Snake

Snake is a creature type used for cards that depict scaled, limbless, reptiles with salivary glands often modified to produce venom which is injected through grooved or tubular fangs. However, when appearing as Snake-folk they do have arms. Naga was incorporated into this subtype in 2023 based on Wizard's terminology changes.
==History==
The first creature to bear the type was <c>River Boa</c> in Visions (though <c>Crypt Cobra</c> and <c>Sabertooth Cobra</c> from Mirage, the <c>Hornet Cobra</c> from Legends, and <c>Nafs Asp</c> from Antiquities were later issued errata to become Snakes). After the Grand Creature Type Update Snake became a common "tribe".
==Storyline==
===Alara===
====Coatl====
The coatl are large, winged serpents created during the Conflux on Alara. The nacatl call them "vetli", a word that means "poison arrow".Flavor text of <c>Winged Coatl</c> Wingless variants also exist, whose scales are believed to be inscribed with secrets.Flavor text of <c>Lorescale Coatl</c>
===Amonkhet===
====Serpopards====
Based on an actual mythological creature, serpopards are cat snakes endemic to Amonkhet. They were kept in the menagerie of the god Rhonas.
===Dominaria===
====Hornet Cobras====
<c>Hornet Cobra</c>s were poisonous serpents. One was summoned by the Calthyn Elves while fighting against the Kieryn Elves in the White Woods of Corondor.
====Dementia Snakemen====
Dementia Snakemen were created by Chainer when he exiled the First to Aphetto. The creatures were sent ahead of the First to seize control of the city before he arrived to make his takeover more difficult, although the First did eventually convince them to obey him. They were created using the power of the Mirari and continued to exist after Chainer's death, serving the Patriarch as bodyguards and assassins.
===Ixalan===
====Coatl====
Coatls are large serpents with feathered wings that are native to the continent of Ixalan. The River Heralds rever the Coatl as representative of the wisdom of the sky and the rivers that twist through the air to reflect the course of rivers along the ground.
Coatls are immortal guardians of the sky, dwelling always among the clouds. The River Heralds say that they can be enticed to the ground by the earnest supplication of the wisest of merfolk shamans. Coatls are said to be wise beyond mortal measure and incapable of speaking a falsehood, so their advice is often sought in times of desperate need. The sight of a coatl is thought to foretell favorable winds — a belief that has begun to spread from the River Herald shamans to the pirates of the Brazen Coalition.
Given their similar appearance and color alignment, they may have some connection to the Deep God Ojer Pakpatiq.
===Kamigawa===
====Orochi====
Orochi (oh-ROH-chee; Kamigawan: orochi-bito, lit. "snakefolk") originally were anthropomorphic four-armed snakefolk that inhabited the Jukai Forest of Kamigawa (<c>Orochi Colony</c>). They were segregated into three main tribes: the Kashi tribe (KAH-shee; Kamigawan: lit. "Oak"), which housed and bred the warriors of their kind; the Matsu tribe (MAHT-soo; Kamigawan: lit. "Pine"), which were snipers and scouts; and the Sakura tribe (SAH-koo-rah; Kamigawan: lit. "Cherry"), which associated with the race's shamanic rituals and teachings. Of course, each tribe had its exceptions.
Contrary to what humans believe, Orochi are not immune to their venom.(2004). Champions of Kamigawa Player's Guide. Wizards of the Coast. One of the numerous rituals orochi undergo to become full-fledged members of the Kashi Tribe is to drink a mixture of all the other warriors’ venom from an ancient cup.
For centuries, the Orochi were simple hunters who led their lives in harmony with the forest's kami, perhaps the most in tune with the kami of all the plane's mortals.Wizards of the Coast (October 1, 2004). "Snake's Path Deck Insert". When the Kami War began, the orochi were despondent. At first, they refused to take up arms against the nature spirits they worshipped, letting themselves be slaughtered instead. The orochi Suzue sought out the budoka Dosan, and raised her son Seshiro among the monks of Okina Shrine. Seshiro would go on to become Broodmaster, and his children Sosuke and Sachi would lead the Matsu and Sakura tribes, respectively.
After the war, the Orochi returned to their peaceful coexistence with the kami. However, the construction of the city of Towashi and the destruction of the forest that came with it enraged the kami. They drove out all who had been living within its borders and closed the forest off to everyone — including the Orochi.
Cut off from their ancestral homeland, the Orochi struggled to fit in. New akki inventions and moonfolk experiments with the merging realms had fueled a boom of innovation and new access to power that the Orochi found themselves unable to keep up with. Even worse, they could no longer draw on the kamis' powers as they were used to.
Desperate, the Orochi appealed to the kami for help. In the end, it was the kirin who answered that call. But the kirin refused to become the Orochi's new patron, as they first requested. Instead, through a series of tasks and quests, the kirin helped the Orochi understand the truth behind their loss of power: the kami of Jukai Forest, in their anger at the mortals, hadn't stopped at physically ejecting them from the forest but had cut off all who drew strength from them as well. The Orochi could regain their power, but they had to prove their willingness and sacrifice to the forest kami first: they had to give up a set of arms and legs and revert to simpler forms. The catch was that doing so would make integration into modern-day Kamigawa even more difficult.
The kami had deliberately set a request they expected the Orochi wouldn't agree to. However, the Orochi surprised them by accepting these terms without hesitation and even offered to give up their remaining set of arms as well. Touched by their devotion, the kami granted the Orochi power magnitudes greater than what they had ever had before, and instead of simply taking all their limbs, granted the Orochi a new form to help them better channel that power.
Orochi magic is based on reverence to kami of the land itself and is noticeably tied to the seasons (see also: Orochi ability).
===Ravnica===
====Coiling Oracle====
Snaking remnants of nature directed by a body of thought and progress, the <c>coiling oracle</c>s are a blend of snake and elf that embody all that is Simic.Flavor text of <c>Coiling oracle</c>
====Patagia Viper====
Using its membranes, the Patagia Viper can glide between buildings. They are capable of obtaining lift within the course of these flights.
===Theros===
====Snakes that mirror Greek myths====
Greek Mythology describes several particular snakes, many of which are directly referenced by snakes from Theros. <c>Snake of the Golden Grove</c> is a reference to the Drakon Kholkikos, a giant snake or dragon, as the two creatures were not always clearly distinct in Greek myth, that guarded the Golden Fleece and was eventually slain by Jason and his Argonauts. <c>Nemesis of Mortals</c> is a reference to Python, a giant snake that was an enemy of Apollo. <c>Nessian Asp</c> references the amphisbaena, a type of two-headed snake often referenced in Greek texts.
====Servants of Pharika or Erebos====
Other snakes of Theros are not referencing any particular Greek Myth, but are simply servants of Erebos or Pharika. This is depicted in <c>Pharika's Chosen</c>, <c>Erebos's Emissary</c>, <c>Pharika's Cure</c>, and <c>Pharika, God of Affliction</c>
====Typhons====
Introduced in Theros: Beyond Death, Typhons are a species of the ravenous snake beasts native to the Underworld of Theros. They are based on the giant monster of the same name from Greek Myth.
===Tarkir===
Both the Sultai Brood and its successor, the Silumgar Brood use snakes. This is depicted in <c>Ukud Cobra</c>, <c>Hooded Hydra</c>, <c>Rite of the Serpent</c>, and <c>Sudden Reclamation</c>.
==Gorgons==
The Gorgons of Theros have snakelike hair and bodies.
==Nagas==
The Nagas are snake-folk found on Amonkhet and Tarkir.
==Notable Snakes==
===Notable Naga===
==Gallery==
File:OrochiConcept.jpg|Orochi dwelling concept by Anthony Scott Waters.
==Creature Update==
Creature types changed into Snake include:
*Asp (<c>Nafs Asp</c>)
*Cobra (<c>Hornet Cobra</c>)
*Poison-Snake (<c>Serpent Generator</c>)
*Python (<c>Python</c>)
*Viper (<c>Marsh Viper</c>)
*Naga
;Examples of other snake species included in the Snake type
*<c>Mold Adder</c>
*<c>Anaconda</c>
*<c>Boa Constrictor</c>
*<c>Blight Mamba</c>
*<c>Ribbon Snake</c>
==Tokens==
;Test cards
==Trivia==
*<c>Skeletal Snake</c> The only Skeleton Snake. Also depicted on <c>Necrobite</c>
*<c>Wall of Vipers</c> The only Wall Snake.
*<c>Zombie Boa</c> and <c>Rotting Fensnake</c> The only Zombie Snakes.
*<c>Coiled Tinviper</c>, <c>Vector Asp</c>, <c>Narnam Cobra</c>, and <c>Stonecoil Serpent</c> Artifact Snakes.
*<c>Patagia Viper</c>, <c>Ribbon Snake</c>, <c>Ice-Fang Coatl</c>, <c>Winged Coatl</c>, and <c>Spire Winder</c> Flying Snakes.
*<c>Serpent Assassin</c> and <c>Serpent Warrior</c> Pre-Orochi Snake-People from Portal.
*<c>Snakeform</c> is an instant that can turn a creature into a green Snake with base power and toughness 1/1.
*<c>Jinxed Choker</c> is a thin silver snake that slowly tightens its grip.
*<c>Thieving Amalgam</c> is an Ape Snake.
*<c>Xyris, the Writhing Storm</c> is a Snake Leviathan
*<c>Animal Sanctuary</c> is a land that can put +1/+1 counters on snakes.
==References==