History WebVideo / TierZoo

* DumbMuscle: Bovines are made out to be these, having huge amounts of health and high attack, but have low enough intelligence to be easily intimidated, distracted, or tricked into a trap, although it's just enough to allow herding behavior.

** In "Are Rhinos OP?", it's repeatedly pointed out that the rhino's perineum (the area between the anus and genitals) is its weak spot, and several videos show it being attacked right there.

* GroinAttack: While talking about the hyena's powerful bite force in "Top 3 Underrated Animals," we're treated to a shot of a hyena biting at a water buffalo's testicles. Ouch.

* [[CripplingOverspecialization/TierZoo Crippling Overspecialization]]

* CripplingOverspecialization: More often than not, this is one reason why an animal ends up low on the tier list.
** Tardigrades are extremely resistant to several types of damage in their hibernation state… which regular physical damage like crushing is ''not'' one of. Physical damage tends to be used by almost every player in the server, which means this supposedly NighInvulnerable state doesn't help much at all and contributes to them being a JokeCharacter.
** The Cheetah, despite being very fast, lacks in strength and defence. As such, one wrong move can get them [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted easily injured or even killed by their own prey]], and they have extremely high infant mortality rates. They have very low endurance, which isn't unusual for a predator their size, but is a more significant problem than it would be in a build focused on speed than strength or intelligence. Finally, thanks to always having their claws extended at all times to aid in running, they also get blunted over time, making their claws far less efficient as a weapon or climbing tool.
** The Poison Dart Frog is considered low-tier (revised to B-tier in a later video) despite having one of the deadliest toxins, since it specced almost all of its points into poison and coloration while still having the weaknesses of the low-tier amphibians. Poison ability also requires that it ''actually take a hit'' from an attacker, and due to its tiny size it would get killed very easily too.
** Most "Specialist" bears like the Panda, Sun, Sloth and Polar bear are lower on the tier list than "Generalist" bears such as the Brown and Black bear precisely for this reason. This makes the former four unable to have good matchups against other threats in their environment, while the latter two can easily adapt to most situations and have generally good matchups overall.
** Subverted by the crocodile. Its only method of attack is by biting, but its bite attack is so powerful that it doesn't really need anything else.
** The ''Tyrannosaurus rex '' was considered a B-Tier dinosaur partly because of this. It specced a huge amount into bite damage, allowing it to OneHitKill most dinosaurs and giving it the unique ability to crush open bones for marrow. However, this came at a sacrifice to its other offensive abilities, giving it useless tiny arms, and it also was [[MightyGlacier not particularly fast]] compared to other large therapods. This trope would hit ''T. Rex'' even harder if it was brought back from extinction into the current meta, putting it at only C-Tier. Its insanely high attack was important for large, durable prey during the Cretaceous, but in the modern day it would only be useful against a single prey in the elephant as most other present-day builds outran its slow speed.
** Subverted by the porcupine. Its design is entirely oriented around blocking attacks with its quills, at the expense of having low attack power, speed, and stealth, and mediocre intelligence. However, its quills are such a hilariously effective defence that it still manages to rank in S tier.
** Downplayed with the narwhal and beluga whale. They are considered the worst cetacean builds in the current meta because of their inability to survive outside of the Arctic, yet are still above-average among animal builds in general.
** Baleen Whales in general are a subversion. They can only farm krill with their baleen, which is useless against anything bigger. However, this one strategy is ''so effective'' against their very abundant prey that they don't need any other strategy to gain experience, and since they're too big to be threatened by anything other than humans, they rank in A tier.
** Specialist insects are mentioned as getting nerfed in the unannounced "Insect-pocalypse" balance patch, particularly the Monarch Butterfly due to its reliance on declining milkweed for access to the Poison perk.
** Downplayed by tortoises. They are considered B-tier due to having incredible defence but at the cost of extremely low mobility and intelligence. This makes them extremely well-protected from predators that rely on power, but intelligence-based builds can easily outplay them.
** Snails are considered bottom-tier due to putting all their points into a defensive shell, at the cost of abysmal mobility and power. Since they can neither flee an attacker nor launch an effective counter-attack, any predator bigger than the snail can just keep attacking with no penalty until they find a way to break through the shell. Cone snails avert this and rank in A-tier due to having an extremely potent venomous sting that allows them to actually fight back.
** Subverted by the electric eel. It put almost all its points into discharging electric shocks, giving up intelligence, mobility, and aesthetics in the process. However, since this discharge is highly effective both on offence and defence and is almost impossible to counter, the eel is still quite an effective build and ranks in high A-tier.
** The ocean sunfish has put most of its points into HP, becoming the largest bony fish build in the entire game. However, since they failed to spec into any actual combat moves or other strong abilities to complement their size, they're one of the worst fish builds in the game and their size mostly just makes them a larger target for predators and parasites.
** King Snakes are ''very'' effective against venomous snake builds thanks to venom resistance and their strategy of going for the head. This is all they are good at, however, as their matchups against builds that aren't venomous snakes are rather shaky.
** Anacondas are very durable and powerful constrictor snakes that [[GracefulInTheirElement excel in aquatic environments]] where their large size doesn't hamper their mobility. However, this large size and weight slows them on terrestrial environments and makes them less viable there, which is why they are only B-Tier.
** Eusocialism allows various hymenopterans to hyper-specialize into roles that they excel at, but are unable to perform other roles effectively. This is not a big issue since members of the colony that hyper-specialized in another role can easily cover for them.
** Dragonflies are considered the best fliers in the insect meta, with the highest top speed combined with the best mobility that makes them nigh impossible for pursuing predators to catch. However, it makes them easy prey for campers or any predator they fly too close to since they are easy to snatch out of the sky, and they are physically incapable of actually walking. It's downplayed in that dragonflies are considered A-tier; they're still very strong, but their weaknesses are glaring enough to keep them from flying with the best.

** Hymenopterans and Termites are individually weaker than most insects on their own. However, their Eusocialism allows the entire nest to cooperate together, building impressive structures and empires, {{Zerg Rush}}ing enemies several times their size with battle tactics, and control territory. This puts them at a higher S-tier spot than the beetles, which [[LightningBruiser excel at strength, offense, defense, speed and can fly]], but lack eusociality.

** While both hymenopterans and termites have the powerful Eusocial ability allowing them to beat out even the MasterOfAll beetles in the S-rank spot, the termites were ranked lower than hymenopterans because their abdomens were unprotected unlike the latter, who ''did'' have rear-facing weaponry in the form of stingers.

** While both hymenopterans and termites have the powerful Eusocial ability allowing them to beat out even the MasterOfAll beetles in the S-rank spot, the termites were ranked lower than hymenopterans because their abdomens were unprotected unlike the latter, who ''did'' have rear-facing weaponry.

** Hymenopterans and Termites are individually weaker than most insects on their own. However, their Eusocialism allows the entire hive to cooperate together, building impressive structures and empires, {{Zerg Rush}}ing enemies several times their size with battle tactics, and control territory. This puts them at a higher S-tier spot than the beetles, which [[LightningBruiser excel at strength, offense, defense, speed and can fly]], but lack eusociality.

** Pronghorns are fast but fragile and have ''much'' better stamina unlike Cheetahs. Their speed allows them to outrun just about every predator in their habitat. However, they're highly vulnerable to obstacles like barbed-wire fences or less open terrain like woodlands.

* ShoutOut: [=TierZoo=] frequently makes references to competitive video games such as ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'', ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'', and ''{{VideoGame/Overwatch}}''.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: While many featured animals are already common/iconic, some more obscure species like the tiger keelback (a D-tier, MasterOfNone snake build) are discussed as well.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Parrots are noted to have the "Syrinx Shriek" ability, an extremely loud cry that is used in intimidation. It's particularly useful in breaking an enemy's resolve to achieve a VictoryThroughIntimidation -- especially when more than one parrot joins in.

** Giraffes have long legs and a long neck which keeps their body away from the reach of most African Savannah predators, giving them surprisingly good matchups.

* HistoryRepeats: Due to its success in the marine server, [=TierZoo=] expects the marine iguana to follow the path of the ancestors of the OP ''Mosasaurus''.
* HitboxDissonance: The "Spacing" builds take advantage of this to do damage with horns and/or an EpicFlail of a tail while the player remains (relatively) safe. Grappler builds get around this by actually grabbing onto the head or tail, preventing them from moving said heavy parts around effectively.

** Black widow and brown recluse spiders are infamous for their deadly bites that potentially inflict necrosis, giving them massive clout among spider builds. However, this is caused by bacterial infection instead of the bite itself (which isn't lethal to most heavier builds),leaving players with nothing but an decent-at-best spider build that's generally outclassed.

*** Hadrosaurs were considered bottom tier since their main ability was to signal other dinosaurs of incoming danger, as most Mesozoic predators were big and lacked stealth. Several animals in the current day use stealth capability to hunt meaning that the hadrosaurs would not get a chance to signal for help.[[labelnote:note]]Though as noted under DanBrowned above, the enormous size that most hadrosaurs could reach (many of which absolutely dwarf modern herbivores, let alone modern predators) makes it hilariously unlikely for them to actually be successfully preyed upon by modern predators in the first place, especially when coupled with their herding behavior.[[/labelnote]]

* OvershadowedByAwesome: This is the reason why the African Cape Buffalo is only A-Tier despite being one of the most dangerous animals in the Savannah. While it is powerful, it's overshadowed by the Wildebeest (a deer build) which may not be as bulky but is much faster, allowing it to avoid the deadly attacks and ambushes much more often compared to the Cape Buffalo.

* DanBrowned: For the most part, the information presented in these videos is accurate. However, as with any show of this type, there's bound to be an occasional slip-up.
** The cheetah was placed in the F-tier in the Cat Tier List video because it lacks the physical strength to fight more powerful players trying to steal their kills, and has a staggeringly high noob death rate ([[http://www.sciencemag.org/news/1998/08/cheetahs-adapt-cub-deaths just 5% make it to late-game]]). It is [[http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/02/cheetahs-prosper-new-study-debunks-more-old-myths/ not true]], however, that cheetahs frequently lose their kills to lions or hyenas - they lose only about one kill for every ten made, can recoup such losses by simply hunting again, and can even kill jackals on occasion (which were listed as D-tier in the Dog Tier List). They're best played not as brawlers, but as high-mobility rogues who avoid losing kills simply by not making any when competitors are around. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Tierzoo/comments/7kkh3v/rethinking_cheetahs_competence_ignored/ This has been acknowledged by the creator on the Reddit,]] though he still views cheetahs as bottom-tier in terms of [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] due to their FragileSpeedster nature. An [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAbdZemOkiA updated video on Cheetahs]] does address these inaccuracies, straight-up mentioning that they avoid making kills when competitors are around.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbBMVa2A68s "Cat vs Dog - Best Support Class"]], Tierzoo argues that cats do nothing to actually support humans and are only tolerated because they infect humans with ''Toxoplasma gondii''. This completely ignored the fact that cats were domesticated to keep pests such as mice and rats from human territory and food stores, a role they performed very efficiently and still play in the modern age in some places. In addition, the effects of ''T. gondii'' on humans are heavily debated--though it's known to inhibit ''rodents' ''fear of cats, it's unclear that it makes ''humans'' think any differently of them at all--and not all cats carry the parasite. (Of course, it's pretty clear that he was also kind of trolling cat people in that video.)
** The Spider Tier List claims that social spider colonies are held back by having to deal with freeloaders. [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/27832974 "Freeloader" spiders are actually colony members who focus on rearing young rather than hunting, and colonies without them have been consistently shown to be less successful than those with them.]]
** In the Ice Age Tier List, chalicotheres are said to be a D-tier mimic of the giant ground sloths despite predating them -- the chalicotheres first appeared in the Oligocene and the sloths in the Pleistocene.
** A minor case, but in "Top 3 Underrated Animals", the stat chart for the hyena shows that the build has mediocre intelligence. Spotted hyenas are actually known for being one of the smartest carnivore builds, with complex social structures and excellent group-hunting capabilities. Researchers have even found that spotted hyenas are able to solve puzzle boxes containing food, and remember the solution when encountering more boxes in the future.
** He put nocturnal builds in his "Top 5 Worst Animal Designs" video, justifying it since "in most servers, the day lasts longer than the night." Except the day only lasts longer than the night during the spring and summer, and the night lasts longer than the day during the fall and winter. He later corrected this mistake in the comments section.
** He listed the presence of gut flora (which he framed as providing bonus XP) as yet another one of the reasons humans are a [[invoked]]GameBreaker. In actuality, gut flora are the rule rather than the exception in the animal kingdom.
** In "Are Humans OP?" [=TierZoo=] mentioned that sweating was unique to humans, even though there are other animals capable of doing so. This was rectified later in the video on horses, stating that humans aren't the only animals that can sweat, but they are still the best at doing so since the sweat-capable horses have body hair that impedes this capability.
** "The Time Earth Glitched" states that griffinflies quit the game at the end of the Carboniferous expansion, when they actually went extinct at the end of the Permian. Also, [=TierZoo=] suggests that if they were still playable today, they'd be able to hunt domestic dogs and cats, which is unlikely given they were actually smaller than modern-day crows.
** In the Rodent Tier List, rodents are described as one of the builds that survived the K-T extinction patch, when in fact they didn't evolve until later.
** He states that if hadrosaurs were brought back from extinction, they would be fairly low-tier as their lack of offensive or defensive abilities would make them vulnerable to attacks by modern predators. However, most hadrosaur species [[NormalFishInATinyPond were quite large by the standards of modern animals]] and lived in herds which would make most carnivores reluctant to go after them. There's also some fossil evidence that suggests that they were actually capable of defending themselves despite not having any obvious weapons, mainly through trampling, using their long muscular tail [[TailSlap as a bludgeon]], or plain old biting[[labelnote:note]]The largest of the hadrosaurs, Shantungosaurus, would have been capable of casually biting a lion in half[[/labelnote]].
** In "Are Cows OP?", he mentions that the bison is the largest extant wild bovid, although the actual largest is the Gaur.