Cthulhu

Cthulhu (alternate spellings/names: Tulu, Cthulu, Ktulu and many others) is a fictional character in the "Great Old Ones" pantheon of the Cthulhu Mythos derived from the writings of H. P. Lovecraft.

"Cthulhu" is usually pronounced (IPA transliteration), but according to Lovecraft, this is an attempt by human speakers to pronounce a name that is actually in an ancient language alien to them. Lovecraft speculated that KHLUL'HLOO might be closer to the original name.

Cthulhu is a godlike being who would supposedly lay waste to the world if ever awoken from his slumber in the sunken city of R'lyeh, located somewhere under the Southeast Pacific. Because of this, Cthulhu might be described as "evil" although it is unclear whether this term applies to such an utterly alien being. In The Call of Cthulhu and other related works, Lovecraft implies that Cthulhu is not necessarily malevolent, but instead an amoral being whose alien mind transcends human notions of good and evil. By way of analogy, Cthulhu might view the human populace of Earth in the same way a human sees an insect. Humans might worship Cthulhu as he lies sleeping, but in the grand scheme of things, they are immaterial to his designs. (It is implied, however, that Cthulhu will ultimately require some outside assistance to escape his watery tomb in R'lyeh "when the stars are right," but the mythos has many beings that could help, including the servants of cthulhu himself.)

Physically, Cthulhu was said to have a bloated, humanoid body, greenish in color. His head was tentacled, with the tentacles arranged about his maw. Two bat-like wings sprouted from his back. His skin was said to be "flabby" and slimy. Cthulhu's exact height is not given, but the creature was able to pursue a ship through the Pacific Ocean, albeit on some still-underwater portion of risen R'lyeh, for some distance and still keep most of its body above water. Writes Lovecraft:

"If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings... It represented 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. This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, was of a somewhat bloated corpulence..."
— H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

Cthulhu is closely identified with the quotes from the Necronomicon:

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange æons, even death may die"

and "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", which translates to "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming".

Although the cycle of stories written by Lovecraft and continued by his friends and literary successors bear the badge "The Cthulhu Mythos" (a label first used by August Derleth), Cthulhu is actually one of the least of the terrible creatures in the pantheon and indeed makes only one appearance (The Call of Cthulhu) as an active character in all of Lovecraft's work. Indeed, much of what has now become labeled as "The Cthulhu Mythos" is in actuality at great variance with Lovecraft's original conceptions. Therefore much of the lore on Cthulhu came only after his death, mostly the invention of Derleth and a departure from Lovecraft's original value-free, meaningless universe with no eternal struggle. There is never any mention of alliances between Cthulhu and other entities outside of the Cult of Cthulhu in Lovecraft's works.

According to Derleth's stories, Cthulhu is neither the most powerful one nor a leader among the God-like mythos creatures; those would be Yog-Sothoth, "the Lurker at the Threshold", and Azathoth, "the blind, idiot god", respectively. Like many others, Cthulhu is worshipped by a cult of followers that manages to survive through the centuries, and his cult is indeed the most wide-spread, containing the largest number of worshippers and arguably the most effective at recruiting new members. Though Cthulhu himself continues to be sleeping and dreaming in R'lyeh, this cult continues to expand its activities in his name. The cult's behind-the-scenes actions play a major role in stories of the Mythos, and through them Cthulhu continues to have an indirect influence in many stories.

Though arguably the best known figure of the pantheon, a number of stories by Derleth present his alliance with the other Mythos creatures as an uneasy one at best.

At least one of the other Great Old Ones acts as a rival to his power and a personal enemy to Cthulhu. This is Hastur, "Lord of the Interstellar Spaces", currently residing in the Hyades. Derleth did not create Hastur, but he was responsible for his introduction to the Mythos as Cthulhu's worst enemy and half-brother. Various stories present Hastur's cult offering assistance to those trying to prevent Cthulhu's awakening, or make other mention to the rivalry between the two. In Derleth's The Return of Hastur, first published in March, 1939, the two Gods even physically confront each other, albeit briefly.

Cthulhu has several avatars:

• B'moth / Beh'moth, the Devourer
• Chorazin

Smaller versions of Cthulhu exist called the Star Spawn of Cthulhu.

Cthulhu mated with the quasi-female entity Idh-Yaa to produce four offspring: Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, Zoth-Ommog, and Cthylla. His parent was the androgynous deity Nagoob, which, according to Lovecraft and his correspondant Clark Ashton Smith, bore him in the star system Vhoorl, its mate being the Outer God Yog-Sothoth.

The English horror writer Brian Lumley introduces an equally powerful and alien but questionably benevolent "brother" to Cthulhu called Kthanid.

Cthulhu is also a recurring character on the webcomics Ghastly's Ghastly Comic, User Friendly, Irregular Webcomic!, Nothing Nice to Say, and Mac Hall. Cthulhu also appears as a recurring character in writer/artist Matt Howarth’s Those Annoying Post Bros and Savage Henry comic books (under the spelling, C’Thulu) as a member of the fictional electronic music band, “The Bulldaggers.” Cthulhu plushies (stuffed animals) are available from a number of vendors.

Cthulhu and his cult (along with other Mythos references) also appeared in an episode of the Real Ghostbusters animated series.

Contents

1 Cthulhu & Music 2 Cthulhu & RPGs 3 Parodies of Cthulhu 4 External links

Cthulhu & Music

The heavy metal band Metallica wrote two songs about Cthulhu, "The Call of Ktulu" (partially written by former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine), recorded on 1984's Ride the Lightning, and "The Thing That Should Not Be", appearing on 1986's Master of Puppets. The band's late bassist Cliff Burton was an avid fan of H. P. Lovecraft.

Cradle of Filth, the famous Symphonic Black Metal band made two songs about Cthulhu also, "Cthulhu Dawn" and "Mother of Abomination" (on Midian and Nymphetamine respectively). In the song, they pronounce it .

The famous Death Metal Band Morbid Angel mention Cthulhu in the Song "Lord Of All Fevers & Plague" (which is included on the album Altars of Madness). A Lovecraft influenced album is Blessed Are The Sick from Morbid Angel, as titles like "Doomsday Celebration" or "The Ancient Ones" gives a hint, the songs Fall From Grace and Unholy Blasphemies still include Lovecraftian influences. On Morbid Angel's album Covenant, Shub-Niggurath is mentioned in the song "Angel of Disease".

There are many filk songs about Cthulhu, where the name is also pronounced .

There was also a black metal parody band called Teen Cthulhu (http://www.crazeone.com/rock.html) from Washington who have since broken up.

Cthulhu & RPGs

Call of Cthulhu is the title of a popular role-playing game based on the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Cthulhu myths were introduced to the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons in the first (1980) and second (1984) editions of the TSR book Deities and Demigods. A third edition (2002) was released without the Cthulhu myths due to copyright issues.

Parodies of Cthulhu

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, the ichor god Bel-Shamharoth is a parody of Cthulhu, complete with cult following and veneration of the number Eight.

On the User Friendly-Website, there are a few plot-lines involving Cthulu and/or other Great Old Ones.

External links

• "The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft (http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/index.html)
• "Unspeakable Vault of Doom" (http://www.macguff.fr/goomi/unspeakable/home.html) - A webcomic entirely to The Great Old Ones
• "The Ultimate Cthulhu Mythos Book List" (http://lovecraft.cjb.net) - Listing of all mythos novels, anthologies, collections, comic books, and more.
• "A Study in Emerald" (http://www.neilgaiman.com/exclusive/StudyinEmerald.asp) - A short story by Neil Gaiman, infusing the Cthulhu mythos into a Sherlock Holmes mystery.
• "I CTHULHU" (http://www.neilgaiman.com/exclusive/essay07.asp) - A short story by Neil Gaiman about Cthulhu's personal anxieties.
• CUWoCS (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~damerell/CUWoCS/CUWoCS.html) - The Cambridge University Worshippers of Cthulhu Society
• Cthulhu Cthild Cthare (http://www.tomsmithonline.com/comedy/thing_in_the_crib.htm) - a short story by Tom Smith in Lovecraftian style.
• "The Misadventures of Hello-Cthulhu" (http://www.hello-cthulhu.com/)de:Cthulhu

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