Nyarlathotep in Popular Culture

Various depictions of Nyarlathotep throughout popular culture (Haiyore! Nyaruko-san)

🐙 As one of H.P. Lovecraft's most famous creations and the most "human" of his cosmic horrors, Nyarlathotep has appeared in and been referenced by numerous other works in popular culture. The following is a non-comprehensive list of media that either includes Nyarlathotep or contains references, allusions or themes relating to him.

Comic Books

• Caballistics, Inc.: the character of Ethan Kostabi has been hinted to be Nyarlathotep.
• Conan the Barbarian: features invocations to "Nyarla Thotep".
• Fall of Cthulhu: Nyarlathotep is the main antagonist in Boom! Studios' series.
• Journey Into Mystery: Nyarlathotep is featured in their adaptations of "The Haunter of the Dark" and "The Shadow from the Steeple".
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier: Nyarlathotep appears as an emissary sent from Yuggoth to negotiate a truce with Prospero of the Blazing World.
• Lovely Lovecraft: Nyarlathotep is the primary antagonist.
• Nyarlathotep: a French comic book by Rotomago and J. Noirel, a literal adaptation of the Lovecraft short story.
• Providence and Neonomicon: Nyarlathotep is an unseen driving force throughout the comic and with his avatar Johnny Carcosa arranging events.
• Serenity Rose: Skarsdayle is the former lead singer of a band named Nyarlathotep.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios): In issue #43, Loki summons Nyarlathotep, "destroyer of souls, tearer of flesh".

Film

• Nyarlathotep: a 13-minute short film version was released in 2001, directed by Christian Matzke. It was re-released on DVD in 2004 as part of the H. P. Lovecraft Collection Volume 1: Cool Air.
• The Empty Man: a supernatural horror film released in 2020, directed by David Prior.

Games

Traditional Games

• Hecatomb: he appears as the Thing Outside Time and Space in the trading card game.
• Pathfinder: role-playing game in which Nyarlathotep is the god of conspiracies, dangerous secrets, and forbidden magic.
• Yu-Gi-Oh: appears in the trading card game, under the name Outer Entity Nyarla.

Video Games

• Bloodborne: a 2015 videogame by From Software known for its Lovecraft-inspired story, has an optional final boss, "The Moon Presence", that was likely inspired by and modeled after Nyarlathotep.
• Call of Duty Zombies: a character known as the "Shadowman" (who serves a similar role to the Crawling Chaos) goes by the pseudonym of Tony "Hale" Rapt; an anagram for Nyarlathotep.
• Demonbane: Nyarlathotep is the main antagonist of the franchise which spans games, manga, novels and a TV series, in which it is trying to free its father Azathoth using the Shining Trapezohedron attack.
• Discworld Noir: "Nylonathatep, the laddering horror" appears in the game based on the Terry Pratchett universe.
• Dragalia Lost: Nyarlathotep appears as a playable adventurer, summonable dragon and event antagonist. It is described as the incarnation of chaos, emissary of the Ancient One. It exists simultaneously in different forms, the known ones being eyeless dragons, one white and one black, and Lathna, the daughter of cultists of the Ancient One.
• Dusk: Nyarlathotep appears as the final boss in the retro first-person shooter.
• Eiyuu Senki: The World Conquest: Nyarlathotep is the overarching antagonist and final boss in the SRPG.
• Fate/Grand Order: Mobile game featuring a character having been possessed by an unknown god proclaiming to be Nyarlathotep, sharing the name and body of "BB Pele". The power of the Outer God that shares the vessel becomes more prominent as their host continues to gain strength.
• FreeSpace 2: in the Derelict campaign mod of the game the Nyarlathotep is the designation of a Shivan Lucifer class destroyer which was found floating in subspace for centuries.
• Legend Clover: Mobile game featuring Nyarlathotep as a Heroine Support unit character.
• Persona: Nyarlathotep appears in the series of PlayStation games as a god symbolic of the destructive potential of Carl Jung's collective unconscious, although thus far he only plays a significant role in the first title, and both parts of the second title.
• Sam and Max: his name and epithet of Crawling Chaos is mentioned in "Ice Station Santa", the first episode of season 2 of the adventure game series by Telltale Games. When attempting to exorcize a demon, Nyarlathotep's name is one of the incorrect guesses of the demon's true name.
• Sucker for Love: First Date: Nyarlathotep appears in one of their many self-proclaimed 'many forms' as a giant mummy styled cat girl with an abyssal face appears as a secret character with a bonus Chapter. In the game Nyarlathotep called "Auntie Nyan Nyan", while making cameo appearances in various secrets that can be found by the player. In the secret Chapter three Nyalathotep opposes the main character in attempt them from stopping their romancing of elder things.
• Sundered: Nyarlathotep appears as the player's guide throughout the story. Later on he either becomes one of the bosses or an ally, depending on the choices made previously.
• Tokyo Afterschool Summoners: Nyarlathotep is a popular yet elusive Tokyo DJ who wields a blasphemous box which can warp space. He often influences the three most powerful guilds so that the game in Tokyo becomes more "fun".
• Alone in the Dark (2024): The Dark Man, the main antagonist of the game, is once referred to as Nyarlathotep. He is also known as the Black Sun, the Black Pharaoh, the Crawling Chaos and the Stalker Among the Stars. He was transported to the United States in what appeared to be an ancient sarcophagus of Nephren-Ka.

Literature

• Dobbs, J. R.: The Book of the SubGenius briefly mentions an entity called "Nyardim Thothep".
• Erdelac, Edward M.: In Once Upon a Time in the Weird West, part of the Merkabah Rider series of books, Nyarlathotep and the Dark Lord Sauron from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth mythology are revealed to be the same entity.
• Howard, Johnathan L.: Nyarlathotep appears in the novel Johannes Cabal: The Fear Institute as the main antagonist in the guise of Fear Institute member Gardner Bose.
• King, Stephen:
  • In The Stand and the Dark Tower series of books, the character Randall Flagg was known as Nyarlathotep amongst many other names.
  • In The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, a fictional version of King himself mentions Nyarlathotep.
  • The short story "Crouch End" features the name spelled "Nyarlahotep".
• Phipps, CT: Nyarlathotep plays a big role in the Cthulhu Armageddon books and Tales of Nyarlathotep.
• Reese, Barry: Nyarlathotep is used in the Rook universe stories Kingdom of Blood and The Gasping Death. He also appears under the guise Mr. Blackman in the short story "The Great Work".
• Strickland, Brad: the children's horror writer used Nyarlathotep as the main antagonist in his book The Wrath of the Grinning Ghost.
• Wheeler, Thomas: in the novel The Arcanum, a case involving Nyarlathotep is said to have been solved by Lovecraft himself.
• Turtledove, Harry: Nyarlathotep is a student in the short story "The Genetics Lecture."
• Zelazny, Roger: in A Night in the Lonesome October, Nyarlathotep is briefly featured, along with other Great Old Ones, in the dream world the lead characters visit.

Light Novels

• Aisora, Manta: wrote a series of light novels in Japan called Haiyore! Nyaruko-san featuring Nyarlathotep, under the name Nyaruko.

Music

• Bejelit: the Italian heavy metal band has a song titled "Haunter in the Dark," based on the story of the same name, from their Bones and Evil EP.
• Burning Star Core: have a song entitled "Nyarlathotep" on their album The Very Heart of the World.
• Conan: the British Doom Metal band created a music video for the song "Foehammer" which depicts Nyarlathotep.
• Congress: the Belgian metalcore band has a song intro titled "Nyarlathotep" on their Angry With The Sun album.
• The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets: have a song titled "Nyarlathotep" on their album The Shadow Out of Tim. The songs lyrics are written entirely in Middle Egyptian.
• Flint Glass: the experimental electronic project has an album titled "Nyarlathotep", all music on this album was inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos.
• Hemlok: the Rhode Island based rock band have an instrumental entitled "Nyarlathotep" on their debut album Shades of Passing (2008).
• Metallica: the 1986 song "The Thing That Should Not Be" contains the lyric "crawling chaos, underground / cult has summoned, twisted sound".
• Nile: have an album titled Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka.
• Nox Arcana: have a song titled "Nyarlathotep" and another titled "The Temple of The Black Pharaoh".
• Rage: the German heavy metal band has a song titled "The Crawling Chaos," seemingly about the destruction of the earth by Nyarlathotep, on their 1995 album Black in Mind.

Television

Anime

• Haiyore! Nyaruko-san: a 4-series adaptation of the light novel series.

Web Original

• Friendly Hostility: webcomic featuring a character named Nyarlathotep (also known as Priest of the Ether, Chaos Made Flesh, etc.)
• Konton Taisen - Thousand Confusion Wars: In April Fools 2013, Nitroplus launched a limited-time website for a fictional strategy RPG called Konton Taisen - Thousand Confusion Wars. The game was, supposedly, a crossover that featured different incarnations of Nyarlathotep from various franchises like anime, manga, light novels and visual novels. The list of the works included:
  • Nyar from Alicia Y
  • Nya from Demonbane
  • Narukami Chikage from D.Y.N. Freaks
  • Demon King Aza the XIV from The King of Darkness Doesn't Pay the Rent
  • Nyaruko from Haiyore! Nyaruko-san
  • Cain Murasame from Jashin Densetsu
  • Hiraga Gennai from Christian XX
  • Tendou Haruka from Kouyoku no Soleil -VII's World-
  • Lulu from Mahou Shoujo Pretty Bell
  • Phantom BULLET
  • Sasami Tsukuyomi from Sasami-san@Ganbaranai
  • Nobutsuna Kamiizumi from Shūmatsu Shōjo Gensou Alicematic
  • Ticking Man and The M from What a Beautiful Tomorrow
  • Creaping Chaos from Wild Arms
• Nerdcast: in the Brazilian podcast Nyarlathotep features heavily during the Call of Cthulhu RPG episode O Mistério de William Faraday (The Mystery of William Faraday).
• Unspeakable Vault (of Doom): webcomic in which Nyarlathotep regularly appears as a living tentacle with arms and legs.
• Malevolent: an audio drama featuring an avatar of Nyarlathotep as one of the major antagonists