“Reptile” marks the catharsis of The Downward Spiral in that the real, human side of the protagonist is comprehending his emotional damage. He is not dissociating through the “inhuman” side of himself (i.e. that which was present in “Eraser”) and he is contemplating his relationship to the “Ruiner” that has been haunting him.

Musically, the song is slow and aggressive with a lengthy distorted introduction before clean vocals enter. The song notably does not feature the distorted “inhuman” vocals present on the majority of the album’s tracks.