Lesser Old One

The Lesser Old Ones is a designation coined by Lin Carter to refer to a category of beings who serve the Great Old Ones and lead their servitor races. Apart from their hierarchical rank in the Cthulhu Mythos, a notable difference between Great Old Ones and Lesser Old Ones is that the former have been (for the most part) imprisoned by their enemies, the Elder Gods, while the Lesser Old Ones remain (for the most part) free.
Although the concept appears in several other works, the term "Lesser Old One" is not always used. The role-playing game Call of Cthulhu refers to most of these beings as Greater Servitors, and a few of them as full-blown Great Old Ones. In the Demonbane series, entities like Dagon and Mother Hydra are classified as Lesser Gods.
==Overview==
The concept of the Lesser Old Ones appears to be based on the works of August Derleth, specifically The Trail of Cthulhu series, which establishes that the Great Old Ones are served by two kinds of beings. Their ordinary servitors are species such as the Deep Ones, the Mi-Go, and the Tcho-Tcho people, which can be repelled by the five-pointed star-stones of Mnar. The second kind consists of the Great Old Ones' "immediate servitors". These are far mightier creatures, identified as "superior beings [...], against whom the five-pointed star is powerless". At least one of them is described as a giant, tentacled frog-like creature. (: "The Watcher from the Sky")
In the stories of Lin Carter, the expression "Lesser Old Ones" is used by Prof. Copeland (: "The Horror in the Gallery") and Abdul Alhazred (: "Behind the Mask") to denote a group of immortal beings who are several times more powerful than the servitor races they lead, but still nowhere close to the Great Old Ones they serve (: "The Descent into the Abyss"). They thus stand at an intermediary level between the Great Old Ones and their common servitors. Unlike their imprisoned masters, however, the Lesser Old Ones still roam the world, trying to find ways to free their overlords (: "The Horror in the Gallery").
In most cases, the Lesser Old Ones appear to be nothing more than primordial and extraordinarily ancient specimens of the servitor species they lead, corresponding to the "Prototypes" of said species (: "The Descent into the Abyss"). These include beings such as E-poh, leader of the Tcho-Tcho people, or Quumyagga, first among the Shantaks.
Conversely, however, there are also examples of creatures regarded as Lesser Old Ones by Carter which bear no physical resemblance to their corresponding servitor race. For instance, Bokrug and Rlim Shaikorth, who are leaders of the Thuum'ha and the Cold Ones, respectively, but don't appear to belong to these species. Other sources, such as the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, classify Bokrug and Rlim Shaikorth, as well as Nug and Yeb, as actual Great Old Ones.
Even within Carter's stories there are a few contradictions, for instance, the Lesser Old One that leads the Ghouls and serves Nyogtha is identified as either Naggoob (: "The Horror in the Gallery") or Nug (: "The Descent into the Abyss"). Similarly, Yeb is the Lesser Old One associated with either Abhoth's Unclean Ones (: "The Descent into the Abyss") or Ghatanothoa's Dark Ones (: "Behind the Mask") depending on the source.
==List of Lesser Old Ones==
Lesser Old One 	Associated servitor race	Associated Great Old One *	Source
Bokrug 	Thuum'ha 	Mnomquah 	"Behind the Mask", "Something in the Moonlight"
Dagon and Mother Hydra	Deep Ones 	Cthulhu 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
E-poh 	Tcho-Tchos 	Zhar and Lloigor 	"The Descent into the Abyss"
Fthaggua 	Fire Vampires 	Cthugha 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
K'thugguol 	Shoggoths 	Ubbo-Sathla 	"The Descent into the Abyss"
N'gha-Kthun 	Mi-Go 	Hastur 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
Naggoob 	Ghouls 	Nyogtha 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
Nug 	Ghouls 	Nyogtha 	"The Descent into the Abyss"
Quumyagga 	Shantaks 	Groth-Golka 	"The Descent into the Abyss", "The Fishers from Outside"
Rlim Shaikorth 	Cold Ones 	Aphoom-Zhah 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
Sss'haa 	Serpent-folk 	Yig 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
Ta-Vho-Shai 	Aihais 	Vulthoom 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
Tch'tkaa 	Gray Weavers 	Atlach-Nacha 	"The Descent into the Abyss"
Tsunth 	Hidden Ones 	Zushakon 	"The Descent into the Abyss"
Ubb 	Yuggs 	Ythogtha and Zoth-Ommog 	"The Horror in the Gallery"
Voorm 	Voormis 	Tsathoggua 	"The Scroll of Morloc" **
Yeb 	Dark Ones 	Ghatanothoa 	"Behind the Mask"
Yeb 	Unclean Ones 	Abhoth 	"The Descent into the Abyss"
Yegg-Ha 	Night-gaunts 	Yibb-Tstll 	"The Descent into the Abyss"
:* It should be noted that Carter, like Derleth, doesn't use the term "Outer Gods". Therefore, entities such as Ubbo-Sathla and Yibb-Tstll are classified as Great Old Ones by him.
:** While "The Scroll of Morloc" doesn't explicitly identify Voorm as one of the Lesser Old Ones, it does identify him as the primal ancestor of the Voormis, which, according to "The Descent into the Abyss", would make him the Prototype of the species, and therefore one of the Lesser Old Ones.
Category:Characters Originating From Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Characters Originating From Expanded Mythos Works