This is a list of recurring characters in the The Land Before Time, a series of animated children films. The first main character to be introduced was Littlefoot along with his friends later on. Six other young prehistoric characters later introduced include (Cera the Triceratops, Ducky the Parasaurolophus, Petrie the Pteranodon, Spike the Stegosaurus, Chomper, the friendly Tyrannosaurus, and Ruby the Oviraptor) all of which are a different species of prehistoric creature. The earnest, honest, and enthusiastic Littlefoot is usually leading his friends into new adventures, overcoming obstacles, and learning important lessons about friendship and teamwork.

Some dinosaurs have been known to have species names as surnames or family names, such as Mr. Clubtail. Grandpa Longneck and Topsy address one another consistently as "Longneck" and "Threehorn". Chomper is perhaps most notable as the gang member who is a carnivore; Ruby and Petrie are omnivores, and the other original four are herbivores.

Creation and development

In The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, Spike's design was modified; he no longer had any small spikes on his tail and had more developed ridges along his back. This is presumably to make him easier for the animators to draw,^{[citation needed]} but, compared to Cera's modification, Spike's isn't as drastic.

Cera was made a female character upon George Lucas's suggestion.^[1] In The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, her design was slightly modified to make her look older and more appealing.^{[citation needed]} Her head and face is now less round and more angular, but her body design remains true to the original film.

Voice cast

The Land Before Time featured well-known voice actors. Rhett, an Alamosaurus who resembles Littlefoot, was introduced in The Land Before Time TV series and is voiced by Elizabeth Daily, who was also the voices of Tommy Pickles on Rugrats and All Grown Up! and Buttercup on The Powerpuff Girls.

Main protagonists

Littlefoot

Littlefoot is an Apatosaurus but is called a "Longneck" in the films. He is the central character of the film The Land Before Time and most of its sequels; however his is not always necessarily the largest role. He is contemplative and quiet, though he enjoys playing, and often becomes leader in any quest. Littlefoot is very caring of his friends, and acts as both their leader and the voice of guidance among them. He has a particularly strong relationship with Chomper, supporting him in everything he does. Littlefoot is a modest, intelligent, playful longneck who, despite his traumatic upbringing, believes that friendship goes beyond species boundaries. He is good at making friends, but his clique is with his six best friends, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Chomper, and Ruby. Although these are his closest friends, all living in the great valley together, he has friends in many other places, including Ali, Mo, Doc, and many others. Littlefoot tends to be ethical, mature, caring, and protective of all of his friends, believing that there is good in everyone.

Cera is the only one older than Littlefoot, even though Littlefoot is the largest of all of the main Land Before Time characters. He also makes other friends throughout his adventures. Littlefoot's having friends outside his species is a taboo, as many of the dinosaurs practice racial, or species based, segregation. His grandparents accept his friendships but other dinosaurs, such as Topsy (Cera's father), do not. His father is a longneck named Bron and has a rowdy stepbrother named Shorty.

• Although Littlefoot and Cera are best friends, they are opposites in many ways, and the two fight constantly. This, on rare occasions, sometimes even leads to physical confrontations.
• He looks up to Doc, a lone Longneck with infamous Sharptooth-fighting abilities.^[2]

• Littlefoot was incorrectly called a Brachiosaurus on the original video cover for the first film. He was also called a Brachiosaurus at Rotten Tomatoes^[3]

Cera

Cera is a Triceratops (in the film called a "Threehorn") and a friend of Littlefoot. Cera is a bossy and snobby but sometimes nice young dinosaur who tries her best to show no fear. She is prone to bragging about her accomplishments, but will run away at the first sign of any real danger. She can also be very sweet and caring, but that side of her personality is usually masked by her normally gruff exterior. In the original The Land Before Time, she was very bitter, arrogant, and, like her father, bigoted towards other species. That was shown in how she told Littlefoot that "threehorns never play with longnecks" and that "they only talk to other threehorns and they only travel with other threehorns." In later films, she was still rather aggressive and domineering but not to the extent that she was in the first film. In fact, by the events of The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island Cera was so used to living in a diverse-species community that when the Great Valley herd was forced to leave the Valley and perhaps break up and join other herds, Cera said "I don't wanna live with a bunch of threehorns, they're too bossy!"

Cera has sisters, who were seen briefly in The Land Before Time, and has a nephew, Dana (voiced by Nancy Cartwright, who also voices Bart Simpson on The Simpsons and Chuckie Finster from Rugrats to All Grown Up!), and a niece, Dinah (voiced by Sandy Fox). Dinah and Dana made their appearances and were seen in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock. In The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, Cera now has a half-sister, which is Tricia, the daughter of Tria and Topsy.

Cera's father Topsy, whose name was revealed in The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, is seen in every film in The Land Before Time film series, except The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists, but her real mother was only seen in background shots of the original The Land Before Time. She may have died, broken up with her father, or been lost. In The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, Cera's dad was in love with his new girlfriend, Tria (voiced by Camryn Manheim) and had his name Topsy revealed.

Ducky

Ducky is a Parasaurolophus,^[4] which is called a "big mouth" or a "swimmer" by the characters in the films. Though Ducky is consistently identified in official material, including the official website, as a Parasaurolophus, she was referred to as a "perky, amphibious thing" by Hal Hinson of the Washington Post.^[5] She was incorrectly referred to as a platypus in the book, The Animated Films of Don Bluth.^[6] She likes to swim and she and her mother adopted Spike and it was her that named him Spike. Ducky rarely speaks in contractions, except when singing, and is almost never heard to utter a generalization. Ducky has a innocent personality and is very protective of her friends. This is especially true with her adopted brother, Spike, whom she tries to protect from any conflict she can. She has an extremely strong bond with her mother. She does not express anger very often, and in fact, she is so unused to being angry that in the eighth movie she had to ask Cera for advice on how to be mad. Ducky met Littlefoot first, in the original film, and as such they have developed a strong bond, though not nearly as strong as her friendship with Petrie. She is also very naive. Although she is sensitive to others' feelings, she can be easily manipulated to believe that some things may be right when in fact they might lead to trouble.

She is well known for frequently saying "Yup, yup, yup" and "Nope, Nope, Nope" whenever agreeing or disagreeing with something. This catchphrase earned considerable fame after her original voice actress, Judith Barsi, was murdered, along with her mother by Barsi's abusive and jealous father. On Barsi's gravestone, the affirmative version of the catchphrase was used in the quote at the bottom of the engravement: "Our Concrete Angel - Yep Yep Yep". The phrase was also used on her mother's marker, which reads "The wind beneath JEB's (Judith's initials) wings - Yup Yup Yup". Then later on after Barsi's death, Heather Hogan played the same role in the second, third and fourth films.^[7]

Ducky has a mother and father, fourteen biological siblings, and an adopted brother named Spike. Ducky's mother is a recurring character in the films and in the television show, but her father has only ever been seen in the background and has never had even a speaking role. None of Ducky's siblings have had any speaking roles either, save for occasional mixed laughter and chattering while at play. Interestingly, Ducky stated in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock that there were thirteen hatchlings in the nest when she was born, however, in the original movie, there were a half dozen eggs. Later, in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, another litter of eggs hatched at the end of the film.

Petrie

Petrie is a Pteranodon, also called a "Flyer" in the series. He is talkative, but (uniquely to himself) speaks in a form of broken English. Petrie speaks in a sort of broken English. For instance, he usually omits linking verbs, and may say things such as "He so nice" instead of "He is so nice". Petrie has also been known to refer to himself in a third person. He panics easily, always fearing doing anything new or dangerous. Petrie is much more timid than Littlefoot and the others, and usually does not go along with the group without a bit of coaxing.

Petrie's family consists of a mother, numerous brothers and sisters, and an uncle named Pterano. His father has never been seen, even in the original film. Petrie seems to idolize his uncle, thinking he can do no wrong. Petrie's mother has a big heart toward all the young ones and is protective of her children. She once offered comfort to Ducky's mother when the latter was abducted by Pterano and his cronies. Although she believes her brother would never intentionally hurt anyone, she is quite severe on Pterano, and makes it clear that she does not trust him. She plays the major role in the Great Day Of The Flyers.

In the beginning, Petrie was afraid of flying, and though he was embarrassed by this, he still refused to try (though when having fallen to the ground, he would ask excitedly if he had flown).

He learned to fly in The Land Before Time, while saving himself from Sharptooth. He is constantly trying to find ways to exercise his bravery, but almost never can find a way to do so. Because of this, he often idolizes people who he thinks are very strong and brave, especially his uncle Pterano. Although he has obvious linguistic defects, they have become less noticeable as the series progressed, although it is also obvious that he still has them. Although he often panics in dangerous situations, he always comes through when his friends are in trouble.

Spike

Spike, the spiketail (Stegosaurus),^[8] is one of the youngest members of the group, Chomper being the only major character younger than himself. He is the "mute" of the group, in that he almost never speaks. However, as his foster sister, Ducky says in The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists he can indeed speak though only when he wants to. Spike has also articulated, such as Scat singing while the other young dinosaurs are singing.

When Spike was an egg, he was separated from his real parents. He was adopted as a brother by Ducky and readily accepted by her parents and siblings as part of the family as Spike's family has yet to be seen. This is despite the fact that most dinosaurs tend to show prejudice towards others not part of their species. Spike has a big appetite, constantly eating plants that are in his sight. A Stegosaurus family did offer to take him with them, although he decided to stay with Ducky. Spike rarely speaks, though he has been known to vocalize in songs. The one notable occasion of Spike's use of speech appeared in The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists.

For a long time, Spike's personality was completely unknown. Then, the TV series featured the episode Through the Eyes of a Spiketail, with the entire episode focused around Spike's thoughts which are heard as English while he sees the other dinosaurs speaking in grunts. He reveals that he is silent all of the time in order to hear the leaves 'sing', and comments that his friends never hear these songs because they are always so busy talking. He also dislikes excess arguing, which is another reason he prefers not to talk. However, in times of great importance or peril, he finds that his muteness can be a hindrance. He openly says that he would rather stay home and eat than go out on an adventure, but always follows his friends just the same. He often thinks of these adventures as dangerous, much in the same manner as Petrie, and can't understand why his friends are always doing such dangerous things. Despite this, he is shown to care deeply about his friends, pushing himself to go into dangerous situations to save their lives. The episode also reveals that Spike is just as intelligent as his friends in his thoughts.

In the original Land Before Time Spike is heard laughing after the gang saves Cera from attacking Pachycephalosaurus. It is unknown who actually provided his laugh; the voice actor was never credited. Spike was voiced by Rob Paulsen from the second film on, but he hardly said any dialogue at all. Also, Jeff Bennett, the voice of Petrie, replaced Rob Paulsen for the voice of Spike in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (according to the end credits).

Chomper

Chomper is a Tyrannosaurus, which is one of many species of carnivorous dinosaurs called a sharptooth in The Land Before Time films. He is bilingual, being able to speak both the herbivore language of Littlefoot and his friends (heard as English to the viewer), and the language of Tyrannosaurus, which seems to consist of grunts, roars, and clicks.^[2] Chomper, like most carnivores, has and excellent sense of smell. Because of his sensitive nose, he is often called upon for tracking lost friends and finding missing items in the TV series. He is voiced by Rob Paulsen, Cannon Young and Max Burkholder.

Littlefoot and his friends originally found Chomper as an egg and took care of him as surrogate parents until he was found by his real parents. He left the Great Valley with them and was not seen again until The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, where he was living on an island with his parents until the landbridge which connected the island to the mainland has been destroyed preventing he and his parents cannot get off the island.

In the TV series, Chomper has been accepted into the Great Valley and currently lives with Ruby in a cave. The adults are aware of Chomper but have no objection to him living in the valley or playing with their children, in spite of his carnivorous nature. It is unknown how Chomper escaped the island when the land bridge was destroyed in The Mysterious Island.

Chomper is shown to often forget that his friends are leaf-eaters, as a running gag in the TV series shows Chomper trying to offer his friends insects to eat. Even though most of the adults are tolerant of Chomper, a few show prejudiced feeling toward him due to the fact he is a Sharptooth.

Chomper is a has a very outgoing personality, always willing to go on an adventure with his friends. Because he is a sharptooth, he often has unpleasant, and sometimes even violent, clashes with the gang's other friends. He tries to please his friends as much as possible, and is therefore prone to being taken advantage of. He shows fierce loyalty to his friends, and he often openly exclaims his friendship to even those who intimidate him.^[2] He is also quite naive, (although not quite to the extent of some of his other friends, like Ducky and Petrie), and easily believes what he is told. He is also known to panic easily, especially when it comes to the thought of someone seeking to harm him. He has been known to be sensitive about his size.^[2] Chomper is closer to Littlefoot than with his other six friends, due to Littlefoot always standing by him. Littlefoot never wavers in his friendship with Chomper, despite Chomper being the same kind of Sharptooth that killed Littlefoot's mother. He shares Littlefoot's belief that dinosaurs of all species can be friends, whether they be sharptooth or flatooth.

• Chomper and Ruby do not appear in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends, because it takes place before the TV series.

• The video game Land Before Time: Into the Mysterious Beyond, the five original characters must look for Chomper.

Ruby

Ruby is a female Oviraptor who was introduced in The Land Before Time TV series. She is called a Fast Runner in the Land Before Time universe. Ruby has not played any role in any of The Land Before Time films, as she was just introduced in the TV series. Ruby is often the voice of wisdom among the young dinosaurs, able to explain matters the others do not understand. She has a calm demeanor and shows kindness and empathy to others. It is stated in the first episode of the TV series that Chomper's parents have given Ruby the responsibility of protecting him from Red Claw.

A strange habit of hers is to sometimes immediately repeat herself in a "backwards" way. For instance, she might say as a greeting: "Hello my friends; my friends hello!".

As seen in flashbacks in the TV series, Ruby and her family all lived in the Mysterious Beyond until the sharptooth Red Claw and his fast biters Screech and Thud chased Chomper and her out.^[2] Chomper decided that both of them should travel to the Great Valley and meet up with Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike. They are readily accepted into the Great Valley.

Secondary Characters

Mr. Thicknose

Mr. Thicknose is a Pachyrhinosaurus whose name reflects his species name which means "thick nose lizard" or "thick nose reptile." The character, is, or was, a very respected individual in the Great Valley community and served as a teacher to the children of the Valley. However, his pedagogy was that of being a "know-it-all." The adults of the Valley would send him their children to receive a primary education; they assumed that Mr. Thicknose was indeed a polymath and could effectively instruct their children.

However, this changed during the Big Freeze. Littlefoot proved that he saw snow; when this happened, Mr. Thicknose was verbally attacked by the grownups for not warning them before the snow got heavier. He then accompanies Littlefoot and the others to the Mysterious Beyond where they have an encounter with a "Sharptooth" and find a hot spring, with much food. There, they discover the truth that Mr. Thicknose has never been to the Mysterious Beyond before, and his knowledge comes not from primary sources but rather from secondary sources. They also discover that when he was young, he was very shy and quiet that nobody ever paid any attention to him.

When Chomper's tooth fell out, the children went to Mr. Thicknose for help, so it can be assumed that the dinosaurs of the Great Valley still find his information useful and go to him when something happens with which they have no personal experience.

He appeared in the film The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze, voiced by Robert Guillaume, and has been seen in The Land Before Time TV series, voiced by Dorian Harewood.

Mo

Mo is a colorful Ophthalmosaurus who first made appearances in numerous movies starting with The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water. He is incredibly playful, especially with his "mud brother", Littlefoot, but his boisterous antics erode the patience of Cera. He is bilingual in that he can speak both Littlefoot's herbivore and his native dolphin-like languages, which the dinosaurs don't understand but, apparently, other aquatic creatures can. This is evidenced when Mo asks a crab to release Cera's horn in his own language.

Mo now appears as a notable cameo in the latest sequels. In The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, wherein he is seen jumping out of the water during the "Adventuring" musical number. He can also be seen jumping out of the water and saying "And fly!" during the song "Flip, Flap and Fly" in The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers. Mo also appeared in an episode of the TV series, The Missing Fast-Water Adventure.

Tippy

A pink Stegosaurus, who is Spike's playful companion during the stegosaur migration in The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze. When a stegosaur herd moved into the Great Valley, Spike immediately became close friends with Tippy. Unlike Spike, Tippy is vocal. He was voiced by Jeremy Suarez, who later did the voice of Koda in Brother Bear, and Brother Bear 2, and then Cree Summer in the TV series. Tippy and his herd have since appeared in the TV series episode The Forbidden Friendship.

Tippy's mother is a kindly mother who invites Spike to travel with her herd when they migrate out of the Great Valley to find food during the freeze. She is very friendly towards Spike and loves her son, although after learning that Spike had been fostered by a dinosaur outside of his species, allows him to spend more time with Tippy and his herd. Tippy's mother finally realizes that Spike really belongs with his foster family. She appeared in The Forbidden Friendship episode of the TV series.

Hyp, Mutt & Nod

Hyp is the leader of the trio of bullying dinosaurs in The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving, who tried to cause trouble for Littlefoot and his friends. Hyp, along with his other friends Mutt and Nod, often hides his cowardliness to make him look braver, or "bigger". Eventually, Hyp and his friends help Littlefoot and his friends with helping their parents deal with a pack of Sharpteeth, and later find some food to share with others. The trio has not appeared since in the further sequels, although they have appeared in an episode of the TV series, The Great Egg Adventure. Whit Hetford voiced Hyp. He is a Hypsilophodon.

Mutt is dim-witted and more dependent on his friends. Because he is not clever, he is more of a coward than Hyp or Nod. He usually needs a nudge from Nod in order to know when to speak. He is a Muttaburrasaurus , hence his name. Voiced by Jeff Bennett.

Nod is a Nodosaurus was the depressed one of the group. He tried to be funny, but none of the others liked him. He often repeated what he said to make more sense, or tried feebly to emphasize a case made by Hyp. Scott Menville voiced Nod.

Kosh

Kosh is the gluttonous Ankylosaurus appearing in some of the The Land Before Time films and the TV series. His name is revealed in the end credits for The Star Day Celebration episode of the TV series, whereas he was once referred as "Mr. Clubtail" in some films. He shows up commonly in the series, usually for one-liners, and most often for comic relief. He is almost always seen eating.

He was voiced by Rob Paulsen in The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving, The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, and The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers, Jeff Bennett in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island and The Amazing Threehorn Girl episode of the TV series, and Peter Sepenuk, who also voices Red Claw and Screech, in The Star Day Celebration episode of the TV series.

Doc

Doc is a wandering Diplodocus (longneck) who goes "where the road takes him." He is shown to be very taciturn and not forthcoming of his past. The Dinosaur Filmography describes his voice as being as gravelly as a bone bed.

Shortly after appearing in the Great Valley, he saved Littlefoot, who quickly went on to idolize the wanderer. Littlefoot believed Doc to be the legendary "Lone Dinosaur", who saved the Great Valley long ago from the most terrible Sharptooth. He bases these assumptions on the fact that Doc can do fancy tricks with his tail; that he had been to the Great Valley before; that he has a scar on his eye (attributed to an especially vicious Sharptooth); and that he has a resemblance to Saurus Rock. To a degree, Littlefoot places Doc above his own grandfather and defends him when he is accused of bringing bad luck to the Valley. Towards the end, Doc and Grandpa Longneck work together to save Littlefoot from an Allosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus; Littlefoot asks Doc to stay in case the Valley should ever need a hero; Doc replies that the Valley already has a hero and looks towards Grandpa Longneck.

Doc first appeared in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock. In an episode of the TV series, The Lone Dinosaur Returns, Doc returns to the Great Valley. In the episode, he shows a great hostility toward the fact that Littlefoot is friends with Chomper. This severely weakens Littlefoot's view of Doc, but his respect for him is restored at the end of the episode when Doc apologizes to Chomper, saying that he realizes that Chomper is different from other Sharpteeth. He was voiced by Kris Kristofferson in the film and Jeff Bennett in the TV series.

Supporting characters

Grandpa and Grandma Longneck

Grandpa and Grandma Longneck are Littlefoot's grandparents and his primary caregivers after his mother died. They act as parents to Littlefoot, giving him advice when needed and take their responsibility of protecting Littlefoot very seriously. They also provide a voice of reason in the Great Valley, trying to make peace between the dinosaurs when times become hard. Littlefoot's grandparents are seen in all the films, and in the television series. Littlefoot has a strong bond with his grandfather, and generally looks up to him as an idol.

Their real names have yet to be revealed; nearly everyone calls them Grandpa and Grandma, including each other.

Grandpa Longneck is also shown to be a very loving husband to his wife and a kindly grandfather-figure not only to Littlefoot but to all the young dinosaurs of the Valley. He also gets along well with Bron, his suggested son-in-law. However, while is mostly free of the bigotry that characterizes some other dinosaurs, he has a prejudiced view of sharptooth dinosaurs, whom he perceives as "not very smart". However, this is a considerably less severe condemnation than that of his son-in-law, who despises them as cowards.

As seen in Land Before Time, after being separated from Littlefoot, his grandparents gave up hope of ever seeing either him or their daughter again and went searching for the Valley. On the way, they met other dinosaurs who joined their search for the Valley as well, not unlike how their children also found and joined each other. As of the moment, Grandpa and Grandma Longneck live happily in the Great Valley, though they occasionally meet with relatives, as in Part IV, or leave and coincidentally meet with other longnecks as in Part X.

Grandpa Longneck has been shown to be rather undecided in his beliefs. This is quite unlike his daughter who stated that "somethings [...] you see with your heart". In The Secret of Saurus Rock he tells the children legends of heroic dinosaurs and of the mystical Saurus Rock that protects the Valley, but when asked whether the stories are true, claims not to know. However, during The Great Migration he intuitively knows that he must go and that he must re-enact the longneck creation myth.

Ali

Ali is an Apatosaurus who bears a striking resemblance to Littlefoot, apart from her darker pink skin color and light blue eyes. In the TV series, she has a more purplish color of skin. She and her mother belong to a herd that was forced to leave their homeland due to flooding and excess rain. With their old home turned into swamp, called the Land of Mists, Ali's herd, led by the matriarch called the Old One, was forced to leave.

During Migration, Ali's herd found the Great Valley and were welcomed by their 'cousins', Grandpa Longneck's family. Grandpa Longneck fell ill during this time, where upon Ali and Littlefoot left the Great Valley to search Ali's old home for the fabled Night Flower that would heal him. Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike soon followed them, and met up with Littlefoot and Ali. Together, the group found the Night Flowers and brought them to the Great Valley to heal Grandpa Longneck. Afterwards, Ali and her herd left the Valley to continue their migration even though she and Littlefoot would one day meet again.

In The Land Before Time TV series, Ali returns with the herd in the episode, "The Brave Longneck Scheme." She meets a new friend, Rhett when her herd had merged with another. The episode mainly focuses on Ali meeting and reacting to Chomper.

Like most dinosaurs outside of the Great Valley herd, Ali was wary of trusting dinosaurs outside of her species and, on her part, Cera initially didn't trust Ali, but later learned to accept her and the two became friends. She was voiced by Juliana Hansen in Journey through the Mists, and by Nika Futterman in the TV series.

Bron

Bron is an Apatosaurus, the father of Littlefoot. He was separated from Littlefoot, from the latter's mother, and from Grandpa and Grandma Longneck shortly before Littlefoot's birth. Until The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration, Bron was unsure of his wife and son's fates. Bron also has an adopted son named Shorty.

Bron is voiced by Kiefer Sutherland in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration and Cam Clarke in the TV series.

In Part X, Littlefoot and his grandparents are moved by a sudden urge to migrate to an unknown place; when they arrive, they find hundreds of other longnecks. One of these was Bron, who recognizes Grandpa Longneck. Littlefoot meets his father for the first time. Littlefoot, however thought Bron had abandoned him and his mother, and thus he retreated into seclusion. Bron caught up with him, and explains how they had become separated. Littlefoot accepts this and the two bond, much to the displeasure of Shorty, Littlefoot's foster brother. Shorty and Littlefoot made amends when they were forced to work together to save themselves from attacking Sharpteeth. Despite the brevity of their acquaintance, Littlefoot and Bron ultimately realize where both of them belong and depart, promising each other they would see each other again.

Chomper's parents

Next to Sharptooth himself and the infant son Chomper, Chomper's parents are the most prominent Sharptooth characters in the series. They appear in the films in which their son is featured. Chomper's parents are never given names.

Chomper's parents are sexually dimorphic; his father is depicted with darker hide, and his mother is a lighter shade. Chomper's mother is notable in that she is also the only explicitly female Sharptooth to have appeared in the series thus far.

Not much is known about Chomper's parents, though they have been shown to be very protective of their son; breaking into the Great Valley to search for him after his egg was accidentally taken into the valley by Littlefoot and the gang, and fighting to protect him from an aggressive foreign sharptooth as well as Ozzy and Strut. Some humor is gleaned from Chomper's father's concern over some of his son's bizarre behavior, as well as from his slight sarcasm. There also is some humor from the pun expressed by his mate, who admonishes Chomper (who was then playing with Littlefoot) not to play with his food. Both of these are revealed in subtitles, due to the fact that Chomper's parents speak in a roar-based language intelligible only to other Sharpteeth. Although the two initially treat Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike only as prey, they later promise to maintain restraint as a reward for the herbivores' rescue of Chomper from a foreign sharptooth that had injured them. They do not appear in the television series.

Ducky and Spike's parents

Ducky and Spike's mother is a Saurolophus and has appeared in most of the 12 movies that have debuted so far. Ducky and Spike's father is rarely seen but has appeared now and again, for example in the background The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze. Their mother loves all her children and is very attentive. She is popular among Littlefoot and his friends for these reasons and is treated with respect by all children and adults in the Great Valley. She occasionally has doubts on how to raise Spike, whether in keeping with her own values or with those of his racial heritage. This was seen in The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze when a stegosaur herd met and befriended Spike. She let him go with the herd to learn "his kind's" ways; however when Spike fell through ice, it was she who rescued her grateful son.

Ducky and Spike's brothers and sisters

There are at least 14 young swimmers (male and female). Although they look much like Ducky, they lack her sense of adventure, preferring to stay at home with their Mother. Ever since Ducky introduced them to "our new brother, Spike" at the close of the first film, all the swimmers have happily accepted him as part of the family, even if they do not understand him as well as Ducky does. The total 14 came in two clutches, as in the first film; Ducky's nest contained about half a dozen eggs. Later, in the Great Valley Adventure, Ducky's parents are shown to have another nest, with about another half dozen or so. The film ended with the new clutch hatching.

Littlefoot's Mother

Appearing only in the original The Land Before Time, Littlefoot's Mother was shown to be a very loving mother to her only living son. She got along well with her parents and loved her husband Bron very much, naming their son after him; "Littlefoot" having been Bron's nickname as a child. She led the herd in search of the Great Valley. At the time of her son's birth, the land was suffering geologic and ecologic upheavals that included but were not limited to drought, flooding, famine, predation, and earthquakes. Determined that her son not grow up in such an environment, she led her herd in search of the Great Valley "a wonderful, beautiful place" with green food, "more than you could ever eat, and with more fresh, cool water than you could ever drink". She had no proof that the Great Valley even existed, but was guided by her belief that "some things you see with your eyes [while] others you see with your heart."

The canonical death of the parent occurred when, late one night near dawn, she died protecting Littlefoot and Cera from Sharptooth. She put up a tremendous fight and cast him into the "big underground," the bottom of a gorge that had just been torn open by a tremendous earthquake. However, Sharptooth was not dead, and even this fleeting victory cost Littlefoot's mother her life, as Sharptooth had bitten a large chunk of flesh out of her back and gashed her neck in their fight (implying that she may have died from blood loss). With her last breath, she told her son to search for the Great Valley and added that she would be with him. Later, her ghost would appear to her son in times of need and aid him in the quest for the Great Valley. Her last appearance was at the end of the first film when Littlefoot despaired of ever finding the Great Valley; she took to the form of a longnecked cloud to guide him into the Great Valley, whereupon a beam of light came from her heart. The light shone on Littlefoot and spread to illuminate the Great Valley below.

Though long since dead, she is periodically mentioned through the film series and may have made an appearance in The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, wherein Littlefoot remembers his mother and looks at a star shining brighter than the others. Littlefoot also wished his mother had given him a brother in The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water. She also made an appearance in a flashback in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration. In this film, she is colored bluish, and looks more like Grandma and Grandpa, though in the first movie The Land Before Time, she is colored brown.

She was one of the wisest and most enlightened of all the dinosaurs; however, she tends to accept the fact that many of the dinosaur herds tended to be segregated. Even she does not understand why this is so; all she can tell her son is that "it's always been that way". When the only other child around at that time- Cera- is not allowed to play with Littlefoot because he is a longneck and Cera a threehorn, Littlefoot's mother comforts him by telling him that in the Great Valley "there will be many, many longnecks for you to play with".

Pterano

Pterano is Petrie's long-lost uncle, voiced by Michael York. While idolized by his nephews and nieces, especially Petrie, he is not trusted by his sister (Petrie's mother), nor by Littlefoot, Cera, Grandpa Longneck, or Topsy. The reason for such suspicion is seen in how, after the combined herds joined under Grandpa Longneck in search of the Great Valley, Pterano promised one faction an easy way to the Valley and, due to his incompetent leadership, blundered them into a sharptooth ambush that only he survived. When he escaped the ambush, he never told the herd why it happened, only that it wasn't his fault. After reuniting with his sister in the Great Valley, he, along with his henchmen Rinkus (a Rhamphorhynchus) and Sierra (a Cearadactylus), began searching for the Stone of Cold Fire, a comet which he thinks will grant him magic power. He fails and winds up putting Petrie and the other children in danger, but saves them at the end. Rewarding the rescue, Grandpa Longneck exiles Pterano for a [reduced] period of 5 cold times (winters/years). He guarantees that perhaps someday, he'll return to the herd and prove he can be trustworthy.

Pterano is at first shown to be proud and cold, though less aggressive than his comrades Rinkus and Sierra. However, he shows his softer side throughout the film as he scolds his companions for continuously acting violently toward the young dinos; feeling remorse when he believed Ducky had fallen through a hole to her death; taking responsibility for the action instead of blaming his henchmen (a sign, perhaps, of maturity); ordering the sidekicks to leave the young ones alone after Sierra had recaptured Ducky; refusing Sierra's idea to feed the children to the sharpteeth once the trio had "taken over"; and personally saving Ducky from a fatal fall off the mountaintop. In the end, he shows his softer side as he says goodbye to Petrie and tells him he will miss him.

Pterano appears in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire and has not been seen since. He is sometimes mentioned in the TV series.

Shorty

A dark green Brachiosaurus, who appeared in The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration. In Bron's backstory, Shorty was found wandering in the wilderness with eight or so orange Brachiosaurus hatchlings. Since he was the eldest of the small herd, he is shown in the flashback to be very protective of the hatchlings. Shorty, along with the hatchlings, followed Bron.

In the crater, Shorty and Littlefoot fail to co-exist peacefully until near the end of the movie, when Littlefoot stopped him from leaving the area alone Littlefoot proposed the two could be brothers, which made Shorty happier and less jealous of Littlefoot. In the end, he gets on well with Littlefoot's friends. Bron finally adopts him after Littlefoot tells Bron to take care of Shorty, officially making him Littlefoot's stepbrother.

Shorty is the young bully of the film, since he had a nasty past and was the only one from that small herd that was not adopted until the end of the film. He was antisocial, mostly wandering by himself and picking on other young dinosaurs, including Littlefoot. His name is ironic in that "Shorty" is a playground insult; he is also shorter than Littlefoot even though he is clearly older than him.

Shorty appeared with Bron in the TV series episode "The Big Longneck Test". He was voiced by Brandon DePaul in the film, and Elizabeth Daily in the TV series.

Topsy

Topsy is a Triceratops, the father of Cera. For many films, his true name was unknown; he was credited as "Daddy Topps" in the first film and "Cera's Dad" in the first ten sequels. Most of his peers called him "Threehorn", while Grandpa and Grandma Longneck would call him "my friend" or "Mister Three-Horn". There has been some argument over whether or not "Topsy" is his real name and not a pet name given him by Tria. This is seen in how Cera was visibly angered when Ducky called him by it. Even so, it is assumed that Topsy is indeed his real name.

His personality was unknown in the first film, but he was shown to be guilty of racism, or speciesism. He is seen growling at Littlefoot (whom he sees as a bad influence on Cera) and telling him that "Threehorns never play with longnecks." He was often portrayed as pompous, self-righteous, and bigoted; the degree of his pride and perverse stubbornness was seen in The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving when he took Cera straight into a wildfire rather than go with the other dinosaurs. He is aware of his bad attitude, but, in the beginning at least, thought nothing of it, saying that even if he was thought mean, he had a family to protect and he would do that by any means necessary. In a song from The Time of the Great Giving he says that was inculcated with this attitude by his own father, who told him to "stand and fight, don't run away." In recent films, he has still been shown stern and less understanding than Grandpa Longneck; but his prejudice and bad attitude have gradually lessened through the many sequels.

There is also the question of where Topsy's wife is - indeed, the film The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, shows him happily courting Tria; Littlefoot was shown asking if she would be Cera's new mother. Topsy's earlier mate was shown near the start of The Land Before Time as were their other children. However, when he and Cera were reunited at the end of the film, some of the other children were gone; his wife as well as the other featured children disappearing afterwards as the result of an accidental retcon. However, as seen by the presence of Topsy's grandchildren, Dinah and Dana, in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, at least one of his children, unnamed and likely from before Cera's egg-laying, is alive. After Invasion of the Tinysauruses, Topsy and Tria have another daughter, Tricia.

In recent films, he has been shown to be part of the Great Valley's leadership, sharing power with Littlefoot's grandfather. Though Topsy and Littlefoot's family met early in the first film, it is assumed that he and Grandpa Longneck were formally introduced to each other and decided to assume shared leadership of the combined herds after they were separated from their children in the great earthquake. This was shown in a flashback in The Stone of Cold Fire.

Topsy is portrayed by Burke Byrnes in The Land Before Time and John Ingle in all of the sequels, except The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists, where he never made an appearance.

Tria

Tria is a pink "Threehorn" (Triceratops). She is kind, loving and brave, though her character may seem rather false and unconvincing at first. It is revealed in The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses that she and Topsy (Cera's dad) met when they were younger, and are reunited in the film, much to the dismay of Cera, who is very used to being the center of her father's attention. Despite some false starts, however, Cera and her new stepmother do manage to get along in the end. Unlike Topsy, Tria immediately finds the Tinysauruses cute when she comes across a wandering pair, which is why she separates from him for a short time. Tria and Topsy have a child in The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers.

She is portrayed by Camryn Manheim in the eleventh and twelfth films and Jessica Gee in the TV series and the thirteenth film.

Cera's siblings

Topsy, Cera's belligerent father, and his first wife were seen to have several children on at least two occasions. The first time can only be inferred; the existence of Dinah and Dana — Cera's niece and nephew and Topsy's grandchildren — implies that Topsy and his wife had to have had at least one son or daughter before Cera's egg laying. The fate thereof remains unknown.

Tricia is a young dark pink Triceratops. She is the daughter of Tria and Topsy and the half-sister of Cera. Her first appearance is in The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers

Others

Sharpteeth

Sharptooth is a term in The Land Before Time series that is used to refer to predatory dinosaurs and other animals and also to one specific Tyrannosaurus. In the first entry of The Land Before Time series, a male Tyrannosaurus served as the antagonist of the story. Sharptooth is depicted possessing a near-supernatural level of strength, athleticism, and durability for a Tyrannosaurus. He was also capable of massive leaps; even jumping several times his own height straight up into the air and onto a cliff at the film's climax. This Sharptooth is particularly notable for having been the culprit who killed Littlefoot's mother, and so far the only villain in the series to have been directly responsible for the death of a major character. This villain is consistently referred to as "Sharptooth" or "The Sharptooth", indicating that "Sharptooth" is his given name rather than simply his species' name and thus marking him as a noted individual. Sharptooth was accidentally blinded by Littlefoot after being struck in his right eye by a thorny vine, and this eye is swollen shut throughout the remainder of the film. In the climax, the closed eye of the Sharptooth opens, and the excess bleeding of the eye can be seen before being closed again.

It was believed initially that Sharptooth had died in his fight with Littlefoot's Mother, after being pushed into a deep chasm during the great earthquake. However, Cera later crossed paths with him at the bottom of the said chasm, where it was revealed that the fall merely sent him into a coma. Sharptooth thereafter followed Littlefoot and company, until he was finally vanquished when Littlefoot and his friends managed to set a trap for him. Using Ducky as bait, they lured him into the deep end of a pond, where they drowned him by means of tipping a boulder onto his chest. Sharptooth very nearly dragged Petrie down with him, though Petrie escaped by a narrow margin.

After the first movie, the term "Sharptooth" was extended to carnivores in general. Tyrannosaurs, Dromaeosaurids, and miscellaneous unidentified large theropods have been referred to as "Sharpteeth", and the term "Swimming Sharptooth" was coined for a shark and later extended to include a pliosaur, and "Fast Biters" was later used for Dromaeosaurids. Many Sharpteeth appear throughout the series, though they are portrayed more as random, wandering threats than as proper characters, none of them possessing the single-minded ferocity and seeming invincibility of the original. Although they are often perceived as mindless killers, being called "cowards" and "not very bright" by Littlefoot's father and grandfather respectively, The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure revealed that Sharpteeth are indeed sentient like the rest of the dinosaurs and that they even form loving families. (Chomper, however, does acknowledge the difficulty of friendship between herbivores and carnivores due to their differences.)

Red Claw is a male Tyrannosaurus (Sharptooth) who has a distinctive scar that goes through his left eye, down to his left hand and claw. In the Land of the Lost (1991 TV series), it had a T. rex that was similar to Red Claw, named Scarface, who had a big scar down the right side of his face. Red Claw is the prominent antagonist in the TV series. According to Chomper and Ruby, Red Claw is the biggest and meanest Sharptooth of all. Voiced by Pete Sepenuk.

Screech & Thud are two somewhat goofy velociraptors who are companions of Red Claw. (Howler was the original name for Screech in the TV pilot, but for legal reasons the character was renamed as the series moved forward.)^{[citation needed]}

According to Chomper and Ruby, wherever Screech and Thud are, Red Claw is never far behind. In later episodes, Screech and Thud have been seen hunting without Red Claw.

Pete Sepenuk plays Screech, while Rob Paulsen plays Thud.