Sharptooth
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- For the Monkey Island character, see Sharptooth the Cannibal (Monkey Island).
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Sharptooth is a term coined in The Land Before Time series. It is used to refer to predatory dinosaurs and other animals and also to one specific Tyrannosaurus.
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[edit] Sharptooth
In the first entry of The Land Before Time series, a male Tyrannosaurus served as the antagonist of the story. This Sharptooth is particularly notable for having been the culprit who killed Littlefoot's mother, and so far the only villain in the series to have been directly responsible for the death of a major character. This villain is consistently referred to as "Sharptooth" or "The Sharptooth", indicating that "Sharptooth" is his given name rather than simply his species' name and thus marking him as a noted individual. Sharptooth was accidentally blinded by Littlefoot after being struck in his right eye by a thorny vine, and this eye is swollen shut throughout the remainder of the film. In the climax, the closed eye of the Sharptooth opens, and the excess bleeding of the eye can be seen before being closed again.
Sharptooth is depicted possessing a near-supernatural level of strength, athleticism, and durability for a Tyrannosaurus, shown by crawling through sharp thorns in pursuit of Littlefoot and Cera, from which he emerged nearly unharmed; withstanding multiple blows to the face from Littlefoot's mother's tail; slamming his head through solid rock with no apparent ill effects; and surviving a several-hundred-foot drop.
He was also capable of massive leaps; even jumping several times his own height straight up into the air and onto a cliff at the film's climax. When viewed critically, as above, Sharptooth can be seen as the ultimate predator and enemy, though the protagonists eventually defeat him.
It was believed initially that Sharptooth had died in his fight with Littlefoot's Mother, after being pushed into a deep chasm during the great earthquake. However, Cera later crossed paths with him at the bottom of the said chasm, where it was revealed that the fall merely sent him into a coma. Sharptooth thereafter followed Littlefoot and company, until he was finally vanquished when Littlefoot and his friends managed to set a trap for him. Using Ducky as bait, they lured him into the deep end of a pond, where they drowned him by means of tipping a boulder onto his chest. Sharptooth very nearly dragged Petrie down with him, though Petrie escaped by a narrow margin.
[edit] Chomper
Main Article: Chomper
Chomper is a young Sharptooth who is friends with Littlefoot and the Gang. He first appears in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, where the Gang accidentally bring his egg into the Great Valley, where he hatches and befriends the gang. He only speaks Sharptooth in this film, but understands the Gang nonetheless. His parents break into the valley to find him, and take him to live with them in the Mysterious Beyond. His next appearance was in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, where he has grown up some, knows how to speak, and is shown to actively hunt for food. He reunites with the Gang, where he helps them hide from his parents who live on an island with him. They are discovered, but Littlefoot saves Chomper from drowning. His parents are thankful, and promise to restrain themselves from eating them. Chomper appears in the Great Valley in the TV series, but his parents do not appear here. He is taken care of by Ruby.
[edit] Chomper's Parents
Next to Sharptooth himself and the infant son Chomper, Chomper's parents are the most prominent Sharptooth characters in the series. They appear in the films in which their son is featured. Chomper's parents are never given names.
Chomper's parents are sexually dimorphic; his father is depicted with darker hide, and his mother is a lighter shade. Chomper's mother is notable in that she is also the only explicitly female Sharptooth to have appeared in the series thus far.
Not much is known about Chomper's parents, though they have been shown to be very protective of their son; breaking into the Great Valley to search for him after his egg was accidentally taken into the valley by Littlefoot and the gang, and fighting to protect him from an aggressive foreign sharptooth as well as Ozzy and Strut. Some humor is gleaned from Chomper's father's concern over some of his son's bizarre behavior, as well as from his slight sarcasm. There also is some humor from the pun expressed by his mate, who admonishes Chomper (who was then playing with Littlefoot) not to play with his food. Both of these are revealed in subtitles, due to the fact that Chomper's parents speak in a roar-based language intelligible only to other Sharpteeth. Although the two initially treat Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike only as prey, they later promise to maintain restraint as a reward for the herbivores' rescue of Chomper from a foreign sharptooth that had injured them. They do not appear in the television series.
[edit] Red Claw, Screech & Thud
Red Claw is a Tyrannosaurus, with a long scar starting at his eye and extending down to the end of his arm. He is accompanied by Screech & Thud, a pair of Velociraptors who appear to function as his henchmen.
There seems to be a symbiotic relationship between Red Claw and the raptors; Ruby has once said "wherever Screech and Thud are, Red Claw is never far behind" (which, for Ruby, is an uncharacteristic speech, because she seldom uses generalizations) and in at least one episode The Hidden Canyon, the raptors actually "led" Red Claw to a breach in the wall protecting the Great Valley from predators. How or why they hunt together is currently unknown.
Similar to Littlefoot's being orphaned by Sharptooth, it is known that Red Claw and the raptors are responsible for the separation of Chomper and Ruby from their families.
[edit] Anonymous Sharpteeth
After the first movie, the term "Sharptooth" was extended to carnivores in general. Tyrannosaurs, Dromaeosaurids, and miscellaneous unidentified large theropods have been referred to as "Sharpteeth", and the term "Swimming Sharptooth" was coined for a shark and later extended to include a pliosaur, and "Fast Biters" was later used for Dromaeosaurids.
Many Sharpteeth appear throughout the series, though they are portrayed more as random, wandering threats than as proper characters, none of them possessing the single-minded ferocity and seeming invincibility of the original. Although they are often perceived as mindless killers, being called "cowards" and "not very bright" by Littlefoot's father and grandfather respectively, The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure revealed that Sharpteeth are indeed sentient like the rest of the dinosaurs and that they even form loving families. (Chomper, however, does acknowledge the difficulty of friendship between herbivores and carnivores due to their differences.) Furthermore in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, Sharpteeth are shown to be just as intelligent as other dinosaurs but simply speak a different language consisting of roaring and growling.
Chomper can speak in both the language of his parents and that of the other dinosaurs, making him (along with Mo) one of a very small number of bilingual figures in the series.
[edit] Voices of the Sharpteeth
Most of the Sharpteeth are voiced by Frank Welker, but Chomper is voiced by Rob Paulsen in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, Cannon Young in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, and Max Burkholder in The Land Before Time TV series. Danny Mann voiced an Allosaurus in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock. In The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving, Frank Welker was credited for the Velociraptors. In The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, when Lizzie and Skitter are tickling one of the Velociraptors on its back, it is heard laughing. Frank Welker portrayed its laugh, but was uncredited. Frank Welker (uncredited) also portrayed the laugh of the Spinosaurus in The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, when it had its tonsils tickled by Guido. In the TV series, Red Claw and Screech are voiced by Peter Sepenuk; Thud is voiced by Rob Paulsen. Scott Menville voiced a mother Velociraptor in The Great Egg Adventure episode of the TV series.
[edit] See also
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