The Basilisk is also known as the “King of Serpents.”  According to Newt Scamander, a wizard (possibly, Herpo the Foul) created the Basilisk (p. 3  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).  In some cultures it was created by hatching a Cock’s yolkless egg under a Toad on a dung heap.  The Basilisk is often a bright green and its extreme length is crowned on its head by either a feathered crest or a three-pointed crest—usually a brilliant red in color.  (In eastern cultures, it was a mixture of Toad, Snake and Cock.)  It often has a three-pointed tail as well and it can kill with a glance of its bright yellow eyes or with its venom.  In some literature, the Basilisk is capable of  human speech in many languages and it may also be communicated with in a form of language known as “parselmouth.”  (This is an adaptation of the word which meant split tongue or split lip and roof of mouth—a deformity often looked upon with horror.)

It eats mammals, birds, and other reptiles.  Spiders will not stay in area in which a basilisk resides.  It is said that the crowing of a Cock will kill a basilisk, so one of the first signs of trouble, besides evacuating spiders, is finding dead roosters around the premises.

Its name comes from the Greek basileus, “king,” and it is also called a “Cockatrice.”  (Interestingly, a basilisk was also the name of a large brass cannon used in Elizabethan times.)  It is seen by most cultures as inherently evil because it expands upon the venomous nature of some snakes.  Its tri-partite tail and “crowned” head is the opposite of the Christian Holy Trinity and its association with the “evil” animal symbols of the Toad (Avarice and Lust), Snake (Envy), and Cock (Pride) also lends itself to its becoming a cultural anathema.  For good or ill, it is also rumored to be used as “treasure guardian”(in the same vein as the Griffin and Dragon).