What to do about Chomper's future?

[LittlefootAndAliTogether]

Another one that comes to mind is Diego from Ice Age.  In Ice Age 3, he can't even catch that deer.  Though he plans to leave at one point, he ends up not leaving.  So they can coexist.  Surely the others, all basically leaf eaters, put up with Diego, even though they know that, as he's not hunting well, they could be in danger.  Don't pretend it cannot happen.

Also, Simba should have caved too.

Also, let's not forget that Alex and Marty lived in Madascar for a while and Alex ended up eating fish so he wouldn't eat Marty.  

Also, suppose, we hope it's not true, but supposing that Chomper HAS already killed and eaten a Leaf Eater before Mysterious Island or since then and before the TV Series.  Now suppose the Valley DID know about it, as they doubtless asked him that when he came.  

Perhaps they will let him stay as long as he doesn't hunt anyone they know.  I mean, maybe they will say, he can't help it, he didn't choose to be born this way, he's been kind to us, so he can stay.

I mean, yes, some may question what the Great Valley is doing, but, considering how segregated herds outside the Valley are, it's not unreasonable that some come to the Great Valley and are appalled at the integration of the herds there and think low of them for it.  You can't please everyone.  

So even your worst case scenario doesn't require that Chomper has to leave.  Maybe like with Diego, Manny, Ellie, and Peaches, and Sid, they will let Diego stay with them provided he doesn't hunt them and they don't have to see him hunt.  Is that so impossible for LBT?

I mean, Diego could be eating Sid's kind in secret for all we know in Ice Age.  He's keeping himself alive somehow.  He only eats meat.  He's killing something.  Yet Manny and Ellie still let him around their baby (who, one would think, would make a tempting target).

Ice Age is usually rated G too, though I think the third movie (likely because Ellie was pregnant and had a baby) was rated PG I thought.  

LBT is rated G.  With a PG scenario, the Chomper thing could be resolved happily one way or the way.  It might even work with a G scenario, but it could with a PG scenario better as I can see dark elements in addressing it that we haven't seen since the first film.  In fact, the dark elements here are likely to bypass the first film as this is Chomper, not an evil Sharptooth villain like in the first movie.

In fact, they go with Diego in the first Ice Age even though they know he could turn on them at any time.  (Sid would be more in danger than Manny.  And, as Manny and Sid, at least there, seemed to bond like Shrek and Donkey, I could see Manny abandoning Sid to Diego had Diego decided to go after Sid.  Yet Sid doesn't demand that Diego leave even though he's putting his own life at risk.)

Also, it is shown in LBT 5 that Chomper's parents, though the food was low, kept themselves from eating the Gang of Five, so I think even an adult Chomper would have control and could keep from harming anyone in the Great Valley.

[Adder]

A G-rating doesn't necessarily mean that a movie can't be dark. A few good examples of darker movies with a G rating are The Land Before Time, the first two All Dogs Go to Heaven movies, The Fox and the Hound, and Alpha and Omega 4: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave. (Some of these I am surprised aren't PG though.)

And that's incorrect. All of the Ice Age movies are PG. You may be thinking of the Rio movies that are rated G.

But to stay on topic, considering how it's a movie, it doesn't have to be realistic as to what happens to Chomper's diet when he grows up. Movies are rarely about realism but just, in the end no matter how you look at it, to entertain people not teach them about the subject. But I could see the scenario of Chomper hunting and eating dinosaurs outside of the great valley to sustain himself happening if they ever do grow up in the movies.

[Ruby2]

I know LAT has probably beat this issue like a dead horse, but right now he is harping about "Times of Change" story he read (which WAS disturbing, the story I mean).

Anyway, LAT has brought up a case that beats all of the arguments you have made.

He says: how would it further the plot?

While I could fathom a "bad Chomper" scenario, though he can't (I think he's got a fetish for Chomper.  Me?  I'm more wondering what's going to happen to Ruby.)

Anyway, I truly CANNOT think of a scenario where Chomper hunting Leaf Eaters would do anything GOOD for the plot.  I can only be a disaster.

If you thought Mama Longneck's death was bad, going down that path with Chomper, of him doing...welll....you know, would be 10 times worse and more traumatic to the viewers than even her death.

Whatever you may feel on the issue, you can't argue with LAT there.  

I totally agree with him.  He's convinced me.  

That, and his argument that Chomper's knowledge of Leaf Eater language and other things about the Great Valley would make him the most dangerous Sharptooth in the world!

[vonboy]

I think Chomper having to hunt would do good things for a plot. Conflict can make a great plot, if it's handled well. I know Universal will never go that route with Chomper, but it could work.

I could bring up the movie script I was working on a couple years ago very much concerning this, though it's still far from being done ,and I haven't touched it in ages. TLBT: A Long Lost Friend

It would be a more mature plot, yes, but it'd still be good in my eyes.

[DarkHououmon]

I have to agree. Chomper hunting would make for a good story. The conflict and drama that would bring has plenty of potential. Chomper being a sharptooth already brings much to the table and many questions of what would happen later on.

In a realistic situation, Chomper would need to start eating leafeaters at some point. That is his natural diet. To deny him that and force him to eat something else would be like taking, say, a dog and forcing it to eat nothing but plant food. What would happen? It would get weak and sick.

It has been discussed that he could eat fish, but this is only viable for a short time. There simply isn't much large fish for him to catch and he isn't built to hunt fish. Chomper is not a spinosaurus. He would end up getting hungry because he simply cannot catch enough fish. Eating other sharpteeth would be too big a risk, not to mention he may not get as much nutritional value from that as he would from a leafeater.

No matter how you look at it, Chomper starting to hunt leafeaters is really the only path he could take that wouldn't lead to him starving. This isn't a future that we'd ever see in the actual LBT movies, but that's only because they would never make an LBT movie set in the future.

Having Chomper starting to hunt leafeaters wouldn't really ruin LBT at all. If anything, it would add more drama potential and, if handled well enough, could make for a really interesting, even emotional and heart-breaking, story.

[Simba King Of Pride Rock]

I have to agree. Chomper hunting would make for a good story. The conflict and drama that would bring has plenty of potential. Chomper being a sharptooth already brings much to the table and many questions of what would happen later on.

In a realistic situation, Chomper would need to start eating leafeaters at some point. That is his natural diet. To deny him that and force him to eat something else would be like taking, say, a dog and forcing it to eat nothing but plant food. What would happen? It would get weak and sick.

It has been discussed that he could eat fish, but this is only viable for a short time. There simply isn't much large fish for him to catch and he isn't built to hunt fish. Chomper is not a spinosaurus. He would end up getting hungry because he simply cannot catch enough fish. Eating other sharpteeth would be too big a risk, not to mention he may not get as much nutritional value from that as he would from a leafeater.

No matter how you look at it, Chomper starting to hunt leafeaters is really the only path he could take that wouldn't lead to him starving. This isn't a future that we'd ever see in the actual LBT movies, but that's only because they would never make an LBT movie set in the future.

Having Chomper starting to hunt leafeaters wouldn't really ruin LBT at all. If anything, it would add more drama potential and, if handled well enough, could make for a really interesting, even emotional and heart-breaking, story.

I agree with you on that. Thanks for that post.

[DarkHououmon]

By the way, Ruby2. To add to my last post, there was a topic sometime ago already where LAT discussed Chomper's future. If you're interested in reading that, then here's the link: http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive/i...opic=14462.0

[Ruby2]

I meant more along the lines of what Universal would even consider and what could avoid a nasty fan backlash.

What seems better is for Chomper to hunt Sharpteeth (look, that DID happen in real life), but have him framed for killing a Leaf Eater, have a falling out between him and Littlefoot, have him truly almost turn on Leaf Eaters, only to find out that he'd been set up, get the real perp, and the two would stay friends.  

Also, the argunent that he CAN'T eat other Sharpteeth is silly.  Yes, they have claws and stuff, but the Leaf Eaters have things like long tails with bull-whip attacks (Longneck), Spikes (Spiketails), horns (Threehorns, which, as you know, are the T-Rex's main rivals in the Leaf Eater world0, clubs (Club Tails).

Also, as you know, it's not just Chomper who might get PTSD.  It would also scar Littlefoot.

He lost his mohter to a Sharptooth.  If Chomper goes the route you suggest, he's going to wreck OTHER dino's mothers.

You think that's NOT gonna occur to Littlefoot?  Who said Littlefoot would let Chomper live when that occurred to him?  Heck, who says the GV might not catch on to the direction Chomper is heading, and kill him before he can strike down the first Leaf Eater?  They were willing to kill him in "Brave Longneck Scheme".

Plus, we already have a situation in LBT, where, if you think about it, many characters shoulda been wiped out by now but aren't: the Yellow Bellies.

If they can not get wiped out due to natural selection, we have some hope that Chomper will find a way to stay off eating Leaf Eaters.  

LBT has lowered the bar of believability with the Yellow Bellies and the aliens in movie VII already.  

(PS, maybe Chomper will eat Yellow Bellies.  That might solve some problems!          )

Besides, I think LBT would have the GV be infested by evil Leaf Eaters that kept coming back for yeras and that Chomper had to keep eating to keep the GV safe rather than actually having one of the hero characters like him ever truly being portrayed as a villain.  

I'm not saying that I don't believe that a Chomper eating Leaf Eaters scenarios could work in a fanfic.

I just said that I cannot see it happening without him having some sinister fallout to his character.  (The Chomper we know WOULD die before he killed a Leaf Eater.)

I can see a scenario where the Great Valley, minus Littelfoot & Co. treats Chomper like an evil Sharptooth, and eventually they expel him.

Chomper, who WAS nice, gets bitter inside and indeed does turn on Leaf Eaters, having all ties, minus Littlefoot & Co, whom he trains himself to forget about, severed with Leaf Eaters.

In time, he joins with another Sharptooth, who would be the real villain of the plot, and said Sharptooth tricks Chomper into the agreeing to help him attack the Great Valley.

At some point, Chomper and Littlefoot would get into a fight, but Littlefoot would get Chomper to agree not to attack him.

Eventually, the true villain Sharptooth would be defeated.  Chomper would be too tainted to come back, but would agree NEVER to harm anyone in the Great Valley and Littlefoot & Co would visit him from time to time.

Tragic, but doable.

If Chomper is a deceived character, it CAN work, er, maybe.  If he actually IS the villain of the plot, it's gonna lead to trouble and that's a fact Jack!

[DarkHououmon]

On the topic of Times Of Change, I assume you were referring to TheBlazingGecko's fancomic. That's the only "Times Of Change" LBT-related story that I know about.

I've been interested in that comic for a long time. It updates painfully slowly, and the artist refuses to give out much information, so a lot of things are up in the air. I'm not even sure what the main plot is going to be at this point. Mostly it's just Littlefoot having to leave due to his grandparents dying and then coming back to find that much had changed since he left.

The situation with Chomper is quite intriguing, and probably the most mysterious and interesting thing in the whole comic, in my opinion. It's not a black and white scenario and it has so many questions to be asked of it. It's so complicated that it's impossible to pin Chomper as a good guy or a bad guy anymore.

The comic pages showing the flashback hint that something else went on. That there was much more to Chomper's supposed 'betrayal' than Cera knew or bothered to tell. Chomper's reaction of "Let me explain then maybe you'd understand" comment suggests to me that there was definitely more that happened. Perhaps it was Ruby who attached the nest and Chomper was just saving it, only to accidenetally crush the eggs. Or perhaps it was something else.

Also, why is he working for Finback? Why would he work for the sharptooth that is destroying other sharpteeth in the area? What is Finback's goal? What does he want with the valley? What will he do with Chomper? What will Chomper do ultimately?

Such a complicated story I feel is better than say, just having Chomper start eating fish or something. There's no drama in that. Having Chomper seemingly betray his friends and having motives that don't seem crystal clear anymore? Now there's your drama. I'm fascinated by this story and I look forward to more.

I have to wonder what Chomper was eating before the 'betrayal'. Perhaps the sharpteeth he fought? Well he had to have eaten something else, too. Fish won't work well for him as, if he's anything like Sharptooth, he can't swim. So perhaps he did eat leafeater.

And no this isn't out of character for him. Think back to LBT5. Think to how he was hunting his friends before he recognized them, fully intent on killing and eating them before he realized who they were. Think back to his line of eating longneck for breakfast and how his parents weren't shocked by this.

The truth is, Chomper HAS hunted leafeaters before and for sometime. It is unlikely that he would stop completely just because he is friends with a few leafeaters. He was friends with them the first day he was born and he still eventually started to hunt leafeaters. So him doing it again once he got older is not very farfetched and certainly isn't beyond the realm of his personality.

[Dr. Rex]

Realistically, I will have to say that as Chomper grows, insects will not sustain him forever. I agree with all of those who say Chomper turning into a true Sharptooth is not out of the realm of possibility for the LBT universe, and that it could make a very engaging, heartbreaking story if done right. I've honestly always thought Littlefoot and Chomper's relationship was a bit of a tragic one.