Therotaurs

Now just hear me out guys. Half human- half predatory dinosaur giants called therotaurs.

They are an incredibly rare and soon to be extinct species that share traits with various members of the theropod family. Just imagine a human with claws instead of nails, a tail as long as they are tall, very sharp teeth, and the body, leg, and arm postures slightly resemble a real dinosaur's. They average at about 110 feet tall and 220 feet in length. They are pack hunters with deep family bonds. Their diet consists mainly of humans and other sentient species of the same size though they will not pass up larger prey.

I figure if there can be half birds (harpies, etc.) why can't there be other half dinosaurs? ^_^

This was just an idea thats been buzzing around in my head for a while so I just had to post it. These are just the basic traits I have in mind for the Therotaurs. What I want to know is if you guys- the Felarya community- think this is a good idea. If so- any development ideas? If not- should I just scrap it? Why? Even if they are accepted its not like they'll be very common. In fact I'll go out on a limb and say that there are only a thousand in existance left.

Polite and helpful comments please!

While I am of the belief that taurism is epidemic, I am not going to argue against an idea like this. If you care at all about what I think, I would prefer that you picked a relatively empty (or uncharted) spot on the Felarya map and place this species there. If you want' create a location off the known map for them to reside, some community members have done that with their ideas. I'm not against the idea, I just don't think the Felaryan mainland needs any of them.

gt500x wrote:

If you care at all about what I think, I would prefer that you picked a relatively empty (or uncharted) spot on the Felarya map and place this species there.

Thing is- they're not native to Felarya. They are randomly spread across different planets. Its also a reason why they are dying off. Because they barely manage to reproduce. And as for how many there are on Felarya- there's just one. And she's just a lil' juvenile. I'm not putting a post for her though because I want to develop the therotaur species first.

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They are pack hunters with deep family bonds.

Hmm, well that depends on what species of dino they're a taur of.

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Their diet consists mainly of humans and other sentient species of the same size though they will not pass up larger prey.

Unfortunately, that can't happen. Nowhere are humans numerous enough to be constantly hunted. Any place where they might be is a city and therefore defended.

Anime-Junkie wrote:

Hmm, well that depends on what species of dino they're a taur of.

Unfortunately, that can't happen. Nowhere are humans numerous enough to be constantly hunted. Any place where they might be is a city and therefore defended.

I'm thinking about them being like the larger carnosaurs like giganotosaurus or charcharadontosaurus. Both are among the largest of the theropods and there is fossil evidence that they hunted in packs.

Well perhaps they could live on planets where humans frequent and they live in the more remote areas that lots of people like to go exploring in. And it doesn't have to be constant it can just be an every few days thing inbetween the time they hunt animals.

justpissoffalready wrote:

Anime-Junkie wrote:

Hmm, well that depends on what species of dino they're a taur of.

Unfortunately, that can't happen. Nowhere are humans numerous enough to be constantly hunted. Any place where they might be is a city and therefore defended.

I'm thinking about them being like the larger carnosaurs like giganotosaurus or charcharadontosaurus. Both are among the largest of the theropods and there is fossil evidence that they hunted in packs.

Well perhaps they could live on planets where humans frequent and they live in the more remote areas that lots of people like to go exploring in. And it doesn't have to be constant it can just be an every few days thing inbetween the time they hunt animals.

Basing even a part of a diet off of something that may or may not come along isn't a way for a species to exist.

Also, try to focus this idea on Felarya. On other planets there might be tons of humans running around, but this is Felarya.

To keep in theme with the world, the one place they could maybe fit is the Malyra Fen.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Also, try to focus this idea on Felarya. On other planets there might be tons of humans running around, but this is Felarya.

To keep in theme with the world, the one place they could maybe fit is the Malyra Fen.

Chill man. The actual story I have in mind is set entirely in Felarya. And one of the characters that appears about half-way through is a juvenile therotaur who was transported to Felarya by one of those dimensional portal freak accidents. I'm just trying to develop her species first.

justpissoffalready wrote:

Jætte_Troll wrote:

Also, try to focus this idea on Felarya. On other planets there might be tons of humans running around, but this is Felarya.

To keep in theme with the world, the one place they could maybe fit is the Malyra Fen.

Chill man. The actual story I have in mind is set entirely in Felarya. And one of the characters that appears about half-way through is a juvenile therotaur who was transported to Felarya by one of those dimensional portal freak accidents. I'm just trying to develop her species first.

The main issue would be what type of dinosaur they are 'taured' with, as well as your propsoed diet.

The only dinosaurs I could see making decent taurs would be quadraped dinosaurs (brachiosaurs, stegosaurs, tricerotops, ankylosaurus and so on), and some other prehistoric creatures that technically weren't dinosaurs ( Underwater creatures such as Mosasaurs, Plesiosaurs, and flying ones like Pteranodons, and similar species).

Trying to make a tauric species based on the various bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs (Deinoichus, Allosaurus, Tyrannosaurs, etc) would be difficult. Odds are, they'd just end up looking nearly humanoid, but with some reptillian features (similar to Nekos, Inu, Neera, etc). The designs are still viable, but they aren't really tauric. The main issue with these is that they fall into the "human, but better in every way" trap. That is the problem with near-humanoid species like Elves, Nekos, Inu and Neera. If you aren't careful, they just become humans...but better.

The other main issue is the diet. Having their main food item being humans just seems like a very strange, and out of place trait. A carnivore isn't going to care what it eats. Considering that these things are at least part-human themselves, they are more likely omnivores (like Nagas, Dridders, Mermaids, and welll, just about every species of hybrid currently known in Felarya. They all eat both animal-based, and plant-based food).

So, a better idea for their diets would probably be that they are omnivorus...but the ones based on carnivorous dinosaurs tend to enjoy hunting and eating animals a bit more...and the ones based on herbivorous dinosaurs are more fond of plants, fruit, etc.

EDIT: Also, if they are meant to be from other worlds besides Felarya, then that implies that they evolved naturally. One of the reasons Felarya can get away with its array of hybrids is that its quite likely that there is nothing natural about their development. I know Nekos, Nagas, and other hybrid species do come in from offworld in some peoples' stories, but that's always something that bugged me a little.

rcs619 wrote:

The main issue would be what type of dinosaur they are 'taured' with, as well as your propsoed diet.

Odds are, they'd just end up looking nearly humanoid, but with some reptillian features (similar to Nekos, Inu, Neera, etc). The designs are still viable, but they aren't really tauric. The main issue with these is that they fall into the "human, but better in every way" trap. That is the problem with near-humanoid species like Elves, Nekos, Inu and Neera. If you aren't careful, they just become humans...but better.

Having their main food item being humans just seems like a very strange, and out of place trait. A carnivore isn't going to care what it eats. Considering that these things are at least part-human themselves, they are more likely omnivores (like Nagas, Dridders, Mermaids, and welll, just about every species of hybrid currently known in Felarya. They all eat both animal-based, and plant-based food).

So, a better idea for their diets would probably be that they are omnivorus...but the ones based on carnivorous dinosaurs tend to enjoy hunting and eating animals a bit more...and the ones based on herbivorous dinosaurs are more fond of plants, fruit, etc.

EDIT: Also, if they are meant to be from other worlds besides Felarya, then that implies that they evolved naturally. One of the reasons Felarya can get away with its array of hybrids is that its quite likely that there is nothing natural about their development.

You bring up a lot of good points!

Hmm... well I suppose if the half theropod ones are gonna end up in the "human but better" catagory, but I suppose I'll just have to deal with that. And you've just brought up the idea of other half-saurian giants. Hey maybe I should rename this whole group as Saurotaurs and the therotaurs are just one family of species of them!

And it is probably a good idea that they should be omnivores.

And perhaps they should be Felarya-native but just in a few secluded spots. I still like the idea of them being on other worlds though- maybe some of their ancestors were taken away from Felarya but escaped?

Well, what if the planet that this species is from has a city or island sized chunk of land that links up with Felarya like every 100 years or so. To make sure you get the picture... that chunk of their planet vanishes and appears in Felarya for (hmmm) maybe a single day, then it returns to the planet (what-cha-ma-call-it).

A long time ago, some members of that species might have been on that land while it linked with Felarya, they wandered off unware that the rest of the world was not their own. By the time that they realized they were in Felarya, the land had already returned to their home planet and they were stuck.

I hope that made sense.

gt500x wrote:

Well, what if the planet that this species is from has a city or island sized chunk of land that links up with Felarya like every 100 years or so. To make sure you get the picture... that chunk of their planet vanishes and appears in Felarya for (hmmm) maybe a single day, then it returns to the planet (what-cha-ma-call-it).

I really like that idea! Heck lets just make that the official story!

I'm glad I could be of some use.