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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"[[Trope Namer|Reptiles are abhorrent]] because of their [[The Long List|cold body, pale color, cartilaginous skeleton, filthy skin, fierce aspect, calculating eye, offensive smell, harsh voice, squalid habitation, and terrible venom]]; wherefore [[Blatant Lies|their Creator has not exerted his powers to make many of them]]."''
|'''Carl von Linné a.k.a. Carolus Linnaeus'''}}
[[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]] refers to the association between reptiles and villainy. This trope manifests itself in several basic ways. The simplest is to have reptiles that are consistently villainous. In [[Animal Tropes|animal stories]], villains might be anthropomorphic versions of [[Real Life]] reptiles, while the heroes are cute mammals and birds. In [[Speculative Fiction]], they might be fantastic beings such as [[Lizard Folk]], [[Snake People]] or [[The Reptilians|Reptilian aliens]].
Even when the bad guys are not actual reptiles, they may have some sort of reptilian theme. Perhaps they are an [[Animal-Themed Superbeing]] with reptile-related powers. The villain might have reptilian pets and/or exhibit a special empathy with reptiles. They may even be able to [[Scaled Up|turn into giant snakes]]. Even if they have no special powers related to reptiles, they might use reptile related [[Animal Motifs]] and/or [[Theme Naming]]. The trope even turns up, if only by metaphor, in non-fiction; saying that someone is "a snake" or "cold blooded" is enough to get across that you're dealing with a horrible character.
This trope is generally not applied with equal frequency and intensity to all reptiles. Snakes (especially venomous ones) and [[Never Smile At a Crocodile|crocodiles]] tend to be the reptiles most associated with villains. Meanwhile, [[Turtle Power|turtles]] and various lizards seen as cute and harmless, such as geckos and frilled lizards, are less likely to be associated with villainy. Dinosaurs are also often exempt from this trope. Stereotypically reptilian features such as [[Fangs Are Evil|fangs]], claws, tails, visible scales, and slit pupils may distinguish villainous reptiles from friendly ones.
Despite not even being closely related to them, Amphibians sometimes are portrayed this way too. Toads in particular have become heavily correlated with abhorrence due to their poisonous secretions, association with witches, and the myth that touching one will give you warts. However, there are many favorable depictions of frogs in fiction.
This is not a character trope. It is a pattern only visible when looking at an entire cast of characters. Merely having a few bad reptiles among a majority of good reptiles does not invoke this trope. When the only reptilian character in a work or the majority of the reptile-themed characters are bad guys, this trope is in play. This trope does not require that reptiles be [[Exclusively Evil]]—there may be a few token good reptilians within a race of mostly evil reptiles as an example of [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much]].
Sometimes the trope in invoked in-universe. Characters may assume that reptiles are more likely to be evil, whether or not it's justified. In these cases you may have Reptiles Are Abhorrent crossed with [[Fantastic Racism]].
If the expectation of reptiles being evil is set up and then overturned, the trope is being subverted. See [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent/Playing With]].
Reptiles Are Abhorrent is fairly consistent, but it's far from [[Omnipresent Tropes|omnipresent]], so do not list aversions. Do not list subversions unless they actually invoke this trope.
See also [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]], [[Never Smile At a Crocodile]], [[Scaled Up]], and [[Fangs Are Evil]]. Compare [[Cats Are Mean]] and [[You Dirty Rat]]. Contrast with [[Turtle Power]] and [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]. This is also closely related to [[Species-Coded for Your Convenience]].
{{noreallife|just because this is a common [[:Category:Tropes of Hats|"hat"]] for reptilian races doesn't make it true.}}
{{examples}}
== Media in General ==
* All of the various [[Attack of the Killer Whatever|killer snake/crocodile/komodo/whatever other reptile]] movies and stories thrive on this trope.
== Advertising ==
* Crafty Croc, the antagonist in UK Coco Pops adverts. Originally scheming to [[Cereal Vice Reward|steal the Coco Pops for himself]], now just sabotaging Coco's factory [[For the Evulz]].
== Anime and Manga ==
* The anime ''[[Queen's Blade]]'' has a snake doing nasty things to one of the main characters.
* In the ''[[Kero Kero Chime]]'' anime, the snakes and hebizoku (snake tribe) are introduced as villains counter to the frogs and kaeruzoku (frog tribe).
* In ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'', the Earth government refers to its enemies in the war as "Jovian Lizards" because of this trope, even though they only send [[Mecha-Mooks]] into battle so most people don't actually know what they look like. {{spoiler|In fact, they're actually ''humans''.}}
* The first set of baddies in ''[[Getter Robo]]'' was the evil Dinosaur Empire, who were, well... dinosaurs.
* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' anime features several, but the most prominent is the Ekans (later [[Evolutionary Levels|Arbok]]) owned by [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] Jessie of Team Rocket. And later she comes into ownership of a Seviper, yet another snake Pokémon.
* The ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' anime includes a set of Reptile monsters, but their only major appearance was in [[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX|GX]] while being used by Professor Viper. Ganzley, [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] and [[Big Bad]] of [[Five-Bad Band|The Big Five]] uses a Reptile deck that focusses on locking down his opponent's cards. Dinosaurs, however, appear on both sides.
* While the main characters of ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' are mostly alien frogs, there is an antagonistic enemy race of humanoid cobras known as Vipers.
* Orochimaru from ''[[Naruto]]'' is very snake-like himself, with slit pupil eyes, a very long (read: creepy) tongue, ability to stretch his neck and other body parts like Mr. Fantastic, and uses a round of snake-based jutsu. {{spoiler|His replacement Kabuto, who has integrated bits of Orochimaru's genes into himself has taken this up a notch with blatantly reptilian features, a cobra-like hood similar to [[Soul Eater|Medusa's]], and a giant snake "familiar" that appears to be his tail.}}
* ''[[Soul Eater]]'' has Medusa. She's an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Mad Scientist]] with an emphasis on ''madness''.
* ''[[One Piece]]'' has the animal-themed Seven Warlords of the Sea, which usually play as villains. You have Sir Crocodile, Gecko Moria, and Boa Hancock, who is a horrible person but at least is [[Affably Evil|very kind to the protagonist]].
* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' has the Zokugaku Chameleons, with their linebacker, Habishira, having long arms like a chameleon's tongue. The much tougher, [[Affably Evil]] Hakushuu Dinosaurs are another example.
* It isn't quite clear how ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'' feels about this trope. {{spoiler|Machina}}'s alternate form (seems to be) a giant snake, and his first acts include {{spoiler|nearly killing the main character}} and acting like an all-around bad guy. But as of Ch. 255-ish, he starts being more than friendly with the heroes, even (jokingly?) asking Maria to marry him for her (and Sakuya's) hamburger-making skills.
* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' most of the Arcobaleno have cute mammals or birds as their pets. What do the [[greed]]y [[Meaningful Name|Viper]] and [[Mad Scientist]] Verde get? A snake and an alligator, respectively.
* ''[[Bleach]]'': As if Rukia hadn't made the connection several hundred chapters back, Ichimaru Gin himself gave this little monologue in Chapter 414.
{{quote|[[Animal Motifs|I am a snake.]] [[I Lied|My skin is cold.]] [[Ax Crazy|I have no heart.]] [[Devil in Plain Sight|I slither around,]] [[Affably Evil|seeking prey with my tongue]]. And I swallow my favorites whole.}}
* In ''[[Wild Rock]]'', a giant prehistoric alligator nearly eats Yuuen.
* The infamous snake scene from the anime adaptation of Takashi Yanase's ''[[Chirin no Suzu]]'', which has a green snake breaking every bone in a bluebird's body rather than eating as it would in real life before going on to her eggs. Chirin manages to put an end to this, though.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[The DCU]] and DCAU:
** When ''[[The Legion of Super Heroes]]'' comic began rebooting the characters as more alien and/or more racially diverse, they redesigned Projectra as coming from a race of sentient snakes, making her a rare heroic example in comics. She does state that she has run into prejudice before, and this is given as the reason she appears to strangers initially in a 'normal' appearance. (She was later mutated into a slightly more humanoid form and slipped into a mild [[Heroic BSOD]] due to horror at her appearance.)
** [[Green Lantern]] Isamot Kol the alien space cop lizard-man is a good guy, but Ophidian the Orange Entity, the living embodiment of temptation and selfishness, takes the form of a giant snake.
** Kobra is a terrorist cult who uses a snake motif for their criminal activities. They later appeared as a cult in ''[[Batman Beyond]]''. In their most notorious story, from "Batman Beyond", a few of them transformed themselves into [[Petting Zoo People|snake people]] with the help of [[Lego Genetics|Splicer]] technology and... [[Somewhere a Paleontologist Is Crying|dinosaur]] DNA... And then they were going to throw a "Thermal Bomb" down a volcano (!?) to raise the temperature of the world (they are, of course, "cold blooded"), [[Kill All Humans]], and take over the planet. Yeah.
** The ''Checkmate'' arc plays with this trope. After the Rooks take out a major Kobra base they find a large nest of baby snake people. The Rooks decide to raise them.
** The Snake-people in the [[DCAU|DC Animated Universe]] wanted to [[Kill All Humans]].
** There are yet more snake-men in the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Chaos at the Earth's Core". As with their fellow DCAU snakemen, they're involved with hilariously ([[They Just Didn't Care|depending on your point of view]]) inaccurate dinosaurs and wish to [[Kill All Humans]]...
** Killer Croc, one of [[Batman]]'s most brutal enemies depending on who's writing for him, is a man with a bizarre skin condition that gives him the appearance and toughness of a crocodile. He has Crocodile-like habits in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' as well. Although there's at least one continuity where he gets to go off and live in peace with [[Swamp Thing]]. Croc also sometimes appoints himself protector of sewer-dwelling homeless and runaways.
*** Later depictions of him have him behaving much more [[Petting Zoo People|beast-like]] than before (he has grown a freakin' tail), due to a virus injected in him by Hush; now he's often engaging in cannibalism.
*** This is lampshaded in a backup story in ''Legends of the Dark Knight'', where he realizes that as he's becoming stronger and tougher the more animalistic he gets, he's also losing his humanity. He kidnaps a scientist to try and reverse the changes, but when she reveals that there is no way, he loses what little self control he had left and eats her.
** Copperhead is another Batman villain who started out with a special suit that gave him snake-like flexibility and was later mutated into an actual snake-man. The [[Petting Zoo People|snakeman]] version (with a silly snake-hat) appeared as a reoccurring enemy of the ''[[Justice League]]'' and a similar character was a one-off villain in ''[[Batman Beyond]]''.
** Turtle Man is a rare example of a mean ''turtle''. He's "the Slowest Man Alive" and is a minor enemy of [[The Flash]]. He was originally a joke villain, but later became a credible threat when he gained the power to drain speed from other objects, including the Flash himself. (He's still pretty silly, though.)
** The tommy-gun-toting alien alligator-men from the planet Punkus who fought Captain Marvel as part of the Monster Society of Evil. No, seriously.
** {{spoiler|Sobek the crocodile man from ''52'', who turns out to be the vessel of an [[Eldritch Abomination]] that hails from Apokolips that embodies famine}}.
* The [[Marvel Universe]]:
** In ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'', Curt Connors's experiment to help people with missing limbs, like himself, caused him to transform into The Lizard, a monstrous reptile who [[Kill All Humans|detests all "warm-blooded" life]] (though it probably goes without saying that he doesn't like spiders either). In the well-loved '90s cartoon, he looked a great deal like a giant, very anthropomorphic Anole.
*** Komodo, who might count as a [[Distaff Counterpart]] of The Lizard, manages to be a subversion. She was Connors's lab assistant and stole some of the formula that turned Connors into the Lizard, perfected it (for herself, anyways) and used it to grow new legs. Even though the use of said legs requires she stay in her reptile form, she's still able to change back and forth (though being human means her legs go away), and in reptile form she suffers no desire to [[Kill All Humans]].
*** The latest revamp of Connors gives him the ability to activate the "[[You Fail Biology Forever|lizard brain]]" of humans , encouraging them to act like reptiles. Apparently lizards are ''really'' sexually aggressive and mindlessly violent towards their own kind. Who knew?
** The Serpent Society is a whole ''brigade'' of snake-themed villains - some actually reptilian, others who [[Clothes Make the Superman|just like the fashion statement]] - who are intertwined with the ancient evil artifact of eldritch reptile gods, the Serpent Crown.
** Viper is yet another snake-thematic villain.
** Played straight with the ''males'' of the Brotherhood of the Badoon. Somehow, though, [[Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism|the females of the race are neither reptilian nor evil]].
* A lot of [[Jungle Princess]] comics have our heroines fighting savage snakes and carnivorous crocodiles.
* ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'': Lord Hebi, a giant snake and the only non-mammal recurring character, is [[The Dragon]] of [[Big Bad|Lord Hikiji]], who's stuck as [[The Faceless]] since the author regretted making him [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|a human]].
* The Lizard League, ''[[Invincible]]'''s [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] to the Serpent Society.
* Teknophage from ''[[Mr. Hero: The Newmatic Man]]'' is an obvious one. A [[Magnificent Bastard]], as well as [[Chessmaster]] as the ruler of many multiverses, including his home planet Kalighoul.
* Alison Bechdel's ''[[Fun Home]]'' mentions how unsettling snakes are, and somewhat rhetorically suggests that this is because they are a strange mix of masculinity and femininity.
== [[Disney Animated Canon]] Examples ==
* ''[[The Rescuers (Disney film)|The Rescuers]]'' features an entire association of Rescue Aid mice, a friendly cat who sings about keeping faith, an extremely helpful dragonfly, and even a good turtle—but the alligators are the only mean animals in the movie. Huh.
** ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]'' feature a [[Punch Clock Villain]] Goanna who still liked to terrorize smaller animals, as well as a bunch of man-eating crocodiles. The frilled lizard (one of the cute species) is a good guy, however.
** Tellingly, none of the mean reptiles in either of the movies talk. And the crocodilians of both films seem to be rather useful at being the method of a [[Karmic Death]]...
* ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'' has the [[Punch Clock Villain]] Sir Hiss. Oddly enough, he's a goofy [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]. Another villain is an axe wielding alligator. Two others are reptiles [[Punch Clock Villain|under the service]] of the Mammalian Prince John. The movie does feature a more sympathetic turtle: Toby, [[nerd]]y friend of [[Cheerful Child|Skippy Rabbit]].
* Kaa in ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'' is another funny villain, but some viewers think he had definitely paedophiliac undertones to him ("[[Sssssnaketalk|Trussssst in me / Jussssst in me]]"). Note that in the book, Kaa was one of the main mentors for Mowgli. In the Disney adaptation, he was [[Adaptational Villainy|transformed into a villain]].<ref>There's a whole chapter in the seminal [[Doorstopper]], ''The Illusion of Life'' in which the authors go on and on about how they struggled to make both Kaa and Sir Hiss "cute" so that they ''wouldn't scare the women in the audience''.</ref>
* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', Jafar uses of snake motifs throughout the movie, and when he wants to amp up the evil, he [[Scaled Up|turns into a giant snake]].
* ''[[Fantasia]]'' has "Dance of the Hours", in which the ballet-dancing hippopotami, pachyderms and ostriches are interrupted by caped alligators. The alligators' leader is a romantic swashbuckler type, but the rest of them seem to be lechers.
* The main characters in ''[[The Wuzzles]]'' were all obvious, easily identifiable [[Mix-and-Match Critters]]. Background characters were less-obvious mixes. But the thing is ''only the antagonists'', Croc, Brat and Flizzard, sported any recognizably reptilian features. And aside from that, your guess is as good as ours what they were meant to be hybrids of. (Many fansites hold that they are, respectively, "half-crocodile/frog/lizard, half-''dragon''". Strange, given that all other Wuzzles were combinations of real animals.)
* ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]]'': Main villain Yzma uses her fair share of decorative snake motifs. Also, one of her [[Mooks]] was transformed into a lizard.
* In ''[[Brandy and Mr. Whiskers]]'', the villain is a dictator-esque gecko named Gaspar Le Gecko.
* In ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' the one-shot-villain Sewer Nose is a deranged alligator who at least gains some sympathy points because he was driven nuts by being [[Freudian Excuse|traumatized as a hatchling]] by being flushed down a toilet.
* In ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'':
** Some of the "Friends From the Other Side" take on snake forms. It's to be expected when your villain is Jafar reincarnated as a 1920s voodoo doctor.
** Tiana and Naveen encounter a group of sinister gators that fit this trope to a T.
* Since his adventures take place in the jungle, [[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]] gets into a lot of battles against crocodiles and snakes. In [[The Legend of Tarzan|the spin-off cartoon]], a huge snake named Hissa becomes the villain of one episode.
* Two of the animals Mad Madam Mim turns into during the [[Wizard Duel]] from ''[[The Sword in the Stone]]'' are a crocodile and a rattlesnake, respectively. And then, there's also [[Loophole Abuse|the dragon...]]
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In ''[[Alligator]]'', cute baby gator Raymond is flushed into Chicago's sewers and starts chowing down on pet corpses spiked with experimental growth hormone; so he isn't really mean, just hungry. Notable for being among the first of many, many ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' rip-offs—and for being [[Better Than It Sounds|one of the best]].
* The first ''[[Anaconda]]'' film, just in case the audience isn't already unsettled by gigantic snakes trying to eat people, asserts that anacondas will regurgitate their still-living prey after swallowing them, just for the malicious pleasure of ''eating them again.'' {{spoiler|This happens to the main antagonist of the first film.}}
* ''[[Snakes on a Plane]]'' had snakes as the designated villains, and in this case they were riled up by a spray of pheromones. It gets to the point that [[Samuel L. Jackson]] has [[Memetic Mutation|had it with these motherfuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane]].
* In the excellently titled ''[[Ssssssss]]'', the [[Mad Scientist]] in the movie didn't mind snakes. As a matter of fact, he turned people into snakes for fun. The people in question didn't share his enthusiasm.
* They aren't reptiles, but while we're on the subject of horror movies that assume we think crawling, <s> scaly,</s> swamp-dwelling animals are inherently scary: ''[[Film/Frogs|Frogs]]''. Yes, ''Frogs''. (And the frogs in question aren't the poisonous or gigantic variety, either.) Funny thing is, the frogs themselves don't do anything. They just stand around being ominous. All of the mayhem and murder is done by alligators, moccasins, snapping turtles, and anoles (the last lock a guy in a greenhouse and cause a chemical reaction that asphyxiates the guy with vapors).
* In his original appearance, [[Godzilla]] was portrayed as a walking nuclear explosion, destroying everything in his path. In subsequent movies, however, he was depicted in a grayer light, and even became a hero at times.
* The [[Very Loosely Based on a True Story]] ''[[Lake Placid]]'' has a giant, attacking, man-eating crocodile. This could be another case of [[Humans Are the Real Monsters]], though—after all, he didn't ''ask'' to be abandoned in a freezing cold Maine lake, did he?
* And in a case of Humans Are Stupid, ''[[Primeval]]'' stars SUV-sized "[[Never Trust a Trailer|Serial killer]]" Gustav, whose large kill record is largely due to idiot fishermen and similarly idiot photographers and big-game hunters. However, it's at least more factually accurate than ''Lake Placid''.
* ''[[Reptilicus]]'' is a giant, man-eating lizard-dragon-thing.
* ''[[Crocodile]]'' has... [[Never Smile At a Crocodile|yeah]].
* ''[[Kill Bill]]'''s villain team, the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad, all had codenames based on lethally venomous snakes. The main character was given the name of the most deadly snake of them all, the black mamba, though she renounces the name and the team when she decides to go straight.
* ''[[Q]]'' was about an evil version of Quetzalcoatl, the ancient Aztec feathered snake god. It's a fun movie, but it's also ridiculously [[Sadly Mythtaken]].
* ''[[Dreamscape]]'' featured a little boy who suffered from nightmares about The Snake Man. The villain of the piece took on the hero by [[Scaled Up|turning himself into The Snake Man]].
* ''Zathura A Space Adventure'' (which is basically ''[[Jumanji]]'' <small>[[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]]</small>) gives us the villainous Zorgons, reptilian aliens who are attracted to heat sources.
* The original ''[[Star Wars]]'' films have very few reptilian sentients. Most of them are in the Cantina on Mos Eisley. The only exception is Bossk, a rather vicious Trandoshan bounty hunter. General Grievous was a Kaleesh, a reptilian species that are in war with the Huk, a mantid-like species. The Huk were the Invaders, and Grievous was very noble back then. The prequels have some other reptilian species, but none in a prominent role.
** From the "[http://www.yamara.com/yamara/rfw/rfw2/rfw2pg3.html Call Me MISTER Binks]" article (Radio Free WYHTL):
{{quote|"I'm addressing, of course, the vicious, bigoted pattern of lizard-hate in the culture, and in the media.
''[[Star Wars|The Phantom Menace]]'' doesn't just contain one species-ist character, it slurs the entire reptilian phylum." }}
* Played on in ''[[Enemy Mine]]'', where humans are at war with a hated species of reptilian-like people called "Dracs."
* In a "making of" documentary for [[The Film of the Book]] ''[[Eragon (film)|Eragon]]'', one of the people in charge of designing Saphira said, "We decided first of all, to make Saphira the dragon more likable, so we made her look more like a lioness instead of a reptile."
* In ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'', the evil Skeksis look like lizards with some of the most repellent traits of vultures added for good measure. Their good-guy counterparts, the Mystics, have downplayed reptilian features and much more fur, giving them a softer and cuddlier appearance.
* [[Indiana Jones]] when dumped into a snake-filled pit of doom:
{{quote|"Why did it have to be SNAKES?!"}}
* A [[Cold War]]-era instructional film warned of the dangers of Hostile Intelligence Services (HISS), portrayed as an animated [[Smug Snake]] with a [[Lzherusskie]] accent.
* Although clearly scaleless and unrelated to ''any'' real-world organism, the monsters from the ''[[Tremors]]'' films and series (or just their tongues) are frequently described as resembling reptiles of one sort or another.
* In a ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' film, the primary antagonist Thulsa Doom is the leader of a snake cult. He can [[Scaled Up|turn into a giant snake]] and even uses one as an arrow.
* ''[[Live and Let Die (film)|Live and Let Die]]'': Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga uses snakes to kill adversaries, either releasing one into their hotel room, or using one in an elaborate voodoo ceremony (pulled from a coffin full of snakes). Then there's his crocodile farm/heroin processing center.
* Rattlesnake Jake and the corrupt Tortoise John in ''[[Rango]]''.
* In ''[[Race with the Devil]]'', the cultists hide a pair of live rattlesnakes inside the heroes' RV.
* Lampshaded in the film version of [[Ray Bradbury]]'s ''[[The Illustrated Man]]'', where Rod Steiger's character crushes a garter snake with a rock and feeds it to his dog. When another character asks why he did it, noting that garter snakes are harmless and good to have around, he angrily responds, "It ain't no good to anyone, it's a damn snake!"
== Literature ==
* The Snake in ''[[The Little Prince]]'' could certainly qualify. He gets a [[Villain Song]], "A Snake in the Grass," in the 1974 movie version.
* ''[[Redwall]]''. While the mammals are split between being good or evil, pretty much every single reptile and amphibian is a bad guy. In the first book, a snake is given a demon's name (which it likes to chant for some reason) and likened to a giant, intelligent, evil dragon/monster. In one of the later books, a desert-dwelling character [[Furry Confusion|keeps a pet sand lizard]]; "Get 'em when they're young and they're good likkle critters." This was [http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/bargain-book-bin-3.php lampshaded hilariously] by Something Awful, though it was in response more [[Carnivore Confusion|to the mustelids all being evil]].
* ''Ranger Rick'', of all places, used this trope off and on:
** Uncomfortably applied in one issue. There was a short story in which Rick and his gang help an Ocelot in the Everglades and are menaced by an alligator, who was explicitly described as a villain. This was '''jarring''' considering it was the only time an animal filled the antagonistic role; usually [[Humans Are the Real Monsters|Humans Are Bastards]] (and even then, they staunchly used the Humans Are Misguided subtrope). Even worse? The very next issue Rick and co. head back to Florida to help... alligators.
** ''Ranger Rick'' magazine also had a series of nonfiction books about animals and of those, one of the most beloved is ''The Unhuggables''. It did all it could to discredit this trope (though it's telling that snakes get their own chapter to themselves) as well as [[Carnivores Are Mean]] and (as you could probably guess from the so-close-to-being-the-[[Trope Namer]]-title) [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]].
* [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s stories invoke the trope only when applied to venomous snakes and crocodiles.
** In "[[The Jungle Book (novel)|Rikki-Tikki-Tavi]]", a pet mongoose defends his masters' home against the deadly snakes that are ''[[Everything Trying to Kill You|everywhere]]''.
** In "Kaa's Hunting", the "poison people" are self-absorbed. The mad cobra in "The King's Ankus" seems somewhat insane, claiming that a jeweled inanimate object is "death" ({{spoiler|and it turns out he's also outlived his poison}}), but turns out to be right.
** Likewise, in "The Undertakers", the chief villain is a vain old crocodile called the Mugger,<ref>although mugger/magar/makara is an actual word for a crocodile species in South Asia</ref> who ''boasts'' of having attacked human women and children (but is less than thrilled to be reminded that a woman once drove him away by shooting at him).
* [[Raymond E. Feist]]'s novel ''[[The Riftwar Cycle|A Darkness at Sethanon]]'' introduces the Panthathians, a race of snake-men who worship a race of evil [[Precursors]] that will [[Sealed Evil in a Can|destroy the world if ever freed]]. Naturally they are attempting to do exactly that.
* Played straight and occasionally subverted in ''[[Harry Potter]]'':
** A snake is the mascot of Slytherin House, which was never an "evil" house, but has a bad reputation due to the many Death Eaters who were sorted there in their school days. The snake is used as an evil motif by the Death Eaters. The ability to speak Parseltongue (snake language) is said to be associated with Dark magic, worsening the snake's reputation even further.
** There was also the basilisk, a huge snake that Harry fights at the end of the second book. It was Slytherin's pet back in the day, and he kept it hidden in the chamber in hope that his heir would release it and use it to drive Muggle-born wizards out of the school.
** Nagini is essetially Voldemort's [[Right-Hand-Cat|Right Hand Snake]] {{spoiler|and a partial [[Soul Jar]]}}.
** Subverted with an actual boa constrictor in the first book, who seems genuinely pleasant and just wants to go to Brazil, where his particular species comes from.
* This trope becomes Reptiles Are Stupid in Foster's ''[[Spellsinger]]'' series, in which reptiles are the only air-breathing vertebrates that ''aren't'' intelligent tool-users. Except for the turtles and dragons, which of course get an exemption on grounds of popular appeal.
* Played with in the novel ''Chester Cricket's Home'', a sequel to ''[[A Cricket In Times Square]]''. One of the residents of Chester's meadow, a water snake named Walter, realizes that many humans find him horrifying, a fact that he takes an inordinate amount of pride in. However, Walter is actually quite friendly and funny, if a bit of a wise guy at times.
* Subverted by David Eddings' ''[[Belgariad]]'' and ''Mallorean'' series. While the civilization most attuned to and appreciative of snakes, the Nyissans, are usually portrayed as a rather sinister, corrupt, and amoral people, eventually the chief eunuch Sadi becomes a rather amusing hero, and he brings his pet snake Zith, an intelligent, extremely lethal but extremely affectionate and endearing snake with almost cat-like habits. The only member of the party who doesn't take a shine to her is Silk, whose snake-phobia is more comical than rational. Zith's habit of curling up and sleeping in the bosom of Silk's love interest does not help this. Nor does how Silk finds out...
* ''[[Gator Gumbo]]'': The main character is an old alligator that can no longer catch prey. The other animals taunt him over this. In the end, he makes a batch of gumbo. The other animals refuse to help but want some. {{spoiler|So they get get close enough and he sweeps them into the pot, cooks, and eats them.}} It probably qualifies as a [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] as well—Don't be a jerk and never underestimate old people {{spoiler|or [[Elderly Sensei|they will destroy you!]]}}
* Similar to the Disney's ''Aladdin'' example, the Queen of Underland in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|The Silver Chair]]'' turns into a giant snake when she finally runs out of subtler options for killing the heroes. Prince Rillian is glad of this, because it meant he [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl|wouldn't have to kill a woman.]]
* Debora Chester's ''[http://www.lucasaliens.com/ Alien Chronicles]'' series has the Viis, who resemble giant frilled lizards. They're a despotic race that has enslaved various mammalian races, with the only other reptilian species being their allies instead. When the mammalian races leave to find a utopia, not even their Viis underclass allies go with them, and what becomes of the turtle-people is never said. The web page for the series even invokes this trope.
* In [[Clive Barker]]'s ''[[Abarat]]'' series, despite the archipelago of Abarat being home to a host of wildly different creatures, Finnegan Hob is out to kill all dragons, even young ones, because ''one'' of them killed his bride. All dragons appearing on-page are unsympathetic (and ugly), while Hob is depicted sympathetically, and none of the other characters have a problem with him basically wanting to commit genocide of a sentient species. Notable in that this [[Exclusively Evil|unnuanced portrayal of dragons]] is rare in modern fantasy.
* In Taylor Anderson's ''[[Destroyermen]]'' series, a pair of WWII destroyers slip sideways into a [[Alternate History|timeline]] where dinosaurs were never wiped out and humans never evolved. Instead two other intelligent races did, one mammalian, one reptilian. Guess who the bad guys are?
* In his ''[[Pellucidar]]'' series, [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] created two reptilian species: the Snake People Horibs who are villains right out of central casting, and the more nuanced [[Giant Flyer|Mahars]] who are telepathic, parthenogenic pterosaurs who start out ruling Pellucidar but are overthrown by the human hero. {{spoiler|It later turned out that the Mahars -- who are deaf and communicate ''entirely'' by telepathy -- were unaware that humans were sapient.}}
* Both used and inverted in ''[[Chess With A Dragon]]''. On the one hand, the galaxy is populated by many dinosaur-derived alien races, any of which would be content to experiment on, enslave, and/or eat humans. On the other, mammalian races are an extremely rare fluke in this novel, hence most civilized species insist that Mammals Are Abhorrent.
* In ''[[The Book of Night with Moon]]'' by [[Diane Duane]], it is revealed that humans' association of reptiles with evil (in the Book of Genesis and elsewhere) is due to the lizard people choosing to align with the power of evil. Also, both feline mythology and cetacean mythology has [[Satan]] taking the form of a giant snake. The city of the sentient lizard people is a horrific [[World Half Empty]] which runs on systematic oppression and [[I'm a Humanitarian|cannibalism]]. However, {{spoiler|the victory of the heroes give the lizard people a chance to choose a better path, and the lizard Ith becomes a sympathetic character. By the second book, the lizard people are as moral and agreeable as any other species.}}
* [[Harry Turtledove]]'s books have [[Lizard Folk|The Race]], which initially seem to be this trope [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|perfectly personified]], along with [[Little Green Men|many]] [[The Empire|other]] [[Aliens Are Bastards|tropes]] related to villainy, but later they're revealed as being simply arrogant but chivalraic beings.
* [[Robert E. Howard]]'s stories of King Kull include the Serpent People, an ancient, pre-human species that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs. They were evil, dying out, yet determined to retake the world for their species. Among their magical talents was the ability to cast a glamour that made them seem human to observers. The illusion was so good in one story that Kull himself doubted (for all of a minute) his own existence. After which he killed the imposter. Death broke the spell, revealing the truth.
* In Lovecraft's writing, reptiles are a frequent source of horror, most notably in ''The Nameless City''.
* In Korney Chukovsky's children story ''[[Stolen Sun]]'', a crocodile swallows the sun (just go with it) and it takes a bear to tear him apart and release it.
* ''[[Villain Dot Net|Villain.Net]]'' plays with this one: upon encountering Chameleon, apprentice supervillain Jake Hunter presumes the reptilian shapeshifter to be a fellow evil-doer. He is quickly disabused of that notion. However, over the course of the first book, Chameleon shows himself to have a nasty edge, being perfectly willing to kill, and seeking revenge rather than justice.
* Pretty much anytime a reptillian character shows up in one of [[Terry Brooks]]' books, you can expect raw evil (although [[Our Dragons Are Different|Strabo]] is a noticeable exception). It's especially obvious with [[Lizard Folk|The Mwellrets]], who are the only species in the [[Shannara]] universe that hasn't featured a heroic member. Indeed, one of them, [[The Dragon|Cree Bega]], and his equally reptillian [[Big Bad|boss]], [[Brain Food|The Morgawr]], are the only characters in series who might qualify for [[Complete Monster]]hood.
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] novel ''[[The Hour of the Dragon]]'', the priests of Set keep giant snakes.
{{quote|''The Cimmerian recoiled, remembering tales he had heard -- serpents were sacred to Set, god of Stygia, who men said was himself a serpent. Monsters such as this were kept in the temples of Set, and when they hungered, were allowed to crawl forth into the streets to take what prey they wished. Their ghastly feasts were considered a sacrifice to the scaly god.''}}
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* In the Ani-Earth [[Animal Superheroes]] setting for ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'', it is specifically stated that reptiles tend to be villains, with snakes as evil masterminds, lizards as mid-level bad guys and crocodilians as dumb mooks. Freedom City's [[Big Bad]], Overshadow, becomes Cobrashadow.
* In the ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' sourcebook "Mythologies", one of the possibilities for the first vampire? The son (or daughter) of Eve, the First Woman... and The Serpent of Eden. The book includes several snake-based powers to apply to vampires to further imply that this might be true, including making snakes into default forms for the Protean discipline, it being easier to Ghoul snakes, and making vampires immune to snake venom (ordinarily, snake venoms—like most haemotoxins—work just fine on vampires).
* [[Dungeons & Dragons]] mostly do without this - Lizardmen are crude savages, but not particularly malicious,
** ...and then there are Yuan-ti. Who manage to fill this niche all on their own, though with several different breeds that range from bloated abominations to human-like infiltrators. Whatever the case, these [[Snake People]] are usually [[Exclusively Evil]] and consider humans to be their [[Arch Enemies]].
== Toys ==
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* The ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' has not one, not two, not three, but ''four'' serpent-themed villain groups: the Serpent Society, the Viper Squad, the Venom Brotherhood, and finally the Cthonians, an ancient race of [[Snake People]] who predate humanity and want to bring back the rule of [[Eldritch Abomination|the Old Ones]].
* Both Tropes wikis refer to a certain type of villain as a [[Smug Snake]].
* In a ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' webisode, one of the villains is a humanoid snake called [https://web.archive.org/web/20131222094908/http://heroeswiki.com/The_Constrictor the Constrictor].
* In ''[[RWBY]]'' there is the King Taijitu, a monstrous two-headed duotone snake fought by Lie Ren in the Emerald Forest, said to lack (like all creatures of Grimm) even the rudimentary soul a "natural" animal possesses.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Reptile and Amphibian Tropes]]
[[Category:Otherness Tropes]]
[[Category:Evil Tropes]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:No Real Life Examples, Please]]
[[Category:Tropes of Hats]]
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