Frazetta Man

"Frazetta Man", also known as Almas, Yeti, Orang-Pendek, Wild-Men, Beast-Men, Ape-Men, Piltdown Man, Java Man, Peking Man, Neanderthal Man, Cave Men, Savages, Dawn Men, Gnophkehs, Voormis, Sagoths, Pakunis, Mangani, Faeries, Goblins, Orcs, Trolls, Dwarfs, etc....

Origin: variations on the ape-men theme have been a staple of science fiction, fantasy, and the pulps (dime-novels, penny-dreadfuls, etc.) since Darwinian Evolution came to the attention of writers; however, tales of hairy savages appear to be an ancient and universal part of human culture, shared by virtually every culture on Earth dating back to prehistoric times.

Description

An example of Frazetta Man: "Caveman 1", by Frank Frazetta

"Frazetta Man", named for Frank Frazetta's paintings depicting half-human, ape-like mooks getting punched around and stabbed up by muscle-bound barbarian heroes, appear in pulp and weird fiction in a variety of guises, evolving into (and devolving from) advanced human civilizations.

Generally, the different "races" that fall into this broad "sub-human" category can probably be thought of as competing tribes or species, each with its own savage traditions, cultures, cults, and relatively minor physical differences.

In a few cases, the inter-mingling with - and genetic tampering from - humanoid monsters may result in very marked alien characteristics mixed in among those of the vaguely-human and vaguely-ape (such as features of Deep One, Ghoul, and other, far stranger alien extractions).

Gnophkeh

Cannibal Gnophkeh

On this occasion he spoke of the perils to be faced, and exhorted the men of Olathoë, bravest of the Lomarians, to sustain the traditions of their ancestors, who when forced to move southward from Zobna before the advance of the great ice-sheet..., valiantly and victoriously swept aside the hairy, long-armed, cannibal Gnophkehs that stood in their way....
- H.P.Lovecraft, "Polaris"

The papyrus reputedly preserved the darkest secrets of the occult wisdom of the detested Gnophkehs, which name denoted the repulsively hirsute cannibals whom Yhemog's ancestors had driven into exile in the arctic barrens....
— Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith, "The Scroll of Morloc"

The Gnophkehs are a fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos. They are hairy cannibals who once lived in the land of Lomar before it was invaded by people from Zobna. Gnoph-keh (note the hyphen) refers to a fictional species of non-humans that once dwelt in Hyperborea (present-day Greenland).

Voormi

Voormis in various states of evolution and savagery

"...Much was said regarding the genesis of the Voormis, who were popularly believed to be the offspring of women and certain atrocious creatures that had come forth in primal days from a tenebrous cavern-world in the bowels of Voormithadreth. ... Ralibar Vooz... avowed his skepticism.... They were merely the remnant of a low and degraded tribe of aborigines, who, sinking further into brutehood, had sought refuge in those volcanic fastnesses after the coming of the true Hyperboreans."
- Clark Ashton Smith, "The Seven Geases"

The voormis were furry hominids, bestial humanoids that once occupied Hyperborea. After most were wiped out by pre-human settlers, the most savage Voormi became restricted to caves in the upper slopes of the Eiglophian mountains.

They were aggressive creatures, hunting large and dangerous prey such as saber-toothed tigers. The humans of Hyperborea hunted the Voormis for sport, but they were considered more dangerous than other animals. They possessed "quasi-human cunning" and could fight with thrown objects as well as nails and teeth. The natives of Hyperborea believed them to be at least partially descended from humans.

Savage Hyperboreans of Robert E. Howard

"A gray man-ape," he grunted. "Dumb, and man-eating. They dwell in the hills that border the eastern shore of this sea...."
- Robert E. Howard, "Shadows in the Moonlight"

Robert E. Howard's fantasy novels involving ancient Hyperborea (Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn) contain many ape-like proto- and post-human "races" (such as Howard's Picts) which evolve out of savagery into humans, and then descend back into brute savagery again, numerous times in repeated cycles, with humans and sub-humans in the setting violently co-existing in Hyperborea, all at various points in their rise and fall from humanity.

Sagoth

Description
— Author, "Story"

TO DO

Sagoths appear in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar (Earth's Core) novels as ape-men living in the Hollow Earth.

Mangani

Description
— Author, "Story"

TO DO

Mangani, or "apes" appear in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, where they are described in terms that suggest they are actually hairy, primitive, proto-humans. The Mangani live primarily in remote African rain forests.

Pakuni

TO DO

Pakuni appear in Land of the Lost (1974 franchise), where they appear as hairy ape-creatures with their own language, stone-age technology, and culture. The Pakuni live in the pocket dimension called "The Land of the Lost", where they may have migrated by accident through an interdimensional portal from Earth, or perhaps devolved from an advanced civilization of humanoid beings which may have built and populated the pocket dimension for their own mysterious purposes.

Heresies and Controversies

• The Voormis resemble and may be the same as the Gnophkehs.

Associated Mythos Elements

• location: Hollow Earth
• location: Hyperborea

References

Gnophkeh:

• H.P.Lovecraft, "Polaris (fiction)"
• Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith, "The Scroll of Morloc"
• Laurence J Cornford - A Hyperborean Glossary
• Daniel Harms - The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (1998)

Voormi:

• Clark Ashton Smith, "The Seven Geases"

Pakuni:

• Land of the Lost (1974 franchise)