Jurassic World almost had a second hybrid dinosaur, and we finally have pictures!

Author

Chris Pugh

15th September 2017 02:48PM

28 Comments

Ah, hybrids. Love them or hate them, you can’t help but be a bit fascinated by their rocky history in the lead-up to Jurassic Park 4. At a very strange point in time, Jurassic Park 4 nearly had dinosaur human hybrids that wielded weapons – thankfully, that idea was quickly abandoned. Jurassic World of course brought the hybrid idea to life with the Indominus Rex, but believe it or not, she almost shared the screen with another fictional chimera.

Enter the Stegoceratops.

Many of you probably already know this weird dinosaur was almost in Jurassic World. It had not one, not two, but three toys, made an appearance in Dr. Wu’s secret lab, and was featured in Jurassic World the Game by Ludia. When it first appeared at Toy Fair 2015, Hasbro claimed it was a fictional creation by their team – but when the movie came out, it became clear there was much more to the story.

Information and images of its role in Jurassic World have remained elusive, but finally some HD concept renders had surfaced thanks to artist Bodin Sterba!

Bodin didn’t have much to say about the Stegoceratops on his blog post, other than it was cut from the film – however, we have heard the scene involved Owen and Claire stumbling upon an adult and juvenile in the wild. Claire expresses her surprise, saying she didn’t know this dinosaur was on the island, and the Stegoceratops charges Owen as he gets too close to the infant. However, some of those specifics remain unconfirmed for now – perhaps more art will surface and tell the story in time!

If you’re wondering why the Stegoceratops was cut from the film, you can thank Colin Trevorrow’s son. Speaking to Empire Magazine in 2015, he had this to say:

“In an earlier draft there was a scene where Chris [Pratt] and Bryce [Dallas Howard] come across another hybrid in the jungle. It informed them that Dr. Wu has been making other hybrids under her nose. Then my six-year-old son watched Return Of The Jedi, and said to me, ‘Dad, if Leia is also a Jedi that means that Luke isn’t unique.’ It was like, ‘Ha! Okay.’ And for some reason I applied that to this other thing and felt like there could be only one [hybrid dinosaur]. The idea that there was more than one made it feel less like the one synthetic among all the other organics, and suddenly it seemed entirely wrong to have it in the movie. I suddenly hated the idea but the toy still exists as a kind of remnant because Hasbro toys are locked a year out.”

I have mixed feelings about the Stegoceratops. I’ve been over hybrids before they were even featured formally, and while I dig the Indominus design, I feel this one is a little too outlandish. I loved the 1998 Jurassic Park toy line Chaos Effect, but I never wanted to see crazy dino hybrids like that in the films.

However, the oddness of seeing Stegosaurus plates and spikes on a Ceratopsian aside, I really like the design. While many assumed the dinosaur was part Triceratops, the design is wholly Nasutoceratops inspired. Remove the hybridized features, and this dinosaur would fit right in the roster of classic animals roaming Isla Nublar – it looks majestic, and oozes that prehistoric Jurassic charisma.

Are you happy the movie did not include additional hybrid dinosaurs, and are you a fan of the Stegoceratops design? Be sure to sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for the latest news!

Source: Bodin Sterba Design