The symbols of the serpent and dragon pervade the world entirely: the Rainbow Serpent in Australia, Nāgas of Asia/India, White Snake of China, Nahash of Hebrews, Leviathan and Edenic Serpent from the Bible, Viking sea serpent Jormungand, Medusa, Quetzalcoatl of Mesoamerica, Hopi Snake Dance, Serpent Mound of Ohio, Demiurge, Yaldabaoth, etc. St. Patrick also famously drove the snakes out of Ireland, but these serpents were pagans. The serpent can likewise be associated with lions and wolves in the sense that humans embody the qualities of these creatures on occasion, but are obviously not literal lions, wolves or serpents - see the animal, mineral, and plant bodies depicted in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. A man acting like a vicious wolf is where the werewolf is derived.

We also have reptile brains, the oldest and darkest region of the human brain - the seat of cold, calculating, ritualistic, order, along with ego, instinct, and emotion (spirit). This dark and ancient region of the brain is symbolic of the eternal predator lurking in the shadows. On an even deeper level we have the basis for life in the form of entwined serpents - DNA.

When Revelation talks about the dragon giving authority to the beast (13:4) it is discussing the Reptile brain giving authority to the animal self to act in certain ways - and how we can slay the dragon to obtain the alchemical gold of self-development. That Beast can only be calmed the Beauty and love. When people talk about evolving or being created by aliens, usually reptilians, they are formulating a modern myth around the reptile to explain human origins.

Others refer to various demonic forces as reptilian, though Satan is necessary evil (adversary and resistance), Lucifer is the heat of lusting after materiality, and the Devil is the cold of depression. All of these things are symbols of the human and how we see and quantify the world, and although there very well may be intelligent reptile creatures that are humanoid, accusations of reptilian influences on world leaders is very likely a result of how we try to classify their behavior and the deals they make in the dark of public awareness.