Jurassic Park: The 10 Most Powerful Dinosaurs, Ranked

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

The Jurassic Park franchise now has five movies under its belt, with at least one more coming. From the beginning, fans haven’t been able to get enough of the realistic-looking dinosaurs and the excitement that comes with imagining a world where dinosaurs return.

While all fans have their own favorite dinosaurs, some of them are definitely much stronger than others. It’s not just the carnivores that are powerful and dangerous, either. We’ve put together a list of 10 of the most powerful dinosaurs (including a couple of ancient beasts that aren't strictly dinosaurs but have certainly made their presence felt over the course of the series) from the franchise and ranked them from least powerful to most powerful.

10 PACHYCEPHALOSAURUS

The Pachycephalosaurus is a dinosaur that we first see in Jurassic Park: The Lost World. This creature isn’t a carnivore, but this doesn't mean it’s not powerful or scary.

The Pachycephalosaurus is characterised by its domed head made of bone, which is used to combat predators (and others of the species during mating season). These dinosaurs are like head-butting goats, but a thousand times worse. You shouldn't underestimate them, and you definitely wouldn’t want to be stuck between them and a wall. They might be small, but they are very strong.

DIMORPHODON

If you think a meat-eating dinosaur that stalks the land is scary, one that can fly is even worse. The Dimorphodon is, to be strictly technical, a pterosaur, but there's no time for semantics when an angry group of these things is after you.

A real terror from above, it's strength in numbers that makes them such a threat. Heck, we all saw that one set-piece from Jurassic World.

TRICERATOPS

Triceratops is another herbivore on this list that has a lot of power. This dinosaur has wicked horns to keep it safe from predators. The Triceratops has a large frill that could reach around three feet long. This, combined with those two large horns and small beak, make this animal quite intimidating to look at.

They are powerful in the way that a rhino is powerful, but with even more strength and size to them. While they wouldn’t eat you, you wouldn't want to mess with them. Heck, a lot of would-be predators often thought better of attacking.

APATOSAURUS

Apatosaurus was so powerful because of its huge size. These animals were gentle and tended to move in herds, which also gave them an element of strength and power. While they could still be attacked by a large carnivore, their ability to use their long, strong tails to defend themselves earns them their spot on this list.

Much like the Triceratops, they were more than capable of  fighting off their share of hungry predators. Maybe they weren't so heavily-armed, but their size and strength made them forces to be reckoned with.

DILOPHOSAURUS

This animal isn’t as big as some of the giants on this list, but it’s darn frightening in its own way. This dinosaur is close to the size of a large dog, and it can even seem cute at first. However, it can be rather deadly.

Fans will remember that it spits a corrosive substance on Dennis Nedry, causing him to blindly stumble. After that, the little beast starts to eat him. This dinosaur is definitely one you wouldn’t want to meet while alone in the dark. Imagine how frightening it would be if larger dinosaurs had that same ability!

SPINOSAURUS

Spinosaurus is a dinosaur that was featured in Jurassic Park 3. While this film definitely isn’t known as one of the best in the franchise, its dinosaur star is as scary as they come.

Clearly, the third installment wanted to branch out a little, introducing a central dinosaur menace that wasn’t the T-Rex. The Spinosaurus is bigger, for one thing, and has a large, intimidating spine on its back. This is definitely a scary dinosaur that could win a lot of fights (its victory against the Tyrannosaurus was not appreciated by fans), so it has to make it onto this list, poorly-received as it was.

INDOMINUS REX / INDO RAPTOR

These two dinosaurs are both high up on the list because they are clearly some of the most frightening and powerful dinosaurs in the franchise. However, since they aren’t actual dinosaurs  (they're the result of genetic engineering), they aren’t at the top.

Jurassic World was looking to make the movies scarier with even smarter, deadlier dinosaurs, so these two were created. While they might have capabilities beyond their 'historical' counterparts, there’s something about them that just isn’t as interesting as the dinosaurs that really existed. Sometimes, making gimmicky dinosaurs isn’t better.

VELOCIRAPTORS

The Velociraptors are the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park that fans have really attached to the most. From the first movie up to the last, the Velociraptors have played important and interesting roles. They are smart, deadly, fast, and work together in packs.

In Jurassic Park: The Lost World, it’s made abundantly clear that the Velociraptors can be much worse to come across than some of the bigger carnivores. While the versions created for the movies are really more based on the Deinonychus (given their much bigger size), the Jurassic Park world calls them Velociraptors.

MOSASAURUS

This water-dwelling dinosaur (okay, it's actually a mosasaur) was first shown to audiences in the franchise in Jurassic World. This ocean beast is so huge that it eats sharks as snacks, and effortlessly took down the Indominus Rex in one incredible lunge.

The Mosasaurus is proof that the oceans during the time of dinosaurs would have been even scarier than being on the land. While the only ocean animal on this list, it’s definitely one of the most powerful. With its sheer size, it's just awe-inspiring.

TYRANNOSAURUS REX

There’s no other dinosaur that could occupy this top spot on the list. While not the biggest carnivore or the fastest, there’s no other dinosaur that can compare to the excitement and fear that seeing that T-Rex in the first film created.

It really says something when fans were outraged by the Spinosaurus's defeat of this majestic creature. While other dinosaurs might be able to best the Tyrannosaurus in terms of raw size, it will always be the most powerful and influential in the series.

Source: https://screenrant.com