Cthulhu Mythos deities

American author

.

Great Old Ones

An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of humanity in the face of the cosmic horrors that exist in the universe, with Lovecraft constantly referring to the "Great Old Ones": a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep.^[3]

Lovecraft named several of these deities, including

", with reference to the eponymous creature. However, it was Derleth who applied the notion to all of the Great Old Ones. The majority of these have physical forms that the human mind is incapable of processing; simply viewing them renders the viewer incurably insane.

Table of Great Old Ones

Great Ones

The so-called "gods" of the Dreamlands, the Great Ones are not as powerful as the Great Old Ones and are not even as intelligent as most humans. However, they are protected by the Outer Gods, particularly Nyarlathotep.^[4] While they once lived on peaks across the world they were driven off of lower mountains by the spread of humanity until they had to leave Earth entirely, leaving only a mark on Mount Ngranek. The Great Ones now rule from their hidden fortress of Kadath, whose location in time and space is unknown. As well as occasionally returning to white capped Thurai, Lerion and Hatheg-Kla on cloud ships under the cover of a light mist, they abandoned Kadath for a brief period for the "sunset city" that Randolph Carter conjured in his dreams. In the past, the Great Ones often married human women, so many human inhabitants of the Dreamlands have Great One blood in them.

Lobon

Lobon, also known as Lobon of the Sacred Spear is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as an ivy-crowned youth bearing a spear. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath"; H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, John Fultz's "Wizards of Hyperborea")

Nath-Horthath

Nath-Horthath is known as one of the chief gods of Celephaïs. ("Celephaïs", The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath; HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Kadath/The Vision and the Journey")

Oukranos

Oukranos is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. (The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath)

Tamash

Tamash is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Tamash was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Zo-Kalar and Lobon. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath;" HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea")

Zo-Kalar

Zo-Kalar is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Zo-Kalar was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Tamash and Lobon. (HPL: "The Doom That Came to Sarnath"). It is also possibly the same being as Karakal or Karakal of Flames. ("The Doom That Came to Sarnath"; "Wizards of Hyperborea")

Hagarg Ryonis

Hagarg Ryonis, also known as The Lier-in-Wait is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as a huge reptilian monster. (HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea")

Karakal

Karakal, also known as Karakal of Flames is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He might also be the same being as Zo-Kalar. (HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands, "Wizards of Hyperborea", Mike Minnis' "The Crawler of Pnoth")

Outer Gods

As it is known in the Mythos, the Outer Gods are ruled by Azathoth, the "Blind Idiot God", who holds court at the center of infinity. A group of Outer Gods dance rhythmically around Azathoth, in cadence to the piping of a demonic flute. Among the Outer Gods present at Azathoth's court are the entities called "Ultimate Gods" in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (called "Lesser Outer Gods" in the Call of Cthulhu RPG), and possibly Shub-Niggurath, the "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". Yog-Sothoth, the "All-in-One and One-in-All", co-rules with Azathoth and exists as the incarnation of time in the cosmos, yet is somehow locked outside the mundane universe. Nyarlathotep, the "Crawling Chaos", is the avatar of the Outer Gods, existing as the incarnation of space and functions as an intermediary between the deities of the pantheon and their cults. The only Outer God to have a true personality, Nyarlathotep possesses a malign intellect and reveals a mocking contempt for his master's degree.^[5] Lovecraft himself never made reference to them as the Outer Gods, instead calling them the Other Gods or the gods of the outer hells, as noted in his short story "The Other Gods".

Abhoth

Aiueb Gnshal

Aiueb Gnshal (The Eyes Between Worlds, The Child-Minded God)

(Genghis Khan) was a favour of Aiueb Gnshal.

Aletheia

Aletheia (The End of the Darkness) is a god-like entity symbolizing or incarnating the

, and is invoked by a deranged prophet with words in Naacal or R'lyehan language almost coinciding with those featured in Cthulhu's invocation, with R'lyeh replaced with Z'lyeh.

Azathoth

Azathoth, sometimes referred to as the "Blind Idiot God", is a dreaming monster who rules the Outer Gods and created them, along with many other worlds. Azathoth can't understand anything in his dream, hence his title. Azathoth also shifts in his slumber, causing reality to change.

Azhorra-Tha

Azhorra-Tha^[8] is an Outer God imprisoned on the planet Mars, as it fled from Earth after the imprisonment of the Great Old Ones. Its appearance is that of an insectoid to toad-like squid, but its shape continuously changes, emitting an awful buzz. The Mi-Go discovered the prison of Azhorra-Tha the millennia after, and made everything to not reveal its location to any human being.

The Blackness from the Stars

The Blackness from the Stars is an immobile blob of living, sentient darkness, torn from the primal fabric of the cosmos at the center of the universe. It is distinguishable in darkness only as vaguely shimmering oily pitch. Although intelligent, it speaks no known language and ignores attempts to communicate.

The Cloud-Thing

A man-eating cloudy mass, it is an unnamed Outer God at the court of Azathoth.

C'thalpa

C'thalpa^[9] (The Internal One)^[10] is a huge mass of living sentient magma, located in the Earth's mantle. She is mother of the Great Old One Shterot, and five other unnamed hideous children. She is also served by a race of mole-like humanoid burrowers known as the Talpeurs.

Cxaxukluth

: an amorphous, writhing mass of bubbling, nuclear, protoplasmic-gel. He normally dwells alone within an unnamed dimension beyond time and space, unless disturbed or summoned away.

Daoloth

Darkness

Darkness (Magnum Tenebrosum, The Unnamed Darkness) is a mysterious entity spawned by Azathoth, and is the progenitor of Shub-Niggurath.

D’endrrah

D'endrrah^[9] (The Divinity) is a sort of blurry female entity of supernatural beauty, dwelling within her obsidian palace located on Mars' moon Deimos. She lives in a hall composed of myriad mirrors that distort her appearance, which is that of a tentacled dark abyss. This Mythos entity is somewhat inspired by C. L. Moore's Shambleau, the illusionary Martian she-vampires of lust.

Ghroth

The Hydra

The Hydra dwells in an alternate dimension, and appears as a vast sea of gray ooze. A multitude of living heads, some human and some alien, sprout from the ooze, sobbing and grimacing as if in great agony.

The Hydra's worshipers trick others into sending the god sacrifices through a pamphlet known as

Ialdagorth

Ialdagorth (The Dark Devourer) is both the cousin and servant of Azathoth, appearing as a black, shapeless, malevolent mist. The sight of such a fiend is unsettling if not traumatizing.

Kaajh'Kaalbh

Kaajh'Kaalbh

.

Lu-Kthu

Lu-Kthu (Birth-womb of the Great Old Ones or Lew-Kthew) is a titanic, planet-sized mass of entrails and internal organs. On closer examination it appears a wet, warty globe, covered with countless ovoid pustules and spider-webbed with a network of long, narrow tunnels. Each pustule bears the larva of a Great Old One.

Mh'ithrha

An invisible wolf-like fiend similar to

Yog-Sothoth

is said to be legendary.

Mlandoth and Mril Thorion

Mlandoth is a primal entity or force, not dissimilar to the Nameless Mist or Darkness, although it is uncertain if it is a place, conscious being, or an inconceivable maelstrom of unknown forces and properties outside the perceptible cosmos. It is mentioned in Uralte Schrecken as a kind of prime archetype from which all mythical god-heads are derived.

According to the cycle surrounding these beings, they are a sort of cosmic yin and yang, whose meeting resulted in the creation of all things (although Azathoth is usually attributed to this). Their joinings routinely create and destroy matter and entities. One of the beings created in this way was the inimical Outer God Ngyr-Khorath.

Mril Thorion is an Outer God who, along with Mlandoth, serve as Yin and Yang. Mlandoth and Mril Thorion were created by Walter C. DeBill Jr., but were suggested years earlier by Clark Ashton Smith. Walter C. DeBill Jr. is an author of horror and science fiction short stories and a contributor to the Cthulhu Mythos. He created the parallel Mlandoth Cycle.

Mother of Pus

A Lesser Outer God composed of slime, tentacles, eyes, and mouths. The Mother of Pus was spawned through an obscene mating between a human and Shub-Niggurath. When summoned to Earth, the Mother of Pus seeks refuge in pools of stagnant, foul water.

The Nameless Mist

The Nameless Mist (Magnum Innominandum, Nyog' Sothep) is a "misty, shapeless thing" spawned by

.

Ngyr-Korath

Ngyr-Korath (The Ultimate Abomination or The Dream-Death) is a dark blue-green mist that causes a sense of terror as it approaches. Once close, an eye of flame forms within. He was spawned by fission of the Great Old One (or the avatar of) ‘Ymnar, and his nemesis is the Elder God Paighon. He coincides with the entity known as the Magnum Tenebrosum.

Nyarlathotep

First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop role-playing games making use of the Cthulhu Mythos. Later writers describe him as one of the Outer Gods. He is a shape-shifter with a thousand forms, most of them maddeningly horrific to humans.

Nyctelios

Once an Elder God, Nyctelios

-like monstrosity, with the bulk of his body covered entirely in crawling worms.

Ny-Rakath

A goat-like fiendish horror with bat wings and multiple horns, mentioned as the brother of Shub-Niggurath.

Olkoth

Olkoth (God of the Celestial Arcs)

.

Shabbith-Ka

Shabbith-Ka appears as a shapeless, roughly man-sized purplish aura, spitting and crackling with powerful electrical arcs. A sense of power, malignancy, and intelligence accompanies it and persons able to gaze at its form long enough can see a rudimentary face or faces within the glowing mass.

Shub-Niggurath

Star Mother

The Star Mother, also called "The Great Mother Of All", appears as a chunk of yellow-green stone about the size of an infant. Its shape suggests a plump, huge-breasted, faceless female figure. From it extend dozens of pencil-thin root-like strands. It is one of the Larvae of the Other Gods and has no cult, although served by zombie slaves.

Suc'Naath

Suc'Naath is one of the mindless gods which twist and dance in the court of

-like thing with strings of violet and golden colors across its shape, constantly emitting sickening smacking and screeching noises while showing pain-stricken faces across its body.

Suc'Naath's essence is currently divided into three parts, one in a comet called Aiin, the other in some sort of statue located somewhere in the world, while the third has been genetically passed on for eons through prehuman, and now human races of Earth, mostly in the Middle East. The carriers of the Outer God's powers are said to have done great acts of magic and/or to have been insane. If these three parts are ever to be combined, Suc'Naath will be freed. This entity is served by a small Middle-Eastern cult known as the Golden Hands of Suc'Naath, who collect deranged intellectuals and trained assassins who wish to set Suc'Naath free (they may have connections to the old

cult as well).

Tru'nembra

Tru'nembra (The Angel of Music) is the name given in the Malleus Monstrorum Call of Cthulhu roleplay game guide to the entity described in H. P. Lovecraft's novel "The Music of Erich Zann". It has no shape but manifests as haunting music.

Tulzscha

Tulzscha (The Green Flame) is the name given in the Malleus Monstrorum Call of Cthulhu roleplay game guide to the entity described in H. P. Lovecraft's story "The Festival". Tulzscha appears as a blazing green ball of flame, dancing with its Lesser Outer Gods at the court of Azathoth. Called to our world, it assumes a gaseous form, penetrates the planet to the core, then erupts from below as a pillar of flame. It cannot move from where it emerges.

Ubbo-Sathla

Uvhash

Uvhash (The Blood-Mad God of the Void) appears as a colossal, vampiric, red mass of both tentacles and eyes. It dwells within the realm of Rhylkos, which matches with the red planet

and the Great Old One Gi-Hoveg.

Xa'ligha

Xa'ligha (Master of the Twisted Sound or Demon of Dissonance) is an entity made of maddening sound, somehow similar to Tru'Nembra. There is some affinity with the Great Old One Hastur.^[16]

Xexanoth

Xexanoth is a fictional character from

, is probably an Elder or Outer God.

Ycnàgnnisssz

Ycnàgnnisssz is a black, festering, amorphous mass that constantly blasts and erupts violently, spewing out bits of churning lava-like material. She spawned the Great Old One

.

Yhoundeh

Yibb-Tstll

A gigantic, bat-winged humanoid with detached eyes, wearing a green robe, this horrible deity sees all time and space as it slowly rotates in the centre of its clearing within the Jungle of Kled in Earth's

Yidhra

Yidhra (The Dream Witch or Yee-Tho-Rah[20]) usually appears as a youthful, attractive, earthly female, though her shape may vary.

Yidhra has been on Earth since the first microorganisms appeared and is immortal. To survive in a changing environment, she gained the ability to take on the characteristics of any creature that she devoured. Over time, Yidhra split herself into different aspects, though each part shares her consciousness.

Yidhra is served by devoted cults found in such widely separated places as

. Members of Yidhra's cult can gain immortality by merging with her, though they become somewhat like Yidhra as a consequence. Those who serve her are also promised plentiful harvests and healthy livestock. She usually conceals her true form behind a powerful illusion, appearing as a comely young woman; only favored members of her cult can see her as she actually is.

Yog-Sothoth

The cosmic entity Yog-Sothoth was first mentioned in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (written 1927, first published 1941). The being is said to take the form of a conglomeration of glowing spheres. It is an all-knowing deity, which means it knows the past, present, and future, and its nature is different from any other class of Cthulhu Mythos deities. Yog-Sothoth is coterminous with all time and space, yet is supposedly locked outside of the universe we inhabit. Its cosmic nature is hinted at in this passage from "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (1934) by Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price:

It was an All-in-One and One-in-All of limitless being and self—not merely a thing of one Space-Time continuum, but allied to the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep—the last, utter sweep which has no confines and which outreaches fancy and mathematics alike. It was perhaps that which certain secret cults of earth have whispered of as YOG-SOTHOTH, and which has been a deity under other names; that which the crustaceans of

spiral nebulae

know by an untranslatable Sign...

Yog-Sothoth sees all and knows all. To "please" this deity could bring knowledge of many things. However, like most beings in the mythos, to see it or learn too much about it is to court disaster. Some authors state that the favor of the god requires a human sacrifice or eternal servitude.

According to the genealogy H. P. Lovecraft devised for his characters (later published as "Letter 617" in Selected Letters), Yog-Sothoth is the offspring of the Nameless Mists, which were born of the deity Azathoth. Yog-Sothoth mated with Shub-Niggurath to produce the twin deities Nug and Yeb, while Nug sired Cthulhu through parthenogenesis.^[22] In Lovecraft's short story "The Dunwich Horror", Yog-Sothoth impregnates a mortal woman, Lavinia Whateley, who then gives birth to twin sons: the humanoid Wilbur Whateley and his more monstrous unnamed brother.

In Anders Fager's short story "Grandmother's Journey", a tribe of dog or wolf-like humans (analog to the "ghouls" of the Lovecraftian mythos) is said to have sacrificed to Yog-Sothoth to become "different". In Fager's "Herr Goering's Artifact", Yog-Sothoth is invoked to protect a couple of witches from Father Dagon.

Yog-Sothoth has some connection to the mysterious

), but their nature, their number, and their connection to Yog-Sothoth are unknown. Nonetheless, they are probably allied to him in some way, since Wilbur Whateley, the half-human son of Yog-Sothoth, tried to summon them so that they could control Wilbur's more tainted twin and make it reproduce.

At the end of Lovecraft's last story "The Haunter of the Dark", the protagonist Robert Blake calls on Yog-Sothoth to save him from the eponymous malign entity that he has let loose.

Yomagn'tho

Yomagn'tho (The Feaster from the Stars, That Which Relentlessly Waits Outside) is a malevolent being who wishes nothing more than the destruction of humanity for unknown reasons. He waits in his home dimension in

, until he is summoned to Earth. When first summoned, Yomagn'tho appears as a small ball of fire that quickly expands to a large circle of fire with three flaming inner petals. The reptilian burrowing folk, the Rhygntu, are known to worship this malignant deity.

Elder Gods

In post-Lovecraft stories, the Elder Gods oppose the likes of Cthulhu. Derleth attempted to retroactively group the benevolent deity Nodens in this category (who acts as

's second bride who bore him a son, T'ith, now dead, murdered by Cthulhu himself.

Bast

Bast (Goddess of Cats or Pasht) appears as a female human with a cat's head. Likely named after the ancient Egyptian goddess Bastet.

Hypnos

An ambiguous deity regarded as an Elder God. First appeared in Lovecraft's short story "Hypnos".

Kthanid

A creation of Brian Lumley, Kthanid is a sibling of Cthulhu. It looks the same as Cthulhu except for eye colour.

Nodens

Nodens ("Lord of the Great Abyss") appears as a human male riding a huge seashell pulled by legendary beasts. In CthulhuTech supplements, Nodens is said to be the avatar of the Forgotten One Savty'ya.

Oryx

Oryx was introduced without name in August Derleth's "The Lair of the Star-Spawn" (1932). The name Oryx is given in the Call of Cthulhu RPG supplement "The Creature Companion" (The Bright Flame) and manifests as a giant pillar of blinding white and purple flames. Although its expression is bright and blinding, no one feels its heat. No one can look at Oryx more than a few seconds; after the first glance, the eyes of anyone who looks become sore and watery.

Oztalun

Oztalun (Golden and Shimmering One) is an Elder God introduced by James Ambuehl. It is symbolized by a seven-pointed star symbol, which is his own Seal.

Paighon

The following is another Elder God with no description: Walter C. DeBill, Jr.'s Paighon, an extra-galactic entity which now dwells in Earth's core, said to be inimical to the Outer God Ngyr-Korath and his servitor 'Ymnar.

Shavalyoth

Shavalyoth (Shadowy and Shapeless One) is an Elder God introduced by James Ambuehl, supposed to be dark and formless.

Ulthar

Ulthar (or Uldar and also Ultharathotep

Great Old Ones

.

Vorvadoss

Vorvadoss* (The Flaming One, Lord of the Universal Spaces, The Troubler of the Sands, Who Waiteth in the Outer Dark) appears as a cloaked, hooded being, enveloped in green flames, with fiery eyes. He is described as a son of both the Elder God Nodens and the Great Old One Lythalia and has a twin brother, Yaggdytha.^[24]

Yad-Thaddag

Another Brian Lumley deity. Has the same appearance as Yog-Sothoth, except its spheres are of a different color and its nature is purely benevolent.

Yaggdytha

Yaggdytha ("The Incandescent One") is twin brother of Vorvadoss, manifesting as a great, amorphous, incandescent ball of cyan living energy, spreading itself into a web of giant talons of light.

See also

• Cthulhu Mythos
• Cthulhu Mythos in popular culture

References

1. ^ Robert Bloch, "Heritage of Horror", p. 8.
2. ^ Robert M. Price, "H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos", Crypt of Cthulhu #35, p. 5.
3. ^ Daniel Harms, "A Brief History of the Cthulhu Mythos", p. viii.
4. ^ H.P. Lovecraft. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath.
5. ^ Daniel Harms, The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, "Azathoth", pp. 16; "Nyarlathotep", pp. 218; "Shub-Niggurath", pp. 275; "Tulzscha", pp. 304; Yog-Sothoth, p. 346.
6. ^ This entity is introduced in "Eyes Between the Worlds", a roleplay game scenario featured in Kevin T. McKinnon and Dylan K. Sharpe's Call of Cthulhu RPG monograph "Tales of Dread and Wonder #1"
7. ^ "La Fine dell'Oscurità" ("The End of Darkness").
8. ^ This entity is a creation of TOC website (http://www.tentacules.net) and officially employed in Call of Cthulhu RPG supplement Cthulhu Rising
9. ^ ^{a b} This entity is part of Call of Cthulhu RPG French edition.
10. ^ Translated from French Le Interieur, referring to her location in the depths of Earth's mantle
11. ^ Henry Kuttner, "Hydra", The Azathoth Cycle, pp. 50–63.
12. ^ This entity is introduced in "Full de Drames," a French "Call of Cthulhu"-type role-play game scenario available at http://www.tentacules.net/toc/toc_/scen/full_de.pdf.zip
13. ^ This entity is introduced in "Le Regard Dans L'Abime", a French "Call of Cthulhu" -type role-play game scenario available at Tentacules.net
14. ^ English translation of Olkoth, le Dieu des Arcs Célestes featuring in French "Call of Cthulhu" roleplay game scenario.
15. ^ This entity is introduced in French Tentacules.net's "Call of Cthulhu" scenario available at http://www.tentacules.net/index.php?id=5046
16. ^ See James Ambuehl & E.P. Berglund's "Whiteout" (2006).
17. ^ Scott D. Aniolowski's Malleus Monstrorum, p. 131.
18. ^ Daniel Harms's Encyclopaedia Cthulhiana, p. 324.
19. ^ Scott D. Aniolowski's Malleus Monstrorum, p. 241.
20. ^ Walter C. DeBill, Jr.'s "What Lurks Among the Dunes" (2006), Black Sutra, p. 39.
21. ISBN 1578632692
    .
22. ISBN 0-87054-035-1
    .
23. ^ Daniel Harms, Encyclopaedia Cthulhiana, p. 291.
24. ^ James Ambuehl, The Star-Seed (2004).

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