Brown Note: Difference between revisions

* The Basilisk and/or Cockatrice. Depending on who you ask, they are either the same monster or two entirely different monsters that always get confused with one-another. If they are different, then they also look different: the Basilisk is either a lowly lizardy thing or a snakelike thing and the Cockatrice is essentially half rooster, half demonic monster.

** The main points about these creatures ''are'' basically the same: they are small and can easily hide and sneak about and pop up anywhere, they are [[Made of Evil|pure evil]], they must come into this world by unnatural means (often by a '''rooster''' laying an egg), and to meet their gaze is to drop dead on the spot. Or to turn into stone. Or they kill/petrify you just by ''looking at them''. Or by touching you or breathing on you. [[Walking Wasteland|Or they leave a path of desolation ("creating a desert") wherever they walk]]. Or... it may be easier at this point to say that the [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]] trope is very old, and has much to do with the wildly exaggerated dangerousness of poisonous snakes.

* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: The sight of Medusa and her Gorgon sisters either [[One-Hit Kill|kills you instantly]] or [[Taken for Granite|turns you into stone]] depending on what version of the legend you read. In most versions, this power remains with her hideous visage even after she's been beheaded, and it ends up mounted on Athena's shield or breastplate for exactly that reason. Note that Medusa was killed by the hero Perseus who had ([[Supernatural Aid|along with various god-given tools]]) a mirrored shield—not to reflect her gaze back [[Nethack]] style, but to look into, so he could aim his sword to kill her without looking directly at her.

* The Sirens are like an auditory version of the Gorgons, as they lure sailors to their death with their song.