Great Old One

A Great Old One is a type of fictional being in the Cthulhu Mythos based in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. Though Lovecraft created the most famous of these fictional deities, the vast majority of them were created by other writers, many after Lovecraft's death. Collectively, the Great Old Ones (sometimes referred to as the "Old Ones" ["Old Ones" has variable meanings in Lovecraft's stories. Although it is synonymous with "Great Old Ones", "Old Ones" can also refer to the Elder Things. (Harms, "Old Ones", "The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana", pp. 228–9).] by some authors or the "Cthulhu Cycle Deities" by Brian Lumley in his Titus Crow stories) are not as powerful as the Outer Gods, nor do they have as much influence. Nonetheless, they are served in the stories by devoted of worshippers, made up of both human and non-human cults.

ummary

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,"
"And with strange aeons even death may die."
—Abdul Alhazred, The "Necronomicon"

The Great Old Ones are ancient extraterrestrial beings of immense power, and most are also colossal in size. These entities seem to have a physical shape, but being cosmic lifeforms from beyond our space-time continuum means they are not based on matter in our definition of the concept, yet their forms are built on principles similar enough to those of true matter that they appear to be material in their nature. 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—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:
# They were sequestered by the Elder Gods for using black magic , or
# they are sealed off somehow from the rest of the universe of their own volition. [Harms, "Great Old Ones", pp. 126–7.]

According to the first theory, the Great Old Ones were once related to 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 dormant. To account for this, it is possible that the universe experiences cosmic cycles, similar to the natural seasons which occur on earth. Just as some animals hibernate during the winter, so too must the Great Old Ones rest in a death-like sleep during the present cosmic cycle. [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.] If this is so, the Great Old Ones are currently trapped by powerful cosmic forces and must remain so until such time as the planets are in a certain alignment... or "the stars are right"—the event upon which they may be released and can revel once more across the cosmos. [Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" (1928), "The Best of H. P. Lovecraft", p. 88.]

Table of 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 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—the key to the codes is found here. A code appearing in bold means that the story introduces the Great Old One. If the code is given as rpg it means that the Great Old One first appeared in the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game.

Table

Father Set

The works of Robert E. Howard, a friend of Lovecraft feature a malign serpent god named Father Set, worshipped by the villainous Thoth-Amon. Named after a character from Egyptian mythology and based on the Egyptian demon, Apophis, Set is implied to be one of the Great Old Ones from Lovecraft's mythos which sometimes overlaps with Howard's.

In popular culture

* The boss C'Thun in the MMORPG World of Warcraft is one of the "Old Gods", a group of beings within the game, and is a reference with a similar name like Cthulhu and Cthuga and is a giant fanged mouth with dozens of eyes and tentacles.
* In the "Justice League" episode "The Terror Beyond," it is learned that in ancient times, the people of Thanagar worshiped The Great Old Ones. At that time, Thanagar was a hard world with a primitive and savage culture; in return for offerings made to Ixthultu, the Old Ones' leader, they received agriculture, mathematics, and philosophy—the foundations of their entire culture. As they matured, however, the Thanagarians stopped worshiping them; modern Thanagarians bow down to no higher power. Their knowledge of the Great Old Ones was used in the creation of their personal weaponry.
* The Great Old Ones have inspired many other demonic gods in Lovecraftian works of fiction such as the Faceless Ones from "Skulduggery Pleasant", the Ogdru Jahad from "Hellboy" and the Dark Ones from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go.
* "The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray" by Chris Wooding is based on many of HP Lovecraft's stories. The dark gods known as the Glau Meska appear to be an amalgamation of the Great Old Ones and the Deep Ones.
* The Outsiders from "The Dresden Files" are similar to the Great Old Ones.
* "The Power of Five" series by Anthony Horowitz features dark gods known as the Old Ones as the main antagonists.

References

Books

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Notes

External links

* [http://bookofaltnames.peppermill-marketing.com/ The Book of Alternative Dead Names] An open database of alternate names for Cthulhu Mythos entities