Reptilian aliens in science fiction movies are the inheritors of a noteworthy and long tradition which stretches back to the dawn of time.
Reptiles seem to have always occupied a special place in our collective imagination.
We humans have endowed them with godlike powers and made them the guardians of darkest secrets and doorways between worlds. We worshiped them as deities and spirits of nature.
What is at the root of this fascination?
Perhaps it is that we humans have intuited the primeval connection between reptiles and us. And we didn't even need Darwin to explain it to us. We just feel it, it is encoded in our genes, in our reptilian brain.
Another thing we share with them is that they once ruled the earth, just as we do now.
Ever since its inception the idea of the reptile-dominated Earth has lingered on the pages of pulp fiction as much as scientific publications.
Or perhaps it is because snakes and lizards seem to be the embodiment of mystery; they radiate it from their hypnotic gaze, their slithering clammy bodies, their natural association with shadowy places, such as caves, pits, bogs, marshes, river or lake bottoms, all those places we instinctively shun.
From that there is but a small step to the silver screen. Reptilian aliens have showed up in a wide variety of roles and guises-they were teachers, friends, gods and protectors but also hated foes, tyrants and invaders.
In appearance, reptilian aliens have varied from distinctly humanoid to nightmarishly gruesome. But whatever role or form they assumed they always brought along the peculiar mixture of awe, fear and revulsion.
At times it almost seems that "the rule of reptiles" never ended but simply transferred to outer space, alternate history or distant future, and it kept unfolding in the minds of science fiction authors, movie directors, script writers and special effects wizards.
Here are some reptilian and reptilian humanoid aliens we found for you.