The Dinosaur Guard

The Dinosaur Guard
Medium: digital painting

Just in time for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, here is the Dinosaur Guard! It's Fuli the Beishanlong grandis, Beshte the ultrasaurus, Bunga the velociraptor, Ono the Anhanguera blittersdorffi, and Kion the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Choosing a dinosaur for Kion was pretty straightforward: while T-Rex might not have been the biggest or meanest (we really don't know much about dinosaur behavior), T-Rexes are commonly accepted as being the biggest, baddest dinos out there. A lot of dinosaurs were probably very strong, but I picked an ultrasaur for Beshte because they were the biggest. I chose an Anhanguera blittersdorffi for Ono because, while we know almost nothing about dinosaurs' eyesight, these flying dinosaurs appeared to have held their heads at an angle to easily view the land below them while in flight. I knew Fuli needed to be an ornithomimid because of their long legs and lightweight builds that paleontologists believe gave them the ability to run very quickly, and I chose a Beishanlong grandis simply because I could find the most information on them. Bunga, as always, was the most difficult to choose, but because we have absolutely no idea which dinosaur would be the "bravest," I chose a velociraptor due to their reputation in pop culture.

South American Guard

South American Guard
Medium: digital painting

Just in time for summer, here is South America's guard! We have Kion the jaguar (the fiercest), Fuli the vicuña (the fastest), Bunga white-nosed coati (the bravest), Beshte the tapir (the strongest), and Ono the toco toucan (the keenest of sight.)

Kion of course had to be a jaguar (what other animal was there for him?), but the others were harder. South America has a lot of birds, jungle, and mountainous animals, but not much in the way of fast runners or exceptionally large, strong animals. I decided to go with a tapir for Beshte because they're sturdy and tough, and a vicunga for Fuli because they're plains/mountain-dwellers and can run reasonably fast. Herbivores that live out in the open must be speedy or they'll be killed off by predators. As always, Bunga was the hardest. Bravery is subjective. I decided to go with an animal that often hangs around humans, because in my opinion, an animal must be pretty "brave" to live so close to humans. And a toucan was a must for Ono, because...toucan!

Ocean Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar… 
Asian Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
North American Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
Arctic Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
Australian Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…
South American Guard: unicornarama.deviantart.com/ar…

Arctic Wildlife

The Arctic Guard
Medium: digital painting

Just in time for the new year and winter, here is the arctic continent's guard, the Arctic Guard! We have Kion the polar bear (the fiercest), Fuli the snowshoe hare (the fastest), Bunga the arctic fox (the bravest), Beshte the musk ox (the strongest), and Ono the snowy owl (the keenest of sight.)

I picked a musk ox for Beshte because they are strong and tough. I almost made him a reindeer, but I decided to go for an ox because they are stouter than reindeer, which works well for Beshte. Kion is a polar bear because they're big, fierce, and they're iconic for the polar/arctic regions. Fuli is a snowshoe hare because they are incredibly fast runners (or hoppers?) over land and snow. Unfortunately she probably wouldn't be able to take on an enemy animal in one-on-one combat, but who knows? Maybe this bunny has a black belt. For Ono, there were many arctic birds to choose from, among them eagles and skuas, but I settled on a snowy owl because they are known for having more powerful night vision than other birds. Bunga was tricky, as he always is, (what exactly is bravery in the animal kingdom?), so to pick an animal for him, I watched nature documentaries and watched to see which types of animals were more likely to put themselves in danger. A lot of animals do that, naturally, especially birds, but one animal that I noticed always running into chaotic situations was the fox. Foxes frequently brave battles between larger predators in order to snatch scraps of food. While there are undoubtedly other animals that can be considered brave, I liked the idea of having a fox in the guard.


Ocean Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/08/marine-animals.html
Asian Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-asian-guard.html
North American Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/06/north-american-wildlife.html
Arctic Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2017/01/arctic-wildlife.html

The Asian Guard

The Asian Guard
Medium: digital painting

In my next installment of the Lion Guard as animals from all the different continents, here is the Asian Guard! It's Fuli the blackbuck (the fastest), Beshte the Asian elephant (the strongest), Ono the tarsier (the keenest of sight), Bunga the Asian palm civet (the bravest), and Kion the tiger (the fiercest).

Asia is such a vast continent with so many different ecosystems that I almost feel like it should have several guards. Most of these animals are from India. I chose a blackbuck for Fuli because they're among the top ten fastest animals in the world (as in running from point A to point B.) She's a doe, so she's neither black nor a buck, but that's life. Kion is a tiger because, well, it's a tiger! Beshte is an Asian elephant because what else would he be? Bunga is an Asian palm civet because they are typically pretty solitary like honey badgers, and they can be very tough when they need to be, and because I thought his colors would transfer well. I had planned on making Ono a bird of prey, but then as I was doing my research I started reading up on tarsiers, and they have incredible eyesight. They have possibly the best night vision of many animals in the world, and their distance vision isn't half bad, either.

Ocean Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/08/marine-animals.html
Asian Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-asian-guard.html
North American Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/06/north-american-wildlife.html
Arctic Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2017/01/arctic-wildlife.html

Reirei and the Coyote Clan

North American Guard: Reirei, Goigoi, and Dogo
Medium: digital painting

Here are the jackals from The Lion Guard as coyotes to fit into the North American Guard theme! There wasn't a whole lot to change with them other than their coat colors, because jackals and coyotes look so similar already.

North American Guard
Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu
Makucha

Jasiri

Jasiri Wolf

North American Guard: Jasiri
Medium: digital painting

Here is Jasiri from The Lion Guard as a wolf for my idea of what if the Lion Guard was in North America. Is it just me or does she look like she could be from that movie Alpha and Omega?

North American Guard
Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu
Makucha

North American Wildlife: Janja, Cheezi, Chungu

North American Guard (Lion Guard): Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu

Medium: digital painting

North America Guard: http://kristengracehall.blogspot.com/2016/06/north-american-wildlife.html

Here is Janja and his clan of hyenas as wolves! I know hyenas are not canines, but I figured wolves have a similar reputation in North America, and they're pack hunters, a bit similar to hyenas. Don't get me wrong: I love both wolves and hyenas!

Kion Horse

Lion King Horses: Kion
Medium: digital painting

The Lion King has to be one of my favorite movie franchises of all time. I don't care if it's aimed at kids; I love it! Okay, yes, Kion is from Lion Guard, not Lion King, but same difference. It's the same universe.

I wanted to experiment with a species...crossover?...and see what the Lion King characters look like as horses! I've seen TLK deer and wolves around, but I haven't come across horses, although there probably are some somewhere. So here is Kion (Simba and Nala’s son) as a horse! He’s a colt here, but not a very, very young colt.

I guess since he's a horse, then he'd have the ...Neigh of the Elders.  ...  You know, somehow it's not as dramatic.