Solar System

Many of the planets in our Solar System are referenced in H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the sun.

Background

At some point in the future the Crystal Company begins to colonise Venus from their base at Terra Nova and is locked in conflict with the native lizards over the planet's valuable crystal orbs that can be used as a source of electrical power. Venus' atmosphere cannot sustain human life, although a human equipped with supplementary breathing apparatus may spend most of his or her time unmasked, requiring only occasional use of this equipment to survive. Parts of the planet are covered in thick jungle which becomes almost impassable after a rain. (HPL: In the Walls of Eryx)

In the far distant future, over half a billion years from the present day, the cosmic time traveller Titus Crow telepathically communicated with a species of intelligent mollusc which had evolved there. Ten million years after that, all life on Venus had been extinguished.

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. With an atmosphere far thinner than our own, it is a land largely composed of barren red rock devoid of life though and sprawling Cyclopean ruins.

Background

Four billion years ago when the Earth held nothing but rocks, waves and air Mars was already host to intelligent life, a race of beings known as the Prothado.

It is still inhabited by the Aihai, a race of intelligent beings, and formerly the Yorhi, their antecedents.

Jupiter

🔀 This is a section about the planet. For the cosmic entity, see either Jupiter (god) or Jupiter.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. It’s Great Eye (actually a colossal storm system) is the prison of two of Cthulhu's "daughters", Nctosa and Nctolhu.

Saturn (Cykranosh)

🔀 This is a section about the planet. For the deity, see Saturn (god).

Cykranosh is the sixth planet from the sun. The gas-giant is a frequent refuge for practitioners of the dark arts.

Background

In ancient times the planet was home to Tsathoggua. It has a twin in the Dreamlands, populated by monstrous cats. (HPL: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath)

The sorcerer Eibon used a portal to hide here from the Inquisition and is the current home of Hziulquoigmnzhah. (CIRCLE: The Door to Saturn, Clark Ashton Smith)

Uranus (L'gy'hx)

L'gy'hx is the eighth planet from the sun.

Background

Home to the L'gy'hxians. (EXP: The Insects from Shaggai, Ramsey Campbell)

Neptune (Yaksh)

Yaksh is the ninth planet from the sun. This gas-giant is inhabited by a strange species of fungoid creatures known as Yakshians, of which little is known. Several cosmic entities have made their home there over the aeons.

Background

A race called the Neptunians or Yakshians dwells on Neptune. (HPL: The Whisperer in Darkness)

For a brief period the Great Old One Hziulquoigmnzhah resided upon Yaksh after fleeing Yuggoth and the cannibalistic depredations of its parent Cxaxukluth. There it was worshiped by the Yakshians as a god, though it soon grew tired of these creatures and migrated to the planet Cykranosh.

Later the Great Old Ones Tsathoggua (who was also escaping Cxaxukluth's attentions) and Shathak met, mated and spawned the creature known as Zvilpogghua on Yaksh. However, Tsathoggua moved to Cykranosh on his journey to Earth, and Zvilpogghua left our solar system entirely, making its way to the planet Yrautram in the Perseus constellation. Whether Shathak remains in residence on Yaksh is unknown.

Pluto

Pluto is a dwarf planet.

According to some accounts, Yuggoth, the tenth planet of the Solar System, and home of the Mi-go is Pluto. (HPL: "The Whisperer in Darkness")