Jurassic Park: The 20 Most Powerful Dinosaurs, Ranked

The Jurassic Park franchise now has six movies under its belt, providing audiences with a litany of choices when figuring out the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World and beyond. The Jurassic Park film series started off with a bang, seeing Michael Crichton’s spell-binding novel adapted to the screen with out-of-this-world special effects and a sense of wonder that would ensnare both kids and adults. The plot was simple yet fantastical, as John Hammond (David Attenborough) opened a theme park full of cloned dinosaurs that had far-reaching consequences when his creations broke loose.

The Jurassic Park franchise expanded with the new Jurassic World trilogy and the concept of powerful hybrid dinosaurs, such as the Indominus Rex. While some were wary of this plot thread, it brought new species to the franchise and quickly had viewers debating which was the strongest dinosaur. While the series is also defined by its outstanding human ensemble cast, the dinosaurs are the main event in Jurassic Park, and their depictions throughout have maintained an elevated status as modern feats in film and CGI technology since the franchise began.

20 Dreadnoughtus

Peaceful But Extremely Powerful

Though not the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World, Dreadnoughtus are still formidable. Dreadnoughtus are depicted in Jurassic World: Dominion, roaming the world in their majestic herds during the film’s opening sequence. The species makes its very first appearance in this third Jurassic World film, which is surprising given its status as one of the largest dinosaurs to ever exist.

Though Dreadnoughtus are relatively peaceful, they are incredibly powerful as a result of their size. Their stature lends great strength to their massive legs and necks, which could easily smash entire buildings if given the opportunity. They were once believed to be the heaviest dinosaur in existence (59 tons), but more recently that has been downgraded to only around 38 tons, which is still a very heavy and powerful creature. The term “dreadnought” was even used to describe wartime battleships.

19 Pachycephalosaurus

Characterized By Its Domed Head Made Of Bone

The Pachycephalosaurus isn’t the most powerful dinosaur in Jurassic Park, but it is the dinosaur that viewers first see in The Lost World, the sequel that’s heavily paralleled in Jurassic World: Dominion. This creature isn’t a carnivore, but this does not mean it isn’t just as powerful or scary as other species in the franchise. The Pachycephalosaurus is characterized by its domed head made of bone, which is used to combat predators (and others of the same species during mating season).

They shouldn’t be underestimated. Their headbutting defenses prove lethal against other dinosaurs, so it’s a wonder what they’d do to humans. They might be small, but they are very strong. They are the largest in their family group, often weighing nearly 990 pounds, and were about the length of a large car. With a strong body and a thick tail, they could defend themselves against other dinosaurs of a similar height.

18 Dimorphodon

A Terrifying Force When In Clusters

Meat-eating dinosaurs that stalk the land are scary enough, but those that can fly are even worse. The Dimorphodon isn’t technically the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World, but when in a cluster they become a terrifying force. To be strictly technical, Dimorophodons are pterosaurs, but there’s no time for semantics when an angry group of them is on the hunt.

When a Dimorphodon attacks a smaller target, it is almost always deadly as it has five longer teeth and 30 to 40 smaller pointed teeth in its mouth.

A real terror from above, it is their strength in numbers that makes them a real threat , as the aviary breakout sequence in Jurassic World so clearly showed. They laid havoc on anything in their wake. These dinosaurs had a small brain in a big head, a tall beak, and two types of teeth, which was rare for pterosaurs. When a Dimorphodon attacks a smaller target, it is almost always deadly as it has five longer teeth and 30 to 40 smaller pointed teeth in its mouth.

17 Triceratops

A Stronger, Larger, & Scarier Rhino

Triceratops are among the most recognizable dinosaurs. They are herbivores that have a lot of power and were introduced early on in the Jurassic Park franchise. This dinosaur has large horns to keep it safe from predators. The Triceratops have a large frill that could reach around three feet long. This, combined with those two large horns and a small beak, makes this animal intimidating to look at.

They are powerful in the way that a rhino is powerful but with even more strength and size to them. A Triceratops can lift animals and other objects weighing up to a ton by just using its head. If it attacks an enemy with its brow horns, it has the chance of inflicting fatal wounds on its target. To understand how powerful a Triceratops is, if it ends up in a battle with a T-Rex, a Triceratops is one of the dinosaurs that have the ability to kill one thanks to its horns being capable of skewering the other dinosaur.

16 Apatosaurus

Their Long Tails Are Powerful Weapons

Apatosaurus is one of the most powerful dinosaurs in Jurassic Park because of its huge size. These gentle animals tended to move in herds, which also gave them an element of strength and power. While a large carnivore could still attack them, their ability to use their long, strong tails to defend themselves makes them a force to be reckoned with. Much like the Triceratops, they were more than capable of fighting off their share of hungry predators.

They might not be as heavily armed, but their size and strength made them absolute units. They are comparable to elephants because they are massive but move slowly. However, their tail was extremely powerful, and it is said it was supersonic and fast enough to reach the speed of sound when whipped at something. These dinosaurs can also lift up to five tons and have been known to be able to kill an Allosaurus while being durable enough to survive gored attacks.

15 Dilophosaurus

A Dinosaur With Venomous Defense Mechanisms

This dinosaur isn’t as big as some other giants, but the Dilophosaurus is frightening in its own way and stands as one of the most powerful dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. The Dilophosaurus is close to the size of a large dog, and it can even seem harmless at first. However, it can also be rather deadly. Viewers will remember that the Dilophosaurus spits a tar-like venom on Dennis Nedry before moving in for the kill in the original Jurassic Park.

On top of the venom, the Dilophosaurus also has sharp claws and teeth and enhanced senses, allowing it to sneak up on an enemy and attack with deadly precision.

With its venomous defense mechanisms, the Dilophosaurus could hold its own against carnivorous predators. On top of the venom, the Dilophosaurus also has sharp claws and teeth and enhanced senses, allowing it to sneak up on an enemy and attack with deadly precision. While the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park seemed smaller, they could grow to the size of a brown bear and weigh as much as 880 pounds, making them also a very strong carnivore.

14 Pteranodon

Large With Almost Sword-Like Beaks

Pteranodon are flying dinosaurs that team up with Dimorphodons, which also escape from the aviary to cause havoc in Jurassic World. For this reason, they’re often high on the list of the strongest dinosaurs in Jurassic World. They also make a famous franchise appearance in the sequence inside the original aviary on Isla Sorna in the third Jurassic Park movie.

They’re not only large, with large and almost sword-like beaks, but they’re both agile and very aggressive. They go straight for humans when they see them, and they’ve been the cause of some brutal moments in the franchise. The dinosaurs are very fast, which means they can fly up on their target and use their legs to grip them and pull them into the sky. However, this only works on smaller targets as the Pteranodons do not weigh much. With that said, they can hit and run and do lots of damage that way.

13 Allosaurus

A Meat-Eating Therapod That Hunts In Packs

If anything, the Allosaurus certainly looks like the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World. Like the Velociraptors, the Allosaurus is a meat-eating therapod that hunts in packs, though they are only seen by their lonesome in the movies and don’t really see much action, so to speak. Nevertheless, they’re a frightening dinosaur who would be just as deadly up close as their more well-known relatives are.

In the Jurassic Park movies, even in their junior form, they’re shown to be even larger than Velociraptors, with an intimidating set of claws and teeth. Their bite force is similar to that of a wolf in today’s world, but they are about 10 times larger than an African lion. However, while the bite force hurts and can tear flesh, the real danger here comes with their speed and sharp, curved claws, which are what they use to kill most of their enemies and victims.

12 Ankylosaurus

Referred To As A “Living Tank”

Referred to in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom as a “living tank,” the Ankylosaurus fights closely for the spot of the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World and is the most heavily armored dinosaur seen in the franchise. With a thick, scaly, top side and a powerful tail that includes a club on the end of it, the Ankylosaurus uses this weapon to devastating effect.

However, an Ankylosaurus is one of the few dinosaurs that could actually kill a T-Rex.

With all the power and defensive plating, it may seem like a shoo-in for the most powerful dinosaur, but its underside is still relatively unprotected, meaning they’re in big trouble if it can be successfully flipped over. However, an Ankylosaurus is one of the few dinosaurs that could actually kill a T-Rex. There is little chance the T-Rex can bite through its armored hide, and its spiked tail could be used to possibly shatter a T-Rex’s bones with a well-aimed strike, likely killing it on the spot.

11 Pyroraptor

The Pyroraptor appears in Jurassic World: Dominion in an attempt to produce a more scientifically accurate dinosaur. Though it’s not the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World, it could be the most historically accurate, as the feathered dinosaur adheres to more recent scientific descriptions of what dinosaurs might have looked like, though its abilities are far more fictional than its design.

In Dominion, the Pyroraptor proves to be remarkably fast and, against all odds, a terrific swimmer. The beast confronts Owen and Kayla after their crash landing, quickly demonstrating how easily it could kill either one of them. In real life, the Pyroraptor was an extremely aggressive dinosaur and was smart enough to hide and attack without warning. They are also predatory creatures in both aquatic and terrestrial environments, making them deadly.

10 Carnotaurus

A Miniature T-Rex With Sharp Teeth

While the name makes it sound like the Carnotaurus would be the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World, it does fall short in a few ways. The Carnotaurus is another meat-eating dinosaur and resembles a small Tyrannosaurus Rex. Though nowhere near as large or powerful, its plentiful sharp teeth and wide bite make it more than a concern for any human. It also has rough scales covering its skin, allowing a measure of protection from attacks.

The formidable horns on either side of its head are also intimidating, and it’s shown holding its own against much heavier dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, even if it’s mostly bullied around by the bigger T. Rex. This is because the Carnotaurus is an apex predator who uses its forms to ram its prey, its head like a hatchet to slash into enemies, and a giant jaw full of teeth that can chomp down and swallow big chunks of meat.

9 Spinosaurus

Some Scientists Believe The Spinosaurus Was Semi-Aquatic

Spinosaurus was featured in Jurassic Park III, and while that movie isn’t regarded as one of the best in the franchise, the Spinosaurus itself is as scary as they come and one of the most powerful dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Clearly, the third installment wanted to branch out a little, introducing a central dinosaur menace that wasn’t the T. Rex. The Spinosaurus is bigger, for one thing, and has a large, intimidating spine on its back.

It’s also a carnivore, and scientists debate whether the creature was semi-aquatic, meaning it could wreak havoc on land and sea. This is one of the few dinosaurs who have a clear chance of killing a T-Rex, as it is one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of all time. It does not weigh as much as a T-Rex, but it is longer and more aggressive. Its mouth is like a crocodile with long and sharp teeth. It also has another advantage to a T-Rex, as it has long arms with sharp claws.

8 Indoraptor

It High Level Of Intelligence Is Its Most Dangerous Quality

A smaller and more weaponizable version of the Indominus Rex, the Indoraptor is meant to be a creature designed to scare people above anything else, and its high level of intelligence may be its most dangerous quality. While it could be considered one of the strongest dinosaurs in Jurassic World, several things about it don’t make sense, and its bloodlust seems to override all of its logic and problem-solving skills.

In the end, it gets itself cornered and taken out by a smaller Velociraptor that had just recovered from a serious gunshot wound. This is one of the fictional dinosaurs created for the Jurassic World franchise, so there is no telling how strong it is other than what was shown in the movies. In the films, it is smart, fast, agile, and strong, which makes it something hard to beat. But, as mentioned, a simple Raptor takes it down, so it falls short of other fictional dinosaurs and a few legendary real ones in the franchise.

7 Indominus Rex

The Genetically-Created Dinosaur Has Heat-Sensing Vision & Can Camouflage

Like the Indoraptor, the Indominus Rex is one of the Jurassic World franchise’s entirely fictional breeds of dinosaur, having been genetically engineered by scientists in the films to create an entirely new species. The Indominus Rex is the primary antagonist of the first Jurassic World film, making it the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World.

The marketers and scientists at Jurassic World were looking to make the attractions scarier with even smarter, deadlier dinosaurs, so the Indominus Rex was created. It has capabilities beyond its historical counterparts, like a camouflaging ability, heat-sensing vision, and opposable thumbs, making it an optimal predator. In the film, it was engineered to be larger and stronger than other dinosaurs, bigger than a T-Rex, and very fast. It was beaten, though, so it isn’t a perfect apex predator.

6 Velociraptors

Smart, Fast, Deadly, & Work Together In Packs

The Velociraptors are the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park that audiences have attached to the most, and the sequel films proved that Velociraptors could’ve been the strongest dinosaurs in Jurassic World. Velociraptors have played important and interesting roles; they are smart, deadly, fast, and work together in packs. In Jurassic Park: The Lost World, it’s made abundantly clear that Velociraptors can be much worse to come across than some bigger carnivores.

A Velociraptor killed the Indominus Rex, which shows where it stands compared to one of the strongest antagonistic dinosaurs in the franchise.

While the versions created for the movies are really more based on the Deinonychus (given their much bigger size), the Jurassic Park world calls them Velociraptors. They are clearly the strongest active dinosaurs in the films, as they are in every movie, and have shown to be fast, agile, extremely intelligent, and have a powerful bite. A Velociraptor killed the Indominus Rex, which shows where it stands compared to one of the strongest antagonistic dinosaurs in the franchise.

5 Atrociraptors

Engineered To Kill Whoever Their Master Wants

Continuing the Jurassic World trilogy’s precedent for introducing new species of dinosaurs, the Atrociraptors make their debut in Dominion and could be considered one of the most powerful dinosaurs in the franchise. Fully living up to their name, Atrociraptors are genetically engineered to kill whichever target their master sets their sights on, serving Soyona Santos during the Malta sequence of the film.

The Atrociraptors are truly the most dangerous breed of raptor in the Jurassic Park franchise, with increased speed, skill, strength, and intelligence, as well as a built-in mechanism that allows their master to select their next quarry. As the mostly unknown Atrociraptors (who originally lived in the Late Cretaceous era), the films make them one of the most dangerous dinosaurs thanks to their weaponized nature, and the film versions are likely more powerful than the real ones from history.

4 Therizinosaurus

Uses Its Smell & Hearing To Track Its Prey

The Therizinosaurus is responsible for one of the most harrowing scenes in Dominion, as it tracks Claire Dearing through a forest and nearly cements itself as the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World. The dinosaur is blind, using its senses of smell and hearing to track its prey, impaling on its long, sharp claws. The Therizinosaurus is truly a force to be reckoned with, capable of killing most other animals with a mere jab of its claws.

When teaming up with the T. Rex, it even proves capable of killing the mighty Giganotosaurus in the final act of the film. What makes this dinosaur so powerful and scary is its massive size and long arms with very long claws. This means it can strike harder and deadlier than even a T-Rex, although in a closer battle, the T-Rex is likely to still overpower it by limiting its ability to use its claws. But, if a Therizinosaurus gets in a good swing with its claws, a T-Rex could fall as easily as another other target.

3 Mosasaurus

The Real Mosasaurus Is Believed To Have Been 50 Feet Long

Perhaps best known for devouring Zara Young and a Pteranodon in one brutal gulp, this water-dwelling dinosaur was first shown in Jurassic World and comes close to being the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World. This ocean beast is so huge that it eats sharks as snacks and effortlessly took down the Indominus Rex in one incredible lunge.

The Mosasaurus is proof that the oceans during the time of dinosaurs would have been even scarier than land. The real-life Mosasaurus is thought to have been nearly 50 feet long and equipped with powerful jaws filled with teeth. This dinosaur is more of a crocodile-styled marine predator and smaller than the megalodon, which existed at the same time. The megalodon was deadlier and stronger, but the Mosasaurus could kill most underwater predators smaller than the megalodon.

2 Tyrannosaurus Rex

The Strongest Bite Force Among All Terrestrial Animals

The Tyrannosaurus Rex is truly the most iconic dinosaur in the Jurassic Park franchise and fights for the top spot as the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World. There is no other dinosaur that can compare to the excitement and fear of seeing that T-Rex in the first movie. While other dinosaurs might be able to beat the Tyrannosaurus in terms of size (however unlikely considering the T-Rex was known to have the strongest bite force among all terrestrial animals), it has the most iconic scenes in the Jurassic Park franchise.

It is also interesting to know that the real T-Rex is actually even more powerful than the ones in the Jurassic Park movies, with a bite force of almost 12,800 pounds. The T-Rex in the films seemed to go easier on its victims than the one in real life. It takes only one bite for a real-life T-Rex to kill anything that gets in its jaws, and that means any dinosaur that crosses its path would never last long in a battle.

1 Giganotosaurus

Asserts Dominance Over The T-Rex & The Therizinosaurus

As the main antagonist of Jurassic World: Dominion, the Giganotosaurus lives up to its name, wreaking havoc on the Biosyn reserve during the course of the film, and it is the strongest dinosaur in Jurassic World. The beast is portrayed as incredibly powerful, able to defeat most other predators that attempt to challenge its domain over the park.

The Giganotosaurus even manages to assert dominance over the T. Rex and the Therizinosaurus living in the same reserve, becoming the apex predator of the Jurassic Park universe. In the real world, the T-Rex was much more powerful than the Giganotosaurus, as it had a more powerful bite and more teeth. It would kill a Giganotosaurus in a fight with mostly ease. However, in the case of the movie franchise, the filmmaker chose to make the Giganotosaurus stronger, and the T-Rex needed help to win the fight.

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