View source for Great Old Ones (Deities)

This article is about the fictional dieties. For other uses of ''Great Old Ones'', please see [[Great Old Ones|Great Old Ones (Disambiguation)]]

A '''Great Old One''' is a type of fictional deity in the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] of [[H.P. Lovecraft]]. Collectively, the Great Old Ones (sometimes referred to as the ''Old Ones''{{Rn|Harms-228}} 
by some authors or ''[[the Cthulhu Cycle]] Deities'' by [[Brian Lumley]] in his [[Titus Crow]] stories) are not as powerful as the [[Outer God|Outer Gods]], nor do they have as much influence. Nonetheless, they are served by devoted [[wikt:congregation|congregations]] of worshipers, made up of both human and non-human [[Cthulhu mythos cults|cults]].

==Great Old Ones in the mythos==

<blockquote>
''That is not dead which can eternal lie,''
<br/>''And with strange aeons, even death may die.''
<br/>&mdash;[[Abdul Alhazred]], The ''[[Necronomicon]]''
</blockquote>

The Great Old Ones are ancient creatures of immense power. Most are also colossal in size. They are worshipped by deranged human cults, as well as by most of the non-human races of the mythos.  The Great Old Ones are currently imprisoned&mdash;a few beneath the sea, some inside the Earth, and still others in distant planetary systems (and beyond). The reason for their captivity is not known, though there are two prevailing theories: (1) They were sequestered by the [[Elder Gods]] for committing past transgressions, or (2) they are sealed off somehow from the rest of the universe by their own volition.

According to the first theory, the Great Old Ones were once members or servants of the Elder Gods. When they committed some unknown blasphemy, they were cast out and imprisoned in various places in the universe. The Great Old Ones impatiently await the time of their release, eager to seek retribution against their jailors.

The second theory holds that the Great Old Ones are intentionally quiescent. To account for this, it is possible that the universe experiences cosmic cycles, similar to the seasons of the earth. Just as some animals hibernate during the winter, so too must the Great Old Ones rest in death-like sleep during the present cosmic cycle.
If this is so, the Great Old Ones are currently trapped by powerful cosmic forces and must remain so until such time as "the stars are right"&mdash;the event whenupon they are released and can revel once more across the cosmos.

Another theory suggests that the Great Old Ones have fallen into hibernation due to unsuitable conditions. It is also possible that they are subject to some combination of the theories previously proposed.

==Table of Great Old Ones==
Also see: [[:Category:Great Old Ones]]


===Overview===

This table is organized as follows:

* ''Name''. This is the commonly accepted name of the Great Old One.
* ''Epithet(s), other name(s)''. This field lists any epithets or alternate names for the Great Old One. These are names that often appear in [[Cthulhu mythos arcane literature|books of arcane literature]], but may also be the names preferred by cults.
* ''Description''. This entry gives a brief description of the Great Old One.
* ''References''. This field lists the stories in which the Great Old One makes a ''significant'' appearance or otherwise receives important mention. Sources are denoted by a simple two-letter code&mdash;the key to the codes is found '''[[Cthulhu mythos reference codes and bibliography|here]]'''. If a code appears in '''bold''', it means that the story introduces the Great Old One.

===Table===

{| class="wikitable"
|+ '''Great Old Ones'''
|-
!Name
!Epithet(s),<br>other name(s)
!Description
![[Cthulhu mythos reference codes and bibliography|References]]
|-
| [[Aphoom-Zhah|Aphoom-Zhah]] || ''The Cold Flame'', <br>''Lord of the Pole'' || Appears as a vast, cold, grey flame. || AF, AT, '''[[The Horror in the Gallery|HG]]''', LP
|-
| [[Arwassa]] || ''The Silent Shouter on the Hill'' || A vast, wailing, floating monstrosity. || ?
|-
| [[Atlach-Nacha]] || ''The Spider God'', <br>''Spinner in Darkness''|| A giant spider with a human-like face. ||  PS, '''SG'''
|-
| [[Insect from Shaggai#Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg|Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg]] || ''The Bringer of Pestilence'' || A huge, flying, scorpion-like beast. || ''n/a''{{Ref|Aniolowski-MM}}
|-
| [[Basatan|Basatan]] || ''Master of the Crabs'' || ? || '''MC'''
|-
| [[Bokrug|Bokrug]] || ''The Great Water Lizard'', <br>''The Doom of Sarnath'' || Appears as a giant lizard. || '''DC''', SC
|-
| [[Bugg-Shash]]{{Ref|price-xx}} || ''The Black One'',<br>''The Filler of Space'',<br>''He Who Comes in the Dark'' || Appears as a slimy mass covered with eyes and mouths. || '''DI''', EL, KB, RS
|-
| [[Byatis]] || ''The Berkeley Toad'', <br>''The Serpent-Bearded'' || Appears as a gigantic, spider-like crab with a [[wikt:proboscis|proboscis]]. || BY, [[The Room in the Castle|RC]], '''SF'''
|-
| [[Chaugnar Faugn]] || ''Horror from the Hills'', <br>''The Feeder'', <br>Derzh-Hophazh <br> Caug-Narfagn|| An elephant-headed [[wikt:humanoid|humanoid]]. || '''HF'''
|-
| [[Cthugha]] || ''The Living Flame'', <br>''The Burning One'' || Appears as a living ball of fire. || DD, EL, '''HC'''
|-
| [[Cthulhu]] || ''The Sleeping God'', <br>''Master of R'lyeh'', <br>Kthulhut, Tulu || A gigantic, octopus-headed humanoid. || [[At the Mountains of Madness (fiction)|AM]], '''[[The Call of Cthulhu (fiction)|CC]]''', FH, HC, HM, MO, PS, RH, SE, TU, YT? 
|-
| [[Cthylla]] || ''Secret Seed of Cthulhu'' || Appears as a huge, octopus-like creature. Daughter of Cthulhu. || ID, '''TC'''
|-
| [[Cxaxukluth]] || <center>&mdash; || Probably appears similar to Azathoth. || '''FT''', TA
|-
| [[Cyäegha]] || ''The Destroying Eye'', <br>''The Waiting Dark'' || Appears as a gigantic eye covered with tentacles. || '''DM'''
|-
| [[Cynothoglys|Cynothoglys]] || ''The Mortician God'' || Appears as a shapeless, mutating entity with a single arm. || '''PR'''
|-
| The [[Dweller in the Gulf|Dweller in the Gulf]] || ''Eidolon of the Blind'' || Appears as a huge, eyeless [[tortoise]] with whip-like tails. || '''WL'''
|-
| [[Eihort|Eihort]] || ''The Pale Beast'', <br>''God of the Labyrinth'' || Appears as a huge, pallid, [[wikt:gelatinous|gelatinous]] oval with a [[wikt:myriad|myriad]] legs and multiple eyes. || '''BS''', FP
|-
| [[Deep One (Cthulhu mythos)#Father Dagon and Mother Hydra|Father Dagon and Mother Hydra]] || <center>&mdash; || Both appear as abnormally large [[Deep One (Cthulhu mythos)|Deep One]]s. || '''DA''', DB, RD, [[The Shadow Over Innsmouth|SI]]
|-
| [[Ghadamon]] || ''A Seed of Azathoth'' || A shapeless, inky, protoplasmic mass. || ?
|-
| [[Ghatanothoa]] || ''The Usurper'', <br>''God of the Volcano'' || [[wikt:amorphous|Amorphous]] with [[wikt:multifarious|multifarious]] appendages and grotesque members; too horrid to behold, viewing causes [[wikt:petrification|petrification]]. || HT, '''OE''', RL, SX, [[The Thing in the Pit|TP]]
|-
| [[Ghizguth]] || <center>&mdash; || <center>&mdash; || '''FT'''
|-
| [[Glaaki]] || ''The Inhabitant of the Lake'', <br>''Lord of Dead Dreams'' || Appears as a giant [[slug]] with metallic spines. || GL, IB, '''IL'''
|-
| [[Gloon]] || ''The Corrupter of Flesh'', <br>''Master of the Temple'' || Manifests through a [[Dionysus|Dionysian]] sculpture; resembles a monstrous [[sea slug]]. || '''TE'''
|-
| The [[Gog-Hoor]] || ? || ? || ?
|-
| [[Gol-goroth]]<br>(or Gol-Goroth?) || ''The Forgotten Old One'', <br>''God of the Black Stone'' || Appears as a gigantic, black, toad-like creature with an impossibly malevolent glare. || FO, FR, '''GB'''
|-
| [[Hastur]] || ''The Unspeakable'', <br>''He Who is Not to be Named'', <br>''Lord of Interstellar Spaces'' || "True" form remains a mystery; said to be amorphous, possibly [[wikt:octopoid|octopoid]]. || FA, '''HS''', LT, RH, SS
|-
| [[Huitloxopetl]] || ''Haunter of Dreams'', <br> ''The Nightmare Walker''|| ? || '''H1''', H2, H3, H4
|-
| [[Hzioulquoigmnzhah]] || <center>&mdash; || Has [[wikt:spheroid|spheroid]] body, [[wikt:elongated|elongated]] arms, short legs, and a [[wikt:pendulum|pendulum]]-like head dangling underneath. || '''DS''', FT, TA
|-
| [[Idh-yaa]] || <center>&mdash; || <center>&mdash; || '''OA'''
|-
| [[Iod]] || ''The Shining Hunter'' || A levitating, [[wikt:sinuous|sinuous]], glowing creature. || HU, IN, '''SZ'''
|-
| [[Ithaqua]] || ''The Wind Walker'', <br>''The [[Wendigo]]'', <br>''God of the Cold White Silence'' || A horrifying frozen giant. || BW, CD, IM, IQ, SW, '''TW''', WE
|-
| [[Juk-Shabb]] || ''God of [[Cthulhu mythos celestial bodies#Yekub|Yekub]]'' || Appears as a great ball of energy. || '''CF'''
|-
| Lloigor || colspan=3 | ''See Zhar and Lloigor below.''
|-
| [[M'nagalah]]{{Ref|Harms-196}} || ''The Great God Cancer'', <br>''The All-Consuming'' || A massive, [[wikt:tumorous|tumorous]] thing. || TU
|-
| [[Mnomquah|Mnomquah]] || ''Lord of the Black Lake'' || A very large and eyeless lizard-creature with a "crown" of feelers. || MD, MQ, '''SB'''
|-
| [[Mordiggian]] || ''The Charnel God'', <br>''The Great Ghoul'', <br>''Lord of Zul-Bha-Sair'' || A horrifying giant with eyeless head and limbless body, much like a worm. || '''CG''', IC, RE 
|-
| [[Nug and Yeb|Nug and Yeb]] || ''The Twin Blasphemies'' || Appear similar to [[Shub-Niggurath]]. || BF, EH, '''LA''', OA, TO
|-
| [[Nyogtha]] || ''The Thing which Should Not Be'', <br>''Haunter of the Red Abyss'' || Appears as an inky shadow. || AF, HG, '''SH''', SR
|-
| [[Oorn|Oorn]] || ? || Appears as a huge, tentacled [[mollusc]]. || '''MD'''
|-
| [[Othuum]] || ''Deep Slumberer in Green'', <br>''Great Master of Those-Who-Wait-Without'' || Black, cyclops-like demon with two pairs of legs. || OT, '''RS'''
|-
| [[Othuyeg]] || ''The Doom-Walker'' || Appears as a great, tentacled eye (similar to Cyäegha). || '''DF''', VC, SP
|-
| [[Quachil Uttaus|Quachil Uttaus]] || ''Treader of the Dust'' || Appears as a miniature, wrinkled [[mummy]] with [[wikt:ankylosed|ankylosed]], outstretched claws. || KU, '''RU'''
|-
| [[Q'yth-az]] || ? || A crystalline entity. || '''EF'''
|-
| [[Rhan-Tegoth]] || ''He of the Ivory Throne'' || A tall humanoid with crab-like appendages; hard to describe in a few words. || '''HM''', LT
|-
| [[Rlim Shaikorth|Rlim Shaikorth]] || ''The White Worm'' || A gigantic, whitish worm with a huge [[wikt:maw|maw]] and eyes made of dripping globules of blood. || '''CW''', HG, LP
|-
| [[Saa'itii]] || ''The Hogge'' || A giant, [[wikt:spectral|spectral]] hog. || ?
|-
| [[Sfatlicllp]] || <center>&mdash; || <center>&mdash; || '''FT'''
|-
| [[Shathak]] || <center>&mdash; || <center>&mdash; || '''FT'''
|-
| [[Shterot]] || ? || Separate, living tentacles. || ?
|-
| [[Shudde M'ell]] || ''The Burrower Beneath'', <br>''The Great [[Chthonian (Cthulhu mythos)|Chthonian]]'' || Appears as a colossal worm with [[wikt:anterior|anterior]] tentacles. || BU, '''CS''', TC, WU
|-
| [[Summanus]] || ? || A mouthless, grotesque human. || '''WG'''
|-
| [[Tharapithia|Tharapithia]] || ? || ? || ?
|-
| [[Tsathoggua]] || ''The Sleeper of N'kai'', <br>''The Toad-God'', <br>Zhothaqqua, Sadagowah || Appears as a huge, furry, almost humanoid toad. || BC, DS, FT, IU, OL, RT, SG, '''TS'''
|-
| [[Vulthoom|Vulthoom]] || ''The Sleeper of Ravermos'', <br>Gsarthotegga || May appear as a monstrous plant with an enormous, elf-like blossom. || '''VU'''
|-
| The [[The Worm that Gnaws in the Night|Worm that Gnaws in the Night]] || ''Doom of Shaggai'' || A massive, worm-like fiend. || '''AG'''
|-
| [[X'chll'at-aa]] || ''Lord of the Great Old Ones'', <br>''The Unborn God'', <br>''Enemy of All That Live'' || ? || ?
|-
| [[Y'golonac]] || ''The Defiler'' || Appears as a naked, headless human with a mouth in the palm of each hand; other features are nebulous. || '''CP'''
|-
| [[Yhoundeh]] || ''The Elk Goddess'' || Perhaps an elk-like humanoid. || '''DS''', LE
|-
| [[Yibb-Tstll|Yibb-Tstll]] || ''The Patient One'', <br>''The Watcher in the Glade'' || Gigantic, bat-winged humanoid with detached eyes; truly horrible to behold. || CB, OK, '''SC'''
|-
| [[Yig|Yig]] || ''Father of Serpents'' || A scaly, serpent-like humanoid. || '''CY''', SJ, VY
|-
| [[Ythogtha|Ythogtha]] || ''The Thing in the Pit'' || Appears as a colossal, [[cyclops]]-like Deep One. || '''OA''', PD, TC, TP
|-
| [[Zathog|Zathog]] || ? || ? || '''FB''', WZ
|-
| [[Zhar and Lloigor]] || ''The Twin Obscenities'' || Both appear as a colossal mass of tentacles (have a rumoured triplet). || SA, '''LS''', SX
|-
| [[Zoth-Ommog]] || ''Dweller in the Deeps''<!--sic--> || A gigantic entity with a cone-shaped body, a [[wikt:reptilian|reptilian]] head, and [[starfish]]-like arms. || HG, '''OA''', TC
|-
| [[Zushakon|Zushakon]] || ''Dark Silent One'', <br>''Old Night'', <br>Zul-Che-Quon || Appears as a swirling, black [[wikt:vortex|vortex]]. || '''BH''', KD
|-
| [[Zvilpoggua]] || ''Feaster from the Stars'', <br>''The Sky-Devil'', <br>Ossadagowah || Winged, tentacle-faced, toad-like giant. || '''LT''', RM, SV
|-
| [[Zstylzhemgni]] || ''Matriarch of Swarms'', <br>Zystulzhemgni || ? || '''FT''', TA
|}

==References==

===Books===

* {{Book reference
 | First =  Daniel | Last = Harms
 | Authorlink =  Daniel Harms
 | Title = The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana
 | Edition = 2nd edition
 | Location = Oakland, CA
 | Publisher = Chaosium
 | Year = 1998
 | ID = ISBN 1-56882-119-0
 }}

* {{Book reference
 | First =  H.P. | Last = Lovecraft
 | Authorlink =  H.P. Lovecraft
 | Title = The Best of H.P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre
 | Edition = 1st edition
 | Publisher = Ballantine Books
 | Year = 1982
 | ID = ISBN 0-345-35080-4
 }}

* {{Book reference
 | First = Robert M. | Last = Price
 | Authorlink = Robert M. Price
 | Chapter = Introduction
 | Title = The New Lovecraft Circle
 | Editor = Robert M. Price (ed.)
 | Location =  New York, N.Y.
 | Publisher = Random House, Inc.
 | Year =1996
 | ID = ISBN 0-345-44406-X
 }}

===Notes===
<!-- NOTE: Footnotes must be in same order as in article.-->

# {{Note|Harms-228}} In Lovecraft's fiction, the term "[[Old One]]s" is used in different contexts. In his short story "The Call of Cthulhu" (the first mythos story to mention the "Great Old Ones"), Lovecraft alternately used "Old Ones" in place of "Great Old Ones"&mdash;although in this context, the name referred to [[Cthulhu|Cthulhu's spawn]] (Harms, "Great Old Ones", ''The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'', pp. 128). In Lovecraft's ''[[At the Mountains of Madness (fiction)]]'', "Old Ones" referred to the [[Antarctic]]-based [[Elder Thing]]s. In "[[The Dunwich Horror (fiction)]]", Lovecraft named the "Old Ones" as beings associated with [[Yog-Sothoth]]. In Lovecraft's revision story "[[The Mound (fiction)]]", the term "Old Ones" referred to the denizens of [[K'n-yan]]. Nonetheless, despite its varied usages, "Old Ones" more commonly refers to the Great Old Ones or the Elder Things. (Harms, "Old Ones", ''The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'', pp. 228&ndash;9).
# {{Note|Harms-126}} Harms, "Great Old Ones", pp. 126&ndash;7.
# {{Note|harms-127}} Ibid. While the first theory, which proposes that the Great Old Ones were forcibly imprisoned by the Elder Gods, is delineated by the writings of [[August Derleth]], the second theory (relating to "cosmic cycles") is debatable but is favored by Harms.
# {{Note|Lovecraft-88}} Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928), ''The Best of H.P. Lovecraft'', pp. 88.
# {{Note|Unknown-a}} This information lacks a reference. You can improve this article can providing one.
# {{Note|Aniolowski-MM}} Scott D. Aniolowski, "Mysterious Manuscripts" in ''The Unspeakable Oath #3'', John Tynes (ed.), Seattle, WA: Pagan Publishing, August 1991. Periodical ([[role-playing game]] material). Baoht Z'uqqa-Mogg first appeared in this gaming supplement.
# {{Note|price-xx}} When [[Brian Lumley]] read David Sutton's short story "Demoniacal", he wrote a sequel entitled "The Kiss of Bugg-Shash". Lumley expanded Sutton's tale and gave his unnamed entity its name&mdash;Bugg-Shash&mdash;which effectively tied Sutton's creation to the mythos. (Price, "Introduction", ''The New Lovecraft Circle'', pp. xx&ndash;xxi). The name "Bugg-Shash", however, appeared earlier in Lumley's short story "Rising with Surtsey" (Harms, "Bugg-Shash", ''Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'', pp. 41).
#{{Note|Harms-196}}M'nagalah first appeared in the [[comic book]] ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' #8 (1974) in a story by [[Len Wein]] and [[Bernie Wrightson]]. (Harms, "M'nagalah", ''Encyclopedia Cthulhiana'', pp. 196).

Original Wiki source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/ Wikipedia]

[[Category:Mythos:Entities]][[category:Great Old Ones]]