History Main / SnakeCharmer

* In ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'', Bond's contact Vijay is posing as a snake charmer in the marketplace. He then comments that it is a really bad cover, as [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes he hates snakes]].

A subtrope of MagicalFlutist. As snakes are sometimes depicted as having HypnoticEyes, this can be considered an inversion -- or a case of BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame.

An inseparable part of any MysticalIndia setting (and in many Middle Eastern and North African settings too, especially UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}), the snake charmer -- invariably depicted wearing a turban -- sits in a LotusPosition and plays an oriental-sounding melody on his flute (called a "pungi"), hypnotizing a snake sitting in a wicker basket. More than just mere street performers, they often have the ability to exert complete control over any snake with their MindControlMusic -- or, for that matter, over any animals or objects that vaguely resemble snakes, such as vines or [[KnowsTheRopes ropes]]. In more comedic settings, any character can spontaneously acquire a snake charmer's abilities simply by grabbing a flute and putting on a turban.

* In the third ''Literature/{{Sorcery}}'' adventure, ''The Seven Serpents'', you can encounter Manata the Snake Charmer, who lives in an underground pit with his numerous pet snakes, which he keeps in line by playing his bamboo flute. If you try intimidating Manata or draw a weapon on him, you risk falling under Manata's magical tune... at which point you realize all his snakes [[BalefulPolymorph used to be human adventurers who attempted challenging the powerful charmer, just like you]].

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The ''Complete Adventurer'' book has a magical item called "Flute of the Snake", which can be used both to control and summon snakes.

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An inseparable part of any MysticalIndia setting (and in many Middle Eastern and North African settings too, especially UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}), the snake charmer--invariably depicted wearing a turban--sits in a LotusPosition and plays an oriental-sounding melody on his flute (called a "pungi"), hypnotizing a snake sitting in a wicker basket. More than just mere street performers, they often have the ability to exert complete control over any snake with their MindControlMusic--or, for that matter, over any animals or objects that vaguely resemble snakes, such as vines or [[KnowsTheRopes ropes]]. In more comedic settings, any character can spontaneously acquire a snake charmer's abilities simply by grabbing a flute and putting on a turban.

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* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': In ''Recap/AsterixAndTheMagicCarpet'' some snake charmers are seen when Asterix and company visit India.

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* Series/KamenRiderOOO's movie-exclusive form, Burakawani Combo, has a molded cobra sculpted into its helmet; by using a pungi flute he can bring the cobra to life and command it to attack his enemies.

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* A small-time villain from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', Salami Swami, used his flute in the episode "Slave the Day" to control long sausages.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]'': In ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E6BoastBusters Boast Busters]]'', Trixie "charms" a rope and then uses it to tie up Applejack. If that is not "snakey" enough, fast forward to ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E17SomeponyToWatchOverMe Somepony To Watch Over Me]]'', in which Applejack uses an actual flute to charm a snake that is part of a chimera.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episode “[[Recap/ReadyJetGoS2E16SunspotsSunspotOurSunIsAStar Sunspot’s Sunspot]]", Carrot plays some typical snake charming music, and Sunspot's tongue wiggles like a snake.

An inseparable part of any SimSimSalabim setting (and in many Middle Eastern and North African settings too, especially UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}), the snake charmer--invariably depicted wearing a turban--sits in a LotusPosition and plays an oriental-sounding melody on his flute (called a "pungi"), hypnotizing a snake sitting in a wicker basket. More than just mere street performers, they often have the ability to exert complete control over any snake with their MindControlMusic--or, for that matter, over any animals or objects that vaguely resemble snakes, such as vines or [[KnowsTheRopes ropes]]. In more comedic settings, any character can spontaneously acquire a snake charmer's abilities simply by grabbing a flute and putting on a turban.

* Zhong Ling-erh from ''Film/TheBattleWizard'', a young sorceress-in-training who can command and control snakes, and hides hundreds upon hundreds of snakes in her sleeves. She's introduced to audience fondling a dozen reptiles draped all over both her hands, and later in the film she can even launch poisonous snakes from her robes like projectiles as weapons.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Skylanders}} Skylanders:Trap Team]]'' introduced the [[FunctionalMagic Magic]] Skylander Cobra Cadabra, who takes multiple motifs from this trope. One of the most obvious is his design: an anthropomorphic cobra in a basket wielding a flute. His power set also fits with this: his primary attack has him play notes and is similar to a RhythmGame, as if the notes are played to the beat of the background music, his notes will deal more damage. He can also send out baskets filled with snakes that attack opponents to the beat, and one upgrade path lets him play a solo that enchants enemies to fight one another.

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Note that despite a common misconception, real-life snake charmers don't literally hypnotize the snake with their music. Snakes can't hear the melody since they lack an outer ear (though they can sense the vibrations made by sound), and they aren't being hypnotized, either. What really happens is that the snake perceives the movements of the performer and his flute as a threat, and assumes an upright, warning stance.

An inseparable part of any SimSimSalabim setting, the snake charmer--invariably depicted wearing a turban--sits in a LotusPosition and plays an oriental-sounding melody on his flute (called a "pungi"), hypnotizing a snake sitting in a wicker basket. More than just mere street performers, they often have the ability to exert complete control over any snake with their MindControlMusic--or, for that matter, over any animals or objects that vaguely resemble snakes, such as vines or [[KnowsTheRopes ropes]]. In more comedic settings, any character can spontaneously acquire a snake charmer's abilities simply by grabbing a flute and putting on a turban.

* In the [[DisneyAcidSequence Pink Elephants on Parade]] segment of ''Disney/{{Dumbo}}'' there is a brief shot of a snake charmer elephant who [[TransformationHorror transforms]] a passing [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext camel-elephant]] into a cobra.
* One appears during the [[DisneyAcidSequence Heffalumps and Woozles]] sequence in ''Disney/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh''.

An inseparable part of any SimSimSalabim setting, the snake charmer--invariably depicted wearing a turban--sits in a LotusPosition and plays an oriental-sounding melody on his flute (called a "pungi"), hypnotizing a snake sitting in a wicker basket. More than just mere street performers, they often have the ability to reliably control any snake with their MindControlMusic--or, for that matter, any animals or objects that vaguely resemble snakes, such as vines or [[KnowsTheRopes ropes]]. In fact, in more comedic settings, sometimes it appears that any character can spontaneously acquire a snake charmer's abilities simply by grabbing a flute and putting on a turban.

* An [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQpOgHg4I_0 animated short]] made for ''series/SesameStreet'' had a snake charmer demonstrate the letter S by summoning a snake. It turns out the snake doesn't like "The Streets of Cairo" and takes away the flute to play something jazzy himself. There was also a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_cRE3TguBo Spanish version.]]