Cthulhu

> That is not dead which can eternal lie,
> And with strange aeons even death may die.
>
> Abdul Alhazred, *Necronomicon*

**Cthulhu** (a.k.a. **Clulu**, **Tulu**, etc.) is a massive extraterrestrial being who came to Earth from the stars in the Paleozoic era as the leader of a species of "cosmic octopi", a.k.a. the Spawn of Cthulhu, also known to human cultists as "the Great Old Ones". Currently, Cthulhu and his Spawn are all imprisoned in a dormant, deathlike state in their stone city of R'lyeh, which sank in the ocean long before the advent of mankind.

Often known as **Great Cthulhu**, he is worshiped as a god by a widespread secret cult of humans, as well as by other sapient species that are present on Earth, both native and otherwise.

Cthulhu's physical appearance is presumed to be reflected in the stone idols venerated by his cultists. Made of a mineral composition unknown on Earth, said statuettes were brought from the stars in prehistory by the Spawn of Cthulhu, and depict a creature that is vaguely humanoid, with scaly skin, prodigious claws on his hands and feet, rudimentary wings, and a head resembling an octopus, complete with facial tentacles. Norwegian sailor Gustaf Johansen, one of the few people who has actually seen Cthulhu and survived, compares his size to that of a mountain, while, Henry Wilcox, who was particularly sensitive to the psychic influence of Cthulhu and saw the creature in his dreams, also described him as "miles high".

It's possible that Cthulhu might be the same entity known as the **Ancient One**. Like Cthulhu, the Ancient One has been described as a cephalopod-like creature with vaguely humanoid form, and possesses claws, wings and tentacles.

## Biography

### Origin and relatives

The origin of Cthulhu is unknown, although folklorist Albert N. Wilmarth once claimed that he learned "whence Cthulhu first came, and why half the great temporary stars of history had flared forth", possibly suggesting that Cthulhu might be connected to stellar novae, i.e. "temporary stars" that become visible in the night sky.

The Guardian of the Book once implied some sort of connection between "that tentacled and ever-damned Kthulhu reputed to have come to Earth eons ago by way of the planet Saturn, to which it had previously fled from depths beyond your solar system" and a man named Kathulhn: a mathematician from the planet Vhoorl in the 23rd nebula who made contact with (and is reputed to have been killed by) evil extradimensional entities. The *Unaussprechlichen Kulten*, by Friedrich von Junzt, claims that Cthulhu was indeed born on Vhoorl, sired by Yog-Sothoth, who mated with a female native of that planet.

A purported autobiography of Cthulhu, dictated by the god himself to a servant named Whateley, claims that Cthulhu was "spawned uncounted aeons ago, in the dark mists of Khhaa'yngnaiih", in a world of swamps and dark towers, with an enormous red moon that could fill half the sky. Cthulhu's mother devoured his father, and was in turned devoured by Cthulhu. His homeworld has since been destroyed by its sun going nova.

The occult tome known as the *Necronomicon* claims that Cthulhu is a "cousin" of the "Old Ones", which in this context refers to Yog-Sothoth's species: extradimensional creatures that once walked on Earth, invisible to humans. Being their "cousin", Cthulhu can see them dimly. The tome's author, Abdul Alhazred, was himself a worshiper of Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth.

According to Paul Tuttle, Cthulhu is the half-brother of Hastur, a mysterious deity who is associated with the element of Air, as Cthulhu is associated with Water. This information is backed up by the *Unaussprechlichen Kulten* of von Junzt, which identifies Hastur and Vulthoom as half-brothers of Cthulhu via Yog-Sothoth. On the other hand, Cthulhu's alleged autobiography identifies Hastur as Cthulhu's uncle instead.

Despite the familial ties, the relationship between Cthulhu and Hastur at some point seems to have become one of enmity, or at least rivalry, with the hostility extending to the races that serve them. This might be the reason why the human cult of Hastur is apparently dedicated to hunting down the Mi-Go, who are known to worship Cthulhu (among many other gods). Conversely, John Dee's translation of the *Necronomicon* claims that the Mi-Go themselves are servants of Hastur.

At some point before he moved to Earth, Cthulhu arrived on Xoth, a world orbiting a dim green double sun. There he mated with an entity named Idh-yaa and had three sons: Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha and Zoth-Ommog. His sons accompanied him to Earth and were venerated as gods by humans in the ancient continent of Mu.

According to a religion practiced in the Plateau of Leng, Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep are merely avatars assumed by the primordial personifications of chaos known as Lloigor and Zhar (also known by their "secret names" Nug and Yeb), when the stars are in a certain configuration. They can assume human form and walk among humans, Nyarlathotep as the Egyptian pharaoh Nephren-Ka, and Cthulhu as the Atlantean sorcerer Kathulos. However, it should be noted that these beliefs strongly contradict the history of the gods according to the *Unaussprechlichen Kulten*, which states, for instance, that Lloigor and Zhar are the offspring of Hastur and Shub-Niggurath.

### History on Earth

At some point in the Paleozoic era, after the formation of the moon and the rise of the first continents, Cthulhu and his Spawn arrived from the stars to colonize Earth, building vast cities on the newly-emerged landmasses. Chief among those was the stone city of R'lyeh, complete with a citadel in which Cthulhu himself stood as the race's priest and leader. Despite their octopoid appearance, the Spawn of Cthulhu were land-based creatures.

Another extraterrestrial species, the star-headed Elder Things, who had settled on Earth earlier, waged wars against the Spawn of Cthulhu. Eventually, peace treaties were forged, granting most of the continental lands to the Cthulhu Spawn, while the amphibious Elder Things held domain over the oceans and the primal continent of Antarctica.

At some point, all the land colonized by Cthulhu's forces sank beneath the ocean in a great cataclysm, forcing the Spawn of Cthulhu to enter a deathlike state, resembling a form of hibernation or stasis. Great Cthulhu himself, in his citadel in R'lyeh, sank with them.

The exact reason why Cthulhu and his Spawn went dormant is not clear. Human cultists claim that when the stars are "wrong" they simply can't live, although, being immortal, they can't die either, hence the deathlike state. This belief suggests that the configuration of the stars, rather than the cataclysm and sinking, is the cause of their hibernation. Cultists also claim that Cthulhu himself has cast the "spells" that preserve his Spawn in suspended animation until the stars are "right" again.

Conversely, the K'n-yanians, who are also followers of Cthulhu, blame the sinking of R'lyeh and Cthulhu's subsequent imprisonment on a species of hostile "space-devils". Scholars such as Dr. Fo-Lan and Dr. Laban Shrewsbury also claim that the benevolent Elder Gods of Betelgeuse have been responsible for imprisoning the "evil" gods, including Cthulhu, and scattered the five-pointed star-stones of Mnar around the locations where they are imprisoned, as these stones can repel the "evil" gods' servants and prevent them from freeing their masters.

Despite being imprisoned in R'lyeh in the Pacific Ocean, Cthulhu has also been sighted in other locations (possibly summoned by portals opened by his minions or cultists), such as an underground lake in Peru connected to the Pacific and even in the Atlantic, off the coast of Massachusetts.

### Cultural significance

Although completely unknown to the general public and even to most scholars, the cult of Cthulhu is present is as far-apart places as the United States, Arabia, Greenland, the Cape Verde islands and the mountains of China, in which some cult leaders might have achieved immortality. Cultists are known to offer human sacrifices to their deity, although they claim that their allies, the mysterious Black Winged Ones, perform the actual killing.

Cultists of Cthulhu claim that the "Great Old Ones" (a term they use to refer to both Cthulhu and the Spawn of Cthulhu) will return to activity when the stars are right, although they will need an outside force or ritual to liberate them from the "spell" that keeps them in their deathlike state. They also believe that, by that time, humanity will be like them, liberated from the concept of laws and morality, and free to engage in wild acts of violence and depravity. Cultists are known to chant the phrase "*Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn*", the meaning of which has been translated as "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming". It is sometimes shortened to just "*Cthulhu fhtagn*".

Dr. Laban Shrewsbury believes that Cthulhu has inspired, or is otherwise related to "Huitzilopochtli, the War-God of. the Quechua-Ayars".

In addition to human cultists, Cthulhu is also worshiped by several other species, such as the humanoid K'n-yanians, who were brought to Earth by him. The Mi-Go from Yuggoth venerate him along with several other gods, such as Shub-Niggurath and Tsathoggua. In the jungles of central Africa, the megalithic outposts of the Fishers from Outside are also associated with Tsathoggua and Cthulhu.

Of the Earth-native species, Cthulhu is one of the gods venerated and served by the Deep Ones, along with Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. The reptilian inhabitants of the Nameless City, originally an aquatic species, were devotees of Cthulhu. Yet another species, the Black Winged Ones of the swamps of Louisiana, venerate a white polypous creature, but are known to be allied with the human cultists of Cthulhu.

Just as there are species that worship him, there are also those that are enemies of Cthulhu, such as the star-headed Elder Things, the mysterious "space-devils", the powerful Elder Gods of Betelgeuse and their allies, and the winged Byakhee who serve Hastur.

## Abilities

> If Cthulhu exists, then he (or she, or it) can go anywhere he wants through space, or air, or sea, or earth itself. We know from Johansen's account (it turned his hair white) that Cthulhu can exist as a gas, be torn to atoms, and then recombine. He wouldn't need tunnels to go through solid rock, he could seep through it—'not in the spaces we know, but between them'. And yet in his inscrutability he might choose tunnels—there's that to be reckoned with. Or—still another possibility—perhaps he neither exists nor does not exist but is in some half state—'waits dreaming', as Angell's old chant has it.
>
> Albert Wilmarth

Although the Comte d'Erlette's elemental system classifies Cthulhu as a water elemental, this idea seems to be at odds with the fact that the Spawn of Cthulhu are known to be land dwellers that built R'lyeh on dry land before it sank. Cthulhu's appearance, according to the stone idols, with claws, tentacles, and wings, seems to combine elements of creatures from land, water and air, and Albert Wilmarth believes that he can move through all these elements, as well as space.

Like the Spawn of Cthulhu, Great Cthulhu himself has a malleable, amorphous constitution that allows him to shapeshift and even turn into gas.

Being made of an unknown form of matter, Cthulhu is capable of regenerating from any kind of damage suffered by his protoplasmic body, reforming himself after collisions, explosions and even nuclear detonation. However, in one documented case, it's possible that he survived the nuclear bomb by being reborn into another body rather than reforming his original one.

Dr. Henry Armitage believes that the matter that the Great Old Ones are made of can't be destroyed by any means, and that they simply cannot be killed. Otherwise, he argues, the victorious Elder Gods would have destroyed them rather than simply imprisoned them.

The nature of Cthulhu is so alien to the human mind that some men have been known to go mad just by the sight of it, although not all witnesses do. Gustaf Johansen managed to keep his sanity even after being pursued by the monster, while his companion William Briden went mad. Of the other six men who were with them at the time, two are believed to have died of fright instantly, while three were killed and possibly devoured by Cthulhu, and another one fell into an inexplicable angle of masonry: part of the distorted geometry of R'lyeh.

Thanks to their psychic abilities, Cthulhu and his Spawn can manifest themselves in dreams and communicate in this manner with their cultists, although being submerged in the depths of the ocean usually prevents them from doing so. The cult of Cthulhu preserves the memory of a time before the great sinking in which the Great Old Ones communicated with chosen prophets in dreams. How receptive the human mind is to their influence varies from individual to individual, although artists are known to be particularly sensitive, as are the mentally ill.

Unlike some alien deities such as Glaaki, whose telepathic range appears to be limited to a specific location, Cthulhu's influence can be felt worldwide. When a seaquake caused the citadel of Cthulhu to rise above the waves briefly in 1925, his presence was felt in the form of nightmares by sensitive individuals all over the world, with some being terrified to the point of suicide.

Additionally, Cthulhu and other gods of his pantheon can manifest themselves through the idols, statuettes or figurines carved in their images.

### Avatars

Like Nyarlathotep and other cosmic deities, Cthulhu might also manifest himself in the form of avatars. Some of his known avatars include the biblical **Leviathan** and the entity known as **B'Moth**

B'Moth, known worldwide to its loyal cultists as "the Master", is a water elemental: a creature that can manifest in water, fog and rain. Water glows with a mysterious light in its presence and evaporates when it leaves. It communicates with its cultists by telepathy and seeks to spread anarchy and chaos. Cultists of B'Moth often sacrifice victims to sharks or reptiles, as they believe that the souls of those consumed by these animals will pass on to B'Moth.

According to some beliefs, Cthulhu might also assume human form, specifically that of an Atlantean sorcerer known as **Kathulos**, who was one of the many Atlanteans who preserved his body in a deathlike state after the sinking of the old continent. Found adrift in an airtight sarcophagus, Kathulos was known as the "Son of the Ocean", identified as the subject of a prophecy who would lead the people of Egypt (or, in later iterations of the legend, the whole of Africa) to conquer the world. He has the ability to mesmerize people, control animals such as snakes, and has a profound knowledge of science and dark magic. Known to his followers as Skull-Face, the Master, or the Scorpion, he operated a secret empire of opium, hashish and other drugs by which he acquired power and resources.

Another avatar of Cthulhu is called **Chorazin**, and appears simply like an ethereal version of Cthulhu that might manifest itself in dreams, computer screens or television sets, or, more rarely, in the real world, in which case it will gradually solidify and become corporeal. As a psychic manifestation of Cthulhu, it can only be harmed by some forms of magic or electricity, which might cause it to dissipate and send it back to R'lyeh. The Ghostbusters used electricity to defeat a manifestation of Cthulhu, suggesting that the entity they encountered might have been Chorazin.

## Gallery

Illustrated by Bob EggletonIllustrated by Nick SmithIllustrated by Sofyan SyariefIllustrated by Steve Lines*The Book of Cthulhu**Weird n' Wild Creatures*
## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 "The Call of Cthulhu", by H. P. Lovecraft (1928)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Diary of Alonzo Typer", by H. P. Lovecraft and William Lumley (1938)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *The Real Ghostbusters*, s02e28, "The Collect Call of Cathulhu" (1987)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Winged Death", by Hazel Heald and H. P. Lovecraft (1934)
5. ↑ "The Electric Executioner", by Adolphe de Castro and H. P. Lovecraft (1930)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "The Strange Doom of Enos Harker", by Lin Carter and Robert M. Price (1997)
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "The Guardian of the Book", by Henry Hasse (1937)
8. ↑ "Ubbo-Sathla", by Clark Ashton Smith (1933)
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Gorge Beyond Salapunco", by August Derleth (1949)
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 *The Mound*, by Zealia Bishop and H. P. Lovecraft (1940)
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 "The Horror in the Gallery", by Lin Carter (1976)
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "The Return of Hastur", by August Derleth (1939)
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 *At the Mountains of Madness*, by H. P. Lovecraft (1936)
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 *Call of Cthulhu* RPG
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Something in Wood", by August Derleth (1948)
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 "The House on Curwen Street", by August Derleth (1944)
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "The Black Island", by August Derleth (1952)
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 *Strange Eons*, by Robert Bloch (1978)
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 *The Whisperer in Darkness*, by H. P. Lovecraft (1931)
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 *The Shadow over Innsmouth*, by H. P. Lovecraft (1936)
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 "The Keeper of the Key", by August Derleth (1951)
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "I, Cthulhu", by Neil Gaiman (1987)
23. ↑ "The Dunwich Horror", by H. P. Lovecraft (1929)
24. ↑ "History of the *Necronomicon*", by H. P. Lovecraft (1937)
25. ↑ "The Winfield Heritance", by Lin Carter (1981)
26. ↑ "Out of the Ages", by Lin Carter (1975)
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "The Lair of the Star-Spawn", by August Derleth and Mark Schorer (1932)
28. ↑ "The Evil Ones", by August Derleth and Mark Schorer (1940)
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 "The Terror from the Depths", by Fritz Leiber (1976)
30. ↑ "The Inhabitant of the Lake", by Ramsey Campbell (1964)
31. ↑ "The Haunter of the Dark", by H. P. Lovecraft (1936)
32. ↑ "The Scourge of B'Moth", by Bertram Russell (1929)
33. ↑ *Skull-Face*, by Robert E. Howard (1929)