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Dinosaurs in Fantasy

HIMDogson

Dreamer
Dinosaurs are awesome and that's basically just a fact. Sadly, they're quite sparse in fantasy and when they do show up they're usually just fodder for fantasy creatures like dragons. I'm planning on creating a world where dinosaurs are still present and powerful. Any thoughts on dinosaurs in fantasy, and how they could be integrated into a traditional fantasy world?
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I don't think I've seen them as dragon fodder. Usually I've seen them domesticated as mounts and beasts of burden, often as part of hidden societies deep in the jungles.

But since you mention it, I think dinosaurs fit quite smoothly into a fantasy world. Many settings have this "big monster" problem with their ecosystem, the dragons that eat sheep when there just aren't enough sheep. Adding dinosaurs into the ecosystem fixes that problem nicely. I know at first glance that sounds exactly like the problem you're trying to avoid, "dragon fodder." But it's not about showing one dinosaur getting eaten so much as herds of them running through the fields. Just having them immediately makes the big monsters more believable.

I would want to take a closer look at the science, however. We tend to think of Jurassic Park and those kids picture books that shows a lot of different dinosaur types together. But how many different dinosaur species actually lived in, say, Denmark, or the state of Maine, at any one time? If you think about it that way, you should be able to narrow the range into something you can work with in your setting.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
You got me on a bit of a binge google here, and I came across this:

https://www.quora.com/Which-dinosaur-would-be-the-best-one-to-ride-into-battle-on

The general consensus is that the big herbivores are way more valuable than the carnivores, but may not be smart enough for a lot of activities. Even if you could get the carnivorous therapods not to attack you, having only two legs makes them unstable as a mount and vulnerable to attack, and they're violent enough that a rider would just get in the way.
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
Dinosaurs are awesome and that's basically just a fact. Sadly, they're quite sparse in fantasy and when they do show up they're usually just fodder for fantasy creatures like dragons. I'm planning on creating a world where dinosaurs are still present and powerful. Any thoughts on dinosaurs in fantasy, and how they could be integrated into a traditional fantasy world?

One possibility that interests me is creating a link between dinosaurs and dragons. Have you considered trying that?
 

TheKillerBs

Maester
The general consensus is that the big herbivores are way more valuable than the carnivores, but may not be smart enough for a lot of activities. Even if you could get the carnivorous therapods not to attack you, having only two legs makes them unstable as a mount and vulnerable to attack, and they're violent enough that a rider would just get in the way.
Counterpoint: a two-legged dinosaur mount is like a cooler version of a chocobo.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
Counterpoint: a two-legged dinosaur mount is like a cooler version of a chocobo.

IMO, these kinds of things are easier to wave in video games. Once you start describing the creature in words and the details of getting off or on, or how a battle might feel, I think the standard of believability starts to get higher.
 
I don't think they're that sparse, then that may be the fact they show up in a lot of fantasy games. I'm much the same with throwing dinosaurs in a lot of my fantasy works. Not exactly hard to integrate them actually, though it's up to you whether or not the mammals and others suffer under their fashionable continued existence. And whether they feathers or not. Or maybe they came about because of wizard John Hammond and Dr. Wizard Wu got idea's about the big bones and made them come back.

The other play, which I should have mentioned, is the pulp style action adventure stories with such big beasties. From Croft to Conan. And in planetary romance, can have planets full of 'em.
 

HIMDogson

Dreamer
The idea that I'm probably going with is making Orcs related to dinosaurs (making them the speculative humanoid evolution of dinosaurs); they'd have evolved from raptors, and so they'd be entirely carnivorous, so they'd never have moved to agriculture.

Really I just want some excuse to have Orcs riding T-rexes.
 
One question:
Within a species you have different groups. Like monkeys, you get different kinds if monkeys. We were a certain species of monkey that evolved further than the others. What we evolved from no longer exists in it's early form. So it would be weird to have Orca alongside raptors. Unless the raptor they evolved from was a different type of raptor.
One thing I would say is to do your research on actual dinosaurs. People watch Jurassic Park and think they know about these animals, well, the information in those movies and other books isn't accurate (mostly).

Really I just want some excuse to have Orcs riding T-rexes.
The main thing is to have something in your novel because it serves a purpose, not just because it's cool or you really want it. If they serve a purpose then I suggest doing it. But that is just my opinion. It's okay to having something "cool" in your book, and some people stop there. But for me I like reading a book where things are relevant and add something to the actual story, especially if they are going to be part of daily life or another species evolution.
Hope this helped
 

HIMDogson

Dreamer
Oh, trust me, I know Jurassic Park is inaccurate. Planning to give the T-rexes feathers, at least.
 
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