The main dinosaur antagonist in the Jurassic World film series is a genetically engineered hybrid dinosaur named the Indominus Rex. However, there are also Velociraptors that play a key role in the films. The Velociraptors in Jurassic World are much larger and more bird-like than their real-world counterparts, leading many fans to wonder about their origins and abilities. In this article, we will take a deep dive into the Jurassic World Raptors – their genetic makeup, unique traits, and importance to the film franchise.
Background on Velociraptors
Velociraptors were a genus of small feathered theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now Mongolia and China during the Late Cretaceous period around 75-71 million years ago. They were estimated to grow up to 2 meters long, 1 meter tall at the hip, and weigh up to 15 kilograms. Velociraptors had long skulls with dozens of sharp teeth for hunting small prey and a large sickle-shaped claw on each of their hind feet used for slashing and climbing.
In real life, Velociraptors were covered in feathers and had wings. They were very bird-like in appearance and are believed to be some of the closest relatives of modern birds. Velociraptors were fast, intelligent pack hunters but still relatively small compared to many other dinosaurs of their time period.
Velociraptors in Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel Jurassic Park and its 1993 film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg introduced the world to a very different, fictionalized version of Velociraptor. These Velociraptors were human-sized, reptilian in appearance, and much more vicious and threatening to humans.
Crichton and Spielberg took creative liberties with the Velociraptors in order to make them scarier and more dramatic dinosaur villains for their stories. At the time, not as much was known about the feathered, bird-like nature of real Velociraptors compared to modern paleontological understanding. Taking inspiration from larger dromaeosaurid relatives like Deinonychus and Utahraptor, they envisioned the Jurassic Park Raptors as giant lizard-like predators up to 2 meters tall.
The Raptors were highly intelligent pack hunters that could communicate with each other, open doors, and escape their enclosures. They killed several humans over the course of the first Jurassic Park novel and film. Their killing claws, speed, problem-solving intelligence, and coordinated pack hunting behavior made them some of the most dangerous dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
Velociraptors in Jurassic World
When Jurassic World revived the Jurassic Park film franchise in 2015, the newer film also brought back the iconic Velociraptors. However, the Jurassic World Raptors have some key differences from their Jurassic Park predecessors:
– They are even larger, standing over 2 meters tall and over 3 meters long.
– They have quills and protofeathers on the back of their heads and bodies. This gives them a slightly more bird-like and realistic appearance while still keeping them scaly and reptilian overall.
– Blue, Charlie, Delta, and Echo, the Raptor pack raised by Owen Grady, demonstrate far more complex behavior, emotional intelligence, and bonding with humans than the original Jurassic Park Raptors. They can be trained, communicate via signals, and follow orders as attack animals when directed by Owen.
– The Jurassic World Raptors were designed based on the DNA of several related dromaeosaurid species, including Velociraptor, Deinonychus, and Black-throated monitor lizards. This gave them heightened intelligence, problem-solving skills, and coordination as a pack.
Overall, the Jurassic World Raptors keep the heightened deadly predator traits of the Jurassic Park Velociraptors while adding in some more avian and behavioral nuances.
Blue the Velociraptor
Of the trained Raptor pack, Blue is the most distinctive and important to the plot of Jurassic World. Some key facts about Blue:
– She is the sole surviving member of the original Velociraptor pack after the events of the first Jurassic World movie. Charlie, Delta, and Echo were all killed.
– Blue has metallic blue streaks in her scales, hence her name. She can be recognized by these distinctive markings.
– Owen Grady had the closest relationship with her, training her from birth. Blue shows loyalty and emotional connection to Owen throughout the films.
– She is the most intelligent and capable of independent thought, though she remains dangerous and deadly. She saves Owen from the Indominus Rex and recalls his training to fight alongside the humans.
– Blue is bred to be more empathetic, social, and obedient than wild Velociraptors. But she still struggles between her predatory instincts and her learned bonds with humans like Owen.
– Her cries and vocalizations are one of the most iconic sound effects from the Jurassic World films. Many fans try to imitate her characteristic shrieks and barks.
Overall, Blue embodies the complex personality and unnatural, manmade traits of the human-raised Velociraptors in Jurassic World. She has an intimacy and history with Owen that drives much of the story and makes her the most developed Jurassic World dinosaur character.
Abilities of the Jurassic World Raptors
The Raptors bred for Jurassic World are given exaggerated predatory traits and unnatural strengths by their creators to make them more spectacular park attractions. Here are some of their notable capabilities:
– Enhanced speed and acceleration up to 50-60 mph. They are fast enough to outrun many humans and other dinosaur prey.
– Increased strength, durability, stamina, and agility compared to normal Velociraptors or similar theropods.
– Sharp retractable claws for slashing, climbing, hunting, and intimidation displays. Their sickle toe claws are one of their deadliest natural weapons.
– Powerful jaws full of sharp teeth capable of crushing bone and ripping apart flesh. Ideal for aggressive pursuit hunting.
– Highly developed vision including night vision and motion tracking abilities. Raptors are excellent hunters even in dense brush or darkness.
– Excellent sense of smell used for tracking prey scents. They can pick up and follow human scent trails.
– Complex vocalizations, calls, and cries used to coordinate pack attacks or respond to commands. The Raptors have a sort of language all their own.
– Extremely high intelligence, on par with dolphins, great apes, or hunting dogs. They can set traps, open doors, and outsmart their prey.
– Trainable and capable of following orders, communicating with handlers, and bonding with trusted humans they are raised with from birth.
These abilities make the Jurassic World Raptors cunning team players and solo predators far beyond the normal capabilities of Velociraptors in nature. They push the boundary of animalistic behavior into almost human-like thinking and strategy.
Origins of the Jurassic World Raptors
The deadly Raptors that wreak havoc across Jurassic World were created in the park’s labs by Dr. Henry Wu and his team of geneticists. They were bred by combining Velociraptor, Deinonychus, and other dromaeosaurid dinosaurs’ DNA with that of modern birds and reptiles to enhance their traits.
Some of the major genetic augmentations made to the Jurassic World Raptors include:
– Splicing in Black-throated monitor lizard DNA to increase their strength, aggression, and complement their dinosaur ancestry.
– Adding in avian DNA from birds like hawks, owls, parrots, and crows to boost their intelligence, visual perception, and ability to follow commands.
– Specifically engineering heightened intelligence, obedience, and empathy by altering gene expression in parts of their brains. This was meant to make them trainable.
– Removing feathering genes to make them appear more reptilian and threatening. But retaining enough avian DNA for bird-like behaviors.
– Modifying pigmentation, metabolic, and grow genes to get their distinctive color patterns, size, and accelerated growth rate.
– Isolating and amplifying the genes for various predatory traits like sense of smell, speed, nocturnal vision, and strong jaws from dinosaur, reptile, and bird sources.
Wu and his team significantly altered the genetic makeup of natural Velociraptors to create the park’s ultimate living attractions and security forces. However, this genetic tampering also leads to the Raptors’ unrestrained killing instincts and rebellion, which puts the park’s visitors in jeopardy.
Conclusion
The Velociraptors of Jurassic World build upon the terrifying predator concept first introduced in Jurassic Park, taking the traits of their dinosaur ancestors to heightened, exaggerated levels. Through genetic manipulation, these Raptors are bred to be faster, stronger, smarter, and more obedient than their source material from nature. Key signature dinosaurs like Blue showcase complex personality and rapport with human trainers like Owen Grady. But ultimately the Raptors’ deadly talents and unnatural origins break free from the control of the park and put everyone in grave danger, recapturing the themes of chaos inherent to Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park novel. With their striking bird-reptile fusion looks, spine-chilling cries, thrilling speed and strength, and rebellious intelligence, the Velociraptors continue to be some of the most popular and fearsome dinosaur antagonists in the Jurassic franchise.