Healing Serpent

The Staff of Asclepius within the Star of Life.

Snakes and other serpents have long since been affiliated with the healing arts. This symbolism likely started in Ancient Greece^note Though examples of this trope do exist elsewhere it appears that the actual symbolism did start in ancient Greece. with the god Asclepius.^note  Also known as Asklepios, Aesculapius and Vejovis. Asclepius was the patron god of physicians and a god of healing and medicine, he was also heavily affiliated with snakes. This mythological figure and his association with snakes were likely born from ancient herbology, which was in itself associated with venomous snakes. The venomous snakes were likely affiliated with herbology due to the fact that much like the practitioners of herbology both created substances that could affect the body, though in myths and legends these snakes would naturally know how to cure someone along with poison them. Currently has become a bit of a Forgotten Trope, where it’s mostly been seen in various medical institutions (hospitals), things affiliated with said institutions, and medicine. In case of video games, this can be substituted in lieu of The Colored Cross.

The association of snakes with healing is probably also tied with the association of snakes with regeneration and rebirth. The snake shedding its skin was seen as a phoenix-like ability to grant itself new life, a form of regenerative immortality. Combine this with their grace, their beauty, and their venom, and they become emblematic of possessing power over both life and death, and thus were the center of a lot of mystery cults and esoteric worship.

This trope also at times works alongside Serpent of Immortality and Serpent Staff. In Serpent of Immortality, it sometimes works in tandem with this trope or have one trope be used to cause the other. Serpent Staff, on the other hand, is often used as a visual representation of this trope.

The Staff of Asclepius is often confused, particularly in the United States, with the Caduceus - that symbol actually has two snakes entwined around a rod and facing each other, with a pair of wings attached to the rod. The Caduceus is a symbol of Hermes, the Messenger, Greek god of commerce and communication, and is more properly associated with those spheres of influence. That usually doesn't stop medical firms in the states from using the Cadaceus anyway. That Other Wiki has more on that.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean: Donatello Versus' Stand, Under World, has the insignia on its chest, for seemingly no reason other than the fact that Pucci helped him awaken it while in a hospital.
• Monster Girl Doctor focuses on the non-human residents in a world of Cute Monster Girls, and the most prominent of the cast aside from the male main lead is Saphentite Neikes. As her name may suggest, she is a Lamia, and she works alongside the main lead as a doctor, particularly in making medications.
• 3×3 Eyes: Yoko Ayanokoji/Pa Bo/Hua She is a snake demon that can use water to heal people.

Comic Book

• Locke & Key: The Mending Key has two intertwined snakes resembling the Sadly Mythtaken Caduceus, and its power restores anything broken or injured.
• Transformers: Timelines: In the Transformers: The Wreckers series, the Maximal Night Viper transforms into a cobra and has the ability to heal himself by shedding his skin.

Films — Animated

• The Road to El Dorado: After finding out that Tulio and Miguel are not gods, Tzekel-Kan, while plotting, slices open his hand to smear some of his blood on a depiction of Miguel. His hand (when pulled back) is magically healed, but while healing, what appears to be little ghostly serpents are seen entering his hand.

Literature

• Dreamsnake takes place in a post apocalyptic future. The protagonist is a Frontier Doctor named Snake who uses genetically modified snakes to heal people, mostly by feeding them compounds that transform their venom into medicine.
• Harry Potter:
  • Severus Snape and Horace Slughorn are at different times the Head of the House of Slytherin and carry out potion making which cures petrified students, relieves the symptoms of lycanthropy, and cures a student of the effects of a love potion.
  • Once frozen, the eggs of the magical snake called Ashwinders can be eaten to cure ague.
  • Snake fangs are an ingredient for numerous potions, most notably the Boil Cure potion.
  • Gilderoy Lockhart invented a special kind of hair shampoo, with Occamy^note A very serpentine creature. egg yolks.
• The Heroes of Olympus: Pretty much has all the examples from Classical Mythology show up.
  • The Son of Neptune:
    • A amnesiac Percy gains two vials of gorgon blood by killing the gorgon sisters Euryale and Stheno, where earlier it was revealed that blood from their right side can heal anything, while the blood from their left side is lethal. Percy later on uses the blood in a deal with Phineas, where they each drink a vial. Gaia thankfully made sure that Percy drank the healing blood instead of the lethal one^note Thus killing Phineas by extension.. The healing blood returns Percy's memory.
    • The Lar Vitellius is stated to be a descendant of Aesculapius and served as a medic in the Fifth Cohort.
  • The Blood Of Olympus:
    • The Trope Codifier himself, Asclepius, shows up along with his staff and snake, a green python named Spike, and true to the trope, Asclepius behaves like one would expect him to, a doctor. He quickly diagnoses Jason with shortsightedness and gives him a pair of glasses, tells Piper to ice her shoulder, and provides them with the Physician's Cure, which was made with the help of Spike.
    • The automaton of Hygieia and her snake zig-zag this trope, for though the automatons are trying to keep Jason, Piper, and Leo from seeing Asclepius with lethal force, the automaton provides tips for a healthy lifestyle. Plus, they can heal themselves. The real Hygieia is also implied by Asclepius to play this trope straight, since she is the goddess of good health.
    • Hilariously, the Sadly Mythtaken nature of Hermes' Caduceus is also mentioned as the symbol of medicine which irritates the snake on Asclepius' staff; Spike, who feels that the snakes on the Caduceus (George and Martha) get all the attention.
• The Kane Chronicles: Apophis, who's portrayed as a giant snake, surprisingly is this, though in a Deal with the Devil sort of way, by offering to cure Walt Stone of his curse.
  • Vladimir Menshikov, who has been secretly been a follower of Apophis, offers the Kanes the secret to curing Walt Stone of his curse if they kill Michel Desjardins and join Apophis.
  • Apophis healed Vladimir Menshikov's damaged throat, implied to be a side effect of becoming Apophis's host.
  • After doing a Fusion Dance, Apophis and Vladimir Menshikov offer again to cure Walt Stone of his curse if the Kanes give him/them the scarab that's Khepri.
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Ironically Hermes is one, despite the Sadly Mythtaken nature of his Caduceus in real life, due to being the apparent creator of Hermes' Multivitamins, which function much like regular vitamins do in real life. In The Sea of Monsters, Hermes' Multivitamins were also able to return Percy and others back to their human forms after being turned into guinea pigs.
• The Three Snake Leaves: The protagonist kills a snake. Its mate revives it with the titular three leaves. This gives the protagonist the idea to revive his lover, the princess, with the same remedy.
• The Trials of Apollo: In The Tyrant's Tomb, the head healer at Camp Jupiter, Pranjal, reveals that he's a son of Asclepius.

Live-Action Television

• Stargate-verse: Stargate SG-1 and its related series (Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Stargate Origins) give us a rare horrifying example in the form of the symbiotes, which look much like snakes when not in their host, of which there are two groups called the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra^note Though in the Tok'ra's defense, they try to not be horrifying.. Listed below are the different ways they qualify for healing aspect of this trope:
  • Adult symbiotes provide their hosts with an extended lifespan, a minor case of Super-Strength, a minor Healing Factor, and a super immune system. Unfortunately the cost is having a Puppeteer Parasite^note The Tok'ra are a downplayed example though, they usually try to share the body with the host..
  • The Goa'uld created a Slave Race of Super Soldiers called the Jaffa that were genetically engineered so that their entire immune system is dependent on a larval Goa'uld symbiote^note The Jaffa eventually found an alternative in the form of a drug called "Tretonin". . The Goa'uld made the Jaffa that way to both keep their slaves under their thumb and to get incubators for their larvae.
  • An invention of the Goa'uld is the sarcophagus, which was used to rapidly cure injuries and illnesses. Constant use of sarcophagus can reverse various genetic disorders, such as poor eyesight, extended one's lifespan^note Though if they have a symbiote they both become functionally immortal. and even revive the dead in some cases. Unfortunately, it can't fix various forms of brain damage, its use can become addictive, it can be used for Brainwashing and can cause psychological side effects when used regularly.
  • Tretonin is a drug originally made by a race called the Pangarans, by using Goa'uld larva that they were getting from a captive Goa'uld queen ^note It was later discovered that the Pangarans were accidentally using a Tok'ra queen.. The drug essentially grants the user perfect health at the cost of a suppressed immune system, which became a major problem when the Goa'uld queen began to die. The Tok'ra eventually came and helped create an antidote and even made a refined version of Tretonin for the Jaffa to help end their dependence of the Goa'uld.

Music Videos

• In the surreal video for Lady Gaga's song "911", the dream world represents a traffic accident caused by Lady Gaga. A woman in the dream world wears a white dress and plays with a rubber snake. In the real world, the white-clad woman is a nurse, and we get a closeup of her name tag with the Staff of Asclepius symbol.

Mythology & Religion

• In the The Bible, when Moses was in the wilderness with the People of Israel, they faced death from getting bitten by poisonous snakes. When Moses inquired to God about how to treat this, he was told to create an effigy of a snake on a stake and all one needed to do to be healed of the poison was to look at it. The concept was so simple, many didn't believe it would work and didn't bother looking and summarily died. Those who did look, found themselves healed, as promised.
• Classical Mythology:
  • The Trope Codifier Asclepius^note  Also known as Asklepios and Aesculapius or Vejovis to the Romans., who was a demigod and later god, was affiliated with healing, medicine, rejuvenation, and physicians. The second part of this trope is found in the snakes^note Supposedly the Aesculapian snake species. that he had help him in healing pilgrims at his temples. Some myths stated that he learned healing from a snake. His symbol, the Rod/Staff of Asclepius or the asklepian, which is a snake coiled around a staff, is still a prominent symbol for medicine and health care around the world.
  • Hygiene, the daughter of Asclepius, also counts as this, for she is the goddess of good health, cleanliness, and sanitation. She is also affiliated with snakes as the trope requires, often being accompanied by one.
  • The Gorgons, which were some sort of Snake People. Blood taken from the right side of a Gorgon had wondrous healing properties and in some myths could even bring the dead back to life.
  • Hermes/Mercury's staff the Caduceus. Much like the Rod/Staff of Asclepius mentioned above, is also a symbol for medicine and health care around the world. This appears to be a case of Sadly Mythtaken, though, since Hermes/Mercury and his Caduceus had little if anything to do with healing or medicine.
• Native American Mythology: The Muscogee traditions state that the horns of a Horned Serpent could be used for medicine.

Tabletop Games

• Shadowrun: Snake and Wyrm (serpent) shamans gain +2 dice when casting healing spells.

Video Games

• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey: The Eagle Bearer has to deal with some in the Temple of Apollo. Since this is just before Hippocrates has made it big, the snakes are used as medical aid by... licking the injuries out of people. Things have gone wrong as some have taken over a bathhouse, and the Eagle Bearer is asked to get them out, preferably without killing them.
• Fallout: New Vegas: The Standard Attire of the Followers of The Apocalypse, a doctor's lab coat, has this symbol, on the left or right shoulder, depending on the sex of the wearer.
• Fate/Grand Order: Asclepius himself is available in the game as a Caster and, as to be expected, he wields the Rod/Staff of Asclepius, is associated with snakes and provides medical care both in the game's story and in actual gameplay.
• Genshin Impact: Baizhu, a doctor and owner of the Bubu Pharmacy in Liyue, has golden slitted eyes and carries a talking snake named Changsheng on his shoulders. Changsheng is actually a Healer God formerly known as the Herblord who lends her power to Baizhu, and his snake-like eyes are a sign of their contract.
• Ambulances in the 3D Era Grand Theft Auto games appear to have this symbol on their sides, but look closely and it's actually a sperm cell.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: The Spirit Of Light Lanayru takes the form of a serpent and, like all of the other Spirits Of Light, resides in a Healing Spring, which can be used.
• Pokémon: The "Shed Skin" ability, possessed primarily by snake-like Pokemon like Ekans, Dratini, and Seviper, has a chance each turn to cure the user of Status Effects.
• Psychonauts 2: Hollis' Mind contains a representation of the neurological hospital she used to work at, which has a statue with a staff displaying this trope on top of the main entrance, and among the collectibles present in this level are Nuggets of Wisdom shaped like two snakes around a staff.
• Runescape
  • During the Death To The Dorgeshuun quest, Juna, a giant talking snake, helps revive Zanik with some of the Tears Of Guthix.
  • During the final encounter with The Ambassador in The Shadow Reef dungeon, Seiryu, who is a very serpentine entity^note One of his titles is even The Azure Serpent., comes to aid the adventurer by healing them.
  • The Asylum Doctor's Ring is stated in its examine text to have the image of serpents wrapped around a staff. Said ring is a reward from the Broken Home quest, in which the player investigates a haunted house which turns out to have been built on top of the remains of an ancient mental hospital.
• The Sims 3: In the World Adventures expansion pack, a mummy's curse can be cured by kissing a snake.
• Temtem: Nidrasil is a three-headed snake whose traits both inflict positive statuses on its allies; Tri-Apothecary gives them the regenerating status (which restores HP for a set number of turns) when it hits them with a special attack, and Tri-Phytologist gives them the invigorated status (which reduces the amount of stamina required to use a technique) when it hits them with a physical attack. Its pre-evolution, Orphyll, can have the Apothecary trait, which functions the same as Tri-Apothecary, but the statuses don't last as long.

Webcomics

• Awful Hospital: The embodiment of the concept of Health manifests as an endless serpentine creature wrapped around a column of bone like the Staff of Asclepius. In-universe, it's ambiguous whether this form is the origin of the trope or a result of it.
• Kevin & Kell: Being an anthro webcomic, one of the reoccurring doctor characters is a snake named Dr. Caduceus. Fiona's college friend Greta Garter is a snake with a pre-med major, and has been known to mimic the Rod/Staff of Asclepius while posing for her selfie stick.

Western Animation

• While she doesn't heal people in a physical sense, Luz Noceda from The Owl House has a strong snake motif and helps multiple people improve their mental well being over the course of the series, and is even shown wearing a Rod of Asclepius t-shirt in one episode. And on a more personal level, her "snakeshifter" palisman Stringbean (which like all palismen has the ability to change into a staff form) hatches from her egg when Luz finally begins to heal from her own emotional wounds.

Real Life

• Any snake used to make antivenom.
• The Rod/Staff of Asclepius and Caduceus are prominent symbols for medicine and health care around the world. Some groups are trying to have the Caduceus removed though, due to the fact it has nothing to do with healing or medicine.
• Due to its historical connections with the god Asclepius, the Aesculapian Snake is seen as this. They are rather fitting in the role, since they pose no threat to humans or their livestock (they are not venomous) and can actually be helpful—their main prey is small mammals human farmers see as vermin like mice and rats.
• In traditional Chinese medicine, snake oil made from the fat of the Chinese water snake was used to help remedy joint pain. Its imitators, on the other hand, didn't have the same properties due to being made from rattlesnake fat.

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