The Dinosaur Princess/Tropes

The Dinosaur Princess is an American action-adventure-fantasy video game series co-created by María Alejandra Botín and Lawrence Christensen, being developed by (1999-2002),  (2005-2012) and Traveller's Tales (2013-present) and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment since September 7th, 1999.

Tropes

 * A Boy and His X: a girl and her triceratops.
 * Action Girl: Kitrina.
 * Actor Allusion:
 * It isn't the first time that Will Friedle voices .
 * Adorkable:
 * Kitrina and Gayle in different ways.
 * [Tristan]
 * [Ron]
 * Alternate Universe: the bad endings.
 * Ambiguously Bi: Gayle has shown several times a liking of men, besides being Ron's girlfriend since Attack of the Titansaurus, but she also said that she likes girls. It's not really explicit if she's saying that as friends or as potential lovers.
 * Arch-Enemy: Lilia to Kitrina and Gayle.
 * Author Avatar: María confirmed that Gayle is somewhat visually based on her.
 * Badass Adorable: Kitrina.
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: between Isiah and Anna.
 * Berserk Button:
 * Kitrina when she either gets mocked or when Gayle acts stupid.
 * Do never hurt Kitrina in front of Gayle. Isiah learned the hard way.
 * Betty and Veronica: Tristan's Betty to Isiah's Veronica.
 * Big Bad: Lilia.
 * Big Brother Instinct: Gayle is rather protective of Kitrina.
 * Boss-Only Level: taken to the extreme at the end of the second game.
 * Butt-Monkey: Gayle.
 * Character Aged with the Actor: also Kitrina.
 * Children Voicing Children: Mae Whitman was 11 when she started to voice Kitrina. As soon she grew up, her character grew up as well.
 * Cloudcuckooland: TBD
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Gayle.
 * Cool Old Guy: the Shaman.
 * Cool Pet: Terry. He's a dinosaur and he's adorable.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: as much Gayle can be stupid, she has also shown that she can handle danger whenever she or/and Kitrina are in danger.
 * Dating Catwoman: it is shown in the TV series that, despite the events of The Shark Prince, Isiah is still dating Anna.
 * Depending on the Writer:
 * [Kitrina]
 * [Gayle's personality]
 * Dumbass Has a Point: Gayle occasionally says some smart stuff.
 * Epic Fail: TBD
 * Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: the plot involves dinosaurs.
 * Evil Brit: Flora speaks with a British accent.
 * Fan Disservice: TBD
 * Fat Bastard: TBD
 * G-Rated Drug: Lotus is a drug.
 * Genius Ditz: despite her stupidity, Gayle has shown to be smart sometimes.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: this series has several moments.
 * Heel-Face Turn: both Isiah and Jewel turned good.
 * Heterosexual Life-Partners: Kitrina and Gayle are best friends since childhood.
 * Hidden Villain: Enchantia.
 * Ironic Name: Tyrannus's name is similar to "tyrant", yet he isn't cruel.
 * Informed Judaism: Kitrina is revealed to be Jewish on The Dinosaur Princess 2.
 * Rumors say that the idea of making Kitrina Jewish was suggested by Terry's voice actor Tara Strong (herself Jewish). This was later confirmed to be true by both María and Lawrence.
 * Jerkass: Larry, Isiah and Extinctous.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: despite his flaws, Isiah eventually softened up and became friendlier.
 * Jungle Princess: Kitrina.
 * Kid Hero: Kitrina (before she aged).
 * Large Ham: TBD
 * Lovable Jock: Tristan.
 * Lingerie Scene: TBD
 * Magical Negro: once again, the Shaman.
 * Marathon Boss: TBD
 * Ms. Fanservice:
 * Lilia, since she is a humanoid with some velociraptor traits and wears a revealing outfit.
 * Several fans believe both Kitrina and Gayle became this after they grew up.
 * Jewel, since she is a djinn.
 * Dragon Empress, since she has some humanoid features like breasts, hair, human-like arms and legs and, obviously, clothing, making her like something coming from a franchise with anthro animals (e.g.: Mickey Mouse, Looney Tunes and Sonic the Hedgehog).
 * Nature Hero: Kitrina.
 * Nice Guy: Tristan and Ron.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: TBD
 * Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: TBD
 * Not Allowed to Grow Up: averted with all previous installments until Forever. Since then, the creators established Kitrina as a 17-year-old for all further installments in the franchise.
 * Official Couple: Kitrina and Tristan along with Gayle and Ron since Attack of the Titansaurus.
 * Older and Wiser: we can all agree that Gayle became less of a ditz and more self-conscious as she grew up.
 * Older Than They Look: Gayle is actually the older one of the duo, although she's just a year older than Kitrina.
 * Pet Monstrosity: Terry, since he's a triceratops.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Gayle.
 * Punny Name: TBD
 * She is All Grown Up: TBD
 * Ship Tease: there was this between Kitrina and Tristan until they became a couple on Attack of the Titansaurus.
 * Smarter Than You Look: despite her rather TBD personality, Gayle is street-smart and TBD.
 * Soul Brotha: once more, the Shaman.
 * Stronger with Age: after turning older, Kitrina would now be able to defeat even larger threats than the ones she faced before.
 * Stupid Sexy Flanders: TBD
 * The Big Damn Kiss: after years of teasing, Kitrina and Tristan finally had their first kiss on Attack of the Titansaurus.
 * Even if it was his first appearance in the series, Ron shared one with Gayle in the same game.
 * The Ditz: Gayle, though as the series progressed, she became less of that.
 * Took a Level in Badass:
 * As the series progressed, Kitrina grew up and became more epic and competent.
 * At some extent, Gayle went by a similar pact as she became more competent and less TBD.
 * Tragic Villain: [Isiah, Jewel, Lilia, Cornelius or Tala]
 * Valley Girl: Jewel.
 * What Does She See in Him?: in a non-romantic example, people often ask why Kitrina hangs out with Gayle despite her constant stupidity. Kitrina replied that, despite that, she is her best friend and does her best to make her less idiotic and more mature, while Gayle is very caring and protective of her.
 * Where the Hell Is Springfield?: it's unknown where the Saurus Kingdom is located.
 * Wild Child: Kitrina and Gayle.
 * Wild Child: Kitrina and Gayle.

Trivia

 * Children Voicing Children: Mae Whitman was 11 when she started voicing Kitrina, with The Shark Prince and the first season of the TV series being the last occasions she voiced her before turning 18.
 * Creator's Favorite: María's favorite character is Kitrina while Lawrence's favorite is Gayle.
 * Creator's Pest: María's least favorite character so far is TBD while Lawrence's least favorite is TBD.
 * Dawson Casting:
 * By the time the first game was launched, in contrast with Kitrina, then voiced by a child actress, her best friend Gayle was voiced by a 32-year-old Kath Soucie while her other friend (later love interest) Tristan was voiced by a 33-year-old Charlie Schlatter.
 * Mae Whitman would fall on this as well in later installments.
 * In 2005's The Shark Prince, Isaiah, who is around the same age as Kitrina, is voiced by a then 34-year-old Yuri Lowenthal.
 * Attack of the Titansaurus introduces Gayle's love interest Duke Ronald (or Ron for short), voiced by a then 33-year-old Will Friedle.
 * Executive Meddling:
 * Gayle being stupid is a product of this as she was originally envisioned to be more competent. Ironically, Lawrence liked the idea and, despite María's initial reluctance, they agreed on making her like that, even if María still kept some of the ideas she planned for her.
 * Not necessarily from the studio heads, but Oscar Hamilton was the one to suggest the creation of Terry to make the series more appealing to younger audiences and to serve as a team pet to Kitrina and Gayle. María and Lawrence quickly became enamored with the idea and included him on the series.
 * God Does Not Own This World: legally, all the characters and concepts of the series belong to Warner Bros. and not to its creators, even though they still have the final word about what to do with them.
 * Playing Against Type: Jodi Benson, better known for voicing the kind and curious Ariel from The Little Mermaid, voices the evil Lilia, herself the series' big bad.
 * Screwed by the Network: twice.
 * [WB changing its developer from Infogrames to Eurocom]
 * [Eurocom's bankruptcy in 2012]
 * Star-Making Role: for Mae Whitman as a voice actress (coupled with Johnny Bravo and later with Avatar: The Last Airbender).
 * Rule 34 - Creator Reactions:
 * Both of the creators found the adult fanfiction and art of their characters to be "disturbing".
 * When they discovered that Stella McDonnell did some as well, they weren't too happy and talked to her about this and said "we all have different opinions and I just believe differently on this".
 * The worst reaction about it comes from Warner Bros. itself, since its lawyers already sent some Cease and Desist orders to some of those artists and writers for copyright infringement.
 * The Other Marty: during the early development of the series, [Kath alongside Gayle, Tara alongside Terry, Grey Griffin, Mary Kay Bergman, Christine Cavanaugh, Debi Derryberry, Cathy Cavadini, Elizabeth Daily or, because why not, Whitman's mother Pat Musick, since she's a VA too, Coolot or Green picks] was the original choice for Kitrina. However, Lawrence wanted a younger voice that could sound energetic and adventurous at the same time, leading to Mae Whitman being chosen as Kitrina's voice.
 * What Could Have Been:
 * During its early development stage, the protagonist was to be a male. However, Lawrence suggested to be a female instead while María came with the idea of making her a teenager.
 * The project was originally pitched to Universal Studios, but the studio heads declined since they weren't sure of having another dinosaur-themed franchise as Universal co-owned (and it still co-owns) the rights for Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time with Amblin back then.
 * Besides Warner Bros., both Disney and Sony Pictures showed their interest on their pitch, with both studios interested on making a TV series based on it, but both settled for Warner Bros. thanks to them offering the possibility of TBD.
 * During the early drafts, María almost toyed with the idea of Kitrina and Gayle becoming a lesbian couple in the future due to her being one as well. However, Lawrence thought it would be better if such thing was avoided due to possible backlash from Moral Guardians, opting to make both straight.
 * However, it influenced a certain straight fellow artist to make the two female leads in her own franchise a couple.

YMMV

 * Abandon Shipping:
 * The introduction of Ron as a love interest to Gayle made several fans switching from Gayle/Isiah to the new couple due to them believing how cute it is.
 * Same happened to Kitrina/Isiah thanks to the TV series, where [Isiah and Anna, for Green].
 * Acceptable Targets: TBD
 * Accidental Innuendo: TBD
 * Alternative Character Interpretation:
 * Is Gayle actually that ditzy or she only fakes that to hide her TBD in relation to Kitrina?
 * Americans Hate Tingle: TBD
 * Base-Breaking Character:
 * Fans of the series are often divided if Gayle is either a lovable friend or an annoying sidekick.
 * One of the most common themes in the fandom is if Isiah really is a friend to Kitrina or a he's still a foe to her.
 * Broken Base:
 * Some critics consider that there's an exaggerated focus on Gayle, especially in the TV series, with some considering it rather annoying.
 * Cargo Ship:
 * Kitrina and her boomerang.
 * Gayle and a bouncy ball.
 * Tristan and his rubber duck.
 * Ron and his slingshot.
 * Crack Pairing: TBD
 * Crossover Ship:
 * Charlotte/Kitrina.
 * Kitrina/Miranda.
 * Gayle/Maria.
 * Designated Hero: TBD
 * Designated Monkey: TBD
 * Designated Villain: TBD
 * Ensemble Dark Horse:
 * Gayle quickly became a fan favorite thanks to both her looks and mix of ditziness and smartness.
 * Both Anna and Flora due to their TBD.
 * Ron ended up becoming popular due to his TBD.
 * After her design and personality were revealed, Jewel quickly became popular between the audiences and expected she wouldn't be an one-time villain. Much to their pleasure, she became an ally and a supporting character.
 * Evil Is Sexy: Lilia and the Dragon Empress.
 * Fan-Preferred Couple:
 * Some people prefer Kitrina/Isiah (Kisiah) or Kitrina/Gayle (Gaytrina) rather than the official couple Kitrina/Tristan (Kristan).
 * Due to the rather unique chemstry between them, Gayle/Isiah (Isayle) is getting pretty popular as well.
 * Tristan/Ron (Trisron) and Tristan/Isiah (Isistan) are also favorites between yaoi fangirls.
 * Fandom Rivalry:
 * [GOM when it first came out]
 * [Abigail]
 * Foe Yay Shipping: TBD
 * Friendly Fandoms:
 * Fans of Good Ol' Magic enjoyed TDP and vice-versa, due to TBD, in addition to their creators being friends in real-life.
 * [CTSB, TMW and Howler]
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: besides the United States and Canada, the series became a fan-favorite in Latin America, the United Kingdom, [other countries, reserved for Coolot and/or Green].
 * Ho Yay Shipping:
 * Kitrina/Gayle is the third most popular ship in the TDP fandom.
 * Both Tristan/Ron and Tristan/Isiah have their fair amount of fans as well.
 * Jerkass Woobie: TBD
 * Memetic Mutation:
 * Gayle ended up becoming a meme back in the mid 2000s. Examples:
 * When she said the words "I'm god boi!" on The Dinosaur Princess and the Shark Prince.
 * Goddess Gayle was a meme in mid 2018.
 * The character of Stinky as a whole.
 * A certain scene in a MatPat gameplay where MatPat TBD.
 * Nausea Fuel: TBD
 * One True Threesome:
 * Kitrina/Tristan/Isiah.
 * Isiah/Anna/Flora.
 * Kitrina/Gayle/Jewel.
 * Ship Mates: [Kitrina/Tristan to Gayle/Ron and sometimes Isiah/Anna]
 * Ship-to-Ship Combat: [Kitrina/Tristan vs. Kitrina/Isiah and Kitrina/Gayle]
 * Squick: TBD
 * The Scrappy: TBD
 * The Woobie: TBD
 * Unintentionally Sympathetic: Lilia. It doesn't help that she used to be a good person in the past.
 * What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: most installments are E10+-rated while the television series is rated TV-Y7-FV. However, there are some moments where it gets really dark.
 * Kitrina/Gayle/Jewel.
 * Ship Mates: [Kitrina/Tristan to Gayle/Ron and sometimes Isiah/Anna]
 * Ship-to-Ship Combat: [Kitrina/Tristan vs. Kitrina/Isiah and Kitrina/Gayle]
 * Squick: TBD
 * The Scrappy: TBD
 * The Woobie: TBD
 * Unintentionally Sympathetic: Lilia. It doesn't help that she used to be a good person in the past.
 * What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: most installments are E10+-rated while the television series is rated TV-Y7-FV. However, there are some moments where it gets really dark.

WMG
These are fan theories for TDP.
 * Gayle has either autism, ADHD or even both.
 * The Dinosaur Princess takes place in the same world as Collin the Speedy Boy.

Ho Yay

 * There were moments when Gayle acted flirtatious towards Kitrina and sometimes tried to kiss her, though they are just played for laughs.