| “ | He hung motionless in a black, forbidding sky and at first thought he was suspended somewhere in the intrasolar deeps much closer to the Sun than on Earth. But then he realized that the dully gleaming orb which floated before his dreaming vision was not the Sun. Ugly dark blotches mottled the dull orange surface and great columns of spinning flame arced around the rim.... [He watched] the titan sunspots drift slowly across the hideous disc, at times growing larger and merging into great gaping chasms in the fiery atmosphere, while at others dwindling almost to nothingness.... Something was stirring deep within that fiery atmosphere; something monstrous that roared an insatiable anger against the chains of the Elder Gods which had bound it there for an eternity.... Unable to resist, utterly powerless to control his movements, he was diving headlong towards that ravening chaos, that age-old intelligence which was Cthugha. | „ |
| ~ John Glasby (about Cthuga), "The Dark Mirror". |
Cthugha is a fictional deity in the Cthulhu Mythos genre of horror fiction. He was first mentioned in August Derleth's 1944 short story "The House on Curwen Street". In August Derleth's 1944 short story "The Dweller in Darkness", Cthugha is summoned by the protagonists to drive an avatar of Nyarlathotep, his nemesis, out of a forest in northern Wisconsin.
Cthugha resembles a giant ball of fire. He is served by his namesake creation called the Flame Creatures of Cthugha. Fthaggua, regent of the fire vampires, may be his spawn. He has at least one other known progeny, the entity known as Aphoom Zhah.
In author August Derleth's version of the Cthulhu Mythos, Cthugha is one of the Great Old Ones, and he is also an elemental spirit of fire opposed to the Elder Gods who are enemies of both the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods.
Cthugha is currently chained at the center of the burning star Fomalhaut, having been chained by the Elder Gods an eternity ago, although he can be summoned. Exactly how powerful he is is unknown, although he is evidently one of the most powerful Great Old Ones, as he is the only being whose power Nyarlathotep fears (with the possible exception of Azathoth himself).
Gallery
.jpg "Cthugha (douzen).jpg (30 KB)")
.jpg "Cthugha 2 (Michael Bukowski).jpg (57 KB)")
Trivia
- Cthugha was worshiped and revered by an ancient secret society of Egyptian priests known as the Slaves of the Flame Undying who were founded by him and he was called "Kathigu-Ra".
- There is a female character with his name in the manga Nyaruko: Crawling with Love, who, unlike him, has a benevolent bent. She does share a name that references his moniker, though: The Great Fire. He is also the namesake of the character's species, the Cthugans.
- A music visualization computer program written in the 90s was named after Cthugha.
- In the tale "The Dread Mother" which is set in the universe of the SCP Foundation, one of characters, named Brian Carrie, sacrifices himself to Cthugha by burning himself alive.
