History Main / DireBeast

** Oliphaunts are essentially dire elephants (the films take this last one to a far greater extreme than the books).

* In prehistoric times, there were some animals that were, in fact, larger than their modern relatives. These included dire wolves, entelodonts (relatives of modern hippos that looked like giant pigs with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily), ''Elasmotherium'' (an ice age rhino with one horn that grew to the size of an elephant), and ''Deinotherium'', ''Stegodon'' and several mammoth species (elephant relatives). None of them tended to be quite so large as modern media portrays them (dire wolves, for example only grew to about 110-175 lbs and were actually shorter at the shoulders than modern wolves), and needless to say they weren't covered in spikes, either.

* In the ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' expansion pack for the game ''{{TabletopGame/Munchkin}}'', one of the treasures is a "Dire Teddy Bear". [[http://www.worldofmunchkin.com/pennyarcade/cards.html]]

The dire animal: a larger, often more "prehistoric"-looking version of a normal animal. It's popular in fantasy works. After all, watching your hero fight a normal-sized rat is hardly impressive, but make it [[RodentsOfUnusualSize the size of a small dog]], now, ''that'' is amazing. A wolf might be threatening, but a sabre-toothed wolf the size of a bear... now, that's even more impressive.

* BrutalBirdOfPrey

* RocBirds

In addition, during the Cenozoic era, there were many relatives of modern mammals such as rhinos, sloths or hyenas, that were far larger than their extant cousins and could easily be seen as further inspiration to this trope.

Note that dire wolves did actually exist in real life, though they were only slightly larger than "normal" wolves, and disappointingly, recent DNA evidence has suggested that they were not actually a true wolf, nor were they closely related to gray wolves. [[note]]: Their skeletal structure is very similar to a gray wolf's though, which is probably of result of convergent evolution.[[/note]]

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Honest Hearts'' has Giant [[BearsAreBadNews Yao Guai]], whose cubs are the size of the normal Yao Guai from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. Other staple dire creatures include [[SlayingMantis Giant Mantises]](whose Zion Valley variety are even bigger), [[MascotMook Deathclaws]](dire chameleons), [[ScaryScorpions Radscorpions]], [[BeeAfraid Cazadores]](giant tarantula hawk wasps), [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent Geckos]], [[RodentOfUnusualSize Mole Rats]], and Bighorners(dire sheep).

* ''Megaloceros'' were dire deer. The largest species, ''Megaloceros giganteus'', vernacularly known as the Irish elk, was seven feet tall at the shoulders and had a twelve-foot antler span.

* Muskoxen look similar to cows, but they're actually an arctic-dwelling dire sheep or dire goat.

Note that dire wolves did actually exist in real life, though they were only slightly larger than "normal" wolves. In addition, during the Cenozoic era, there were many relatives of modern mammals such as rhinos, sloths or hyenas, that were far larger than their extant cousins and could easily be seen as further inspiration to this trope.

* Sadly no longer with us are the teratorns, close relatives of the modern New World vultures, that included some of the largest flying birds ever. Their name literally means "monster birds."

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* ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'': The Beorn Mountains are home to a number of giant versions of regular wild animals, including feldûnost (giant goats), shrrg (wolves the size of horses), nagra (boars who grow even larger than the shrrg), and urzhad (cave bears the size of houses). Feldûnost are raised as livestock by the dwarves, but the others are dangerous wild animals -- nagra are prized as challenging and dangerous prey by particularly braze dwarf hunters, while urzhad are stated to be dangerous foes even for dragons.

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[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

** The Dire Wolf is the symbol of house Stark. At adulthood, if the [[Series/GameOfThrones TV show]] is any indication, they grow to the size of a horse. They normally live north of the Wall but in the first book Ned Stark finds a dead female and a litter of pups in his lands on the south side and gives the pups to his six children.
** There's also aurochs, which are prehistoric cattle. They seem to be about as common as regular cows would be in real life. And mammoths.
* There are many examples of this found in ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'' web serial. They usually have a well defined ecological role though and aren't just supersized versions of normal animals.
* In ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'' "Quigs" take the form of some local wild fauna but are even more dangerous and single-minded to attack Bobby and his friends. On one territory they look like bears, another (undersea) they're sharks, on earth they're dogs, etc. On one territory where man isn't the dominant species they look human.
* Wargs in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' are perfect examples of dire wolves, even though they are never referred to as such. Also, [[VoluntaryShapeshifter Beorn]]'s animal form could be considered a dire bear, and oliphaunts are essentially dire elephants (the films take this last one to a far greater extreme than the books.) Giant eagles and giant spiders are also featured in the books; both of them are ancient spirits in animal form, the former AlwaysLawfulGood, often acting as TheCavalry in the most dire situations, and the latter AlwaysChaoticEvil.
* Literature/{{Discworld}}, according to ''The Compleat Discworld Atlas'', has Dire Yak. However, although they are noticeably larger than regular yak, they are so named because they come from the Dire Peninsula (which is separated from the main continent by the Music/DireStraits).

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}: Far Harbor'' plays this trope straight with its Fog Crawlers (Deathclaw-sized mantis shrimp), Gulpers (dire salamanders), and [[GiantEnemyCrab giant Hermit Crabs]], but averts it with the relatively normal Wolves.

* ''Gigantopithecus'' was a giant ape that lived in Asia between 9 million and 100,000 years ago. Its size has been estimated (from a handful of jawbones and teeth) as being over 9 feet tall and weighing over 1000 lbs. There is still some debate as to whether it walked on all fours as most apes (including its closest living relative, the orangutan) do, or [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti whether it walked upright]].

-->-- ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'', Describing [[GrimUpNorth Canada's]] [[BlatantLies furry friends]].

* The California condor is a giant vulture that evolved to scavenge on Pleistocene megafauna, and when they were around, it ranged all across what's now the United States. It's been described as an animal that's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWP_tFJmC40 lost in time]]."

Related to {{Whateversaurus}}. Subtrope of BiggerIsBetter. Compare AnimalsNotToScale, AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever when these beasts turn ''gigantic''.

* As with the literary version, the film adaptations of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' feature wargs and oliphants, basically Dire Wolves and Dire Elephants. The wargs in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]'' look less like wolves however and more like grotesquely mutated hyenas, while the oliphants are 50 feet tall and have six tusks, with the largest pair covered in spikes.

* Wargs in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' are perfect examples of dire wolves, even though they are never referred to as such. Also, [[VoluntaryShapeshifter Beorn]]'s animal form could be considered a dire bear, and oliphaunts are essentially dire elephants (the films take this last one to a far greater extreme than the books.)