Shuma-Gorath

All-Killer of the Dawn, Conqueror of Midnight, the Destroyer, Devourer-God of the Eternal Ever-Was, Evil One Who Sleeps, the Father of All Evil, God Who Sleeps, Gorath, the Great One Who Slumbers, Greatest of the Old Ones, He Who Sleeps But Shall Awake, He Who Sleeps But Shall Awaken, He Who Sleeps But Shall Soon Awake, Him Who Lies Sleeping, Lord Gorath, "Mr. Tentacles", "Shaka-laka-Shuma", Shuma, Sleeping One, the Unclosing Eye, the Void Made Flesh, the Withering Devourer, the Writhring Devourer; possibly Cthuma-Gurath

### Associations

Black holes, chaos, death, destruction, imprisonment, killing, magic, mind control, multiple dimensions, power

### Relatives

Quoggoth (creation); unnamed spawn

> Before all was, I was. Before time was, I waited. I fed on the screaming souls of the universes. I drank the spoiled milk of dead stars. I am the emptiness outside all understanding. I am Shuma-Gorath.
>
> Shuma-Gorath,

Many beings are said to serve Shuma-Gorath, including:

* the fallen angel Arioch
* the Great Old One Erlik Khan, the Yellow God of Death
* the Lesser Old Ones Ghaszaszh Nyirh, L'mur-Kathulos, and N'Gabthoth
* an odd and unnamed boddhisattva
* the Fear Lord known as Nightmare
* the god Sligguth and his reptilian worshippers, the citizens of Starkesboro in New England

Shuma-Gorath seems to have a strange attraction for Hsien-Ko, and Morrigan seems to be attracted to Shuma's strong tentacles, saying that she "hopes the party's just getting started".

## History

### Origins

Shuma-Gorath is one of the Great Old Ones, also named Many-Angled Ones.

At some point, Shuma-Gorath created Quoggoth as a servant.

### Early Reign on Earth

Ruler of hundreds of dimensions, Shuma-Gorath came to the Earth-Realm a million years ago along with the other Old Ones, ruling the Earth and feasting on the ape-men.

Around the time that *Homo habilis* first began to appear, Quoggoth rebelled, fancying himself more powerful than his creator. Shuma-Gorath defeated Quoggoth but couldn't destroy him, so imprisoned him in the island that became for a time Maxwell Ferdur's base in the 19th century.

### 1,000,000 BC

Some time around 1,000,000 years ago, he was banished from the Earth-Realm by the time-traveling sorcerer Sise-Neg. This was all observed by another time-traveling sorcerer who had hoped to defeat Shuma-Gorath in the past so that his master, the Ancient One, would not need to die in a future conflict with the creature.

### Pre-Cataclysmic Age

Shuma-Gorath somehow managed to return about 21,000 years before the sinking of Atlantis, and again set himself up as a god. The Old One fed himself on blood sacrifice and tribal war, but any priest or cultist who sought his favor was also killed. After an age of Shuma-Gorath's torturous rule, some sent out a cry to a new god, Crom. Crom sent a storm of the Northlands, and with it three iron-bound books and a key to unlock them. Armed with the books, a sorcerer went to confront Shuma-Gorath. He read aloud from the books atop a mountain, and just before he finished the third volume, a vengeful Shuma-Gorath incinerated the mortal with a blast of energy. A flame-headed cloud rose from the ashes, however, sealing Crom's spell, and imprisoning Shuma-Gorath within the mountain. The mountain was later named Mount Crom in the avenging god's honor.

The three books became known as the Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath. The Vishanti and Shuma-Gorath were eventually known to each other some time after the formation of the mystic trinity and became bitter foes to this day, neither succeeding in destroying the other.

### Hyborian Age

During the the Hyborian Age, the sorcerer Kulan Gath and the witch-queen of Hyperborea Vammatar fought with their two armies to a standstill. Negotiating, Vammatar revealed that she had the Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath, while Kulan Gath had the key to open them. Vammatar proposed an alliance sealed by marriage, which would allow them to work together to release Shuma-Gorath and command his power for their own. At the base of Mount Crom, Vammatar turned on Gath, and while they fought Crom sent down a bolt of lightning that created an avalanche. The books were buried, and the newlywed sorcerers were separated, each believing the other to be dead for many years to come.

A century later, Vammatar came into conflict with the young warrior Conan of Cimmeria. At one point, the sorceress set fire to the Village of the Snow Bear where Conan was raised in order to clear a path to Mount Crom. Conan received a dream of its destruction (possibly a vision from his deity, Crom) in which the name "Shuma-Gorath" was chanted repeatedly. With his traveling companion Hobb, Conan headed north to confront the sorceress and her Witch-Men. Once he arrived at Mount Crom, however, Shuma-Gorath took control of Hobb's mind and compelled him to read from the Iron-Bound Books, freeing him from his mountain prison. By this time Vammatar had been joined by Kulan Gath, and for a time the pair seemed to hold the demon with their spells. He was not under their control, however, and the pair were obliterated as Shuma-Gorath finished relating the tale of his imprisonment. Conan took up the books, and used their power to resist the demon's attacks. Shuma-Gorath offered Conan immense power if he would stop, but Conan refused. Instead, Conan threw the books from the mountaintop to the storm above, returning them to Crom. Crom's power then once again sealed Shuma-Gorath in one of his home dimensions.

### 19th Century

In 1804, a cult that worshipped Shuma-Gorath was formed in the United States in the land where the Ravencroft Institute would be built many years later.

## Other Realities

Shuma-Gorath has appeared in other realities. In one reality, he became the unlikely savior of the Earth. He accepted the fact that humanity now looked up to him, and ended up becoming the host of his own Japanese game show, the Super Monster Awesome Hour. He still seemed to look down upon humans, though, calling them "vile fleshling scum." In another reality, he invaded Earth, forcing that reality's defenders to battle him. The outcome of the battle is unknown. Shagreen, a sorcerer from an alien dimension, invoked an entity known as "Cthuma-Gurath", which may have been another name used by Shuma-Gorath.

### Spectacular Earth

Shuma-Gorath once invaded the reality known as Spectacular Earth, but he was stopped by a coalition of heroes.

### The Cancerverse

In the Cancerverse, the Many-Angled Ones managed to get a hold on an alien hero by offering him life in exchange for servitude upon his death. Shuma-Gorath's name was presumably invoked, alongside Kthl's, Yot-Soter's, and Nyerlathortech's to perform the Necropsy Ritual, the murder of Death. He was once again invoked into the Cancerverse during the Necropsy Ritual involving the killing of the Elder God Thanatos in order to destroy the Lady Death of Earth. The ritual inadvertently summoned Death into the Cancerverse, prompting her to cripple the bodies of the Many-Angled Ones for eons.

### The Hive

In an unknown universe, a member of the multiversal species known as Poisons managed to consume a manifestation of Shuma-Gorath that had bonded to a symbiote from the planet Klyntar.

### Realm of Death

In an unknown reality, Shuma-Gorath works in the Realm of Death's Department of Eternal Suffering. He recently had a child and is prepping for a tentacle clipping ceremony for said child.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

Shuma-Gorath is a powerful (sometimes stated to be omnipotent) and ancient being that possesses vast supernatural powers, and is stated to be the "archetypal Class Three eldritch horror". He is considered to be one of the primal powers of Chaos. He is stated to be the greatest of the Old Ones. Given his past reformations, it is unknown if he can ever truly be killed.

Among his many mystical powers is the ability to communicate with and control others both within his vicinity and across dimensional barriers. He can create and direct powerful blasts of mystical energy (usually from his eye and/or tentacles) and affect transmutations on a planetary scale.

His skin is rubbery and armored, making him difficult to damage except by the most powerful magics. Though he often appears as a scaly being with six to eight tentacles and a great, central eye, during the Hyborean Age he was also seen to have numerous pincers, claws, and insectoid limbs, in addition to a large, fanged maw. Similarly, he has been depicted as either greenish or purple in color. It is stated by the Vision-Machine that Shuma-Gorath exists on many planes and thus his true form cannot be seen by humans. Presumably, he can alter the form people see him as to his will. According to Shuma-Gorath himself, he is nothing except his power and his form is merely a shell that contains it.

His size seems to be related to his power, as he is truly gigantic when he wishes to be. On Earth he has always appeared substantially smaller, though it is confirmed that only the smallest part of Shuma-Gorath's essence manifests on Earth when he is invoked.

The power of Shuma-Gorath is such that he can destroy multiple galaxies solely through his aura-pressure. Shuma-Gorath also has the ability to destroy realities by using all of his tentacles to create a ball of energy which he fires at the reality.

Shuma-Gorath's name is often invoked across many dimensions by beings seeking dark power.