Land Before Time Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Land Before Time Wiki
Red Claw

And Red Claw is the biggest and meanest Sharptooth of them all!

Chomper describing Red Claw to Grandpa Longneck

Red Claw, voiced by Pete Sepenuk, is the main antagonist in the TV series. He is a Tyrannosaurus,[1] which means he is a "Sharptooth." He is identifiable by the long red scar extending from his left eye down to the side of his body and arm to his claw.

He has two Deinonychus minions named Screech and Thud, whose species are nicknamed "Fast Biters." They are the secondary antagonists of the show. According to Chomper and Ruby, Red Claw is the biggest and meanest Sharptooth of all time.

Appearances

The Television series

Red Claw and his two Fast Biter minions, Screech and Thud, have currently only appeared in the TV series. Red Claw is stated to have been antagonizing the dinosaurs in the Mysterious Beyond before the television show.

He, Screech, and Thud appear together in the following episodes (with two exceptions):

Reception

From the time of his initial series debut, Red Claw has been poorly received, many fans doubting the authenticity of the characters' claims of the T. rex being "the most ferocious Sharptooth ever". In comparison to other Sharpteeth that have appeared within the franchise, fans consider Red Claw to be somewhat of a joke and a lackluster antagonist by the standards of the sharpteeth in the series. Some factors that contribute to Red Claw being looked down upon by a number of fans include his lack of abnormal abilities seen in some sharpteeth in earlier movies, his lack of backstory or motive, and lack of appearances in most episodes. Some fans have accused of Red Claw just being there to put in the role of the villain. The Meanest Sharptooth is also already known as the "biggest, meanest, most ferocious sharptooth ever." Could be since tv series they lighten the ferocious behavior compared to the films.

Though reception was mostly negative, his intimidating appearance was a bit more well received, due to him having a massive scar.[Citation Needed]

Analysis

According to TV Tropes, Red Claw will never live up to his status of being the "Biggest and Meanest Sharptooth" in the Mysterious Beyond.[2]

Cultural Influence

Merchandise

Red Claw has very little merchandise, though he does appear in the rare (and could now be considered "lost") board game "Escape From Red Claw". On the cover of said board game, he has a different appearance; he has circular plates on his back, vaguely similar to those of the Plated Sharptooth. His scar cannot be seen, as he is facing from the opposite side. It is obvious that he was drawn different for this board game, but he does appear properly as one of the sculpted figures.


Trivia

  • In the TV series, Chomper states that Red Claw is the biggest Sharptooth of all. Tyrannosaurus rex was once believed to be the biggest meat-eating dinosaur, but this was proven wrong when Giganotosaurus was discovered, and new estimates of the size of Spinosaurus. Even still, there are other carnivorous dinosaurs larger than T. rex, including Carcharodontosaurus, Mapusaurus and Saurophaganax.
  • Chomper also says that Red Claw can't see the characters if they're still. Though not applied to previous T. rex throughout the series, including Chomper himself, this reflects the Jurassic Park-born misconception that T. rex's vision based on movement.
    • Cera does say "Yeah, but he can still smell us!", however, in The Cave of Many Voices.
    • In The Hidden Canyon, the protagonists stand still, though he still sees them, contradicting this claim.
  • Red Claw's scar is similar to that of two characters of fiction.
    • In the 90s Land of the Lost TV series, there is a Tyrannosaurus who had a scar going across his right eye. earning him the name "Scarface". The only difference between the two is that Red Claw is able to see through both eyes.
    • Red Claw's scar going across his left eye is similar to that of Disney's The Lion King main villain, Scar, brother of Mufasa and uncle of Simba.
    • Red Claw’s scar is similar to Toro from Camp Cretaceous.
  • Red Claw's eyes are colored differently. His left eye is red, while his right eye is yellow. It's unknown if this is due to Red Claw's scar, or if it's related to Heterochromia iridum, a condition in which the colored part of the iris is multicolored.
  • Red Claw is the second Tyrannosaurus that Topps has battled, the first being Chomper's father.
  • Some of Red Claw's roars are taken from the 1998 incarnation of the Japanese monster Godzilla, dubbed Zilla.
  • Red Claw is occasionally depicted with a dorsal ridge, not unlike the ridges present in the Sharptooth family from "The Lonely Journey".
  • Red Claw is one of only two Sharpteeth in the franchise to interrupt a song, the song in this case Ruby's rendition of 'I Feel So Happy' from Return to Hanging Rock. The other Sharptooth to interrupt a song in the series is Chomper in the second film, who interrupted 'You're One of Us Now' by biting Cera in the tail.
  • Red Claw, though he doesn't normally appear that formidable on screen, must be quite dangerous if he can be such a threat that Chomper's parents working together couldn't stop him but instead had to send Chomper with Ruby instead. They were, after all, able to take on a theropod bigger than them who threatened their son.

Gallery


References


Sharpteeth in The Land Before Time, in order of appearance:
Characters
Sharptooth (character) | Chomper | Papa Sharptooth | Mama Sharptooth | Fast Biters (The Time of the Great Giving) | Ichy and Dil | Swimming Sharptooth (Journey Through the Mists) | Swimming Sharptooth (The Mysterious Island) | Sharptooth Flyer Family (The Mysterious Island) | Plated Sharptooth | Meanest Sharptooth | Fantasy Sharpteeth (Lone Dinosaur Song) | Allosaurus (The Secret of Saurus Rock) | Sharptooth (The Secret of Saurus Rock climax) | Fast Biters (The Stone of Cold Fire) | Bigbiter Sharptooth (The Big Freeze) | Sharptooth Swimmer (Journey to Big Water) | Belly Dragger (The Great Longneck Migration) | Sharptooth Pack (The Great Longneck Migration) | Fast Biters (Invasion of the Tinysauruses) | Sailback Sharptooth (The Great Day of the Flyers) | Hookthumb Sharpteeth (The Wisdom of Friends) | Red Claw | Screech and Thud | Fantasy Sharpteeth (Rhett's Story) | Fast Biters (The Lonely Journey) | Sharptooth Family (The Lonely Journey) | Belly Draggers (The Amazing Threehorn Girl) | Sailback Sharpteeth (The Hermit of Black Rock) | Sharptooth Mom | Fast Biter Babies | Featherhead Sharpteeth (Journey of the Brave) | Horned Sharptooth (Journey of the Brave) | Minor Sharpteeth |
See Also
Main families
Advertisement