Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. (Fin-Gluey Mug-lu-wa-nuh-fa Cthulhu
Ree-l’yay Wuh-gon-uh-gahl Fuh-tah-gun) Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu… Uh… Hi YouTube. Don’t mind me. I was…
practicing vocal exercises. Yeah, that’s it, exercises. Not summoning an ancient being
from the depths of the ocean. Though, if I were, you wouldn’t mind, right? Everyone
loves Cthulhu. In fact, since you’re here, why not stick around for these top ten incredible
facts about The Great Dreamer himself, Cthulhu. You know what Cthulhu would like you to do?
Hit that subscribe button! And while you’re there, you might as well click the bell for
future notifications from the great old one. 10. Created by H. P. Lovecraft
First and foremost, let’s get the most disappointing fact out of the way. The legend of Cthulhu
isn’t part of some mysterious ancient mythology, as many likely hope. Rather, the tentacled
being was a manifestation of the creative and twisted mind of author H. P. Lovecraft.
In 1928, Lovecraft published The Call of Cthulhu in Weird Tales, marking the first time the
Great Old One was made public. The story established much of the foundation of the Cthluhu mythos
that was later branched out into a rather extensive mythology surrounding cosmic entities,
cults, and madness. Sorry, cultists. You’re worshiping a false being.
9. One Big Cthulhu Family You probably wouldn’t know it just by looking
at him, but Cthulhu is actually a family man… er… family squid? Outside of his great-great-grandfather
Azathoth, cosmic entity, Outer God, and grandfather Yog-Sothoth; grandmother and grotesque oddity
Shub-Niggurath; parents Nug and Yeb; and four siblings, Cthulhu also has seven children
of his own. Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, Zoth-Ommog, Cthylla, T’ith, Nctosa, and Nctolhu, have
all popped up in later expansions of the Cthulhu mythos as children of the Great Old One and
one of his two spouses, Idh-yaa or Kassogtha. 8. Cthulhu in Pop Culture
Since his creation, Cthulhu has popped up in a myriad of different movies, video games,
and other medium. Though he may not be the focus of some, his presence is noted in the
expanded mythology that tends to serve as the backdrop or inspiration to films like
In the Mouth of Madness and The Haunted Palace as well as the Twilight Zone episode, Gramma.
If you need your dose of Cthulhu mythos, you’ll want to pop in The Call of Cthulhu, the 2000
and 2007 films aptly titled Cthulhu, and Dagon, or spend some time playing the Arkham Horror
board game and Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth survival horror video game.
7. Cthulhu Regio The Great Old One of the deep blue has become
such a prominent figure in and out of literature that his name has started popping up everywhere.
Take, for instance, Cthulhu Regio, which has absolutely nothing to do with Lovecraft’s
mythos. In 2015, an image of Pluto - taken by the New Horizons probe - showed a dark
region on the planet’s surface. Thought to be a sort of cosmic tar, the mass extends
1,860 miles (2,990 km) and appears to take the shape of a whale. Six days after its discovery,
the New Horizons team dubbed the dark spot “Cthulhu,” a name that has since stuck.
6. Cthulhu in Nature While on the topic of Cthulhu popping up outside
of literature, we can’t forget about two creatures of the wild sporting The Great Old
One’s name. The Pinoa Cthulhu and S. Cthulhu are, respectively, a Californian spider found
in Mendocino and Sonoma counties and a moth of the Erebidaw family found in New Guinea.
Cthulhu has also been referenced in two microorganisms that play a role in termite digestion, Cthulhu
macrofa … marco.. polo.. You know what, I’m not even going to try. Get the video
editors to actually do something. There, that’s better… Y'know I love you guys… you know
what, never mind. 5. The City of R’lyeh
When Lovecraft started spinning the Cthulhu mythos, he did so in a way that made it sound
like it was translated from ancient texts. Even R’lyeh, the fantastical sunken city
hidden within the Pacific Ocean, sounds like it belongs to an early world culture. Mentioned
in the 1928 introduction to Cthulhu, R’lyeh is described as the burial place for Cthulhu
marked by unusual architecture. According to Lovecraft, R’lyeh is located at 47°
9’S, 126° 43’W in the southern Pacific, which places it right near the oceanic pole
of inaccessibility, or the point farthest from land. However, writer and Lovecraft’s
literary executor and Cthulhu contributor, August William Derleth, placed R’lyeh at
49°51'S 128°34'W﻿. 4. The Deep Ones
Aw… isn’t he just the sweetest? Ick. Three years after bringing Cthulhu to life, Lovecraft
extended the mythos with The Shadow Over Innsmouth, a story that revolved around a sort of an
affiliate of Cthulhu’s, another Great Old One known as Dagon. Unlike Cthulhu, Dagon
actually has connections to real-world mythology as either the Mesopotamian god of fertility
or an Iron Age fish god. In Lovecraft’s version, however, we’re dealing with the
latter and The Deep Ones worship him and his spouse, Mother Hydra. These humanoid fish-creatures
are known to mate with humans as part of a pact that provides the town of Innsmouth a
bounty of fish. 3. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos
We’ve mentioned the “Cthulhu Mythos” a few times already, but calling the extended
universe that actually divides us from its demented creator. As Lovecraft started to
build upon The Call of Cthulhu, he created what he dubbed the “Arkham Cycle,” or
a series of interconnected stories taking place in or revolving around the fictional
town of Arkham, Massachusetts. The term “Cthulhu Mythos” didn’t appear until August Derleth
coined it after Lovecraft had passed away - and has been used ever since to describe
a series of stories and books written by authors of the “Lovecraft Circle.” Robert Bloch,
Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, and August Derleth all contribute
tales to expand the mythos. 2. The Cults of Cthulhu
We know Cthulhu is a fictitious being, but that hasn’t stopped the advent of real cults
devoted to either worshiping the tentacled being or the philosophies presented by the
fictional beings. One such cult, the aptly named Cult of Cthulhu, popped up in the United
States, organized in 2004 by Darrick Dishaw, who later referred to himself as High Priest
Venger Satanis. Generally, the so-called “cults” are simply a means to celebrate Lovecraft’s
works, though you know somewhere out there is a group trying to raise the ancient cretin.
1. Not Quite a God Have you caught on that we haven’t quite
called Cthulhu a god? That’s because, according to Lovecraft himself, these so-called gods
are really extraterrestrial entities responsible for the creation of life. Within the 1931
short novel At the Mountains of Madness, Lovecraft establishes a cosmic presence that is carried
throughout much of his work. The introduction in The Complete Cthulhu Mythos Tales, written
by S. T. Joshi, describes how Lovecraft sought to create beings that science of the early
20th century couldn’t easily debunk as it could supernatural creatures like werewolves
and vampires. And so he looked to the stars and plucked out the concepts of monstrous
cosmic entities like Cthulhu. Have your own Cthulhu fact to share? Scribe it onto the
comments scroll below!