I Can’t Wait to Bomb Some Dodongos!

Maybe the Creationists are right that humans and dinosaurs once co-existed, as per this pictorial evidence:

Or maybe video game makers just realize the universal truth that dinosaurs are cool, which is probably why Young-Earth Creationists now prefer to say that they lived alongside mankind rather than that they never existed at all. Anyway, one famous kind of video game dinosaur, or at least a dinosaur-like animal, is the Dodongo from the Legend of Zelda series. You might remember them from some old man’s quote about how they dislike smoke.

This is an indication that you should shove a bomb down a Dodongo’s throat, which seems like it would be pretty deadly regardless of their feelings on smoke. And since dodon is Japanese onomatopoeia for an explosion, that could be another clue as to their weakness. In the first game, a Dodongo is basically just a triceratops, and they don’t really come across as particularly vicious. They just kind of lumber around, and the only reason you have to kill them is that it’s the only way to open the door to the Triforce piece.

In later games, their appearance and behavior changes somewhat, and different varieties are introduced. Not only are the Dodongos in Ocarina of Time more lizard-like, but they also have sharp teeth, unlike the herbivorous triceratops. At least according to this page, Dodongos had previously gone extinct, but Ganondorf was able to revive them for his own twisted ends. They made their home in a cave on Death Mountain where the Gorons had mined rocks for food, and apparently the Gorons hunted the Dodongos themselves as well, making tunics of their tough scales and bomb bags of their stomachs. That was until Ganondorf sealed the cave, leaving the Gorons in danger of starvation. Conveniently enough, this cave is also where bomb flowers grow. Apparently Ganondorf didn’t stop to think that keeping his minions in a cave that produced the only thing they were weak against might not be the best idea. That’s how things go in video games, though. Their leader, the enormous King Dodongo, is known as the Infernal Dinosaur, and has the power to breathe fire.

Other Dodongos in later games also have this ability. The Oracle games introduce Dimitri, a talking Dodongo who’s a very strong swimmer, being able to swim up waterfalls and against currents. You wouldn’t think those legs would be suited to it, but appearances can be deceiving. He’s a cute red dinosaur who appears to have a mouth like a ceratopsian but scales similar to those of a stegosaurus.

He also has sharp teeth, which he can use to bite and eat enemies. I wonder if Dimitri and Yoshi would get along.

Picture by Deimos Remus

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1 Response to I Can’t Wait to Bomb Some Dodongos!

  1. Pingback: Ready, Abel, and Willing to Dai | VoVatia

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