Topsy may be racist but he, I don't think should be classed as a villain. As racism doesn't tend to make one evil unless one does take it totally out of porpotion (ie:genocide).It just makes one uneduacted and misguided. As you said Topsy does become much better in the sequels, perhaps it is through a better understanding?
I fully agree with Saft that Topsy isn’t really a villain. People may all have their opinions, and this one is hers and mine. During no movie or episode can I truly see villainy in Cera’s father. On the other hand, if you ask me, during the eleventh movie, Topsy was the antagonist until the fastbiters arrived. Like DarkHououmon said here though, antagonists do not have to be villains.
Here are my top ten villain spots along with my reasoning for the list:
Number ten: The bullies from III.
Although Hyp was the leader and so told the others what to do, that does not let Nod and Mutt off the hook. They did, after all, agree to do the things they were told when they could have done otherwise. One thing that made these villains more dangerous in a sense than other ones is because they lived with the gang, and therefore the kids were not protected from them. A tornado while in an underground tunnel is not as dangerous as strong winds out in the open. The kids could run from sharpteeth, but theoretically, they could never truly run from the bullies. The kids had reason for fear at all times, even within the walls of their home, so that makes the bullies my least favorite. Also, they kept wanting to hurt the kids for no reason, and especially during their song. If those head butts had hit Petrie, he could have been seriously wounded. Torturing children every waking moment, whether the villains are there doing something or merely inciting fear by the knowledge that they can show up at any time, well- that ain’t cool in my book.
Number nine: The swimmer from IX.
This guy was very dangerous. Even though he had the most limited movement of all compared to other kinds of sharpteeth, being confined to water, he still managed to nearly end the gang on more than one occasion. Why is he so low on my favorite list then? It’s because he put tension between the kids and Mo, causing Mo to look badly when he was really a hero. When he first attacked, Mo saved the kids’ lives. However, the noise he made afterwards sounded like laughter to Cera, and because none of them ever found out he saved them, that scene made Cera think a lot less of him, and when someone does a good deed, an act of kindness, yet is despised afterwards, even through a misunderstanding, that does not sit well with me at all. That event just made it so much harder for Cera to like him at first, as being a true hero, Mo said nothing to avoid basking in his own glory. That swimmer put a greater rift between two friends, and I just can’t find pleasure in that. Sure, the guy didn’t do this on purpose, but plenty of accidents are cause for anger.
Number eight: Tie between Ichy and Dil from IV.
The whole concept of these two was rather, in my opinion, silly. Here we have two fully-grown characters, and adulthood is supposed to symbolize a form of independence. Yet these two were so closely reliant on each other that apparently, they would have both died of starvation if not for the other. Not bad to think about right now, but there are two reasons I am not fond of this. For one thing, even though they both clearly knew how much they needed each other, their bond could be dropped more easily than a man carrying a bar of soap with greasy hands. They KNEW how important they were to each other, so that made how easily they could part ways even more distressing. It would be like a cripple throwing his cane away. Secondly, I have to wonder about their competence, as I highly doubt every single bellydragger is teamed up with a feathered sharptooth. I do not believe that was an everyday occurrence at all. “Oh, look, a bellydragger! I wonder where his flying partner is right now.” Yeah, I don’t think that is normal, so they apparently don’t have a strong grasp on survival and what it means to take care of themselves. Not a very pretty picture of growing up.
Number seven: The green sharptooth from V.
He does not seem to value his own life. It’s like all he cares about is killing whether he falls too or not. On an island that small, as Chomper said, there was not much food, so I don’t blame him for pursuing to the kids to such a degree. I would too if I was starving! So my issue with him was when he casually thought he could defeat two sharpteeth at once. I don’t know if he was blinded by his lust for blood and death, or maybe he was just foolish, but he entered a fight with almost no odds for him. Throughout the movies, we learn that sharpteeth know the basic mechanics of being outnumbered. “Sharpteeth would never attack a herd this size.” “They’re going after the children!” But not this guy. He took on two opponents of the same size actually thinking he would walk away. Yes, yes, I know that he was winning at first, and even if he did win, I would still call him foolish because taking a chance with your life is not smart. I have seen plenty of sharpteeth run away, so he had no excuse. Sure, there were near the edge of a big cliff with water below, but if you take a good look at that scene, he had plenty of room to retreat. Again, it was not really instinct if you ask me, as tons of meat-eaters have turned tail and ran before when the odds were against them. So he can fight, I’ll give him that, but he ranks low for me because it doesn’t seem like he can think as well.
Number six: Sierra from VII.
He does not understand subtlety and is rather heartless. When he would get angry, it would show immediately, so he did not grasp the concept of keeping a low profile. When working for someone you don’t like, the last thing you want to do is constantly show your disdain while doing nothing about the issue in the process. When someone can come up with a decent solution, that short-tempered history will make it harder to pull off. The way he instantly agreed to turning on Pterano upon finding the stone indicates that he never really wanted to do what Pterano wanted in the first place. If he truly had a desire to fulfill his leader’s dream, he would have at least had to think about turning on him at a certain point, but that didn’t happen, so he felt no tie to begin with. Knowing he didn’t care about his leader’s plan, he should have been hiding his emotions until the right time. He had no plans, a lot of anger, and is just overall a character you can’t expect much out of without giving orders or suggestions to. Plus, the fact that he would just casually feed the kids to sharpteeth shows that he is cold and uncaring. As a human child, I see him as the type that whines a lot but can be satisfied instantly with candy and needs someone to hold his hand on the way to the bathroom. He does a lot on his own, yes, but to do things right, he needs guidance.
Number five: Ozzie from II.
This is a very interesting villain because he had no intention of hurting the gang at the start. He actually just tried giving them a warning and was going to leave them alone afterwards. “I’m warning you, you little leaf-lickers, stay out of my way or I’ll-” Notice the words “warning” and “or.” They indicate the harmlessness he intended for the confrontation. Only when his patience was gone did he start thinking of causing any harm. So I really find it interesting that he did not try hurting them at the start, but his attitude slowly grew darker until he did. A maturing villain, if you will. I did not particularly enjoy his selfishness and lack of concern or interest for his own flesh and blood. Even at the end, he was no closer to his sibling at all, and so that is a reason why the ending did not end on too much of a pleasant note. If he would have started to understand and grow closer to his brother a little as the movie drew to a close, I feel that the movie would have a larger appeal.
Number four: Strut from II.
He comes across as an ally to the enemy, not the enemy itself, for the longest time. So it was rather shocking when he thought of throwing Littlefoot to his death. However, simply thinking of the idea is not the most shocking part of it. He seems to have said that, judging by his tone and attempt to see if his brother agreed, only to get his brother to like him more. It was a cry for help, a yearning to get some positive recognition from his brother. Admirably theoretically, but horrifying at face value. He wanted his brother’s love, but he was willing to kill someone to get it! Kind but demented is what Strut is. He could have found eggs for his brother, complimented him, and many more things to get some kindness eventually, but he chose murder to obtain love, and that is just sick, dude.
Number three: The green sharptooth from I.
I think this is the most skilled-at-fighting sharptooth ever to be seen in the LBT franchise, the green one from V being second. I’ve never seen such ferocity, battle prowess, and ability to sustain damage. He was knocked off a huge cliff, battered around by Littlefoot’s mother, and hit by a huge stone (although we can’t be certain if he actually survived that last one or not). He is also the only sharptooth we see with enough strength and skill to jump upon giant opponents like that longenck from I. We see fastbiters do this occasionally, but for a huge monstrosity to make that big of a leap is just jaw dropping. He seems a lot more focused during battle than most other sharpteeth we come across in the series. It’s as if he is planning his moves and not just biting and clawing like so many others. The original sharptooth is a fighter amongst attackers.
Number two: Redclaw from the television series.
He was very interesting because he was the first sharptooth we see to not only have underlings, but to have embraced another kind to be by his side. Racism is prevalent in the LBT. Look at Topsy, what Littlefoot’s mother said (she could have easily mentioned that she disliked species sticking with their own kind or that more dinosaurs should try spending more times with other kinds, but she did not) and the fact that every other time we see sharpteeth together, it is within the same species, so Redclaw really broke a clichÈ here. He gained a fierce reputation, and although how he got it is still a mystery, as he can’t even get a group of kids, he clearly did enough to obtain infamy throughout the land, and that is another thing we never saw until now. Therefore, I’d have to call him the most intriguing sharptooth in my book.
Number one: ???
Time to build a little suspense, aye? Who do I admire more than any other villain in the LBT series and why? Well, read on to find out.
These two characters, yes, another tie, know the mind, and therefore, how to deceive it. If you plan to strike, show no animosity to your target. Let him or her fall into a false sense of security so the blow will strike hard and true. Assassins, for example, get to know their prey. They may buy the guy a few drinks, maybe help him out of a bad situation, and then, when he is least expecting it, the assassin thrusts his knife right through the heart. The art of deception is often the key to victory. If you want something, either don’t show it, or act contrary to your tree feelings. Fighting with the mind can accomplish more than fighting with the body sometimes. Pterano and Rinkus nailed this aspect of life.
Pterano deceived the children about his true goals and played on Littlefoot’s sympathy, saying he was asking only to prove him right to the grownups. It was a bit overplayed, but only one of the gang had enough suspicion to question his words to the grownups. Cera wasn’t trustful either, but she rarely is with new faces, like Mo, so her doubt was actually like it always was. Pterano’s act fooled Petrie enough to get the answer he sought. Anyone devious enough to use his blood relations with someone to fool him or her is clever indeed.
As for Rinkus, he played the fool. He acted so meek and mild and helpless and submissive that Pterano never even came close to thinking something was going on his mind. I’d wager Sierra even let himself fall, didn’t even try to fly up from that cliff collapse, only to make himself seem even more simple-minded to Pterano. If that was his plan, it certainly worked. “Ah, Rinkus, out of the mouths of hatchlings, as they say.” Not only did he plot, be he actually formed a conspiracy against Pterano. He played his hand well to the end, putting his shrewd mind on my number one spot as well.
Now, some people feel that sharpteeth are not villains. I am not saying those people are wrong at all, as it is truly a matter of opinion in certain stories, but I will share my opinion. From a moral perspective, no, I don’t think they’re villains either. They have no choice but to kill to survive. That is their fate, and they can’t escape it. Villains are those who are evil in a sense, so how can a villain be a villain if all he or she does is something he or she has no choice but to do? On the other hand, from a story perspective, I find all the sharpteeth who opposed the kids to be villains. I think the writers, when making these characters, thought to themselves, “Okay, we need a villain for this, villains for that one, and so forth.” I doubt that they thought to themselves, “Okay, we need someone who is doing what he has to do while seeming evil to most people.” When writing a lot of stories, the concept is planned out using the word “villain.” In fact, the wikipedia article of the LBT characters actually lists all of these guys under the sub category “villains.” They were not listed under “not nice dinosaurs” or “big meanies,” but instead “villains.” Furthermore, for those who don’t see sharpteeth as villains but do for Ichy and Dil, don’t forget, they’re sharptooth too. I didn’t even realize this myself until LBTDiclonius told me. They have sharp teeth and eat meat, so they fall under the same category of nearly every other opposing force in the franchise.
So I only see them as villains because I believe that that is what the writers intended. Thinking of real life when meat-eating dinosaurs would feast, I do not see them as villains, because like I said, they are innocent from a moral perspective. It’s just that, when writers intend for something to be seen a certain way, I try to stay in context with the creator. So thinking they’re villains or not is not a black and white issue for anyone to make law if you ask me, but this is my take on the matter. And that concludes my favorite villain list.
