History Main / LizardFolk

* 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. Ironically 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.]]

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' introduces a robot in ''Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish'' that comes from a planet where "the people are people and the leaders are lizards".

** The Gorn. Most famously one had a duel with Kirk in the original series. In other media they've been more neutral, or in Videogame/StarTrekStarfleetCommand they're actually allies of The Federation. Though their [[ProudWarriorRace their martial prowess]] is usually emphasized regardless.

* The Teladi from the ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' series are a [[HumanoidAliens humanoid]] reptilian race whose aspect of life is entirely motivated by [[ProudMerchantRace money]]. Their society is comprised of a MegaCorp which dominates their politics and businesses, and their government is essentially a corporate republic. Because of their reptilian nature, the Teladi have a... [[SnakeTalk tendency to speak with an accent that emphasizes the letter s]] in such a way that it becomes [[MemeticMutation memetic]]. [[TrueNeutral They tend to be neutral to all the other factions]], even the SpacePirates. Because of this last note, it's not surprising to see some factories produce a fancy drug known as [[FantasticDrug Space Weed]], which is basically the series' version of marijuana [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]-] This drug is considered contraband in any sector that isn't Teladi or Pirate-owned, and often is a popular source of income to would-be smugglers.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Children of House Targaryen are sometimes born with scaly skin, tiny wings, and tail, which may be connected to the family's historical relations with dragons. In this case, however, these children are always stillborn. Daenerys is the latest to suffer this, when a witch curses her child, Rhaego, in exchange for saving her husband. Rhaego is also made as though he has been dead for years, because when his skin is touched, it falls off to reveal graveworms.

** There was a race called the Ophiogenees (meaning "serpent born") who were born from the union between a drakon -- one of the snakelike, usually limbless dragons of Greek myth -- and a [[{{Squick}} human woman]]. It was said that the males of this race could cure people of snake bites with a touch of their hand.

* Legrakix is a morbidly obese version of this trope, though he isn't evil. Unless eating everybody's lunch at work is evil.

** Other related enemies include the larger and stronger Dinolfos (''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'') and the winged Aerolfos (''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'').

** The Gorn. Most famously one had a duel with Kirk in the original series. In other media they've been more neutral, or in Videogame/StarTrekStarfleetCommand they're actually allies of The Federation.

** The Hirogen and the Jem'Hadar also at least look the part, and are the villains in most of their appearances.

** The Silurians and their aquatic cousins the Sea Devils.[[note]]Both of these are technically FantasticSlurs: the [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] has "Earth Reptiles" as a more respectful term, and the Eleventh Doctor uses the taxonomically inaccurate "''Homo reptilia''."[[/note]] 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. However the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians serial]] in which the Silurians are introduced [[GreyAndGrayMorality avoids presenting them as evil]]; instead they're not that different from the humans.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' has the Unas. They are a species that lives primitively and is a race of hunters. On some planets, they are also the slaves of humans. They were the first hosts for the Goa'uld before they developed a preference for humans as hosts.

* ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' presents AnotherDimension where dinosaurs have survived and evolved into a species that outwardly resemble humans. There are still a handful on dinosaurs that haven't fully evolved, namely Yoshi.

Almost every StandardFantasySetting with the StandardFantasyRaces is bound to to have one group of these guys. A civilized or semi-civilized race of humanoid lizards, they vary from being [[RubberForeheadAliens scaly humans]] to [[BeastMan large bipedal lizards]] to [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs small dinosaurs]] and everything in-between. Sadly, they are [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent almost always one of the bad guys]], and even when not AlwaysChaoticEvil, they usually end up as antagonists. More modern depictions tend to make them TrueNeutral, being an old race that just wants to live with their old ways without modern civilization stamping down on them.

Also, expect that appearances aside most Lizard Folk don't have any biological link with the lizards you'll find here on Earth. In fact, Lizard Folk tend to be more commonly associated with [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]] than living reptiles, in which case the race name will include 'Saur' in it. Such dinosaur-derived creatures are sometimes called "dinosauroids", a term first popularized by paleontologist Dale Russell's hypothetical ''Troodon''-descended humanoid.

* ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' presents AnotherDimension where [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]] have survived and evolved into a species that outwardly resemble humans. There are still a handful on dinosaurs that haven't fully evolved, namely Yoshi.

** The ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' have several breeds of saurials, [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs which are dinosaur-like humanoids]].

*** Lizardmen give this race a complete army and civilization (the FantasyCounterpartCulture of [[{{Mayincatec}} various Mesoamerican civilizations]], at that) which so happens to be the most ancient surviving civilization in the ''Warhammer'' setting. Their leaders are a priestly [[FantasticCasteSystem caste]] of magic using Frog Folk, the Slann, who are by a good margin the most powerful mages in the setting. Other lizardmen races include the Skinks (small and skittish skirmishers, assassins and wizards), the [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Saurus]] ([[ProudWarriorRaceGuy strong, ruthless and single-minded warriors]]) and the Kroxigor ([[SmashMook huge, strong]], [[DumbMuscle not overly bright]] saurians who work both as heavy support fighters and manual labour). They were created as servants to [[AncientAstronauts the Old Ones]] (described as fairly reptilian themselves). Their armies also make liberal use of distinctly dinosaurian monsters. Unusually for this trope, they're on the side of good, being opposed to Chaos, the Skaven, and other evil races, and the last remnants of a once-proud civilization. However, they're generally hostile towards the other good races as well, though the fact that they keep trying to colonize their lands probably doesn't help.

* ''VideoGame/StarFox'': Being a series with a cast composed almost entirely of {{Beast M|an}}en it naturally has some anthropomorphic reptiles, the most notable of them being Leon of team Star Wolf.

* ''Literature/SpaceAcademyDropouts'': The Sorkanan race is the oldest and most powerful alien species in the Community. It is a humanoid race of these with the men looking like upright T-Rexes and the women looking like velicoraptors.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', alongside the humanoid frogs and toads, there are the newts. The capital of Amphibia is even called Newtopia, which is ruled by King Andrias, who turns out to be a BitchInSheepsClothing that comes from a long line of {{Multiversal Conqueror}}s. However, this doesn't make his species AlwaysChaoticEvil as a whole as his fellow newts were completely unaware of his true nature and many were even appalled at his actions.

* ''Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis'' has Sorin, the native inhabitants of eponymous planet. While they are living in civilization of roughly medieval level (though they also have [[SchizoTech some more advanced inventions]] like blimps or hot air balloons) with [[FantasyCounterPartCulture visible Asian flavour]], the game itself is set in science-fiction setting, pitting them against [[HumanityIsAdvanced high-tech human Colonists]] and [[HordeOfAlienLocusts space bugs Dreil]]. However, they can still fight them on equal ground, thanks to their [[MagiTek magic]] and sheer badassery. They are the ones who defend their homeworld against alien invaders, which technically makes them the good guys, but they are also quite ruthless and not above [[ImAHumanitarian eating their defeated enemies]] and tactics which involve slaughtering their foes [[KillEmAll to the last man]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'': Lizardmen became vassals of Ainz Ooal Gown after impressing his guardian Cocytus in battle. Notably, these Lizardmen are portrayed as being peaceful, friendly and very badass.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Spinner's overall character design is this due to his Quirk, [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer which he was ostracized for]] in his conservative, backwater hometown.

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

** A race of humanoid lizard monsters called Lizalfos appear as semi-recurring enemies in a number of games. The name presumably presumably means "lizard folk" based off the other "fos" enemy humanoids like Stalfos and Wolfos.

* In Creator/RobertSilverberg's ''Literature/MajipoorSeries'', the Ghayrogs, one of the many species living on Majipoor, resemble humanoid lizards, right down to their forked tongues. They display little emotion from a human perspective (as it's mostly expressed via changes in scent), rarely sleep, and sometimes serve as functionaries in the human-dominated government.

* The Aandrisk in ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' look like human-sized bipedal lizards with multicolored feathers on their heads.

*** Lizardmen give this race a complete army and civilization (the FantasyCounterpartCulture of [[{{Mayincatec}} various Mesoamerican civilizations]], at that) which so happens to be the most ancient surviving civilization in the ''Warhammer'' setting. Their leaders are a priestly [[FantasticCasteSystem caste]] of magic using Frog Folk, the Slann, who are by a good margin the most powerful mages in the setting. Other lizardmen races include the the Skinks (small and skittish skirmishers, assassins and wizards), the [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Saurus]] ([[ProudWarriorRaceGuy strong, ruthless and single-minded warriors]]) and the Kroxigor ([[SmashMook huge, strong]], [[DumbMuscle not overly bright]] saurians who work both as heavy support fighters and manual labour). They were created as servants to [[AncientAstronauts the Old Ones]] (described as fairly reptilian themselves). Their armies also make liberal use of distinctly dinosaurian monsters. Unusually for this trope, they're on the side of good, being opposed to Chaos, the Skaven, and other evil races, and the last remnants of a once-proud civilization. However, they're generally hostile towards the other good races as well, though the fact that they keep trying to colonize their lands probably doesn't help.

** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'': XLR8 is a Kineceleran, a vaguely lizard-like alien that has SuperSpeed.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' introduces Humungousaur, a huge humanoid dinosaur-like alien. He seems to be based on multiple herbivorous dinosaur species, having a sauropod-like face with flat teeth and developing stegosaurus-like spinal plates in his [[{{Sizeshifter}} larger form]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'': The Mipedians are fairly decent and honorable Lizard Folk, compared to the other tribes in the setting. They're desert dwelling, have wise members, and generally aren't a given episode's aggressor's, having even been the subject of at least one episode proving false BeautyEqualsGoodness and ReptilesAreAbhorrent. Peyton is on very good terms with the entire tribe (and possibly some of the insectoid Danian's as well), more so than Tom, Kaz, and Sara with the Overworlders, Underworlders, and Danians respectively.

[[folder:Other]]
* In the 2008 Minnesota Senate recount, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20091127155704/http://blog.rifftrax.com/2008/11/21/dont-blame-me-i-voted-for-lizard-people/ one of the ballots reviewed contained a write-in vote for "Lizard People" in every race]]. Likely a reference to ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' and its Ancient Democracy where [[https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/162557-it-comes-from-a-very-ancient-democracy-you-see-you the people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people]].
* According to the conspiracy theory professed by Creator/DavidIcke and others, the world is secretly ruled by lizard people from space and many prominent families are actually of this race and only disguised as human. This was since spawned its own trope, the ReptilianConspiracy. Other groups also proposed this, the Happy Science Foundation, for example. In one of their tract movies, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGhzqhh_PQ0 lizard men pretended to be gods]] to the Incas. They're also aliens.
* Palaeontologist Dale Russell suggested in the early 1980s that if the rather intelligent dinosaur ''Troodon'' had survived to the present day, it may have evolved into reptilian humanoids like this (it should be noted that Russell was strongly religious and on numerous occasions mentioned his belief that [[HumansAreSpecial he considered humans close to the pinnacle of life]] [[EvolutionaryLevels and evolution]]). However, most other scientists consider it unlikely that there's any inherent correlation between intelligence and humanoid anatomy, and in any case [[ScienceMarchesOn we now know]] ''Troodon'' was almost certainly covered in feathers rather than scales, so this idea is discredited nowadays.
[[/folder]]

** The lizard-like Bangaa race appear in most of the games set in Ivalice. Thanks to their muscled builds they're naturally formidable physical fighters, but they have little magical aptitude, in part because their raspy vocal cords make chanting spells difficult. They're noted not to be true reptiles, as they're capable of growing facial hair, and calling a bangaa a lizard is a ''[[IAmNotWeasel very]]'' [[IAmNotWeasel bad idea]].