Great Old One
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A Great Old One is a type of fictional deity in the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. Collectively, the Great Old Ones (sometimes referred to as the Old Ones"Old Ones" has variable meanings in Lovecraft's stories. Although it is synonymous with Great Old Ones, Old Ones can also refer to the Elder Things. (Harms, "Old Ones", The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, pp. 228–9). by some authors or the Cthulhu Cycle Deities by Brian Lumley in his Titus Crow stories) are not as powerful as the Outer Gods, nor do they have as much influence. Nonetheless, they are served by devoted of worshipers, made up of both human and non-human cults.
Summary
That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons death may die.
—Abdul Alhazred, The Necronomicon
The Great Old Ones are ancient creatures of immense power, and most are also colossal in size. They are worshipped by deranged human cults, as well as by most of the non-human races of the mythos. The Great Old Ones are currently imprisoned—a few beneath the sea, some inside the Earth, and still others in distant planetary systems (and beyond). The reason for their captivity is not known, though there are two prevailing theories: (1) They were sequestered by the Elder Gods for committing past , or (2) they are sealed off somehow from the rest of the universe by their own volition.Harms, "Great Old Ones", pp. 126–7.
According to the first theory, the Great Old Ones were once members or servants of the Elder Gods. When they committed some unknown blasphemy, they were cast out and imprisoned in various places in the universe. The Great Old Ones impatiently await the time of their release, eager to seek retribution against their jailors.
The second theory holds that the Great Old Ones are intentionally . To account for this, it is possible that the universe experiences cosmic cycles, similar to the seasons of the earth. Just as some animals hibernate during the winter, so too must the Great Old Ones rest in death-like sleep during the present cosmic cycle.Ibid. While the first theory, which proposes that the Great Old Ones were forcibly imprisoned by the Elder Gods, is delineated by the writings of August Derleth, the second theory (relating to "cosmic cycles") is debatable but is favored by Harms. If this is so, the Great Old Ones are currently trapped by powerful cosmic forces and must remain so until such time as "the stars are right"—the event upon which they are released and can revel once more across the cosmos.Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928), The Best of H.P. Lovecraft, p. 88.
Another theory suggests that the Great Old Ones have fallen into hibernation due to unsuitable conditions. It is also possible that they are subject to some combination of the theories previously proposed.#redirect
Table of Great Old Ones
Overview
This table is organized as follows:
- Name. This is the commonly accepted name of the Great Old One.
- Epithet(s), other name(s). This field lists any epithets or alternate names for the Great Old One. These are names that often appear in books of arcane literature, but may also be the names preferred by cults.
- Description. This entry gives a brief description of the Great Old One.
- References. This field lists the stories in which the Great Old One makes a significant appearance or otherwise receives important mention. Sources are denoted by a simple two-letter code—the key to the codes is found here. A code appearing in bold means that the story introduces the Great Old One.
Table
| Name | Epithet(s), other name(s) | Description | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aphoom-Zhah | The Cold Flame, Lord of the Pole | Appears as a vast, cold, grey flame. | AF, AT, HG, LP |
| Arwassa | The Silent Shouter on the Hill | A vast, wailing, floating monstrosity. | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Atlach-Nacha | The Spider God, Spinner in Darkness | A giant spider with a human-like face. | PS, SG |
| Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg | The Bringer of Pestilence | A huge, flying, scorpion-like beast. | n/aScott D. Aniolowski, "Mysterious Manuscripts" in The Unspeakable Oath #3, John Tynes (ed.), Seattle, WA: Pagan Publishing, August 1991. Periodical (role-playing game material). Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg first appeared in this gaming supplement. |
| Basatan | Master of the Crabs | ? | MC |
| Bokrug | The Great Water Lizard, The Doom of Sarnath | Appears as a giant lizard. | DC, SC |
| Bugg-ShashWhen Brian Lumley read David Sutton's short story "Demoniacal", he wrote a sequel entitled "The Kiss of Bugg-Shash". Lumley expanded Sutton's tale and gave his unnamed entity its name—Bugg-Shash—which effectively tied Sutton's creation to the mythos. (Price, "Introduction", The New Lovecraft Circle, pp. xx–xxi). The name "Bugg-Shash", however, appeared earlier in Lumley's short story "Rising with Surtsey" (Harms, "Bugg-Shash", Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, p. 41). | The Black One, The Filler of Space, He Who Comes in the Dark | Appears as a slimy mass covered with eyes and mouths. | DI, EL, KB, RS |
| Byatis | The Berkeley Toad, The Serpent-Bearded | Appears as a gigantic, spider-like crab with a . | BY, RC, SF |
| Chaugnar Faugn | Horror from the Hills, The Feeder, Caug-Narfagn | An elephant-headed . | HF |
| Cthugha | The Living Flame, The Burning One | Appears as a living ball of fire. | DD, EL, HC, LM |
| Cthulhu | The Sleeping God, Master of R'lyeh, Kthulhut, Tulu | A gigantic, winged, octopus-headed humanoid. | AM, BI, CC, FH, GU, HC, HM, LY, MO, PS, RH, SE, TU, YT? |
| Cthylla | Secret Seed of Cthulhu | Appears as a huge, octopus-like creature. | ID, TC |
| Cxaxukluth | | Probably appears similar to Azathoth. | FT, TA |
| Cyäegha | The Destroying Eye, The Waiting Dark | Appears as a gigantic eye covered with tentacles. | DM |
| Cynothoglys | The Mortician God | Appears as a shapeless, mutating entity with a single arm. | PR |
| The Dweller in the Gulf | Eidolon of the Blind | Appears as a huge, eyeless tortoise with whip-like tails. | WL |
| Eihort | The Pale Beast, God of the Labyrinth | Appears as a huge, pallid, oval with a legs and multiple eyes. | BS, FP |
| Father Dagon and Mother Hydra | | Both appear as abnormally large Deep Ones. | DA, DB, RD, SI |
| Ghadamon | A Seed of Azathoth | A shapeless, inky, protoplasmic mass. | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Ghatanothoa | The Usurper, God of the Volcano | with appendages and grotesque members; too horrid to behold, viewing causes . | HT, OE, RL, SX, TP |
| Ghizguth | | | FT |
| Glaaki | The Inhabitant of the Lake, Lord of Dead Dreams | Appears as a giant slug with metallic spines. | GL, IB, IL |
| Gloon | The Corrupter of Flesh, Master of the Temple | Manifests through a Dionysian sculpture; resembles a monstrous sea slug. | TE |
| Gol-goroth | Golgoroth, Gol-Goroth, The Forgotten Old One, God of the Black Stone | Appears as a gigantic, black, toad-like creature with an impossibly malevolent glare. | FO, FR, GB |
| Hastur | The Unspeakable, He Who is Not to be Named, Lord of Interstellar Spaces | "True" form remains a mystery; said to be amorphous, possibly . | FA, HS, LT, RH, SS |
| Huitloxopetl | Haunter of Dreams, The Nightmare Walker | ? | H1, H2, H3, H4 |
| Hzioulquoigmnzhah | | Has body, arms, short legs, and a -like head dangling underneath. | DS, FT, TA |
| Idh-yaa | | | OA |
| Iod | The Shining Hunter | A levitating, , glowing creature. | HU, IN, SZ |
| Ithaqua | The Wind Walker, The Wendigo, God of the Cold White Silence | A horrifying frozen giant. | BW, CD, IM, IQ, SW, TW, WE |
| Juk-Shabb | God of Yekub | Appears as a great ball of energy. | CF |
| Kag’Naru of the AirKag’Naru of the Air, the sibling of M'Nagalah the Eternal (from Swamp Thing fame) and Rh’Thulla of the Wind, debuted in Challengers of the Unknown #83. | ? | ? | ? |
| Lloigor | See Zhar and Lloigor below. | ||
| M'Nagalah the EternalM'Nagalah first appeared in the comic book Swamp Thing #8 (1974) in a story by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson (Harms, "M'nagalah", Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, p. 196). The being has since shown up in stories in Challengers of the Unknown, The Trenchcoat Brigade, and The All-New Atom. His siblings, Rh’Thulla of the Wind and Kag’Naru of the Air, debuted in Challengers of the Unknown #83 (which also added "the Eternal" to M'Nagalah's name). | The Great God Cancer, The All-Consuming | A massive, thing. | TU |
| Mnomquah | Lord of the Black Lake | A very large and eyeless lizard-creature with a "crown" of feelers. | MD, MQ, SB |
| Mordiggian | The Charnel God, The Great Ghoul, Lord of Zul-Bha-Sair | A horrifying giant with eyeless head and limbless body, much like a worm. | CG, IC, RE |
| Nug and Yeb | The Twin Blasphemies | Appear similar to Shub-Niggurath. | BF, EH, LA, OA, TO |
| Nyogtha | The Thing which Should Not Be, Haunter of the Red Abyss | Appears as an inky shadow. | AF, HG, SH, SR |
| Oorn | ? | Appears as a huge, tentacled mollusc. | MD |
| Othuum | Deep Slumberer in Green, Great Master of Those-Who-Wait-Without | Black, cyclops-like demon with two pairs of legs. | OT, RS |
| Othuyeg | The Doom-Walker | Appears as a great, tentacled eye (similar to Cyäegha). | DF, VC, SP |
| Quachil Uttaus | Treader of the Dust | Appears as a miniature, wrinkled mummy with , outstretched claws. | KU, RU |
| Q'yth-az | ? | A crystalline entity. | EF |
| Rh’Thulla of the WindRh’Thulla of the Wind, the sibling of M'Nagalah the Eternal (from Swamp Thing fame) and Kag’Naru of the Air, debuted in Challengers of the Unknown #83. | ? | ? | ? |
| Rhan-Tegoth | He of the Ivory Throne | A tall humanoid with crab-like appendages; hard to describe in a few words. | HM, LT |
| Rhogog | The Bearer of the Cup of the Blood of the Ancients | A shapeless darkness which can travel through shadows, often manifest in the form of an anthropomorphic tree-like monster. | ? |
| Rlim Shaikorth | The White Worm | A gigantic, whitish worm with a huge and eyes made of dripping globules of blood. | CW, HG, LP |
| Saa'itii | The Hogge | A giant, hog. | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Sfatlicllp | | | FT |
| Shathak | | | FT |
| Shterot | ? | Separate, living tentacles. | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Shudde M'ell | The Burrower Beneath, The Great Chthonian | Appears as a colossal worm with tentacles. | BU, CS, TC, WU |
| Summanus | Lord of Hell, Monarch of Night, The Terror that Walketh in Darkness | A mouthless, grotesque human with tentacles. | FH, WG |
| Tharapithia | ? | ? | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Tsathoggua | The Sleeper of N'kai, The Toad-God, Zhothaqqua, Sadagowah | Appears as a huge, furry, almost humanoid toad. | BC, DS, FT, IU, OL, RT, SG, TS |
| Vulthoom | The Sleeper of Ravermos, Gsarthotegga | May appear as a monstrous plant with an enormous, elf-like blossom. | VU |
| The Worm that Gnaws in the Night | Doom of Shaggai | A massive, worm-like fiend. | AG |
| X'chll'at-aa | Lord of the Great Old Ones, The Unborn God, Enemy of All That Live | ? | [[Citing sources citation needed]] |
| Y'golonac | The Defiler | Appears as a naked, headless human with a mouth in the palm of each hand; other features are nebulous. | CP |
| Yhoundeh | The Elk Goddess | Perhaps an elk-like humanoid. | DS, LE |
| Yibb-Tstll | The Patient One, The Watcher in the Glade | Gigantic, bat-winged humanoid with detached eyes; truly horrible to behold. | CB, OK, SC |
| Yig | Father of Serpents | A scaly, serpent-like humanoid. | CY, SJ, VY |
| Ythogtha | The Thing in the Pit | Appears as a colossal, cyclops-like Deep One. | OA, PD, TC, TP |
| Zathog | ? | ? | FB, WZ |
| Zhar and Lloigor | The Twin Obscenities | Both appear as a colossal mass of tentacles (have a rumoured triplet). | SA, LS, SX |
| Zoth-Ommog | Dweller in the Deeps | A gigantic entity with a cone-shaped body, a head, and starfish-like arms. | HG, OA, TC |
| Zstylzhemghi | Matriarch of Swarms, Zystulzhemgni | ? | FT, TA |
| Zushakon | Dark Silent One, Old Night, Zul-Che-Quon | Appears as a swirling, black . | BH, KD |
| Zvilpogghua | Feaster from the Stars, The Sky-Devil, Ossadagowah | Winged, tentacle-faced, toad-like giant. | LT, RM, SV |
References
Books
Notes
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