List of Cthulhu Mythos deities
Cthulhu Mythos deities are a group of fictional deities created by American author H. P. Lovecraft, and later expanded by others in the fictional universe known as the Cthulhu mythos.
These entities are usually depicted as immensely powerful and utterly indifferent to humans. Humans can barely begin to comprehend them; however, some entities are worshipped by humans. These deities include the "Great Old Ones" and extraterrestrials, such as the "Elder Things", with sporadic references to other miscellaneous deities. The "Elder Gods" are a later creation of other prolific writers who expanded on Lovecraft's concepts, such as August Derleth, who was credited with formalizing the Cthulhu Mythos. Most of these deities were Lovecraft's original creations, but he also adapted words or concepts from earlier writers such as Ambrose Bierce, and later writers in turn used Lovecraft's concepts and expanded his fictional universe.
Great Old Ones
A recurring theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of humanity in the face of the cosmic horrors that exist in the universe, with Lovecraft constantly referring to the "Great Old Ones": a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a death-like sleep.They are said to know "all that was occurring in the universe" and have existed through the "infinities of chaos" to the "first men", and they have the ability to mold the dreams and minds of men to their need. Even when the stars are not aligned and they are not "alive", they are never truly dead, and they are not made of standard matter. They have the ability to travel from planet to planet when they are awoken.
Albert N. Wilmarth describes the spaces that the beings inhabit as beyond human imagination, and says that the universe comprehended by humans is only a speck in the totality of the cosmos: Lovecraft named several of these deities, including Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, and Yig. With a few exceptions, this loose pantheon apparently exists outside of normal space-time. Although worshipped by deranged human cults, these beings are generally imprisoned or restricted in their ability to interact with most people, at least until the hapless protagonist is unwittingly exposed to them. Lovecraft visited this premise in many of his stories, notably his 1928 short story, "The Call of Cthulhu", with reference to the eponymous creature. However, it was Derleth who applied the notion to all of the Great Old Ones. The majority of these have physical forms that the human mind is incapable of processing; simply viewing them renders the viewer incurably insane.
Great Ones
The so-called "gods" of the Dreamlands, the Great Ones are not as powerful as the Great Old Ones and are not even as intelligent as most humans. However, they are protected by the Outer Gods, particularly Nyarlathotep. While they once lived on peaks across the world they were driven off lower mountains by the spread of humanity until they had to leave Earth entirely, leaving only a mark on Mount Ngranek. The Great Ones now rule from their hidden fortress of Kadath, whose location in time and space is unknown. As well as occasionally returning to white capped Thurai, Lerion and Hatheg-Kla on cloud ships under the cover of a light mist, they abandoned Kadath for a brief period for the "sunset city" that Randolph Carter conjured in his dreams. In the past, the Great Ones often married human women, so many human inhabitants of the Dreamlands have Great One blood in them.Lobon
Lobon, also known as Lobon of the Sacred Spear is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as an ivy-crowned youth bearing a spear.Nath-Horthath
Nath-Horthath is known as one of the chief gods of Celephaïs.Oukranos
Oukranos is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath.Tamash
Tamash is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Tamash was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Zo-Kalar and Lobon.Zo-Kalar
Zo-Kalar is a Great One dwelling on Kadath. Zo-Kalar was one of the chief gods worshipped in doomed Sarnath along with Tamash and Lobon.. It is also possibly the same being as Karakal or Karakal of Flames.Hagarg Ryonis
Hagarg Ryonis, also known as The Lier-in-Wait is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He appears as a huge reptilian monster.Karakal
Karakal, also known as Karakal of Flames is one of the Great Ones, the gods of Earth that reside in Kadath. He might also be the same being as Zo-Kalar.Outer Gods
As it is known in the Mythos, the Outer Gods are ruled by Azathoth, the "Blind Idiot God,” who holds court at the center of infinity. A group of Outer Gods dance rhythmically around Azathoth, in cadence to the piping of a demonic flute. Among the Outer Gods present at Azathoth's court are the entities called "Ultimate Gods" in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, and possibly Shub-Niggurath, the "Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". Yog-Sothoth, the "All-in-One and One-in-All", co-rules with Azathoth and exists as the incarnation of time in the cosmos, yet is somehow locked outside the mundane universe. Nyarlathotep, the "Crawling Chaos", is the avatar of the Outer Gods, existing as the incarnation of space and functions as an intermediary between the deities of the pantheon and their cults. The only Outer God to have a true personality, Nyarlathotep possesses a malign intellect and reveals a mocking contempt for his masters. Lovecraft himself never made reference to them as the Outer Gods, instead calling them the Other Gods or the gods of the outer hells, as noted in his short story "The Other Gods".Abhoth
Aiueb Gnshal
Aiueb Gnshal is a mysterious Outer God, who has his abode in a forgotten temple located somewhere in Bhutan. He appears as a formless black void, with seven pulsing orb-like eyes, and is mainly worshiped by ghouls, which tribute him in a defiled cult described in the mysterious Cambuluc Scrolls of the wizard Lang-Fu, dating back 1295 AD. Peering through the eyes of this god, after a hideous and devastating ritual, allows one to see straight into Azathoth's court. It is rumoured that the powers of Mongolian warlord Temujin was a favour of Aiueb Gnshal.Aletheia
Aletheia is a god-like entity symbolizing or incarnating the truth. Named after the Greek goddess of truth, it manifests as a vast spiral of manifold titanic hands with a single cycloptic eye in each palm as in the Hamsa, and kilometric wire-like protrusions able to ensnare living beings, replacing their spinal bone in puppet-like fashion. Introduced in Dylan Dog issue 374, In the plot, the entity has clear features of an Outer God rather than a Great Old One as well as an appearance vaguely resembling that of Yog-Sothoth, and is invoked by a deranged prophet with words in Naacal or R'lyehan language almost coinciding with those featured in Cthulhu's invocation, with R'lyeh replaced with Z'lyeh.Azathoth
, sometimes referred to as the "Blind Idiot God", is a monster who rules the Outer Gods, created them and thus effectively serves as the supreme deity of the Cthulhu Mythos. His title of blind idiot god is in reference to his detachment from the affairs of humans, and as being incomprehensible to the human mind.Azhorra-Tha
Azhorra-Tha is an Outer God imprisoned on the planet Mars, as it fled from Earth after the imprisonment of the Great Old Ones. Its appearance is that of an insectoid to toad-like squid, but its shape continuously changes, emitting an awful buzz. The Mi-Go discovered the prison of Azhorra-Tha the millennia after, and made everything to not reveal its location to any human being.The Blackness from the Stars
The Blackness from the Stars is an immobile blob of living, sentient darkness, torn from the primal fabric of the cosmos at the center of the universe. It is distinguishable in darkness only as vaguely shimmering oily pitch. Although intelligent, it speaks no known language and ignores attempts to communicate.The Cloud-Thing
A man-eating cloudy mass, it is an unnamed Outer God at the court of Azathoth.C'thalpa
C'thalpa is a huge mass of living sentient magma, located in the Earth's mantle. She is mother of the Great Old One Shterot, and five other unnamed hideous children. She is also served by a race of mole-like humanoid burrowers known as the Talpeurs.Cxaxukluth
is one of the Seed-Spawn of Azathoth, grown to adulthood and monstrous proportions. In appearance, Cxaxukluth resembles something of a cross between Azathoth and Ubbo-Sathla: an amorphous, writhing mass of bubbling, nuclear, protoplasmic-gel. He normally dwells alone within an unnamed dimension beyond time and space, unless disturbed or summoned away.Daoloth
Daoloth dwells in dimensions beyond the three we know, and his astrologer-priests are said to see the past and future and even how objects extend to and travel between different dimensions.Not particularly evil, Daoloth still causes harm among humans. His undescribable shape causes men to go mad at the sight of him—thus, he must be summoned in pitch black. If not held in some sort of magic containment he continues to expand. If one found themself enveloped by this god, they are transported to utterly bizarre and remote worlds where said person usually meets their fate. Daoloth worship is rather rare on Earth.