All of the known cobras are venomous and many are capable of rearing upwards and producing a hood when threatened.

All members of the genus Naja, the "true" cobras, rear and produce hoods.

Other "cobra" genera and species are as follows:

• The rinkhals, or ring-necked spitting cobra, Hemachatus haemachatus, so called for its neck band as well as its habit of rearing and spreading its hood when disturbed
• The king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah
• The two species of tree cobra, Goldie's tree cobra and black tree cobra
• The two species of shieldnose cobras, cape coral snake and Aspidelaps scutatus^[5]:p.76
• The two species of black desert cobra, desert black snake and Walterinnesia morgani, neither of which rears or produces a hood^[5]:p.65
• The so-called American cobra, the Eastern coral snake, which also does not rear or produce a hood^[5]:p.30

The false water cobra, Hydrodynastes gigas, is the only "cobra" that is not a member of the Elapidae. It does not rear, produces only a slight flattening of the neck, and is only mildly venomous.^[5]:p.53