Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep is a literary character who features in the Cthulhu Mythos.

Biography

Nyarlathotep was an Outer God, and a servant of Azathoth (who he seems to despise). He is also known as the Crawling Chaos, and is said to have over one thousand different forms and avatars. Nyarlathotep acts as an messenger, conveying communications between the Great Old Ones and their worshippers, as well as between the Old Ones themselves. Nyarlathotep was once known as simply Nyarlat, but acquired the honorific "-hotep" during the reign of Nephren-Ka.

Unlike the other Outer Gods and Great Old Ones, Nyarlathotep prefers to torment rather than destroy. He will sometimes grant advanced science or "magic" to lesser beings, simply to see it destroy them. In fact, he is destined to bring about the end of humanity; his involvement in the creation of atomic weapons may be the first step towards that.

At some point in time, the Mi-Go came in contact with Nyarlathotep, which led the aliens to refer to the God in a ritualistic manner. (Novel: The Whisperer in Darkness) To worship him, the Mi-Go of Yuggoth constructed the Shining Trapezohedron, a mystical artifact containing one of Nyarlathotep's many avatars which was the Haunter of the Dark. They later carried it to Earth, where it was possessed for a time by the Elder Things of Antarctica, and later by the Serpent Men of Elder Valusia; the former placed the Trapezohedron on a ritualistic box to safely contain it. Eventually, humanity came upon the artifact, with the Atlantians first owning the box and then Nephren-Ka coming into possession of the item, probably gifted to him by the God himself. The latter built a windowless temple inside of which to keep it, as the Haunter avatar was severely weakened when exposed to any light. (Novel: The Haunter of the Dark)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Among the titles the entity was known by included the Crawling Chaos, the God of a Thousand Forms, the Stalker among the Stars, the Black Pharaoh, the Faceless God and the Soul and Messenger of the Other Gods.

Most of the gods use strange alien languages, but Nyarlathotep uses human languages and can be mistaken for a human being. The other Outer Gods and Great Old Ones are often described as mindless or unfathomable rather than truly malevolent, but Nyarlathotep delights in cruelty, is deceptive and manipulative, and even cultivates followers and uses propaganda to achieve his goals.

Nyarlathotep enacts the will of the Outer Gods, and was their messenger, heart and soul; he was also a servant of Azathoth, his father.

Powers and abilities

Nyarlathotep was an omnipotent demonic deity.

Even his presence alone can cause insanity. His form as the Black Pharaoh was the abstract of chaos. He enjoys madness, and inflicts mortals with it.

He had 'a thousand' other forms, most of these reputed to be maddeningly horrific. He can manifest to 1,000 forms, all reputed to be maddening and horrific.

Among the known avatars of Nyarlathotep included:

• Ahtu
• The Beast
• The Black Demon
• The Black Man
• The Black Pharaoh
• The Black Wind
• The Bloated Woman
• Bringer of Pests
• The Crawling Mist
• The Dark Demon
• The Dark One
• Dweller in Darkness
• The Effigy of Hate
• The Faceless God
• The Floating Horror
• God of the Bloody Tongue (also known as the Howler in Darkness)
• The Green Man
• Haunter of the Dark
• The Horned Man
• Lrogg
• Messenger of the Old Ones
• The Pool of Shadow
• Set
• Shugoron
• The Skeletal Horror
• The Skinless One
• The Small Crawler
• Tezcatlipoca
• Thing in the Yellow Mask
• Thoth
• The Wailing Writher
• The White Man

Most of the Outer Gods have their own cults serving them; Nyarlathotep seems to serve these cults and take care of the deities' affairs in their absence.

Notes

• Nyarlathotep was created by H. P. Lovecraft where it made its first appearance in The United Amateur v1 "Nyarlathotep" (November, 1920).
• It has been suggested that Nyarlathotep does not exist as an individual being, but rather represents the mental powers of the Old Ones as a whole; however, his distinct (and fairly human-like) personality makes this doubtful.
• Lovecraft commented:

"I had never heard the name NYARLATHOTEP before, but seemed to understand the allusion. Nyarlathotep was a kind of itinerant showman or lecturer who held forth in public halls and aroused widespread fear and discussion with his exhibitions. These exhibitions consisted of two parts—first, a horrible—possibly prophetic—cinema reel; and later some extraordinary experiments with scientific and electrical apparatus. As I received the letter, I seemed to recall that Nyarlathotep was already in Providence.... I seemed to remember that persons had whispered to me in awe of his horrors, and warned me not to go near him. But Loveman's dream letter decided me.... As I left the house I saw throngs of men plodding through the night, all whispering affrightedly and bound in one direction. I fell in with them, afraid yet eager to see and hear the great, the obscure, the unutterable Nyarlathotep."

In other media

Television

• In Demonbane, Nyarlathotep appeared in the setting of the anime television series where she was voiced by Japanese actress Ai Orikasa. It was shown to be trying to free its father Azathoth from the Shining Trapezohedron. It had taken on four named forms so far: Nya, the owner of a mysterious bookstore filled with dangerous grimoires, Nyarla a maid to Augusta Derleth, Father Ny who was the leader of the Church of Starry Wisdom, and the Tick-Tock Man, technology incarnate. It had also taken on the forms of an unnamed black man "from Egypt," and a talking black rat, among others. Its 'true' form was depicted as a great shadow filled with fangs and claws and tentacles with three flaming eyes.

Video games

• In Dusk, Nyarlathotep appeared as the final boss in the setting of the third person shooter video game. Instead of taking the form of a humanoid in the fight, however, he takes the form of a leviathan eldritch beast. Nyarlathotep deems him to be "worthy" and gives him his power, presumably corrupting him in the process and taking Jakob's place as leader of the cult. Nyarlathotep then places the protagonist in a kind of stasis "until [Nyarlathotep] has need of [him] again".
• In Fate/Grand Order, Nyarlathotep appeared in the setting of the Type-Moon mobile video game. This version shared the body and name of the MoonCancer-class Servant BB Pele. Nyarlathotep is a sadistic deity who enjoys tormenting intelligent lifeforms to the point of self-destruction. Due to both of them being chaotic in nature, BB managed to befriend the evil god and synchronize with its power, using its Authority to trap Hawaii in a time loop. Nyarlathotep's true power is never actually displayed, as the Outer Gods exist in a realm that is completely foreign to the Nasuverse; however, even an infinitesimal fraction of it was enough to restore BB's powers from the Moon Cell, which contains and controls more dimensions than a regular universe. BB had a rivalry with Yang Guifei, a Foreigner-class Servant who is used as a vessel by Cthugha. Although both of them initially expressed distain towards each other, Guifei would later show interest in befriending BB. Ironically, BB's other component was the Hawaiian goddess Pele, which grants her immunity to fire-based attacks.

Novels

• In Doctor Who: All-Consuming Fire, Nyarlathotep was referenced in the setting of the non-canonical Virgin New Adventures written by Andy Lane. The Doctor identified Nyarlathotep as one of the Great Old Ones. He claimed that in all his travels he never encountered Nyarlathotep, and hopes he never will.

Comic Books

• In Journey into Mystery v2 #4 (1973), Nyarlathotep was adapted into Marvel Comics where he was depicted as a timeless demon.
• In Neonomicon v1 (2010), Nyarlathotep appeared in the setting of the comic book.

Appearances

• The United Amateur v1: "Nyarlathotep" (1920)

External Links

• Lovecraft Wiki Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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