Dr. Spike Taylor (古代剣竜博士 Kenryuu Kodai) is Max's father and is a paleontologist. He is a very good friend of Dr. Owen. In the DS Game and Arcade, he occasionally goes by the alter ego of DinoMan.
He is voiced by Naoya Uchida (Japanese) and David Wills (English).
Character Design
Dr. Taylor has spiky brown hair and purple eyes (much like his son Max). He wears a gold shirt with rolled-up cuffs, with a brown vest over it as well as blue jeans. He also has a cowboy hat. Dr. Taylor is also rather muscular.
Name
Dr. Taylor's given name in Japanese, Kenryuu (剣竜) is the same term for the Stegosaur family (in Japanese, the kanji used are saber + dinosaur).[1] His last name, Kodai (古代), means "Ancient."
Dr. Taylor's English given name, Spike, is basically an allusion towards "Spiketail," a common term used for dinosaurs with spiky tails, namely the Stegosaurs.
Personality
Dr. Taylor is very energetic and often embarrasses Max (to be honest, Max gets embarrassed by both his parents), although his wife, Aki, doesn't seem to mind. He often gets a bad case of dramatization, and his feelings often embarrass the D-Team whenever he is around them. He's very good at playing the harmonica, as seen in episode 27. He likes to lasso, but when he throws, it never hits the intended target; once, he even lassoed Zoe.
Despite being a married man, he occasionally tries to flirt with other women, earning him the wrath of his wife. At times, he also displays highly unusual tastes in food, eating Chomp's dog food and simply remarked that "it could use a little salt", and later eating a bag of "Numb Tongue" Leaves (by accident).
Anime
In the first episode, after Max obtains Chomp, Spike tells him to keep this a secret from his mom. This leads Aki to believe that Chomp, Ace and Paris are strange-looking dogs for the majority of the first season.
DS Game
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DinoMan in the DS Game
In the DS Game, Dr. Taylor disguises himself as DinoMan. He tells Max and his friends that he's a mysterious fossil hunter that goes around the world digging up dinosaur fossils, but the kids already know that it's Spike due to his voice and clothing. Even though they know it's him, he denies the fact of even knowing the D-Team in anyway, so the kids go along with it, even though Max is embarrassed of seeing his dad as a dinosaur super hero.
Dinosaurs
In the anime, Spike never owned a dinosaur, thus, always wanted one. At first, he almost obtained Tank's card, but Terry got in his way; he wouldn't have been able to use it, either, since the Alpha Gang had the Earth stone. Through the most of it he made several attempts to go with the D-Team in order to get his own dinosaur (e.g. trying to lasso an Ankylosaurus). Later, when Seth unleashed his Black Tyrannosaurus, Spike was able to obtain Dr. Z's Alpha Scanner and aided the others with Saurophaganax and Terry.
In the arcade game he disguises himself as DinoMan and tests the player's skills. He battles the player with a Tyrannosaurus, Spinosaurus, Styracosaurus, Saichania, Parasaurolophus, and Carnotaurus (picking 4 of the 6 randomly). After the player defeat these dinosaurs, he claims that he had underestimated the player's strength and decides to stop holding back, summoning a Pachycephalosaurus or Deinonychus. Once the player wins, he or she receives the Gold/Silver/Bronze Mark of DinoMan (Depending on player performance).
It appears that Dr. Taylor would have been associated with the Fire and Earth Elements since there were several hints implying that in the anime and even in the arcade game itself (e.g. most of the Earth and Fire Dinosaur/Move Cards).
Statistics
TCG Lores
- (DKAA) Until the start of your next turn, your opponent's Character loses all abilities. Search your deck for a Super Move and put it into your hand. (Shuffle your deck after you search it.)
- (DKBD) During the next battle this turn, both battling Dinosaurs have 1 less life. Search your deck for a Move card and put it into your hand. (Shuffle your deck after you search it.)
Trivia
- In the Japanese version of Prehistory in the Making, Dr. Taylor actually calls Ursula an "Old Lady".
- In the DS game, Dr. Taylor's DinoMan outfit differs in from the Arcade Game, as he is missing a torn red scarf.
- Dr. Taylor is the loudest snorer.
- He ranked 54 in the Dinosaur King Ranker.
- Even though he practices, Dr. Taylor still can't get a good target with his lasso. He stated in Rhino or Dino? that he lassoed himself because he had big feet.
- It appears that during the arcade game dinosaur battles, Dr. Taylor is a skilled opponent, as the characters (like Rex) say that he is quite powerful.
- This can be further supported by his alter ego Dinoman's fighting skills in the DS and arcade game.
- Dr. Taylor resembles Indiana Jones: Three things they have in common are their outfits, the lasso, and the theme song. It is possible that he is strongly based on him.
- Dr. Taylor's appearance might also be a parody of Robert T. Bakker, an actual paleontologist who also sports a unkempt beard, shares some of Dr. Taylor's enthusiastic personality, and carries a signature hat.
Gallery
References
| p · e · t | Main Characters | |
| D-Team: | Max Taylor · Rex Owen · Zoe Drake · Spike Taylor · Reese Drake | |
| Alpha Gang: | Dr. Z · Ursula · Zander · Ed · Rod · Laura · Seth (former) · Helga | |
| Spectral Space Pirates: | Spectre · Gabbro · Foolscap · Shear · Seth (former) · Goma | |