History Main / ReptilesAreAbhorrent

*** And, just to confuse things more, the Turians also have an exoskeleton and facial structures resembling mandibles or maxillae.

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* Subverted in the short manga series "Monster Collection" (based on a card game of the same name) where one of the heroes is a sexy lamia (who is involved with most of the manga's FanService sequences) and the cavalry of the story's climax consist of a team of good-hearted humanoid lizards descended from dragons. The author even alludes to how unusual this is in one of the short comics at the end of one of the volumes.

* Oddly enough averted by ''{{Warhammer}}'', whose Lizardmen are among the [[BlackAndGreyMOrality "good"]] races. Helps that they're the ones keeping Chaos in line. Hell, even their new army book which has them commit genocide a number of times (of course, it's ''Warhammer''--who ''hasn't''?) they're still shown as noble, brave defenders of the world who will do whatever it takes to protect it form chaos.

* Averted in TheSimpsons, with Selma's affectionate pet iguna Jub Jub. She even considers it as something of a baby replacment for her.

** Further subverted by the Grunts and Jackals. The nominally reptillian Grunts side with the Elites and their human allies. The Jackals, mammals by virtue of bearing feathers, side with the Brutes.

* The ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' anime includes a set of Reptile monsters, but their only major appearance was in [[{{Yu-Gi-OhGX}} GX]] while being used by BigBad Professor Viper [[spoiler:or so he appeared to be until [[TheManBehindTheMan Yubel]] took over]]. Dinosaurs, however, appear on both sides; the original series has them being used by CardCarryingVillain [[MeaningfulName Dinosaur Ryuuzaki / Rex Raptor]], while the sequel series gives them to one of [[BoringInvincibleHero Judai]]'s {{Sidekick}}s.

* "[[TheJungleBook Rikki-Tikki-Tavi]]" is a classic story by RudyardKipling where a cute mongoose is his humans' home's heroic defender against the deadly snakes that are ''[[EverythingTryingToKillYou everywhere]]''.
** But in Kipling's Mowgli stories in the ''[[TheJungleBook Jungle Books]]'', he averts this with Kaa the python. Kaa is an incredibly BadAss OldMaster, and he is one of the nobler and more intelligent characters in the entire series. He often shows off his century of age by coming up with intelligent solutions to the many problems that afflict his [[IntergenerationalFriendship man-cub friend]].
*** Worth noting is that the snakes Rikki-Tikki-Tavi fought are venomous varieties, while Kaa is a constrictor. It wouldn't be much fun to have a slow, painful death by suffocation if a big constrictor actually ate you, but smaller varieties are so much less dangerous than other snakes that they make viable pets, which probably has a lot to do with why Kipling's python character is a lot more sympathetic.
*** Too bad he got [[AdaptationDecay anally fisted]] in the movie.
**** In Disney movie only. In Russian version he's all the badass he's supposed to be.
** 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi' is the only book to give a decidedly negative view of poisonous snakes, in 'Kaa's Hunting' the ''poison people'' seem more self-absorbed than anything, and even the mad cobra in 'The King's Ankus' isn't evil, just slightly insane.

* There are, of course, ''many'' [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes Herpetophobes]] out there, justified or not (it's a healthy fear if you live in parts of [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Australia]]; silly if you live in parts of Siberia). Certainly, reptile-fearing writers put their fear into their work - but you have to wonder how many people are afraid of reptiles ''because'' there's so much "Snakes Are Mean" fiction out there.
** Note that there is quite a lot of controversy over whether fear of snakes (but not of other reptiles) is instinctive in humans, who originally evolved in africa, home to poisionous snakes and crocodiles. It ''has'' been shown that many animals have instinctive fears of certain situations. Some reports hold that snakes are something that humans instinctively fear -- which wouldn't even necessarily mean that being afraid of snakes is completely inevitable if you're a human; it's just that the fear of snakes is learned much more quickly (and cured much less easily) than fear of something more dangerous.
* There is often an [[OthernessTropes Otherness issue]]. This goes a very long way in explaining why snakes = evil. Any animal that gets around perfectly fine with no legs at all would certainly look weird to a [[UncannyValley tall, bipedal, long-legged primate]]. The fact that they never blink may also be a factor. (Lord knows why nobody has the same problem with fish - maybe because they live underwater, so we don't have to look at their creepy no-blinking no-leg-having). You'll see another otherness issue in older fiction or if your writers [[YouFailBiologyForever are still referencing their biology textbooks written more than twenty years ago]]. According to your old textbooks, Reptiles are "cold-blooded" and Mammals are "warm-blooded". For the record, "cold-blooded" and "warm-blooded" are both outmoded terms because animal metabolisms have [[ScienceMarchesOn turned out to be]] far, ''far'' less simple than that. Several birds and mammals (including ''humans'' with such features as our slow-as-molasses growth rate) have traits that were associated with "cold-bloodedness". It has taken a very long time to pry the old terms out of the pop-culture consciousness.
** The Apache indians despised fish for the fact that they resemble snakes so much. Fish are considered completely and utterly evil by Apache standards.
* There's the unfortunate fact that some reptiles are indeed dangerous to humans. Some snakes are venomous, which makes for a sensible reason to fear those species. TruthInTelevision, because many are the newspaper stories about small pets (and small ''children'') eaten by large snakes. [[EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks As with sharks]], you don't hear much about how rarely these animals attack humans, and how uncommon they are in the first place. Nor do you hear that ''[[PetTheDog dogs]]'' hold the record for more human attacks than any reptile.
** In fact there are a few theories that we are genetically predisposed to dislike snakes, considering what happens to people who go and play with them. This also extends to spiders.
* And then there's that good old ''serpent'' in the Bible, who makes this OlderThanDirt.
** After the whole fruit incident, God says that he will make Eve and her children hate that Snake and his decendents.

** To be fair, handling a venomous snake is a risky business that requires proper professional training, let alone [[TooDumbToLive cuddling one of them in one's breast]].
* To counteract the above: there's a folk tale about a man who sees a snake trapped in a forest fire, and rescues her - she slides down around his neck, and he thinks she's going to kill him. But instead she tells him to take her to her father, the King of all the snakes, and to ask for the ability to understand animal speech. Both the princess snake and the King snake act completely honorably and follow through on all they have said; the tale ties into old folklore of ground-dwelling animals holding secret knowledge of the Earth. Their gift eventually makes the man rich and (in an odd way, to be sure) gets him into a less negative relationship with his wife (she dominated the weak-spined man something terribly until the animals convinced him to stand up to her... sorta).

* How can we forget the classic inversion of "[[TurtlePower The Tortoise and the Hare]]"?

** Try telling that one to Hollywood though! "Big, mythical dragon? Let's make a monster movie about it!"
* Aversions in Greek myth include Asclepius and Hermes, whose symbols are adorned with snakes (one for Asclepius, two for Hermes). Also, Tiresias (prior to becoming a blind seer) was punished for killing two mating snakes by having his gender magically changed. (He grew to like it. And was eventually changed back - by the same way.)
** Greek mythology also gives us a subversion in the story of Melampus, who came across a dead mother snake with her offspring. He gave the mother a proper funeral and took care of her offspring, and in return they licked his ears clean and gave him the ability to understand the speech of animals.
** However, a lot of Greek myth also plays this dead straight with a plethora of reptilian monsters such as the Hydra, Echidna, Typhon, Python, the serpent that guards the Golden Fleece, the serpents that tried to strangle Hercules, the snake-legged Gigantes, and of course Medusa and the Gorgons. Even otherwise-mammalian hybrid monsters such as Cerberus and the Chimera were portrayed with snake tails or manes made of snakes.

* Averted in Australian Aboriginal mythology, where snakes are often presented as positive beings, especially the stories of the Rainbow Serpent, whose gigantic body slithering about the countryside created the rivers that bring vital water to the Sunburnt Country.
** Aborigines consider many snakes good eating too.

** However, the trope is played dead-straight with the deadly Apophis, mortal enemy of Ra and swallower of the sun - a giant snake.
* Both played straight and averted in Hindu Mythology. In the ''{{Mahabharata}}'', Krishna when young is trapped by a many headed snake that poisoned the lake near his village with venom. He danced on its head until the poison is etched out of its system, not because he had to necessarily dance but because he was a BadAss. The snake then asks for his forgiveness. Also averted in that Krishna is TheAvatar of Vishnu who sleeps on a many headed Alpha Snake named Adi Sesha whose many heads provide Vishnu shade and who is portrayed as gentle and good.
** Also played straight in that the last of the Purus who survived the ''{{Mahabharata}}'' is [[spoiler: killed by a snakebite. To be fair, he tried to put a snake around the neck of a saint who was meditating because he was ignored. So this is an instance of KarmicDeath]].

* Similarly played straight in Norse myth with the mighty Midgard Serpent, Jormugandr, mortal enemy of Thor and spawn of Loki.
** And also Nidhoggr, the serpent who munches on Yggdrassil TheWorldTree's roots.
* Also played straight in Sumerian mythology, where the world is made from the body of the primordial dragon-goddess Tiamat after she is killed by her much more human-like divine children. Also, the {{Trickster}} serpent who steals the secret of eternal life from Gilgamesh.
* Played straight by most of the mythology surrounding Dragons in most Western and Middle-Eastern cultures; in fact, the medieval Western dragon or wyrm, a poison-spewing, slimy, fire-breathing, and/or virgin-munching abomination that spreads death and destruction wherever it goes and must be killed by a brave hero or outwitted by a clever, pure-hearted maiden, might well be the ''ultimate'' incarnation of this trope.
** A semi-example of ScaledUp occurs in the Persian epic the Shah-nama. After the wicked king Azi Dahaka makes a [[DealWithTheDevil bargain with Ahriman]], giant snakes grow out of his shoulders and must be fed the brains of the king's subjects.
* Averted by Far Eastern cultures: the Chinese dragon is a divine creature, a keeper of wisdom and bringer of rain. Japanese dragons, however, are somewhat ambivalent; sometimes rampaging monsters to be defeated by a hero and sometimes benevolent and wise. See {{Orochi}} for an example of the destructive type of Japanese dragon; OurDragonsAreDifferent describes both types.
** It should be mentioned, however, that Eastern dragons are much less reptilian than western ones.

* Islamic tradition has it that getting up to slay a snake is one of very few permissible reasons to interrupt one's prayers. It's even attributed heroic value; those who have slain snakes may earn entry into paradise. The dragon was essentially a very large and powerful snake, so the fact that dragons are evil creatures in most Middle Eastern folklore isn't surprising either.
** The large number of poisonous snakes natural to the region probably had something to do with this characterization.

See also WhatMeasureIsANonCute, AlwaysChaoticEvil, TheFarmerAndTheViper, and ScaledUp. Compare CatsAreMean, FeatheredFiend, BugWar, and BigCreepyCrawlies. Not to be confused with WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes (though it factors into that of course). The reason why SnakePeople are often evil.

** The modern novel continuity in the StarTrekExpandedUniverse usually averts this trope, though. The Pahkwa-thanh, which are carnivores and resemble a cross between a komodo dragon and a featherless dromaeosaur, are friendly. In fact, they're members of the United Federation of Planets who have contributed much to medical science and medicine. Dr. Shenti Yisec Eres Ree from StarTrekTitan is a Pahkwa-thanh. The Rigelian Chelons and Saurians (who are, as the names suggest, the turtle-people and lizard-people mentioned above, are also prominant in the novels, and active Federation members. Indeed, we've seen a fair amount of actively heroic members. Ambassador Jetanien of StarTrekVanguard is a Chelon, as was a particularly heroic member of the U.S.S ''Aventine'' crew in StarTrekDestiny. Saurian characters like Razka and Bazel have also done quite a bit for the Federation and its citizens. The Resaurians, meanwhile, are snake-people who are as varied as humans- some are friendly, some hostile. Even the Xindi-Reptilians have calmed down a bit in the novels; one served as Federation Secretary of Space Exploration as of the timeframe of early StarTrekTheNextGeneration.

* Speaking of kids shows, there's a child psychologist who warns parents against letting young children watch ''DragonTales'' because "they may get the idea that reptiles are okay to play with". Never mind that the series is set in a MagicalLand, the dragons in question [[OurDragonsAreDifferent don't even look particularly reptilian]], and the whole show is ''clearly'' a fantasy -- that, by the way, intends to teach kids to embrace diversity. SoYeah, no UnfortunateImplications from the psychologist, no sirree.
* ''TheSwanPrincess'' went both ways. Evil alligators, and a heroic turtle. (Also an Oirish puffin and a frog convinced he was a prince, SoYeah.)

* '''Many''' heavy metal bands ranging from Alice Cooper to Soundgarden to Cannibal Corpse use snakes as symbols of fear and thus translates to heavier music.

** The modern novel continuity in the StarTrekExpandedUniverse usually averts this trope, though. The Pahkwa-thanh, which are carnivores and resemble a cross between a komodo dragon and a featherless dromaeosaur, are friendly. In fact, they're members of the United Federation of Planets who have contributed much to medical science and medicine. Dr. Shenti Yisec Eres Ree from StarTrekTitan is a Pahkwa-thanh. The Rigelian Chelons and Saurians (who are, as the names suggest, the turtle-people and lizard-people mentioned above, are also prominant in the novels, and active Federation members. Indeed, we've seen a fair amount of actively heroic members. Ambassador Jetanien of StarTrekVanguard is a Chelon, as was a particularly heroic member of the U.S.S ''Aventine'' crew in StarTrekDestiny. Saurian characters like Razka and Bazel have also done quite a bit for the Federation and its citizens. The Resaurians, meanwhile, are snake-people who are as varied as humans- some are friendly, some hostile. Even the Xindi-Reptilians have calmed down a bit in the novels; one served as Federation Secretary of Space Exploration as of the timeframe of early StarTrekThenextGeneration.

* An example of humans [[HumansAreBastards acting abhorrently]] to reptiles: there is the unfortunate 2007 news story of a man who showed off his snake, Popcorn, to educate and counteract fear of snakes. For the benefit of sensitive tropers who love animals, we'll put what happened in ye olde spoilervision: [[spoiler:An as yet unidentified boy of about eight years announced, "I hate snakes!" and then ''stomped on the snake's head'', causing her a long and painful death; not to mention grief and monetary damage to her human, who had had Popcorn with him for over a decade.]]

** It's not a matter of the lizard eating the rabbit that's the problem. We don't feed our cats and dogs live food, so why should it be any different for a lizard or snake? In the wild, the prey has a chance to escape. Here, there is no chance. It is not natural. Since there are more humane alternatives, this is only done for the amusement of the owners. It is not the fault of the lizard. It is [[HumansAreBastards simple human cruelty.]]

**** In Disney movie only. In Russian version he's all the badass he's supposed to be.

* If you can manage it without losing a finger (or hand), snapping turtles can have oddly soft, pettable skin. Also, they are not very manueverable on land, so unless you are standing right in fron of them, they have to turn their entire body around to get at you. Baby snapping turtles are about as harmless and cute as any other baby turtle.

***Except many pet snakes will not eat dead prey, so it is less cruelty to they prey and more of being nice to the predator.