Cthulhu (Earth-616)

Cthulhu
Name	Cthulhu
Aliases	Great Cthulhu, Cthulu; Ctulhu; possibly Kthl, Ktuhl (see notes)
Affiliation and Relationships
Relatives	Children: Possible unidentified children Other Relatives: "God", "Ra" (identities of the merger of the Old Ones)
Physical Characteristics
Unusual Features	Humanoid leather-winged dragon form with squid-like tentacled face
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Great Old One
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Base of Operations	Possibly R'lyeh
Creators and Appearances
Creators	H.P. Lovecraft
First	Savage Sword of Conan #41 (April, 1979) (Referenced) Moon Knight #191 (January, 2018) (Illusion)
First	Savage Sword of Conan #41 (April, 1979) (Referenced) Moon Knight #191 (January, 2018) (Illusion)

 Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Ctulhu R'lyeh wgah-ngal fhtaga! 

—Disciple of Dagon

History

Origins

Cthulhu was one of the Old Ones, extradimensional beings predating Earth. He possibly resided in R'lyeh.

He allegedly spawned unidentified offspring.

Hyborian Age

Cthulhu's name was invoked by Thoth-Amon along with Set's and Vrathuggulos's names, by Thulandra Thuu along with Vramma's, Almuric's and Yog-Sothoth's names, and by the men of sea when they called for their god Dagon. His name was one of many invoked by Dharmi Shan.

Transformation

At an unknown point, the Old Ones, possibly including Cthulhu, were reborn in a different form, into one simple spiritual entity, the source of all persecution, toxic pride and true depravity: God when his name was invoked in hatred. They assumed various identities, including Ra, prayed by the Egyptians for him to keep the slaves in line and themselves wealthy. This tale was told in opposition to the Old Ones fleeing to an alternate dimension, although it is established many did left, under different circumstances.

Modern Age

Although, Cthulhu seemingly remained an individual entity, whose location was seemingly known at least by Wong.

While imprisoned at Alcatraz, Charles Palene performed a ritual, using the ceremonial Sacred Necklace of Rhan he snatched from a cultist of the Library of Rhan, and an old tome from the library's occult section, and tried an incantation invoking the name of Shoggoth, Cthulu and the Goat with a Thousand Young, which resulted in the summoning of Goblins.

Cthulhu seemingly became part of pop culture, his name was featured on posters such as "Cthulhu Lives!", and was used as a synonymous for eldritch demons and horrors, including Moridun, Gathonagog, and seemingly the locals of the Exo-Space, including Exo-Parasites, Shoggoths, and Viral Parallels.

Notes

Illusion of Cthulhu (or another Old One) created by Khonshu

Creation

• Cthulhu was created by H.P. Lovecraft in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu" (Weird Tales; February, 1928).
• Cthulhu's first reference was erroneously stated in the Demons' profiles of the Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 (September, 2007) and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3 (July, 2008) to occur in Savage Sword of Conan #52 (May, 1980). The earliest reference occurred in Savage Sword of Conan #41 (June, 1979).
• Cthulhu never actually appeared, apart from as illusions, one cast by Khonshu in Moon Knight #191 (January, 2018) which Moon Knight saw, another time in two forms, unnamed in Moon Knight #199 (September, 2018).
  • It is hypothesized that both Cthulhu and R'lyeh appeared, unnamed (though the creature was stated to be an Old One), in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #1 (November, 1988), written by Peter Gillis, but the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe rejects the assertion regarding the entity, and believe it to be more likely the Thing from R'lyeh, also created by Peter Gillis.

Pastiches

• A few characters were seemingly inspired by Cthulhu:
  • Shuma-Gorath, named after Robert E. Howard's mention of the "Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath", is considered by some to be the Cthulhu of Marvel Comics.
  • Sligguth, first appearing in Marvel Premiere (1972-73), as the son of an Elder God worshiped by the people of the New England coastal town of Starkesboro, humans turned into Serpent-Men, is considered as inspired either by H.P. Lovecraft's Dagon, or Cthulhu, while the Serpent-Men represent the Deep Ones and Starkesboro in place of Innsmouth.
  • Cthuma-Gurath, possibly another name of the Old One Shuma-Gorath, is seemingly a reference to both Cthulhu and Shuma-Gorath, respectively created by H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.
  • Yogthulu, appearing in "Doomsday" (Iron Man: Armored Adventures Season 2 20; June 13, 2012) was presumably named after Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu.
  • Kthl/Ktuhl, presumably one of the Many-Angled One, first mentioned in Thanos Imperative #1 (August, 2010) is seemingly a reference to Cthulhu, and might be Cthulhu himself or a counterpart to him.
  • The Dark King, or King of Darkness -possibly "Totaro", seemingly a reference to Lafcadio Hearn's short story "The Gratitude of the Samebito" (1900)-, an Old One from beyond space and time, and his Shark Men (Samebito) worshipers were inspired by Cthulhu:
    • The coordinates of the Hell-Carrier in the Pacific Ocean ("47°9′S 126°43′W) are those of the sunken city of R'lyeh as stated by H.P. Lovecraft in "The Call of Cthulhu".
    • The chant "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Totaro Samebito wgah'nagl fhtagn" (translated as "In their dread house the warriors of the King of Darkness wait dreaming.") pastiched Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu's chant "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn".

Location

• In Savage Sword of Conan #176 (August, 1990), the chant "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Ctulhu R'lyeh wgah-ngal fhtaga!" was uttered, which is a slight variation of the original sentence from Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu", "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", which can be translated by "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming"), though the sentence hasn't been translated in-universe so far.
• In Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality #1 (December, 2019), Spider-Man joked about Cthulhu being held in a coke bottle in the Sanctum Sanctorum, but interrupted Wong before he could correct and tell him Cthulhu's actual location.

Offspring

• The Dweller-in-Darkness was formerly believed to be the spawn of Cthulhu, but was confirmed to be a "worthy scion of [...] Cthulhu, though no direct relation exists." (see the Dweller-in-Darkness' page for more information).
• The "children of Great Cthulhu" were mentioned in Conan the Barbarian #141 (December, 1982). It is unknown if the "children" mentioned exist or are a metaphorical relationship.
  • The Cthulhu Mythos provide the names of at least some of Cthulhu's offspring, including Ghatanothoa, Ythogtha, Zoth-Ommog, Cthylla, T'ith, Leviathan, Nctosa and Nctolhu. Currently, only Leviathan (Tiamat) has appeared, as the primeval embodiment of the sea for the Annunaki (Mesopotamian gods), and not as the Cthulhu Mythos character, though her descendants Ea and Dagon have both been hypothesized to be Lovecraft's Dagon.

Trivia

• Cthulhu's name was used as a synonymous for eldritch demons and horrors, the same way H.P. Lovecraft's last name is used as an adjective for eldritch entities (see the trivia section of H.P. Lovecraft's page).

See Also

• 2 minor appearance(s) of Cthulhu (Earth-616)
• 10 mention(s) of Cthulhu (Earth-616)
• 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Cthulhu (Earth-616)
• 5 invocation(s) of Cthulhu (Earth-616)
• 3 image(s) of Cthulhu (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Cthulhu at Wikipedia
• Cthulhu at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Cthulhu at the H.P. Lovecraft Wiki
• Cthulhu at the Yellow Site