Modern science has discovered that dinosaurs had all sorts of feathers or protofeathers, something that’s at odds with the common depiction of them in media. Exoprimal is one of those pieces of media that portrays the beasts as more lizard-like creatures instead of ones closer to birds. And that’s not an accident.
Why don’t the Exoprimal dinosaurs have feathers?
As noted in a recent interview, art director Takuro Fuse spoke about this portrayal and even admitted that the team knew of the recent science on the topic.
“We do understand that recent science depicts dinosaurs with feathers and whatnot,” said Fuse. “And we actually did consider incorporating the feathers into the design of the dinosaurs.”
However, the team wanted something more recognizable.
“But when thinking a little bit more, we wanted to create enemies that looked really cool and were very strong, tough opponents, but also something that was going to be familiar to the player,” he continued. “So someone can look at the screen and go, ‘Oh, I know that dinosaur. That really is exciting.’ Having that familiarity really brings home the enjoyment of the game, that much more. So that’s the reason ultimately why there are no feathers on the dinosaurs.”
The Jurassic Park series didn’t fully delve into adding feathers until 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion. According to the paleontologist and adviser on Jurassic World (and the first three Jurassic Park films) Jack Horner, the team didn’t go for feathers for the sake of consistency. The first Jurassic World also pokes fun at its inaccurate portrayal of dinosaurs, as B.D. Wong’s character Henry Wu notes that “if [the dinosaurs’] genetic code was pure, many of them would look quite different” before saying that the powers that be wanted more teeth. Given Fuse’s comments, it seems as though Capcom subscribes to a similar philosophy.
