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{{Inmythos}}
 
 
{{Infobox character
 
{{Infobox character
| image = Screenshot 20171020-125436.jpg
+
|image = Screenshot 20171020-125436.jpg
| alias = The Lurker at the Threshold, The Key and the Gate, The Beyond One, Opener of the Way, The All-in-One, The One-in-All
+
|alias = *The Lurker at the Threshold
  +
*The Key and the Gate
| born = <nowiki>**</nowiki>[[Canon#The_Expanded_Cthulhu_Mythos|<span style="color:yellow">Expanded Mythos</span>]]**
 
The Nameless Mist
+
*The Beyond One
  +
*Opener of the Way
| powers = Control of Time and Space, Omniscience, Omnipresence, Immortality, Invulnerability, Reality Warping, Non-Corporeal, Acausality, Telepathy, Causality Manipulation, Durability Negation
 
  +
*The All-in-One
| origin = All of Time and Space
 
  +
*The One-in-All
| relatives = [[Azathoth]] (Grandfather)
 
  +
*Yogge-Sothothe
  +
*Yok-Zothoth
  +
*Yog-Sototl
  +
*Iog-Sotôt
  +
*Yogsoggoth
  +
|born = {{EXP}}: The Nameless Mist
 
|origin = All of Time and Space
  +
|powers = *Control of Time and Space
  +
*Omniscience
  +
*Possible omnipresence
  +
*Immortality
  +
*Invulnerability
  +
*Reality Warping
  +
*Non-Corporeal
  +
*Acausality
  +
*Telepathy
  +
*Causality Manipulation
  +
*Durability Negation
 
|relatives = *[[Azathoth]] (Grandfather)
 
*[[The Nameless Mist]] (Parent)
 
*[[The Nameless Mist]] (Parent)
 
*[[Wilbur Whateley]] (Son)
 
*[[Wilbur Whateley]] (Son)
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*[[Cthulhu]] (Grandson)
 
*[[Cthulhu]] (Grandson)
 
*[[Tsathoggua]] (Grandson)
 
*[[Tsathoggua]] (Grandson)
| spouse = [[Shub-Niggurath]] and [[Lavinia Whateley]]
+
|spouse = [[Shub-Niggurath]] and [[Lavinia Whateley]]
| affiliations = [[Outer Gods]]
+
|affiliations = *[[Outer God]]s
  +
*{{EXP}}: [[Fractal Creature]]s
| race = [[Outer Gods]]
+
|race = [[Outer God]]s
| first = "[[The Case of Charles Dexter Ward]]"
+
|first = "[[The Case of Charles Dexter Ward]]"
| created by = [[H.P. Lovecraft]]}}
+
|created by = [[H.P. Lovecraft]]
{{Quote|Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the [[Old Ones]] broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread.|''[[The Dunwich Horror]]'' by H.P. Lovecraft}}
 
  +
}}
 
 
{{Quote|Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the [[Old One]]s broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread.|{{HPL}}|''[[The Dunwich Horror]]''}}
'''Yog-Sothoth''' is a [[cosmic entity]] and [[Outer God]] of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] and the [[Dream Cycle]] of [[Howard Phillips Lovecraft|H. P. Lovecraft]]. Born of the [[Nameless Mist]], he is the progenitor of [[Cthulhu]], [[Hastur|Hastur the Unspeakable]] and the ancestor of the [[Voormi]]. He is also the father of [[Wilbur Whateley]].
 
  +
{{Lovecraftcircle}}
 
'''Yog-Sothoth''' is a cosmic entity and [[Outer God]]. Born of the [[Nameless Mist]], he is the progenitor of [[Cthulhu]], [[Hastur]] the Unspeakable and the ancestor of the [[Voormi]]. He is also the father of [[Wilbur Whateley]].
   
 
==Description==
 
==Description==
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It is heavily implied, if not outright stated, that Yog-Sothoth is omniscient, and is locked outside the universe, meaning he can know and see all of space-time all at once, which means there is no secret hidden from Yog-Sothoth. 
 
It is heavily implied, if not outright stated, that Yog-Sothoth is omniscient, and is locked outside the universe, meaning he can know and see all of space-time all at once, which means there is no secret hidden from Yog-Sothoth. 
   
== Appearances ==
+
==Appearances==
Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in Lovecraft's novella "[[The Case of Charles Dexter Ward]]" (written 1927, first published 1941). He goes on to be the driving force of the short story "[[The Dunwich Horror]]," in which he fathers twin children with a human.
+
Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in {{HPL}}: ''[[The Case of Charles Dexter Ward]]''. He goes on to be the driving force of {{HPL}}: "[[The Dunwich Horror]]," in which he fathers twin children with a human.
  +
  +
He is composed of iridescent globes ({{HPL}}: "The Horror in the Museum", {{AWD}}: "The Lurker at the Threshold") of which there are thirteen ({{EXP}}: Hay ''Necronomicon''):
  +
#Gomory
  +
#Zagan
  +
#Sytry
  +
#Eligor
  +
#Durson
  +
#Vual
  +
#Scor
  +
#Algor
  +
#Sefon
  +
#Partas
  +
#Gamor
  +
#Umbra
  +
#Anaboth
   
 
==Invocations==
 
==Invocations==
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One ritual involving Yog-Sothoth makes use of the "essential salts" of a deceased individual to resurrect them from the dead. The incantations involved with this are transcribed approximately as follows:
 
One ritual involving Yog-Sothoth makes use of the "essential salts" of a deceased individual to resurrect them from the dead. The incantations involved with this are transcribed approximately as follows:
   
  +
{{quote|<center>☊</center>Y'AI'NG'NGAH,<br>YOG-SOTHOTH<br>H'EE-L'GEB<br>F'AI THRODOG<br>UAAAH}}
:''Y'AI'NG'NGAHYOG-SOTHOTHH'EE-L'GEBF'AI THRODOGUAAAHH''
 
   
 
The incantation to put down the resurrected individual is the partial syllabic reverse of the first, and reads:
 
The incantation to put down the resurrected individual is the partial syllabic reverse of the first, and reads:
   
:''OGTHROD AI'FGEB'L-EE'HYOG-SOTHOTH'NGAH'NG AI'YZHRO''
+
{{quote|<center>☋</center>OGTHROD AI'F<br>GEB'L-EE'H<br>YOG-SOTHOTH<br>'NGAH'NG AI'Y<br>ZHRO}}
   
 
===Incarnation===
 
===Incarnation===
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==Quotes==
 
==Quotes==
{{Quote|"[[Randolph Carter]]", IT seemed to say, "MY manifestations on your planet's extension, the [[Ancient Ones]], have sent you as one who would lately have returned to small lands of dream which he had lost, yet who with greater freedom has risen to greater and nobler desires and curiosities. You wished to sail up golden [[Oukranos]], to search out forgotten ivory cities in orchid-heavy [[Kled]], and to reign on the opal throne of [[Ilek-Vad]], whose fabulous towers and numberless domes rise mighty toward a single red star in a firmament alien to your earth and to all matter. Now, with the passing of two Gates, you wish loftier things. You would not flee like a child from a scene disliked to a dream beloved, but would plunge like a man into that last and inmost of secrets which lies behind all scenes and dreams. What you wish, I have found good; and I am ready to grant that which I have granted eleven times only to beings of your planet - five times only to those you call men, or those resembling them. I am ready to shew you the Ultimate Mystery, to look on which is to blast a feeble spirit. Yet before you gaze full at that last and first of secrets you may still wield a free choice, and return if you will through the two Gates with the Veil still unrent before your eyes.|Yog-Sothoth addressing Randolph Carter, [[Through the Gates of the Silver Key]]}}
+
{{Quote|"[[Randolph Carter]]", IT seemed to say, "MY manifestations on your planet's extension, the [[Ancient Ones]], have sent you as one who would lately have returned to small lands of dream which he had lost, yet who with greater freedom has risen to greater and nobler desires and curiosities. You wished to sail up golden [[Oukranos]], to search out forgotten ivory cities in orchid-heavy [[Kled]], and to reign on the opal throne of [[Ilek-Vad]], whose fabulous towers and numberless domes rise mighty toward a single red star in a firmament alien to your earth and to all matter. Now, with the passing of two Gates, you wish loftier things. You would not flee like a child from a scene disliked to a dream beloved, but would plunge like a man into that last and inmost of secrets which lies behind all scenes and dreams. What you wish, I have found good; and I am ready to grant that which I have granted eleven times only to beings of your planet - five times only to those you call men, or those resembling them. I am ready to shew you the Ultimate Mystery, to look on which is to blast a feeble spirit. Yet before you gaze full at that last and first of secrets you may still wield a free choice, and return if you will through the two Gates with the Veil still unrent before your eyes.|Yog-Sothoth addressing Randolph Carter|[[Through the Gates of the Silver Key]]}}
  +
  +
==Appearances in other fiction==
  +
===Doctor Who===
  +
Yog-Sothoth, also called the Great Intelligence, appears in [[:Category:Doctor Who (Cthulhu Mythos)|Doctor Who]] as the military strategist of the Great Old Ones, who were the equivalent of the Time Lords in a previous universe. Escaping to the Doctor's Universe Yog-Sothoth discovered it had gained god-like powers and decided to play out the various gambits and games it had only been able to simulate before. Over the millennia, it mounted millions of campaigns against inhabited planets using conquered races to bolster its forces. However, the Intelligence is deliberately malign and petty; a stark contrast to the alien and incomprehensible mind of Yog-Sothoth (and indeed, most depictions of any Lovecraftian deities excepting Nyarlathotep period). ({{ADJ}}: Millennial Rites)
  +
  +
==Behind the Mythos==
  +
* H.P. Lovecraft humorously referred what came to be known as the [[Cthulhu mythos]] as "Yog-Sothothery".
  +
* George Olshevsky and Bruce Chilton named the nonconvex snub polyhedra after some other Great Old Ones, with the Small retrosnub icosicosidodecahedron as "Yog-Sothoth", them being the first to build an accurate physical representation of the polyhedron.<ref>21st SCIENCE & TECHOLOGY, Vol. 9, No.1 Spring 1996</ref>
   
 
==Gallery==
 
==Gallery==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
  +
Magick book4.gif|As the globes behind the green pentagram (cf. Kenneth Grant)
Yog.jpg
 
  +
Yog-Sothoth_(Éditions_Sans-Détour).jpg|Yog-Sothoth (Call of Cthulhu, French version)
Yog-sothoth couleur.jpg
 
Yog_sothoth_by_stephensomers-d6vq3w5.jpg
 
 
Yog-Sothoth__by_higherdepths_.jpg
 
Yog-Sothoth__by_higherdepths_.jpg
 
Yog sothoth rising by butttornado-d6ubvy6.jpg
  +
Yog-Sothoth_(Demonbane).jpg|Yog-Sothoth (Demonbane)
  +
Yog-Sothoth_(Paizo_Inc).jpg|Yog-Sothoth (Pathfinder)
 
Yog Sothoth.png|Yog Sothoth as it appears in Russell's Guide (merzo.net)
 
Yog Sothoth.png|Yog Sothoth as it appears in Russell's Guide (merzo.net)
 
Yog_sothoth_by_stephensomers-d6vq3w5.jpg|Yog-Sothoth (Fantasy Flight Games)
  +
Yog-Sothoth_2_(Dynamite_Entertainment).jpg
 
Yog.jpg
 
Yog-sothoth couleur.jpg
  +
Yog-Sothoth_(Marvel_Comics).jpg|Yog-Sothoth (Savage Sword of Conan)
  +
Yog-Sothoth_(Avatar_Press).png|Yog-Sothoth (Providence)
  +
Yog_Sothoth_(BBC).jpg|Yog-Sothoth, aka The Great Intelligence (Doctor Who)
 
YogGaMsmall.jpg
 
YogGaMsmall.jpg
  +
Yog_Sothoth_(TSR).jpg|Yog-Sothoth (Dungeons & Dragons)
Yog sothoth rising by butttornado-d6ubvy6.jpg
 
  +
Tawil_at'Umr_(Paizo_Inc).jpg|Tawil at'Umr, Avatar of Yog-Sothoth (Pathfinder)
  +
Mara,_Avatar_of_Yog-Sothoth_(Secrets_of_Japan).jpg|Mara, Avatar of Yog-Sothoth (Secrets of Japan)
  +
05d893ec65babd829c3f5a900eecb162.jpg
  +
Fg yogsothoth02.png|Exception from Old One(Housamo)
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  +
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yog-Sothot}}
 
  +
==References==
 
{{Reflist}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Yog-Sothoth}}
  +
[[de:{{PAGENAME}}]]
  +
[[es:{{PAGENAME}}]]
  +
  +
==External links==
  +
{{Tardis}}
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:Outer Gods]]
 
[[Category:Outer Gods]]
  +
[[Category:Marvel (Cthulhu Mythos)]]
  +
[[Category:Doctor Who (Cthulhu Mythos)]]
  +
[[Category:Pathfinder (Cthulhu Mythos)]]
  +
[[Category:Dynamite (Cthulhu Mythos)]]
  +
[[Category:Hyborian (Cthulhu Mythos)]]

Revision as of 17:06, 30 September 2020

Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread.
~ HPL , The Dunwich Horror


This subject contains information from the "Lovecraft Circle" Myth Cycles, and while guided by HPL are not based on his work alone. Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic entity and Outer God. Born of the Nameless Mist, he is the progenitor of Cthulhu, Hastur the Unspeakable and the ancestor of the Voormi. He is also the father of Wilbur Whateley.

Description

Like many Lovecraftian gods, Yog-Sothoth has many different appearances throughout the various stories of the mythos, by various authors. However, there seems to be a common agreement that Yog-Sothoth visually manifests as a mass of glowing orbs, with eyes or tendrils in some versions, and in others simply the orbs.

It is heavily implied, if not outright stated, that Yog-Sothoth is omniscient, and is locked outside the universe, meaning he can know and see all of space-time all at once, which means there is no secret hidden from Yog-Sothoth. 

Appearances

Yog-Sothoth's name was first mentioned in HPL: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. He goes on to be the driving force of HPL: "The Dunwich Horror," in which he fathers twin children with a human.

He is composed of iridescent globes (HPL: "The Horror in the Museum", AWD: "The Lurker at the Threshold") of which there are thirteen (EXP: Hay Necronomicon):

  1. Gomory
  2. Zagan
  3. Sytry
  4. Eligor
  5. Durson
  6. Vual
  7. Scor
  8. Algor
  9. Sefon
  10. Partas
  11. Gamor
  12. Umbra
  13. Anaboth

Invocations

Yog-Sothoth is called upon from time to time to assist mortals in performing occult deeds or rituals. The most notable instances of these events are recorded in "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and "The Dunwich Horror."

Resurrection

One ritual involving Yog-Sothoth makes use of the "essential salts" of a deceased individual to resurrect them from the dead. The incantations involved with this are transcribed approximately as follows:

Y'AI'NG'NGAH,
YOG-SOTHOTH
H'EE-L'GEB
F'AI THRODOG
UAAAH



The incantation to put down the resurrected individual is the partial syllabic reverse of the first, and reads:

OGTHROD AI'F
GEB'L-EE'H
YOG-SOTHOTH
'NGAH'NG AI'Y
ZHRO



Incarnation

In one case involving the town of Dunwich, Yog-Sothoth is known to have been summoned for the purposes of impregnating a human female, who then gave birth to two partially-human children. The summoner was the husband/"father" of the Whateley family, who was known to have stood on a hill in a circle of stones with the Necronomicon while shouting the name of Yog-Sothoth from the summit.

Quotes

"Randolph Carter", IT seemed to say, "MY manifestations on your planet's extension, the Ancient Ones, have sent you as one who would lately have returned to small lands of dream which he had lost, yet who with greater freedom has risen to greater and nobler desires and curiosities. You wished to sail up golden Oukranos, to search out forgotten ivory cities in orchid-heavy Kled, and to reign on the opal throne of Ilek-Vad, whose fabulous towers and numberless domes rise mighty toward a single red star in a firmament alien to your earth and to all matter. Now, with the passing of two Gates, you wish loftier things. You would not flee like a child from a scene disliked to a dream beloved, but would plunge like a man into that last and inmost of secrets which lies behind all scenes and dreams. What you wish, I have found good; and I am ready to grant that which I have granted eleven times only to beings of your planet - five times only to those you call men, or those resembling them. I am ready to shew you the Ultimate Mystery, to look on which is to blast a feeble spirit. Yet before you gaze full at that last and first of secrets you may still wield a free choice, and return if you will through the two Gates with the Veil still unrent before your eyes.
~ Yog-Sothoth addressing Randolph Carter , Through the Gates of the Silver Key



Appearances in other fiction

Doctor Who

Yog-Sothoth, also called the Great Intelligence, appears in Doctor Who as the military strategist of the Great Old Ones, who were the equivalent of the Time Lords in a previous universe. Escaping to the Doctor's Universe Yog-Sothoth discovered it had gained god-like powers and decided to play out the various gambits and games it had only been able to simulate before. Over the millennia, it mounted millions of campaigns against inhabited planets using conquered races to bolster its forces. However, the Intelligence is deliberately malign and petty; a stark contrast to the alien and incomprehensible mind of Yog-Sothoth (and indeed, most depictions of any Lovecraftian deities excepting Nyarlathotep period). (ADJ: Millennial Rites)

Behind the Mythos

  • H.P. Lovecraft humorously referred what came to be known as the Cthulhu mythos as "Yog-Sothothery".
  • George Olshevsky and Bruce Chilton named the nonconvex snub polyhedra after some other Great Old Ones, with the Small retrosnub icosicosidodecahedron as "Yog-Sothoth", them being the first to build an accurate physical representation of the polyhedron.[1]

Gallery

References

  1. 21st SCIENCE & TECHOLOGY, Vol. 9, No.1 Spring 1996

External links