What do YOU know about Cthulhu?

[Czargent Sane]

I think he belongs in the "lamest bosses ever" thread.

there are claims it is beyond mortal comprehension, yet all he ever does is act like a big gorrilla.
he is beaten in a foot race by a couple of sailors
the descriptions of how big he is are either inconsistent, or he is as agile and dangerous as an approaching glacier
he cannot catch a boat
he is K'O'ed by a boat.


conversely, the ship captain who went mano y man-er boat with him is possibly one of the most badass figures in all literature. I mean, come on, he defeated (not killed, but soundly beat) a cosmic horror by ramming a steamboat through it's head. oh, and that whole "you die or go uselessly insane if you look at him" thing; guess who just made their will save, *****!

 

[jeejvebe]

He was an otherworldy creature that lived under the sea, and consumed civilisations. Also he had tentacles for mouths and was enormous, had many followers, all of which he loved to consume.

Calumon: He wasn't real.

Wait a second! Calumon could be Cthulhu him/her/it-self! Just trying to confuse us! Aaaaaaaaaaaa, conspiracy!

 

[Death-of-Penguins]

Old One, squid-like being, drives people batshit...
Not being original by saying that Herbert West, Reanimator is my favourite too. Oh, and I like To A Dreamer. I've got the commemorative edition, the aptly named Necronomicon.

 

[gigastrike]

I think he's supposed to be a god-like being that's the embodyment of early man's fears.

 

[Not-here-anymore]

I've read lots of H.P. Lovecraft, two collections of short stories and At The Mountains of Madness. That said, my view in retrospect has been that while Lovecraft was a genius in his time, today he's very much overrated. Like many classical authors, the numerous flaws of his writing get a pass because the stories were so innovative. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful Lovecraft wrote the stories, modern horror would not be what it is today without him. That said, better authors have since come along, and it often feels to me like the primary purpose for reading Lovecraft is a combination of nerd cred and historical interest.

I'd be inclined to agree. I started reading a collection of Lovecraft's stories, and gave up reasonably quickly, moving on to only read the more famous stories. It's a little sad that Neil Gaiman writes Lovecraft stories better than Lovecraft did...

Also, Cthulu got owned by a Scandinavan sailor - this sailor stole a boat from pirates, survived Cthulu's awakening, and then ran Cthulu over using the boat rather than fleeing. Chuck Norris is a total pussy in comparison.

More than a little sad, unfortunately. Johansson was an EPIC sailor, but even he couldn't withstand Cthulhu's mindfuckery. I've got the 2005 film of CoC, and you get to see it happen. It is SO epic!

There's a film? To Amazon!

Wait, is the film any good?

 

[Kasawd]

According the the Simonomicon, which has been repeatedly scoffed at by the occult community, he is part of the Pantheon of Ancient ones.

According to the text, he is a counterpart to a fellow ancient, Tiamat and shall once again become the "Dragon of the world" that will unite the blood of humanity to ressurect one of the greatest of the ancients minions, Kingu, to recreate Kur. He was split in twain by and elder one, Marduk, as well. Also, see Ereshkigal and Azag-thoth.

Mind you, this is questionable, as the carrier of the original text bearing this information has gone missing. However, there is a good deal of credit to be attributed to the power of belief. A lot of occultists ignore Chtulu due to the questionable content of the Necronomicon while others hold that Chtulu is a gran thoughtform which can be used to achieve goals.

 

[Doctor_Tarr]

Hello, I'm rather new here (mainly made an account to enter in the Dark Horse etc., etc.) But I saw this and was compelled to reply. From what I understand Cthulu was (in addition to what others have said) a high priest who would wake the elder gods. As for my favorite stories by Lovecraft; I have to agree with a few people on The Colour out of Space, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, as well as The Rats in the Walls. I also like The Lurking Fear.

 

[Low Key]

The only thing I know about it is that there are WAY too many people who bring that damn thing up.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I used to be in a Call of Cthulhu RPG group, meeting once a week for a few hours, so I know a fair bit of the background, but one thing that annoys me surpremely is people labelling HP Lovecraft a racist.

don't get me wrong, from all I know he was.

Just like almost everyone alive at that period in history.

Now I'm not trying to make excuses for him , but the idea that racism was even a bad thing wasn't even around back then, and to criticise him for it would be like criticising a famour photographer of the time for only shooting pictures in black and white, and look they're not even HD!

Believe me, if a current favourite of mine like Terry Pratchett was a card carrying member of the BNP, I'd not be at all happy and certainly wouldn't be defending him, but damn, sometimes you have to take into account history.

I know this didn't even come up in the topic, but was just a rant I wanted to get out of my system.

 

[OceanRunner]

I first heard about Cthulu from the game Call Of Cthuluark Corners Of The Earth and assumed it was a race of fish mutants. But I think they're actually a godlike (from our perspective) alien species.

 

[BadassCyborg]

I know bugger-all about Cthullu, but it seems to be one of those recurring topics on this site alongside zombies, Valve, MW2-bashing and bizarre relationships so I guess it's important

 

[Paddin]

He, or it (maybe she?) is something that has a fanbase which puts me off it. You know how the Twilight fanbase is very obsessive about Twilight and like to hold up Edward like a god and bring it into alot of things? Yeah, the Cthulhu fanbase is like that.

By saying that I'm not saying that Lovecraft's literature is like Meyer's.

 

[KingGolem]

I know Cthulhu is an alien entity of god-like power from the works of H. P. Lovecraft, who described him as resembling a cross between a dragon, a cuttlefish, and a human being.
I know that he comes from space, with his birth having something to do with supernovas, and currently lives in the underwater city of R'lyeh, which is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
I know that he and his kind cannot exist on Earth when the stars are not in the proper alignment, and so he had to seal up his city of R'lyeh with his magic spells and wait until the stars were right again.
I know that he has the power to affect the consciousnesses of the psychicly sensitive as well as lesser breeds of humanity (i.e., minorities; Lovecraft was not the most politically correct of writers), giving them horrible visions and nightmares at best, and causing them to form screaming degenerate cults at worst.
I know that these cults are meant to perform the proper rituals to help him come back to life, and that they have a tendency to chant the phrase "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn," which is Alienese for "In his house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming."
I know that much of this information was recorded by the mad Arab wizard Abdul Alhazred, in his famous fictional book the Necronomicon, which was later translated to Latin by Olauf Wormius, whose Latin translation can still be found in the fictional Miskatonic University. Despite what those fruity emo neo-satanipagans would have you believe, the book is entirely fictional, and any book bearing that title is not a legitimate copy.
I know Metallica wrote a song about him, "The Call of Ktulhu," using that alternative spelling.
I know that my brother wanted a tatoo of Cthulhu, without even knowing anything about him or the works of Lovecraft.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, I am irretrievably mad. Seriously though, folks, H.P. Lovecraft's works are nearly as influential to our culture as those of Tolkien, and every nerd worth his salt ought to have read at least a few of his short stories. Unfortunately, it takes a bit of patience to get into his works. He lived before the age of TV and the Internet, so his writing style is a bit dry and antiquated for modern tastes. I've read several of his stories myself, both in the Cthulhu mythos and otherwise.

 

[Kajt]

I have not read anything about Cthulhu at all, but I know enough to draw a somewhat accurate picture of him.

 

[Wyes]

I know enough about Cthulhu to know that if I knew more about him I'd go insane.

 

[Jamous]

I've read lots of H.P. Lovecraft, two collections of short stories and At The Mountains of Madness. That said, my view in retrospect has been that while Lovecraft was a genius in his time, today he's very much overrated. Like many classical authors, the numerous flaws of his writing get a pass because the stories were so innovative. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful Lovecraft wrote the stories, modern horror would not be what it is today without him. That said, better authors have since come along, and it often feels to me like the primary purpose for reading Lovecraft is a combination of nerd cred and historical interest.

I'd be inclined to agree. I started reading a collection of Lovecraft's stories, and gave up reasonably quickly, moving on to only read the more famous stories. It's a little sad that Neil Gaiman writes Lovecraft stories better than Lovecraft did...

Also, Cthulu got owned by a Scandinavan sailor - this sailor stole a boat from pirates, survived Cthulu's awakening, and then ran Cthulu over using the boat rather than fleeing. Chuck Norris is a total pussy in comparison.

More than a little sad, unfortunately. Johansson was an EPIC sailor, but even he couldn't withstand Cthulhu's mindfuckery. I've got the 2005 film of CoC, and you get to see it happen. It is SO epic!

There's a film? To Amazon!

Wait, is the film any good?

It's a tribute by the HPL Historical Society. It's pretty damn faithful to the story, made in 2005 with black and white and silent! It's quite good, but you could prolly find it free on the internet. Iunno.