Mi-go
The Mi-go are an alien race that feature in the Cthulhu Mythos.
Contents |
History
The Mi-Go
It was known that they established a colony on the world of Yuggoth.
During a series of rural flooding events, several Mi-Go bodies washed down into Vermont streams, where local witnesses observed their unfamiliar organic shapes before the remains dissolved into the water. In the remote hills, the creatures actively avoided human contact but left distinctive claw prints in the mud around isolation areas. On multiple moonless nights, a group of these entities surrounded a secluded farmhouse, engaged in defensive skirmishes against a pack of guard dogs, and fired projectile weapons that left bullet-like scars on the walls. They monitored a human researcher named Henry Akeley, intercepted his postal correspondence, and deployed human agents to impersonate local citizens to isolate him. The Mi-Go eventually infiltrated the farmhouse, physically subdued Akeley, and used advanced surgical tools to extract his living brain from his skull, sealing the organ inside a metallic cylinder. They placed the empty, severed skin and hands of Akeley on a chair alongside his clothes to create a decoy apparatus. One of the entities sat in the dark room, used a mechanical vocal modulator to mimic Akeley's voice, and spoke with a visitor to gather intelligence before retreating into the woods into a waiting aircraft. (The Whisperer in Darkness)
Overview
In appearance, the Mi-Go were a species of fungoid, crustacean-like extraterrestrial entities that possessed a pinkish, fungoid body structure roughly one and a half metres in length. Their primary torso attached to several pairs of jointed, segmented limbs that functioned as legs, while two larger anterior limbs terminated in specialized pincers or claws. In place of a recognizable head, head-like face, or sensory organs such as eyes and ears, they possessed a short, thick neck topped by a convoluted, multi-segmented structural mass covered in numerous short, fleshy antennae or tentacles. Their bodies featured a pair of large, membranous, fan-like wings attached to their backs, which were composed of a unique material capable of navigating interstellar space. The physical composition of their bodies differed entirely from terrestrial organisms, exhibiting a unique cellular density that caused their dead tissue to rapidly decompose and completely dissolve into liquid when exposed to regular water and air. (The Whisperer in Darkness)
The physical appearance of the Mi-Go differs depending on location, as there are actually numerous varieties, including some that are wingless. The Mi-Go that colonized the Vermont hills physically resemble pinkish crustaceanoids, about 1.5 meters in length, with multiple pairs of articulated limbs, and a pair of large membranous wings. Their heads are shaped like an ellipsoid, covered in a multitude of short feelers or antennae, and they can change the color of their heads to communicate, even though they're also capable of both vocalization and telepathy. Their blood is a green, sticky and foul-smelling fluid.
The Mi-Go demonstrated the biological ability to fly through both terrestrial atmospheres and interstellar space using their specialized membranous wings. They possessed advanced surgical skills, allowing them to completely remove a living human brain from a skull and sustain its consciousness inside a sealed metallic cylinder without causing death. They showed high proficiency in chemistry and metallurgy, manufacturing specialized metallic alloys and preservation fluids capable of maintaining human nervous systems indefinitely. They displayed the ability to project an acoustic, buzzing language that humans could hear, and they successfully engineered a mechanical vocal apparatus to translate their thoughts into artificial human speech. They also demonstrated stealth and tracking capabilities, navigating dense, mountainous terrain without detection, forging identical handwriting to fabricate letters, and leaving distinct footprint shapes. Additionally, they possessed the defensive capability to handle projectile weaponry during physical conflicts and utilized a specialized form of light-blocking or cloaking technology to obscure their nocturnal operations from human observation. (The Whisperer in Darkness)
The Mi-go were heard to give praise to Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath.
Their technology and surgical sciences are extremely advanced, to the point that members of this species will casually engage in surgery for relatively trivial reasons, such as adjusting their vocal organs to become capable of speaking Human languages. Among themselves, the Mi-Go communicate either by telepathy or by changing the color of their heads.
One of the most notable developments of the Mi-Go are the brain cylinders, which are used to extract the brains of any living creature, either Mi-Go or other species, and keep them alive inside metallic cylinders, while the rest of the body is similarly preserved in stasis. Since other species are not capable of traveling through space by themselves like the (winged) Mi-Go, they commonly use this procedure to enable their associates of other species as well as their wingless brethren to travel to other worlds and star systems. The brains kept inside the cylinders are connected to special equipment that allows them to experience sensations such as (in the case of Human brains) sight and hearing, as well as to produce speech. When the cylinder is disconnected, the brain enters a sleep-like state of unawareness.
On Earth, the Mi-Go are present in remote locations, including the Vermont hills and the Himalayas. They're only present on the planet to mine for a certain metal, and prefer to conceal themselves from most Humans, although they have allied themselves with certain individuals that serve as their spies and agents.
Notes
- The Mi-go were created by H. P. Lovecraft where they made their first appearance in the short story "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1931).
- The name Mi-Go was a variation of the Tibetan word "Migou" which meant Yeti.
In other media
Video games
Comic Books
RPGs
- In Call of Cthulhu, the Mi-Go appeared in the setting of the role-playing game created by Chaosium. In the "The Bermuda Triangle" supplement, a species known as the Mite of Yuggoth were descended from the Mi-Go, an intelligent race of half-fungoid, half-crustacean creatures from the planet Yuggoth. Compared to their ancestors, however, the Mites are much smaller, being about the size of a mouse, and have completely lost their ability to fly. They have also evolved the ability to consume Earth food, something which their ancestors lacked. The Mites inhabit the area of the Atlantic known as the Sargasso Sea, living in and feeding upon the vast nets of floating sargassum weed. They can swarm in large numbers and devour animals that get entangled in the sargassum. Like their Mi-Go brethren, the Mites hide from the light, change colours to communicate with each other, are invisible to cameras, and their bodies dissolve upon death. According to legends told by sailors, the Mites of Yuggoth are also capable of swarming over entire ships and devouring everyone on board,
- In ChulhuTech, the Migou appeared as an antagonist force in the setting of the role-playing game. The Migou had an empire that spanned galaxies with Pluto being the closest outpost to Earth in this vast intergalactic empire. The Migou attempted to conquer Earth to enslave humanity in the mid-21st century via the use of an army of human clones that were the jet black skinned red-eyed Nazzadi. During the First Arcanotech War (2059-2065 AD), approximately 40% of humanity was killed (over a billion) and much devastation was done to Earth. Once the Nazzadi discovered they were clones of the humans in 2064 AD, there was a short civil war among them which ended in victory for the pro-Earth Nazzadi who made peace with the humans and defected to their side. Though a minority remained loyal to the Mi-go and continued guerrilla warfare. The Second Arcanotech War (2074-2078 AD), began when the Migou decided to conquer Earth themselves. They quickly annihilated human colonies and bases throughout the Solar System and then invaded Earth. First they seized the polar regions and then conquered the Nordic countries, Tasmania, Northwestern Canada (Nunavut and Northwest Territories), Alaska, Iceland, the southern end of Argentina, Greenland, and most of Russia. Billions of humans died in this invasion. In 2078 A.D., the situation changed. The machinations of the cults and agents of the Great Old Ones (Hastur and Cthulhu) and of the Outer God Nyarlathotep changed everything. It was now a 4-sided war between the humans and their Nazzadi allies (New Earth Government), the Migou, the Esoteric Order of Dagon (Cthulhu) and the Rapine Storm (Hastur). The Migou are very familiar with the Great Old Ones, and know that if Cthulhu returns they may end up being enslaved so now the stakes are vastly higher. As of 2085 AD, the Migou have expanded their territory to include northeastern China (Manchuria) and most of Central Asia. The Rapine Storm controls most of Southeast Asia, Tibet, western Xinjiang, southwestern China, Afghanistan, northern Iran, northern Pakistan, northeast India, Turkmenistan, the Himalayan Mountains, and Transcaucasia. The Esoteric Order of Dagon controls the oceans and most of the world's coastline. The rest is in the hands of the New Earth Government and it slowly but steadily keeps shrinking as more and more territory is lost to the Migou, the EOD, and the Rapine Storm.
Other
- In Feeders from Within, the Mi-go appeared in the setting of the 2013 novel published by Fantasy Flight Games and written by Peter J. Evans. A Mi-go named Mr. Stone appeared where he came to Earth to reassemble the Shard of Panestes in order to travel to Tsathoggua's domain of N'Kai so that he could harvest the parasitic Feeders from Within. He was then discovered by the Pancho Villa Expedition in the Sierra Madres where he was badly injured. Afterwards, he reconstructed himself and barely alive squad leader Sergeant Johnathan Orton by using parts from the dead troopers.
Appearances
- Weird Tales: "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1931)
External Link
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