Great Old Ones (Discuss).
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The Old Ones are ancient eldritch beings predating Earth and even, for some of them, the universe itself. Many Old Ones dwelt on Earth in the distant past.[1] They are also known as the "Great Old Ones",[4][5] "Many-Angled Ones",[3] "Elder gods",[10][1] "Elder Ones", "Outsiders",[13] "Dark Ones",[13] or "dark gods"[10] (to add to the confusion, other groups have been known as "Elder Ones", "Dark Gods" or "Elder Gods", but also as "Old Ones".
They were led by a certain number of Old Ones, including Shuma-Gorath,[34] True Faery King Oberoth'm'gozz,[15] and Yog-Sothoth, as Sehdoula,[13] while both Shuma-Gorath[35] and Chthon were considered the greatest of the Old Ones.[5] The hierarchy among the Old Ones, if any, is currently unknown.
Many ancient books mentions them and specifically (sometimes strictly) Shuma-Gorath, including Unausprechlichen Kulten, the Thanatosian Tomes, and the Black Sea Scrolls.[36]
In Earth-616, modern author Lovecraft wrote about at least the True Faeries,[15] while his Earth-1610 counterpart wrote at least on the subject of Zvilpogghua and the great old ones.[14]
History
Origin
Despite being sometimes described as a race[10][32] and to have common elements in origin, there is no evidence that the Old Ones are one and the same race.[1]
The origins of the Old Ones are unclear, and various:
- They have been described as "extradimensional demonic"[32] beings.
- The Many-Angled Ones were described as primordial cosmic entities that inhabited the spaces between universes. They were reported as the memory-echoes of the nightmares that plagued the first Daemons, but there were ancient, pestilential ghoul-worlds in dying realities still devoted to their worship. They were documented as the first beings ever to grow old.[16]
- The Old Ones were described as "primordial beasts" made of antimatter, and to be the embodiment of nothingness, absence of meaning, and thus evil beings.[31]
- Asteroth claimed to had been born from the Chaos of creation, and to be "the blood and tears of the Universe".[37] It is known that she belonged to a race of cosmic beings.[38]
- The True Faeries were stated to be the Old Ones Lovecraft wrote about.[15]
- Despite the general "extradimensional" origin, some Old Ones are known or hypothesized to be originated from Earth:
A few groups of beings named Old Ones have been identified seemingly as seemingly consistent species:
- The star-headed Old Ones were a species that came from space and established themselves on Earth, building massive cities.[40]
- The True Faeries are a species of squid-headed, insect-winged humanoid, wrote about in the Modern Age as the Old Ones.[15]
They were led by a certain number of Old Ones, including Shuma-Gorath,[34] True Faery King Oberoth'm'gozz,[15] and Yog-Sothoth, as Sehdoula,[13] while Chthon was considered the greatest of the Old Ones.[5] The hierarchy among the Great Old Ones is currently unknown.
The Ancients, a similar group,[1] may (or may not)[10] be contemporary with, or a sub-set of the Old Ones.[1]
Prehistory and distant past
The Old Ones (as well as the Great Race of Yith) partially wrote the Pnakotic Manuscripts.[41] They also created the Wings of Needless Sorrow, an absorption and redirection device with also negative impact on people's moral,[42] and brought to Earth the Shining Trapezohedran.[43]
According to lore, the Old Ones populated all existence before the act of creation.[31] The Nameless Old Ones allegedly ruled the universe a billion eons before the birth of Gayomar, the first of all men.[26] Shuma-Gorath and other Old Ones came million years ago, ruling the Earth and feasting on the ape-men.[44]
They were known to love fire, blood, degradation, sacrifice and death, all which the mortals were utterly willing to give them.[45]
In their time, the demon N'Garthl walked the Earth, while man was "but a cowering pawn in the shadow of creatures vile beyond imagining".[46]
Disappearance
Many events happened led to the disappearance of most of the Old Ones from Earth and the Universe:
- On Earth:
- More than 1 million years ago,[47] Shuma-Gorath was banished from the Earth-realm by the time-traveling sorcerer Sise-Neg, along with allegedly "all of the Old Ones".[3]
- 1 million years ago, two groups of gods fought. One side, led by Chthon, lost, and were banished away.[5]
- Many others existed on Earth or were summoned, but most of those were slain or driven off,[1] stated to currently slumber in the sea, waiting to reawaken.[48]
- 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. When the name "God" was invoked in hatred, the ignrant fueled the word's opposite meaning. This tale was told in opposition to the Old Ones fleeing to an alternate dimension,[31] although it is established many did, under different circumstances.
- The star-headed Old Ones living in the Mountains of Madness, in Leng, were killed by their slaves, the Shoggoths.[40]
- Asteroth was exiled by her own race into a "cosmic Hell".[38]
- In Earth-1610, Zvilpogghua was allegedly cast into "The Abyss", the N-Zone, by the ancestors of Atlantis and the Old Gods.[14]
Despite the general disappearance of many Old Ones from activity (through death, extradimensional removal, slumber) due to the various events mentioned up here, part of them remained present and active on the Earth plane.
Pre-Cataclysmic Age
As far as 20,000 BC, the Old Ones were worshiped in the Temple of the Old Ones of the City of the Winged One (near Hyborian Age's River Zarkheba in Kush). Beneath that city, they planted traps to protect their treasures.[49]
...
Hyborian Age
During the Hyborian Age, the Old Ones as a group were unknown of many,[49] and.were considered dead.[50] Some Old Ones were sometimes invoked or even summoned or already present on the Earth plane. A few were even gods of cities and official religions.
Invocations and secret worship
To avenge himself from Captain Lupus Dalvalte who tortured him, left him for dead and stole his daughters, Reimos allegedly entered in contact with the Old Ones, the Black Gods of R'Lyeh, the Goat with a Thousand Young and the children of Great Cthulhu, who offered him his spider-infested castle.[51]
Gods of cities and official religions
Gol-Goroth[52] (also known as Gol-Gorth) was the god of darkness in the city of Bal-Sagoth. His cult was administered by the high priest Gothan, and an indestructible idol of him existed within the city. His worship was outlawed by Kyrie who posed and was worshiped as Aala, the sea goddess.[20] Afterwards, Gol-Goroth manifested itself into Bal-Sagoth before the city's destruction.[52]
Thog, the Ancient, was worshiped in the city of Xuthal.[53]
In Zemizar, in Zamora, the Goat God was known as Sahb Delanzar, and was a major religion of the city. The Brotherhood of Sahb Delanzar tried to gather the Thousand Young (the One Thousand sacrifices who would constitute the leaders of Sahb Delanzar's avenging army when it would return to claim and/or consume Earth). That plan was foiled by Conan of Cimmeria.[8]
5,800 BC
The Unforgiven Dead (also known themselves as the Old Ones), led by Suma-Ket, worshiped the Old Ones.[32]
Vanaria
One of the last active Old One, the Beast-God, lived in the kingdom of Vanaria and was offered sacrifices. He was killed by Beowulf who later killed his ghost-form as well, destroying him.[54]
Modern Age
Lovecraft wrote about the True Faeries as the Old Ones,[15] while his Earth-1610 counterpart wrote at least on the subject of Zvilpogghua and the great old ones.[14]
The Old Ones' origin was seemingly unknown to the neophytes.[43]
Shuma-Gorath's servant N'Gabthoth awakened, only to be defeated and killed by Doctor Strange.[28] Strange soon also killed Kathulos, who served Shuma-Gorath as well.[55]
Later, while fighting Urthona, Strange was forced to destroy many objects of powers to swipe his enemy, but in doing so released many ancient evils[56] (including the water elemental of the Ancients,[57] and the Old Ones,[citation needed] called "ancient evils"[57] or "old horrors").[citation needed] Strange finally helped Jacob Roark relinquish his magical energies which were keeping together a "thing" from R'lyeh that assaulted him, causing the vanishing of the creature.[58]
The Many-Angled Ones whispered their influence to the Captain Marvel of Earth-10011 on his deathbed and convinced him to initiate the ritual of Necropsy that destroyed the avatar of Death and released the Angled-Ones into the universe's plane of existence, causing his universe to eventually become known as the Cancerverse.[16]
...[25]
21th century
Asteroth, Chthon and Shuma-Gorath attended the Devil's Advocacy meeting where the demons discussed of the threat posed by the Serpent.[59]Miscellaneous
Level of Technology
Representatives
Cthulhu and Shuma-Gorath are considered as archetypal Old Ones.[1] Both Shuma-Gorath[35] and Chthon were considered the greatest of the Old Ones.[5]
A few among them have been told to lead their brethren:
- Shuma-Gorath was stated to be the Master of the Old Ones.[44]
- Oberoth'm'gozz was the True Faery King of the Old Ones.[15]
- As Sehdoula, Yog-Sothoth was the Lord of the Dark Ones, the Outsiders.[13]
See also the list of known Old Ones.
Some beings might be Old Ones, though it hasn't been confirmed so far:
- The Dark Gods worshiped by Psyklop are unidentified, and might be any of the Old Ones.[60]
- Possible Old Ones.
Notes
- The Old Ones are demons of the Third Class, and are considered to be key elements[61] and the most notable[1] among that class.
- Despite common elements in origin, there is no evidence that the Old Ones are one and the same race.[1]
- The status of Old One hasn't been seen so far to be transmitted to their direct descendants: The Dweller-in-Darkness (spawn of Cthulhu), Khosatral Khel and Dagoth (spawns of the possible Old One Dagon) have never been stated to be Old Ones themselves as far.
- Many of the Old Ones' names end with the syllable "-oth", a constat that led Ian McNee to suspect Hoggoth to be himself an Old One.[2]
Original creation
- H. P. Lovecraft first mentioned the Old Ones in "The Call of Cthulhu" (1926).
- The many-angled ones are fictional beings linked to the Cthulhu Mythos. They first appeared in Grant Morrison's story Zenith (1987), where they were known as the Lloigor,[62] Cthulhu Mythos creatures created by August Derleth and Mark Schorer in "The Lair of the Star Spawn" (1932).[63]
- The Many-Angled Ones were introduced in Marvel Comics by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, in the cosmic crossover event "Realm of Kings" (2009): In that story, the Many-Angled Ones corrupted a reality, Earth-10011, in a Lovecraftian way, with many names of that world (at least some being those of Many-Angled Ones) evoking the Cthulhu Mythos: Kthl (Cthulhu), Yot-Soter (Yog-Sothoth), Nyerlathortech (Nyarlathotep), Llehk, Yoggor, Yoth.
Pastiches
- Additionally to straight-out appearances, the Old Ones have also appeared as pastiches of some of the original Old Ones.
Confusion around the name
- Though sometimes described as "elder gods",[8][9][6][12] because of their old age, the Old Ones are to be distinguished from the Elder Gods of Earth.[1]
- However, Carnage Vol. 2 depicted Chthon as a stand-in for Cthulhu, including him among the Old Ones.[5]
- In Avengers Annual (Vol. 3) #2000, the Sons of the Serpent invoked the "Old Ones" and "Cold Ones".
- It is known that the Serpent-Folk are sometimes called "Old Ones".[64] That invocation was presumably headed towards them.
See Also
- 84 appearance(s) of Great Old Ones
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Great Old Ones
- 26 minor appearance(s) of Great Old Ones
- 41 mention(s) of Great Old Ones
- 9 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Great Old Ones
- 4 invocation(s) of Great Old Ones
- 9 image(s) of Great Old Ones
- 39 representative(s) of Great Old Ones
- 4 item(s) used/owned by Great Old Ones
Links and References
- Many-Angled Ones at Marvel.com
- Many-angled ones and Lloigor at Wikipedia.org
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Marvel Zombies Handbook #1 ; Demons' entry
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Marvel Tarot #1 ; The Inner Planes
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Marvel Fact Files #46 ; Shuma-Gorath's article
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe #1 ; Appendix: Ascent into Hell's entry
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Carnage (Vol. 2) #14
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Thanos Imperative #5
- ↑ Namor the Sub-Mariner #37
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Savage Sword of Conan #125 ; At the Altar of the Goat God
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Savage Sword of Conan #164 ; The Slithering God
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #8 ; N'Garai's entry
- ↑ Doctor Strange #388
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Thanos Imperative #6
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 Savage Sword of Conan #152 ; Valley Beyond the Stars
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Ultimate Fantastic Four #31
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 Thunderbolts Annual (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Thanos Imperative #3
- ↑ Carnage (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #64 ; The Children of Rhan
- ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #33
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Conan the Barbarian #17
- ↑ Namor the Sub-Mariner #38
- ↑ Namor the Sub-Mariner #39
- ↑ Namor the Sub-Mariner #40
- ↑ 4 #26
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 4 #27
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Conan the Barbarian Annual #7
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #126 ; The Mercenary
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Marvel Premiere #6
- ↑ Avengers #352
- ↑ Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #45
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 Moon Knight #191
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #11 ; Suma-Ket's entry
- ↑ Heroic Age: Villains #1 ; Cancerverse's entry
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 4) #18 ; Shuma-Gorath's entry
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Wolverine: First Class #12
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic #1 ; Appendix; Tomes
- ↑ Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #4
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #5
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update #3 ; Annunaki's entry, Dagon's and Ea's paragraphs
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Conan the Savage #4
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic #1 ; Appendix; Tomes; Pnakotic Manuscripts
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic #1 ; Talismans of Mystic Power; The Wings of Needless Sorrow
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 Journey into Mystery (Vol. 2) #4 ; The Haunter of the Dark
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 4) #18 ; Shuma-Gorath's entry
- ↑ Strange Tales (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #135 ; Three Lives for N'Garthl
- ↑ [[The First Host occurred 1,000,000 years ago per Marvel Zombies Handbook 1's Set's entry, while Uncanny X-Men Annual 1989 picture the pre-humans who benefited from Sise-Neg going through the First Host|The First Host occurred 1,000,000 years ago per [[Marvel Zombies Handbook #1|Marvel Zombies Handbook 1]]'s Set's entry, while Uncanny X-Men Annual 1989 picture the pre-humans who benefited from Sise-Neg going through the First Host]]
- ↑ Strange Tales (Vol. 2) #4 ; Walk on the Wild Side!
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 Conan the Barbarian #100
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #162
- ↑ Conan the Barbarian #141
- ↑ 52.0 52.1 Conan the Barbarian #18
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #20
- ↑ Tower of Shadows #6
- ↑ Marvel Premiere #8
- ↑ Strange Tales (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 57.0 57.1 Strange Tales (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Strange Tales (Vol. 2) #19
- ↑ Journey into Mystery #627
- ↑ Marvel Legacy: The 1970s Handbook #1 ; Psyklop's entry
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 4) #18 ; Appendix: Demon classes, Class III
- ↑ Many-angled ones on Wikipedia
- ↑ Lloigor (Cthulhu Mythos race) on Wikipedia
- ↑ Savage Sword of Conan #40 ; A Gazetteer of the Hyborian Age: Valusia's entry