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

— Chomper describing Red Claw to Grandpa Longneck
Red Claw
Red Claw
Info
Gender

Male

Color

Mushroom w/ tan-cream underbelly and a dark brown stripe.

Eye color

Red (left), Yellow (right)

Species

Tyrannosaurus rex (Sue)

Food

Meat

Voice actor

Pete Sepenuk

First appearance

"The Cave of Many Voices"

Last appearance

Ongoing

Red Claw, voiced by Pete Sepenuk, is the main antagonist in The Land Before Time TV series. He is a Tyrannosaurus rex,[1], but more greatly resembles a Tarbosaurus bataar.

He serves as the main antagonist in the TV series. Red Claw 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 Utahraptor minions named Screech and Thud, who's species are nicknamed "Fast Biters". They are the secondary antagonists. According to Chomper and Ruby, Red Claw is the biggest and meanest Sharptooth of all time.

Identity

Many fans believe that Red Claw could be a relative of Sharptooth, the villain of the first film. Some even say he may be the original sharptooth himself, or one of the many Tyrannosaurus that were defeated by Littlefoot and his friends throughout the film series, or even the Original Sharptooth's brother. His injured claw, which gives him his name, supports this theory, as many of the T. rexes defeated by the Gang fell off a cliff, making such an injury very likely assuming survival.

There is some evidence supporting this claim, as both Red Claw and the original sharptooth both have injured eyes and are especially feared for their kind. And as mentioned above, if he really is the original Sharptooth, Red Claw may have gotten his namesake feature when Littlefoot and his friends pushed a boulder on him in the first movie.

Red Claw and his minions are also noted for separating Chomper and Ruby from their families, similarly to how the original Sharptooth orphaned Littlefoot. Red Claw's right eye may be a result of the thorn striking it (as thorns can be poisonous), and if he also was the Meanest Sharptooth, his scar may have been from falling off a cliff in Secret of the Saurus Rock.

This is unlikely however, because the original Sharptooth sank into the deep end of the pond that Littlefoot and his friends pushed him into during the first film. Because he was most likely unconscious, he could not have swam to the surface; also in The Land Before Time Universe, sharpteeth aren't considered to be good swimmers, let alone the tyrannosaurids. There is also the explanation between both characters having different coloration (both body coating and eyes), as within The Land Before Time universe most male Tyrannosaurus are a dark okra green, but it's possible that Red Claw could be a Tarbosaurus, which is closely related to Tyrannosaurus, and was even originally described as a species of Tyrannosaurus. To further explain this theory, nothing is known about the original Sharptooth's history other than during the events of the film and in the book, and has no evidence to assume he had any relatives, but it would be safe to assume that if Sharptooth did have any siblings or any kind they'd be of the colors scheme as him (this being proven by the conclusion of Cera, Ducky and Petrie in comparison with their siblings).

It is possible, though, that Red Claw might instead be the Sharptooth from The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze, who fell over a cliff after being hit by a log thrown by Mr. Thicknose. It might have survived, but with a large scar like what Red Claw has. This Sharptooth is also of more comparable coloring to Red Claw.

Appearances

The Television Series

Red Claw and his two Fast Biter minions, Screech and Thud, have current 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 in the following episodes:

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 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 doesn't hold much to being considered a true Land Before Time villain, but only as something as similar as a minority, this can be given to by Red Claw's lack of abnormal abilities as seen in the previous sharpteeth of earlier movies and the background of his history and motives 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.

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 board game "Escape From Red Claw".

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 and Saurophaganax.
  • Chomper also says that Red Claw can't see the characters if they're still. Though not applied to previous T. rexes throughout the series, including Chomper himself, this reflects the theory that T. rex's vision based on movement, a mainstream believed incorrect one. It could have been included to simply serve as a reference to Jurassic Park, however.
  • 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 is one of only three characters to have gotten sick. The others were Grandpa Longneck in The Land Before Time IV and Petrie in The Land Before Time IX.
  • Red Claw's eyes are colored differently. His left eye is red, while his right eye is yellow.
  • Red Claw is the second Tyrannosaurus that Topps has battled. The first being Chomper's Father. In fact, Red Claw and Topps battling could be referring to a real T. rex and Triceratops being natural born enemies.

Gallery

References

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