Hello and welcome back to Life’s Biggest Questions, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey.
The world can be a pretty scary place.
While science continues to help us understand more and more about the universe, there are
still many great mysteries out there.
One such mystery is that of Cthulhu, the great power first described in Lovecraft’s short
story “The Call of Cthulhu”.
But what if this ancient being was not bound to the pages of books, but did in fact exist?
How might the world change if this creature made itself known?
Let’s explore.
If you want more What If videos, check out our “Biggest What Ifs” playlist on the
channel.
Now get ready, it’s time to ask the question: What if Cthulhu was Real?
Since Cthulhu isn’t exactly well-known by the everyman, I’ll start off with a brief
description of the mythos surrounding the creature.
It should be noted that Lovecraft originally intended the name to be pronounced closer
to klhul-hoo, because it originates in an alien language that can’t be properly spoken
by humans.
However, the easier form, Cthulhu, is more prevalent, so that’s what I’ll be using
in this video.
Which is great, because I haven’t spoken alien since high school, so I’m a bit rusty.
Cthulhu is believed to have been born on the planet Vhoorl in the 23rd nebula from Nug
and Yeb, before traveling to Earth with his family and shapeshifting worshippers called
the star spawn.
Here, great wars were held between his group and other mythical races, eventually giving
way to peace as they decided to share the earth.
Cthulhu later began hibernating in the sunken city of R’lyeh, where, according to legend,
he remains to this day.
However, legend speaks of cults that continue to worship the Old God even while he lies
dormant.
Physically, Cthulhu was described by Lovecraft as, quote: “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.”
It has been described as a hideous combination of a man, an octopus, and a dragon.
Generally depicted as being hundreds of metres tall, Cthulhu was seemingly created with the
intent of striking fear and disgust into the hearts of men.
This proved to be highly relevant in the myths, as it’s claimed that merely gazing upon
Cthulhu would cause the viewer to go insane.
The myths say that Cthulhu will eventually awaken from its slumber, and will rise to
once again take over the world.
So, let’s imagine a world where this beast existed.
How might it differ from the world we know?
Well, if Cthulhu remained asleep, nothing much would change.
Those who found the creature deep in the ocean would go insane and likely die before even
telling others about the find.
Even if they made it back to land, their stories wouldn’t be believed, due both to the extraordinary
claims, and more importantly, their lack of sanity.
However, even a dormant Cthulhu certainly isn’t impotent; according to legend, Cthulhu
continues to influence the world in a few ways.
For one, its telepathic abilities allow it to enter the minds of people around the world.
Not only that, the followers of Cthulhu are believed to be constantly working to bring
about the god’s return, often engaging in human sacrifice.
However, if Cthulu were to be awoken, it would be a very different story altogether.
If Cthulu awoke, and began roaming the Earth, madness would sweep the globe.
All who saw the beast would go insane, with the world quickly falling apart.
Cthulhu would likely surface in the South Pacific, either traveling East towards Chile
or west towards New Zealand.
When word spread of the mass insanity due to a giant elder god, countries around the
world would do whatever possible to take it out, regardless of the collateral damage.
Nuking New Zealand, as horrific as it would be, would be far better than allowing the
world to fall into madness.
Unfortunately, humanity’s attacks would likely be ineffective.
In most depictions of Cthulhu, it’s claimed that it would simply reform after destruction
if hit with a nuclear bomb, much like it did in one story after being cut it in half.
Furthermore, it could be that the Earth would become overrun by the Spawn of Cthulhu.
It’s believed by some that this alien race known for worshipping the Great One was created
by Cthulhu himself, and upon awakening, he would once again bring them to life, to act
as his footsoldiers and to lead the human slaves.
As if the hulking behemoth wasn’t enough to deal with, now we’d have terrifying shapeshifting
creatures in the mix.
This would make it essentially impossible for humanity to come out on top, or even find
a place to hide, since it would quickly spread Cthulhu’s influence across the globe.
All this means that humanity would be more or less powerless to stop Cthulhu, who would
take over the Earth, once again reclaiming it for itself and its worshippers.
Those humans who survived might be allowed to keep their sanity in return for subservience,
but the Earth and humanity as we know it would likely be gone forever.
And now we return to our question: What if Cthulhu was Real?
Well, if it stayed asleep at the bottom of the ocean, the world would be much the same,
aside from the odd sacrifice and confusing dream.
However, if it was awoken, there’s a good chance that humanity would be done for.
With little chance of harming the Great One, we would most likely either be destroyed,
driven mad, or enslaved.
So let’s all cross our fingers and hope that this is, in fact, just a myth.
Thank you for watching Life’s Biggest Questions, I hope this was interesting and informative,
and maybe even inspired you to look into it further on your own.
If you liked this video, please thumbs up and subscribe to the channel down below.
While you’re down there, let me know what other mythical beings you’d like examined
in future videos.
Until next time, I’m Ron McKenzie-Lefurgey with Life’s Biggest Questions, wishing you
the best of luck, on your quest for answers.