Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos
Encyclopedia : E : EL : ELE : Elements of the Cthulhu Mythos
The following tables and lists feature elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. Unless otherwise noted, all information is fictional.
Contents
Overview
Tables appearing under these entries are organized as follows:
- Name. This is the commonly accepted name of the being or mythos element.
- Epithet(s), Other name(s). This field lists any epithets or alternate names. These are names sometimes mentioned in books of arcane literature, but may also be the names preferred by cults.
- Description. This entry briefly summarizes the being or mythos element.
- References. This field lists the sources in which the being or mythos element makes a significant appearance or otherwise receives important mention. A simple two-letter code is used—the key to the codes is found here. If a code appears in bold, this means that the reference introduces the being or mythos element.
Beings
Great Old Ones
(includes a table listing all the Great Old Ones in the mythos)The Great Old Ones are powerful, ancient creatures worshiped by deranged human cults. Many of them are made of an unearthly material with properties unlike normal matter. A Great Old One's influence is often limited to the planet where it dwells. If it is based on a planet outside the solar system, it can only extend its influence to earth when the star of its planetary system is in the night sky. In such cases, the help of cultists performing various rituals may be required.
Outer Gods
(includes a table listing all the Outer Gods in the mythos)The Outer Gods have unlimited influence, unlike the Great Old Ones, and function on a cosmic scaleHarms, The Official Cthulhu Mythos FAQ, "Part 2: Mythos Lore", section 2.1, "Outer Gods".. They include a subgroup known as the Lesser Outer Gods, or Other Gods.
Elder Gods
(includes a table listing all the Elder Gods in the mythos)The Elder Gods oppose the Outer Gods and the Great Old Ones. Many consider them to be non-Lovecraftian, because they introduce a good versus evil dichotomy into the cosmic indifference of Lovecraft's fictionHarms, "Part 2: Mythos Lore", section 2.1, "Elder Gods".. However, others argue that these beings have no more concern for human notions of morality than the beings they oppose, and that humanity and the human world are beneath their regardHarms, Ibid. Harms writes: "Others consider their inclusion proper and fitting within their own interpretation of Lovecraft." Lovecraft views humanity as being insignificant in the universe; thus, the Elder Gods share little concern for humankind's fate..
Great Ones
The Great Ones are the so-called "gods" of the Dreamlands, but they 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, especially Nyarlathotep.Harms, "Part 2: Mythos Lore", section 2.1, "Great Ones", "Other Gods".
Other supernatural beings
| Name | Epithet(s), Other name(s) | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alala | | Being made of living sound that dwells in the Gulf of S'glhuo. | PL, WP |
| Beast in the Pit | ? | ? | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Beast of Averoigne | ? | ? | BA |
| Brown Jenkin | A mysterious rat-like creature with a human-like face. The being was said to be the familiar of Keziah Mason. | DW, PY | |
| Droom-Avista | ? | ? | JD |
| The Dunwich Horror | Son of Yog-Sothoth | An invisible monstrosity with some human features. | DH, LC |
| The Eater of Souls | ? | ? | EA |
| Fthaggua | Lord of Ktynga | Appears as a bluish ball of energy. | FV, HG |
| Gnoph-Keh | | Appears as huge gnophkeh — possibly an avatar of Rhan-Tegoth. | HM |
| God of the Red Flux | ? | Monstrous, red flowing creature. | TR |
| The Green God | | Appears as a moai covered with foliage. | HR |
| The High Priest Not to Be Described | | Humanoid wearing a silken mask. | CE, DQ |
| Knygathin Zhaum | | Appears as a quasi-humanoid Voormi. | FT, TM |
| K'thun (female) and Noth-Yidik (male) | | Abhorrent, malodorous beings whose mating spawned the Hounds of Tindalos. | HM, MT |
| Million Favored Ones | | Beings said to be Nyarlathotep's spawn. | MF, WD |
| Mlandoth and Mril Thorion | The Source, The One | Unknown. | WY |
| Pharol the Black | | Appears as a black, fanged demon with tentacles instead of arms. | AG, HY? |
| Saboth the Elder | The Grinning Ghoul | ? | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Sss'haa | Sssaaa | Leader of the serpent people of Valusia. | HG, TH, VY |
| Ubb | Father of Worms | Leader of the planarian-like yuggs. | OA, PI, UV, TP |
| The five Vaeyen | | Quintet of vulture-like statues that both guard and sequester the Great Old One Cyäegha | DM |
| Wilbur Whateley | | Mostly-human twin of the aforementioned Dunwich Horror. | DH, LC |
| Wuthoqquan's Bane | | A large, shapeless beast lurking in the sewers of Commoriom. | WQ |
| Xathagorra | ? | Vile, multiform creature with a vast wingspan. | CH |
| Xexanoth | Bane of Aforgomon | ? | CM |
| Xiurhn | Guardian of the Dark Jewel | A slothlike, winged thing with a terrible face. | XI |
| Yegg-Ha | Lord of Nightgaunts | A huge, faceless humanoid with tiny wings. | IE, TC, WI |
Non-human species
Table-a (A–F)
| Name | Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| Adumbrali | Extradimensional beings that appear as orbs of darkness. | AB |
| Aihais | Humanoids from Mars. | VU |
| Antehumans | Slender, tall, gaunt proto-humans of great intelligence. | EB, SG |
| Antareans | Tall, multicolored tripod-beings with a strange crest and three eyes. They are greatly advanced space travelers with a strict caste system. | PC |
| Beings of Xiclotl | Horrifying, oddly plant-like, carnivorous giants, native to the planet Xiclotl, and the slaves of the Insects from Shaggai (the Shan). | IS |
| Bholes | Gigantic, worm-like creatures that inhabit the earth's Dreamlands. | DL, DQ |
| Blupes | Translucent, bluish, oval-shaped creatures that can float through the air. | DL |
| Brothers of Chaugnar Faugn | Beings that resemble smaller versions of Chaugnar Faugn. | HF |
| Byakhee | Resemble bat-like, hornet-like human corpses. | FE, GS, HC, WS |
| Cats from Saturn | Cat-like beings from the Dreamlands with abstract, multi-hued bodies. | DL, DQ |
| Cats from Uranus | Like those from Saturn, but far more terrible. | DL |
| Children of the Sphinx | Sub-cult of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. | n/aThese beings appear in the role-playing game supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep (DiTillio & Willis). |
| Chthonians (The Burrowers Beneath) | Gigantic, squid-like worms. | BU, CS, YA |
| Colour out of space | Appears as a shapeless, plastic entity glowing with the colors of an unknown spectrum. | CO, CT |
| Crawling Ones (The Worms that Walk) | Appear as human-sized worms. | FE |
| Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath | Appear as ropy, black tentacles on a pair of stumpy, hooved legs. | MK, NF |
| Deep Ones | Ocean-dwelling humanoids that appear to be half-frog and half-fish. | AW, BU, DO, GS, HC, HG, RD, SA, SI |
| Dholes | Gigantic, worm-like creatures. | DR, TG, WP |
| Dimensional Shamblers | Dimension-hopping humanoids with rough, leathery bodies and huge claws. | HM |
| Doels | Tiny, extradimensional, flesh-eating creatures. | HN |
| Elder Things (Old Ones) | Appear as five-sided, oval-shaped barrels with starfish-like appendages at each end. | AM, IV, PW |
| Fire vampires | 1. (Flame Creatures of Cthugha) Appear as tiny points of light that ingite everything they touch. | DD |
| 2. (Fire Vampires of Fthaggua) Appear as bursts of crimson lightning that set fire to sentient beings. | FV, HG | |
| Fishers from Outside | Enigmatic, prehistoric, flying race associated with Gol-goroth and the shantaks. | FO |
| Flying polyps | Appear as floating, semi-visible, polypous horrors capable of controlling great winds. | PW, ST, SY, WF |
| Formless spawn of Tsathoggua and Knygathin Zhaum | Appear as gelatinous, shape-shifting, black goo. | MO, TS |
Table-b (G–M)
| Name | Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| Ghasts | Fearsome, underground-dwelling humanoids with kangaroo-like legs that inhabit the earth's Dreamlands. | DQ |
| Ghouls | Corpse-eating, canine-like humanoids. | DQ, IC, PM |
| Gnophkeh | 1. Six-legged, furry, rhinocerous-like creatures with an affinity for cold climes. | HM, LT, SM |
| 2. Hairy cannibals that once dwelt in Lomar. | PO | |
| Gnorri | Resemble mermen with possibly one or two additional arms. | SK |
| Gof'nn hupadgh Shub-Niggurath | , once-human cultists of Shub-Niggurath. | ML |
| Great Race of Yith | Resemble tall, rugose cones with four appendages: two claws, a trumpet-like limb, and a yellow, globe-like organ. | CF, PW, SO, ST, SY |
| Gugs | Horrifying, furry giants of the Dreamlands with a mouth that opens sideways. | DQ |
| Gyaa-Yothn | Quasi-human, rhinocerous-like used as by the denizens of K'n-yan. | MO |
| Haemophores | Small, vampiric creatures with webbed hands and feet. | DL |
| Hounds of Tindalos | Extradimensional horrors that can enter our universe through any three-dimensional corner. | EL, HN, MT, TC |
| Hunters from Beyond | ? | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Hunting Horrors | Resemble huge, immaterial serpents with bat wings. | DQ, LT |
| Hyperboreans | A race of early pre-humans. | DS, SG, TS, UB |
| K'n-yan, Natives of | Technologically and psychically advanced humanoids who dwell underground. | OE, MO |
| Kyresh | Vicious, wolven creatures of the Dreamlands. | YG |
| Larvae of the Outer Gods | Protean beings spawned by the Outer Gods. | DQ |
| Lamp-Efts | Resemble small, flying iguanas. | DL |
| Leeches of Yoh-Vombis | Parasitic Martian creatures. | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| L'gy'hx, Natives of | Cube-shaped, multi-legged, metallic beings that inhabit the planet L'gy'hx (Uranus). | IS |
| Lloigor | Beings that may alternately appear as vortices of energy or dragon-like dinosaurs (Ghatanothoa may be a particularly powerful one). | IU, RL |
| Men of Leng | Satyr-like beings that inhabit the Plateau of Leng. | DQ |
| Mi-go (Fungi from Yuggoth, Outer Ones) | Resemble human-sized, winged crustaceans with globular heads covered with cilia. | AM, DE, DT, GU, PF, OW, WD |
| Miri Nigri | Amphibious humanoids created by Chaugnar Faugn. | HF |
| Moon-beasts | Plump, toad-like humanoids. | DQ, MD |
Table-c (N–Z)
| Name | Description | References |
|---|---|---|
| Nagäae | Toadish servants of Cyäegha. | DM |
| Nameless City, Denizens of | Alligator-like, seal-like humanoids. | NC |
| New Great Race of Yith (Coleopterous Race) | Resemble human-sized beetles. | ST |
| Nightgaunts | Faceless, bat-like humanoids. | DQ, HE, OK, WI |
| Nioth-Korghai | 1. Extraterrestrial, carnivorous monster held in captivity by king Ossaru in Zothique. | TB |
| 2. Extraterrestrial, aquatic creatures that feed on the life-force of human beings. | PS | |
| Rat-Things | Tiny, rat-like creatures with human-like faces. | DW |
| Sand-dwellers | Appear as sand-encrusted, skeleton-like humanoids with large claws. | GW |
| Serpent people | Serpent-like humanoids. | HG, HK, IU, OW, SG, |
| Servants of Glaaki | Undead zombies that serve the being Glaaki. | IL |
| Servitors of the Outer Gods | Beings of varied form that dance mindlessly about Azathoth's throne at the center of the universe. | AZ |
| S'glhuo, Denizens of | Tall, bluish humanoids with blank eyes and boneless fingers; actually entities made of living sound. | PL |
| The Shan (Insects from Shaggai) | Resemble large insects. | IS, QU |
| Shantaks | Elephantine, reptilian birds of the Dreamlands. | DQ, FO, RY |
| Shoggoths | Resemble gigantic amoebae with numerous floating eyes. | AM, GC, NE, PG, SI, TC, TN |
| The Space-Eaters | ? | PE |
| Spiders of Leng | Giant purple spiders that inhabit the Plateau of Leng. | DL |
| Star-spawn of Cthulhu (Cthulhi) | Resemble smaller versions of Cthulhu himself. | AM, PW, TC |
| Star vampire (Shambler from the Stars) | Invisible, levitating, vampiric horror with a myriad of suckers and two huge claws. | SF |
| Tcho-Tcho people | Mutated humanoids descended from the Miri-Nigri. | BK, EH, LS, BH |
| Thuum'ha (Beings of Ib) | Green, toad-like humanoids with gelatinous bodies and emerald eyes | BM, DC, NL |
| Voonith | Huge lizards of the Dreamlands. | DL |
| Voormi | Yeti-like bipeds that inhabit Mount Voormithadreth in Hyperborea. | AF, SG, SM, TM |
| Xo Tl'mi-go | Pale, eyeless, leech-mouthed, and sterile hominids. | CK |
| Yaddith, Natives of | Humanoid inhabitants of the planet Yaddith that resemble a cross between mammals and reptiles. | DR, HG, TG, VI |
| Yekubians | Technologically-advanced, centipede-like beings that inhabit the planet Yekub. | CF |
| Yuggya | 1. (Yuggs or Yuggya) Beings that resemble white, planarian-like flatworms. | OA, WI |
| 2. (Yuggya) The offspring of a mating between a Yugg and a Deep One hybrid. | PI, WF | |
| Zoogs | Creatures of the Dreamlands that resemble small, elfin rodents. | DQ, HE |
Cults
| Name | References |
|---|---|
| Black Brotherhood | SE |
| Brotherhood of the Beast | n/aKeith Herber, The Fungi from Yuggoth (1984). Role-playing game material. |
| Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh | n/aThis cult appears in Masks of Nyarlathotep (DiTillio & Willis). |
| Brothers of the Yellow Sign (Cult of the Yellow Sign) | IU, WD |
| Chesuncook Witch Coven (Cult of the Skull) | DK, TN |
| Chorazos Cult | UT, RN |
| Church of Starry Wisdom | GA, HD, HI, SD, SE, DE |
| Cult of Cthulhu | CC |
| Cult of Bubastis | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Cult of the Bloody Tongue | n/aIbid. |
| Esoteric Order of Dagon | SI |
Arcane literature and other media
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Fictional locations
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Non-fictional elements
The Cthulhu Mythos incorporates many historical, astronomical, and mythological elements from the real world.
- Aldebaran, a star
- Bast, cat goddess of ancient Egypt
- Book of Dzyan
- Celaeno, a star in the Pleiades
- Dagon, the Mesopotamian fish god of vegetation and fertility
- John Dee, a historical person
- Fomalhaut, a star
- H. P. Lovecraft, as himself
- Hypnos, the god of sleep in Greek mythology
- Irem, City of Pillars, a legendary buried city from Islamic mythology (possibly the lost city of Ubar)
- Lemuria, a fabled land bridge, but a lost continent in the mythos
- Nodens, the Hunter, a Celtic deity worshiped in Britain
- Olaus Wormius, Danish antiquary cited as translator of the Necronomicon
- Pluto, identified by Lovecraft as Yuggoth
- Ponape, an island
- The Severn Valley, in England
- Tunguska, in Siberia
- The Voynich Manuscript
- Wendigo, borrowed from Native American mythology
See also
References
- DiTillio, Larry and Lynn Willis. Masks of Nyarlathotep, Oakland, CA: Chaosium, 1996. ISBN 1-568-82069-0.
- Harms, Daniel. The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (2nd ed.), Chaosium, Inc., 1998. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.
Notes
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