| Kid Dinosaur | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Real Name | Arnold Fentner |
| Aliases | Kid Dinosaur, Arnie |
| Gender | Male |
| Class | Ace |
| Wild Card Traits | Metamorphosis, flight, amphibious |
| Social Information | |
| Citizenship | Citizen of the United State of America, deceased |
| Base of Operations | New York City |
| Allies | Water Lily |
| Origin | |
| First Appearance | Wild Cards |
| Final Appearance | Jokers Wild |
| Creator | Lewis Shiner |
Kid Dinosaur is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books.
Arnie loved dinosaurs and comic books. He idolized aces so, at age 12, the wild card granted his wildest dream: he discovered he could change into a living dinosaur.
History[]
Arnie's wild card turned at the onset of puberty whilst viewing pictures of Peregrine in a magazine. The virus had a profound effect of combining his passion for aces and his childhood hobby interest of dinosaurs. From then on he would frequently skip school and often hung around ace events in costumes that would get ripped to shreds when he transformed. He played practical jokes on some aces, but he was tolerated because he meant well, and had a certain irresistible charm.
Arnie was captured one day by the Egyptian Freemasons and brought to their headquarters at the Cloisters. He managed to escape with Water Lily, and although he was only ever an innocent participant, just being there put Arnie on the Astronomer's black-list. He was among the first aces to die when the Astronomer exacted his revenge on Wild Card Day 1986.
Wild Card Traits[]
Arnie could tum into any dinosaur he could clearly picture in his mind. The dinosaur shape could use any of their natural abilities, so he could fly, swim underwater, etc., depending on which dinosaur he chose. Arnie's mass could not change, so he only turned into small dinosaurs, or miniature versions of larger species.
Appearance[]
Arnie was an average sized, average-looking young boy. He had a poor complexion including a birthmark on his face, and light brown hair.
Personality[]
Arnie was an adventurous boy. He had little patience for authority and would rather ride the air currents as a pterodactyl than attending classes in school. He was an ardent fan of many aces and would occasionally interfere in their dealings, despite the danger this put him in.
Trivia[]
Charles Dutton asserted that, despite claims that Arnie was cremated, the mortuary substituted a different body. The bones were then secretly cleaned and the skeleton sold to Michael Jackson. It was later revealed that Croyd Crenson had discovered Arnie's body while casing Jackson's home and stole it. He then turned it over to Father Squid for a proper burial.
Selected Reading[]
- Wild Cards Volume I: Wild Cards - "Epilogue: Third Generation"
- Wild Cards Volume II: Aces High
- "Ashes to Ashes"
- "By Lost Ways"