What is Cthulhu?

You may have heard of the name Cthulhu, perhaps among friends, via YouTube or perhaps in your dreams…

We hope for your sake it is not the later but let’s get into what Cthulhu is.

Cthulhu, pronounce ka-THOO-loo, is a fictional being originating in the works of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. When discussing Cthulhu, Cthulhu can relate to the god like monstrosity mentioned or the greater universe of fiction known as the Cthulhu mythos.

Cthulhu Mythos

The Cthulhu mythos is a shared fictional universe based on H.P. Lovecraft’s works. It incorporates Cthuhlu and a number of related entities, settings and lore. It originated from Lovecraft’s 1928 short story, The Call of Cthulhu.

The mythos is centred around the concept that the human world and our role within it is an illusion. Living outside the realms of reality, lies ancient extra-terrestrial entities which the mythology centres around.

These beings are not your typical ET but rather beings that are bizarre, horrific and of many realms, to meet one usually leads to a fatal end.

Cthulhu in gaming

There have been many examples of popular media, such as tabletop gaming and even video gaming being influenced by the Cthulhu mythos. Popular games such as Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu RPG, dungeons and dragons, several boardgames and ranges of miniatures including our own Dunwich Detectives.