History WesternAnimation / Primal2019

Originally billed as a limited series, ''Primal'' follows Spear, a caveman at "the dawn of evolution," and Fang, a tyrannosaur on the brink of extinction. Bonded by similar tragedy, the duo form an unlikely friendship that becomes their only mutual hope of survival in a violent, primordial world.

The series [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KFyVu514DY was announced]] on May 14th, 2019. The first half of Season 1 ran from October 7th to October 11th, 2019 (the first four episodes later being repackaged into a theatrical film entitled ''Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal — Tales of Savagery''), while the second half aired from October 4th to November 1st, 2020. Season 2 began airing on July 21st, 2022 and wrapped up in September 15th the same year. The trailer for the second season can be [[https://youtu.be/UpPNDoKP6d4 viewed here.]]

* AnachronismStew: Beyond the obvious [[OneMillionBC "cavemen and dinosaurs coexisting"]], the Season 1 finale and Season 2 add Vikings, Egyptians, Huns, Knights Templar, and Romans to the temporal mix. In "The Primal Theory", which seems to take place during the Victorian Era, the Historical Society has a taxidermied ''Smilodon'', though it's unclear if it's the genuine article or a replica.

** [[OneMillionBC Mesozoic reptiles are shown living alongside Cenozoic mammals.]]

** The first three episodes, despite all the ArtisticLicensePaleontology (creatures from vastly different time periods [[OneMillionBC living together]] and having inaccurate size or features), are relatively grounded in reality. The fourth episode introduces absolutely unrealistic animals such as [[BatOutOfHell monstrous bats]] and a GiantSpider [[spoiler:who seems to rule over the bats]], and "Rage of the Ape Men" features explicit magic (or mutagenic science) [[spoiler:in the form of a SuperSerum that increases size and aggression]].

* WhamEpisode: the Season 1 finale, "Slave of the Scorpion," reveals that [[spoiler:there's a more advanced, Bronze Age-type civilization somewhere across the sea which seems to mostly be unaware of the main setting of ''Primal'', and is populated by Anatomically Modern Humans in contrast to the Neanderthal-like cavemen which have featured up to this point. They have metal tools and weapons, religion, ships, a genuine language rather than whoops and grunts, and hints at a proper BigBad]]. Just when you thought this was a simple OneMillionBC setting....

* OneMillionBC: The show's setting is "[[ArtisticLicenseBiology the dawn of evolution]]". Cenozoic creatures like cavemen, ape-men and a woolly mammoths exists alongside Mesozoic animals such as non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs, as well as fantasy creatures like giant spiders. [[spoiler:However, the end of the Season 1-finale confirms the existence of civilized humans in the setting, suggesting that other tropes like LostWorld or MedievalPrehistory are in play here...]]

** Season 2 episode 4: Both Spear and Fang take a fair number of slices and stabs from spears, arrows, and axes, yet are no worse for wear-- not even showing battle wounds-- just mere scenes later during the very same battle. "Vidarr" starts off with Spear and Fang having their wounds treated in the aftermath.
* Both Spear and Fang are hit by the flames of the possessed Chieftain. Spear is grievously wounded but is able to still charge his foe. Fang is left screaming but (presumably because of her thicker hide) escapes permanent injury.

* WorldOfBadass: The show is set in a DeathWorld where every creature has to fight for survival. The two protagonists, Spear and Fang, are a muscle-bound caveman and a ''[[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' who constantly battle with various {{Prehistoric Monster}}s in the first season, {{Barbarian Tribe}}s and warmongering civilizations in the second season. Even the more unassuming-looking characters, such as Mira, Eldar or the Egyptian Queen, are shown to be competent fighters.

* AmplifiedAnimalAptitude: Many animals, such as Fang and the mammoths, are clearly sentient, capable of empathy, mourning, and simplistic interspecies communication.

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: In "The Collosaeus", Ima [[spoiler:threatens to destroy Fang's remaining eggs to coerce Spear and Fang to fight as slave warriors. The Chieftain similarly received one from the The Scorpion, continue your revenge and free your son’s soul]].

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted: [[spoiler:When Spear duels a Viking, he can't cut through the Viking's armor at all.]]

* LavaPit: Fang and Spear get chased into a crusted over, but still definitely active, volcanic caldera by a zombie titanosaur in the seventh episode, and the spraying lava acts more like boiling water than molten rock, with high fluidity, only steam coming out, no convection, and only singing the characters when it sprays on them.

** The show depicts many overly aggressive animals fighting to the death when in reality the opposite is true. Animals in real life will actively avoid fights because even if they win any major injury will almost certainly kill them, due to doctors being a modern human thing and vets for pets, farm and zoo animals for the most part.

* HumansAreBastards: Aside from Spear, [[spoiler:Mira, the albinos, the celtic tribe, Kamau's tribe and Mira's tribe]]. All humans or human-like creatures, namely [[spoiler:the ape-men, the coven, the vikings, and the Egyptian sea-people,]] have been cruel and evil antagonists who attacked the main characters without provocation.

* HumansAreBastards: Aside from Spear, [[spoiler:Mira, the albinos and the celtic tribe]]. All humans or human-like creatures, namely [[spoiler:the ape-men, the coven, the vikings, and the Egyptian sea-people,]] have been cruel and evil antagonists who attacked the main characters without provocation.
* HumanSubspecies: There are several human or humanoid primate species in this world. The main one is of course Spear, a neanderthal-like human. There is also a group of witches which appear to be a distinct species, much shorter, all appearing aged with black eyes. Heading towards the more ape-like end of the spectrum, we have a species of skinny, white haired humanoids with ape like proportions, a society of highly intelligent ape-men and seeming human-ape hybrids who wield tools. [[spoiler:The finale introduces a female ''Homo sapiens'', Mira. She is taller than Spear and speaks a form of Arabic]].

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: In a rare non-video game example, [[spoiler: "The Primal Theory" revolves around a group of upper class gentlemen (including a UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin stand-in) in 19th century England facing off against an inhumanly strong asylum escapee who breaks into their manor.]] Its only link to the main story is thematic.

** At the end of "Shadows of Fate", the scenes pans to [[spoiler: a bird making a nest.]]

* HumansAreBastards: Aside from Spear,[[spoiler: Mira, the albinos and the celtic tribe]]. All humans or human-like creatures [[spoiler: (the ape-men, the coven, the vikings, and the Egyptian sea-people)]] have been cruel and evil antagonists who attacked the main characters without provocation.

** While many creatures are somewhat plausible, given the somewhat fantastical prehistoric setting the show takes place in, beings like the infected dinosaurs or the Coven are just outright otherworldly and supernatural. Appropriately, Spear and Fang have ''zero'' idea of how to deal with these sorts of opponents. The one time they actually ''do'' fight such a supernatural opponent, in the Season 2 finale, [[spoiler: it apparently costs Spear his life]].

* SecondLove:[[spoiler: Spear and Mira become this to each other--Spear had lost his mate (along with their children) in the very first episode of the series while "Echoes of Eternity" reveals that Mira had lost her lover in the Viking-attack that initially enslaved her (which is also what ultimately led to her meeting Spear in the first place). The epilogue of "Echoes or Eternity" reveals that Mira ends up bearing Spear at least one child.]]

* ShowDontTell: EnforcedTrope, since the show has almost no dialogue; most communication is grunts and roars, and on the rare occasions that characters actually speak it's almost consistently in untranslated foreign languages and still kept to a minimum. The longest string of dialogue in the first season is accompanied by the character Mira drawing simple pictures in the dirt while talking to Spear, who obviously can't understand the words themselves, and by the end Spear (and the audience) have a good idea of what they're trying to get across. This is averted in "The Primal Theory", though, a FormulaBreakingEpisode which is set in [[spoiler: England in 1890 and all of the characters with the exception of the antagonistic madman and an off-screen extra speak full dialogue in modern, fully-intelligible English]].

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Subverted in Red Mist where the village's defenders had children and wives, one of whom having a child strapped to her chest much to Spear's horror [[spoiler: until he went back into rampage after being attacked. Even then, he tried his best not to kill a single child and show distraught when he was accidentally killed. The entire episode ended with the returning Chief and his son mourning the death--especially a single child who turned out to be his youngest son--and swearing vengeance against Spear and Fang]].

* StockDinosaurs: While the series indulges in them pretty regularly--one of the central characters is a ''Tyrannosaurus'', after all--stock dinosaurs are actually surprisingly rare. ''Tyrannosaurus'', as mentioned before, is represented with the main character of Fang, woolly mammoths are very important to "A Cold Death", standard raptors appear in "Terror Under the Blood Moon", and there are sauropods in "Plague of Madness", (admittedly, they're the decidedly non-stock ''Argentinosaurus'') and ceratopsians and a sabre-toothed cat in "The Night Feeder", but that's about it, really. Basically everything else is a more obscure creature or outright fantastical -- the likes of giant bats, ape-men, and witches -- and, altogether, take up more of the series' total screentime and plot than typical dinosaurs. Thus far, Season 2 has added megalodon, ''Megaloceros'', (aka the Irish elk) and what are probably cave bears to the show's stock prehistoric animals.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: [[spoiler:"Rage of the Ape-Men" ends with Fang grievously wounded and on the verge of death, leaving her fate ambiguous. The second half of the season starts off with Spear building a makeshift sled and carrying her to a remote location to let her heal]].
** [[spoiler:"Slave of the Scorpion" ends with Spear and Fang's new ''Homo sapiens'' friend, Mira, being captured by pirates and carried back into slavery while all they can do is watch impotently from the beach]].

* SeldomSeenSpecies: Credit being due where it is, some obscure fossil animals figure into the story:
** The giant crocodile may be ''Deinosuchus''.
** The giant aquatic snakes can be either ''Titanoboa'' or ''Palaeophis'' (their large size fits the former whereas their aquatic habits fit the latter).
** This might be the only animated work to feature ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syndyoceras Syndyoceras]]'' (even if it's a [[AnimalsNotToScale somewhat oversized]] one).
** The giant bats look like ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necromantis Necromantis]]'' (although it was ''nowhere'' near the size of the bats in the show). ''Elasmotherium'', ''Synthetoceras'', a thylacine and what appears to be a chalicothere are among the dead animals in the giant spider's nest.
** The wild dogs resemble borophagines, and the swarm of arthropods resemble euthycarcinoids.
** The sauropods are apparently supposed to be ''Argentinosaurus''.
** The herd of ceratopsids somewhat resemble ''Medusaceratops''.
** The season one finale features ''Liopleurodon'', ''Meganeura'', ''Tapejara'', ''Anzu'', and ''Kulindadromeus''.
** The Season 2 premier, "Sea of Despair", features appearances by what appear to be ''Archelon, Tropeognathus'', and an ambiguous placoderm fish.
** The second episode of Season 2 has an ''Arsinoitherium'' and what looks like a ''Volaticotherium''.
** "Dawn of Man" has an appearance by what appear to be ''Bison latifrons'', the long-horned bison.
** In "The Colossaeus Part 1", the Babylonian-styled soldiers ride on WarElephants which appear to be ''Palaeoloxodon namadicus'', the Asian straight-tusked elephant.

* BigBad: The Viking Chieftain and Ima.

While Tartakovsky has previously experimented with stories [[SilenceIsGolden light on dialogue]] in his previous shows, this series notably [[MimeAndMusicOnlyCartoon does not have any dialogue whatsoever]], the only human vocalizations being [[{{Angrish}} animalistic grunts and yells]] (this changes in the second season, however, which introduces actual dialogue). At the time of its debut, it was also notable for being one of the few adult animated dramas produced in the United States, and is currently the only one being produced for linear television as opposed to streaming.

While Tartakovsky's has previously experimented with stories [[SilenceIsGolden light on dialogue]] in his previous shows, this series notably [[MimeAndMusicOnlyCartoon does not have any dialogue whatsoever]], the only human vocalizations being [[{{Angrish}} animalistic grunts and yells]] (this changes in the second season, however, which introduces actual dialogue). At the time of its debut, it was also notable for being one of the few adult animated dramas produced in the United States, and is currently the only one being produced for linear television as opposed to streaming.

* DraggedOffToHell: [[spoiler:The Chieftan is met with Valkyries when he dies, but is dragged to the underworld just as he began to ascend. He swears loyalty to a demon and is transformed into a fiery juggernaut to get his revenge on Spear. When he finally battles with Spear, apparently he didn't do a good enough job to kill Spear fast enough -- or, because he failed to kill Fang as well. Whatever the case, he is dragged of by a giant fist one last time before he has a chance to continue his attack]].

* AllThereInTheManual: Since the show has no dialogue, the names of the characters are only known from the episode titles and supplementary materials. This goes for various species represented, too--the sauropods featured in "Plague of Madness" are obviously never identified by any scientific name on-screen but are supposed to be ''Argentinosaurus''; many other species featured are similarly identified out-of-universe as very specific animals rather than just being ambiguous cartoon dinosaurs.

* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:It's left vague in the season 2 finale if Spear died of the wounds he sustained fighting the empowered Chieftain. He doesn't show up in the DistantEpilogue, but that could just mean that he's doing something elsewhere.]]

* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: In "The Collosaeus", the High Priestess [[spoiler:threatens to destroy Fang's remaining eggs to coerce Spear and Fang to fight as slave warriors]].

* BigBad: The Viking Chieftain.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Spear and Fang's story ends with Spear sustaining seemingly mortal wounds fighting an empowered Viking Chieftain. However, by doing so, he saves Fang, Mira, and their new family. Years later, it's revealed that Fang's new children have survived into adulthood alongside their mother and that Spear and Mira had conceived a child of their own after Spear's battle. [[AmbiguousSituation It's unclear if Spear survived said battle.]]]]

** We see Spear's child swallowed whole by a tyrannosaur, only for the blood to leak out of its mouth and over its jaw. This scene would be mirrored later on, involving Fang's children.
** During the fight with the tyrannosaur pack, Fang rips the snout off of one. Spear dislocate's anothers ankle before smashing its horn and ripping out a tooth to stab it with. The alpha is killed with a spear to the brain, causing blood to fill its eye.
** The kills in episode 2 are milder but include beheading a giant snake.
** Spear and Fang bring down an elderly mammoth with Spear repeatedly bashing its eye with a rock before caving in its skull.
** Episode 4 has bats being stabbed, poke and bisected continuously. It also features a giant spider being stabbed through the brain.
** Episode 5 ''really'' gets into the gore. It features a fight to the death between five gorilla-men, [[spoiler:the winner of said fight drinking a potion that turns him into a giant and giving a pummeling to Fang, then Spear also drinking that potion, tearing off the gorilla-champion's arm and beating him to a pulp with it, then slaughtering hundreds of ape-men in the most gruesome way.]]
** Episode 6 is also no slouch when it comes to gore. It shows Spear killing a swarm of giant arthropods, [[spoiler:and then Spear and Fang slaughtering an entire pack of wild dogs that tried to eat them.]]
** Episode 7 has a zombified sauropod slaughtering its entire herd, trampling and biting them to death.
** Episode 9 has Spear coming across the carcass of the Night Feeder's first known victim, a saber-toothed cat reduced to a skull, some ribs, and a pile of mutilated flesh and blood. It was destroyed so quickly that its stance, lying on its back, is still plainly visible.
** Episode 10 Fang and Spear give a group of ape-men [[spoiler:who had kidnapped Mira,]] a well deserved CurbStompBattle, crushing them and tearing them to shreds.

* DraggedOffToHell: [[spoiler:The Chieftan is met with Valkyries when he dies, but is dragged to the underworld just as he began to ascend. He swears loyalty to a demon and is transformed into a fiery juggernaut to get his revenge on Spear. When he finally battles with Spear, apparently he didn't do a good enough job to kill Spear fast enough -- or, if he did kill Spear, he failed to kill Fang, as well. Whatever the case, he is dragged of by a giant fist one last time before he has a chance to continue his attack]].

** Fang, the sympathetic ''Tyrannosaurus'', when shown side-by-side with the human Spear, appears to be around 8 meters long, which is relatively small for her species. The antagonistic (although more "predatory" than "evil") horned tyrannosaurs are slightly bigger [[spoiler:and their leader is humongous with a body length between 20 and 30 meters]].

** [[spoiler:When Mira draws out her former captors, most are drawn as simple stick men save their leader, who's drawn with a full body and sword along with HornsOfBarbarism. Given what she implies, this guy is probably the worst of an already bad bunch]].

* WeakButSkilled: Spear is an ordinary human and is able to take on dinosaurs, mammoths, and other dangerous creatures due to his tool making and cunning.

** While many creatures are somewhat plausible, given the somewhat fantastical prehistoric setting the show takes place in, beings like the infected dinosaurs or the Coven are just outright otherworldly and supernatural. Appropriately, Spear and Fang have ''zero'' idea of how to deal with these sorts of opponents.

* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Possibly. [[spoiler:Mira and Spear conceive a child while the latter is suffering hideous burn injuries and looking likely to die. It's left ambiguous whether he actually does, but this trope was clearly the plan.]]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to many previous works from Genndy [[note]]as far as recently in Season 5 of "WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack"[[/note]]. ''Primal'' is the darkest of his projects to date, taking place in a primordial DeathWorld, being [[BloodierAndGorier excessively gory]], and centering around the tragedy of a man losing his family (including his children).

* DraggedOffToHell: [[spoiler:The Chieftan is met with Valkyries when he dies, but is dragged to the underworld just as he begin to ascend. He swears loyalty to a demon and is transformed into a fire juggernaut to get his revenge on Spear. When he finally battles with Spear, apparently he didn't do a good enough job to kill Spear fast enough -- or, if he did kill Spear, he failed to kill Fang, as well. Whatever the case, he is dragged of by a giant fist one last time before he has a chance to continue his attack]].

* [[spoiler:AmbiguousEnding]]