Basilitrice: Difference between revisions
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Meanwhile, the cockatrice first appears in its 'modern' form around the same time that the basilisk was being associated with chickens: in the twelfth century, it was depicted as two-legged and [[Our Dragons Are Different|draconian or serpentine]], with the head of a rooster. The name "cockatrice" itself first appeared in the later fourteenth century and came from the Old French ''cocatris'', which in turn was derived from medieval Latin ''calcatrix''; ''calcatrix'' was a translation of the Greek ''ichneumon''. The cockatrice's birth was the reverse of the basilisk - a cockatrice would spawn from a chicken egg incubated ''by'' a serpent or toad - and it became synonymous with the basilisk when the "basiliscus" in Bartholomeus Anglicus' ''De proprietatibus rerum'' (circa 1260) was translated by John Trevisa as "cockatrice".
Modern incarnations of the basilisk and cockatrice, such as those seen in ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Harry Potter'' and various other fantasy media, portray them as distinct creatures: The basilisk is usually a vicious low-slung reptile that is either lizard-like or serpentine, and the cockatrice is usually a bird-like reptilian monster with a snake's tail, if not an outright snake-bird hybrid. These and the other following traits are generally associated with this pair of creatures:▼
* [[Mix-and-Match Critters]]: Most examples of basilisks and cockatrices will
* [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]]: Both have serpentine features
* [[Poisonous Person]]: The basilisk and cockatrice have incredibly potent poisons that make any kind of contact with it fatal, often instantaneously so - depending on the telling, [[Brown Note|eye contact]], [[Breath Weapon|contact with its breath]], handling its corpse, or
▲* [[Mix-and-Match Critters]]: Most examples of basilisks and cockatrices will also be a case of this, as they are usually a mix of a serpent and a chicken as detailed above; though this is more commonly associated with the cockatrice nowadays, the basilisk still retains its origin of "snake hatched by a chicken".
▲* [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]]: Both have serpentine features, frequently hide themselves away and are generally considered to be foul and nasty.
▲* [[Poisonous Person]]: The basilisk and cockatrice have incredibly potent poisons that make any kind of contact with it fatal, often instantaneously so - depending on the telling, [[Brown Note|eye contact]], [[Breath Weapon|contact with its breath]], handling its corpse, or (as per Lucan above) even running the rotten thing through is enough for the venom to infect, spread and kill in seconds.
* [[Enemy to All Living Things]]: Both the basilisk and cockatrice actively seek out victims to kill with their venom, often because they were...
* [[Made of Evil]]: The pair are often invoked as symbols or literal incarnations of wrath and malice,
* [[Walking Wasteland]]: Some accounts assert that
* [[Taken for Granite]]: The instant fatality associated with them sometimes manifests as a form of petrification, possibly based off the fact that venom from cobras and other snakes can immobilize victims. ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' in particular popularized this aspect of the cockatrice.
* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: In addition to its enmity with the
* [[Mister Seahorse]]: Some versions of the story say that the beast hatched from an egg laid by a rooster (a male chicken), often as the result of a [[Bad Moon Rising]]. Often this version claimed a snake or toad would find and hatch it.
▲Modern incarnations of the basilisk and cockatrice, such as those seen in ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Harry Potter'' and various other fantasy media, portray them as distinct creatures: The basilisk is usually a vicious low-slung reptile that is either lizard-like or serpentine, and the cockatrice is usually a bird-like reptilian monster with a snake's tail, if not an outright snake-bird hybrid.
For the manga named after the former creature, see ''[[Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls]]''. For "basilisk images" and other similar hazardous media, see [[Brown Note]], which [[The Basilisk]] redirects to. For other uses of the name, see [[Basilisk]].
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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The ''[[Rental Magica]]'' episode "Red-Headed Girl" (episode 7 in broadcast order, episode 11 in chronological order) has a basilisk as its initial threat, with a Biblical description of the monster mentioned. The basilisk has the ability to kill a person simply by meeting their gaze.
* The first episode of the 2017 ''[[Little Witch Academia (2017 series)|Little Witch Academia]]'' has a cockatrice as the main
* ''[[Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls]]'' is an [[Meaningful Name|aptly-named manga]] that employs the basilisk motif: eye contact is the most powerful asset that the main characters have. Gennosuke can reverse the murderous intent of any who meet his eye, thus [[Driven to Suicide|forcing them to kill themselves]], and Oboro can neutralize the ninja arts of any who meet her gaze.
==[[Comic Books]]==
* [[DC Comics]]:
** The 29th issue of Golden Age comic series ''Blackhawk'', a wartime creation of Quality Comics prior to its purchase by DC, features a villain named The Basilisk as the leader of a terrorist group called the B-Men.
** Another character named Basilisk appears as part of
** In the Prime Earth continuity, Basilisk is a terrorist group first encountered by [[Black Canary]] and the [[Suicide Squad]]. Much of Basilisk's membership is composed of a cult dedicated to a powerful mythic snake that they believe to be the source of various metahuman-like powers.
* In [[Marvel Comics]], Basilisk is the moniker of four different characters, each with varying motifs derived from the namesake creature:
** The first is [[Steven Ulysses Pervillain|Basil Elks]], a petty thief who broke into a museum to steal what he believed an ordinary emerald
** The second
** The third was a mutant student at the Xavier Institute, who was persecuted in his youth due to his large form and bald head - his mutant ability was a pulse of high-frequency strobe light emitted from his brain that paralyzed sentient viewers, and he had [[Cyclopean Creature|a single eye with a camera-like device in the socket]] that allowed him to control it. He was characterized as [[Dumb Muscle|somewhat dim and extremely aggressive]], and would eventually join the Brotherhood of Mutants shortly before they took over New York City; Magneto accidentally kills him after he makes an insensitive joke about the "bad smell" of the marched human prisoners (which is [[Too Dumb to Live|generally unwise when your leader is a ''Holocaust survivor'']]).
** A fourth Basilisk appeared in the ''[[Age of X]]'' crossover
* ''[[Basilisk (comic)|Basilisk]]'' is the name of a supernatural horror comic series by Boom! Studios, written by Cullen Bunn with art by Jonas Scharf. The premise of the comic centers around five individuals with horrifying sense-based supernatural powers that wreaked havoc and death upon small towns - Regan, the one who possesses sight-based powers, has since escaped and gone into hiding, and the comic begins with a victim from her past tracking her down.
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'':
**
** Cockatrices are mentioned briefly in ''[[
** In ''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]'', the first basilisk is reported to have been birthed by Herpo the Foul, a Greek Dark wizard and Parselmouth (able to communicate with snakes) who hatched a chicken egg under a toad. Basilisks are said to be uncontrollable except by Parselmouths, and are the mortal enemy of spiders (who flee from their presence). Their venom and stare are differentiated, but no less deadly than the original folklore, and the male basilisk's head has a distinct scarlet plume.
** In ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (novel)|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'', {{spoiler|the diary was revealed to be one of Voldemort's [[Soul Jar|Horcruxes]] - Harry and Dumbledore eventually found another in the ring of Marvolo Gaunt. [[Chekhov's Gun|The basilisk's venom absorbed by the sword of Gryffndor]] allowed them to destroy the ring, and it was sought out in ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (novel)|The Deathly Hallows]]'' in order to eliminate most of the remaining Horcruxes.}}
* In Chapter 4 of ''[[The Worm Ouroboros]]'', King Gorice shows Gro a live cockatrice.
* In ''[[Dracula (novel)|Dracula]]'', Jonathan Harker likens the titular vampire's gaze to a basilisk's as he attempts to destroy the sleeping Count, only for said gaze to turn upon Jonathan mid-swing and throw off his aim.
* [[Walter Wangerin Jr.]] novel ''[[The Book of the Dun Cow]]'' features a cockatrice as the main villain, born of a rooster's [[Deal with the Devil]] ([[Meaningful Name|who is aptly named Wyrm]]). With the help of a sycophantic toad, he creates an army of wicked basilisks.
* As indicated by the article description, the basilisk lends its name to a specific type of [[Brown Note]], codified by science fiction author [[David Langford]] in the short story ''[[BLIT]]''. The title itself ([[Fun
** Langford's later sequel to ''BLIT'', the 1999 ''"[[comp.basilisk FAQ]]"'', makes explicit mention of similar concepts in [[Fred Hoyle]]'s ''[[The Black Cloud]]'' (1957), [[J. B. Priestley]]'s ''[[The Shapes of Sleep]]'' (1962), [[Piers Anthony]]'s ''[[Macroscope]]'' (1969), and [[William Gibson]]'s ''[[Neuromancer]]'' (1984).
** The works of [[Ken MacLeod]] and [[Greg Egan]] specifically refer to the idea as "the Langford hack" (''[[The Cassini Division]]'') and "the Langford Mind-Erasing Fractal Basilisk" (''[[Permutation City]]''). [[Charles Stross]]'s works also refer to a "Langford Death Parrot" (''[[The Fuller Memorandum]]'') and "Basilisk attacks" with "Langford fractals" (''[[Accelerando]]''). More modern works influenced by the concept include ''[[Eclipse Phase]]'' (the viral "Basilisk hacks") and ''[[SCP Foundation]]'' (cognitohazards, sometimes called "memetic kill agents").
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! (Tabletop Game)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' has several
** [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Basilius,_Familiar_of_the_Evil_Eye "Basilius, Familiar of the Evil Eye"] is a serpentine familiar that is part of the fittingly-named [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Evil_Eye "Evil Eye"] archetype.
** [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/The_Fabled_Kokkator "The Fabled Kokkator"] is a heavily-stylized cockatrice of the "bipedal scaly rooster" kind.
** [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Heraldic_Beast_Basilisk "Heraldic Beast Basilisk"] is a less-stylized monster of the same variant, and has an effect that destroys any monster it battles with after damage calculation, not unlike the "deathtouch" ability associated with basilisks in ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' (discussed further below).
** [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/
** [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Mythical_Beast_Bashilisk "Mythical Beast Bashilisk"] is a two-mouthed reptilian monster that seems somewhat closer to its namesake, though it's quadrupedal and Spellcaster-Type.
** [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/
**
** And finally, [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Hazy_Flame_Basiltrice "Hazy Flame Basiltrice"] appears as a hybrid of the ''D&D''-styled creatures.
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has both cockatrices and basilisks.
* In the ''[[Champions]]'' adventure ''The Great Supervillain Contest'', one contestant was Brother Basilisk, who had the superpower of (temporarily) turning creatures to stone.▼
** Cockatrices are bipedal and chicken-like hybrid creatures the size of a large turkey or goose with a yellow beak and feet and golden-brown feathers, as well as bat wings and a reptilian tail. They occur in almost any region and typically inhabit temperate or tropical regions, nesting either underground or in plains areas above-ground; scattered numbers could also be found in the Elemental Plane of Earth. Cockatrices attacked any creature they perceived as a threat, and flocks of them would attempt to overwhelm or confuse opponents, often flying at their faces - cockatrice bites were minorly-damaging, but could permanently turn any creature to stone, and in pre-Time of Troubles eras (analogous to earlier editions) their petrifying aura could extend into the Astral and Ethereal planes. They are immune to their own bites and those of other cockatrices, but can be petrified through other means; the petrifying venom is harvested by some creatures as a commodity.
* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', basilisks are a type of creature that typically have "deathtouch" - [[One-Hit Kill|any amount of damage it inflicts to a creature destroys it outright]]. Examples include [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=447310 Daggerback Basilisk], [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=527495 Underdark Basilisk] and [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=438731 Greater Basilisk]; those that lack deathtouch are given very similar effects, including [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=39731 Serpentine Basilisk] and [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=397398 Lowland Basilisk] (whose [[Flavor Text]] indicates that it turns victims into "flowstone", a form of 'liquid stone').▼
** Basilisks are cold-blooded reptiles that resemble fat twelve-foot-long alligators with six or eight legs and glowing green eyes; their bodies have a single row of bony spines that line their backs, and a few have a curved horn atop their noses. Unlike the active and malicious cockatrices, basilisks are more lethargic with a slower metabolism that makes hard pursuit difficult - they were still capable of cunning, and would often await prey in hiding to surprise and petrify them with their gaze. The basilisk eats their petrified prey using strong jaws and a gullet that un-petrifies food, and only requires one large and roughly humanoid-sized meal a month at most. Like cockatrice venom, basilisks and their eyes, eggs and parts are also highly-sought commodities.
** [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=532586 "Basilisk Collar"] gives the equipped creature deathtouch and lifelink; [[Life Drain|the controller of a lifelink creature gains life equal to any damage they inflict]].▼
*** Basilisks possess both darkvision and the ability to view either the astral or the ethereal plane with concentration - by doing this, they can kill astral creatures and turn creatures on the ethereal plane into an "ethereal" stone (an ability cockatrices shared pre-Time of Troubles). The range of the gaze can "extend" depending on how keen the victim's eyesight is, and allows it to (at least reportedly) petrify anyone viewing it remotely, such as via arcane eye spells and crystal balls - creatures with gaseous forms were immune. Unlike cockatrice gazes, basilisks are not immune to the gazes of other 'lisks (a complication accounted for when mating), and victims are chemically converted to a more porous type of stone that leaves them [[And I Must Scream|alive, but in a form of suspended animation]]; this petrification can at least be reversed, though the statue is also breakable. Items carried or worn by a victim are not turned to stone, and any worn protective magic items still affect the victim's statue.
** The pyrolisk is a far more dangerous and aggressive variant of the cockatrice that could cause a victim to literally burst into flames with its gaze - unfortunately, the only way to tell a pyrolisk from an ordinary cockatrice was a single red feather in its tail, and pyrolisks often occupied similar tropical climates to cockatrices. The phoenix was [[Arch Enemy|its mortal enemy]].
▲* In the ''[[Champions]]'' adventure ''The Great Supervillain Contest'', one contestant was Brother Basilisk, who had the
▲* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', basilisks are a type of creature that typically have "deathtouch" - [[One-Hit Kill|any amount of damage it inflicts to a creature destroys it outright]]. Examples include [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=447310 Daggerback Basilisk], [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=527495 Underdark Basilisk] and [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=438731 Greater Basilisk]; those that lack deathtouch
▲** [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=532586 "Basilisk Collar"] gives the equipped creature deathtouch and lifelink; [[Life Drain|the controller of a lifelink creature gains life equal to any damage
** [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=8905 Sylvan Basilisk] destroys any creature that blocks it at the end of that combat, while [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=3550 Rock Basilisk] destroys any non-[[Stone Wall|Wall]] creature that blocks it or is itself blocked by it. [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159275 Thicket Basilisk] has the same effect as Rock Basilisk without the Wall exclusion.
** The joke expansion Unhinged adds [https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74246 Stone-Cold Basilisk], which has the same effect on any creature with fewer letters in its name that engages it in combat - [[Schmuck Bait|it also petrifies the opponent if they read it]]!
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* In one episode of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'', a cockatrice turns Twilight Sparkle and a chicken to stone, and was in the process of turning Fluttershy to stone when she ''stares the monster down'' while sternly lecturing it on its rude behavior.
* In ''[[Amphibia (TV series)|Amphibia]]'', the Chicka-lisk is a chicken-like demon that can turn people to stone with a stare and eats gold.
* In an episode of ''[[Little Devil]]'', Chrissy rides a cockatrice (given to her by her father, [[The Devil]]) that looks like a dragon with a rooster's head and legs, covered with black feathers, a long, barbed tail, and breathes fire. [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|It seems a little offended when Chrissy calls it a "dragon".]]
* In ''[[The Owl House]]'', a basilisk is a [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|shapeshifting Beast-type demon]] whose true form resembles a snake with arms and human-like features. Basilisks are not necessarily evil, as Vee (revealed to be one) is friendly towards Luz and company and gladly assists them. The greater basilisk can consume magic drained from spells and magical beings - one is suspected to have been a henchman of the Emperor's Coven, and unlike Vee they are [[Obviously Evil]].
== [[Real Life]] ==
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[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]
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