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The Reptilians: Difference between revisions
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If the biological history of [[The Reptilians]] gets mentioned, they are frequently revealed to be dinosaurs who attained sentience, somehow survived the K/P Extinction event, and moved elsewhere among the stars, not necessarily in that order<ref>To be technical, many believe humans and other mammals themselves evolved from reptilian proto-dinosaurs (i.e. synapsids), so having the Reptilians actually stay strictly reptilian would be quite a stretch, especially if they moved to a planet with a very different environment from Earth's to evolve in</ref>. Such dinosaur-derived creatures are sometimes called "Dinosauroids," a term first popularized by paleontologist Dale Russell's hypothetical ''Troodon''-descended humanoid. Naturally, those dinosaurs often turn out to have been descendants of the carnivorous ones such as ''[[Raptor Attack|Velociraptor]]'' or ''[[Tyrannosaurus Rex]]'' (it helps that many theropods are considered to have been the most intelligent dinosaurs there were). Alternatively, they evolved on a planet whose evolutionary history is just like that of Earth, but [[Evolutionary Levels|stalled out]] before mammals could take their [[Humans Are Special|rightful place at the top]].
Depending on just how reptilian [[Reptilians]] are portrayed to be (and depending on a program's budget), they can run the gamut from [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|bald humans with]] [[Petting Zoo People|weird eyes]] to full-on [[Lizard Folk]] with a human-like gait. Also, a rule of thumb to keep in mind is that the more reptilian the aliens are, the less likely they are to be portrayed as good guys, in line with [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]]; sympathetic Reptilians are more likely to have [[Non
Compare [[Lizard Folk]] and [[Snake People]], which are generally the [[Fantasy Counterpart|Fantasy Counterparts]] to this trope. The former also tend to be more like dumb scaly orcs in contrast to the advanced Reptilians.
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
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* The villains in the [[Jason Wood (Literature)|Jason Wood]] story "Viewed in a Harsh Light".
* [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s ''The Brass Dragon''. The Dikri are a race of cold, ruthless dragon-like aliens who can Shape Shift into human form. They act as renegades, interfering on primitive worlds in violation of interstellar rules.
* The Race from ''[[
** The two species (Rabotevs and Halessi, though that is probably the Race's name for them) they subjugated before invading Earth were apparently also reptilian in nature, as they are mentioned as being fairly similar to the Race.
* [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] created the Horibs for his ''[[Pellucidar]]'' series. Pellucidar also has the telepathic [[Giant Flyer]] race, the Mahar, descended from pterosaurs.
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** The Gnalish in the [[Star Trek Novel Verse]] are a rare example of a benevolent, heroic Reptilian race. Okay, they're still grumpy and sour, but at least they're friendly.
* Lisanne Norman's ''[[Sholan Alliance]]'' series has the antagonist species, the Valtegans with no tail, and the friendly Sumaan with a very strong thick tail.
* Ssilissa of the ''[[Larklight]]'' trilogy; blue, scaly, with spines for hair and a heavily clubbed tail. Is noted occasionally for averting [[Non
* The Ternaui in ''[[The Excalibur Alternative (Literature)|The Excalibur Alternative]]''. Initially appearing as silent bodyguards to the [[Big Bad]], it turns out that {{spoiler|they are telepathic and detest their slavery. Eventually they side with the humans.}}
* The Yilani of [[Harry Harrison]]'s ''[[West of Eden]]'' series are a race of humanoid reptilians that evolved on an Earth where the dinosaurs never died out. The first book spends much of it's first portion with them and we get a very detailed look at their world. They are semi-aquatic (they are related to seagoing lizards), have a matriarchal society thanks largely to their borderline [[Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism]], and have mastered biotechnology on a staggering scale; their cities are literally alive. Oh, and once the humans enter the picture in a significant way, they immediately become the [[Card
* [[Poul Anderson]]'s Merseians, although usually at odds with humanity, are a more nuanced portrayal (and have a culture [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|based off of the Sassanid Empire]]).
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== Live-Action TV ==
* The Visitors from ''[[V]]'' are the [[Trope Codifier|Trope Codifiers]]. They infiltrate many parts of human society, and they want to ''[[To Serve Man|eat us]]'' (along with other tasty mammals). Rather than shapeshifting, however, they use fake human-like skin to mask their true appearance, a method best exemplified by the iconic shot of Diana peeling back the skin on one side of her face to reveal green scaly skin and a catlike eye. It should be noted that, aside from [[Follow the Leader|inspiring the creation of other fictional Reptilians]], ''V'' led to the plethora of conspiracy theories about Reptilians, which were pretty much nonexistent before the show aired.
** The reboot series took no motion to change any of this. Except the Visitors were more of a combination of [[What Measure Is a Non
* In ''[[War of the Worlds (TV)|War of the Worlds]]'', the Martians are essentially turned into the aforementioned Visitors. Except that they're body snatchers.
* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' has the Silurians and their aquatic cousins the Sea Devils<ref>Both of these are technically [[Fantastic Slurs]]: the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] has "Earth Reptiles" as a more respectful term, and the Eleventh Doctor uses the taxonomically inaccurate "homo reptilia"</ref>. They are not extraterrestrials, but the previous inhabitants of Earth before humans came around. They do live underground and abduct people, though, which still fits in with Reptilian lore. There are also the Ice Warriors, the inhabitants of Mars, though their reptilian features aren't emphasized as much.
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* The Sleestak from ''[[Land of the Lost (TV)|Land of the Lost]]''.
** And the Altrusians, who even though they are the ancestors of Sleestak are different both physically (shorter, stockier with an extra finger) and mentally (far more intelligent) enough to qualify as a separate race.
* The extremely brutal Scarrans of ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'', who create one of the two [[The Empire|evil empires]] of the show. The one [[Half
** He also requires technology to survive (cooling rods in the brain that have to be replaced regularly), as his reptilian half craves heat, while his [[Human Alien]] half can't stand it.
* The Drazi, along with other less significant species, in ''[[Babylon Five]]'', although their [[Proud Warrior Race]] personalities are a bit different from the metaphorically cold-blooded norm. The Drazi do engage in random ceremonial war with one another in one episode, which proves to be a hazard {{spoiler|until Ivanova inadvertently forces them to stop}}
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Thundercats 2011 (Western Animation)|ThunderCats (2011)]]'' has Third Earth's Lizards, overlapping with [[Lizard Folk]]. They're adversaries to the Thundercats, a rare [[Justified]] example of [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]], reacting to generations of oppression and [[Fantastic Racism]] at the hands of the [[Catfolk|Cats]]. Some are decent, pulling an [[Androcles' Lion]] in return for a Cat's uncharacteristic display of altruism.
* ''[[Bravestarr (Animation)|Bravestarr]]'' has a race of [[Snake People]], including villainess Vipra and good guy Handlebar. Who had a mustache.
* The Triceratons, essentially [[Proud Warrior Race]] anthropomorphic ceratopsians, from ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]].''
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