The Jurassic Park franchise may be one of the most ambitious, imaginative and scary series in the creature feature genre. It also managed to tackle major ethical conundrums revolving around genetic power and its use or misuse. But when it came down to brass tacks, there was one thing that fans always flocked to the theaters for -- the dinosaurs and the many victims that had to face them.
With each entry, multiple characters suffered terrible deaths due to the dinosaurs that ran rampant on Isla Nublar, Isla Sorna and the mainland. Some highlights included the creative death of Dennis Nedry or the unlucky hunter that had to face the mischievous Indoraptor. These deaths could also be incredibly violent, such as the fate of Eddie Carr when he was ripped in half by two T-Rexes. But perhaps the most violent and scary death happened in the first movie to Ray Arnold, and it wasn't even in the final cut.
Who Was Ray Arnold in Jurassic Park?
Ray Arnold was the chief engineer of Jurassic Park and was present, alongside John Hammond, when the power went out. Knowing he didn't have the skills to overturn the damage that Nedry had done when he cut the power, Mr. Arnold had to go turn the power on manually. The power junction to the park wasn't on the property and to get there, one had to walk past the Velociraptor enclosure. However, it was likely at this point that he realized the animals had escaped, and he was now being hunted.
What made his death so scary was that Mr. Arnold had no idea what the Velociraptors were capable of, but he knew he was in danger. When he escaped and made his way to the power junction, he likely thought he would be safe as well as the door had a lever that most animals couldn't use. That said, he underestimated the raptor's intelligence and found himself in a maze, trying to escape it alone and in the dark. In the end, he was not only killed by an animal he knew little about, he was devoured for long enough that only an arm remained.
Mr. Arnold's Death Teased the Raptor's Greatest Strength
Perhaps the biggest surprise in both Jurassic Park and the larger franchise was how the intelligence of Velociraptors allowed them to learn how to open doors. This was first shown in the iconic kitchen scene where a pair of raptors hunted Lex and Tim. But the real tease came way before that with Mr. Arnold's death. When Dr. Sattler went to the power junction to finish Arnold's task, she bolted as she and Muldoon were being hunted. When she made it to the junction, she opened the door and took a pause. And when she turned the power back on, there was already a raptor inside.
Though the shocking fate of Mr. Arnold wouldn't be revealed alongside the raptor that killed him, the fact that Dr. Sattler had to open the door to enter already teased that Velociraptors could open doors. This simple trait ultimately became the creature's greatest strength, as there were two more occasions following that scene where they used doors to get where they needed. However, this wouldn't have been revealed had it not been for the gruesome, lonely and ultimately tragic death of Mr. Arnold.