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There’s an old debate in my life that goes back to college. Not sure if other fantasy fans and gamers have this issue. In some Dungeons & Dragons modules (pre-made adventures) and within the monster manual are dinosaurs. So along with dragons, you have Tyrannosaurs Rex and Triceratops running around some regions. There were times where we’d rather have a dragon to deal with than a T-Rex.
Now, the argument that came about in college was that dinosaurs have no place being in a fantasy world. A world that is prehistoric Earth or an alternate Earth where they never died off is one thing. An entirely different world with these creatures is something else entirely. To be honest, I jump sides depending on how my brain is operating and which side seems the most fun to be on at the time. It’s really personal preference if you think about, so lets look at both sides.
NO DINOSAURS
It’s a monster cop out because they’re naturally big and mean. There’s no creativity behind tossing dinosaurs at heroes and nobody really knows what they looked like or acted like. There’s a lot of unknowns about dinosaurs, which makes them a touchy subject. One wrong piece of information and you’ll get reamed because people love dinosaurs. You risk a lot of rage by using them.
The biggest argument that can be used against dinosaurs is that dragons exist. Hear me out on this one. Dragons are alpha predators and they’re infamously territorial. They would eat a lot too and prey on big beasts when they go for meat. Although, I always saw dragons as feeding off the magic in the environment and being slow to digest physical food. Anyway, the two ultra reptiles would get into fights when they got near and that fight would typically go to the dragons. You might be able to get away with the marine dinosaurs like Plesiosaur or Ichthyosaurs, but the land ones would certainly be an issue of space and dragon territory.
YES DINOSAURS
This is a simply argument, but it causes more anger for some reason. In a world of fantasy there are horses, dogs, cats, and all other animals that you find in the real world. There are the same plants and minerals too. Heck, there are humans in these worlds. So, it isn’t hard to consider the idea that there are a few dinosaurs around. They might be rare and in specific areas away from the dragons, but they could very well exist. The chance of them not going extinct is rather high since this isn’t Earth. They might lose a lot of territory to the magical creatures, but they can have a niche in the world. At the very least, the smaller dinosaurs could exist and not throw off a food chain.
So, what do people think of dinosaurs appearing in non-prehistoric-based fiction? Can they be in fantasy?
