T-Rex

The T-Rex is an enemy from Super Mario Odyssey that can be controlled by Cappy. It is based off of the real and extinct.

One T-Rex can be found sleeping in the Cascade Kingdom, as well as a second one sleeping in an optional sub-area. A hostile T-Rex wearing a fedora can be found patrolling a brown path around a large tree in the Deep Woods section of the Wooded Kingdom, and one wearing aviator goggles can be found in another bonus area within the Metro Kingdom. The ones in the Cascade and Wooded Kingdoms can be captured, though the latter requires being lured into ramming into a rock or other hard surface, knocking its hat off and stunning it. Unlike the other captures, they can only be controlled for a limited time, due to Cappy requiring a lot of effort to keep such a large creature captured. Once the time expires, sleeping T-Rexes disappear and go back to their original point. However, this can be circumnavigated by releasing them and recapturing them quickly. The one in the Metro Kingdom exists solely for a Scooter-based chase sequence, and eventually falls into a pit at the end.

According to Kenta Motokura, the director of Super Mario Odyssey, the T-Rex's realistic design was influenced by Super Mario World, another game where Mario is alongside dinosaurs. The development team wanted to include a dinosaur never seen in a Mario game before in hopes of surprising the player, causing the developers to steer away from the more cartoonish and caricatured dinosaur designs used in Super Mario World.

Trivia

 * President Koopa in the Super Mario Bros. film had evolved from a T-Rex, and appears as an actual T-Rex late in the film.
 * Concept art for the film reveals that Yoshi was going to be a young T-Rex at one point in development.
 * In a My Nintendo-exclusive poll conducted during E3 2017, the T-Rex was voted the top enemy that account owners wanted to capture and play as, well above the Goomba, Bullet Bill, Hammer Bro, Chain Chomp, and Cheep Cheep also part of the poll.
 * In an interview with Game Informer, Shigeru Miyamoto likened Mario's ability to capture and control a T-Rex in Super Mario Odyssey to riding Yoshi.
 * Despite Motokura's intention to include a realistic and believable dinosaur in Super Mario Odyssey, the T-Rex's design does not reflect the current scientific understanding as to what Tyrannosaurus rex most likely looked like. Prominent differences include the exposed teeth, complete lack of feathers, and the ability to roar.