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 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^[1] 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 congregations of worshippers, made up of both human and non-human cults.

Summary

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:

1. They were sequestered by the Elder Gods for using black magic transgressions, or
2. They are sealed off somehow from the rest of the Universe of their own volition.^[2]

The first theory, resulting from the interpolations of August Derleth who interpreted the Lovecraftian mythology in light of his own Christian beliefs, is considered baseless and preposterous by Lovecraft purists. Derleth maintained that 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

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 who is 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^[8] 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 Cthugha and is a giant fanged mouth with dozens of eyes and tentacles. The Old Gods play a larger role in the expansion, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and are joined by the addition of another Lovecraftian-themed antagonist, Yogg-Saron^[9].
• 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 Great Icthultu, 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. One of the creatures seen defending Icthultu appears to look very much like an Y'golonac.
• 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.
• The song The Ascension by the Swedish death metal band Bloodbath has references to Cthulhu and the Necronomicon.
• The game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem by Silicon Knights tells the story of humanity fighting against the "Ancients", three powerful (and one weakened), bizarre looking godlike beings similar in context to the Great old ones.
• The Old Ones of Joss Whedon's Buffyverse, including the major character Illyria, are very similar to the Great Old Ones.
• American thrash metal band Metallica references Lovecraft's works in their lyrics and song titles, such as The Call of Ktulu (Ride The Lightning) and The Thing That Should Not Be (Master of Puppets).
• The Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game includes aberrant monsters and ancient beings reminiscent of the great old ones, some of whom grant power to those that study the stars. The first edition of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game's Deities and Demigods book had an entire section devoted to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Old Ones, which was removed from later editions due to copyright concerns.^[10]
• On The Rain-Slick Precipice Of Darkness Episode One features "The Silent One" as the final boss, which appears to be Cthulhu dressed as a mime.

References

Books

• Harms, Daniel (1998). The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (21nd edition ed.). Oakland, CA: Chaosium. ISBN 1-56882-119-0. 

• Lovecraft, H.P. (1982). The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre (1st edition ed.). Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-35080-4. 

• Price, Robert M. (1996). "Introduction". in Robert M. Price (ed.). The New Lovecraft Circle. New York, N.Y.: Random House. ISBN 0-345-44406-X. 

Notes

The Old Ones, a very ancient and powerful group of god-like demons shown in the TV series Buffy the vampire Slayer, strikinggly resembles the Great Old Ones of Lovecraft's works.

External links

• The Book of Alternative Dead Names An open database of alternate names for Cthulhu Mythos entities