Cthulhu Mythos

Cthulhu Mythos is a generic name, coined by the writer August Derleth, for a particular type of horror story by the writer H. P. Lovecraft, or one of his followers, which deals with the fictional pantheon of the (so-called) Old Ones. These were immensely powerful beings that once ruled the Earth, but the universe changed (in some unspecified way, e.g., perhaps Planck's constant altered) such that they could no longer live in it. Many fled the old universe, awaiting another change in the universe, the day "when the stars are right" and they can return to claim what they believe to be their rightful inheritance. The high priest of the Old Ones, Cthulhu, remains on earth in the sunken city of R'lyeh, beneath the Pacific Ocean, in a death-like sleep, until the day when the stars are right again, and he can awaken. As Abdul Alhazred said, in the Necronomicon,

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons, even death may die."

Even in his sleep, Cthulhu's thoughts influence the dreams of his half-human worshippers, who work towards the day when Cthulhu awakes[?] and the Old Ones return. The best known chant of his worshippers (in a non-human tongue) is:

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!"

"In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu lies dreaming."

At the present time, the Old Ones can be called to this universe only for brief periods, though ususally long enough to result in the death or madness of the principal character of the story. The Old Ones arouse fear in humans by their sheer wrongness--they simply do not belong to this universe--even the geometry of the buildings of R'Lyeh appears subtly non-Euclidean, and the Old Ones themselves are adorned with numerous tentacles and suckers; Cthulhu is a titanic protoplasmic mass of vaguely humanoid form, though with many cephalopod-like qualities. Although interactions with the Old Ones frequently results in death or insanity, the Old Ones are not evil. Rather they have their own purposes for which human beings are simply irrelevant.

The Cthulhu mythos was first described explicitly in the story "The Call of Cthulhu".

There is also another group of these alien beings, whom the Old Ones fear, known as the Elder Gods[?], who can sometimes assist in the fight against the Old Ones, but they were more an invention of later writers, particularly August Derleth.

Lovecraft's followers include writers such as Derleth, Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, Algernon Blackwood, Frank Belknap Long[?], and others who have written in a similar vein. There is a role-playing game using the Mythos sold under the name Call of Cthulhu.

See also conspiracy theory.

Great Old Ones

• Arwassa[?]
• Atlach-Nacha[?], the Spider God
• Bokrug[?], the Water Lizard, Destroyer of Sarnath
• Bugg-Shash[?]
• Byatis[?], the Berkeley Toad
• Chaugnar Faugn, Horror from the Hills
• Cthugha, the Living Flame
• Cthulhu, the Sleeping God, Master of R'lyeh
• Cyaegha[?], the Destroying Eye
• Cthylla
• Cxaxukluth[?]
• Cynothoglys[?]
• Eihort[?], the Pale Beast, God of the Labyrinth
• Ghadamon[?]
• Ghanatothoa[?], Lord of the Volcano, the Dark God, the Demon God
• Glaaki, the Inhabitant of the Lake, Lord of Dead Dreams
• Hastur, the Unspeakable, He who is not to be named
• Hziulquoigmnzhah[?]
• Iod[?]
• Ithaqua[?], the Wind Walker, the Wendigo
• M'Nagalah[?]
• Mnomquah[?]
• Mordiggian[?], the Charnel God
• Nug[?]
• Nyog'Sothep[?]
• Nyogtha[?], the Thing that Should Not Be
• Ossadagowah[?]
• Othuum[?]
• Quachil Uttaus[?], the Immortal, Treader of the Dust
• Rhan-Tegoth[?], Terror of the Hominids
• Rlim-Shaikorth[?]
• Shterot[?]
• Shudde M'ell[?], the Burrower Beneath
• Sthood[?]
• Summanus[?]
• Tru'Nembra[?]
• Tsathoggua, the Sleeper of N'kai
• Vibur[?]
• Vorvadoss[?]
• Vulthoom[?], Gsarthotegga, the Devourer of Worlds
• Y'Golonac[?]
• Yeb[?]
• Yig[?], Father of Serpents
• Ythogtha[?]
• Zhar[?], the Twin Obscenity
• Zoth-Ommog[?]

Great Ones (found only in the Dreamlands[?])

• Hagarg Ryonis[?]
• Karakal[?]
• Lobon[?]
• Nath-Horthath[?]
• Oukranos[?]
• Tamash[?]
• Zo-Kalar[?]

Elder Gods

• Bast[?], Goddess of cats
• Hypnos[?], Lord of sleep
• Kthanid[?] (according to some sources, an Outer God)
• N'tse-Kaambl[?] (according to some sources, an Outer God)
• Nodens, the Hunter, Lord of the Great Abyss
• Ulthar[?]
• Yad-Thaddag[?]

Outer Gods

• Abhoth, Source of Uncleanness
• Azathoth, the Daemon Sultan, Seething Nuclear Chaos
• C'thalpa[?]
• D'endrrah[?]
• Daoloth, the Render of the Veils
• Ghroth[?], the Nemesis, the Harbringer and Maker of the Doom of Worlds
• Gloon[?]
• Gol-Goroth[?], the Dark God
• Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos
• Orryx[?]
• Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Woods with a thousand young
• Tulzscha, the Green Flame
• Ubbo-Sathla, the Unbegotten Source
• Yibb-Tstll[?], the Patient One
• Yog-Sothoth, the All-in-One

Avatars

• Aformorgon[?], an avatar of Yog-Sothoth
• Ahtu[?], an avatar of Nyarlathotep
• B'moth[?] / Beh'moth, the Devourer, an avatar of Cthulhu
• Byagoona[?], a probable avatar of Nyarlathotep
• Chorazin[?], an avatar of Cthulhu
• The Black Man[?], an avatar of Nyarlathotep
• The Dark Pharaoh[?], an avatar of Nyarlathotep
• The Faceless Sphinx[?], an avatar of Nyarlathotep
• The King in Yellow[?], an avatar of Hastur

Other supernatural beings

• Alala[?]
• Aphoom Zhah[?]
• Avaloth[?]
• Dagon
• Fthaggua[?]
• Ghizguth[?]
• Hydra[?]
• Idh-Yaa[?]
• Kali[?]
• Knygathin Zhaum[?]
• M'nagalah[?]
• Nug[?]
• S'gg'ha[?]
• Sfatlicllp[?]
• Shathak[?]
• The Darkness[?] / Magnum Tenebrosum
• The Son of Yog-Sothoth[?]
• Ycnagnnisssz[?]
• Yhomdeh[?]
• Zstylzhemghi[?]
• Zvilpogghua[?]

Fictitious books in the Mythos

• Book of Eibon[?]
• Cthaat Aquadingen[?], possibly "Things of the Water"
• Cultes des Goules[?], or "Cults of the Ghouls"
• De Vermis Mysteriis[?], or "Mysteries of the Worm"
• The King in Yellow
• The Necronomicon
• The Pnakotic Manuscripts or Pnakotic Fragments
• The Revelations of Glaaki[?]
• R'lyeh Text[?]
• Unaussprechliche Kulten[?], or (roughly) "Nameless Cults"

Non-human species of the Mythos

• Adumbrali[?]
• Beings from Xiclotl[?]
• Beings of Ib[?]
• Bholes[?]
• Blupes[?]
• Byakhee[?]
• Cats from Saturn[?]
• Chthonians[?]
• Colours out of Space[?]
• Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath[?]
• Deep Ones
• Dholes[?]
• Dimensional Shamblers[?]
• Elder Things[?] / Old Ones
• Fire Vampires[?]
• Flying Polyps[?]
• Formless Spawns[?]
• Ghasts[?]
• Ghouls[?]
• Gnoph-Keh[?]
• Gnorri[?]
• Great Race of Yith
• Gugs[?]
• Haemophores[?]
• Hounds of Tindalos[?]
• Hunting Horrors[?]
• Insects from Shaggai[?]
• Laniqua Lua'huan[?]
• Leng Spiders[?]
• Lloigor[?]
• Men of Leng[?]
• Mi-go / Fungi from Yuggoth
• Minions of Karakal[?]
• Moon Beasts[?]
• New Great Race[?]
• Nightgaunts[?]
• Nug-Soth[?]
• Rat-things[?]
• Sand Dwellers[?]
• Serpent People
• Servants of Glaaki[?]
• Servitors of the Outer Gods[?]
• Shantaks[?]
• Shoggoths[?]
• Spawn of Ubbo-Sathla[?]
• Star-spawn of Cthulhu[?] / Cthulhi
• Star Vampires[?]
• Tcho-Tchos[?]
• Zoogs[?]

Locations

• Arkham
• Cykranosh[?] (an ancient name for the planet Saturn)
• Dreamlands[?]
• Dunwich[?]
• Glyu-uho[?], a star
• The Gulf of S'lghuo[?]
• Innsmouth[?]
• Irem[?], City of Pillars (may be the historical lost city of Ubar)
• Kingsport[?]
• Lemuria, a lost continent
• Miskatonic University
• Mu[?], a sunken continent
• N'kai[?]
• Plateau of Leng[?]
• R'lyeh
• Shaggai[?]
• Vhoorl[?], a planet
• Xoth[?], a star
• Yaddith[?], a planet
• Yaksh[?] (an ancient name for the planet Neptune
• Yuggoth[?] (may be an ancient name for the planet Pluto or some other Trans-Neptunian object)

Cults

• Black Brotherhood[?]
• Brotherhood of the Beast [?]
• Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh[?]
• Brothers of the Yellow Sign[?]
• Chesuncook Witch Coven[?]
• Chorazos Cult[?]
• Cult of Bubastis[?]
• Cult of the Bloody Tongue[?]
• Esoteric Order of Dagon[?]

External links

• http://www.cthuugle.com/
• http://www.cthulhu.org/
• http://www.cthulhufan.com/
• http://www.shoggoth.net/
• http://www.hplovecraft.com/
• http://www.userfriendly.org/ (Cthulhu is an occasional visitor to this comic strip.)
• the Hello Cthulhu comic (http://www.underwhelmed.org/)
• A timeline of the Cthulhu Mythos (http://members.tripod.com/~danharms/timeline.htm)