Spike (The Land Before Time)
| The Land Before Time character | |
| Spike | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gender | Male |
| Color | Green |
| Colored eyes | Brown Magenta in original animation |
| Species | Stegosaurus |
| First appearance | The Land Before Time |
| Portrayer | Rob Paulsen (II-V, VII-present) Jeff Bennett (VI) |
Spike, the spike-tail (Stegosaurus), is a friend of Littlefoot in The Land Before Time film series. He is the 'mute' of the group, in that he almost never speaks. However, as his foster sister, Ducky says in The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists he can indeed speak though only when he wants to, though the only time has has truly "spoken" in the series is when Ducky is almost eaten and he shouts her name out.
When Spike was an egg, he was separated from his real parents. He was adopted as a brother by Ducky, a young swimmer (Parasaurolophus) and readily accepted by her parents and siblings as part of the family. This is despite the fact that most dinosaurs tend to show prejudice towards others not part of their species. Spike has a big appetite, constantly eating plants that are in his sight (including the plants that surrounded the nest he hatched in). In The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, when he and his friends first arrived at the Big Water, he actually swallowed some water that entered his mouth despite (for us) the fact that seawater tastes very salty. He drank salty water again (twice) in The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water.
In The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, his design was modified; he no longer had any small spikes on his tail and had more developed ridges along his back. This is presumably to make him easier for the animators to draw, but compared to Cera's modification, Spike's isn't as drastic.
Voice of Spike
In the original Land Before Time Spike is heard laughing after the gang saves Cera from attacking Pachycephalosaurus. It is unknown who actually provided his laugh; the voice actor was never credited. Spike was voiced by Rob Paulsen from the second film on, but he hardly said any dialogue at all. Also, Jeff Bennett, the voice of Petrie, replaced Rob Paulsen for the voice of Spike in The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (according to the end credits). In the Land Before Time TV Series episode Through the Eyes of a Spiketail, Spike's thoughts are heard as English while he sees the other dinosaurs speaking in grunts.
Trivia
- Spike's first words were "Duh... duh... DUCKY!!!!!" while Littlefoot, Cera, and Petrie yelled out for Ducky in The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists. Then in The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze, he shouted "Mama!" while drowning in the hot water. In The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses, he muttered to Petrie while telling Littlefoot that it's hard to tell why they're mad at him. It sounded like "Yeah. Uh-huh."
- In the Finnish version he speaks in the original film as well. He says a single word, exhausted from climbing but very clearly. He says "ruokaa" which means "food".
- In The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island, Spike mimicked Chomper's mother or father's growl.
- In The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock, Spike scat sings the tune to the bad luck song while the other young dinosaurs are singing.
