Reptiles often appear in legend and story as horrifying monsters or portents of doom; perhaps it’s a holdover from the prehistoric days when fearsome dinosaurs roamed the earth. I’m just as inclined to love a good rampaging lizard-beast as much as the next guy, but lately, I’ve been more fascinated by scaly, cold-blooded characters in SFF that break the mold and do something different…
Fortunately, we SFF fans have a wealth of sentient lizards and lizard-like characters to appreciate. These five examples are my personal favorites. I apologize in advance to any Godzilla fans out there—I haven’t engaged with enough Godzilla media to write about it with any sort of expertise, but I want you to know I’m thinking of the big old monster lizard. Let’s say he’s above this list, the king of the SFF lizards, and leave some room in the comments for Godzilla fans to sound off!
Now, let’s find a nice warm rock to bask on and skitter into the world of SFF lizard-people…
Sissix Seshkethet, Wayfarers
Sissix pilots the Wayfarer in Becky Chambers’ series of the same name. She plays a key role in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. As an Aandrisk (a species of scaled, lizard-like beings, but don’t call her a lizard), she provides a nice window into a completely different culture.
In a way, Sissix is just my excuse on this list to laud Becky Chambers for her deeply imaginative depictions of alien cultures. Sissix takes her crew to her home planet of Hashkath during a particularly poignant passage of Angry Planet, where we get a peek into the Aandrisk culture. Aandrisks are incredibly affectionate in a way Rosemary, the human protagonist, doesn’t understand. Through their visit to Hashkath, Rosemary begins to recognize that Sissix may need more affection aboard the Wayfarer.
I’ve glossed over the many intriguing details about Aandrisk culture that Chambers includes in Wayfarers, and I encourage anyone who hasn’t read the series to jump right in. Chambers has a firm, nuanced grasp on how her species’ customs and traditions work, and Sissix easily tops my list of SFF lizards as a result.
Chet Gecko, Chet Gecko Series
We come now to a blast from the past. My memories of Chet Gecko are slightly hazy aside from a few key details. I read the first few books in the series alongside my friend Jose in elementary school. We both loved the playful and simple nature of Bruce Hale’s books, in which the eponymous Chet Gecko solves mysteries.
On Hale’s website, Chet Gecko’s business is listed as “Danger.” The series is full of hyperbolic noir elements, elevating Chet’s exploits at Emerson Hicky Elementary to high-stakes dramatic cases. Many of the books play on classic mystery novels (The Hamster of the Baskervilles always gives me a laugh).
Chet’s world is peopled with various anthropomorphic animals. The main character was always my favorite, though I’m willing to admit it’s probably because I had a golden gecko as a pet growing up (his name was not Chet, unfortunately. It was Sammy Sosa). Something about lizards—slinking, peeping, and skittering about—just works for a children’s detective series.
Dr. Curt Connors, Spider-Man
Curt Connors, you poor, poor thing.
I know the beginning of this article promised lizards that were more complicated than simple monsters. The Lizard may appear to break that trend, but I don’t think it’s true. While the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus might loom a little larger in Spidey’s mythology (at least for the average fan), Connors has always stood out to me as a uniquely tragic character. Spider-man’s antagonists often tend to have sympathetic, morally complex backstories, and that’s especially true for Doctor Connors, who a geneticist who was working on a reptilian limb regeneration serum and tested it on himself, hoping to regrow his missing arm.
As a result of this experiment, he was transformed into the Lizard, a feral reptilian beast driven by instinct.
Peter Parker knows and loves Dr. Connors, though, complicating matters; Spider-man can’t simply pummel the rampaging Lizard into oblivion. He has to de-escalate Lizards’ rampages without harming or killing the man beneath the scales. It’s this factor—Lizard’s underlying, tormented humanity—that earns him a spot on this list.
Randall Boggs, Monsters, Inc.
Is Randall Boggs a lizard? Sure, I know he’s technically a “monster,” but I’m giving myself some wiggle room because of his many lizard-esque features. He looks like a combo of a salamander and a chameleon, and certainly scuttles around and up walls like a lizard can.
Monsters, Inc. introduces us to a vindictive and malicious Randall intent on kidnapping children to capture more screams. Standard fare, in terms of the standard lizard-as-villain trope. In Monsters University, though, we see a different side of Randall. He’s meek and timid, only gaining a sense of self-worth when roommate Mike Wazowski pumps him up and praises Randall’s camouflage powers. He soon seeks out the attention of more popular monsters, though, and Randall ends up disgraced and cast out after he loses the Scare Games.
The one-two punch of Monsters University and Monsters, Inc. shows us a character whose choices and decisions led him down a dark path. It makes me believe there’s hope for the poor guy, though the end of Monsters, Inc. isn’t so bright and sunny for the lizard-y monster.
Pathka, Tess of the Road
I started Tess of the Road expecting a personal journey of growth and self-realization…I got that and so much more. Pathka is to thank for that “so much more.” The quigutl are a species related to dragons in the Tess and Seraphina books. They can change genders over time. They speak their own language (which few humans and dragons bother to learn) as well as being able to learn and speak human languages. They have unique skills, rituals, and cultural practices. As a species, the quigutl yearn to be understood and accepted, but are generally undervalued and scorned.
Pathka was a breath of fresh air. I thought I’d never encounter an SFF lizard as complex and layered as Wayfarer’s Sissix, but then I read Tess of the Road. Pathka’s relationship with Tess and innate drive to discover the (supposedly) mythical World Serpents offer the reader fascinating glimpses into a unique subculture within Tess’s vaguely medieval world. It adds some spice to the novel, helping to elevate what could have been a run-of-the-mill fantasy journey to a whole new level.
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That’s a wrap on my favorite SFF lizards, but I want to hear from you! Who would you put on this list and why? Sound off in the comments.
Cole Rush writes words. A lot of them. For the most part, you can find those words at The Quill To Live. He voraciously reads epic fantasy and science fiction, seeking out stories of gargantuan proportions and devouring them with a bookwormish fervor. His favorite books are the Divine Cities Series by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, and The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
