With the giant adventures seen in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies, for every iconic hero such as Sam Neill's Alan Grant or Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire, there are also villains. The villains are who usually drive the plot forward in these films, for better or for worse.
These come in the forms of both humans and dinosaurs - some have even become more iconic than the leading characters. From the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex to despicable humans such as Dennis Nedry, the cinematic universe of Jurassic Park has had many villains across the seven films.
Updated on June 13th, 2022 by Melody MacReady: As the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchises come to a close with the release of Jurassic World: Dominion, fans have been given even more villainous humans and dinosaurs. These include drastically different types of dinosaurs such as the Giganotosaurus and the Therizinosaurus.
The question is: where do they rank in the large pantheon of antagonists in the long-running franchise? With iconic characters such as the Spinosaurus, the many Velociraptors, and the original Tyrannosaurus Rex, it's difficult to compete. Of course, there are still new human villains that are essential to the plots, with most of them being eviler than the dinosaurs.
Rainn Delacourt From Jurassic World: Dominion
Easily the most generic villain of the franchise, he is just a hired thug who captures Maisie Lockwood and Blue's daughter Beta in Jurassic World: Dominion. There is no motivation, no stand-out scene, nor even some fun dialogue to help him feel unique.
Instead, the most memorable scene is his death at the hands of multiple dinosaurs. Even then, it was the dinosaurs themselves that made the scene enjoyable.
Soyona Santos From Jurassic World: Dominion
Though better than Delacourt, Soyona Santos is still a rather forgettable femme fatale. She's there to simply introduce a new dinosaur threat and be how the heroes continue on their journey to BioSyn's Sanctuary.
She does have a bit more personality, mostly in the form of a one-dimensionally sinister performance but other than that, she does very little to stand out.
Lewis Dodgson From Jurassic World: Dominion
It was nice that Dominion brought things full circle by having technically the first Jurassic Park villain also be the villain to close out the saga. Other than that and a jab at Apple's Tim Cook, Lewis Dodgson was a weak villain overall. He never really does anything to make him villainous other than exploiting genetically designed locusts.
Most of the movie shows him as a whiny and childish villain who is too quiet and reserved throughout. The most villainous thing that he does is have a mild temper tantrum in the final act.
The Juvenile T-Rex From Jurassic Park III
Sporting a vibrant green hide in Jurassic Park III, this Tyrannosaurus Rex showed much potential. Sadly, after not even a minute or two after being introduced, it comes face-to-face with the dreaded Spinosaurus, leading to a fight that became quite controversial due to the juvenile being killed off rather quickly.
This fight was so infamous that even Colin Trevorrow referenced it by having the classic Rexy destroy a Spinosaurus skeleton during the climax of Jurassic World. There were plans for a rematch during the escape from Isla Nublar in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom that fell through.
The Atrociraptors From Jurassic World: Dominion
Piggybacking off a concept from Fallen Kingdom, the Atrociraptors are trained to attack anyone targeted via a laser. This leads to intense chases through the streets and rooftops of Malta but there is very little to distinguish them from their more iconic siblings: the Velociraptors.
There's nothing particularly bad about them but the Atrociraptors could have used more scenes to help showcase them a bit more.
Gunnar Eversol From Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Far from poor, this villain in Fallen Kingdom, played by Toby Jones, simply just did not get enough time on screen to really shine in a movie that already has several villains to choose from. He's a greedy and pompous man who got viewers to hate his guts enough during the final act of the movie.
The biggest issue with him was his comeuppance, or rather, the lack thereof. His death takes place off-screen to keep things PG-13; this made the villain, overall, feel wasted and not nearly as memorable as others from the same movie.
The Pyroraptor From Jurassic World: Dominion
Similar to the Atrociraptors, the Pyroraptor has only brief screentime in Dominion. However, the Pyroraptor sequence fits under the description of short but sweet. The feathered appearance not only makes dinosaur purists happy but the scene featuring the dinosaur is one of the more tension-filled ones.
The Pyroraptor is not only fast but it can swing, even in the icy waters of the Dolomite Mountains. Again, if Dominion had allowed this creature more screentime, it likely could become a more iconic dinosaur.
The Raptor Pack From Jurassic Park III
The velociraptors received an overhaul of the design in Jurassic Park III to include the dark red and purple hides for the males. The most noteworthy of this pack would be the alpha female who provides a sinister threat as a smart and determined huntress.
This brings back the concept of the first film where these creatures are vastly intelligent and that's what makes them scary. However, what keeps them from being more memorable is that they mostly just chase the heroes and only kill off one character.
The Pteranodon Flock In Jurassic Park III
One of the more underrated dinosaur threats of the franchise were these avian creatures that mixed beauty and beast together in one: elegant and regal sky-bound creatures that soar through the clouds with grace but also happen to be deadly foes that are straight out of a horror movie.
The chase through their aviary is one of the most memorable parts of Jurassic Park III. Originally, these winged dinosaurs were going to have an even bigger role, with an attack on the beach after the encounter with the raptors. It's one of many ways Jurassic Park III was going to be different.
Vic Hoskins From Jurassic World
Obsessed with turning raptor packs into military weapons of war, this villain from Jurassic World was far from deep or thought-provoking, but he was effective in making things worse for our heroes and getting audiences to wish for his demise, due to a charismatic yet slimy performance by Vincent D'onofrio.
Hoskins also stands out due to his more genuine chemistry with actors like Chris Pratt, so even when he's despicable, he's fun to watch. Unlike the previous human entry, this villain's fall from grace is much more satisfying, due to a visible attack from Delta from the Raptor Squad.
The Compsognathus (Or Compys) From The Lost World: Jurassic Park
One of these tiny critters might not seem that imposing, but much like a piranha, an attack by the whole pack becomes a terrifying scene to witness. The Compys have one show-stealing sequence in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, providing one of the grisliest deaths seen in the series.
Peter Stormare's character, Dieter Stark, gets lost after separating from the group, leading to one of the slower and terror-fueled deaths in the series, as many Compy chase him off-screen - only for the audience to hear his panicked screams while his blood fills the nearby creek.
Ken Wheatley From Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
While Roland from The Lost World had some honor, Wheatley can be considered his dark counterpart, as he hunts like a coward, pulling teeth from captured dinosaurs for his necklace, nearly causing the death of Owen Grady, and does it all for just a paycheck. It's clear that this character is only meant to be hated.
This leads to one of the more entertaining kills in the franchise when he attempts to rip the tooth of the unstable Indoraptor that plays possum to lead him into a trap. After having his arm ripped off by the Indoraptor in a surprisingly bloodless fashion, audiences rooted for the hybrid to finish the job, which it gladly obliged.
The Allosaurus From Battle At Big Rock
Taking place after the events of Fallen Kingdom, this short film directed by Colin Trevorrow surprised fans of the Jurassic franchise. It provided a short but delightful story about a family surviving an encounter with several dinosaurs in their camper trailer.
Continuing to embrace the horror side of these prehistoric clones, the fully grown Allosaurus that attacks the family managed to leave an impact in less than 10 minutes, which is very impressive. If this short is meant to give a taste of what came from Jurassic World: Dominion.
Dr. Henry Wu From The Jurassic World Movies
After a brief appearance in Jurassic Park, this character has actually been working in secret behind the scenes and in between movies to become a mad scientist that rivals the likes of Dr. Frankenstein. Unlike Hoskins, however, Wu actually brings up a good point about humans being accustomed to being the cat in a 'cat eats canary' world.
The twist of Wu being the villain and creator of hybrids like the Indominus Rex and the Indoraptor was surprising at first, but once fans read the expanded canon not shown in the movies, his character has become a standout. He even finds redemption with his final appearance in Jurassic World: Dominion, making him one of the only villains to have a character arc.
The Feral Raptors From The Lost World: Jurassic Park
These raptors seemed to be absent through most of the movie until the heroes and the hunters reach the long grassy fields. These territorial beasts pick off the humans quicker than Jason Voorhees performing brutal kills on camp counselors.
After that, it becomes a very intense cat and mouse game through an InGen village, with the pack going after each hero through different buildings. Other than one raptor's demise being a little silly, these more wild and ferocious raptors kept the horror from the first film while standing out from the first raptor pack.
Dennis Nedry From Jurassic Park
Without this villain, audiences never would have experienced the brilliant adventure that takes the heroes across Isla Nublar to face many dinosaur threats. All of this is because of a greedy slob who wouldn't take no for an answer.
Wayne Knight's devious character in Jurassic Park may not be imposing, but much like Wheatley, Dennis Nedry is a man with no redeeming qualities to him whatsoever. From the moment he appears to his glorious encounter with the deadly Dilophosaurus, audiences were given a satisfying death scene for him.
The Giganotosaurus From Jurassic World: Dominion
Getting back to actual dinosaurs instead of hybridized monsters, the Giganotosaurus was set up to be the biggest dinosaur villain to close the franchise with. There was even a prologue for Dominion dedicated to showing that the Giga and the Rex were rivals during the prehistoric age.
Unfortunately, while the Giganotosaurus does deliver on some memorable moments and a terrific design, it only has a few minutes of screentime at the most. If there was more focus on the dinosaur horror aspect, the Giga could have been one of the best but instead, it lacks in comparison to other dinosaurs.
The Therizinosaurus From Jurassic World: Dominion
With Freddy Krueger-like claws, the Therizinosaurus provides one of the scarier sequences in Jurassic World: Dominion. Due to its blind nature, it hunts by sound so it stalks for any sound leading to Claire having to sneak and crawl through the jungle and even hide underwater to avoid detection.
The Therizinosaurus is a deadly creature, able to butcher a deer with one swipe of its claws. It even becomes an apex predator by assisting Rexy in the defeat of the Giganotosaurus. Combined with a design that is both scary and beautiful, this creature was a solid new addition to the franchise's final chapter.
The Dilophosaurus From Jurassic Park And Jurassic World: Dominion
Technically, the Dilophosaurus is not a villain but an animal acting properly to something in its territory. However, the scene featuring the dinosaur is famous for being one of the most horrific scenes in the franchise that the Dilophosaurus can count as a villain.
The poison-spitting Dilophosaurus became famous for killing Dennis Nedry in its iconic scene. It warranted fans wanting to see it make a return which finally came to fruition with Jurassic World: Dominion. There, the pack of Dilos was more villainous as they surrounded and went after Claire Dearing.
The Big One And Her Pack From Jurassic Park
The first dinosaur to kill someone in the franchise was the newest yet most cunning creature to be transferred into the park. Simply nicknamed 'The Big One,' this raptor is proven to be fearsome just from Robert Muldoon's words about her killing most of the pack and making the survivors her betas.
Providing some of the scariest moments from the iconic first film, these raptors are the reason why some people are afraid of kitchens. Fans know this pack of hunters was effective as villains when the movie made them happy to see the other main dinosaur threat of the movie save the day.