The basilisk and the cockatrice are sterile, sexless monstrosities that complement one another in their manner of creation. They are hatched from a "cock egg" hatched by a toad or snake—or vice versa. As a result of this simple recipe, they are commonly created by alchemists. In theory, you could substitute the cock, toad or snake for any similar creature. Perhaps a basilisk would qualify as a serpent, or a cockatrice would qualify as a rooster?
The basilisk hatches from the egg of a serpent or toad incubated by a rooster. It is distinguished by its petrifying gaze. By contrast, the cockatrice hatches from the egg of a rooster incubated by a serpent or toad. It is distinguished by its petrifying venom.
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| ©2014 Maha Akl |
The basilisk and cockatrice consume the petrified flesh of their prey. They cannot tolerate raw flesh or lifeless stone, only the fusion of the two. In theory, they may tolerate the raw flesh of earth elementals.
Supposedly basilisks and cockatrices are vulnerable to certain talismans and other protections. The weasel and other mustelids are said to prey upon them, the crowing of a rooster is said to be fatal, and the mirror is said to reflect the basilisk's gaze back upon it and to trick the territorial cockatrice into fighting an illusory rival. Hence, those traveling in areas known to host these creatures are known to carry weasels, roosters, mirrors and other charms with them just in case.
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| ©2014 Sakitaro |
The nature of a "cock egg" is subject to some debate. It might merely be a defective egg laid by an ordinary hen, or it might be laid by a rooster that is transgender, intersex or on illegal fertility drugs. It is possible to cheat this restriction on laying and incubation through liberal interpretation. A basilisk would qualify as a serpent, while a cockatrice would qualify as a rooster. By the same token, basilisks and cockatrices on the same illegal fertility drugs have been recorded laying eggs of their own that must still be incubated in the regular fashion. Wild basilisks and cockatrices have yet to exploit this in order to establish self-sustaining populations.
Sometimes when a medusa sheds snakes, a hydra sheds heads, etc, these serpents may spontaneously metamorphose into basilisks and cockatrices. This would explain where most wild populations originate from if they cannot breed.
Although they cannot breed true, basilisks and cockatrices have been recorded supposedly hybridizing with other creatures. For example, the "henborn basilisk" is the result of a cockatrice fertilizing mundane hens.
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| ©2015 Alice White, 7 Headed Chicken Dragon |
Basilisks and cockatrices have bizarre digestive systems which only tolerate the petrified flesh of their prey. They cannot derive nourishment from raw meat nor from lifeless stone, only the fusion of the two; by this token, they may be sustained by the flesh of earthly elementals. Basilisks are primarily ambush predators, waiting for prey to come within reach before pouncing with their claws or gaze. Cockatrices, by contrast, are primarily endurance hunters which inject prey with venom and track it as the petrifying takes hold.
The standard distinction between the basilisk and cockatrice is that the former has a petrifying gaze and the latter has a petrifying bite. However, there are accounts where this isn't the case. For example, one account of the "pyrolisk" describes it as a bright red cockatrice whose gaze causes spontaneous combustion!
The basilisk and cockatrice have elemental variants, distinguished by their scale color. Different elemental variants have different attacks: fiery causes spontaneous combustion, earthy causes petrifying, icy causes freezing, watery causes water intoxication, etc. The standard in bestiaries is the earthy variety, which is typically a black or earthy green. Some variants have other attacks, such as mimicking the breath weapons of chromatic dragons.
Basilisks and cockatrices are subject to physical mutation. A basilisk may resemble a six- or eight-legged lizard, a giant snake, it might have the head of a rooster, a crown or plume, a frill, a variable number of legs, etc. A cockatrice might have eyes (or feather patterns resembling eyes) across its body, a live snake for a tail, a pair of antlers, an extra pair of legs or two, an extendible frill, a griffin-like body plan, etc. It becomes difficult to distinguish the two in some cases, as they may be the same wildly mutated monster. There are countless varieties (just check deviantart or Google images for more examples).
Their Korean name is gye-lyong (계룡/鷄龍), literally "chicken-dragon." Huh. You learn something new everyday.
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| Copyright ⓒ 2012 by Glimja |
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