Reptilian humanoids in fiction

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Reptilian humanoids are a common theme in fiction, whether fantasy or science fiction. They have appeared in various popular treatments, from early pulp short stories and novellas, to full novels, comic books, television features, films, and the gaming industry.

Contents 1 Literature 2 Comic books 3 Television 4 Film 5 Games 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Literature

• In the Hollow Earth Pellucidar novels which began in 1914 Edgar Rice Burroughs tells of flying reptiles called Mahars. Mahars are the rulers of Pellucidar. They evolved from the pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus. They are far larger than their prehistoric ancestors, and are also able to hypnotise others into doing their bidding as well as having certain scientific knowledge. They keep humans as slaves, food and pets, and their will is carried out by ape-men known as Sagoths. Hero David Innes burrows into Pellucidar and puts a stop to the Mahar tyranny.

• Another early occurrence was in H. P. Lovecraft's The Nameless City (January 1921), in which the narrator comes upon an ancient city buried beneath the sands of Arabia Deserta. Descending into a subterranean passage, he comes upon incredibly old frescoes which reveal that the city was built in pre-human times before the desert had encroached upon Arabia by a race of semi-humanoid crawling reptiles, who had retreated underground as the desert spread and the first men appeared on the scene.

• In Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and King Kull stories, the heroes are often pitted against a race of Serpent Men, shape-shifting reptilians with supernatural and hypnotic cabilities, who formerly dominated mankind and who plotted their return by inflitrating human society and becoming leaders. Their first appearance was in a King Kull short story, "The Shadow Kingdom," first published in Weird Tales (August 1929) and later republished in the collection King Kull (1967) by Lancer Books. (It is also available online here) at Project Gutenberg. It seems beyond doubt that Howard's original story and the later development of the serpentmen race in Marvel Comics served as direct models for the conspiracy theories of David Icke, particularly with respect to his shape-shifting reptiloids infiltrating human governments.

• Lin Carter, whose fiction was heavily inspired by Burroghsian and Howardian themes (some say to the point of becoming derivative), pitted his own barbarian hero Thongor against the last surviving Dragon Kings, a humanoid evolutionary shoot-out of dinosaurs versed in dark magic and chaos-worship, in the adventures narrated in The Wizard of Lemuria, the first book of his Lemurian saga. Carter also wrote several unpublished pastiches linking Robert E. Howard's serpentment of Valusia to H. P. Lovecraft's lizard race from The Nameless City.

• Tom Robbins included the reptilian theory in his novel Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. Extensive historical ties and backstory lead the reader through the entire gamut of reptilian lore, including the Dogon tribe, the Nommo, the being or beings known as Oannes, and the actual biological vestiges of fingers in dolphin fins.

• Jane Gaskell's Atlan Series (The Serpent (1963), Atlan (1965), The City (1966), The Dragon (1975) and Some Summer Lands (1977)) features reptilian humanoids. The tale is set in prehistoric South America before the fall of Atlantis under the sea. Narrated by a human girl-child-goddess, Cija, who is turned over by her queen mother as a hostage to Zerd, the conquering reptilian general whose plan is to find and destroy Atlantis, this imaginative series takes on feminist issues and Atlantean mythology, mixing in some soft-peddle sex, romance, war and legend. The "Dragon General" is portrayed as having monstrous qualities, but also as sharing human emotions. He simultaneously attracts and repels human women, especially the sheltered virgin Cija who has been charged with the impossible task of seducing, then assassinating, her captor while they travel with his army. Some of the early editions feature classic SF cover art by Boris Vallejo.

• Harry Turtledove wrote a series of novels, the Worldwar tetralogy and the Colonization trilogy, in which Earth is invaded in 1942 by reptilian aliens (referred to as Lizards by humans and the Race by themselves) from Tau Ceti, an invasion which interrupts World War II.

• The Anonymous Rex series of novels by Eric Garcia follows a noir detective who is also a humanoid velociraptor. He is part of a society of evolved dinosaurs of various species who live in disguised forms in contemporary society. It plays on the reptilian conspiracy theory analogous to the Men In Black treatment of the men in black conspiracy theory.

• Raymond E. Feist's Magician series features the Pantathian serpent people, a race of reptilian humanoids living on another continent. They convince the Moredhel (dark elves) that their prophesied saviour has returned. In reality, it is one of the Pantathians in disguise.

• In Mick Farren's Victor Renquist novels, there is a race of terrestrial reptilian humanoids called the Drakhuh. They were descended from dinosaurs and once travelled to Mars. Long ago, they became involved in a war with aliens called Nephilim, and retreated into a network of underground caverns. Occasionally people have encountered them, and such encounters formed the basis of dragon legends. With the aftermath of World War II, they were inundated by a wave of Nazi refugees, who promptly enslaved them. As a result of the events of the series, they are extinct.

• The Outlanders series by Mark Ellis features a small group of reincarnated Anunnaki led by Overlord Enlil. Millennia ago, this reptilian race from Nibiru colonized Earth and influenced human development. It is speculated they are the same species who appeared in the works of Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft. After a long war with the Tuatha Dé Danann, they agreed to leave Earth, but in reality set into motion a long-range plan wherein the Supreme Council of the Anunnaki would one day regain dominion over the world and its peoples.

• In his book VALIS, the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick wrote about contact with three-eyed amphibious beings from Sirius and their connection to the Soviets and the Illuminati. Dick claimed to have connected these creatures to the Nommo, a race of amphibious deities worshipped by the Dogon tribe of Mali.

• Robert Anton Wilson writes about the Illuminati in the Illuminatus! Trilogy and other books. The book Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati describes his drug-induced experiences with three-eyed beings from Sirius, whom Timothy Leary has also claimed to have met.

• Other noteworthy science fiction novels that have focused on sentient races that evolved from the dinosaurs are Harry Harrison's Eden series (West of Eden -1984, Winter in Eden -1986, and Return to Eden -1989), the Dragonstar series by David Bischoff and Thomas F. Monteleone (Dragonstar -1980, Day of the Dragonstar -1983, Night of the Dragonstar -1985, and Dragonstar Destiny -1989), and Robert J. Sawyer's Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy (Far Seer -1992, Fossil Hunter -1993, and Foreigner -1994).

• Lewis Shiner's novella "Lizard-Men of Los Angeles" is a pulp fiction homage featuring reptilian humanoids.

• There has been no shortage of fantasy novels that featured lizardmen as minor villains or incidental monsters, but the first to actually feature a lizardman as one of the main heroic characters was Andre Norton's 1979 novel Quag Keep. The lizardman Gulth' was part of the starring group of adventurers in this, one of the first novels to feature fantasy role-playing in its storyline.

• Another heroic reptilian main character featured in fantasy literature is Dragonbait from the Forgotten Realms novels in the Finder's Stone Trilogy, Azure Bonds (1988) The Wyvern's Spur (1990) and Song of the Saurials (1991) by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb. Dragonbait is the silent companion and guardian of the warrior woman Alias, and he is eventually revealed to be a member of a noble extradimensional race of dinosaurian humanoids known as Saurials.

• Enemy Mine, by Barry B. Longyear, later made into a film, tells of humanity's war with the Drac, a race of alien hermaphroditic reptiles.

• In performance poet Gerard McKeown's The Beautiful Goth the narrator considers the possibility that the beautiful goth is perhaps the daughter of a lizardman. He then goes on to proclaim his beliefs in lizardmen and their covert participation in human history. The tone of the poem is, however, ironic.[1]

• In Whitley Strieber's novel, "2012: The War for Souls", the Seraph of the parallel universe of "Abaddon" are described as reptilian descendants of the dinosaurs, who did not become extinct in that reality.

• Lisanne Norman's Sholan Alliance series features an antagonistic reptilian race known generically as Valtegans.

[edit] Comic books

In The Amazing Spider-Man #6 (1963), The Lizard makes his first appearance. Dr. Curt Connors, a good-natured one-armed scientist, while attempting to apply the regeneration capabilities of lizards on himself, accidentally becomes an evil, bipedal, talking human-sized lizard with a warped yet high intelligence. The Lizard's main goal is to destroy the human race so that reptiles can rule the earth, but Spider-Man (or another hero) has repeatedly defeated the Lizard and foiled his schemes. Komodo is a teenage girl who has similarly become afflicted by Connors' serum.

In addition, Spider-Man has also battled a dragon-man creature named Draco. This story only appeared in a book and record set for children, parts of which were used by Man or Astro-man? on their debut album Is It ... Man or Astroman?

The titular characters of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird) are reptilian humanoids, as are the recurring characters Leatherhead and the Triceratons.

Marvel Comics' The Ultimates (written by Mark Millar and with art by Bryan Hitch) features updated versions of the villainous Skrull race, called Chitauri (presumably in reference to Credo Mutwa's Chitauli, part of the reptilian conspiracy literature). The primary villains of the 'Homeland Security' arc (issues #7-13), they have shape-changing abilities and have orchestrated various conspiracies to exterminate the human race; the most successful of these plots was the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

Marvel Comics also has created a team or association of snake-themed humanoids named the Serpent Society some which are reptilian humanoids (Slither, King Cobra, Copperhead) and some which are humanoid in appearance (Python, Rattler, Sidewinder).

Alien Legion also featured Sarigar, a blue-skinned serpent like creature, who is leader of the legion.

Batman villain Killer Croc is a criminal with a genetic disorder that turns him progressively more reptilian.

[edit] Television

In the Star Trek series, there are many extraterrestrial reptilian humanoid species, such as the Gorn. The Gorn made their first broadcast appearance when the episode "Arena" aired on January 19, 1967. The Saurians, reptilian brewers of the infamous "Saurian Brandy" mentioned throughout the original Star Trek series, appeared in a very brief cameo in 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The Jem'Hadar are a reptilian race that serve as soldiers for the Dominion in Deep Space 9. Star Trek: Voyager even presents one such species, the Voth, as being descended from a species of dinosaurs originally from Earth. In the second-season episode "Parturition," two characters have an encounter with a reptohumanoid life-form. The Gorn made a return appearance in the Star Trek: Enterprise season four episode titled "In a Mirror Darkly, Part 2". Xindi-Reptilians appear in many Star Trek: Enterprise season three episodes and a season four episode. In non-canon stories, the Cardassians are often hinted at as being reptilian, though this seems incronguent, given their interfertility with obviously mammalian races like Bajorans.

In the long-running British SF television series Doctor Who, two ancient terrestrial reptilian races appear: the three-eyed Silurians and their aquatic cousins the Sea Devils. Another, extraterrestrial, reptilian civilization is the Draconian Empire, who in the 26th century are engaged in a Cold War-like situation with Earth, a situation that threatened to ignite into war due to the actions of the Daleks and the Master. Another recurring monster, the Ice Warriors, are also reptilian humanoids, hailing originally from ancient Mars. Other reptiloid alien races seen in the programme include the Raxacoricofallapatorians, the Lakertyans (Time and the Rani), whom the Doctor describes as being "humanoid with reptilian influences", and the Foamasi (The Leisure Hive), who are, according to one of the characters in the story, the only species that could survive in the radioactive wasteland of Argolis, outside the Hive.

Various other science fiction TV shows feature reptilian peoples. The mid-1980s science fiction TV series V describes humanity's struggle against Nazi-like reptilian overlords from Sirius who are disguised as humans. In Babylon 5, the Narn appear to be reptilian, although they are in fact marsupials. In the same series, however, the Drazi are reptilian in nature. Stargate SG-1 has a race of humanoid aliens, the Unas, who are somewhat reptilian in appearance. The show portrays them as the original hosts of the parasitic Goa'uld, who once enslaved the peoples of Earth. An episode from the eighth season of The X-Files, titled "Alone", featured a man who transformed himself into a lizard creature, barely glimpsed at the end of the episode. Reptilian-humanoid aliens are featured in The X-Files movie and the beginning of the sixth season.

In the live-action Saturday morning TV series Land of the Lost, the Sleestak were bug-eyed reptilian humanoids who dwelt in caves, hated bright light, worshipped a giant unseen monster that lived in a misty pit inside their ruined city, and moved very slowly. The Sleestak appeared in both the original 1974-1977 Land of the Lost as well as the short-lived 1991 remake series.

Reptilian humanoids were also prevalent among animated TV series. A 1979 animated TV adaptation of the classic Flash Gordon series featured a rarely seen form of reptilian humanoid in the appearance of lizard women on the planet Mongo. Despite their reptilian heads and tails, these lizard women were depicted as being quite shapely in a distinctively mammalian way. The 1980s cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe featured a heroic character named Lizard Man who, as his name suggests, was a reptilian humanoid. Although Lizard-Man appeared in certain episodes of the cartoon, including She-Demon of Phantos and Song of Celice, he was never made into an action figure. Also featured in the He-Man series of cartoons and toys were the Snake Men, an evil group of serpentine villains who were enemies to both He-Man and his arch nemesis Skeletor. The Snake Men were also featured in the updated Masters of the Universe cartoon and toy line produced from 2002 through 2004. Another 1980s cartoon, G.I. Joe, has the head of the Cobra Organization as a snake-man, Cobra Commander, who wore a helmet to conceal his identity. From 1983 to 1985, a Saturday morning cartoon version of Dungeons & Dragons aired on CBS, sometimes featuring lizardmen as evil foils for the young heroes. The most noteworthy episode featuring lizardmen was season one's "Servant of Evil".

A 1990s Public Service Announcement for Partnership for a Drug-Free America featured a drug dealer transforming into a humanoid snake.^[1] On the December 4, 2006 episode of The Daily Show, resident expert John Hodgman referenced his reptilian overlords in discussing the possibility of his presidential bid.

In Futurama Lrrr is a reptilian alien and the ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8. Along with his wife Ndnd, they are fans of earth's television shows and often show up on earth, usually threatening to destroy it.

In the Goosebumps episode "The Girl Who Cried Monster", the main protagonist's parents transform into reptilian humanoids to protect her by having the antagonist for dinner.

On the December 4, 2006 episode of The Daily Show, John Hodgman described a race of "Reptiloids" who secretly control the US government and whose plan to harvest human blood for "lizard wine" he exposed on his blog. He subsequently included a number of them on his presidential exploratory committee to win back their support.

The 2007 BBC series Dinosapien revolves around a plot of intelligent descendants of dinosaurs who live underground and have survived to the present day.

[edit] Film

In the 1958 film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Princess Parisa's hand-maid is joined to a snake by the magician, and the cobra-woman dances before she is returned to human form.

In the 1959 film The Alligator People, a scientist experimenting with alligator hormones accidentally creates an alligator-human hybrid.

The 1966 Hammer Horror film The Reptile features a woman who is transformed into a humanoid snake creature by a serpent-worshipping cult.^[2]

The 1980 classic Empire Strikes Back features the reptilian wookie-hunting Trandoshan bounty hunter named Bossk.

In the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian, James Earl Jones plays Thulsa Doom, a warlord with the power to turn into a snake.

The 1984 cult film Buckaroo Banzai features a race of aliens called Lectroids which appear to humans as either Black Rastafarian Jamaicans -- the good aliens, or as red-haired Caucasians -- the evil ones, led by Dr. Emilio Lizardo.

The 1984 film The Last Starfighter features a reptilian navigator named Grig who aids the titular protagonist.

The 1985 film Enemy Mine, based on a story by Barry B. Longyear, featured a reptilian species called the Dracs.

A 1987 horror film, Demon of Paradise features a legendary savage reptile-man called Acua that terrorizes a Hawaiian resort.^[3]

In the 1987 movie Hell Comes to Frogtown the world is a post-apocalyptic wasteland where women rule and the evil amphibious inhabitants of Frogtown must be punished.^[4]

In the 1993 live-action film Super Mario Bros. (film), a parallel dimension is inhabited by humanoid creatures who evolved from dinosaurs.

In the 1999 film Galaxy Quest the evil overlord General Sarris is a cybernetic lizard alien.

The Channel 101 short series The Wastelander features a lizard people as one of the threats of the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

In the animated film Heavy Metal 2000, Tyler recruits an Army of Lizardmen for his attack on the Holy City.^[5]

In the 2005 film Zathura, the Zorgons have a reptilian appearance.

[edit] Games

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The Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game describes numerous species of reptilian, amphibian and fish-like humanoids. These include lizardfolk (formerly known as "lizardmen"), the weak, lizard-like kobolds, the odorous chameleonic troglodytes, the serpentine yuan-ti and nagas and numerous reptilian humanoids associated with them, the aquatic sahuagin, locathah and kuo-toa, the dinosaur-like Saurials and Pterafolk, various types of half-dragons such as the draconian, Dragonkin and some of the Spawn of Tiamat, a few serpentine humanoids unique to particular settings, including the Firenewt in Greyhawk and Asabi in the Forgotten Realms, and numerous others, including Khaastas, Sarkrith, Scaled Stalkers, Braxats, and others. In Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition, "reptilian" is a subtype of "humanoid" (since creature types are determined largely by shape and abilities rather than genetics) that includes kobolds, lizardfolk, and troglodytes. The others listed are technically considered "aquatic" (a subtype of humanoid) or "monstrous humanoid" (a separate type that includes those with special powers, such as yuan-ti, psionics and poison).

Similarly, mojh are a reptilian race in Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, being humans who made the choice to change themselves into beings more like dragons. Arcana Evolved adds the race of dracha, which are similarly draconic.

Viashino are a race in the card game Magic: The Gathering.

Lizardmen are a prominent race in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle wargame.

In the popular computer game X-COM, Reptoids, or "Snakemen", are the foot soldiers for an alliance of genetically altered extraterrestrial beings bent on the subjugation and control of Earth.

The popular MMORPG franchise EverQuest features several tribes of humanoid lizardmen, followers of and primary servants of the franchise's deity of fear, Cazic Thule. The most noteworthy examples are the race of iguana-like Iksar, which are playable in the series' entries for the personal computer, and their alligator-like cousins, the Tae Ew of the Southern swamps and jungles of Antonica.

"Lizardman" is a reptilian character featured in the fighting game Soul Calibur and its sequels.

"Reptites", a race of reptilian humanoids, appear in the RPG Chrono Trigger.

"Dinosoids" are a race of reptilian humanoids that appear as enemies in the first-person shooter Turok 2: Seeds of Evil.

"Riptor" is a genetically engineered raptor-human hybrid featured in the SNES fighting game Killer Instinct.

Reptile is a ninja character in the Mortal Kombat series.

The Kremlings are crocodilian humanoids in the Donkey Kong Country series.

The reptilian "Lizalfos" are featured in the Legend of Zelda series.

The "Bangaas" in Final Fantasy XII are a race of reptilian humanoids. They first appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, though in this game the moniker "lizard" is considered an insult. Somewhat less humanoid lizardmen, presumably related to the Bangaa race, appear as enemies in Vagrant Story, a game which takes place in the same world.

The Lizard Clan are a clan of lizard people that live in the Grasslands in Suikoden III.

The Gecklings (Geckos in the Japanese version) are a race of anthropomorphized jungle geckos created by the evil god Saruin in Romancing SaGa, though they choose not to obey him and live their own lives.

The magic-wielding "Sorin" warrior race from Dark Planet: Battle for Natrolis.

The Lizardmen are a race in Age of Wonders. They are more susceptible to magic than other races, can swim, and are nearly feral. Once in a generation, a type of Lizardman called a "Salamander" is born. It is a Lizardman that is born of fire, and delights in lighting things ablaze. Lizardmen hate and fear fire, and think of Salamanders as outcasts. However, the Salamanders are still fiercely loyal to their Lizardmen brotheren, and will fight for them in battle.

Lizard Folk are a race of marsh-dwellers in Disciples II: Dark Prophecy. They are quite strong physically and prefer to ambush passers-by to developing a civilization of their own.

Many 4X games set in space feature reptilian humanoids. Some titles include Galactic Civilizations (the Drath), Master of Orion (the Sakkra), Sword of the Stars (the Tarka), and Ascendancy (the Chamanchies).

Rather weak, unarmored lizardmen are a race in Siege of Avalon.

In The Elder Scrolls series, a reptilian humanoid race called the "Argonians" exists.

In the Unreal games series, there are the Skaarj and the Krall.

In the Castlevania video games series, there is a reptilian Humanoid boss named Slogra.

In the Squaresoft game Rudra No Hihou, Reptilians are one of the four great races (along with giants, humans and merfolk), all but eradicated in a cycle that replaces the planet's dominating race every 4.000 years. The remaining Reptilians in this game have built their civilization underground, in an area that essentially functions as an afterlife for humans.

[edit] See also

• Reptilian humanoids
• V (TV series)
• Trandoshan (Star Wars)
• Lizardmen (Warhammer)
• Lizardfolk (Dungeons & Dragons)
• Anonymous Rex
• Trogdor

[edit] References