History Main / ReptilianConspiracy

** One issue of ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' (during the short-lived run by Creator/WarrenEllis) has John Constantine telling a gullible reporter some tall tales of conspiracies before [[spoiler:faking his death at the hands of the conspiracy]]. He suggests that [[WhoShotJFK Kennedy arranged his own assassination]] with TheGreys and the reptilians because he caught his wife getting it on with a snake demon and enjoying it, and that UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily are also secretly snake demons and killed Princess Diana because she was secretly impregnated by one of them.
* ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'' has the Dystopians, reptilian British demons who've built an empire in Hell after being damned for the sin of imperialism. They also have [[CorruptChurch connections in the Vatican]].

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, as with a lot of conspiracy theories, this trope has a worrying tendency to veer into antisemitic territory, often at least presenting the Reptilians as SpaceJews, if not outright claiming that [[GreedyJew actual Jews are either the Reptilians themselves or their ([[LesCollaborateurs witting]] or {{unwitting|Pawn}}) pawns.

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, as with a lot of conspiracy theories, this trope has a worrying tendency to veer into antisemitic territory, often at least presenting the Reptilians as SpaceJews, if not outright claiming that [[GreedyJew actual Jews are either the Reptilians themselves]] [[UnwittingPawn or their pawns]].

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, as with a lot of conspiracy theories, this trope has a worrying tendency to veer into antisemitic territory, often at least presenting the Reptilians as SpaceJews, if not outright claiming that [[GreedyJew actual Jews are either the Reptilians themselves]] or their pawns.

They're typically, although not always, using some sort of HumanDisguise so that TheyLookLikeUsNow -- which sometimes becomes [[TropeDecay the only element of this trope present]] if they're not actually hiding. These mean you have a whole race of [[ShapeshiftingTrickster Shapeshifting Tricksters]] using VoluntaryShapeshifting, PsychicPowers, {{Hologram}}s, [[MasterOfIllusion Illusion Magic]], MassHypnosis, {{Glamour}}, GenuineHumanHide, DemonicPossession, a MindControlConspiracy, HypnoticEyes, SubliminalAdvertising, etc. Common tropes here are TheCorruption, ArtificialHybrid or TransformationOfThePossessed (if they convert humans into Reptilians), AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder, WeirdnessCensor, and InvisibleToNormals (for more mental/illusion-based disguises) GlamourFailure, EyesAreMental, or ImmuneToMindControl (TheHero -- and the audience -- have to identify them somehow), KillAndReplace (an easy way to take over -- present in the original King Kull story from 1929), {{Deprogram}} (when it's especially hard to free yourself from their control).

Since this is such a ridiculed real-world conspiracy theory, it may be [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] and [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] to demonstrate how crazy a ConspiracyTheorist character is -- and sometimes [[DoubleSubversion doubly subverted]] if TheCuckoolanderWasRight and they really do exist.

* At the end of ''Film/WolfCop'', [[spoiler: the AncientConspiracy running the town are revealed to be these.]]

* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/{{Pellucidar}}'' series has what may qualify as an UnbuiltTrope -- a telepathic dinosaur-ish GiantFlyer race, the Mahar, descended from pterosaurs and living in the HollowEarth.
* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the SpeculativeDocumentary book ''Literature/AllTomorrows'' by Nemo Ramjet - one of the successors of mankind is a race known as the Saurosapients, which evolved from large lizards brought to a tropical planet by humans. They were once the livestock of a minimally-intelligent species of genetically modified human, who degenerated to become ''their'' livestock after the reptiles out-evolved them. Saurosapients are neither evil nor very human-like in general appearance (more like featherless raptors), but their society grows paranoid that an alien race will wipe them out like the humans before them. [[spoiler: It's presumed that robot humans did wipe them out eventually, along with many other races that ''were'' human-descended.]]

* One [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYehEp9eaBE trailer]] for ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' exactly duplicates Creator/{{ABC}}'s own ''Series/{{V|2009}}''... [[TrailerSpoof until]] the spaceship shows J.D.'s face instead of Anna's. He announces ''Scrubs'' is back to general rejoicing, then adds "By the way, these people are [[LizardFolk lizards]]."

* ''TabletopGame/TheEndOfTheWorld'' - one of the possible antagonists in Alien Invasion, they control an AncientConspiracy.
* ''TabletopGame/MoonDustMen'' - a variety of possible explanations for them are given, including the descendants of ''Troodon'', aliens who merely resemble Earth reptiles, or shapeshifting dimension-travellers infiltrating our ranks by cannibalism and sorcery.
* ''TabletopGame/DragonRekindled'' - they're actually an organization of Oroboroi, humans who have consumed the Hearts of Dragons to gain their power, and the players can join.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' references this trope with the Thin Men, with shades of TheMenInBlack and SlenderManStandIn. They look ''[[HughMann mostly]]'' human, like [[NoodlePeople unnaturally tall, lanky]] men in business suits, but Thin Men have patches of scales visible around their collars and sleeves, and their sunglasses hide slitted reptilian eyes. In their natural forms shown in ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' they're SnakePeople, but their masters have put them through extensive alterations to help them infiltrate Earth during the AlienInvasion. Thin Men gather intelligence, act as clandestine go-betweens for the aliens' ruling Ethereal caste as they pressure Earth's governments to surrender, and perform acts of sabotage. In-game they tend to show up on [[BenevolentConspiracy Council]] missions to menace a VIP, and despite debuting early in the campaign, Thin Men are quite dangerous thanks to their high accuracy with their light plasma rifles, ability to jump up to seize high ground InASingleBound, and [[SuperSpit poisonous spit.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Starfinder}}'' has Reptoids, a race of shapeshifting infiltrators from another planet or dimension (they refuse to divulge their origins even under duress, so it is somewhat unclear) who seek to prepare the target world for invasion.

* ''TabletopGame/MoonDustMen'' - a variety of possible explanations for them are given, including the descendants of the dinosaurs, aliens who merely resemble Earth reptiles, or shapeshifting dimension-travellers infiltrating our ranks by cannibalism and sorcery.

Quickly becoming a DiscreditedTrope, as more people are becoming aware that it's really a dogwhistle for antisemitism, though it still shows up in parodies.

* ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' features [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Zam_Wesell Zam Wesell]], a shapeshifting Clawdite assassin hired to kill Senator Amidala, in what could be a nod to this trope.

Quickly becoming a DiscreditedTrope, as more people are becoming aware that it's really a dogwhistle for antisemitism.

* ''Film/IronSky'''s sequel, ''Film/IronSkyTheComingRace'', has UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler as a UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex-riding reptilian alien surviving to the present day in the HollowEarth, whose species created humanity in prehistoric times. His brother led the Moon-dwelling Nazis in the first film. The President of the USA is one too. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWo3ydIY_sc Enjoy the trailer.]]

* In ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', Brian Tyree Henry's ConspiracyTheorist character briefly mentions the Reptilians as possible candidates behind the shadowy doings of the Apex Corporation, and their vast underground facilities.

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, as with a lot of conspiracy theories, this trope has a worrying tendency to veer into antisemitic territory, often at least presenting the Reptilians as SpaceJews, when not outright claiming that [[GreedyJew actual Jews are either the Reptilians themselves]] or their pawns.

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, as with a lot of conspiracy theories, there's a worrying tendency for this to veer into antisemitic territory, claiming that [[GreedyJew Jews are either the Reptilians themselves]] or their pawns--see also SpaceJews.

Administrivia/InUniverseExamplesOnly, please.

* According to ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'', a secret society of shape-shifting LizardFolk (also known as Reptoids) exists within our own, and they are a major source of funding for [[EvilInc the company]] (namely by paying them not to do anything about global warming so the world will stay at their preferred temperature). They're rather open about their desire to TakeOverTheWorld to the other species in TheMasquerade with them, but TheIlluminati doesn't take them seriously.

* According to ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'', a secret society of LizardFolk (also known as Reptoids) exists within our own, and they are a major source of funding for the company (namely by paying them not to do anything about global warming so the world will stay at their preferred temperature).

* According to ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'', a secret society of LizardFolk (also known as Reptoids) exists within our own, and they are a major source of funding for the company.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' references this trope with the Thin Men, with shades of TheMenInBlack and SlenderManStandIn. They look ''[[HughMann mostly]]'' human, like [[NoodlePeople unnaturally tall, lanky]] men in business suits, but Thin Men have patches of scales visible around their collars and sleeves, and their sunglasses hide slitted reptilian eyes. In their natural forms they're SnakePeople, but their masters have put them through extensive alterations to help them infiltrate Earth during an AlienInvasion. Thin Men gather intelligence, act as clandestine go-betweens for the aliens' ruling Ethereal caste as they pressure Earth's governments to surrender, and perform acts of sabotage. In-game they tend to show up on [[BenevolentConspiracy Council]] missions to menace a VIP, and despite debuting early in the campaign, Thin Men are quite dangerous thanks to their high accuracy with their light plasma rifles, ability to jump up to seize high ground InASingleBound, and [[SuperSpit poisonous spit.]]

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, as with a lot of conspiracy theories, there's a worrying tendency for this to veer into "[[GreedyJew global Jewish cabal]]" territory, claiming that Jews are either the Reptilians themselves or their pawns--see also SpaceJews.

%%Using the image from TheyLookLikeUsNow for now%%
->Snake people, or "sneople," control our government at the highest levels!
-->-- '''[[ConspiracyTheorist Ronaldo Fryman]]''', ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E31KeepBeachCityWeird "Keep Beach City Weird"]]
%%Using the quote from SnakePeople for now%%

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, as with a lot of conspiracy theories, there's a worrying tendency for this to veer into "[[GreedyJew global Jewish cabal]]" territory, claiming that Jews are either the Reptilians themselves or their pawns--see also SpaceJew.

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, like a lot of conspiracy theories, there's a worrying tendency for this to end up as thinly-veiled [[GreedyJew Antisemitism]], claiming that the Jews are "[[SpaceJews secretly aliens]]" or just pawns of the actual Reptilians.

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. Unfortunately, like a lot of conspiracy theories, there's a worrying tendency for this to end up as thinly-veiled [[GreedyJew Antisemitism]], claiming that the Jews are [[SpaceJews secretly aliens]]" or just pawns of the actual Reptilians.

They're typically, although not always, using some sort of HumanDisguise so that TheyLookLikeUsNow--which sometimes becomes [[TropeDecay the only element of this trope present]] if they're not actually hiding. These mean you have a whole race of [[ShapeshiftingTrickster Shapeshifting Tricksters]] using VoluntaryShapeshifting, PsychicPowers, {{Hologram}}s, [[MasterOfIllusion Illusion Magic]], MassHypnosis, {{Glamour}}, GenuineHumanHide, DemonicPossession, a MindControlConspiracy, HypnoticEyes, SubliminalAdvertising, etc. Common tropes here are TheCorruption, ArtificialHybrid or TransformationOfThePossessed (if they convert humans into Reptilians), AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder, WeirdnessCensor, and InvisibleToNormals (for more mental/illusion-based disguises) GlamourFailure, EyesAreMental, or ImmuneToMindControl (TheHero--and the audience--have to identify them somehow), KillAndReplace (an easy way to take over--present in the original King Kull story from 1929), {{Deprogram}} (when it's especially hard to free yourself from their control).

Since this is such a ridiculed real-world conspiracy theory, it may be [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] and [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] to demonstrate how crazy a ConspiracyTheorist character is--and sometimes [[DoubleSubversion doubly subverted]] if TheCuckoolanderWasRight and they really do exist.

* In Ray Nelson's short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning" and its comic book adaptation "Nada", the aliens infiltrating Earth are firmly reptilian - unlike it's more famous film adaptation, Film/TheyLive, where they look more like zombie things.
* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/{{Pellucidar}}'' series has what may qualify as an UnbuiltTrope - a telepathic dinosaur-ish GiantFlyer race, the Mahar, descended from pterosaurs and living in the HollowEarth.
* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the SpeculativeDocumentary book ''All Tomorrows'' by Nemo Ramjet - one of the successors of mankind is a race known as the Saurosapients, which evolved from large lizards brought to a tropical planet by humans. They were once the livestock of a minimally-intelligent species of genetically modified human, who degenerated to become ''their'' livestock after the reptiles out-evolved them. Saurosapients are neither evil nor very human-like in general appearance (more like featherless raptors), but their society grows paranoid that an alien race will wipe them out like the humans before them. [[spoiler: It's presumed that robot humans did wipe them out eventually, along with many other races that ''were'' human-descended.]]

* ''Literature/TalesOfMU'' has Celia, a snake-person who focuses on cosmetic illusions.

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids. In the more out-there theories, there's a worrying tendency for this to end up "[[SpaceJews explaining]]" why [[GreedyJew Jews are monsters]] (whether because they're secretly reptilian themselves, or because they're just pawns of the actual reptilians).

They're typically, although not always, using some sort of HumanDisguise so that TheyLookLikeUsNow--which sometimes becomes [[TropeDecay the only element of this trope present]] if they're not actually hiding. These mean you have a whole race of [[ShapeshiftingTrickster Shapeshifting Tricksters]] using VoluntaryShapeshifting, PsychicPowers, {{Hologram}}s, [[MasterOfIllusion Illusion Magic]], MassHypnosis, {{Glamour}}, GenuineHumanHide, DemonicPossession, a MindControlConspiracy, HypnoticEyes, SubliminalAdvertising etc. Common tropes here are TheCorruption, ArtificialHybrid or TransformationOfThePossessed (if they convert humans into Reptilians), AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder, WeirdnessCensor, and InvisibleToNormals (for more mental/illusion-based disguises) GlamourFailure, EyesAreMental, or ImmuneToMindControl (TheHero--and the audience--have to identify them somehow), KillAndReplace (an easy way to take over--present in the original King Kull story from 1929), {{Deprogram}} (when it's especially hard to free yourself from their control).

They may be an AlienInvasion, an [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} ancient race]] dwelling BeneathTheEarth or in the HollowEarth (possibly [[EvolutionaryLevels descended]] from LivingDinosaurs), [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], or AncientAliens [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot descended from the dinosaurs living underground]] [[DevilComplex pretending to be demons]]. Often they're here ToServeMan, and they're even more likely than most LizardFolk and SnakePeople to be AlwaysChaoticEvil and to fall under ReptilesAreAbhorrent. They may be, or make, HalfHumanHybrids--although in the more out-there theories, there's a worrying tendency for this to end up "[[SpaceJews explaining]]" why [[GreedyJew Jews are monsters]] (whether because they're secretly reptilian themselves, or because they're just pawns of the actual reptilians).