History Trivia / DinoAttackRPG

** If an RPG player is banned from Website/{{BZPower}}, his or her primary character is discharged from the Dino Attack Team.
** Kotua In Space left Website/{{BZPower}} and most LEGO-related sites after 2007. While his character Kotua is not confirmed to be dead, it is a little suspicious that his cameo appearance during the final battle was a variation of BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts...

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to the original topics on Website/{{BZPower}} either being lost or broken, the best way to read the original RPG is through the [[https://dinoattackrpg02.fandom.com/wiki/Downloadable_Archive downloadable archives]] compiled by [=PeabodySam=] and [=Andrewnuva199=].
* LoadsAndLoadsOfWriters: Being a {{Play By Post Game|s}} that ran for nearly eight years on a popular website, it shouldn't be surprising that there are many, ''many'' writers who contributed to ''Dino Attack RPG''. To be more specific, there are a total of 87 known Website/BZPower members who participated in the RPG, 64 of which contributed writings that were successfully archived (plus an additional 6 writers whose lost material is covered by wiki summaries in the archive).

** The beginning of the Goo Caverns StoryArc, which was lost in the Website/{{BZPower}} Time Slip. Most of the missing content was recovered by means of Google Cache, but the last week or so of content was never recovered.
** And now that the Website/{{BZPower}} Forum Archive has been taken down following a hacking incident in February 2013, the entire original ''Dino Attack RPG'' has become an extreme case of this trope.[[note]]That's 224 pages, 8924 posts, and about five and a half years of MissingEpisode.[[/note]] Fortunately, over a third of the RPG was able to be recovered by players and compiled into [[https://dinoattackrpg02.fandom.com/wiki/Downloadable_Archive a downloadable archive]], but that leaves about two thirds of the RPG lost. The LEGO Island and Adventurers' Island story arcs were particularly hit hard by this, since very little of the RPG from June 2009 through April 2011 was able to be recovered.

*** Rex's physical appearance was based upon [[Toys/LEGOAlphaTeam Alpha Team]] Special Agent Zed, who was [=PeabodySam=]'s Website/{{BZPower}} avatar when ''Dino Attack RPG'' was created. This was suggested by other members of the RPG during that time, who mentally linked [=PeabodySam=]'s avatar to Rex's appearance. Similarly, Frozeen's appearance was created by ''Roleplay/AlphaTeamMissionDeepFreezeRPG'' host Victor Draven, who imagined Frozeen with Pepper Roni's head.

** After the 2009 Website/{{BZPower}} Time Slip (also known as the Great Dataclysm), which erased six months of ''Dino Attack RPG'' content (including the entire Goo Caverns StoryArc up to that point), the ''Dino Attack RPG'' players agreed to start up again at a time and place shortly before the Time Slip occurred. Since this led to [[{{Rewrite}} rewriting several scenes that were erased by the Time Slip]], Sauro-Hunter remarked that he was experiencing deja vu.

** Most players who left the RPG also tended to disappear from Website/{{BZPower}} around the same time, and as a result they are all difficult to track down and can be considered reclusive artists, especially due to the anonymous nature of [=BZPower=] usernames. There are exceptions, such as Chronicler of Ko-Koro and Canama, who are still active in the online LEGO community. However, by far the most infamous example of this in ''Dino Attack RPG'' would be Kotua in Space, who not only disappeared from [=BZPower=] but also Brickshelf, [=MOCpages=], and many other websites all at the same time in late 2007 so he could focus on schoolwork.

* SleeperHit: Considering how Website/{{BZPower}} dismissed the Toys/LEGODinoAttack line, plus the fact that LEGO General Discussion (and the later LEGO RPG subforum) doesn't get as much attention as the rest of the website, it is quite surprising that the ''Dino Attack RPG'' lasted as long as it did.

* StageName: Every player in the ''Dino Attack RPG'' signs onto Website/{{BZPower}} under a PenName.

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** Used rather frequently on TV Tropes and other websites, such as [[TheWikiRule the wiki]]. It certainly helps that a number of ''Dino Attack RPG'''s writers have contributed to writing these TV Tropes pages for ''Dino Attack RPG'', allowing them to shed insight on their characters and stories that might not necessarily be mentioned in the RPG itself.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://dinoattackrpg01.wikia.com/wiki/Dino_Attack_RPG_Wiki Of course.]] There's also a partner wiki, [[http://dinoattackrpg02.wikia.com/wiki/Dino_Attack_RPG_Archive_Wiki Dino Attack RPG Archive Wiki]], specifically dedicated to recovering and archiving as much content as possible from the [[MissingEpisode original]] ''Dino Attack RPG''.

* ActorLeavesCharacterDies: Atton Rand attempted to do this to VM after vahkimetru left the RPG, with Zenna stumbling upon a skeleton carrying a gun marked with VM's initials. Wishing to avoid this trope just in case any former player ever returned to RPG, [=PeabodySam=] insisted upon the skeleton not being VM himself.

* {{Blooper}}: In the Director's Cut v1.0 trailer, there's a brief moment where Dr. Rex visibly doesn't have arms attached to his body.

* CreatorBacklash: "Backlash" might be putting it too strongly, but while [=PeabodySam=] considers ''Dino Attack RPG'' an overall success, he is also aware that it failed in several regards, and other LEGO [=TBRPGs=] that try too hard to emulate ''Dino Attack RPG'' end up suffering from these failures as well. One such failure was the way {{Story Arc}}s were handled; while they succeeded in bringing players together, they always suffered from ArcFatigue. With a group of devoted ''Dino Attack RPG'' players and a host who was able to attend to the RPG, this could be overcome, but when the formula was tried by ''Alpha Team RPG: Ogel's Last Stand'' and ''LEGO Universe RPG'', it failed miserably, with hosts too busy to attend to the RPG combined with players who quickly left the RPG following the initial NewbieBoom that all new [=RPGs=] face. As such, [=PeabodySam=] urges fellow TBRPG hosts to avoid emulating ''Dino Attack RPG'' or handling things a certain way just because ''Dino Attack RPG'' did it that way.

** While not ashamed by the character herself, Atton Rand is somewhat ashamed of the fanfic he wrote from which Zenna took her name.

* IKnewIt:
** Kotua in Space and several other players guessed that Rex was actually a mutant. Their prediction was so spot-on, [=PeabodySam=] has requested that other players refrain from making such predictions.
** That being said, the players who think that they have guessed [[TheHermit Ben Gunn's]] true identity are ''probably'' correct.
** An approximation, in that after Kat's death, several players were certain she would return somehow, but did not guess the manner of her return.
** avmatoran called pretty early on that [[spoiler:Rex's Creative Spark would power the Einstein Device]].

** With very little canon to work with, ''Dino Attack RPG'' came up with an origin for the Mutant Dinos: they were ordinary LivingDinosaurs captured and mutated by the secret organization XERRD to restore the LEGO Planet to its prehistoric state and force "survival of the fittest" upon mankind, [[spoiler:which was all actually a ruse by the Darkitect to destroy the planet and spread the Maelstrom's influence]]. In 2014, two years after the RPG ended, LEGO designer Michael Stafford [[https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/2d7bp4/anyone_remember_this_beauty_from_2005_dino_attack/cjmxixx/ revealed]] the canon origins of the Mutant Dinos: they're actually just malfunctioning animatronics from an amusement park, in a "''Film/{{Westworld}}'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY Meets]] ''Film/JurassicPark''" style plot.

** ''Merciful Escape'' and ''First Assignment'' were written under the title "HTTYML", which stood for "[[Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon How To Train Your Mutant Lizard]]".

** Chronicler of Ko-Koro's posts refer to the team as "DINO Attack" as early as July 5, 2005. While official LEGO media would alternate between stylizing the team's name as "Dino Attack" or "DINO ATTACK", "DINO Attack" would end up being used in the Shop At Home Fall 2005 catalog several months later.

* OldShame:
** One of the reasons why [=PeabodySam=] has retconned much of the early ''Dino Attack RPG'' is because he is ''embarrassed'' by some of the early things he wrote. He is also... not proud... of [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem some of the things he said OOC]] as well.
** The main reason why Atton Rand abandoned [[Toys/RockRaiders Axle's]] role in the RPG after his return from hiatus was because he was a bit embarrassed and wanted to focus more on characters he actually created, rather than just using ones already made by Franchise/{{LEGO}}, although most of Atton's later characters tended to be [[{{Expy}} expies]] of famous movie or television characters.
** While not ashamed by the character herself, Atton Rand is somewhat ashamed of the fanfic he wrote from which Zenna took her name.
** Dr. Cyborg as Dr. Rex's brother? Ouch. avmatoran refers to this post being deleted by the Forum Archive hack as the only good thing to come of that incident.
** Atton Rand has admitted to regretting certain choices he made in ''At War's End''. In particular he has admitted to regret abandoning the idea to have Firecracker perform a HeroicSacrifice in favor of a KarmaHoudini and even talked about writing a FixFic giving the character some sort of dignified closure. He has also regretted the way he handled Trigger (while he did have some fun going against the primary characters he used to play in other [=RPGs=] - young idealistic action girls, some of which may have gone into Mary Sue territory - he does somewhat regret handling the character the way he did) and Snake, and isn't proud of Plastic Serpent. Also, despite having built TheReveal early on, he is somewhat embarrassed by the reveal of Jenny being Dr. Strangebrick's daughter.
** that guy from that show does not look back fondly upon the romance of Hertz and Naomi.
** [=PeabodySam=] doesn't look back too fondly upon the jokes about "black people who weren't black" in ''Dino Attack in a Nutshell''. While they were intended as tongue-in-cheek commentary on the fact that ''Dino Attack RPG'' had very few confirmed[[note]][=PeabodySam=] views the yellow-skinned LEGO minifigs as able to represent any race, unless otherwise specified of course[[/note]] black characters (combined with a ShoutOut to "the amazing dark people" from ''The Team Fortress 2 Two-Word Story''), [=PeabodySam=] fears that some viewers may misinterpret these out-of-context jokes as racism.

** ''Merciful Escape'' and ''First Assignment'' were written under the title "HTTYML", which stood for "[[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon How To Train Your Mutant Lizard]]".

* SleeperHit: Considering how Website/{{BZPower}} [[ItWillNeverCatchOn dismissed]] the Toys/LEGODinoAttack line, plus the fact that LEGO General Discussion (and the later LEGO RPG subforum) doesn't get as much attention as the rest of the website, it is quite surprising that the ''Dino Attack RPG'' lasted as long as it did.

* NamesTheSame: In some instances, there are characters in ''Dino Attack RPG'' who have the same names and analogous roles as characters in official LEGO canon, but are intended to be separate characters. For example, there's a pirate named Greybeard who was once a member of Captain Redbeard's crew, and then there's another pirate named Greybeard who was once a member of Captain Redbeard's crew... and his soccer team. There's also a diver named Dan who helped out in recovering the lost Constructopedia pages in the sea where LEGO Island once was, and then there's a diver named Dan who lives in LEGO Town.

** During the final celebration, Atton Rand attempted to perform a {{Deconstruction}} on ''VideoGame/LEGOIsland'', primarily focusing on the fact that the Brickolinis make pizzas hot enough to burn peoples' mouths and to open jail cell doors and what would happen if the LEGO Island Police Department actually did something about this. However, this did not roll over so well with other players for a number of reasons. It was very out-of-character for Nick Brick to arrest Papa Brickolini; it was a PlayerPunch to players who loved ''LEGO Island''; it presented a completely unnecessary ConflictBall in what was supposed to be the final celebration; and, most of all, the Deconstruction simply did not work since it tried to present the Brickolinis as [[{{Flanderization}} completely oblivious to the Brickster using their pizzas to escape]], but the Brickster only canonically escaped with super-hot pizza twice (the first time, the Brickolinis were tricked; the second time, they were wary and tried to subvert it, only to be hit in the face by a DiabolusExMachina), and the super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot pizza was never actually made by the Brickolinis (it was a [[OverlyLongGag gag]] intended to [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade]] how hot the Brickolini's pizzas were, but it was never actually supposed to depict the Brickolinis as incompetent and oblivious), so the Brickolinis repeatedly sending super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot pizzas to the jail and obliviously setting the Brickster free had no canon backing, causing the whole Deconstruction to fall apart. For these reasons, this entire scenario was thankfully {{retcon}}ned into CanonDiscontinuity.

* GodNeverSaidThat: [=PeabodySam=] was careful to never confirm OOC which temple was actually the Maelstrom Temple, deliberately invoking this trope to keep his fellow players from guessing his true intentions until TheReveal.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfWriters: Being a {{Play By Post Game|s}} that ran for nearly eight years on a popular website, it shouldn't be surprising that there are many, ''many'' writers who contributed to ''Dino Attack RPG''. To be more specific, there are a total of 87 known Website/BZPower members who participated in the RPG, 64 of which contibuted writings that were successfully archived (plus an additional 6 writers whose lost material is covered by wiki summaries in the archive).

** Although not explicitly lying, per se, [=PeabodySam=] did a bit of... ''undercover work'' on the [[WMG/DinoAttackRPG Wild Mass Guessing page]] in order to fuel the fires of paranoia in the mole hunt.

* MarthDebutedInSmashBros:
** The fact that Shannon (and her father, the original agent Gromtin)'s last name is "Grimton" was intended to be a ShoutOut to the fourth chapter of ''Five Years Too Many''... which was written during the Website/{{BZPower}} forum upgrade but was never posted.
** During the Mindstorms, Inc. flashback, Silencia Venomosa encountered four men exiting an elevator. This was a ShoutOut to a short story that [=PeabodySam=] had written, which (despite being published in a local magazine several months prior) was not yet publicized on the internet, meaning that no other player of the RPG caught the reference.

* McLeaned: Atton Rand attempted to do this to VM after vahkimetru left the RPG, with Zenna stumbling upon a skeleton carrying a gun marked with VM's initials. Wishing to avoid this trope just in case any former player ever returned to RPG, [=PeabodySam=] insisted upon the skeleton not being VM himself.

** And now that the Website/{{BZPower}} Forum Archive has been taken down following a hacking incident in February 2013, the entire original ''Dino Attack RPG'' has become an extreme case of this trope.[[note]]That's 224 pages, 8924 posts, and about five and a half years of MissingEpisode.[[/note]] Fortunately, over a third of the RPG was able to be recovered by players and compiled into [[http://www.mediafire.com/file/9n1q4k6fcauzhm2/Dino_Attack_RPG_Archive_v2.1.zip/file a downloadable archive]], but that leaves about two thirds of the RPG lost. The LEGO Island and Adventurers' Island story arcs were particularly hit hard by this, since very little of the RPG from June 2009 through April 2011 was able to be recovered.

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: Dr. Rex made sure to cover Rex and Chompy's cages before transporting them through the Dino Island Laboratory. Although [=PeabodySam=] did not know anything about animal research at the time, this turned out to be standard practice for transporting laboratory animals such as mice.

* FlipFlopOfGod: In ''Roleplay/AlphaTeamMissionDeepFreezeRPG'', [[WordOfGod PeabodySam]] made an explicit point stating that PBB would never be killed off. A year later, PBB was killed off in ''Dino Attack RPG''.

** [=PeabodySam=] planned a scene after the final battle where George Ogel formerly announces his retirement as General Evil, but then George and Talia Kaahs are nearly killed when Evil Ogel rigs their car to explode; since [[spoiler:General ended up dying during the final battle]], this concept went unused. Instead, it was reworked into Timeline 1958-D of ''Because Of You'', where that AlternateTimeline's George and Talia were mysteriously killed in a car explosion after denouncing the Evil OGEL Empire.

* SparedByTheCut: [=PeabodySam=] originally planned on Frozeen learning that his adoptive mother, Faith Abody, had passed away while in the refugee facilities. Since B's mother was revealed to have died in the same manner, this was cut to avoid feeling repetitive, leaving it ambiguous whether Faith is still alive.

* WriteWhoYouKnow: This was the primary reasoning behind [=PeabodySam=]'s decision to write Frozeen as having difficulties with social interactions due to Asperger's syndrome, rather than trying to out Frozeen as homosexual, to explain why Frozeen never had a girlfriend in ''Roleplay/AlphaTeamMissionDeepFreezeRPG''.

* DrinkingGame: Inspired by a remark by [=PeabodySam=], Atton Rand has created a set-up for a drinking game based off of the ''Dino Attack RPG''. Take a shot every time:
** Something happens that is later retconned into CanonDiscontinuity.
*** Take two shots if it has anything to do with Toys/{{BIONICLE}}.
** A realist agent appears on-screen and does something evil.
*** Take two shots if it's Kotua, Duke, Cam O'Cozy, or Rotor.
** Someone suffers a ludicrous injury and miraculously recovers in a short time span (moreso in the early RPG).
** Rex appears to care more about the well-being of wild Mutant Dinos than his own teammates (moreso in the early RPG).
** Someone adopts a Mutant Dino.
*** Take two shots if it's Rex.
** Dust raised an eyebrow.
** A [[OverlyLongGag super-spicy-tongue-melting-jail-cell-door-opening-hot pizza]] is mentioned.
** [[RunningGag Evil Ogel throws a drone out a window.]]
** Dino Attack Team falls for a RedHerring.
** [[VideoGame/LEGOIsland Enter or Return]] insist upon using a shark in medical practice.
** An {{expy}} or CaptainErsatz character is introduced.
*** Take two shots if Atton Rand is the one introducing the character.
** [[http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/24924622.jpg Kate gets upset and starts crying.]]
** Firecracker [[StuffBlowingUp blows something up]].
** French Fries does something stupid.
** A [[ShoutOut reference]] is made over the comm chatter.
** A character dies during the FinalBattle.
*** Take two shots if it's a HeroicSacrifice.

** Chronicler of Ko-Koro wanted a name for his stealthy female agent. He went with the first suggestion by another member: Stealth.
** The Torn World's name was decided in a poll held in ''Dino Attack RPG'', and the name was coined by Zephyria.
** Not exactly "fan submitted", but Kareem Nazareno's character design was created several years prior to Brikman [=McStudz=] joining the RPG by a friend of his.
** Several character appearances, such as Rockford and Ben Gunn, were created by other RPG members and approved by the characters' respective creators.

** The appearance of the ''Iron Hammer'' was submitted by that guy from that show and approved by [=TakunuvaC01=].

* PostReleaseRetitle: The Expanded Universe short story featuring Rex and Frank Einstein escaping Mercy Hospital was originally published as ''Merciful Escape'' in 2014. Its title was changed to ''Rex's Awakening'' in 2020.

* ShrugOfGod: Not even [=Andrewnuva199=] knows what Ata put in Zero's coffee.

** The Director's Cut trailer replays the ''Dino Attack in a Nutshell: Epilogue'' footage of Pyro and Medic stabilizing the burning storybook. This was originally just put in as temporary visuals, but [=PeabodySam=] liked how it synced up with the music and decided to keep it in the final trailer.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://dinoattackrpg01.wikia.com/wiki/Dino_Attack_RPG_Wiki Of course.]]
** There's also a partner wiki, [[http://dinoattackrpg02.wikia.com/wiki/Dino_Attack_RPG_Archive_Wiki Dino Attack RPG Archive Wiki]], specifically dedicated to recovering and archiving as much content as possible from the [[MissingEpisode original]] ''Dino Attack RPG''.
* WordOfGod: Used rather frequently on TV Tropes and other websites, such as [[TheWikiRule the wiki]]. It certainly helps that a number of ''Dino Attack RPG'''s writers have contributed to writing these TV Tropes pages for ''Dino Attack RPG'', allowing them to shed insight on their characters and stories that might not necessarily be mentioned in the RPG itself.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Many primary characters, such as Databoard and Kotua, had interesting stories that were never finished because their players left the RPG.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: ''At War's End'' and ''First Assignment'' ended up being unintentionally dated by the inclusion of agent Walker, who was created as a homage to WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic. Back in 2012-2014 (a simpler time on the internet, to be sure), Nostalgia Critic was still fairly popular, so it only made sense that [=Andrewnuva199=] and [=PeabodySam=] were fans who wanted to pay tribute in their internet writings. Following the "Change The Channel" controversy in the late [=2010s=], it's unlikely that a character like Walker would've been created nowadays.

* MeaningfulReleaseDate: The RPG ended on [[MayanDoomsday December 21, 2012]]. Coincidentally, ''Roleplay/AlphaTeamMissionDeepFreezeRPG'' (the direct inspiration for ''Dino Attack RPG'') started on December 21, 2004, turning this into a case of BookEnds as well.

** And now that the Website/{{BZPower}} Forum Archive has been taken down following a hacking incident in February 2013, the entire original ''Dino Attack RPG'' has become an extreme case of this trope.[[note]]That's 224 pages, 8924 posts, and about five and a half years of MissingEpisode.[[/note]] Fortunately, over a third of the RPG was able to be recovered by players and compiled into [[http://www.mediafire.com/file/9n1q4k6fcauzhm2/Dino_Attack_RPG_Archive_v2.1.zip/file a downloadable archive]], but that leaves about two thirds of the RPG lost.
*** The LEGO Island and Adventurers' Island story arcs were particularly hit hard by this, since very little of the RPG from June 2009 through April 2011 was able to be recovered.

** Regarding the character Libo, [=PeabodySam=] regrets the way he handled his character. He now refers to Libo as "a neat idea for a cool character who was stuck in the wrong story". When he first came up with the idea for Libo, he was so excited that he just had to put it in ''Dino Attack RPG''... only to realize later on that he had no use for Libo in ''Dino Attack RPG'' and was stuck with a character with little relevance to the plot. This is why Libo was PutOnABus following the discovery of the Dino Island Laboratory and ultimately got [[DroppedABridgeOnHim a bridge dropped on him]].

** [=Andrewnuva199=] feels the "dark consciousness" character in Andrew's head was an awkward and mismanaged idea. It's slightly cringeworthy for him in regards to how he was written into the final encounter with Maelstrom!Zach and Ahua, but is at least grateful he was able to wrap it up more or less smoothly there and be done with it.
** [=PeabodySam=] is not especially fond of how Talia Kaahs and Shannon Grimton were handled in the RPG and considers them some of the weakest elements of his writing, largely due to being [[SatelliteLoveInterest underdeveloped flat characters who only existed for the purpose of being love interests of other more-developed characters]]. Grimton in particular suffers from being a last-minute addition to the story, giving her very little time to develop and resulting in a very rushed RomanticPlotTumor. Kaahs, on the other hand, was introduced much earlier but was rarely given any screentime; her FishOutOfTemporalWater status was barely even touched upon, even though it could have been PlayedForDrama (much like Steve Rogers in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'') for some much-needed character development. This ended up becoming [=PeabodySam's=] entire motivation for writing ''Scars'': to flesh out Talia, play her AscendedFridgeHorror for all that it was worth, and [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeem her character in his eyes]].

** Although he is proud of the overall result, that guy from that show does regret the execution of Pharisee's character, arguing that his "impartial judge" and "religious zealot" characteristics clashed with one another (causing too many out-of-character moments that constantly needed to be justified) and would have been better split between two separate characters.

** And now that the Website/{{BZPower}} Forum Archive has been taken down following a hacking incident in February 2013, the entire original ''Dino Attack RPG'' has become an extreme case of this trope.[[note]]That's 224 pages, 8924 posts, and about five and a half years of MissingEpisode.[[/note]] Fortunately, over a third of the RPG was able to be recovered by players and compiled into [[http://www.mediafire.com/file/b5dbl3k79z85czt/Dino_Attack_RPG_Archive_v2.0.zip a downloadable archive]], but that leaves about two thirds of the RPG lost.