Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath

The Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, sometimes abbreviated simply to Dark Young, are a fictional species first mentioned by H. P. Lovecraft in the short story "The Whisperer in Darkness" through Shub-Niggurath's title, "The Goat with a Thousand Young", but are seldom described further. 
In the Expanded Mythos, they properly first appeared in the short story "Notebook Found in a Deserted House", by Robert Bloch, although the story's narrator refers to them as "shoggoths". The "Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath" alias originates from the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.
==Description==
The Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath are horrifying, pitch-black monstrosities, seemingly made of ropy tentacles. They stand as tall as a tree on stumpy, hoofed legs. A mass of tentacles protrudes from their trunks where a head would normally be, and puckered maws, dripping green goo, cover their flanks. The monsters roughly resemble trees in silhouette — the trunks being the short legs and the tops of the trees represented by the ropy, branching bodies. The whole mass of these things smells like an open grave. They usually dwell in woodlands wherever Shub-Niggurath's cult is active. The Dark Young are usually called upon to preside over cult ceremonies. One means for summoning them is found in the Book of Eibon and requires a blood offering. The ritual may only be performed in the deepest of woodlands at the darkest of the moon, and the victim must be sacrificed over a stone altar. Dark Young act as proxies for Shub-Niggurath in the accepting of sacrifices and the worship of cultists, in the devouring of non-cultists, and in the spreading of their mother's faith across the world.
The Bermuda Triangle sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu mentions a rare aquatic variant of the Dark Young called Dark Sargassum.
==In Other Media==
*The Dark Young make an appearance in the Japanese anime Overlord when five of them are summoned after the sacrifice of 70,000 humans.
*The Dark Youngs also are featured in the Greek indie developer Ares Dragonis video game "The Shore".
*A Dark Young makes an appearance as the main antagonist and final boss in the 2024 survival horror video game Alone in the Dark.
==Gallery==
Category:Species Originating From Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Sapient Species
Category:Other Supernatural Beings
Category:Servitor Races