Primal (TV series)
Primal is an American adult animated action horror television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network's night-time programming block Adult Swim. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, it is the first full production from the company to be developed for Adult Swim.
Primal is set in an anachronistic vision of prehistory, portraying extinct dinosaurs, prehistoric creatures of the Cenozoic era, early hominids, and post-metallurgy Homo sapiens all coexisting in a single time period, incorporating many elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, action, and adventure. The series revolves around the journey of Spear, a Neanderthal, and Fang, a uniquely intelligent female Tyrannosaurus rex, both of whom lose their families tragically in the opening episode. They join forces to survive their unforgiving environment together, eventually discovering developed civilizations that they end up in conflict with. The series has no dialogue throughout its first season, before incorporating minimal dialogue in the second season with the introduction of a third character, Mira, in line with Tartakovsky's previous work.
The first 10-episode season of Primal was split into two 5-episode parts. The series premiered on Adult Swim on October 8, 2019, with the remaining episodes released daily that same week. The second half of the season premiered one episode on April 1, 2020, with the remaining episodes premiering weekly for the five weeks following October 4, 2020. In August 2020, the series was renewed for a 10-episode second season, which premiered July 22 and concluded September 16, 2022. In June 2023, Adult Swim renewed the series for a 10-episode third season. Following the second-season finale, Tartakovsky stated that Primal would become an anthology series from its forthcoming third season onward. However, Tartakovsky later backtracked on this plan. The third season premiered on January 11, 2026. The third season follows a zombified Spear regaining his memories and coming across various dangers whilst searching for Fang.
Primal has received critical acclaim, with much praise for its animation, storytelling, music, emotional depth, horror elements, and editing. The show has won three Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation Juried Awards from the Emmy Awards for Storyboard Artist, Art Director, and Character Designer.
Plot
Set in an anachronistic and fantastical prehistoric world, the series is about the survival and bond between a Neanderthal man Spear and a female Tyrannosaurus rex named Fang as they struggle day-to-day and battle against various carnivorous dinosaurs, prehistoric mammals and other dangerous animals, most notably humans of the species Homo sapiens that also live in their world, including an Ancient Egyptian army and Viking-like Iron Age humans.In season three, Spear is revived as a zombie years after his sacrifice in the previous season.
Characters
In comparison to Tartakovsky's other shows where there are multiple characters, Primal initially only features Spear and Fang in the show as they encounter different prehistoric or fantastical species and various tribes of hominins. Tartakovsky stated that although the show is a work of fantasy, the prehistoric animals, modern creatures and futuristic beasts in the show are based on real prehistoric animals, as well as some new ones created by the artists involved in the project. As most of the characters in the prehistorics made vocal effects, their names have been revealed in the end credits.Main
- Spear – A Neanderthal whose mate and children are attacked and devoured by a pack of horned tyrannosaurs. Although he overcomes his initial urge to commit suicide, Spear is still learning to cope with the loss. Eventually, he develops a deep bond with Fang and is willing to make any personal sacrifice to protect her. Spear later befriends Mira and learns to speak her name. He later sacrifices his life to stop the empowered Chieftain, though he does manage to father a hybrid daughter with Mira before dying. In season three, Spear is reanimated as an unclothed zombie by a shaman to take vengeance on skull-wearing Ape-Men who attacked his village. When the shaman was killed by the final ape-man, Spear's zombie form gains limited sentience and wanders the land while having visions of when he was alive.
- Fang – A teal female Tyrannosaurus whose hatchlings are killed by the alpha of the same horned tyrannosaur pack that killed Spear's family. Unlike Spear, who is still traumatized and dealing with the loss of his loved ones, Fang is able to cope with hers much quicker. Initially, she attempts to assert her dominance over Spear but eventually learns that it is far healthier to work in a partnership and is willing to do anything to ensure his survival.
- Mira – A virtuous Arabic-speaking Nubian woman. Enslaved, head-shaved, and branded with a scorpion symbol by a Viking clan, Mira escapes and encounters Spear and Fang, who become her new friends and companions. She proves to be very capable with archery, spears, axes, carpentry, helmsmanship, and cooking. Following Spear's death, Mira gives birth to a hybrid daughter who was fathered with him.
Recurring
Season 1
- Spear's family – Spear's mate, son, and daughter that were eaten by a pack of horned tyrannosaurs in the first episode, but reappear through visions and flashbacks across the series.
- Fang's first brood – Fang's first two hatchlings. Like Spear's family, they were eaten in the first episode, but reappear through visions and flashbacks across the series.
Season 2
- The Chieftain – The chieftain of the Viking tribe responsible for abducting Mira's people. He soon seeks revenge on Spear and Fang for decimating his tribe. Following his son Eldar's death, the Chieftain is transformed into a monstrous fiery juggernaut by the demonic entity in order to kill Spear and Fang in exchange for Eldar's soul. The Chieftain badly burns Spear, but fails to kill him and is dragged to the Underworld for his failure.
- * Eldar – The Chieftain's eldest son. He joins his father on their quest for revenge against Spear and Fang for their tribe's destruction. He is killed in battle with Spear, Fang, and Mira.
- Demonic Entity – The unidentified lord of the fiery Underworld who makes a deal with the Chieftain to have him kill Spear and Fang and bring him their souls in exchange for Eldar's soul. According to Genndy Tartakovsky, the entity is not necessarily a direct reference to any mythological being.
- Red – A male Tyrannosaurus whom Fang encounters, eventually becoming her new friend. However, during his fight with Spear, Red was accidentally killed by Fang, who was trying to stop the two from fighting each other. Later, it was revealed that Red mated with her when she laid a second set of eggs after losing her old ones.
- Kamau – A Bantu man who, while naturally peaceful, is also immensely strong. He and many of his fellow towering tribesmen were enslaved by Ima. It is revealed that Ima is holding his daughter Amal hostage which serves as leverage to force him to obey her. Spear, Fang, and Mira later free Kamau and his people who fight back against Ima's forces. Afterwards, Kamau's tribe commandeer the Colossaeus.
- * Amal – Kamau's daughter.
- Ima – A sadistic, tyrannical and ruthless Egyptian queen who resides in a large city-ship called the Colossaeus which is filled with her warriors and slaves that she uses to raid and loot other kingdoms. She takes pleasure in taking and using what and who people love most and using them as tools to get strong warriors to do her bidding, with the threat of killing what they love as leverage. She would later be killed by Kamau as his tribe takes control of the Colossaeus.
- Fang's second brood – Fang's second set of hatchlings that were born after she mated with Red. While one was killed before hatching during a fight with the Egyptians, the other two live to adulthood.
Production
Conception and development
According to Tartakovsky, Primal was an early piece of work he scrapped because it did not click with him at the time. As he learned more and more about what drew people into his shows, he wanted to experiment with those artistic traits, particularly the use of no dialogue and slow moments. He also stated that the method in which he approached animated projects began to slow down in terms of energy, and by the time he finished working on Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, it had come full circle. He said he was inspired by Conan the Barbarian and vintage pulp novels, as well as films such as The Revenant. Tartakovsky felt that people would not take the show seriously because they were "breaking the rules" by having "a man and a dinosaur together," so he emphasized that it is a character study, a "buddies" journey about two characters who are very different but bonded by tragedy.The first season consists of 10 episodes. On August 31, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which consists of 10 episodes. On June 16, 2023, the series was renewed for a third season, which will consist of 10 episodes.
Broadcast
The first season premiered on October 8, 2019, with episodes from the first half of the season airing daily from the premiere date. An episode from the second half was shown during Adult Swim's April Fools' Day 2020 run. Adult Swim announced on their Twitter that the second half would premiere on October 4, 2020.The first season of Primal was broadcast during Thanksgiving weekend on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block for the first time on November 29, 2020. The marathon commemorated the launch of the series on the HBO Max streaming service. The first season began a second run on the normal schedule of the Toonami block beginning on May 15, 2022.
The second season premiered on July 22, 2022. The third season premiered on January 11, 2026.