Writer H.P. Lovecraft created a number of fictional deities throughout the course of his literary career, including the “Great Old Ones” and the “Outer Gods”, with sporadic references to other miscellaneous deities. This makes up the Cthulhu mythos.
An ongoing theme in Lovecraft’s work is the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the cosmic horrors that apparently exist in the universe, with Lovecraft constantly referring to the “Great Old Ones”: a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep.
Lovecraft named several of these deities, including Azathoth, Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth, Nyarlathotep and Yig. With a few exceptions, Cthulhu, Ghatanothoa, et al., this loose pantheon apparently exists ‘outside’ of normal space-time. Though worshiped by deranged human (and inhuman) cults, these beings are generally imprisoned or restricted in their ability to interact with most people (beneath the sea, inside the Earth, in other dimensions, and so on), at least until the hapless protagonist is unwittingly exposed to them.
The “Great Old Ones” must win the Battle of the Bands so that they can fully enter this existence and hold dominion forever.
The “Great Old Ones” from the Cthulhu mythos in the battle of the bands are:
- Cthulhu: God of High Priest of the Great Old Ones, The Great Dreamer, The Sleeper of R’lyeh
- Bokrug: God of the semi-amphibian
- Quachil Uttaus: associated with age, death, and decay. Summoning this god is lethal!
- Nyarlathotep: Crawling Chaos, God of a Thousand Forms,Stalker among the Stars, Faceless God, Messenger of the Other Gods
- Rhan-Tegoth: A weakened, amphibious, chimaera-like being that crushed victims and sucked their blood
- Tsathoggua: an Old One, a godlike being from the pantheon. The amorphous, toad-like god-creature
- Hastur: a benign god of shepherds
- Ithaqua: controls snow, ice and cold, and can walk through the sky as easily as it walks on earth
- Mnomquah: The Lord of the Black Lake, he rules over the Lake of Ubboth beneath the surface of the moon
- Chaugnar Faugn: came to the Earth from another dimension eons ago, created the Miri Nigri to be his servitors
- Yig: female deity, one of the Ancient Ones, strongly associated with serpents
- Cthylla: Great Old One and is the youngest progeny of Cthulhu