Supernatural (TV show)

Supernatural is a TV series that ran from 2005-2020 on the CW network. The show had Lovecraftian elements, including in one episode an appearance by H. P. Lovecraft himself.
The show centered on the adventures of the Winchester brothers, Dean (played by Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki), "hunters" who crisscross America destroying supernatural monsters. While much of the show's mythology derives from Christian tradition, involving struggles between demons, angels, and eventually God himself, it borrows from numerous folkloric and horror traditions, including the tropes of the Cthulhu Mythos.
== H. P. Lovecraft as Character==
In the episode "Let It Bleed," H. P. Lovecraft (portrayed by Peter Ciuffa)Internet Movie Database, "Peter Ciuffa." appears in a flashback, killed by an unseen intruder on March 15, 1937, just after completing the manuscript for "The Haunter of the Dark." 
The episode goes on to reveal that Lovecraft had shortly before held a dinner party at which he and his friends tried to open a gate to another dimension--a ritual that succeeded in summoning an entity from Purgatory that possessed Lovecraft's maid Eleanor. (The Lovecraft of Supernatural is evidently more financially successful than the one in the real world.) 
In this episode, Sam and Dean consult with a Lovecraft expert named Judah, who says of Lovecraft, "This guy is literature. He should be be taught in schools. He's up there with Dickens and Dean R Koontz." 
The episode contains several Mythos references. Zeboyd Games' Cthulhu Saves the World is being played by Judah, who has a sticker that reads (reads what?). In another scene, the character Ben (who may or may not be Dean's son) is reading the graphic novel Cthulhu Tales: Whisper of Madness when he is kidnapped by demons. 
Surprised that Dean hasn't heard of Lovecraft, Dean's mentor Bobby prompts him: "Horror writer. At the Mountains of Madness, The Call of Cthulhu?" Dean responds: "No, I was too busy having sex with women." 
==Leviathans==
The Leviathans, the main villains in season 7, are shapeshifting monsters, a ravenously destructive race that sees other lifeforms as inferior, to be destroyed or treated as a food source. In the shows mythology, they predate the angels. Immortals that are virtually indestructible, they are able to fly, block angels' powers by their physical presence, regenerate from virtually any injury, have enhanced senses, possess venomous blood that can kill angels, and have super strength, agility, and speed. 
In their true forms, they are perceived by humans as balls of black goo with powerful jaws. When possessing human hosts, they dislocate their jaw, displaying a forked tongue and large teeth. Their society has a hierarchy based on strength and fear, in which they betrayal is the norm and those who fail or annoy others are eaten. Death referred to the Leviathans as "the Old Ones."
==The Shadow==
The Shadow, introduced in Season 13, Episode 4 ("The Big Empty"), is an "ancient cosmic entity" older than God who exhibits great destructive power when woken from eternal sleep. The oldest entity in the Supernatural cosmos, the Shadow is the personification of the void (called "the Empty") that existed before God or even Darkness existed--merely absolute nothingness. Like Cthulhu or Lord Dunsany's Mana-Yood-Sushai, its normal state is eternal sleep, and becomes a destructive force to the cosmos when awakened. In an additional Lovecraftian touch, the entity has a true form that would drive even angels mad if they beheld it.
==Yokoth==
Yokoth, featured in Season 13, Episode 17, is a god from a parallel universe, described by one of the special effects artists who worked on the show as a "tentacle monster."AnsleyCG, "Supernatural." She was summoned to Earth in a ritual held in Rhode Island in 1925, and imprisoned in the body of a human woman. Inadvertently released by the Winchesters, she reopens the rift between her dimension and Earth so that her mate Glythur can join her in devouring Earth's universe. Sam and Dean manage to close the rift to stop the manifestation of Glythur, who pulls Yokoth back into their own universe with his tentacles as the gate is sealed. 
Yokoth describes herself as the "Star of madness. Ravager of galaxies. Mother of faceless hordes." She and Glythur have consumed most of their own universe, leading them to seek entry into Earth's continuum. 
Yokoth's name evokes both Yog-Sothoth and Yuggoth. Episode writer Davy Perez, however, has said (in a since-deleted tweet) that her name combines "Shoggoth" with the name of another Supernatural writer, Steve Yockey. Glythur, meanwhile, blends "Hastur" with show writer Meredith Glynn.Supernatural Wiki, "13:17 The Thing." 
==Other Allusions==
In season 6, Episode 22, when Sam is suffering from amnesia, the sight of a book by Lovecraft jars his memory.
==External Links==
*Supernatural Wiki (Fandom)
*Supernatural Wiki (SuperWiki)
==References==
Category:Mythos-Inspired Film & Television Works