Game Character:
Velociraptor
Character Bio
Popularized by the movie Jurassic Park in 1993 (and the various related games of the same year), the Velociraptor stood between six and 12 feet tall, allowing it to hunt man-sized prey very easily and was one of the most feared species of dinosaurs. Though hiding in a cave may seem like a good "escape plan" in evading most dinosaurs such as the T-Rex, the Raptors could easily follow into nearly any structure.Vicious pack hunters, the Raptors' abnormally large brain capacity gave them problem-solving abilities and rudimentary thinking skills, enabling them to form a social order or even to execute attack plans for hunting prey. Michael Crichton's book Jurassic Park (on which the movie was based) shows them tempting prey with one visible Raptor while two others circle around to take it by surprise from both sides. Not only were they vicious and moderately intelligent, they were also extremely fast, capable of speeds approaching 40 miles per hour. And their powerful legs allowed them to jump roughly 30 feet off the ground. This skill was most effectively used to attack large prey like Stegosaurs and possibly even Brachiosaurs.
Accompanying their powerful bodies and intelligent brains, the Raptors came equipped with human-like arms rarely seen in other dinosaur species. The long arms were jointed at the elbow and had three long fingers with sharp claws on the ends. Despite these powerful appendages that could have grabbed and latched onto prey, their main attack came from the legs. Backed up by powerful muscles, the Raptors had a long, curved toe claw on the middle toe of each foot that was retractable and controlled by a set of tendons. The claws on the average Raptor were about seven inches long and very sharp. When attacking large prey, the Raptors would run and jump, using their toe claw to slice down the belly of the animal, spilling its internal organs within a few seconds' time. The average gash made in an animal was at least 10 feet long.
Needless to say, running into one of these creatures in a video game is probably not good for the health of your character (unless, of course, like in certain Jurassic Park games you control the Raptor yourself).
KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Archosauria
ORDER: Saurischia
SUBORDER: Theropoda
INFRAORDER: Coelurosauria
SUPERFAMILY: Maniraptoriformes
FAMILY: Dromaeosauridae
GENUS: Velociraptor
OTHER MEDIA: The Velociraptor saw little play in movies, comics and all other media until Michael Crichton popularized the dinosaur with Jurassic Park, the best-selling book that would later become one of the top-grossing films of all time. Their ancestors, Deinonychi, have appeared off and on in movies but never in the same way that Raptors do now. Additionally, Raptors have appeared in several action-figure lines, trading cards based upon Jurassic Park, comic books (Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Jurassic Park, X-Men and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, just to name a few) and other merchandising items.
SOURCES:
Zoom Dinosaurs, www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/ ~ Shawn Sackenheim, All Game Guide
