Is there a deity, demi-god, or creature of the Cthulhu Mythos who you just know is the biggest, baddest, most terrifying of the lot? Who do you think would win a one-on-one against any comer, no matter the time or the place? Now's your chance to let everyone know.
Now's your chance. Find out who's the king of the slime pit. The following are votes cast by you for your favorite deity or demon-type and why you think that this particular creature is the best at what it does. Additionally, I'll be keeping score for you, tallying up your opinions and posting the results for you below.
If you want to submit a nomination, it's simple. Just go the the Diety Supreme Voting Form and follow the instructions there.
Add your two cents worth and let the world know who you think is the baddest of the bad.
Plenty of the Old Ones are unclean, but only one of them is the actual Fountain of Uncleanliness....
You can't beat a deity that blasphemies.
Just check what Lovecraft himself said about Azathoth.
I see that there are many fans of the self-styled 'crawling chaos' out there...FOOLS! Azathoth is coming back...in a big way! What do you think he does in those daemon haunted chambers in the center of reality anyway? He's working out, getting buff. You think you know fear? Check out a blind-idiot god on a 'roid rage, carbo loaded and pissed off.
Life is inconsequential to him.
Azathoth (in my opinion) is universally immanent and transcendent.
Azathoth crosses the boundaries of most world religions, in one form or another. Supremely nasty and calculating!
I once created a universe as a joke, too. Sadly, no one took me seriously. I'll show em... Anyway, anyone who is a mindless, chaotic, blind god at the center of chaos and stuff has gotta kick ass.
He is the god among gods. Nyarlathotep serves him, fools...and he kicks a$$.
He is the matrix of all that exists. It is because of his mad ravings that we find spice in our slave lives.
He rules because he's the most powerful. I mean if there's anything you can respect it's POWER! Plus he's not sleeping, or waiting, he's working! Oh yeah, that insanity thing's pretty cool too.
He reminds me the most of myself.
A deity referenced by Stephen King (has) got to be the ultimate evil...
Because of all the Old Gods—those who walk the stars—he has the best sense of humor!!
Well, think about it people! Nyarlathotep is currently in the lead... and who does Narly serve...?
CHAOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I dont want to have to go and assert myself now, do I?
...once you spend any amount of time with Azathoth, the reason becomes quite clear.
He is the Crawling Chaos, the mindless abomination that created the universe for a joke.
Azathoth is at times described as the malevolent Tao. The disturbing undercurrent and alien forces that is of all our world, as our minds fragment to the insanely wailing pipes froms space. Yep, Azathoth is the man.
Ok, Azathoth is as frightening, blasphemous and maddening as it gets... He is nihilism incarnate: the Creator of the Universe (yes, that includes all those Super Hero Elder Gods like Nodens and Bast, for all you Derlethians out there). Azathoth truly does not care his every whim becomes reality, and he proves that this "reality" is as completely meaningless, random, and terrible as he is. Of all the Outer Gods and Great Old Ones, Azathoth is the least anthropomorphic in physique, thought, or deed. He is the Universe—what could be scarier? Nyarlathotep (in my opinion) is merely our collective humand minds' way of interpreting that which is far beyond us (which is why he takes on more conventionally Satanic Judaic-Christian guises at times). The Big N is merely a mouthpiece (a mask) for the real horror—Azathoth.
Well, he's at the center of the universe, mindless, insane, and
gibbering. What else could you ask for in an evil deity?
Either it kicks butt or departs. It simply never dies.
He is the crawling chaos of creation and destruction. He is the center of the universe. And worse he is mad.
He created the universe and is completely mad!
What can possibly be more loathsome and unspeakable than a being which is blind, mentally deranged, and yet transcends all time and space? Truly abysmal!
King of the outer gods.......he's really quite maddening...blind...amorphous... oooohhhhhh!!!!
He's very beautiful to me!!
There are many horrible entities in the mythos, but an entity that can drive you insane or cause you to have a brain hemorhage by is a truly terrible creation. Azathoth is not even supposed to be sentient, but a blind and dumb god. The simple knowledge that he exists destroys people.
Can control people the world round. Has own cult of fanatic followers, and has own real estate. What could be better?
The rest are too abstract. Yog-Sothoth could blink and we'd all be finished. Cthulhu is just plain frightening in every way.
Well, he rocks, he rolls, and he´ll damn well rule, too, (courtesy of my propaganda for him in Sweden). Besides, he´s promised me to sit at his right tentacle and rule my piece of the world, once he´s back. He´s got personality, too, and looks quite stunning. And he´s paying me to say this. Did I mention that?
The Deity Supreme? Of course! He lays and he can return... Cthulhu fhtagn!!!
Because he is damn cool!!!
Oh come on! Nyarlathotep? What makes everyone like him? Anybody knows that Cthulhu is Azathoth's favorite!
Cthulhu Forever!
Face it. He may not be the most powerful of the gods, but HE has a cycle named after him! And think about it. He looks cool too! All this "Amorpheus Blobs," "Shapeless beings," etc.. He just looks GREAT! Octopus head, dragon wings, claws—now THAT'S scary! And look at Nyarlathotep. Looks like a human! But no! not the big C! He looks like he could kick some serious butt! Then here is the cute factor! It's like this. Could you make a Yog-Sothoth doll? NO WAY! But Cthulhu has such a loveable quality! Those cute widdle feelers, the itty bitty Tenticles...poor thing. And face it—
CTHULHU CTHICKS ASS!!!
Cthulhu is worshipped by everyone, even the other guys!! As his elder party campaign for president says... "Why settle for a lesser Evil??"
Hey, you have to go with the home team on this one. At least The Big Guy *cares* enough to enslave and destroy humanity! Those foreign deities are just too damn unpredictable. Besides, I've always been a sucker for the underdog Cthulhu got his butt whipped once and now he's pissed. He's not gonna let anybody mess with his planet again. And don't forget the fact that The Great Squishy One is a player. He may be in a coma or whatever, but he's still negotiating his release and he's not above using his own herd of human cattle to help him. If it comes down to the wing-flapping, tentacle-flailing, stench-breathing cosmic free-for-all it'll be a no-holds-barred, underhanded, groin-kicking cosmic street fight. Two cents on Cthulhu!
(Now THAT would be a helluva movie!)
Gotta say the big gut rocks. In the game you go insane by seeing him. What are you going to do. He's 40x bigger than me. WOW. All hail Cthulhu.
So sue me. I took the ultra-obvious one. Let's look at it this way...Cthulhu, as we all know, is the starting point of the entire Cthulhu Mythos, from which everything else branches out, making him something like the head honcho or supreme deity...and if I were a supreme deity I know i wouldn't let all those wimpy other little gods beat me around...I'd devour them, immediately. To help prove that Cthulhu is the underpinning of the mythos and not just its namesake, we can examine the various 'fishy' tales of Lovecraft, such as Dagon, The Temple, and (The) Shadow Over Innsmouth. Of the three, Shadow least directly suggests Cthulhu, but if we look at The Temple to start, according to the rest of the mythos (ancient Atlantean temple of Cthulhu, called R'yleh) this story features R'yleh. Next we leap over to Dagon, where a large rock adorned with carving sof fish-men and similar looking to the temple of The Temple, this story again features a Cthulhu connection, although perhaps a beginning one in Lovecraft's mind...finally we find Shadow Over Innsmouth, where the strange frog-fish seem uncommonly like those mentioned in Dagon...and insinuations are made throught that they, the deep ones, answer to even higher powers...dare we say it? Gotta be Cthulhu. So basically this big ass dude is the wheel of the mythos from which everything else radiates and is connected with...as such it makes sense that he should be the most powerful...
And I've forgotten one other thing...the guy has a squid for a face and giant bat wings...if that's not the most horrifying, powerful kick-ass look there is, I dunno what is!
Hmm...Let's see...Umm, I dunno...Maybe because the entire mythos is named after him.
I believe great Cthulhu to be deity I find most terrifying because:
Now, Cthulhu may not be as powerful as Nyarlathotep, but I like him anyway. He's filthy, he's immortal, and he doesn't care about anyone. Also, he's the foundation of the entire mythos (hence the name). He's also the first Cthulhu-mythos deity I read of (I'm still a pretty inexperienced Lovecraft fan. I have only read the stories in the three omnibuses).
Think about it... only looking at him is enough to drive you insane! And even if you remember to keep the lights out, he may decide to show you the TRUE nature of the universe which is guaranteed to drive you insane anyway.
He's got scales, lizardy, slimy, but not even a bit fishy!
Anything that sees this monstrosity is automatically turned to the living dead.
I'm only a thought away...
The prohibition on even speaking his name is kewl!
I had a player who obeyed this rule for three years, then during a Greatful dead concert
he got trashed and pronounced it properly a half a dozen times. In the parking lot
party later (which lasted four hours) the cops decided to bust people for loitering (as a
premise, drugs once your under wraps). Anyway, of the six of us walking to our cars
once we saw cruisers disgorging cops only the loose lipped one got busted.
Makes you think HE had something to do with it, eh? The guy not only never said the
word again, he gave up role-playing!
Plain and simple... the Haunter was claimed to be able to bring people great knowledge, but at great price. And of course we all know that knowledge is power, and many a man has sold his soul merely in pursuit of knowledge. As a matter of fact, I've even considered calling upon the Haunter myself... which is why I'd like to submit him/her/it as the greatest god in the Lovecraft pantheon.
He is Truth.
Why vote for the lesser evil?
Like all great deities, he's terribly misunderstood.
My Personal Favorite is Nodens. The Most terrifying is Hypnos as he is directly linked to The Dreaming & therefore an ardent servitor of ... well Onerios Dream.
Nodens, Great Lord of Glyu-Uho, kicked all the Great Old Ones in the ass aeons ago, and he's going to do it again should the stars ever come right once more. And he's not going to go easy on all you Great Old One-worshipping heathens either, so I swear to you by the Elder Sign, you'd better watch your step!
At least the guy will notice us members of the mortal herd, if Az or 'thulu wastes us it'll be by accident, and how can you respect that?
The way His tentacles gleam when in his 437 form.
He can appear as anything - even something apparently innocent and harmless; what's more horrifying than something you thought was 'normal'? And as if that weren't bad enough, anyone (thing?) that can smack Azathoth on his head and survive get my vote. ("I am his messenger, the demon said, as in contempt, he struck his master's head." - from Fungi from Yuggoth, I misremember which sonnet.)
The name alone is nearly enough. What an awesome sound it makes! But the fact that that the original prose poem is one of the most ecstatic bursts of absolute madness I've ever read seals it.
Because he's just both like us AND the Old Ones! Which makes him not only bad, but truly despicable. Cool.
Just think about it. He listens to endless house-music (well, almost house-music). How great must you be to endure that?
"Everything that has transpired, has been according to MY design." -Nyarlathotep
The best reasons have already been stated — in short, Nyarlathotep is evil in a very personal, human way. And he's evil with a style you can't help but admire, even if you're being torn to shrieking shreds by the Daemons of the Infinite Madness or some such rot.
He cares...
He is the Crawling Chaos! How can you not vote for him?
Well, after our cult was destroyed, the boss (Nyarlathotep) became a bit upset and so I need to lift his spirit, since he is the only Outer god to have one.
Ygramul,
The high priest of the Starry Wisdom Cult!
And after all, he is one of the best Lovecraft creatures, well constructed and ever present in many different tales.
My black master...
He is the one (OK?).
He's the only one with a personality.
Not only is (s)he the only free roving deity, but also one of the most powerful. How many of the others can change into any form? The name is sweet. And above all that, look at how many followers Nyarlathotep's form have had.
He´s the man...and 998 other shapes...
He looks good in black.
He is the messanger of the gods and the ultimate power is information...
I believe that it was Robert M. Price who first suggested that the Mighty Messenger functions as the soul of Azathoth. This is comparable to Horus being the voice of Ra in Egyptian mythology. This would certainly explain why Azathoth is described as a "Blind Idiot God". After all, his (or should I say it's) eyes and intellect are off wandering mischievously about the multiverse. I have embraced this view and because of this, I strongly believe that Nyarlathotep could obliterate Cthulhu's fat arse with one appendage tied behind his... Well, let's just say it's immobilized. After all, the Dark One doesn't always have a back.
Messenger of Azathoth, appears in human form and many others, fears nothing... No one, not even the Mighty Cthulhu, could stand in his way...
Even though he's not so much a god he is the wheeler and dealer of the bunch. His are the opinions that matter. Most of the gods who pop up fairly much ignore our faceless human protagonists only killing them when they accidentally get in the way and displaying an animalistic sort of apathy towards their evil duties. Nyarlathotep, on the other hand, showcases his badassedness on a regular basis and never lets us down (except in The Crawling Chaos, what the hell did that story have to do with Nyarlathotep any damn way?). He is the fulfiller of the gods whims and that in itself makes him more powerful than them all.
The 1000 forms of the Dark Pharaoh give him the most versatility. Besides this fact, he is not known as the Gate for nothing! Without his help, the Elder Gods and old ones would never be able to get anywhere!
Heeeeee Rullllllleeeessssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Because I am Nyarlathotep!
He has 1000 forms, cults everywhere, and is the only Outer God that mingles with humanity. He is also the only deity to have a cult in ancient Egypt. I used to like Cthulhu, but after reading Chaosium's "The Masks of Nyarlathotep", I finally saw the light. Nyarlathotep kicks ass.
Although he may not rank up there with Azathoth or Great Cthulhu, he is the one single being who was not imprisoned. This means that he is the one that "humanity" will have to face off against most of the time. He is IMHO the pure essence of all evil and all that's evil, whereas I think the others are "merely" amoral in their motivations. My old mate Nyarlathotep has been the favorite of myself and the majority of my group of peers, for a long time.
He is the one and only god that mingles with humans. Therefore, much more psychological damage can be admistered. He is evil to the core and will go out of his way to make sure his victimes suffer a prolonged and agonizing death. He is cunning and ruthless. His many forms are the perfect way to entrap happless humans who either worship him or thwart him.
He is the servitor of the Elder Gods and when he walks the earth others follow.
I'm actually torn between Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu. I read the
Call of Cthulhu first, and initially he was my favorite deity. But I came to
appreciate the subtle, nuanced evil of Nyarlathotep later, so he gets the nod.
Nyarlathotep is the mirror in which we see ourselves—as we want to be, and as we
truly are—he is the slick salesman, the sly showman, the cynical voice of a
mechanisitic, soul-dead universe. That's why I gave him in an important cameo in a
story of mine, "The Corpse Candles of Les Menhirs," where he arrives in Avignon,
France in 1346, just ahead of the Black Plague, preaching disaster and offering
'salvation' for a 'small price.' If Azathoth is the center of the universe, then
Nyarlathotep is the void.
He who spreads madness in his wake. He who is unchained. He who shall
destroy the earth. Who else?
He's the most cunning, and deceptive creature in the mythos.
He is totally not human and not alive. He is like a stone, unmoved. He doesn't want to crush the human race like an ant, he wants to show the human race the type of horror that will destroy it. Not only the human race itself, but the entire idea of life.
Come on. Think about it. Frankly, he could give any of the other deities the worst beating they've ever had, before they could do so much as frown at him. You've gotta admire that kinda power.
Nyarlathotep is the messenger of them all, the only Old One not to be killed, and he takes the people to Azathoth.
He is the closest in mentality to man, which means hecan relate to us on a level we can understand. The ability to comprehend his horror makes him that much more terrifying, as he still every bit as loathsome and uncaring for us as any in the Mythos. We cannot blindly reduce all his activities to mindless, insanity bearing terror, but most face it with knowledge. What can be more terrible than this?
While awaiting the day of the Old Ones arrival does he sit ideally by and twittle his thumbs or does he take an endless nap like other deities?
No!!! Nyarlathotep is torment in its final degree. All praise the Crawling Chaos and await his return to the dark woods of N'gai from the world of seven suns and the throne of the idiot Azathoth...
"I am his messenger," the demon said, as in contempt he struck his master's (Azathoth) head.
He is the one doing the dirty work...he is the one who plays with people's lives...He has intelligence…
He is the focus of the Outer Gods' power.
I wouldn't dare anger it. It's the self-aware soul of all the big bad nasties. Seems to me that this would be the right god to have in your corner when the hounds of Tindalos are howling at your door.
He's got the most class.
Nyarlathotep has to be the supreme deity of the mythos just because of the fact that he is the only one of the outer gods to have any semblance of a personality or intelligence. He takes pleasure in formenting chaos and destruction. All the other major beings in the Cthulhu Mythos just seem to be forces of nature to whom destruction is just instinct, but not Nyarlathotep, just the fact that that he has hundreds of avatars shows that he is a thinking creative being. These are the reasons why Nyarlathotep gets my vote for supreme deity.
Well, I agree with all of your reasons—the other elder gods—dare I say it?—aren't so much EVIL in a "I kick your nuts, I steal your lunch money" type way as they are amoral and impersonal. Like your analogy of accidently stepping on an ant hill. I mean, with the exception of a few wandering naked monks, no one really reflects on the massive devastation caused by stepping on—or maliciously destroying, like all us did as children at least once!—an ant hill. I doubt that the supra-human Elder gods even regard us as sentient beings capable of sorrow, etc. (once again, humans vs. ants). Anyway, back to Nyarlathotep, he is definitely the most fleshed out, insidious and personable Mythos figure...I haven't read EVERYTHING by HPL, but as a Providence native (!!:)!) who has read at least 95% of his work, I think I should know. After reading "The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath" for the first time, I wrote a gushing email letter to a close friend detailing the story and remarking how N. was "a really likeable asshole." I mean, he makes Carter's stately entourage vanish into thin air, pooh-poos Carter's ambitions in a distinctly BITCHY way, and ignomiously sends Carter back to the waking world while laughing himself silly. ...How CAN'T you like him? While the other Mythos gods are mostly indescribable, unnamable, obscene and hideous beyond comprehension blah blah blah bogies who use your kids as shish kebob, I think Nyarlathotep best embodies the average spoiled brat (that is, most of us) gifted with godlike powers. "Didn't want to go the prom with me, eh? Boy have YOU got it coming..." Of course I'm vastly oversimplifying things, but the basic ideas are true, I think. Anyway Nyarlathotep gets my vote.
Well if my memories serve me correctly this character is FATHER of the great old ones and first born of Azathoth , thus making it extremely nasty.
Unfortunately , however , the last chapter of the Necronomicon states that it was EATEN by Marcus Antonius the roman which technically makes HIM the meanest god , but then I doubt that particular story is accurate so all hail the nameless mist!
The Reason Must Not Be Explained.
"...one who releases his name to public knowledge may be controlled. He who is controlled is not a diety, but a comedy..."
You never know who this one is and never no what it's going to do.
They have a high degree of intelligence, are nearly indestructible, they can take any form, they are able to live on land as well as water, and may be able to fly.
Note: Shoggoths aren't actually deities, they are creations of the Elder Ones (who, though they may have the ability to create life, aren't really deities, either). Shoggoths are creatures of servitude who brought down the race millions of years ago. -Ed.
Cool as hell.
See note above. -Ed.
The coolest unnamable of them all....with a thousand young....Iä!
Ia! Ia! Shub-Niggurath! La cabra con un millar de retonios!!! It's the center of all spells...
IÄ! IÄ! The goat in the woods with a thousand young! Well, just think about it! She is the one!
If you have a thousand young, no one can stop you. Hail the Black Goat of the Woods!
Duh...Read The Shub-Niggurath Cycle....
One Thousand children...what a brain...If one can do that, nothing is impossible!
The foulness of its anthropomorhpic, horrific, and sanity blasting beauty..."Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!"
Come on folks...lets face it. Shub Niggurath is one bad mother. She is truly the only mysterious god in the Lovecraft pantheon, always spoken of but hardly ever seen. We know that she is in with all the Great Old Ones and that she is the only one with "a thousand young" to do her biding. Shub-Niggurath is one of Lovecraft's most infamous creations.
Its hard to kick his ass in Quake.
T-Rex is cool. He's so cool about everything that he spends his eternity in a slimy pool in caves unnamed and unseen by any to feast on things unnamable. Although I know I am neither of use nor of interest to one so mighty and great, that in fact he does not care what anyone does or whether I worhip him with rituals bloody and bizarre or not, now, that's cool!
Look, who's that sleeping? Is it a buny? Is it a frog? Is it an outer god? Yes, it is. Oh, also the kick ass formless spawns worship him.
zzzzzzzzzzzz.
He's one bad mutha.
I wanna be formless too.
IT lives beyond time.
Because he can fly over the sky, and he live in Canadá.
Ramsey Campbell's Y'golonac is just as vindictive and menacing as Lovecraft's Nyarlathotep, but much more unpleasant. To begin with, he is not as well defined as Nyarlathotep I know the CoC game says he looks like a fat headless man with mouths in his hands, but that isn't what I gathered from "Cold Print". I assumed the "fat" in his human form was that extra matter he normally "filled out with" in his Old One form. Also, upon reading the story, I thought that, while he had no head, he had a face. This is the beauty of Campbell's quasi-description it isn't too concrete. Also, Y'golonac combines the cliched Satanistic attitude of Nyarlathotep with a scary, truly Lovecraftian cosmic edge, rambling on of the horrific marvels of the Universe he will reveal to his priest.
Finally, all you have to do is READ the name Y'golonac to guarantee a visit from him. (Again, the COC game says you have to read it in REVELATIONS OF GLAAKI, but I don't get that from "Cold Print".)
Thus all who have read this are doomed.
Hey, are you going to argue with a scaly guy with huge fangs and snake-eyes? I thought not!
He's The Keeper of all Secrets (and as such a bit less idiotic and blind than Azathoth and less crazy than Nyarl). Also he's a cool guy once you get past the nth sphere...
Tastes good.
I meet it once, I was inna bar and he came for a drink, so we began talking and he was so fun, with really old stories, and when I told him that I had to go cuz it was like 3 a.m. and my GF will kill me he not only stopped and move us backward in time, but keep paying for the rest of the drinks and telling me stories about the cool parties at Hastur's place, how Abhoth speaks BS when drunk and the "always crying for good ol earth" Ubbo-Sathla...It's really a nice deity to talk to.
Not only is he a evil elder being with control of time and space, but he is also an absentie parent.
Yog Sothoth—He is one—He is all—All are He. He is the Openner of the Gate, and the Gate itself. All who wish to know the secrets of the Universe must pass through Him...
He is fairly easy to summon and can mate with humans and who knows what else. Yog-Sothoth is also the gate, the key and the guardian of the gate. Past, present, and future, are all one in Yog-Sothoth and he knows where all the old ones did and will break through. Sure beats Y'Golonac who just can stomp around and bite people with his hands (and only if they have read Revelations of Glaaki) or Azathoth or sits around all day listening to bad music at the center of the universe.
I would put Nyarlathotep at a close second, however...
Yog-Sothtoth is apparently an omnipotent/possibly sane version of Azathoth. It's dominion is of a greater reach than the Old One's, I think in fact it may be able to control the travel within time and space.
i.e. from The Dunwich Horror—
“Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and the guardian to the gate. Past, present, and future are one in Yog-Sothoth.”