History Main / LizardFolk

Lizard folk are often depicted as a very ancient race, far older than humanity. In this case they might be considerably more civilized, or rather they were in the past but are now a dying, degenerate fragment of a once mighty civilization. Expect their civilization to carry distinct undertones of {{Mayincatec}}.

Lizard folk are often depicted as a very ancient race, far older than humanity. In this case they might be considerably more civilized, or rather they were in the past but are now a dying, degenerate fragment of a once mighty civilization.

** ''{{GURPS}}'' Infinite Worlds includes Lizardia, a parallel universe in which "neo-troodons" (the descendants of a small theropod dinosaur similar to a velociraptor), take the place of humans.

* Earthdawn has the T?skrang, a river-dwelling race of flamboyant pirates and story-spinners.

* One of the older StarTrek novels- ''The Captain's Table: War Dragons''- had the humanoid reptillian Anjiri and the theropod-like Nykkus [[spoiler: which turn out to be [[BizarreAlienBiology two forms of the same species]].]] While their dialogue does not use {{sssssnake talk}}, their language relies so heavily on gestures that standard [[TranslatorMicrobes translators]] can't handle it. While the first ones to show up are basically incompetent SpacePirates, it turns out that neither of these traits [[PlanetOfHats is their hat]].

** In the same series are the smaller draconic Kobolds, and the similar-in-appearance but more hostile Troglodytes.

[[caption-width:330: Apparently, lizards are {{Mayincatec}}]]

Lizard folk are often depicted as a very ancient race, far older than humanity. In this case they might be considerably more civilized, or rather they were in the past but are now a dying, degenerate fragment of a once mighty civilization.

Expect some form of {{Sssssnaketalk}}, regardless of whether or not the culture (or species) is actually snake-themed. [[{{Phlegmings}} A mouthful of phlegm or mucus]] is also popular. May overlap with FishPeople, depending on how willing the author is to stretch or disregard conventional taxonomy.

Along with [[CatGirl Cat-people]], Lizard Folk are one of the most common types of [[PettingZooPeople anthropomophic Beast-Men]]. Also common in both SciFi Space Opera and [[OralTradition Mythology]].

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]
* Lizardmen from TheSlayers setting are well-loved by many of the show's villains as {{Mooks}}.

* Killer Croc from {{Batman}}.

*** ThisTroper believes he was explictly spliced with reptile DNA in the first issue of "Hush."
*** He was specifically mutated with a virus by Hush and [[spoiler: the Riddler]] to make him more violent and feral, and less human. But by the end of the book it's mentioned he's received the antidote.

* The alien Badoon and Skrulls of MarvelComics. Marvel also has the Serpent Men, borrowed from [[ConanTheBarbarian Conan]] in the days when he had a comic there. Ch'od of the Starjammers also fits the description. As does Stegron the Dinosaur Man. And the SpacePirate Captain Reptyl. Along with assorted reptilian {{Mutants}} such as Slither, Scaleface, Primal, etc.

* The Grik in {{Taylor Anderson}}'s AlternateHistory ''Destroyermen'' series, descended from raptors according to the WordOfGod.
* The Hork-Bajir from K.A. Applegate's ''{{Animorphs}}'' are huge blade-covered dinosaurian aliens, who in their natural state are a primitive and docile people made up of bark-eating herbivores.
* {{Edgar Rice Burroughs}} created the Horibs for his ''{{Pellucidar}}'' series.

* The Viis, the main antagonists of Deborah Chester's ''[[http://www.lucasaliens.com/ The]] {{Alien Chronicles}}'' novels, are decadent, humanoid, frilled lizards.
* The Serpent Men of Robert E. Howard's Thurian Age, which were borrowed by HPLovecraft's CthulhuMythos and Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborea qualify, usually being portrayed with a full set of limbs.
* [[{{ptitleaa1va94n11pz}} Raymond E. Feist's]] ''{{Serpentwar Saga}}'' features the Sauur Lizardmen and the Pantathian serpent people.
* The [=AAnn=] in AlanDeanFoster's ''HumanxCommonwealth'' universe. Second variety, lighter and weaker than humans but much faster with sharp claws and teeth. [[spoiler:Almost]] Always the [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent antagonist]] when they appear. Includes {{Sssssnaketalk}}. They also communicate with hand gestures to show emotion, although this is a common linguistic trait in that universe. [[spoiler:There have been several sympathetic AAnn characters in the Flinx setting, even one that fell in love with the titular redhead. None outlast the book they are introduced in.]]

** ''{{Quag Keep}}'', which is set in DungeonsAndDragons' world of Greyhawk, featured a Lizardman named Gulth as one of the protagonists.
** Her {{science fiction}} novels in the Council / Confederation universe feature the Zacathans, a race of LizardFolk whose [[PlanetOfHats "hat"]] is archaeology and history. They live at least a thousand years on average. [[LawOfAlienNames Their names all begin with "Z."]]

*** ''Uncharted Stars'': The protagonists hook up with a Zacathan archaeologist in the endgame, since they have a common objective: to find {{the Precursors}}' source of the zero stones.

* Tamora Pierce's ''{{Tortall}}'' series has basilisks, which are bipedal, 7-foot tall, slender, lizard-like immortals that use {{Sssssnaketalk}}, speak most mortal languages, and can turn enemies to stone with a spell. Interestingly, the only basilisk seen in the series, Tkaa, is a good guy.
* TerryPratchett's ''{{Discworld}}'' has (in ''Discworld/TheLastHero'') the last two "Stupid Lizard Men", a race whose entire purpose seemed to be to act as drama-appropriate idiotic {{Mook}}s for {{Evil Overlord}}s. They're all called Slime.
* Richard K. Morgan's ''{{The Steel Remains}}'' frequently refers to a great war that happened before the book itself is set, between the forces of humanity and their allies against the aquatic, lizard-like "Scaled Folk."

** We give them even more of a cultgure shock in 'Homeward Bound' when we first send a slower-than-light ship to their world, and then a faster-than-light one.

* ''{{Anonymous Rex}}'' had some dinosaurs surviving their mass extinction. They adapted to human society by disguising themselves as people.
* The Reptile Forces in ''TheAncestralTrail'' includes both crocodilian lizardmen and actual crocodiles; unusually, they're the good guys. (OK, so they start off under [[BigBad The Evil One's]] control, but so does everybody else). The Cyber Dimension has a group of peaceful, highly cultured lizardfolk who are oppressed by Goffal and Pixar.
* In the {{RCN}} novel ''Some Golden Harbor'', occasionally {{Sssssnaketalk}}ing reptilian alien Fallert is on Daniel and Adele's side -- and [[InterspeciesRomance very taken with]] [[PsychoSidekick Tovera]]. This {{Squick}}s Daniel something fierce; interestingly, his [[BattleButler servant]] [[HeroicSociopath Hogg]] gets along just fine with Fallert.
* The ''Dragonlance'' universe has Draconians. They start off AlwaysChaoticEvil, and usually appear as some variety of {{Mook}} (either regular or [[EliteMook improved]], depending on the story), but the depictions have become more nuanced over time. The most notable subversion is Kang and his band of engineers, who while starting out as evil (in the alignment sense) are nonetheless sympathetic, likable, and relatively honorable characters (they eventually ensure their race's future, found a city, and if a scene at the end of the War of Souls trilogy is anything to go by, pull a HeelFaceTurn on [[spoiler: Takhisis]]).

* A minor character in ''[[DuelOfSorceryTrilogy Moonscatter]]'' is "scaled like a viper and green as the new leaves of spring," and has a voice that's described as "[[{{Sssssnaketalk}} harsh and inhuman]]." The implication, however, is that he ''looks'' very human otherwise. ([[PettingZooPeople Petting Zoo Lizardman]]?)
* One of the older StarTrek novels- ''The Captain's Table: War Dragons''- had the humanoid reptillian Anjiri and the theropod-like Nykkus [[spoiler: which turn out to be [[BizarreAlienBiology two forms of the same species]].]] While their dialogue does not use {{Sssssnaketalk}}, their language relies so heavily on gestures that standard [[TranslatorMicrobes translators]] can't handle it. While the first ones to show up are basically incompetent SpacePirates, it turns out that neither of these traits [[PlanetOfHats is their hat]].
** The Gnalish in the modern StarTrekExpandedUniverse are a rare example of a benevolent, heroic LizardFolk race. Okay, they're still grumpy and sour, but at least they're friendly.
* The MalazanBookOfTheFallen series feature the K'Chain Che'Malle. They destroyed themselves warring with the Short-tails, the K'Chain Nah'ruk, which [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they themselves created]]. Mostly a fallen and forgotten civilization, they mostly appear as [[OurZombiesAreDifferent powerful zombies]] and [[LandMarkOfLore large ruins]]. A few living individuals are encountered, one having been imprisoned in an AncientTomb and now quite mad, two others [[EliteMook aiding]] a human who encountered them "in another land". The K'Chain Che'Malle seems to have organized themselves around [[HiveQueen Matrons]] in a manner similar to ants, the Nah'ruk were independent.

* Ssilissa of the {{Larklight}} trilogy; blue, scaly, with spines for hair and a heavily clubbed tail. Is noted occasionally for averting NonMammalMammaries (and thus not fitting into dresses cut for humans), and has a few self-image issues on account of being [[RaisedByWolves raised by humans]]. [[spoiler:In the third book, we meet her race, the Snilth, a [[LadyLand matriarchal]] ProudWarriorRace who serve as {{Mooks}} for the book's BigBad. They live in clans identified by the shape of the weapon on their tails, and Ssil's proves her to be the [[RagsToRoyalty only known heir to the banished queen]] who [[HeelFaceTurn turned against]] the BigBad long ago.]]

* The extremely brutal Scarrans of ''{{Farscape}}'', who create one of the two [[TheEvilEmpire evil empires]] of the show. The one HalfHumanHybrid we see of them is also a vicious ManipulativeBastard.
* The Silurians, and their underwater cousins the Sea Devils, introduced in John Pertwee's run on DoctorWho. Unique for the series in that they're not aliens, but a native species of Earth that went into underground hibernation to avoid a catastrophy. Their alarm failed go off and they stayed asleep while the humans evolved. When they finally woke up, they simply wanted their planet back. Despite being intelligent and mostly reasonable, xenophobic extremists on ''both'' sides prevented a peaceful resolution.
* The aliens in {{V}}.
* Lissard, Lord Fears henchman in later seasons of {{Knightmare}}.

* The Zorgons in the film/book ''Zathura'' (which can be best described as ''Jumanji'' [[RecycledINSPACE in space]]).

* The LizardFolk of ''DungeonsAndDragons'' give this trope its name. (They were "lizard men" in first and second edition, before political correctness kicked in.)

** The {{Forgotten Realms}} has saurials (several breeds).

* Lizardmen of ''{{Warhammer}}'' fantasy give this race a complete army and civilization (The FantasyCounterpartCulture of [[{{Mayincatec}} various Mesoamerican civilizations]], at that). Their leaders are a priestly [[FantasticCasteSystem caste]] of magic using Frog Folk - the Slann, who are the most ancient surviving civilisation in the Warhammer setting. Earlier editions of the game had it that the Slann are a degenerate remnant of a race of AncientAstronauts, though this is no longer canon.

** Loxatl fit the bill in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'', though they're only a minor race of mercenaries, quadrapedal, and are more salamander than lizard.

* ''{{Rifts}}'' has a number of lizard-like races, mainly the plain old Lizardmen, Tautons (Crocodile-men with scorpion tails that worship Egyptian Gods), Gromek, and others. In South America, a peaceful collection of Lizardman tribes was taken over by an organization of evil Dragons who have set up their own religion with Dragons as gods, and have built their own city for the various reptilian races. The Lizardmen, who would rather return to their simple lives along the (greatly-expanded) Amazon are growing increasingly dissatisfied with this arrangement.
* The Viashino creature types in ''MagicTheGathering'', which can come in either the [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=175064 large and brutish]] or [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=96836 small and thieving]] brand of Lizard folk.

* ''{{Feng Shui}}'' has the Snake Men, just one of the many demons the [[EvilSorcerer Lotus]] like to summon, which are not to be confused with Ascended-style transformed snakes, which are descended from snakes which transformed themselves into humans.

* ''MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3'' features the Reptoids. They are actually Lawful Neutral, calm and meditative. They have a city (Xantusia) in the Sandflow Caves, and their chief Sslen'ck actually joins your party and becomes playable.
* The krogan in MassEffect

*** In fact it was so bad that they had to make {{Tyke Bomb}}s called Shadow Scales who are some of the deadliest assassins in the Empire

* ''SuikodenIII'' had a race of lizard men. They weren't portrayed as evil or stupid though, more as {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s. They also lived giant underground halls and specialized in blacksmithing. So they basically served the traditional role of dwarves in the setting.

* Lizardman, once the proud spartan warrior Aeon Calcos, of the {{Soul Calibur}} series
* Reptile, his mate, Khameleon, and a male of the same name, Chameleon, are examples from the {{Mortal Kombat}} Universe

* The {{Dungeon Siege}} expansion pack Legends of Aranna featured the Zaurask which fit the tribal muscled variety.

* The main adversaries of the original Neverwinter Nights campaign turn out to be a bunch of these coming out of hibernation they used to survive an ice age.

[[AC: {{Webcomics}}]]

* If you believe ConspiracyTheorist {{David Icke}}, the real-world Reptillians combine this with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent blood-drinking]], VoluntaryShapeshifting and AncientConspiracy. [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking And]] CountryMusic; Kris Kristofferson and Boxcar Willie are among the lizards. Yes, he thinks "Me And Bobbie [=McGee=]" was written by a reptile.

* Lizardmen are a playable race in the later ''{{Wizardry}}'' games. They're strong, tough, fast, resistant to acid, resistant to psionics... and comparing their intelligence to a sack of potatoes would be a grave insult to the spuds.

* The Krogan in MassEffect

** Also the drell (although people nicked named them "Fish Lips").
*** Actually, the drell were designed to be fish not lizards. So they're actually FishPeople not LizardPeople.

* If you believe ConspiracyTheorist {{David Icke}}, the real-world Reptillians combine this with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent blood-drinking]], VoluntaryShapeshifting and AncientConspiracy. And CountryMusic; Kris Kristofferson and Boxcar Willie are among the lizards. Yes, he thinks "Me And Bobbie [=McGee=]" was written by a reptile.

*** All of things, War Hammer averts the usual lizard men are evil aspect of this trope. Unles you are in their "to kill list" (Chaos, Skaven, and Dark Elves in that order), they tend to ignore you unless you mess with their home. However, they have some serious communication problems as a Slaan's ramblings can have two completely different meanings (often causing disasterous results) depending on what Shink Priest interprets it.

* Krogan in MassEffect

*** In fact it was so bad they had to make {{Tyke Bomb}}s call Shadow Scales who are some of the deadliest assassins in the Empire

* ''{{Scalers}}'' has the main character Bobby/Scaler [[spoiler:and his dad, Leon]] turned into this. Although Scaler and [[OlderSidekick Leon]] are generally heroic, there are several other LizardFolk who aren't [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent and serve as antagonists]].

* The MalazanBookOfTheFallen series feature the K'Chain Che'Malle. They destroyed themselves warring with the Short-tails, the K'Chain Nah'ruk, which [[HoistByHisOwnPetard they themselves created]]. Mostly a fallen and forgotten civilization, they mostly appear as [[OurZombiesAreDifferent powerful zombies]] and [[LandMarkOfLore large ruins]]. A few living individuals are encountered, one having been imprisoned in an AncientTomb and now quite mad, two others [[EliteMook aiding]] a human who encountered them "in another land"

* The main adversaries of the original Neverwinter Nights campaign turn out to be a bunch of these coming out of hibernation they used to survive an ice age

* One of the older StarTrek novels- ''The Captain's Table: War Dragons''- had the humanoid reptillian Anjiri and the theropod-like Nykkus [[spoiler: which turn out to be [[BizarreAlienBiology two forms of the same species]].]] They eschue {{Sssssnaketalk}} in favor of a language that relies so heavily on gestures that standard [[TranslatorMicrobes translators]] can't handle it. While the first ones to show up are basically incompetent SpacePirates, it turns out that neither of these traits [[PlanetOfHats is their hat]].

* One of the older StarTrek novels- ''The Captain's Table: War Dragons''- had the humanoid reptillian Anjiri and the theropod-like Nykkus [[spoiler: which turn out to be two forms of the same species.]] They eschue {{Sssssnaketalk}} in favor of a language that relies so heavily on gestures that standard translators can't handle it. While the first ones to show up are basically incompetent space pirates, this turns out [[PlanetOfHats not to be their hat.]]