Troodon/JP: TG

Movie

Novel

Games

JP:TG

LEGO

Toys

"You don't want to be left alive by this dinosaur."

—Telltale Games^(src)

Characteristics

They were most likely created using Dr. Sorkin's method of not filling the sequence gaps in and instead creating them solely out of 100% extracted DNA. However, despite having been created without add-ins, the cloned Troodon had pronated hands and lacked feathers like all theropods created by InGen though they did have a row of quills or spines running down their back that could be protofeathers. The clones skin was pale gray with a hint of faint light blue with irregular dark dorsal stripes and a red underbelly. They would also always be seen roaming in large packs of about 10 individuals. According to Dr. Sorkin, the cloned Troodon were as intelligent as Velociraptor, but did not hunt like them. Their eyes were bulbous and had Tapetum lucidum, a layer of tissue that reflects light through the retina in order to see better in the dark that many animals (such as cats, dogs, and raccoons) have, which made its eyes glow in the dark. As a side effect, they were unable to withstand intense light, such as a simple road flare.

Troodon's presence would make any surrounding carnivores flee in fear, even the cloned Velociraptor despite being highly intelligent and being larger than the Troodons. This reputation can be owed to its venomous bite. The toxins in their saliva that their teeth retained would cause hallucinations, in some cases causing the victim to become violent and attack nearby individuals. Unless the infection is treated by an extremely powerful tranquilizer, the victim then goes into a series of convulsions and seizures. The final stage is paralysis and brain death. Using this venom as their primary weapon, they would hunt by biting their victim and fleeing, but stalking their victim as it suffers from the effects of the venom.

Story

Creation

Troodon was successfully recreated by Dr. Laura Sorkin inside her laboratory. According to Dr. Sorkin the species recreated was Troodon pectinodon and was designated IG74726f6f646f6e. Before Troodon was born it was unknown what dinosaur they were until they had hatched.

Jurassic Park The Game Quarantine Pens

Surveillance footage of Troodon in the Quarantine Pens.

When a Troodon was about to lay eggs, she would kill one of her prey as usual, but instead of eating her kill she would instead partially bury it in a secluded area while the victim was still paralyzed and rip her victim open (apparently the abdomen in humans) before proceeding to lay her eggs. It is presumed the victim's body is used to provide both body heat and food for the hatchlings, which would proceed to eat the corpse from the inside out. This method of rearing young is like that of Spider wasp species, with the cloned Troodon being the only non-insect that uses this method.

Upon Troodon's creation, Dr. John Hammond, founder of InGen, did not add Troodon to InGen's List because it did not fit his vision for Jurassic Park and wanted them to be evaluated before adding them and considering an attraction for Troodon. Ultimately, Dr. Hammond deemed Troodon a threat to his vision for Jurassic Park and ordered that the clones be destroyed along with the records of their creation. Wanting not to exterminate the dinosaurs she had created, Laura instead lied to Hammond and secretly kept the Troodons on the island in Quarantine Pens to continue studying them.

Isla Nublar Incident (1993)

When Dennis Nedry disabled Jurassic Park's security systems in order to steal dinosaur embryos for Lewis Dodgson, he disabled the Quarantine Pens containing the Troodon pack as well, allowing them to roam freely.

The first known action of the freed Troodons was hunting Nima Cruz, a woman who Nedry was supposed to meet with at the handoff for the embryos and went to retrieve the embryo carrier he had when he failed to arrive at the East Dock. The pack scared away the juvenile Dilophosaurus pack that was surrounding her, allowing one of the Troodons to successfully bite Nima. The Troodon pack then proceeded to stalk her as she ran through the jungle suffering from the effects of the venom. As she was being chased by the Troodon, Nima fell down a cliff and onto a road where she managed to indirectly evade the pack when she was found by Dr. Gerry Harding and his daughter Jessica Harding who discovered her after she had stumbled onto the very road that the Hardings were driving on. The Hardings then took her inside their jeep where Gerry treated her injury. Ultimately, Nima was later returned to health by Gerry by using one of the tranquilizer darts that he had in his possession.

The next day the pack traveled to the Visitor Center, presumably tracking Nima's scent as she had been inside the center earlier. While inside, the pack found Vargas, a member of a mercenary team hired by InGen to rescue any survivors that were still on Isla Nublar, One of the Troodon bit Vargas, leading to him killing the other members of his team while hallucinating. Fellow mercenaries Billy Yoder and Oscar Morales soon arrived after hearing gun shots over their radio. Oscar shot at some of the Troodons though he did not kill any of them and he soon became occupied with the hallucinating Vargas. After the two had a shootout, the Troodon proceeded to eat Vargas who was wounded from the fight with Oscar while he and Billy were looking at the camera footage of the Visitor Center.

Later that day, the pack found and attacked Daniel Cafaro, who was the pilot of the helicopter used by Billy Yoder and Oscar Morales. The Troodon dragged his body to a room inside the Geothermal Power Plant where a female laid eggs inside his chest.

As Nima and Yoder were going through the Maintenance Tunnels, Nima saw a Troodon in the darkness, noticing its signature glowing eyes. Remembering that she saw those eyes before she was bitten, Nima insisted not to proceed further into the tunnels until the lights had been turned on, so Yoder tinkered with a nearby power panel until he got the lights on.

Nima, Billy, Dr. Sorkin, and the Hardings discovered Daniel's body and the nesting behavior of Troodon just after escaping the Scarred Raptor Leader, who became startled by a nearby Troodon. While in the room, the Troodon pack attacked the humans by crawling through the vents. Their attack failed, however, as Nima Cruz and Yoder prevented them from getting into the room and Dr. Harding managed to force the grate open to allow his group to escape. Billy was the last to go through the grate in the room as he was busy fending off one of the venomous dinosaurs with a shovel.

The pack continued their pursuit of the humans and soon found them again when the group was looking at a map of the tunnels. They were revealed by Billy Yoder using a flare he acquired in the room he had previously encountered the dinosaurs in. Startled by the bright light, the Troodon proceed to run right towards the survivors causing them to separate into two groups, one consisting of Nima Cruz and Dr. Gerry Harding with the other consisting of Billy Yoder, Dr. Laura Sorkin, and Jessica Harding. The pack split up as well to pursue the two groups, but ultimately the two groups of humans managed to outrun the packs, and escape to the Geothermal Power Plant and later regrouped at the Marine Facility.

It is unknown what happened to the Troodon populations on Isla Nublar after the Isla Nublar Incident of 1993, but because John Hammond ordered them to be euthanized, they were probably exterminated by the InGen Security Division during either the clean up of Jurassic Park in 1994, or during the construction of Masrani Global Corporation's Jurassic World.

Gallery

Hidden amongst the wilderness on Isla Nublar.

Closing in on Nima.

Attacking and killing Jess.

Troodon pectinodon.

A Troodon dragging Billy Yoder.

Concept art

Model of Troodon

The Troodon scared of the flare

The Troodon cornering Billy

Trivia

• The Troodon in Jurassic Park: The Game resembles Deinonycanis, a toy from the Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect toy line that was a hybrid between Deinonychus and Aenocyon dirus (Dire wolf). The sounds of the Troodon were created by combining the sounds of modern animals. The Troodon's vocalizations appear to have been created by mixing together dolphin clicks, various small bird calls, and the mating call of a bull elk. Its snarls and roars are similar to those of a leopard or a cougar. All of which are combined with the hiss of a crocodile to reflect the reptilian nature of the creature.
• In the debut trailer for Jurassic Park: The Game, the unseen Troodon appear to have glowing yellow eyes, whereas in The Game itself, their eyes glow white.