Reptiles & amphibians · plate 44 of 60
Cobra
Naja naja
Stands up for itself. Then slightly higher.
Only 1.0% of people are Cobras. (estimated)
If you're a Cobra
You do not back down, and you make sure everyone knows it before anything happens. Most of your confrontations end without contact, because you rise, you spread out, and the other party reconsiders. You prefer your own company and your own territory. People find you intimidating; you find that efficient. Underneath the display is a creature that would rather not be bothered at all.
A cobra cannot really hear a snake charmer's flute; it rises and sways to follow the movement of the instrument, treating it as a threat.
The Cobra as a spirit animal
You are the person who says the uncomfortable thing in the meeting and does not lower your eyes afterward. You rarely need to follow through, because the warning is convincing. The flaw is that you have one setting for disagreement and it is the full hood, which costs you friends who only wanted a small favor. A cobra would rather bluff than bite; venom is expensive, and it knows the price.
Grounded in how the species actually lives; nothing borrowed from anyone's tradition. Why we put it that way.
How to get along with a Cobra
Do
- Approach from the front, slowly, and say what you want in one sentence.
- Give them room; a cobra can rear up a third of its length and it knows the number.
- Ask about their territory, not their feelings. You will get further.
Don't
- Don't corner them, physically or in an argument. The hood goes up and nobody wins.
- Don't assume the standoff is a bluff that will never be called.
When it goes wrong: A cobra that has stood up is warning you, not attacking; stop moving, step back and let it decide the matter is closed.
The Cobra in a relationship
You are not easy to approach, and you like it that way; whoever gets close has earned it by not flinching. Once you commit you are more protective than anyone expects, standing over what matters to you for as long as it takes. You show love by guarding, not by talking.
Field notes
Every animal is placed on six personality traits derived from how the species lives. Your answers are placed on the same six, and the closest animal wins. How the scoring works
- Sociability
- 0
- Boldness
- 10
- Energy
- 3
- Curiosity
- 2
- Devotion
- 3
- Roaming
- 2
- The hood is made of ribs that swing outward, stretching the skin of the neck.
- Unusually for a snake, a female Indian cobra stays with her eggs and guards them until they hatch.
- Hatchlings carry working venom from the moment they leave the egg.
Cobras in literature
- Nag — Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (The Jungle Book), Rudyard Kipling (1894)
- The White Cobra — The King's Ankus (The Second Jungle Book), Rudyard Kipling (1895)
- Cleopatra's asp — Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare (1623)
Characters from public-domain works. Company, not a verdict.
Closest personalities
The animals whose profiles sit nearest to the Cobra's. If you got Cobra, one of these was probably your runner-up.
Other reptiles & amphibians
Among the 60
Popular Science Monthly, Popular Science Monthly (1894). Public domain, viacommons.wikimedia.org.All credits
