Cockatrice from FFXI
The Cockatrice is a legendary creature about the size and shape of a dragon or wyvern, but in appearance resembling a giant rooster, with some lizard-like characteristics, although they were chameleon-like in Final Fantasy III. It was supposed to be a combination of a Cock and a toad or serpent. A baby Cockatrice is, by analogy, sometimes termed a Chickatrice. Its reputed magical abilities include turning people to stone by either looking at them, touching them, or sometimes breathing on them, like a dragon breathing fire. The Cockatrice is similar to another legendary creature, the Basilisk. Its name may come from a folk etymology for crocodile.
In early Final Fantasy games, the Cockatrice looks far more like an eagle than it does a cockerel and attacks from above using petrifying touches; however, in later games it resembles the Cockatrice of myth. A fan-translation of Final Fantasy III gives a similar Basilisk sprite the name Cocktrice. In Final Fantasy X, a special monster could be created called Pteryx through the Monster Arena, which is a variation of the bird-specie monsters that can petrify sometimes. In Final Fantasy XII, Cockatrice are a species of birds with the habit of moving around by rolling their bodies into a ball. There is also an optional mini-boss in Final Fantasy XII called Cluckatrice. Cockatrice and its variations appear in all numbered Final Fantasy games, in addition to Tactics, Mystic Quest, Crystal Chronicles, as well as in Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Dice de Chocobo and Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice. They also appear in Itadaki Street Portable. In addition to the Cockatrice, other creatures have the power to petrify. For instance, the Basilisk, which appears in every Final Fantasy except XI, and Crystal Chronicles is based on a creature of ancient Greek and European mythology that was said to be able to kill with a simple glance. In Final Fantasy, the petrify-inflicting Basilisk traditionally appears as a horned lizard with large chameleon-like eyes; however, it sometimes appears more serpentlike, particularly in later titles.