Nyarlathotep (Earth-616)

Nyarlathotep
Name	Nyarlathotep
Aliases	Impersonations: Dr. Dexter, Dexter, Other Aliases: Nyarlethotep, Nyartlathotep, the Haunter of the Dark, the Haunter, the Shadow Demon, The Demon's Pawn
Affiliation and Relationships
Group Affiliation	Scientist for the Government; Bascom
Host(s)	Dr. Dexter
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Other God
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Occupation	Scientist for the Government
Base of Operations	Dr. Dexter's house, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America, Earth Formerly (within the Shining Trapezohedron) old church, Federal Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America, Earth; Ancient Egypt, Earth; Atlantis, Earth
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Ron Goulart, Rich Buckler
First	Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #4 (January, 1973)
First	Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #4 (January, 1973)

History

Origin

Nyarlathotep was an Other God (the only one known), known as the Haunter of the Dark. He could be awakened by gazing into the Shining Trapezohedron, a jewel older than man and time, brought to Earth by the Old Ones. It was said the demon could be summoned only by blood sacrifices, though it could be mere rumors.

Whoever Nyarlathotep took possession of became brilliant and incredibly powerful.

Hyborian Age

His name was one of many invoked by Dharmi Shan.

19th Century

The Shining Trapezhedron was retrieved in the nineteenth century by archeologists, and eventually acquired by the Starry Wisdom Cult, who worshiped Nyarlathotep as the Haunter of the Dark.

In the middle of the century, the cult took over an old church on top of Federal Hill, in Providence, Rhode Island, until they were driven from town in the 1880's because of their bizarre rites and even rumors of blood sacrifice.

In 1897, a reporter went into the church and closed the jewel box containing the stone, but as the Haunter of the Dark thrived on darkness, he decided to go back and open the box back and let in the light. He somehow died, leaving behind only a burned skeleton, presumably destroyed by the Haunter.

Modern Age

In the 20th century, Robert Blake ventured into the old church, found the church records (in Aklo), the reporter's notebook, and closed the box of the jewel. Blake decided to not go back and reopen the box, but was haunted by dreams, leading him to consult Dr. Dexter. Despite his sleeping medication, Blake awoke in front of the church but returned home. On the night of a great storm, Blake was convinced the Haunter would get him if he slept, as he would return to the church, and remained around lights. As a lightning caused a power failure, the Haunter fled the church, and Dr. Dexter found the dead body of Blake the next morning.

After Blake's death, his friend Howard Phillips came to Dexter who admitted he believed the jewel was tied to Blake's death. Dexter broke into the church, stole the chest and jewel and threw it in the deepest channel of Narragansett Bay, strengthening the demon who escaped the bay and came to inhabit Dr. Dexter's body. Phillips kept on on his research, but was found dead three days later, presumably killed by the Haunter. Possessing Dr. Dexter, Nyarlathotep became an important government scientist, working on weapons that could destroy all of humanity.

Returning from service and sickness, Edmund Fiske, a friend of Blake and Phillips, hired private investigator Jonas Gores to locate Dexter. Gores refused to deliver the information, advising Fiske to not mess with Dexter, but Fiske knocked him out and took the address anyway. Confronting Dexter/Nyarlathotep, Fiske was killed by Nyarlathotep's death touch. Nyarlathotep ordered Bascom, Dexter's servant, to call the police and notify him on their arrival before going to the garden to met with the docile panthers who recognized him despite his human form.

Attributes

Powers

Nyarlathotep is one of the Other Gods, demons often mistaken with the Great Old Ones, and displayed or was said to possess the following powers:

• Death Touch: Nyarlathotep possessed a death touch.
• Possession: Nyarlathotep could possess human's bodies.
• Weather Manipulation: Nyarlathotep could raise storms.
• Weather Manipulation: Nyarlathotep could raise storms.
• Zoopathy: Nyarlathotep could commands to panthers.

Weaknesses

• Light Weakness: The Haunter of the Dark allegedly feared or could not stand light (natural or artificial), while he thrived on darkness.

Notes

• Nyarlathotep was created by H.P. Lovecraft in the eponymous prose poem (1920).
• Nyarlathotep was pastiched/referenced on a few occasions:
  • Nyerlathortech was seemingly one of the Many-Angled Ones (or Great Old Ones), invoked alongside Yot-Soter, Shuma-Gorath and Kthl in the Necropsy ritual, in Thanos Imperative #6 (January, 2011), written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.
  • The Undergod Uluath's awakening chant in Monsters Unleashed (Vol. 3) #10 (March, 2018), written by Justin Jordan, was "Nyar' L'Hagopep".
• In Stephen King's "The Stand" series (adapted by Marvel Comics), Randall Flagg, the Dark Man, was stated to be many evil entities, including "Nyarlahotep".

Trivia

• Hinted though not explicitly mentioned in the adaptation in "The Shadow from the Steeple" (Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #5; June, 1973), according to Robert Bloch, "Dr. Dexter" worked on the Manhattan Project.

See Also

• 2 appearance(s) of Nyarlathotep (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Nyarlathotep (Earth-616)
• 4 invocation(s) of Nyarlathotep (Earth-616)
• 3 image(s) of Nyarlathotep (Earth-616)
• 3 victim(s) killed by Nyarlathotep (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Nyarlathotep on Wikipedia.org
• Nyarlathotep on the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Nyarlathotep on H.P. Lovecraft wiki