Cthulhu (Lovecraft)



Cthulhu''' is a creation of H. P. Lovecraft first appearing in the story "The Call of Cthulhu" in 1928. Cthulhu is one of the main Great Old Ones of the Lovecraft Mythos, a race of alien deities that are comparable to cosmic-beings and archdemons in other works of fantasy. '''

He is known for his grotesque appearance and gigantic size as well as his ability to drive any that gaze upon his form to insanity - he is not the most powerful of Lovecraft's creations but is one of the most famous and the name Cthulhu has become associated with evil and Lovecraftian horror ever since the creature was first brought to public attention.

Appearance
Cthulhu's appearance can change from story to story but he is most often portrayed as a monster of vaguely humanoid shape with a squid-like face and wings - he is also considered terrifyingly large and apocalyptic, being the size of a mountain or bigger in some accounts. Most descriptions of him stem from statuette's found in the posession of cult members. They are usually around a foot high and depict Cthulhu in a crouching position.

Following
Cthulhu is said to have a worldwide doomsday cult centered in Arabia, with followers stretching across the entire world - the

supposedly immortal leaders of Cthulhu's cult are said to reside in the mountains of China - this cult is nihilistic in nature and seeks to awaken the Old Ones and bring about an apocalyptic age of darkness in which, according to some stories, men would be reduced to shouting and killing in each other in a fits of madness. Cthulhu is also worshipped by the horrific Deep Ones and the Mi-go, other alien-beings in Lovecraft's world.

Cthulhu also has numerous "star-spawn" at his disposal - which seem to share his general appearance but are much smaller and less powerful, though the nature of the "star-spawn" and their relationship with Cthulhu is not widely known.

He Waits Dreaming...
In most of the stories Cthulhu lays dormant deep under the ocean within the sunken city of R'lyeh but can still influence the world via many telepathic powers and, of course, his many cults and otherworldly minions - it is said once Cthulhu is fully awakened he shall rise from the depths and end the world, thankfully for humanity Cthulhu has yet to do so. However, he came close in the 1920s when a group of sailors came across his sunken city of R'lyeh, which had been brought to the surface by the alingment of the stars. They opened up one of the strange buildings, only for Cthulhu to exit it and attack them. The creature only halted its attack when the sailors used their ship to cut it in half. As they sailed away, they could see Cthulhu reforming into a whole again. The world would have ended then, but for the fact that R'lyeh suddenly sunk as the stars moved out of position. The resulting powerful current not only dragged Cthulhu into the building he had been trapped in, but also closed the door behind him, thus trapping him yet again.

in other fiction
Cthulhu has apperard in pop culture many times:

thumb|300px|right|In this kids themed short cartoon,Cthulhu is the hero of the story.