Basilisk

A basilisk (referred to as a "firebreather" by natives of Hollow Earth) is a giant dragon snake abnormal.

History[]

Season 3[]

Episode 3x10 - "The Hollow Men": Helen Magnus and Will Zimmerman came across a basilisk shortly after entering Hollow Earth. The initial contact the pair had with the creature was through finding its waste material. When they arrived at the end of the tunnel that opened into a large cavernous space, a very tall type of Hollow Earth moss or lichen of some sort got their attention. As Will stood near it, he initially wanted to call it a "stinkweed" however Magnus through experience knew otherwise, and was led by the distinctive aromatic stench to a massive pile of poo. Its feces was noted by Magnus as being similar to that of the surface abnormal Fenhorse as it contained a large concentration ammonia; explaining its phosphorescent pigment. The quantity of excrement per bowel movement indicated that the creature that made it was quite large. Seconds later, Magnus and Will are ambushed by a humongous basilisk appearing.

Basilisk used to roam the surface, but disappeared eons ago when they relocated to Hollow Earth. It has scaly skin and two wings attached behind its head that help to elevate its head and enable the creature to glide as it attacks. It's main form of attack is to spit highly volatile acid at its target(s) that combusts into flames upon first contact with the surface of objects (including rocks). When that method is found by the creature to be ineffective and gets frustrated, it begins to breathe fire instead. A basilisk's eyes are a cluster of photoreceptors. When attacking prey, it scans for faces (especially eyes) - a form of facial recognition - which means looking at a basilisk can potentially be deadly. Though it's deaf, it does use its sense of smell to help track prey. The scent of its nearby poo initially helped to mask Magnus and Will, but not for long, causing them to run to a new hiding spot. At this new spot, the basilisk unintentionally ignited a pile of poo as it breathed fire next to it. Magnus and Will were then saved by Birot and Linor; Linor distracting the basilisk with a hologram of his family sourced from the palm of his hand.

Season 4[]

Episode 4x02 - "Uprising": Near the end of the episode, after Will Zimmerman and Abby Corrigan gain access to the Quantico server cloud, they find out General Villanova's next target. To stop the bombing, Will informs Lilian Lee and Villanova about there being a basilisk feeding ground five miles below the surface of the Indonesian caldera. If Villanova were to attack the site, in addition to potentially releasing basilisk on the surface, it would cause a chain reaction that would rip right through Hollow Earth's geothermal systems (causing massive seismic and volcanic activity on the surface), giving the invading Hollow Earth abnormals a better outcome as surface defense forces would be weakened due to the destruction suffered. This information was gained from Fallon after she was found alive moments prior in the refugee camp by members of the Old City Sanctuary team (Kate Freelander, Bigfoot, and Henry Foss) alongside Garris and interrogated by Lacynth.

Notes[]

Speculation: The presence of basilisk may have a direct correlation to the holoprojecting mushroom farmer's ability; being the causation behind a sect of humans who retreated into Hollow Earth from the surface to evolve the amazing survival mechanism of emitting light in the form of a hologram from the hands of young ones to defend themselves from a firebreather.