Fishmen

This page is (currently) about all generic species of "fishmen" / "fish-men",
related or not to the Cthulhu Mythos.

Fish-men / fishmen
Name	Fish-men or fishmen
Aliases	"men of the sea"; confused for mermaids, sirens, sea-gods
Affiliation and Identity
Identity	Secret
Affiliation	Various: Followers of Dagon, Uluath Formerly Ohris Dehjmal...
Physical Characteristics
Body Type	Variable
Eyes	Variable
Hair	Variable
Skin	Variable
Number of Limbs	Variable
Number of Fingers	Variable
Number of Toes	Variable
Special Adaptations	Fish-like forms, sometimes with amphibian-like features
Origin and Status
Origin	Descendants and disciples of Dagon
Reality	Earth-616
Home	Earth
Base of Operations	Various: South Pacific, Pacific Ocean Western Ocean (Hyborian Age) Ancient city, Western Sea (Pre-Cataclysmic Age)
Creators and Appearances
Creators	H.P. Lovecraft, Roy Thomas, Gene Day
First	Savage Sword of Conan #104 (July, 1984)
First	Savage Sword of Conan #104 (July, 1984)

The fishmen are near-humanoid but aquatic and fish-like creatures, related to the ancient gods Dagon and Uluath, and inhabiting sunken lost cities.

History

Origins

The aquatic monster (and possibly part of the Old Ones) Dagon was served and worshiped by a race of fish-men, to whom there are two known (and non-exclusive) origins:

• Dagon sired the race of fish-men.
• The following mention describes material mentioned only in a vision in an alternate reality of the Hyborian Age:
  Dagon's disciples "[became] one with the sea", turning into fish-men (or "men of the sea), in his name.

Uluath, an "Undergod" slumbering in his City Below the Seas in the Pacific Ocean, was served by fishmen as well, though their origin remains unknown.

Pre-Cataclysmic Age

Circa 18,500 BC, a group of fishmen, followers of Dagon, inhabited a city in the Western Sea, on the ocean's floor, and that was ancient before man walked the Earth.

At the time Brule was a child, his father, while fishing, caught such a creature in his nets, and released it, thinking it to be a sea-god.

The city on the ocean's floor

After the evil sorcerer Ohris Dehjmal's living head was thrown into the deepest part of the sea by King Kull of Valusia, he was found by the fishmen inhabiting the ancient city, who took him as their god. Sensing Kull close, on the coastline, Dehjmal had them to infiltrate the fort maned by Zardis, in order to assassinate Kull. Kull fend off the attack and, joined by Brule and Alecto, slaughtered the assassins. As the fishmen directly attacked the fort, chanting his name, Kull deducted that they were in service of one of his many enemies. Regrouping and leading his forces, Kull pushed back the assailants into the sea. Returning to the city, the beaten fishmen grabbed Ohris' head, stopping to obey and worship him, and threw it in the lair of a giant squid. The head was somehow returned back into the box and in the city later.

As described in books

Great Cataclysm

The city would eventually found himself out of the water, in the Hyborian Age nation of Ophir. It is unknown if it was still inhabited at the time of the Great Cataclysm, and was their fate.

Hyborian Age

The following mention describes material mentioned only in a vision in an alternate reality of the Hyborian Age:
The disciples of Dagon, once men, "[became] one with the sea". They were known in tales of "men of the sea", "mermaids", and "sirens" in Argos and Baacha.

Modern Age

Dagon's worshipers dancing

20th Century

At the time of World War I, a group of fishmen living on an island in the South Pacific worshiped Dagon, and offered him sacrifices in the form of fish and drowned men. One man witnessed their unholy ceremony and the coming of the gigantic Dagon. Rendered insane by the experience, the man managed to flee the island and found himself in San Francisco, where he tried to learn more about what he had seen, and wrote down his story, until he was found back by the fishmen.
That story was later published by H.P. Lovecraft, who wrote it with the man as narrator, under the title "Dagon".

21st Century

Uluath's fishmen facing Elsa Bloodstone

McTavish founded Headscroll.com and gathered the faithful of Happyology to end the slumber of Uluath, using an ultrasonic transmitter specifically calibrated to communicate with him in his city. Despite the intervention of Elsa Bloodstone, the device was activated and the city rose from the seas, along with hordes of fishmen. Bloodstone was captured by the fishmen and cultists, until the arrival of Kid Kaiju and his partner Aegis, who accidentally completed the awakening of Uluath. Advised by Kid Kaiju, Aegis was able knock out Uluath. McTavish, under arrest, stated the Dread Lord would rise again.

Alternate realities

Earth-TRN672

Dagon's fishmen were men who "[became] one with the sea". They were known in tales of "men of the sea", "mermaids", and "sirens" in Argos and Baacha.

They raided villages to capture new members, who were controlled and transformed by Dagon. They seemingly caused a change in the sea and the people around a port in Shem or Argos, as the fish left the waters, then the fishermen, then the traders, as fear established into the place. Eventually, they attacked that port, and Conan, who tried to foil the transformation of the townspeople and charged the fish-men, was one of many to be turned by Dagon into one of his mindless slaves. Those fishmen worshiped Dagon, as well as Cthulhu, seemingly.

Notes

• Dagon's fish-men are obviously the counterpart of the Deep Ones, creatures from the Cthulhu Mythos who first appeared in H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (1931), but were hinted in his short story "Dagon" (written in 1917, published in 1919).
• A few pastiches of the Deep Ones appeared in Marvel Comics:
  • Appearing in Marvel Premiere, the Serpent Men, descendants of Sligguth, son of the Elder God Set and living in the coastal city of Starkesboro in New England, are considered to be inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's Deep Ones, the amphibian-featured inhabitants of Innsmouth. Ethan Stoddard is himself seemingly based on the narrator and protagonist of "The Shadow over Innsmouth", Robert Olmstead, as a man investigating on a mysterious town in New England, and who revealed himself to be part of the hidden race dwelling within it. The Serpent-Men as a whole are themselves creatures from the Cthulhu Mythos appearing in Marvel Comics.
  • The Broodlings of Chthon, or Daughters of Chthon, an ancient, mostly-female, race of creatures with frog-like features created by Chthon to serve and worship him and the other Old Ones, appeared in Carnage (Vol. 2) #14.
  • The fishmen serving Uluath (currently included in that article), a being heavily inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos, in Monsters Unleashed (Vol. 3) #10. The relation (if any) between Dagon's and Uluath's fishmen remains unknown.
  • Grendel's Mother created several fishman-like monsters by reanimating drowned corpses and fusing them with sea-life using her constituent living abyss.

See Also

• 9 appearance(s) of Fishmen
• 1 minor appearance(s) of Fishmen
• 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Fishmen
• 9 image(s) of Fishmen
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Fishmen

Links and References

• Quotes by the Fishmen
• Deep Ones at H.P. Lovecraft wiki
• Deep Ones at Wikipedia