| “ | Oozing and surging up out of that yawning trap-door in the Cyclopean crypt I had glimpsed such an unbelievable behemothic monstrosity that I could not doubt the power of its original to kill with its mere sight. Even now I cannot begin to suggest it with any words at my command. I might call it gigantic—tentacled—proboscidian—octopus-eyed—semi-amorphous—plastic—partly squamous and partly rugose—ugh! But nothing I could say could even adumbrate the loathsome, unholy, non-human, extra-galactic horror and hatefulness and unutterable evil of that forbidden spawn of black chaos and illimitable night. As I write these words the associated mental image causes me to lean back faint and nauseated. | „ | |
| ~ H. P. Lovecraft & Hazel Heald , "Out Of the Aeons" |
Ghatanothoa (The Dark God) is a fictional entity who first appears in the 1935 story "Out of the Aeons", ghostwritten by H. P. Lovecraft for Hazel Heald. Lovecraft presents the monster as a gigantic abomination whose appearance is so hideous that anyone who gazes upon it or its image is petrified into a living mummy.
The creature is described as a "hellish god or patron daemon" brought to Earth in prehistoric times by aliens from Yuggoth (identified elsewhere as the home planet of the Mi-Go). They built a colossal fortress atop the mountain Yaddith-Gho in K'naa in the lost continent of Mu, and sealed Ghatanothoa below it beneath a vast trapdoor. When humans arose after the departure of the aliens, they too worshipped the monster out of fear of its frightful power, offering it sacrifices lest it emerge from its crypt and wreak havoc.
Though Ghatanothoa is said to be indescribable, it appears to combine aspects of an octopus and an elephant, and to be both scaly and wrinkled while remaining amorphous.
Victims of Ghatanothoa are permanently immobilized, their skin taking on the consistency of leather; their internal organs are preserved indefinitely, with the brain remaining fully aware. Only the destruction of the subject's brain or the application of a magic scroll can free it from its hellish prison, though the unfortunate is likely to be incurably insane long before the welcomed release.
Ghatanothoa's cult was immensely powerful in K'naa, though opposed by the priests of Shub-Niggurath. After Mu sunk beneath the Pacific Ocean, traces of its worship could be found in "Egypt, Chaldaea, Persia, China, the forgotten Semite empires of Africa, and Mexico and Peru in the New World", and in modern times can still be found in the Far East and the Pacific islands. (Lovecraft attributes much of his invented history of Ghatonothoa and its followers to the book Nameless Cults, originally created by Robert E. Howard.)
Other writers have contributed to the lore of Ghatanothoa. Lin Carter, in "The Thing in the Pit", depicts the creature as a Great Old One and the firstborn of Cthulhu, spawned by Idh-yaa on the planet Xoth. Colin Wilson links it to the Lloigor in "The Return of the Lloigor".
In Other Media[]
- Ghatanothoa (Ghat) appears in the 2022 horror/comedy movie Glorious, voiced by J.K. Simmons, as a god inhabiting a rest stop bathroom.
- In the Demonbane Mythos, Ghatanothoa was briefly mentioned as one of the Evil Gods who was destroyed by Demonbane's Big Bang Impact in the short story "Lost World" from Storm War.
- Ghatanothoa appears in the Japanese TV series Ultraman Tiga, under the name Gatanothor. This incarnation of Ghatanothoa serves as the main antagonist and final kaiju of the series, having been responsible for annihilating an ancient human civilization in the distant past by covering the Earth with darkness; intending to wipe out humanity again after being awoken in the present day. It was also partially based on Cthulhu, due to Gatanothor's association with R'lyeh.
- Ghatanothoa appears as a young girl in the Japanese anime Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, under the name Ghutatan.
- Ghatanothoa appears as a Mesopotamian demon in DC Comics' El Diablo Vol 3 #6.
- Ghatanothoa appears in the American urban fiction novel Dying Bites, by Don DeBrandt, as an elder god summoned to reshape the world.
- Ghatanothoa appears in the mobile game Tower of Saviors, as a benevolent deity who was against the destructive nature of Azathoth.
- Ghatanothoa appears in the mobile game Devil Maker: Tokyo.
- Ghatanothoa appears as a minor character in the role-playing video game Black Souls II, depicted as a slimy fairy-like entity in an oyster shell who tries to convince the player to silence Cthylla.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Ghatanothoa/Gallery