Yog-Sothoth (Multiverse)

Yog-Sothoth
Name	Yog-Sothoth
Aliases	Yog Sothoth, Sodatha, Sodathat, Yathg Soggatha, Soggoth, Sogotha, Sehdoula Yog Sothath, Yog Sotath, Sothath, Yog the Mighty, Yog the Fearsome; possibly Soggath, Shoggoth
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Old Ones; Inner Ring of the Outsiders
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Unusual Features	Mass of flesh with tentacles, part of those ending with fanged mouths
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Outer God
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Multiverse
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Occupation	Lord of the Dark Ones; God
Base of Operations	His domain Formerly Earth, Earth-616
Creators and Appearances
Creators	H.P. Lovecraft, Chuck Dixon, Gary Kwapisz
First	Savage Sword of Conan #1 (June, 1974) (Referenced) Savage Sword of Conan #152 (June, 1988)
First	Savage Sword of Conan #1 (June, 1974) (Referenced) Savage Sword of Conan #152 (June, 1988)

Yog-Sothoth was one of the Outer Gods, and Lord of the Elder Ones, Elder Gods, Dark Ones, or Outsiders, seemingly all designating the Old Ones.

Feared in numberless universes, he ruled Earth eons before the coming of Man. He was eventually banished, but could return every ten thousand years.

During the Hyborian Age, it remained worshiped by a cult led by Queen Sullimma of Stygia, and by the Cult of Sodatha in the Zamoran city of Hanghara who adored and fed in sacrifices a beast mistakenly thought to be Sodatha, one of Yog Sothoth's names.

His worship went on into the Modern Age.

History

Origin and early years

Yog-Sothoth was one of the Outer Gods though he was stated to be one of the Old Ones, an usual mistake occurring often enough to be considered the same.

An evil entity, he was allegedly the most horrible of all the elder gods, one of the Inner Ring of the Outsiders, the Lord of the Dark Ones. He was feared in numberless universe, and was dedicated to plunge the universe of man into evil and ruin.

Early Earth

Along with his fellow Outsiders, he shambled the Earth before Man climbed down from the trees. He was thought forever banished ages before the Hyborian Age, and lived in his domain. Upon the stars aligning themselves in proper position, each ten thousand years, It could return to Earth.

Hyborian Age

During the Hyborian Age, Yog Sothoth was known under various name, including Sodatha or Sodathat in Kordafa, Yathh Soggatha in Vanaheim, Soggoth to a revered and renowned mystic of the East living in the Mountains of the Night, Sehdoula, Sothath, Sogotha, Yog Sothath, Yog the Mighty and Yog the Fearsome

The Fingers of Sehdoula, in the Valley of Sehdoula, were a landmark in Stygia named after Sehdoula's outstretched hand, and a place from where it could be summoned back on Earth when the stars were in proper position, opening the gates of chaos.

It was worshiped by a cult in Stygia which included Queen Sullimma and Phrephus, and by the Cult of Sodatha in the Zamoran city of Hanghara who adored and fed in sacrifices a beast mistakenly thought to be Sodatha. "Sodatha" was possibly one of the Great Old Ones.

In an Earth-90976 (a possible future of Conan), the cult of Sodatha formerly occupied a city in the highest ranges of the Graaskal Mountains, which was later inhabited by wild clans of Hyperboreans, united into a legion by a Witch Queen.

The sorcerer Costranno intended to sacrifice Berthilda the Brythunian to Gol-Goroth and Yog-Sothoth ("and all the fiends of the dark"), but was stopped by Conan and Red Sonja. His name was one of many invoked by Dharmi Shan.

Queen Sullima, cruel and decadent, ruled over Stygia in the stead of her invalid husband, King Yllareph. Intending to summon Yog Sothoth at the Fingers of Sehdoula, Sulliam rounded up her consorts, and choose four of them to serve as sacrifices (the other were killed).

At that time, a shaman of the grasslands of Kordafa, a witch-woman in the northern reaches of Vanaheim, and a revered and renowned mystic of the East living in the Mountains of the Night, had respectively visions of Yog Sothoth. The Kordafan shaman sent a group of warriors to stop the summoning In the city of Buryat, in Shem, Vitellus, warrior priest of the Cult of Mitra, came to Hrotha, a mute seer, and asked him to seek Yog Sothoth, causing Hrotha to have a seizure. He was able to locate Vitellus' goal, but demanded to join his quest. During their travel, they were attacked by thieves, themselves slain by Conan, who intended to rob Vitellus as well, but finally joined them (Vitellus and Conan knew each other since an earlier adventure). They were soon joined by the Kordafan warriors.

As they climbed the fingers of Sehdoula to stop the summoners and extinguish the unearthly fires atop the stone towers using water from the spring that sustained the Prophet of Mitra when he was lost in the Red Waste, slaying the Stygian guards on their way, the summoning started, leading Conan and the warriors to enter the domain of Yog Sothath, where they fought the strange birds of that realm, who retreated upon the coming of a part of Yog Sothoth who killed the last Kordafan warrior. Once at the top of the Fingers, Hrotha recovered speech, and killed Sullimma from an energy blast, while Conan slew the priests and put out the fires using the water, interrupting the summoning, who could not occur for another 10,000 years.

Modern Age

While imprisoned at Alcatraz, Charles Palene performed a ritual, using a 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.

Years later, Soggoth's name was invoked by the group of cultists active in the blasphemous Library of Rhan, in New York. That group was attacked by the Demogoblin in his fanatical hunting of "sinners".

Notes

• Yog-Sothoth was created by H.P. Lovecraft, and was first mentioned in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (written in 1927 and published in 1941).
• Yog-Sothoth's first reference in Marvel Comics was erroneously stated in the Demons' profile 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 #2 (October, 1974). The earliest reference occurred in Savage Sword of Conan #1 (August, 1974).
  • The first appearance was in "Valley Beyond the Stars (Savage Sword of Conan #152; September, 1988), where Chuck Dixon "borrowed" Lovecraft's creation into "Yog Sothath", though this appearance isn't attributed to Yog-Sothoth in neither of the handbooks mentioned above.
  • The Great Intelligence appearing in "Yonder... The Yeti" (Doctor Who Weekly #31-34; May to June, 1980) has been stated to be Yog-Sothoth in the novel "Millennial Rites" (19 October, 1995), or to be a Great Old One in the audio story "The Roof of the World" (2004). Given the novel was published years later, and contradict with other accounts, it will not be considered that the Great Intelligence is indeed Yog-Sothoth nor a Great Old until Marvel-published or acknowledged material mentions any or both of those accounts. If considered to be the same, Doctor Who Weekly #32 (May, 1980) is the first appearance of Yog-Sothoth in Marvel Comics. For more information on this subject, please consult "Great Old Ones in the Doctor Who Universe".
• A few characters mentioned or appearing in Marvel Comics are seemingly or presumably inspired by or references to Yog-Sothoth:
  • Yob-Haggoth the Unspeakable was mentioned in Chamber of Chills #2 (January, 1973).
  • "Yog Sothath", one of Yog-Sothoth's many names in his first appearance of Yog-Sothoth, in "Valley Beyond the Stars (Savage Sword of Conan #152; September, 1988), was considered a borrowing of Yog-Sothoth.
  • Yog-Sokot, first mentioned in Avengers #352 and Morbius: The Living Vampire #1 (both written by Len Kaminski and published in September, 1992), was considered by the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe to be a Marvel reference to Yog-Sothoth. The Demons' profile in Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1 lists them among the Old Ones.
  • Yot-Soter, one of the Many-Angled Ones, was invoked in Thanos Imperative (2010).
  • Yogthulu, appearing in "Doomsday" (Iron Man: Armored Adventures Season 2 20; June 13, 2012), was presumably named after Yog-Sothoth and Cthulhu.
  • Yug-Sluggoth the Unseeable, the Baron of the Elder Hell, was mentioned in Thor: God of Thunder #3 (February, 2013).
  • The One Below All, appearing primarily in Immortal Hulk (2018-ongoing), is seemingly inspired by Yog-Sothoth:
    • The One Below All is present everywhere and sees all but is barred from interacting directly with the universe(s) and can only manifest his influence through followers or by gates or portals (the Green Door).
    • He spawn the Qlippoth, possibly be an reference to the theory that Lovecraft's description of Yog-Sothoth as a conglomeration of "malignant globes" may have been inspired by the Spheres of the Qliphoth (also spelled Qlippoth, Qlifot or Kelipot), the representation of evil or impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism. The Qlippoths are also a Lovecraftian-like race in the role-playing game Pathfinder.
    • Whenever someone tries to see the One Below All's "true form", they have had their heads ruptured or destroyed, which is similar to the common Lovecraftian pattern of madness and death suffered by those who caught a glimpse at eldritch horrors.
    • Additionally, Bruce Banner theorized that the Symbiote god Knull was merely an aspect of the One Below All or a creature it somehow controls. Knull is himself seemingly inspired in a few ways by the Carcosa Mythos (adjacent to the Cthulhu Mythos).
• Previously stated to be an Old One, Yog-Sothoth has been classified in the demons' profile of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3 to be one of the Outer Gods, stated to be "mistaken for Great Old Ones often enough for all to be considered one and the same."
• In "Valley Beyond the Stars (Savage Sword of Conan #152), Yog Sothoth is called by numerous names, including Yog, the name of an Hyborian Age demon. It is unclear if Yog is indeed another name of Yog-Sothoth.
• Yog Sothoth is one of the many entities invoked in the counter-spell from the Book of R'lyeh that banishes the N'Garai back in their dimension in Adventures of the X-Men #4. As revealed in issue Vol 1 12, this series takes place in a previous iteration of the universe (although the canonicity is disputed), implying the Sixth Cosmos. Even so, it is not confirmed if this character is the same before and after the renewal, as Adventures of X-Men featured previous versions of all the characters.

Trivia

• In the adaptation of Robert E. Howard's story "Dig Me No Grave", written by Roy Thomas and published in Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 2) #1, Kathulos' and Yog-Sothoth's names were replaced by Shuma-Gorath's.

See Also

• 1 appearance(s) of Yog-Sothoth (Multiverse)
• 3 mention(s) of Yog-Sothoth (Multiverse)
• 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Yog-Sothoth (Multiverse)
• 8 invocation(s) of Yog-Sothoth (Multiverse)
• 1 image(s) of Yog-Sothoth (Multiverse)

Links and References

• Yog-Sothoth on Wikipedia.org
• Sodatha at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Yog-Sothoth at the H.P. Lovecraft Wiki
• Great Intelligence and Yog-Sothoth at the Tardis Wiki