery]] of a tail preserved in amber, feathers and all) helped by the group being very closely related to birds. This may be because raptors are almost always portrayed as small, screeching {{Lightning Bruiser}}s as a counteract to the "giant, roaring brutes" image-- in fact, they were the very dinosaurs to break that stereotype and revive the bird-dinosaur connection theory (with the discovery of the raptor ''Deinonychus'' whose skeletal structure was nearly identical to that of ''Archaeopteryx''). Feathered dromaeosaurs in media will usually be more exotic or bizarre-looking than goofy, but even then, they won't be taken as "seriously" as the classic [[RaptorAttack scaly version]]. The short version is that feathered dinosaurs are typically only actually unintimidating because [[StrawCharacter they're deliberately made to be so by people who don't like the idea of it]]; a real encounter with a fully-feathered ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' would be just as terrifying as with a scaly one because it's still a gigantic apex predator. If you still need some modern day perspective to this, just watch the climax of ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' and ask yourself if those cute feathers made the baby birds any less terrifying when Hopper got fed to them.

The reluctance to feature feathered dinosaurs is sometimes attributed to budget--feathers are expected to be blown around by wind and the motion of the animal or "expand" like a bird's wing in flight, meaning that they need to in visual media as well or else invite the UncannyValley, whereas a scaly or otherwise hairless animal doesn't typically have this requirement. However, given CGI birds have been done many times even with a low budget, this may actually be due to ignorance or lack of experience on part of the animators. Feathers tend to lay flat against the body even in wind or motion, especially on birds-of-prey, thus the issue of animating feathered animals is resolved by [[http://dinogoss.blogspot.com/2013/06/youre-doing-it-wrong-cgi-feathered.html?m=1 having the feathers sculpted as part of the model and kept as textures, with only the more prominent feathers like on the wings and tail being rendered]]. Picture this, a predatory dinosaur with a smooth or sleek-looking coat of feathers like on an eagle would not invoke the same uncanny effect as one with all of its feathers sticking out like frazzled hair, not to mention would be easy on the budget.[[note]]It's quite jarring to hear that ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' had trouble with animating feathered animals when ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' managed to accomplish it a few years before.[[/note]]

In Japanese media, however, feathered dinosaurs are more common and less likely to be depicted as goofy, with a feathered ''T. rex'' being just as much of a threat as a scaly one. This may be due to Japan's emphasis on compulsory biology education for children, which results in more familiarity with modern scientific concepts. The growth of the internet has also led to increased acceptance of the idea, to the point of complaining about the ''lack of'' feathers on certain dinosaurs, though not without a good amount of people still joking about the ''T. rex'' looking like a massive chicken (though making even the big, hulking lizard version cute and cuddly is also [[Series/BarneyAndFriends not unheard of]]). This dislike towards non-feathered depictions has also started to grow among Western dinosaur fans in recent years, and paleoartists in general. This has reached the point where many artists have depicted almost ''every'' dinosaur as having feathers, including sauropods (which most likely didn't have feathers) and ornithischians (which only has three specimens with quill-like feathers). So far, the only dinosaurs that are confirmed to have ''true'' feathers were the coelurosaurs.

It should be pointed out that the idea of feathered dinosaurs [[OlderThanTheyThink is not in fact as recent as many are led to believe]]. While definite evidence of feathers on dinosaur fossils (and broad acceptance of the idea in the paleontological community) is indeed ''relatively'' recent, well-supported speculation of feathers on certain dinosaurs is almost as old as the basic hypothesis of a bird-dinosaur evolutionary connection from the 1800s. Even without smoking gun evidence found in the late 1980s, paleontologists had been almost certain some dinosaurs had feathers and rendered them with such as far back as the 1970s, while speculative fiction writers were toying with the idea [[Literature/TheMonsterOfPartridgeCreek as early as 1908]].

** In the first film, a kid at fossil dig comments on Grant's assertion that birds are descended from dinosaurs with "That doesn't sound very scary! More like a six-foot turkey!" but Grant goes on to lay out why a real ''Velociraptor'' would be anything but a joke. This might be considered an aversion, were it not for the fact that the movie's raptors are themselves featherless.

* ''Literature/TheyAreSmol'': The Karnakians resemble funny-looking, brightly-feathered velociraptors with four eyes.

** Averted with the dinosaurs of Dominaria. The primary setting of Magic's first decade--created in the early 1990s--the rarely seen dinosaurs are large and saurian in the style of ''Jurassic Park.''

* Defied in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', where a few of the dinosaurs (and pterosaurs) are given feathers, but still look like legitimately threatening and cool creatures.

* ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTheGame'': Inverted somewhat by the ''Troodon''. They have a partial covering of feathers, but are treated as [[TheDreaded a worse threat]] than even the featherless ''Velociraptor'' (which are actually [[HorrifyingTheHorror terrified]] of the ''Troodon'') mainly due to their deadly venom.

* In the Creator/VizMedia manga ''Dinosaur Hour!'', two ''Protoceratops'' learn about the concept of a feathered ''Velociraptor'' and try to add plumage to a drawing of a raptor in the most ridiculous way possible. As for the real feathered ''Velociraptor'' itself, [[spoiler:it is overly fluffy and resembles a cartoonish duckling. That doesn't stop them from viciously attacking the ''Protoceratops'']].
* ''Manga/DinosaurSanctuary'' defies this trope and then some by undermining the scariness of featherless dinosaurs. In the first chapter, Suzume tries to comfort a schoolgirl who is scared by Yuki, Enoshima Dinoland's female ''Giganotosaurus'' (a featherless theropod), by explaining that dinosaurs are not all scary, pointing out that birds are also dinosaurs. One schoolboy then makes a dig at her statement by insisting dinosaurs are big and scary, much more so than birds, and expects Yuki to eat a whole deer carcass that's currently being fed to her. He is dismayed when the ''Giganotosaurus'' initially hesitates in eating the carcass, due to being unfamiliar with it as she's usually fed meat with the bones and hair removed, proving Suzume's point that even big dinosaurs are not always scary.

* In Issue 21 of ''ComicBook/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur'', one of Moon Girl's taunts to her AlternateUniverse counterpart Devil Girl is that Devil Dinosaur's counterpart Moon Dinosaur has more feathers than [[Series/SesameStreet Big Bird]]. Moon Dinosaur himself is an aversion, however, as he is just as fierce as Devil Dinosaur.

* Paul Gilligan draws ''ComicStrip/PoochCafe'', wherein one strip has Boomer mention to Poncho that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Poncho envisions a ''T. rex'' with ridiculously small wings defecating on a car... and crushing it. Poncho agrees that the notion is difficult to believe.

* The only feathered dinosaurs in ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodDinosaur'' are the raptors going after the ''T. rex'''s herd. Although fearsome, they are depicted as goofy rednecks, with their feathered crests resembling mullets. Unlike most examples, though, it's their ''lack'' of feathers that highlights their goofiness-- their bodies look plucked and scrawny, giving them a "dumb hillbilly" look.

* Defied in the fourth ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'' book, ''Journey to Chandara'', where feathered dinosaurs appear for the first time in the series and are treated with a sense of wonder as much as the scaly dinosaurs.
* Defied in ''Literature/PrimitiveWar''. A majority of carnivorous dinosaurs in the books are feathered, and many of them are terrifying. The ''Utahraptor'', ''Tyrannosaurus'', and ''Yutyrannus'' are notable examples.

** Played straight, however, with the ''Deinocheirus'', portrayed as a shaggy, moose-like swamp-dweller that comically scratches its back on trees and poops onscreen as a bit of ToiletHumor, and with the fluffy baby ''Tyrannosaurus'', who play-fight, romp around and curiously explore their environment like a bunch of theropod kittens. The adult ''rex''es are given very sparse feathers, as well, and portrayed with all the dignity you'd expect for a full-grown ''T. rex''.
** Played straight-ish with the trio of fluffy ''Therizinosaurus'' chicks, whose clumsy attempts to reach a beehive to get at the honey are played for laughs... but averted with the equally-feathery adult ''Therizinosaurus'', which is portrayed as a creature of majesty and awe.

** Some of the series' more overtly comical moments do have dinosaurs showing the behaviour of modern-day birds, though not necessarily the physiology, from a bachelor herd of feathery ''Ornithomimus'' making nests to impress females to a scaly ''Carnotaurus'' acting like a gigantic bowerbird and keeping a well-tended glade in the woods and doing a mating dance. However, the scenes - being based on actual animal behaviour - play more as a good-hearted chuckle than outright mockery. Part of the ethos of the series is that dinosaurs were animals, not [[PrehistoricMonster monsters]], and real animals are somewhat goofy sometimes, and if that ruins dinosaurs for you, that's your problem.
** Played utterly straight, however, in some of the reactions to the show. Notably, British newspaper ''The Sun'' ran an article complaining about the [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fqtad3gxwamjzqp.jpg "softer 'woke' version of T-Rex]]".

* A ''Magazine/MuseMagazine'' dinosaur issue featured a ''Kokopelli & Company'' comic featuring Koko showing off various feathered theropods. Among them a feathered ''T. rex'' that clucked like a chicken.

* Zigzagged in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', usually based on what year a given plane was designed.

* Defied with the feathered dinosaurs in ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved'', most of which are portrayed as {{Feathered Fiend}}s. ''Yutyrannus'' in particular is TheDreaded, and ''Deinonychus'' is almost purposely-built to be a boss-killer due to its attributes for attacking large prey. Played for laughs in [[https://twitter.com/arkjeremy/status/858051213371346944 this piece]] of the ''Yutyrannus'' made for AprilFoolsDay.

* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' has many, many comics pushing back against the supposed goofiness of feathered dinosaurs. One suggests that anyone who finds them unthreatening has never fought an ostrich; another imagines a world where aliens are similarly disappointed to find out that humans weren't "cooler" and cling to wildly inaccurate understandings of our physiology. A third has a parent teasing their child for the modern depictions of raptors, but upon the child informing them of the gruesome modern theory of how raptors hunted ends up equally engrossed in dinosaur books.
* ConversationalTroping in ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge''. Dina considers [[https://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/02-guess-whos-coming-to-galassos/inerrant/ Walky's statement]] that "My view on feathered dinosaurs is dependent on dinosaurs being ''awesome monsters'' and not just friggin' ''giant chickens''" to possibly be worse than Joyce's Bible literalism on the subject.

* Frequently discussed on ''WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay''. Any time the topic of dinosaurs came up in their {{Seinfeldian Conversation}}s, at least one of them would rant about how scaly dinosaurs are so much cooler and scarier than feathered ones -- and they would also insult fans who, in the past, tried to convince them otherwise. Of the crew, Matt seemed to feel particularly strongly about the issue. And if they're playing a game with actual dinosaurs in it, expect them to say something along the lines of "Look, this game has dinosaurs the way they ''should'' be -- with no feathers!" This is clarified in Episode 192 of the ''Super Best Friend Cast'' as being Kayfabe. Pat explains that they ''do'' believe the new discoveries, they just prefer the old, scaly versions in an aesthetic sense.

* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' somewhat downplays this with Sylvia. She's an alien resembling a feathered dinosaur, but is the tough, no-nonsense CloudcuckoolandersMinder to her goofy partner, Wander.

* In ''Literature/{{Carnosaur}}'', a major part of what makes the carnivorous dinosaurs terrifying is how bird-like they look and behave, which causes an UncannyValley effect in many people who expect dinosaurs as big, lizard-like creatures. This would be considered an aversion, if it weren't for the fact that none of the carnivorous dinosaurs possess feathers.

* In ''Literature/{{Carnosaur}}'', a major part of what makes the carnivorous dinosaurs terrifying is how bird-like they look and behave, which causes an UncannyValley effect in many people who expect dinosaurs as big, lizard-like creatures. This would be an aversion, if it weren't for the fact that none of the carnivorous dinosaurs possess feathers.

* In ''Literature/{{Carnosaur}}'', a major part of what makes the carnivorous dinosaurs terrifying is how bird-like they look and behave, which causes an UncannyEffect in many people who expect dinosaurs as big, lizard-like creatures. This would be an aversion, if it weren't for the fact that none of the carnivorous dinosaurs possess feathers.

* ''Film/TheHatchling'' plays this straight with Ralph, a baby ''Deinocheirus'', but averts this with the ''Deinocheirus'', which are shown in a regal light.

* ''Film/TheHatchling'' averts this with the ''Deinocheirus'', which are shown in a regal light.

** {{Defied|Trope}} with the ''Pyroraptor'' and ''Therizinosaurus'' in ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'' -- both are given decent feathered coats, but they are also treated as legitimate threats. Special mention goes to the ''Therizinosaurus'', which is one of the most aggressive animals in the franchise. PlayedWith by the ''Moros'' -- while it has a sparse coat of feathers and most of its scenes are goofy and lighthearted, one in the Biosyn sanctuary is shown viciously killing and eating a jerboa, making it a sort of KillerRabbit.