Elder Gods of Earth

History

Origins and early years

The Elder Gods are incredibly powerful ethereal beings with vast cosmic powers, who are the survivors of the first wave of entities that were spawned by the Demiurge visiting Earth soon after its formation, 4 billion years ago.^[2]

Curious about the stars, Oshtur left Earth ten of thousands of years before the conflict that would erupt among the Elder Gods.^[3]

Degeneration and Elder Gods culling

Set discovered that if he ate his brethren gods, his own power would increase, so he started to do so, becoming the first murderer in the history of the planet. The process also caused him to degenerate into a demon. Most of the other Elder Gods, with the exception of Gaea, began to imitate him, so that whoever was not devoured had now become a demon.

According to the Darkhold, one million years ago, Chthon led a group of evil gods in a war against a benevolent faction, but was sealed away alongside his army by his victorious opponents.^[4]

Modern days

Gaea currently resides within the Earth itself. Oshtur formed the Vishanti to assist Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. Set and Chthon were driven from Earth by Gaea's son Atum, but still exert influence through their followers and artifacts.^[2]

Chthon tricked Ian McNee into gathering the Cornerstones of Creation,^[5] and was nearly reborn though Victoria Montesi and almost unleashed by Carnage.^[6]

Miscellaneous

Level of Technology: Magic
Representatives: Chthon, Gaea, Hyppus, Isuus, Oshtur, Set

Atum, son of Gaea, is considered alternatively as the first of the new gods^[7][8][9] or as an Elder God.^[10]

Notes

• The Elder Gods were created by August Derleth as a new classification within the Cthulhu Mythos.^[11] Marvel's Elder Gods were then created by Roy Thomas,^[12] and were inspired by Greek mythology (Gaia), Egyptian mythology (Set and Atum),^[13] as well as the Cthulhu Mythos (Chthon),^[13][12] some of them being close to the Great Old Ones.^[12]
  • Soon after their creation, Conan the Barbarian was introduced into Marvel Comics by Roy Thomas, bringing along the Lovecraftian Old Ones.
  • Oshtur's name was possibly inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos being Hastur.^[14]
  • Since, Chthon has been included into the Great Old Ones.^[4]
• The magical hierarchy was confirmed in the Marvel Tarot #1 and Mystic Arcana to only have four surviving elder gods. All other elder gods were destroyed by Atum and are where the pantheons of Humankind emerged.^[2] Atum has himself been considered as an (additional) Elder God.^[10] Set's sister Isuus was also worshiped in Stygia,^[15] though it is unknown what was her status.
• The Elder Gods of Earth are not to be confused with the multiple groups known as Elder Gods - especially the Old Ones (also known as Many-Angled Ones) of the Cthulhu Mythos, such as Shuma-Gorath; which are sometimes called "Elder gods".^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22]} In Carnage Vol 2 the Elder God Chthon was depicted as a stand-in for Cthulhu, and was included into the Great Old Ones.^[4]

See Also

• Discuss Elder Gods of Earth on the forums
• 14 representatives of Elder Gods of Earth
• Appearances of Elder Gods of Earth
• Minor Appearances of Elder Gods of Earth
• Media Elder Gods of Earth was Mentioned in
• Race Gallery: Elder Gods of Earth
• Images of Elder Gods of Earth

Links and References

Footnotes