Multipurpose Tongue



So, you have a character who's a lizard of some kind. He may look amazing, but what can he do in particular, especially when it comes to combat, platforming or just day-to-day activities? Sure, some can breathe underwater, others can blend in with their surroundings, but let's not forget that a lot of them tend to have the long, sticky tongues that their real world counterparts use as their feeding mechanism. But that's only one thing you can use it for. Some lizard characters, or even characters of other species that have long sticky tongues, can use them for more applications than just getting food.

Comes with massive Power Perversion Potential, natch.

Anime & Manga

 * Naruto: Orochimaru has a snake motif; one of the most unsettling applications of this is his repeated use of his tongue as a weapon, which he does so efficiently that he was still able to defend himself when . All of this, of course, invokes Yamata-no-Orochi, the so-called "Japanese Hydra."

Comic Books

 * Toad from the X-Men series uses his long, prehensile tongue in combat as one of his primary abilities.
 * Amphibius, also from X-Men, has a long tongue he uses to capture people.
 * Anole, also from the Marvel Universe, uses his prehensile tongue as a weapon and to reach distant objects.
 * Sugar-Man, from Generation Next, uses his long tongue as a weapon.

Film

 * In La lengua asesina (The Killer Tongue), a woman gets a giant tongue that speaks and kills people. At first, the woman wants to get rid of it, but eventually learns to use it as a weapon against others.

Literature

 * Expedition, a science fiction book by Wayne Douglas Barlowe, features many strange creatures including the Arrowtongue and Bolt-tongue, which use their retractable tongues (or rather the appendages in their mouths that resemble tongues) to subdue prey. An Arrowtongue usually uses its tongue to pierce its victim's skin and inject digestive juices.
 * According to The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide, a Bantha has a long prehensile tongue that it can use to hold objects and communicate with another Bantha.
 * Murasaki includes one alien species whose tongues also function as sexual organs. The human visitors have been known to cause scandals now and then by opening their mouths in public.
 * In Larry Niven's Known Space Verse, the two-headed puppeteers use the long, dextrous tongues in their mouths as hand-substitutes, together with the mobile, fleshy knobs on their lips.

Live Action TV

 * In Farscape, Luxans have long tongues, tipped with knock-out venom. However, D'Argo has also used it for dangling off ledges and snatching objects in a hurry- though it takes a lot of practice to perfect.
 * A minor character in one episode of Space Precinct used his to remove a bomb stuck to the hood of the car he was in.
 * Silurians in the revived Doctor Who. The Power Perversion Potential is all but outright stated in "A Good Man Goes To War"...
 * Mele can use her tongue to stab people, or hit their pressure points and disrupt the flow of their chi.

Video Games

 * Yoshi invokes this trope quite a fair bit in some of his games. Although a lot of his skillset revolves around eating living things, he can use his tongue for other things, especially in Yoshis Story, where Yoshi can use it to nudge bubbles around if need be, and use it to hookshot his way onto red ! balls.
 * Gex uses his tongue for several things, especially volleying out fire, ice and slime when he's eaten a powerup, as well as to grab ledges in lieu of his hands.
 * Sting Chameleon of Mega Man X, pictured above, uses this for two of his primary attacks. His melee attack comprises of a painful metal tongue lash, but he can also hang from the roof with it to cause multiple spikes to come out of the ceiling.
 * This is the main mechanic of Chameleon Twist.
 * The Resident Evil games feature the Lickers, who often use their elongated tongues to decapitate or impale people.

Web Comics

 * Frellenti in Schlock Mercenary got long tongue that not only gives them acute sense of taste, but is quite prehensile and as tough as a whipcord.

Web Original

 * From the Global Guardians PBEM Universe the Fabulous Frog-Man has a six-foot long prehensile tongue that he can use as a weapon in combat, or to grab stuff.
 * Carmilla of the Whateley Universe has it, along with Body Horror and Combat Tentacles and Naughty Tentacles. She's demonstrated the Power Perversion Potential of it, and has also used it just to freak people out or scare them.