Cthulhu is a creation from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft. His story was first published in 1928, in a story called “Call of Cthulhu”. He wasn’t originally written as a God, he was written as a priest. While H.P. Lovecraft is the original author, many have added to his mythos and universe such as Neil Gaiman and Stephen King.
Cthulhu is from the “Old Ones”. His parent is Nug. He does not appear to have two parents and this was ambiguous as to if the parent is male or female. He has a great-grandfather and a grandfather, Azathoth, and Yog-Sothoth respectively. Shub-Niggurath is his grandmother. Cthulhu has a number of children, their names are Ghatanethea, Ythogthea, Zoth-Ommog, Cthylla, T’ith, Nctosa, Nctolhu, and Leviathan.
He carries the titles are High Priest of the Great Old Ones, The Great Dreamer and The Sleeper of R’lyeh. He is said to look like “a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.” to quote Lovecraft’s story “Call of Cthulhu”. To look upon him to to risk your sanity. Cthulhu’s powers are immense. He isn’t human and he is massive so superhuman strength is obvious, he is nearly invulnerable, flight, inducing insanity, immortal, telepathy, magic and reality manipulation.
His city of R’lyeh, that he built slipped, with him any other’s of his kind here on Earth, beneath the the Earth’s crust in the Pacific Ocean. He has continued to communicate with certain human telepathically as he slumbers. These groups have little statues made of strange, unearthly material. They believe that when the conditions are right, Cthulhu and his city will rise out of the ocean and he will take power once again.
For many years Cthulhu has enjoyed popularity across the world. Cthulhu is either in, mentioned or referenced or just alluded to in many games, TV shows, movies and books. I don’t see Lovecraft’s legacy going away anytime soon. If you missed my article on Nox, you can find it here. Til next week…
