Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Hmmm... I thought that was a Cockatrice...
(the one on the left)

Guess I was right... They're the same thing:
http://www.occultopedia.com/b/basilisk.htm

Aren't basilisks and cockatrices somehow related or the same thing or something? I think I used to know the difference between the two but after I read Harry Potter my brain got muddled. (I remember being a bit disappointed with JK Rowling since I was pretty sure a giant snake a basilisk was not)

I just said they're the same thing...

Did the HP book actually SAY that the basilisk was a snake? I never did notice until I saw the movie...

Yes, Cockatrices and Basilisks are the same thing. An interesting side note is that female cockatrices are called chickatrices, even though they should be called henatrices.

I think the ghost snake creature is just something (very cool and well drawn) to tie in with the whole Geraptu (sp?) tomb and the hissi. It's not a basilisk.

Of course, I'm looking at the description in the Chamber of Secrets (pg. 318) and that's not a basilisk either, though she does call it that.

I think she needed a creature able to go through the pipes in the wall (that what it did, right?) and able to petrify/kill people.

As far as I know, there isn't any specific creature like that. But who knows, maybe young voldemort was a plastic surgery expert

edit: (wow my brain is only publishing half thoughts today)

Well, who said every basilisk in every piece of literature had to be the same? A lot of other mythical creatures vary from book to book (dragons, anyone?), so I'm sure basilisks do as well. =P

True... This was actually the first place I'd ever heard of basilisks as being half chicken.

I first learned of Basilisks in Heroes of Might and Magic... very much lizard there.

(I played that game for years and only now did i notice that it has 6 legs...)

which MM game? I've never seen those, I've played HoMM II Gold...

six legs, thats amusing.

Back on topic:

Mythical creatures do tend to vary on the books. Even SPELLINGS can very! Gryphons anyone? Griffin? Theres more.
Dragons are defianantly one of the most varying creatures-some have wings, some are more like the japanese/chinese dragons, the general build often varys...theres a lot of stuff.

I guess you could say Rowl took artistic license with the Basalisk. *shrugs*

That ones from heroes of Might and Magic 3 *snuggles that game*

And Noir Raven; everyone rips off of everyone. Most of Hollywood is one big rip.

Hey, don't pick on the real Basalisk. They're one of the coolest lizards onthe planet, least to me they are. They can run on water and got the cool spines on their back, not to mention their pretty crest. ^_^



Uh, if you're saying that go look at Final Fantasy games, they use basalisk, and a bunch of other mythological beasts...and they change every game.

Like Ahoteinrun said, everyone rips off someone else now a days.

according to wikipedia a basilisk is related to a cokitrice but is not the same thing:

In Greek and European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk (from the Greek basileus, a king) 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 poisonous that it leaves a wide trail of deadly venom in its wake, and its gaze is likewise lethal.

It is called "king" because it is reputed to have on its head a mitre-shaped crest. Stories of the basilisk place it in the same general family as the cockatrice. The basilisk is fabulously alleged to be hatched by a serpent or reptile from a cock's egg (in some legends specifically an egg laid by a seven-year-old cock during a full moon, or under various other astrological portents). In Medieval Europe, the description of the creature began taking on features from cockerels. Geoffrey Chaucer featured a basilicok (as he called it) in his Canterbury Tales.


The main differences seem to be the way their hatched, cockitrice is hatched by a toad or other amphibian, a basilisk is hatched by a snake or other reptile, and the diets basilisks eat chickens the stuff in italics I got from a book on greek mythology

THEY WERE JOKING, and very, very obviously. Noone in the world would think Rowling invented giant snakes. They were saying it to make the point of what a nonsensical thread this is.

I absolutely detest when people try to point out some sort of infringement or reference that isn't there in any way. It's SO common, and it's always something ridiculous.

"OMG, a GREEN ALIEN! Just like invader zim!"

"The villain wears a black cape! He's a SITH LORD!"

Seriously, it ticks me off.





But ANYWAY....the basilisk and cockatrice are constantly confused (even by "reputable" sources) but it's really quite simple. The cockatrice is chickenlike, the basilisk is more pure reptile. Also, the basilisk's powers vary from place to place, but the cockatrice is just supposed to have a death gaze. Anything IT SEES, drops dead...even plant life. Luckily there's supposed to only ever be one cockatrice and remains in its place of birth, though it becomes a barren desert from horizon to horizon.

And I just so happen to have The Complete Works of William Shakespeare right here with me...

I'm not even joking.

(It's 1,432 pages... and roughly 11 inches tall, 9 inches width, and 3 1/2 inches thick... y'know, just to give you an idea of how much this guy wrote. This thing is a monster.)