Changes: Randolph Carter

Revision as of 04:53, 12 September 2014

Randolph Carter is one of the most frequently appearing characters in the Cthulhu Mythos. The character is semi-autobiographical, sharing several of Lovecraft's biographical aspects as well as his antiquarian tastes and mild nature.

Biography

Randolph is the descendant of the Elizabethan magician Sir Randolph Carter, as well as another ancestor who fought in the crusades, and was captured by Muslims and learned their magical secrets.

At the age of ten, he underwent a mysterious experience at his great-uncle Christopher's farm and thereafter exhibited a gift of prophecy.

Randolph Carter is a graduate from the Miskatonic University.

Like Lovecraft, he is an under-appreciated horror writer and published the story "The Attic Window" in the January 1923 issue of the fictional magazine Whispers.

He first appearance was in the short story "The Statement of Randolph Carter," in which he and his friend, Harley Warren, attempt to locate the door between the human world and a hell dimension. Though Carter survives Warren was killed by an unseen evil.

Quest for Kadath

See: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

Revelation and Transformation

After obtaining the Silver Key, Carter performed the ritual of the Key in the hills behind Arkham, in the cave known as the Snake-Den. The ritual opened a gateway into a strange realm, which offered up visions of Earth's distant past before resolving into an unknown area of strange stone architecture. There Carter encountered'Umr At-Tawil, The Most Ancient One, whom Carter knew from the writings of Abdul Alhazred in his Necronomicon. 'Umr-At-Tawil addressed Carter telepathically, telling him that he had unlocked the First Gate, and giving him the choice of proceeding to the Ultimate Gate or turning back the way he had come.

Family

Edmund Carter
Sir Randolph Carter
Christopher Carter(uncle)

Stories Featured

"The Statement of Randolph Carter" (1919)
"The Unnamable" (1923)
"The Silver Key" (1926)
"The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath" (1926-1927)
"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" (1927)
"Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (1933)
"Out of the Aeons" (1933)

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 He first appearance was in the short story "The Statement of Randolph Carter," in which he and his friend, Harley Warren, attempt to locate the door between the human world and a hell dimension. Though Carter survives Warren was killed by an unseen evil.
 ===Quest for Kadath===
+See: [[The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath]]
 ===Revelation and Transformation===
 After obtaining the [[Silver Key]], Carter performed the ritual of the Key in the hills behind Arkham, in the cave known as the Snake-Den. The ritual opened a gateway into a strange realm, which offered up visions of Earth's distant past before resolving into an unknown area of strange stone architecture. There Carter encountered[[ 'Umr At-Tawil]], The Most Ancient One, whom Carter knew from the writings of [[Abdul Alhazred]] in his [[Necronomicon]]. 'Umr-At-Tawil addressed Carter telepathically, telling him that he had unlocked the First Gate, and giving him the choice of proceeding to the Ultimate Gate or turning back the way he had come.