Who would you say is the most recognized person in the WORLD?

[brinett9 0]

Ronald McDonald

[Jeremy 0]

I just gave a good hint, but I deleted it. You guys shouldn't need hints. Once you hear the answer, you'll be like "Ohhhhhhhhhhyeaaa"

 

Randy "Macho Man" Savage? Ohhhhhyeaaa!!

[kutulu 1,562]

MJ

[Jeff Garcia 8]

David Beckham......

[kutulu 1,562]

MJ

 

Tiger?

[dcOne 2]

Randy "Macho Man" Savage? Ohhhhhyeaaa!!

 

 

lol...no. My "ohhhhyea" comment wasn't meant to be a hint. I was just saying it's obvious....and most will agree when they hear the answer.

[brinett9 0]

I know it's Ronald. Give it up, man.

[Jeff Garcia 8]

Osama....

[dcOne 2]

Re-read my comment on my initial post. Don't just read the topic headliner.

[brinett9 0]

Buddha

[Saturday Night Beaver 2]

Harry Potter

[brinett9 0]

Tubgirl

[Jeff Garcia 8]

Harry Potter

[dcOne 2]

Harry Potter

 

Harry Potter would only be recognized by people of recent years.

[Saturday Night Beaver 2]

Mohammad

[brinett9 0]

Moses

 

TO

[Jeremy 0]

This is someone still alive, right?

[dcOne 2]

Well...I focked up. Somebody already got it. I didn't see the answer because they put in with another guess at the same time.

 

Then answer is Santa Claus.

 

 

I went to search, put in "santa" 7 days and newer....and this topic came up. lol.

[brinett9 0]

Kevin Bacon

 

Well...I focked up. Somebody already got it. I didn't see the answer because they put in with another guess at the same time.

 

Then answer is Santa Claus.

You're telling me the bazzillions of Buddhists and Hindus in Asia recognize Santa Claus?

 

I call bullshit.

[dcOne 2]

And this was according to trivial pursuit....and I agree it does make sense. A 3 year old or 93 year old would recognize Santa...and this would be true in most parts of the world.

 

 

 

Kevin Bacon

You're telling me the bazzillions of Buddhists and Hindus in Asia recognize Santa Claus?

 

I call bullshit.

 

 

I would say a higher % of them recognize Santa than people in other parts of the world recognize Buddha.

 

I'm not telling you, Trivial Pursuit is.

[kutulu 1,562]

Cthulhu (alternate spellings: Tulu, Cthulu, Ktulu, and many others) is a fictional character in the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft[1]. Cthulhu often includes the title Great or Dread.

 

 

HorrorClix version of CthulhuCthulhu's name is usually pronounced /kəˈθuːluː/, /kəˈθʊːluː/, or /kəˈtʰʊːluː/ (IPA transliteration); however, according to Lovecraft, this may simply be the closest that human vocal cords can come to reproducing the syllables of an alien language[2]. In fact, Lovecraft speculated that "Khlul'hloo"[3] might be a better pronunciation.

 

Although the cycle of stories written by Lovecraft, his protégés, and his literary successors bear the label "Cthulhu mythos" (a term invented by August Derleth and never used by Lovecraft), Cthulhu is arguably one of the least terrible creatures in the pantheon. Cthulhu himself[4] debuted in Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu"[5] (1928)—though he makes minor appearances in a few other of Lovecraft's works[6]. Much of what is now termed the "Cthulhu mythos" varies greatly from Lovecraft's original conception of a meaningless, value-less universe with no eternal struggle. Furthermore, the mythos lore that came after Lovecraft's death was mostly concocted by Derleth.

 

Contents [hide]

1 Cthulhu in the mythos

2 Cthulhu in Derleth's mythos

2.1 Cthulhu cult

2.2 Cthulhu's rival

3 Cthulhu's family tree

3.1 Idh-yaa

3.2 Star-spawn

4 References to Cthulhu

4.1 Literary references

4.2 Music references

4.3 Role-playing games

4.4 Collectable Miniatures Games

4.5 Collectable Card Games

4.6 Video games

4.7 Television

4.8 Film and other media

5 Parodies of Cthulhu

6 References

6.1 Notes

7 External links

7.1 On-line short stories

 

 

 

[edit]

Cthulhu in the mythos

If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings... It represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind. This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, was of a somewhat bloated corpulence...

— H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

 

 

Painting of CthulhuCthulhu is a Great Old One[1] and is by far the most prominent member of the group. He currently lies in death-like sleep in the sunken city of R'lyeh somewhere in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. "When the stars are right", R'lyeh will rise from the sea, never to sink again, and Cthulhu will awaken and revel across the world, "ravening for delight". Though humans might worship Cthulhu as he lies sleeping, they are immaterial to his grand design (it is implied, however, that Cthulhu will ultimately require the assistance of his human cult to escape from his watery tomb in R'lyeh, but there are many other beings in the mythos that could fill this role, including the servants of Cthulhu himself). The tomb in which Cthulhu slumbers is locked with the great seal of the Old Ones however, which repels his spawn and that of other Great Ones. As a result, humans are almost assuredly required in his re-awakening.

 

Cthulhu is described as being colossal, but his exact size is not given. In Lovecraft's story, he was able to pursue a ship across the Pacific Ocean for some distance, albeit on some underwater portion of risen R'lyeh, yet still keep most of his body above water. Although he can communicate with "the fleshy mind of mammals" in their dreams, this contact is currently blocked by his present immersion in seawater. Cthulhu's body is essentially proof against damage by weapons of mortal design, being constructed of the material found in the empty spaces of the cosmos. Any damage will simply be replaced by dust and summoned material, as the Great Ones will allows him to manifest a physical form across space. Attempts were made by the Old Ones at the disruption of his earthly form, however all yielded failure. The position of the stars alone disrupts his mental control so that he must remain sleeping in sunken R'lyeh.

 

Cthulhu is sometimes regarded as "evil", but this is not how he is depicted in "The Call of Cthulhu" and other works. Instead, he is portrayed as amoral, with an ethic that transcends conventional notions of good and evil. Cthulhu's amorality might be compared to what S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz call the "anti-mythology" of Lovecraft's fiction[7]. In most mythologies, man's significance in the universe is validated by his connection to divine agents with similar moral values. Lovecraft shattered this conceit by basing his stories on the "premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large... To achieve the essence of real externality, whether of space or time or dimension, one must forget that such things as organic life, good and evil, love and hate, and all such local attributes of a negligible and temporary race called mankind, have any existence at all... [W]hen we cross the line to the boundless and hideous unknown—the shadow haunted Outside—we must remember to leave our humanity and terrestrialism at the threshold."[8] Cthulhu's nature seems to be consistent with this view.

 

Cthulhu is closely identified with this quote from the Necronomicon:

 

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange æons, even death may die.

 

He is also associated with the phrase "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn," which translates to "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming." This line is ostensibly part of a couplet from the Necronomicon, the second line of which is "yet He shall rise and His kingdom shall cover the Earth."

 

Cthulhu has several avatars, including B'moth (Beh'moth, the Devourer) and Chorazin, although these are not mentioned in Lovecraft's work and are actually later additions. Cthulhu is served by the beings known as the star-spawn (see below), which look like smaller versions of Cthulhu himself. His coming to earth aeons ago and the sinking of R'lyeh were recorded by the Elder Things (in At the Mountains of Madness) with whom he warred.

 

[edit]

Cthulhu in Derleth's mythos

In Derleth's stories, Cthulhu is not as powerful as the other god-like mythos creatures, nor is he much of a leader. In fact, the two most powerful (revealed) beings in the mythos are, in order, Azathoth (The Blind Idiot God) and Yog-Sothoth (The Lurker at the Threshold). Nonetheless, Cthulhu's cult is the most widespread and has the largest number of worshippers.

 

[edit]

Cthulhu cult

Cthulhu's cult has survived through the centuries and is arguably the most effective at recruiting new members. While Cthulhu dreams in R'lyeh, his cult actively pursues its agenda in his name. The cult's behind-the-scenes activities play a major role in Derleth's stories, and through them Cthulhu can continue to implicitly exert his influence.

 

[edit]

Cthulhu's rival

Although Cthulhu is the best known figure in the pantheon, his alliance with the other mythos creatures in Derleth's stories is an uneasy one at best. At least one other Great Old One rivals his power and appears to be his personal enemy. That being is Hastur, Lord of the Interstellar Spaces, who currently resides in the Hyades. Although Derleth did not create Hastur, he did introduce him into the mythos as Cthulhu's half-brother and worst enemy. Various stories feature Hastur's cult assisting those trying to prevent Cthulhu from awakening. Other stories simply mention the rivalry between the two. In Derleth's "The Return of Hastur", first published in March 1939, the two gods even meet face-to-face, albeit briefly. This must be taken with a grain of salt, however, since many authors of Mythos fiction rarely dwell on this assumed rivalry, if they acknowledge it at all. Also, Hastur's domain is limited to a region far beyond Earth (Carcosa) and rarely impinges on Cthulhu's territory.

 

[edit]

Cthulhu's family tree

According to Lovecraft and his correspondent Clark Ashton Smith, Cthulhu's parent is the androgynous deity Nagoob. Nagoob mated with the Outer God Yog-Sothoth to bear Cthulhu on the planet Vhoorl. Lin Carter, in his Xothic legend cycle, mated Cthulhu with the quasi-female entity Idh-yaa to produce four offspring: Ghatanothoa[9], Ythogtha, Zoth-Ommog, and Cthylla. The English horror writer Brian Lumley introduced an equally powerful, but questionably benevolent, "brother" to Cthulhu called Kthanid.

 

[edit]

Idh-yaa

According to the Ponape Scripture, Idh-yaa is the "wife" of Cthulhu. No description for Idh-yaa is given, but the being is said to dwell on a planet near the double star Xoth. It is here where Cthulhu mated with Idh-yaa to produce their four progenies.

 

[edit]

Star-spawn

The star-spawn of Cthulhu (or Cthulhi) are beings who arrived on Earth with Cthulhu. They resemble Cthulhu and may be his progenies. Like Cthulhu, they can mutate their shapes, but always retain their master's distinctive outline.

 

After coming to Earth, the star-spawn built a great basalt city called R'lyeh on an island in the Pacific Ocean. They warred briefly with the Elder Things, but thereafter established a treaty. When R'lyeh sank, the star-spawn became trapped beneath the sea with Cthulhu (nonetheless, a few of his spawn may still be free).

 

[edit]

References to Cthulhu

See also: References to the Cthulhu mythos

[edit]

Literary references

The "Lovecraft Circle"

Ramsey Campbell's short story "The Tugging" (1976) pays homage to "The Call of Cthulhu", hinting that the appearance of a strange astronomical body in the solar system heralds the return of the Great Old One himself.

In Brian Lumley's short story "The Fairground Horror" (1976), Cthulhu's priests bear the "Mark of Cthulhu", which looks something like a white sea anemone—in one priest, this "mark" substituted in place of a hand, while in another it grew from the top of the priest's head, seemingly rooted deep in the brain.

Other literary references

A Cthulhu-like entity features in the Doctor Who novel White Darkness by David A. McIntee. A later Doctor Who novel, All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane, states that the entity in question was Cthulhu, although McIntee stated in internet postings that this was not his original intention ([2]).

Cthulhu is the master of William Starling in the book Knees Up Mother Earth (2004) by British author Robert Rankin. Raised by the Eye of Utu, he sought to unearth the serpent featured in Genesis of the Bible.

An American tourist named Ben encounters two acolytes of Cthulhu in the English town of Innsmouth in Neil Gaiman's short story "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" from his book Smoke and Mirrors. The two men tell Ben about their duty to the "impermanently deceased" Cthulhu and show him the ruins of sunken R'lyeh in the bay. Ben awakes after a drunken sleep to find the town vanished and no record of it anywhere.

[edit]

Music references

British progressive rock band Caravan has a song "C'thlu Thlu" on their 1973 album For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night.

Cradle of Filth, the black metal band, wrote a song about Cthulhu, "Cthulhu Dawn" (on the album Midian, respectively). In the song, they pronounce it [kəˈθuːluː]. On the Nymphetamine (2004) album the band plays a sequel to this song called "Mother of Abominations". R'lyeh is mentioned in the lyrics of the song "English Fire" on the same album.

The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, a Canadian rock band, makes frequent (and usually tongue-in-cheek) references to Cthulhu and other members of the Lovecraft mythos, going so far as to have albums with names like Cthulhuriffomania! and Cthulhu Strikes Back. They also produced Let Sleeping Gods Lie, an album made with Wizards of the Coast to promote the new edition of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

Fields of the Nephilim featured references to Cthulhu, particularly in songs on the album The Nephilim.

King Diamond sang "Kutulu (The Mad Arab Part Two)" while he was with the band Mercyful Fate.

The heavy metal band Metallica wrote two songs about Cthulhu: "The Call of Ktulu" (partially written by former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine), recorded on the 1984 album Ride the Lightning, and "The Thing That Should Not Be", appearing on the 1986 album Master of Puppets. The band's late bassist Cliff Burton was an avid fan of H. P. Lovecraft.

The American death metal band Nile refers to Cthulhu or related deities in various songs, with some of their work related to Lovecraftian fiction, including the album title Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka (from "The Outsider") and the song "Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten". Most of the band members, particularly Karl Sanders, admit to being great fans of Lovecraft's work.

The symphonic metal band Therion released a song named "Ctulhu" on their second studio album Beyond Sanctorum (1992). There is also a demo version of "Ctulhu" on the 2000 re-release of this album.

Samael, a Black Metal band from Switzerland, had an instrumental track named "Rite of Cthulhu" on their album Worship Him.

Behemoth, a Death Metal band from Poland, wrote some songs including names of deities from the Cthulhu mythos. The songs "Starspawn" and "Ceremony of Shiva" on the album Satanica both reference an ancient cult from the Necronomicon.

Necronomicon is a Death Metal band from Canada.

Strange Aeons is a collection of music by various artists. The album is musical tribute to H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

British metal band Bal-Sagoth's album The Chthonic Chronicles (2006) features a song called "Shackled To The Trilithon Of Kutulu".

Skincage(http://www.skincage.com) mix of cut up collage and industrial is influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, with albums such as "AXON" and "Xanadu in Ruins"

The band Orphanage composed a number of songs based on, and some named after, stories by Lovecraft, such as `The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward' and `At The Mountains Of Madness'.

English econoclastic-punk band, Rudimentary Peni produced and entire album, Cacophony, based on HP Lovecraft's writings. Cthulh plays and integral part.

[edit]

Role-playing games

Call of Cthulhu is the title of a popular role-playing game based on the Cthulhu mythos.

The Cthulhu mythos was introduced to the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons in the first edition of the TSR book Deities and Demigods (in 1980) further editions were released without the Cthulhu mythos section due to copyright issues. In 2002, an edition of Call of Cthulhu was released under the d20 license, an open source rule system compatible with Dungeons and Dragons (ISBN 0786926392).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay features the Ruinous Powers, gods of Chaos that are reminiscent of Cthulhu and his associates.

The Palladium roleplaying game Rifts has a Cthulhu inspired alien intelligence known as the 'Lord of the Deep' that lives in the Pacific ocean and grants powers to his cultists throughout the world.

Cumberland Games & Diversions has released the third edition of the parody RPG Pokéthulhu.

Cthulhu Lives! is a live-action Lovecraft-inspired game.

[edit]

Collectable Miniatures Games

HorrorClix made by WizKids Games has a Cthulhu as one of it's premiere figures.

[edit]

Collectable Card Games

"MYTHOS The Collectable Card Game" was released by Chaosium Publications, Oakland, CA beginning 1996, based on the mythos genre. Starters, 3 base sets, a Dreamlands set, a New Aeon set, and two limited edition decks were released in all. Card types include Adventure, Allies, Artifacts, Events, Investigator, Locations, Monsters, Spells, and Tomes. Cards are either common, uncommon, or rare. New Aeon is considered the rarest edition. Investigators solve adventures with the help of allies with weapons and spells, while portals reveal monsters which collide in a cosmic battle. Game ends at 20 adventure points or when an investigator goes insane. The artwork and design are superb. The genre is richly employed. Mystery shrouds how this game silently went under.

"Call of Cthulhu Collectable Card Game" is in release currently at 2 complete 3 set blocks of 535 cards by Fantasy Flight Games under license from Chaosium. It is not compatible with MYTHOS. It also has common, uncommon, and rare cards. Sets released include: Arkham Edition(AE) block, Unspeakable Tales(UT), Forbidden Relics(FR), Eldritch Edition(EE) block, Masks of Nyarlathotep(MN), and Forgotten Cities(FC), also 14 AE promos, and EE promos being released, Premium Starters AE and EE with 10 new cards each, and Yithian deck (Y). Dreamlands block expected. Foreign language releases include French, Spanish, and German. Factions include: Agency, Myskatonic University, Syndicate, Cthulhu, Hastur, Yog Sogoth, Shub Niggurath. There are also neutral and fixed cards. Complex deck building options and thematic strategy make this a brilliant game. The layout and design are great, but the artwork is of greater cultural importance. It is these fantastic images that continue the mythos, that sustain the genre with authenticity and wild imagination.

[edit]

Video games

Alone in the Dark and Alone in the Dark II are 3D adventure games from Infogrames that draw heavily on the Cthulhu mythos, even quoting Lovecraft in books one can read within the game. Alone in the Dark is notable for preceding and paving the way for Capcom's popular Resident Evil series of games (Biohazard in Japan) that took nearly everything from Alone in the Dark, including it's third person perspective and camera angles as well as methods for eliciting fear in a video game, and added texture mapping and guns to the mix.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a computer game by Headfirst Productions and Bethesda Softworks, the makers of the highly praised Morrowind. The game is based on the pen-and-paper role-playing game.

The entire Megami Tensei series and its offshoots, most notably Persona 2, draw heavily on Cthulhu and other Lovecraftian creatures for their enemy designs. Cthulhu himself appears as a demon in Shin Megami Tensei II.

Prisoner of Ice and Shadow of the Comet are PC adventure games in the Call of Cthulhu game series that center around the Cthulhu mythos.

In the PSone game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night a monster named Cthulu wanders through the black marble gallery. Even though named such the monster in Olrox' Quarters named Malachi bears more of a resemblance to the mythical beast. This is belived to be an error made while translating the game.

In the PC game Thief, Cthulhu is depicted in a giant statue. This image appears in the level "The Lost City" which is set in a long forgotten ruin buried deep underground.

X-COM: Terror from the Deep has a main adversary with a very similar appearance and origin to Cthulhu. Also, there is a race of aliens named Deep Ones.

The PlayStation 2 game Shadow Hearts is inspired by the Cthulhu mythos, using such notables as Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep for monster designs.

The Nintendo/Silicon Knights game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem for the Nintendo Gamecube is inspired by the Cthulhu mythos and features effects dealing with character's sanity - a main component in Lovecraft stories.

The race of creatures from Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn known as Illithid, bear a similarity in appearance to Cthulhu, notably the octopus-like appearance.

In the Playstation2 game, "Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus", there are creatures with heads similar to Cthulu, named H.P. Squidcraft.

In the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, the Qiraji and Silithid are ruled over by an "Old God" named C'thun. During a certain event in the game, the character may also be afflicted by the "Whisperings of C'thun", apparently based on the "Call of Cthulhu".

[edit]

Television

Cthulhu and his cult (along with other mythos references) appear in an episode of the Real Ghostbusters animated series, "The Collect Call of Cathulu" (sic).

In The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy animated series, episode number 58, "Prank Call of Cthulu", features "The Phone of Cthulu", which Grim says is the most dangerous phone in the universe. When Billy and Irwin use it to make prank calls, they end up getting roped into a scheme by Cthulhu to use telemarketing to turn the people of the world into tentacled eldritch monsters straight out of the Mythos.

In an episode of the Justice League animated series titled "The Terror Beyond", Superman, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl join forces with Dr. Fate, Aquaman and Solomon Grundy to stop an invasion by strange, alien creatures. Their leader turns out to be a Cthulhu-like being named Ichthultu, and it is revealed that Hawkgirl's people (the Thanagarians) used to worship him centuries ago.

Inhumanoids by Sunbow Productions contains many links to Cthulu, such as the character Tendril who bears resemblence to Cthulu.

The second season of the anime Digimon featured a Digimon named Dagomon, but whose form resembled Cthulhu closely.

[edit]

Film and other media

The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society has produced an independent black-and-white silent film titled "The Call of Cthulhu", based closely on Lovecraft's original story. More about the film through IMDB or the HPLHS website.

Onara Films, an Australian Independent film production Company, produced a feature film in 1996 entitled 'Cthulhu' (more information can be found on this Authorised Cthulhu movie fansite), based on the short stories 'Call of Cthulhu' and 'The Dunwich Horror'.

Arkham NW Productions, a Seattle based production company is producing a feature horror film titled Cthulhu loosely based on the short story "Shadow Over Innsmouth". The film stars Jason Cottle, Scott Green, Cara Bouno and Tori Spelling and is scheduled to be released in 2006. More on the movie through imdb.

Cthulhu is a recurring character in the webcomics Penny Arcade, Ghastly's Ghastly Comic, User Friendly, Irregular Webcomic!, Nothing Nice to Say, Mac Hall, Minimalist Stick Figure Theatre and Exploitation Now. as well as a minor role in a diminutive form in the now defunct webcomie Daze in a Haze[3]. Cthulhu also appears as a recurring character in writer and artist Matt Howarth's Those Annoying Post Bros and Savage Henry comic books (using the spelling "C'Thulu") as a member of a fictional electronic music band, The Bulldaggers.

Cthulhu plushies (stuffed animals) are available from a number of vendors.

The anime series Iczer One is very loosely based on Lovecraft's concepts and makes a very obvious reference to Cthulhu by naming the alien race trying to invade earth "Cthuwulf".

The movie Cast a Deadly Spell is a 1991 film based in a 1940s Cthulhuvian universe. The main actor plays a detective named H. Phillip Lovecraft, who is hired to find an ancient book (the Necronomicon). It has a rather impressive Cthulhu that gets summoned at the end of it.

In the movie "Hell Boy" we see the antagonist trying to bring to our world some demonic creature, finally when we see it is described as an gigantic ancient evil god from another dimension with an octopus-kind of form, obviously based in Cthullu.

[edit]

Parodies of Cthulhu

Cthulhu has become an icon symbolizing evil in parodies.

 

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, the ichor god Bel-Shamharoth is a parody of Cthulhu, complete with cult following and veneration of the number Eight.

Cthulhu was a fictional presidential candidate in the US's 2004 presidential election. The campaign poked fun at the mediocrity of the forerunners in that election, exemplified by the catchphrase: "Cthulhu for President 2004 – Don't Settle for the Lesser Evil!", which was featured on a variety of merchandise.

There was an online parody of a Jack Chick tract, "Who Will Be Eaten First?", which featured a message about Cthulhu instead of Christ. It was removed after Chick's lawyers sent a letter to the author.

The CDs of The HP Lovecraft Historical Society feature a Lovecraftian Broadway musical entitled A Shoggoth on the Roof and a collection of mythos holiday tunes called A Very Scary Solstice.

Popular author Neil Gaiman's website features his "long lost" short story, "I, Cthulhu or What’s A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47 ° 9’ S, Longitude 126 ° 43’ W)?" in which Cthulhu dictates the events of his life to an author referred to as "Whately" (presumably Wilbur Whateley from "The Dunwich Horror"), who is assumedly fed to a shoggoth after the conclusion. The canonicity of this story is doubtful, however. By the coordinates, the sunken city is in the southern Pacific Ocean, halfway between New Zealand and Chile, near Antarctica (see 47°9′S 126°43′W).

Hello Cthulhu is a Webcomic which features Cthulhu, Dagon and some other characters from the mythos trapped in a Hello Kitty style world. The tone is set in the second episode when in the first encounter between Cthulhu and the Kitty, Cthulhu ends up with ribbons and bows on his tentacles and can't do anything about it. Dagon runs a Fish and Chips shop as Captain Dagon.

The Unspeakable Vault (of Doom)[4] is another webcomic which features also Cthulhu and the other old ones in a series of interesting encounters, mainly involving the eating of cultists who don't do it right, and other amusing situations.

Gaiman's collection of short stories, Smoke and Mirrors, also features a story entitled "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" about an American who accidentally stumbles across a sleepy British coast town whose inhabitants worship C'thulu. In the introduction to the book, Neil attriubtes his inspiration for the story to a conversation with editor John Jarrold about H.P. Lovecraft's prose style.

Although not a direct parody, one can see many similarities of Cthulhu and the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The Movie "In the Mouth of Madness" contained many references to the Cthulhu mythos, including a brief glimpse of several Old Ones, one of which bears noticeble resemblence to Cthulhu himself.

The comic book series Hellboy contains several references to the Cthulhu, including a sleeping group of Great Old Ones which await assistance in waking up and destroying.

The comic book series Little Gloomy features a costar character by the name of "Carl Cthulhu".

'The Great Old Pumpkin', a short story by John Aegard parodies both The Great Pumpkin from the Peanuts comic strip, and Cthulhu (and Lovecraft-esq fiction in general).

[edit]

References

Akeley, Henry (a pseudonym?) (Hallowmas 1982). "Cthul--Who?: How Do You Pronounce 'Cthulhu'?". Crypt of Cthulhu #9: A Pulp Thriller and Theological Journal Vol. 2 No. 1. Robert M. Price (ed.), Bloomfield, NJ: Miskatonic University Press.

Angell, George Gammell (a pseudonym?) (Hallowmas 1982). "Cthulhu Elsewhere in Lovecraft". Crypt of Cthulhu #9: A Pulp Thriller and Theological Journal Vol. 2 No. 1. Robert M. Price (ed.), Bloomfield, NJ: Miskatonic University Press.

Burleson, Donald R. (1983). H.P. Lovecraft, A Critical Study, Westport, CT / London, England: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-23255-5.

Harms, Daniel (1998). “Cthulhu” The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, (2nd ed.), p. pp.64–7, Oakland, CA: Chaosium. ISBN 1-56882-119-0.

—"Idh-yaa", pp.148. Ibid.

—"Star-spawn of Cthulhu", 283–4. Ibid.

Joshi, S. T.; David E. Schultz (2001). An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31578-7.

Lovecraft, Howard P. (1968). Selected Letters II, Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN 0-870-54029-7.

Pearsall, Anthony B. (2005). The Lovecraft Lexicon, (1st ed.), Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Pub. ISBN 1-561-84129-3.

[edit]

Notes

↑ It is sometimes claimed that Cthulhu corresponds to a monster or god in Sumerian mythology named "Kutulu" (or sometimes "Cuthalu"). In reality, "Kutulu" comes from Simon's Necronomicon, which is a fiction based loosely on Sumerian mythology and other things.

↑ "Cthul--Who?: How Do You Pronounce 'Cthulhu'?", Crypt of Cthulhu #9.

↑ Lovecraft suggested that "the first syllable [of Khlul'-hloo is] pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, hence the h represents the guttural thickness." (Pearsall, "CTHULHU", The Lovecraft Lexicon, pp. 301.)

↑ Although commonly referred to as "he", Cthulhu's gender is never defined and is probably an absurd definition to give to "outre" creatures such as the Great Old Ones. However, there is the impression that another being in the mythos, Shub-Niggurath, an Outer God, has distinct female qualities due to her presumed fecundity.

↑ Derleth was probably inspired by Lovecraft's seminal tale to call his mythology the "Cthulhu mythos"; though Lovecraft himself (had he heard it) would likely never have approved. (Burleson, H.P. Lovecraft, A Critical Study, pp. 8.)

↑ "Cthulhu Elsewhere in Lovecraft", Crypt of Cthulhu #9.

↑ S.T. Joshi & David E. Schultz, An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia, pp. 51.

↑ H.P. Lovecraft, Selected Letters II, pp. 150.

↑ Ghatanothoa first appeared in Hazel Heald's short story "Out of the Aeons"—a story ghostwritten by Lovecraft (q.v.). Carter later included the deity in his Xothic legend cycle, which connected Ghatanothoa to Cthulhu, though no such relation appears in the original Heald story. It is also worth noting that the mythos links Ghatanothoa to the energy beings known as the Lloigor.

[Jeremy 0]

Then answer is Santa Claus.

 

Ohhhyeahhhh.

 

That does makes sense, actually.

[zen 0]

Kevin Bacon

You're telling me the bazzillions of Buddhists and Hindus in Asia recognize Santa Claus?

 

I call bullshit.

 

 

I was the one who said Santa and I said it as a JOKE. This it utter bullshit. There's no ###### way.

[brinett9 0]

I'm not telling you, Trivial Pursuit is.

Yeah, well I'll be on the lookout for invading moop armies then.

[zen 0]

Cthulhu (alternate spellings: Tulu, Cthulu, Ktulu, and many others) is a fictional character in the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft[1].

 

H.P. Lovecraft was a total freak with a skin condition that made the sun intolerable. He lived in a basement and would only come out at night. He was also a Nazi sympathizer and blatent racist. Reread his stories sometime with this in mind (yes, in Cthulu) and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

 

Decent writer though. Well, actually he was one of those writers who was very hot and cold: when he was on...he was very, very good. When he was off, his writing is gawd awful.

[Ignition Technition 0]

Chuck Norris.

[kutulu 1,562]

a total freak with a skin condition that made the sun intolerable. He lived in a basement and would only come out at night. He was also a Nazi sympathizer and blatent racist.

 

That is why I identify with him.

[phillybear 365]

Then answer is Santa Claus.

 

Different countries have different versions of this character. And they all have him with unique characteristics. So Santa Claus in this country is nothing like Santa Claus in Finland. Or Japan. So a citizen in South Africa will not be able to pick out Santa Claus in a police lineup. So the answer is horribly and blatantly wrong.

[hoytdwow 202]

Different countries have different versions of this character. And they all have him with unique characteristics. So Santa Claus in this country is nothing like Santa Claus in Finland. Or Japan. So a citizen in South Africa will not be able to pick out Santa Claus in a police lineup. So the answer is horribly and blatantly wrong.

 

Santa Claus lives in Finland. HTH

[DVD 0]

The Queen

 

She's everywhere.

[CantTouchThis 23]

Ghandi????

 

Dali Lama???

 

Adam??

[GobbleDog 822]

I think this would be a lot more interesting if we were talking about a real person.

[shovelheadt 62]

Adam??

 

WTF does Adam look like, other than being naked.

[dcOne 2]

the answer is horribly and blatantly wrong.

 

link?

 

Besides, I didn't say "recognized by 100% of the population", (it was "most" recognized)

[GobbleDog 822]

If we're talking about a real person, then I would agree with Budha. There are currently 6.5 billion people in the world. Asia accounts for slightly less than half of the world population and most of them are Budhists.

 

If we're talking about a real LIVING person, then I would guess .... George Bush.

[TylerRoseFan 16]

Jesus

[Mile High Drunk 13]

so the real answer was david hasslehoff?

[Guest tiki_gods]

Tubgirl

 

[gocolts 300]

Obama

[rbtthe3 1]

Hitler