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Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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{{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'''}}
[https://m.encyclopediadramatica.rs/Offended '''THE PROPHET MOHAMMED he''' simplest is to have reptiles that are FUCKED. In animal stories, villains might be anthropomorphic versions of Real Life reptiles, while the heroes are cute mammons and baals. In Speculative Fiction, they might be fantastic beings such as Lizard Folk, Snake People or RETARDS.]▼
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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 nasty character.
[https://m.encyclopediadramatica.rs/Offended Meanwhile HA HA HA DISREGARD THAT I SUCK COCKS!, turles and various tards seen as cute and harmless, such as eckos and frilled lard ass, are less likely to be associated with villainy.Dinosaurs are also often exempt from this trope. Stereotypically reptilian features such as fangs, claws, tails, visible scales, and slit pupils may distinguish villainous reptiles from friendly ones].]▼
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[https://m.encyclopediadramatica.rs/Offended 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.]▼
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[https://m.encyclopediadramatica.rs/Offended 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.]▼
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[https://m.encyclopediadramatica.rs/Offended 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.]▼
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[https://m.encyclopediadramatica.rs/Offended If the expectation of reptiles being evil is set up and then overturned, the trope is being subverted. See Reptiles Are Abhorrent/Playing With.]▼
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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.
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{{examples}}
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* All of the various [[Attack of the Killer Whatever|killer snake/crocodile/komodo/whatever other reptile]] movies and stories thrive on this trope.
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* ''[[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.
* 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.
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* 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.
* 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.}}
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