basilisk (mythology) - Euhemeristic accounts, Usage in market-directed culture and video games

A fabulous beast, a small dragon-like creature combining features of the snake and the cockerel. Its eye could freeze and kill, hence the expression ‘If looks could kill’. It is equivalent to the cockatrice, which was hatched by a serpent from the egg of a cock.

In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk (from the Greek βασιλίσκος basiliskos, a little king, in Latin Regulus) is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power of causing death by a single glance. According to the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk is a small snake that is so venomous that it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal.

There are three descriptions to the image of the basilisk: a huge lizard, a giant snake or a three-foot high cockerel with a snake's tail and teeth, all of which are shared with the cockatrice. The basilisk is fabulously alleged to be hatched by a cockerel from the egg of a serpent (the reverse of the cockatrice, which was hatched from a hen's egg incubated by a serpent's nest).

Stories gradually added to the basilisk's deadly capabilities, such as describing it as a larger beast, capable of breathing fire and killing with the sound of its voice.

Euhemeristic accounts

Some have speculated a euhemeristic explanation for the basilisk, in particular that reports of cobras may have given birth to the stories of the monster.

There is in fact a small lizard called the Common Basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus), though it shares none of the attributes of the legendary creature, save a frill resembling a crown.

Usage in market-directed culture and video games

Basilisks have been reimagined and employed in modern fantasy fiction for books, movies, and role-playing games. A large, snake-like basilisk was featured in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, yet in the movie the basilisk was portrayed as a much larger creature than the true mythological character. In the movie the basilisk had yellow eyes that causes death to anyone who looks into the beast's eyes. The dark side in the 1980s computer game Archon starts the game with two basilisks, which fire very fast projectiles. In the MMORPG video game, Lineage II, Basilisks take the form of killable monsters in different colors and difficulty.

For basilisks in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, see Basilisk (Dungeons &