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| Spike's stupidity; How can one be so dumb at times? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 20 2012, 06:07:20 PM (1,351 Views) | |
| Chomper98 | Aug 20 2012, 06:07:20 PM Post #1 |
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Petrie
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I'm not trying to insult anyone who likes him, but isn't Spike an utter imbecile in the first 7 films? He always tries to eat something at the worst possible time, like in 1, he ate a weed when they were walking over FRICKING lava, and in 5, he tried to eat leaves on the log that they were using to get home, not even thinking that he might cause something to happen, which he did. Then there's a rather funny incident in 7 where there crossing a gorge on vines, and what does this idiot do? YUP! He eats through a vine, nearly killing them. After 7, he seemed to have gotten much smarter, and I can't blame the incident in 8 where he ate snow, he never saw it before so he didn't know what it was, and in the TV series he finds a log that can bring water back into the valley. So he did evolve greatly, but in the first 7, he was an utter idiot most of the time. |
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| EggStealerGirl | Aug 20 2012, 09:51:37 PM Post #2 |
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The Fanatic Fangirl
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I kind of actually have to disagree with you here, no offense. It's just that, in the sequels you just mentioned, Spike wasn't a totally useless imbecile all the time. For instance, in movie 7, Spike was actually the only determined one to go after Ducky; sure, Littlefoot was a bit as well, but he was too busy arguing with Cera to even get the expedition started. So as you can see, Spike actually has been of some use early on in the series. Sure, he's goofy, and can be unpredictable at times, but even HE knows when a serious job has to be done. It may not seem that way to some fans, but to me it stands perfectly clear. So, yeah. I do actually respect your opinion, but I just figured I'd might as well share mine.
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| Chomper98 | Aug 20 2012, 10:00:55 PM Post #3 |
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Petrie
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Yeah, but despite him determined to rescue Ducky in 7, he still wasn't very smart, he knew alot, but when he saw food, he would go after it, if you put plants in a volcano, he'd probably jump in to get them.
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| FlipperBoidSkua | Aug 20 2012, 10:05:29 PM Post #4 |
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Your soul.... is MINE!!!
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That's exactly how I see Spike. He does seem like an observant dinosaur who's very interested in his surroundings (an example is his fascination with a dandelion and a cocoon during the song Thing's Change). But if you add food in the mix, he gets impulsive and reckless in his desire to eat said food. ![]()
That image was far more hilarious than it should've been!!
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| Chomper98 | Aug 20 2012, 11:02:58 PM Post #5 |
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Petrie
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It was suppossed to put a funny image in someone's mind.
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| DarkHououmon | Aug 20 2012, 11:35:13 PM Post #6 |
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"Be prepared, Snappy boy. Your luck has run out..."
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My brother joked about how Spike looked stoned. I had drawn a picture of Spike, all drunk, with beer bottles all over the place. I wish I could find it again. I don't think Spike is really retarded. Easily distracted? Probably yes, since the guy stopped in front of an erupting volcano for a dried up plant in the first movie. |
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| Ptyra | Aug 21 2012, 12:21:51 AM Post #7 |
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Allow me to put on my ~skepticals~
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In my head, they're all relatively still around the same age as in the first movie. So, by that thinking, Spike is still a baby. He's not going to think "I better not eat this plant by this lava", because he has not developed the logic to do so. He just thinks "Oh, look. Food" |
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| Chomper98 | Aug 21 2012, 12:46:22 AM Post #8 |
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Petrie
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Yeah, I don't think of him as retarded, just not to bright when it comes to making good decisions, he got better after 7, and I think he doesn't prefer to talk, though he can, as shown in Through the Eyes of a Spiketail, and in 4. |
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| LettuceBacon&Tomato | Aug 28 2012, 05:34:40 PM Post #9 |
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Rations
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I think most characters have these moments. Littlefoot and Cera, not so much, but other than that the secondary main characters can have personality and intelligence variety for the sake of plot. Petrie can be impossibly guillible (trusting Pterano) and Ducky can be a bit slow on the uptake at times (LBT...6 I think? She hears a T-Rex foot roar and says, puzzled, "That does not sound like a tree, no no no...?") So it's dependent on what the writers need to have happen. |
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| EggStealerGirl | Aug 28 2012, 07:47:53 PM Post #10 |
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The Fanatic Fangirl
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Just remembered this one, but he was also useful in Through the Eyes of a Spiketail. I'm also starting to think that Spike easily being distracted is a flaw to his character; not saying that this is a bad thing, though. Just makes him more interesting! ^^ |
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| Blais_13 | Oct 14 2012, 06:10:53 AM Post #11 |
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Spike
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Maybe in the first movie all spiketail supposed to behave like him.I believe stegosaurus had a ridiculous brain body ratio even among dinosaurs,and maybe they wanted to show this in the first movie.Latter,when the directors changed they forget about it,and made the other spiketails immune to the brain shut down when they see green food stuff. |
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| jansenov | Oct 14 2012, 11:39:59 AM Post #12 |
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Ducky's sub-par imitator
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Actually, sauropods had by far the lowest brain to body ratio among dinosaurs. But you are right about stegosaurus being the pop culture icon of dinosaur stupidity. In the 1980s, the popular notion of dinosaurs was still that of stupid, cold-blooded naked reptiles, and the scientific findings from the Dinosaur Renaissance had still not penetrated the popular conscience at the time. The Land Before Time, although presenting the most modern view of dinosaurs of any movie up to that point, still contained some outdated notions, like the upfront stance of dinosaurs or the aquatic nature of hadrosaurs. But also, in my opinion, some things were presented the way they were not because the film makers didn't do their research, but to cater to public notions of the dinosaur age on purpose, perhaps even to satyrize it. That's why they included the dimetrodon, the volcanic landscape and stegosaurs as a particulary dumb kind of dinosaur. They could have known this was stereotypical or non-sense, but they choose to put it in anyway, to please the public or to make fun of its ignorance. In the 1990s, Jurassic Park exploded in popularity, and modern notions about dinosaurs slowly started entering public conscience. By the time The Big Freeze was made, the notion of the extraordinary stupidity of stegosaurs was already fading away, and it wouldn't have made sense for the animators to include it in the movie. Not to mention it might be interpreted as speciesm, especially since in two prior movies a tyrannosaur became a close friend of the Gang, so the presentations of "racism" of the original was viewed as inappropriate at an early date already. |
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| Blais_13 | Oct 15 2012, 10:13:26 AM Post #13 |
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Spike
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For me the other spiketails made Spike even odder,becose I see him strange instead of stupid.Spike is the only one whose family is not the same species as him.He doesen't realy speak,and he likes eating much more than others.OK,he is a spiketail after all.But then we have talking spiketails,who aren't as blind with green stuff as Spike(they stopped to argue with Mr.Threehorn instead of just walking into the valley without careing about those,who wouldn't like to let them in),and none of the spiketails from the spiketail herd was able to smell the green food,only Spike.So his smell is far better than the other spiketails smell.We saw in one of the tv episodes,that even his worldview is unique.So to sum up,we have a spiketail with superior senses,unique adoration to greenfood,and unique worldview.I think he is more different from others,even from the spiketails we saw,and one can see it as dumbness,while he have his points.For example,he only speaks when it's necessary,but he isn't going into pointless arguments.Who he learned this things from?I mean how he know that if he speaks too much,the green stuffs stops speaking to him?(I think he said something like this to himself in the TV episodes) |
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| RainbowGirl 39 | Jan 4 2013, 01:35:23 PM Post #14 |
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Chomper
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yeah Spike is stupid.when we re watching the 4th one and when the group was telling Spike to say sommething he ate something and my older sister said Spike is so stupid |
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| Kor | Jan 4 2013, 02:39:31 PM Post #15 |
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I think part of it may be due to Spike suddenly increasing in size in the first movie. Maybe an animation mistake or a way to show time passing, or maybe the idea that Spike at that size could not keep up with the others, or 1 or more cut scenes & Spike supposedly being the youngest being forgotten later on since he could well have started speaking between the first 2 movies or at the end of the first movie. & later movie makers just continued to portray him as stupid. |
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| landbeforetimelover | Jan 4 2013, 03:40:11 PM Post #16 |
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Littlefoot
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Spike is basically one of those "the guy that dies first" characters. But he's not totally like that. What I mean is, that's just one aspect of his character. He adds a unique twist to the movies and I think the creators were smart to add him in. Honestly it's been a few years since I've even watched an LBT movie nowadays. I'd probably be able to add more insight if I remembered the show better. Wow. I never though I'd go so long between watching LBT. I need to watch a couple of movies the next time I get some down time. Unfortunately that's not very frequently.
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| StrutEggStealer | Jan 4 2013, 04:52:45 PM Post #17 |
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Who needs mirrors? XD
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I think of Spike as very in the moment, which doesn't necessarily mean stupid. He knows what he wants, and he'll go after it. At times, he can be shortsighted (scratch that, very often, is he shortsighted :DD) but i don't perceive him as stupid. Spike wasn't always a favorite character of mine. I didn't really like that he didn't - or couldn't - speak, but as I watch the episodes now, I'm able to appreciate his subtlety. ^ Going with EggStealerGirl, Spike was very useful in Eyes of a Spiketail, which was a useful episode because it showed us Spike's way of thinking. It wasn't that he was dumb or easily distracted, but he was intentional. IDK, I like that episode a lot, now that it's given me more insight into his character. Spiketails are natural gorgers, so it made sense^^ |
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| Petrie85 | Jan 5 2013, 06:08:10 AM Post #18 |
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Great To Be Different
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Since I'm a huge Spike fan I don't think he is dumb he is smart in has own way. He helped the gang out a ton and he is very protective of his sister so he is a very good character. He has a very good heart and I love him about that. And he is very laid back witch is nice as well. |
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