The Tick-Tock Man is a fictional entity in the expanded Cthulhu Mythos. The character was originally created by Scott David Aniolowski for his short story "I Dream of Wires".
The entity was later incorporated into Chaosium's role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, depicted as being an avatar of Nyarlathotep. (EXP: Malleus Monstrorum)
Overview[]
The Tick-Tock Man takes the form of an artificial intelligence, with its true form being that of a machine; however, the entity can also create a humanoid form that usually appears as a black man with some mechanical body parts. It should be noted that the humanoid form cannot exist without the machine.
In order to manifest, the Tick-Tock Man will use some other beings to build a suitable machine to inhabit, usually either by sending inspirational dreams to its chosen builder or providing an adequate design. The entity can also take control of other machines against the original creator's will. The Tick-Tock Man can offer advanced calculations for weapons or other unsafe advanced technology. Due to it being an avatar of Nyarlathotep, the Tick-Tock Man is dedicated to spreading chaos, madness and destruction.
The avatar's actual size, construction and appearance varies depending on the time and place, including manifesting as an enormous steam-powered engine in the Victorian London, a high-tech computer in modern Tokyo, or an unimaginable machine in an alien world. (EXP: Malleus Monstrorum)
At the Brichester University, the Tick-Tock Man manifested in the Dughall Computer Lab, run by a balding man and his female assistant. The lab contains numerous unconscious victims with their wrists and foreheads strapped to a metal table, and wires attached to their heads and chests like a hospital patient. The victims are surrounded by numerous monitors, keyboards and cables, with the wires attached to them plugging into the Tick-Tock Man's computer. Amongst the victims was a student named Christian Barnett, who had the Tick-Tock Man inside his mind, creating a whole world in his subconscious. (EXP: "I Dream of Wires")
In Other Media[]
- In the novel series The Dark Tower, written by Stephen King, the character Andrew Quick is nicknamed as the "Tick-Tock Man".
- In the anime series Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, the Tick-Tock Man is one of the many avatars of Nyarlathotep documented in the Great Library of Celaeno.
Gallery[]
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.jpg "Tick-Tock Man (DYN Freaks).jpg (533 KB)")
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