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Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles , are fictional creatures that appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories.
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Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles , are fictional creatures that appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories.
In South Asian and Southeast Asian mythology, the Nāga are semi-divine creatures which are half-human and half-snakes. [1]
Claims of sightings of reptilian creatures occur in Southern United States, where swamps are common. In the late 1980s, there were hundreds of supposed sightings of a "Lizard Man" in Bishopville, South Carolina. [2]
Anthropomorphic reptilian races or beings commonly appear in fantasy and science fiction. They can be based on various reptiles, like lizards, crocodiles, alligators, snakes, dinosaurs, and the fictional dragons. They are often depicted as powerful warriors, though their relative intelligence to humans varies – as with other anthropomorphic races, a greater resemblance to humans often denotes more "civilized" behavior. Some anthropomorphic reptilians such as lizards and snakes are often associated with jungles, swamps, and other tropical biomes, and as such are seen with cultural elements of similar regions, including Mesoamerican cultures.
The Serpent Men, reptilian humanoids who can project illusions of human form, appeared as villains throughout Robert E. Howard's King Kull stories starting in 1929 as well as in the linked Cthulhu Mythos. Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar series featured primitive dinosaur-descended humanoids living in the Hollow Earth called the Horibs or snake-men in his 1929–1930 crossover Tarzan at the Earth's Core . These almost simultaneous inventions originated the modern reptilian humanoid trope. [3] [4] [5] [6] In the 1980s, the animated television series Dino-Riders feature a race called the Rulons, of which some individuals were reptilian humanoids, that served as the main antagonist to the protagonist Valorians upon which the series is based. Merchandise based on the series included several series of toys, among which they included replicas of the reptilian Rulons. [7]
Examples of reptilian races in fantasy games are the Lizardmen from Warhammer as well as Lizardfolk, Dragonborn and Kobolds of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game.
The Dragonborn in particular – based on the Draconians of Dragonlance , which in that game were uniformly evil – were originally introduced in the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 supplement book Races of the Dragon , published by Wizards of the Coast in 2006. [8] [9] In 4th Edition, dragonborn are available as one of the core player character races in the Player's Handbook . [10] [11]
The dragonborn were introduced to the core rules in an attempt to reflect contemporary trends in fantasy fiction and appeal to newer players. [12] [13] In addition, it reflected a perception among the game's designers that it should be possible to play dragon-like creatures in a game with "Dragons" in the title. [12] [14] Richard Baker, who helped design 4th Edition, noted that the introduction of dragonborn to the core rules allowed them to "grow the D&D world by allowing the mix of characters to evolve in the new edition." [14] Jonathan Bolding of The Escapist noted that the inclusion of the dragonborn in the 5th edition Player's Handbook does "push the 'traditional D&D' mold a bit, but this is a greatest hits of D&D player races and powers from the last fifteen years of the game." [15]
Anthropomorphic reptilians are also shown in video games, especially in fantasy games. The lizardlike Argonian race takes a prominent role in the fantasy video game franchise The Elder Scrolls . Other examples of reptilian humanoids in fantasy games include the Man-Serpents from the game Elden Ring and the Naga from World of Warcraft .
In works of science fiction, aliens are often depicted as closely resembling animals, with reptilian aliens being no exception. An early appearance was in the story "The Lizard-Men of Buh-Lo" (1930) by Francis Flagg. [16] Other examples include the Gorn from Star Trek and the Dracs from the film Enemy Mine (1985). [16]
The television franchise V features the Visitors, a lizardlike alien race who disguise themselves as humans. [16]
The Cardassian race featured in multiple Star Trek series, is another example of reptilian humanoids in that particular science fiction universe. [17] The "Tosk" people, featured on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , is another. [18] The "Distant Origin" episode of Star Trek: Voyager then features the Voth, a race descended from the dinosaurs that had escaped extinction by leaving Earth and relocating to the Delta Quadrant. [19]
On the television series Doctor Who , there are also races of reptilian humanoids, such as the Silurians [20] and Ice Warriors.
The reptilian conspiracy theory alleges that shape-shifting reptilian aliens control Earth. [21]
Belief in reptilians sometimes references anti-Semitic texts. For example, the perpetrator of the 2020 Nashville bombing was influenced by the writings of David Icke, who in turn referenced 1903 anti-Semitic fabricated text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion . [22] [23] [24] [25]
A humanoid is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of the human skeleton.
A campaign setting is a setting for a tabletop role-playing game or wargame campaign. Most campaign settings are fictional worlds; however, some are historical or contemporary real-world locations. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place. A campaign setting is typically designed for a specific game or a specific genre of game, though some come from existing media. There are numerous campaign settings available for purchase both in print and online. In addition, many game masters create their own, which are often called "homebrew" settings.
This is a list of lists of fictional extraterrestrial species.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is a 1980 adventure module for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game written by Gary Gygax. While Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is typically a fantasy game, the adventure includes elements of science fiction, and thus belongs to the science fantasy genre. It takes place on a downed spaceship; the ship's crew has died of an unspecified disease, but functioning robots and strange creatures still inhabit the ship. The player characters fight monsters and robots, and gather the futuristic weapons and colored access cards that are necessary for advancing the story.
The sorcerer is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A sorcerer is weak in melee combat, but a master of arcane magic, generally the most powerful form of D&D magic. Sorcerers' magical ability is innate rather than studied or bargained.
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, orcs are a primitive race of savage, bestial, barbaric humanoid.
Kobolds are a fictional race of humanoid creatures featured in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game and other fantasy media. They are often depicted as small reptilian humanoids with long tails, distantly related to dragons.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, goblins are a common and fairly weak race of evil humanoid monsters. Goblins are non-human monsters that low-level player characters often face in combat.
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a vampire is an undead creature. A humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature can become a vampire, and looks as it did in life, with pale skin, haunting red eyes, and a feral cast to its features. A new vampire is created when another vampire drains the life out of a living creature. Its depiction is related to those in the 1930s and 1940s Hollywood Dracula and monster movies. In writing vampires into the game, as with other creatures arising in folklore, the authors had to consider what elements arising in more recent popular culture should be incorporated into their description and characteristics.
The Complete Book of Humanoids is a sourcebook for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy adventure role-playing game.
In science fiction and fantasy literatures, the term insectoid ("insect-like") denotes any fantastical fictional creature sharing physical or other traits with ordinary insects. Most frequently, insect-like or spider-like extraterrestrial life forms is meant; in such cases convergent evolution may presumably be responsible for the existence of such creatures. Occasionally, an earth-bound setting — such as in the film The Fly (1958), in which a scientist is accidentally transformed into a grotesque human–fly hybrid, or Kafka's famous novella The Metamorphosis (1915), which does not bother to explain how a man becomes an enormous insect — is the venue.
Chimera, originally found in Greek mythology, is a monstrous fire-breathing creature composed of the parts of multiple animals. The term, and often the general concept, has since been adopted by various works of popular culture, and chimeras of differing description can be found in contemporary works of fantasy and science fiction.
Serpent Men are a fictional race created by Robert E. Howard for his King Kull tales. They first appeared in "The Shadow Kingdom", published in Weird Tales in August 1929.
Reptilians are supposed reptilian humanoids, which play a prominent role in fantasy, science fiction, ufology, and conspiracy theories. The idea of reptilians was popularised by David Icke, an anti-semitic conspiracy theorist who claims shapeshifting reptilian aliens control Earth by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate human societies. Icke has stated on multiple occasions that many world leaders are, or are possessed by, so-called reptilians.
Character race is a descriptor used to describe the various sapient species and beings that make up the setting in modern fantasy and science fiction. In many tabletop role-playing games and video games, players may choose to be one of these creatures when creating their player character (PC) or encounter them as a non-player character (NPC). "People" is to be taken in the broader sense, and may encompass ethnic groups, species, nationality or social groups.
Fizban's Treasury of Dragons is sourcebook that focuses on dragons in the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game and was published October 26, 2021. The book adds a variety of draconic themed options for both players and Dungeon Masters.
the shadow kingdom.
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