Cthugha

Cthugha
Also known as	The Living Flame Lord of Fire The Scorching One The Burning One Kathigu-Ra (EXP: "Baggage Check") Old Entity Cthugua (EXP: Yu-Gi-Oh!) Flaring God (EXP: Ultimate Antihero) Kuuko (EXP: Haiyore! Nyaruko-san) Yang Guifei (EXP: Fate/Grand Order)
Origin	Fomalhaut
Powers and Abilities	Pyrokinesis
Offspring	EXP: Aphoom-Zhah
Affiliations	Great Old Ones
First appearance	AWD: "The House on Curwen Street" (mentioned) "The Dweller in Darkness" (appearance)
Appearances	EXP: "The Black Mirror" The Coming of Cthugha Demonbane
Created by	August Derleth

“	He hung motionless in a black, forbidding sky and at first thought he was suspended somewhere in the intrasolar deeps much closer to the Sun than on Earth. But then he realized that the dully gleaming orb which floated before his dreaming vision was not the Sun. Ugly dark blotches mottled the dull orange surface and great columns of spinning flame arced around the rim.... [He watched] the titan sunspots drift slowly across the hideous disc, at times growing larger and merging into great gaping chasms in the fiery atmosphere, while at others dwindling almost to nothingness.... Something was stirring deep within that fiery atmosphere; something monstrous that roared an insatiable anger against the chains of the Elder Gods which had bound it there for an eternity.... Unable to resist, utterly powerless to control his movements, he was diving headlong towards that ravening chaos, that age-old intelligence which was Cthugha.	„
	~ John Glasby, EXP: "The Black Mirror"

Cthugha (also known as The Living Flame) is a fictional deity in the Cthulhu Mythos. Originally created by August Derleth, the character was first mentioned in his short story "The House on Curwen Street" (1943) but did not appear until "The Dweller in Darkness" (1944).

Background

Cthugha is one of the Great Old Ones that opposes the Elder Gods. As the elemental spirit of fire, Cthugha takes the form of a giant fireball located near Fomalhaut, who is served by the Flame Creatures. The entity can be summoned to Earth if the chant "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthugha Fomalhaut n'gha-ghaa naf'l thagn! Iä! Cthugha!" is repeated three times when Fomalhaut appears over the horizon. Laird Dorgan summoned Cthugha to destroy an avatar of Nyarlathotep in the Wood of N'gai, a forest in northern Wisconsin. (AWD: "The Dweller in Darkness")

Other writers have contributed to the lore of Cthugha. In John Glasby's short story, Cthugha was sealed away in Korvaz, a small star in the vicinity of Fomalhaut. (EXP: "The Black Mirror") However, in the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, Korvaz is depicted as just being another name for Fomalhaut itself. (EXP: Delta Green) In The Stars Are Right!, André Bishop depicted the Zoroastrian prophet Nestar Mobedan Mobed as the leader of a cult to Cthugha during the 6th century AD. Although the cult seemingly died out after Nestar was killed, the surviving members have continued to maintain their activities in secret, with their goal to summon Cthugha in San Francisco and engulf the entire city in flame. (EXP: "This Fire Shall Kill") In The Unbound Book, Bret Kramer introduced an Egyptian cult that worshipped Cthugha, under the name Kathigu-Ra. (EXP: "Baggage Check") In one of his essays, Richard L. Tierney also speculated that Cthugha may be equated with Huehueteotl, the fire-god of the Aztecs. (EXP: "Cthulhu in Mesoamerica") In C. T. Phipps' novel series, Cthugha is mentioned and characterized as being a "living sun". (EXP: Cthulhu Armageddon)

Aphoom-Zhah is the offspring of Cthugha, who was worshipped as a god in Hyperborea. (EXP: "The Acolyte of the Flame") Fthaggua, regent of the Fire Vampires, may also have a connection to Cthugha. Although it is not entirely clear, it has been speculated that Fthaggua is either a servant or an avatar of Cthugha. (EXP: The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana)

In the Demonbane Mythos

In the Demonbane series by Nitroplus, Cthugha appears as a Great Old One connected to the Necronomicon, along with Ithaqua.

Cthugha has been shown to take two different forms, its true form being a flaming goat-like creature with tusks and the fragment resembling a dark-skinned woman wearing a Nazi-like military uniform to symbolize her aggressive nature. It should be noted that "Cthugha" is also the name used for the spell to summon the entity and the handgun that channels its power. The handgun uses bullets that contain the Powder of Ibn Ghazi and are enchanted by the engraving "The Minions of Cthugha". Although the spell can be used without a weapon, it is much more unstable as it summons a massive fireball with the risk of harming the user and/or their Deus Machina. Daijuuji Kurou can use the spell at will, both by himself and while piloting Demonbane. Tiberius briefly had access to a weaker version of Cthugha while piloting Belzebuth.

The entity first appeared on an island near Innsmouth, when Daijuuji Kurou used the power of Cthugha to annihilate Gondola (a fusion of Dagon and Mother Hydra). The following events vary depending on the adaptation. In the original visual novel, both Cthugha and Ithaqua attempted to rape Kurou, before he managed to subdue them himself. (EXP: Deus Machina Demonbane) The "sanitized" version removes Cthugha's more antagonistic side, as the entity assisted Kurou in making Ithaqua more subservient. Cthugha also saved Kurou from the Forest of N'gai, with the location itself actually being an avatar of Nyarlathotep. (EXP: Kishin Houkou Demonbane) In the anime adaptation, both Cthugha and Ithaqua immediately ally themselves with Kurou.

This depiction of Cthugha has also been referenced in other Japanese media. In the light novel series Ultimate Antihero, the character Sumika Hoshikawa can channel a portion of Cthugha's power with a golden bullet, which takes the form of a flaming lion head after being fired. This strongly resembles the attack used by Daijuuji Kurou. In the anime Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, there is a brief scene that depicts Kuune as the Demonbane version of Cthugha.

In the Nasuverse

Cthugha appears as an Outer God in the Fate franchise by Type-Moon, sharing the name and body of the Foreigner-class Servant Yang Guifei.

During the Tang Dynasty of China, Yang Guifei was a high-ranking Taoist nun and was given the title "Taoist Taizhen", before she married Emperor Xuanzong. Unfortunately, Guifei's beauty was accused of causing the rebellion in the Tang Empire, which ultimately lead to the dynasty's downfall. Afterwards, Xuanzong was forced to execute Guifei to quell the anger of the soldiers. Guifei was decapitated and supposedly buried in the Mawei residential district on the outskirt of the city. However, her body was never found due to her karma of ruin and devilish beauty drawing the attention of Cthugha. The evil god was beckoned to her soul and she later became a Heroic Spirit. In combat, Guifei uses Cthugha's pyrokinesis and her own instruments as weapons. She has an Active Skill Sun of a Calamitous Star that grants her a buff called "Living Flame", which reduces the enemy's defense and inflicts them with burn damage for 3 turns, while also increasing her own defense. When using her Noble Phantasm Marital Vows of Rainbow Skirts and Feather Robes, Guifei recites the incantation "Iä! Ph'nglui mgfw'nafh Fomalhaut n'gha-ghaa naf'l thagn!". The power and influence of Cthugha becomes more prominent as its vessel continues to gain strength. (EXP: Fate/Grand Order)

As a nod to Derleth's original story, Yang Guifei had a rivalry with BB Pele, a Moon Cancer-class Servant who is used as a vessel by Nyarlathotep. Although both of them initially expressed distain towards each other, Guifei would later show interest in befriending BB.

This depiction of Cthugha also appears to be partially based on Fthaggua due to Yang Guifei's blue flames and ability to summon Fire Vampires.

In Other Media

• The mobile game Tokyo Afterschool Summoners features a character based on Cthugha, who takes the form of an anthropomorphic dragon.
• The novel Ghouls of the Miskatonic by Graham McNeill features a war veteran who summons Cthugha to Earth to put a stop to a murderous cult of Cthulhu worshipers.
• Along with Nyarlathotep and Hastur, Cthugha appears as one of the main characters in the Haiyore! Nyaruko-san franchise, under the name Kuuko.
• Cthugha appears as a demon lord in DC Comics' Arkham Asylum: Living Hell issue #6. Known as the "Arbiter of Hell", Cthugha takes the form of a squid-like entity who speaks in rhyme.
• The 2012 animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles features a creature named Cthugha, who serves a race known as the Daagon (a pastiche of the Deep Ones).
• The mobile game Devil Maker: Tokyo features a female version of Cthugha. The events from Derleth's original story are directly referenced when Cthugha brings up Nyarlathotep's defeat at the Wisconsin forest. She then preceded to mock Nyarlathotep for resorting to sending avatars and being too cowardly to actually fight her.
• The mobile game Crash Fever features a female character based on Cthugha, who has a yandere-esque obsession for Nyarlathotep. When she found out that Nyarlathotep sided with the Adapter (the player's character), Cthugha launched a full-scale attack on the virtual world of ALICE.
• Cthugha appears in the mobile game Tower of Saviors, as a dragon deity who laid dormant in a mountain located behind the Wood of N'gai. After the natives of a nearby village were driven away by a volcanic eruption, Cthugha was worshipped by the tribesmen that settled there, as the land was nourished by the volcanic ashes and became extremely fertile.
• Cthugha appears in the mobile game Yurudora, during the Cthulhu Festival event.
• Cthugha appears in the trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh!, under the name Old Entity Cthugua.
• Cthugha makes an appearance in the role-playing video game Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku.
• In the role-playing video game World of Horror, Ithotu was at least partially inspired by Cthugha.
• In the light novel series That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Velgrynd possesses an Ultimate Skill named after Cthugha.
• In the well-known rhythm game Muse Dash, an original song inspired by Cthugha with the same name was composed by USAO, which included high-energy mix and powerful beats, matching both Cthugha's aura and Muse Dash's theme.
• In the anime series Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show, Cthugha appears as one of the hosts for the demented virtual reality game show. The avatar that she uses has a huge appetite.

Trivia

• A cultivar of carnivorous plant, Dionaea "Cthugha", has been named after Cthugha.

Gallery

Main article: Cthugha/Gallery