Characters of the Cthulhu Mythos
The following characters appear in H.P. Lovecraft's story cycle — the Cthulhu Mythos.
Overview:
- Name. The name of the character appears first.
- Birth/Death. The date of the character's birth and death appears in parentheses below the character's name. Ambivalent dates are denoted by a question mark.
- Description. A brief description of the character follows next.
A
Alhazred, Abdul
The infamous "mad Arab" credited as the author of Al-Azif. He is first mentioned in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City". See Abdul Alhazred.Akeley, George Goodenough
The son of Henry Wentworth Akeley. See "The Whisperer in Darkness".Akeley, Henry Wentworth
and correspondent of Albert Wilmarth who becomes involved with the Fungi from Yuggoth. See "The Whisperer in Darkness".Allen, Zadok
One of the few completely human residents of Innsmouth. Despite very advanced age, he apparently does not die a natural death, but is dealt with in the uproar set off by narrator. See "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".Angell, George Gammell
A Professor Emeritus of Semitic languages at Brown University who researches the worldwide Cthulhu cult. See "The Call of Cthulhu".Armitage, Dr. Henry
Chief librarian at Miskatonic University who confronted the Dunwich Horror. See "The Dunwich Horror".Ashley, Professor Ferdinand C.
Professor of ancient history at Miskatonic University, mentioned in “The Shadow Out of Time”.Atal
Resident of Ulthar in the Dreamlands. See "The Other Gods".Atwood, Professor
Professor of physics at Miskatonic University who accompanied Professor William Dyer on the disastrous Pabodie Expedition to Antarctica in 1930–31 chronicled in At the Mountains of Madness in which he dies with [|Professor Lake].B
Barzai (the Wise)
Barzai is high-priest of the Gods of Earth in Ulthar and one-time teacher of Atal. See "The Other Gods".Billington, Alijah
Alijah Billington is the heir to Richard Billington's estate in the early 19th century. See The Lurker at the Threshold.Blake, Robert Harrison
A fictional horror writer. See Robert Harrison Blake.Blayne, Horvath
A character from August Derleth's 1952 story "The Black Island". Upon being given the Elder Sign by Shrewsbury, he feels an unpleasant sensation from it, and soon realizes that he has Deep One ancestry.Bowen, Enoch
Bowen is a renowned occultist and archaeologist who lived in Providence, Rhode Island. See "The Haunter of the Dark".Bran Mak Morn
In the fiction of Robert E. Howard, the last king of the Picts. See Bran Mak Morn.C
Carter, Randolph
Boston author, occultist, and legendary "dreamer". See Randolph Carter.Castaigne, Hildred
A New York City resident who after a head injury becomes obsessed with the play The King in Yellow, even producing a translation. He is institutionalized at an asylum for the criminally insane after he tries to kill his brother's fiancée.Castro
An aged sailor and Cthulhu cultist. See "The Call of Cthulhu".Chalmers, Halpin
Mystic, esteemed writer of horror fiction, and the victim of a gruesome, unsolved murder. He was born in Partridgeville, New York and was a graduate of Miskatonic University, class of 1918. Later he became the Curator of Archaeology at the Manhattan Museum of Fine Arts in Brooklyn. After Chalmers' death, his fiction became hugely popular. His most famous work is The Secret Watcher. Posthumous publications about Chalmers include The Collected Letters of Halpin Chalmers and Halpin Chalmers: Voyager of Other and Many Dimensions, a biography by Fred Carstairs.Chandraputra, Swami Sunand
Disguise of Randolph Carter.Clarendon, Dr. Alfred
An American physician who had dreamed of conquering fever and ended up a murderous servant of inhuman powers.Colum, Nayland
A London writer who vanishes from a ship bringing him home from Arabia. See The Trail of Cthulhu.Copeland, Harold Hadley
A scholar who appears in the fiction of Lin Carter, starting with "The Dweller in the Tomb". See Xothic legend cycle.Corsi, Bartolomeo
A 12th century Florentine monk and body-swapped victim of the Great Race of Yith.Crom-Ya
Cimmerian chief, worshipper of Tsathoggua, and body-swapped victim of the Great Race.Crow, Titus
Crow is the protagonist of a series of Mythos stories written by Brian Lumley, first appearing in 1970's "Billy's Oak". He is a British occult researcher and psychic dedicated to combating the Cthulhu Cycle Deities. See Titus Crow.Crucian, Robert
Introduced by writer Jason Bengston, a former military police officer, and part-time librarian. See Robert Crucian.Curwen, Joseph
In Lovecraft's novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Curwen is a necromancer who comes back to corporeal existence through his descendant Charles Dexter Ward.D
Danforth
Graduate student at Miskatonic University who accompanies the ill-fated Pabodie Expedition to Antarctica. See At the Mountains of Madness.Davenport, Eli
folklorist who recounts the legend of a race of strange beings that dwelt beneath the Vermont hills. See "The Whisperer in Darkness".Davies, Chandler
In the writings of Brian Lumley, a renowned British artist and friend of Titus Crow. His paintings are legendary; foremost is his piece Stars and Faces. After his mistress burned his latest work, G'harne Landscape, he went mad with rage and was confined to Woodholme Sanitorium, where he died shortly thereafter.De la Poer, Thomas
The last of the De la Poer family, who, after rebuilding the infamous Exham Priory, moving in and exploring its cellars, went mad and died in Hanwell Asylum. See The Rats in the Walls.De Marigny, Étienne-Laurent
occultist.De Marigny, Henri-Laurent
Son of Étienne-Laurent de Marigny and New Orleans mystic. In the 1930s, his father sent him to England, where he became the inseparable colleague of Titus Crow.Derby, Edward Pickman
Poet and husband of Asenath Waite. See "The Thing on the Doorstep".d'Erlette, Comte
Title of a French and the fictional author of Cultes des Goules, inspired by the ancestral form of Mythos author August Derleth's name. The fictional writer is first mentioned in Robert Bloch's 1935 story "The Suicide in the Study", which calls his book "ghastly". Lovecraft uses the name in two 1935 stories, "The Shadow Out of Time" and "Haunter of the Dark", the latter of which calls d'Erlette's work "infamous". Derleth himself refers to d'Erlette in “The Adventure of the Six Silver Spiders” and “The Black Island”.Eddy C. Bertin's 1976 "Darkness, My Name Is", presenting the Comte's given name as Francois-Honore Balfour, describes Cultes des Goules as "rather disappointing because its author had possessed more fantasy than knowledge about the hideous things he was writing about."
Dewart, Ambrose
A reclusive descendant of Alijah Billington and scholar in Arkham. See The Lurker at the Threshold.Dexter, (Doctor) Ambrose
Ambrose Dexter removed the Shining Trapezohedron and a group of dangerous grimoires from the Church of Starry Wisdom after the death of Robert Blake; when trying to get rid of the stone was possessed by the Haunter, and became a human puppet for Nyarlathotep to live within as a nuclear scientist. See "The Haunter of the Dark".Du Nord, Gespard
in 13th century Averoigne. He is believed to have translated the Greek version of the Book of Eibon into French c. 1240.Dyer, William
Professor of geology at Miskatonic University and leader of the disastrous Pabodie Expedition to Antarctica in 1930-31. In 1935, he accompanied an expedition to Australia's Great Sandy Desert to search for the ruins of a civilization.E
E-poh
Wizened leader of the Tcho-Tcho people, possibly killed when Alaozar was destroyed by the Elder Gods. He was well over seven thousand years old and led the cult of Zhar and Lloigor.Eibon
Renowned wizard of Hyperborea, author of the Book of Eibon, and worshiper of Tsathoggua.Eldin the Wanderer
Companion of David Hero on his adventures in the Dreamlands. In the waking world, he was Leonard Dingle, a professor of psychology and anthropology and dream researcher. After he died, he became a permanent resident of the Dreamlands and remains one of its greatest figures. He now serves at the pleasure of King Kuranes of Celephaïs.Elton, Basil
Custodian of the North Point Lighthouse and traveler of the Dreamlands. He lost his dream-self during his quest for unknown Cathuria.Exior K'Mool
Third most powerful wizard of Theem'hdra, after his master Mylakhrion and Teh Atht. Like his former master, he tried to attain immortality by making a bargain with the Great Old Ones. However, his home and the ruined city of Humquass were destroyed when Nyarlathotep arrived to deal with him in person.F
Feery, Joachim
Occultist and author of Notes on the Cthäat Aquadingen and Notes on the Necronomicon.Also used as an alternate name by Robert M. Price.
Franklyn, Roland
In the writings of Ramsey Campbell, the leader of a cult in Brichester, England in the mid-1960s. In January 1964, he published his cult's dogma in We Pass From View. Among the claims made in the book is that the deceased must be cremated in order for the soul to be reincarnated. Otherwise, the "burrowers of the core may drag off his body from the grave with him still in it to the feast of Eihort." The late Roland Franklyn himself, alas, was not cremated.G
Geoffrey, Justin
An English poet, who died in a lunatic asylum. Some years before, his already frail psyche had been warped by looking too much at the Black Stone of legend near the village of Stregoicvar. He never witnessed the annual, nocturnal rite of 24 June. The narrator in "The Black Stone" mentions that if he had, he would have become insane much earlier. His poetry is used as prelude in The Thing on the Roof. and his backstory was explored in the unfinished story, The House. Here it was revealed that Geoffrey came from a family of merchants with no interest in art or poetry. The fragment suggests Justin's insanity began when, as a child, he went to sleep one summer night beside a long-abandoned, sinister-looking farmhouse. Afterwards, he developed an increasingly violent temper as well as the habit of sneaking out of the house late at night to go exploring. Justin left home at the age of 17, after reluctantly completing high school. The Thing on the Doorstep reveals that Geoffrey was a correspondent of [|Edward Derby] and gives the year of his death at 1926. See "The Black Stone"Gilman, Walter
See "The Dreams in the Witch House".Gordon, Edgar Hengist
In Robert Bloch's short story "The Dark Demon", Gordon is a failed writer of horror fiction who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. His morbid writings were said to drive away readers and publishers alike.Grimlan, John
Made a pact with Malik Tous, the Prince of Darkness, for 250 years of life.Gustau, Thelred
Published Legends of the Olden Runes, based on translated documents written by Teh Atht, preserved in a golden box cast up by the eruption of Surtsey. Disappeared in a mysterious "explosion."H
Hero, David
A Dreamer, in the Dreamlands. Once mortal, he died and was reborn in the Dreamlands.Hoag, (Captain) Abner Exekiel
A sea captain in the Lin Carter story "The Dweller in the Tomb".Hutchinson, Edward
True name of Baron Ferenczy of Transylvania.I
Ibn Schacabao
mentioned in the Necronomicon.J
Johansen, Gustaf
A Norwegian sailor who encounters Cthulhu. Unlike his companions, he manages to survive both physically and mentally, and returns home - only to be murdered most subtly by a member of the Cthulhu cult. "The Call of Cthulhu".K
Kant, Ernst
Klarkash-Ton
high-priest credited with recording the "Commoriom myth-cycle" of ancient Hyperborea.Keane, Abel
An assistant of Laban Shrewsbury who mysteriously disappeared. See The Trail of Cthulhu.Kirowan, (Professor) John
See John Kirowan.Kuranes
A king in the Dreamlands, originally a hobo in the waking world. See Kuranes.L
Lake, Prof.
A professor of Biology at Miskatonic University. Member of the Pabodie Antarctic expedition.Lapham, Seneca
A professor of Anthropology at Miskatonic University who investigated the death of [|Ambrose Dewart]. See The Lurker at the Threshold.Legrasse, John Raymond
In Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu", Legrasse is a New Orleans police inspector who investigated the Cthulhu cult. See "The Call of Cthulhu".Lillibridge, Edwin M.
An inquisitive reporter for the Providence Telegram who disappears in 1893 - as it turns out, inside the Free-Will Church where the Church of Starry Wisdom sect holds its services. His remains are discovered by Robert Blake when he investigates the abandoned building. See The Haunter of the DarkLLanfer, (Doctor) Cyrus
A chief librarian of Miskatonic University Library who first appears in August Derleth's "The Return of Hastur". After graduating from the university in 1902, he became the assistant director of the library and later took over Henry Armitage's post some time before 1936. He is noteworthy for compiling "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", a huge catalog of the arcane books kept in the Special Collections department.Luveh-Keraphf
The mad high priest of Bast during Egypt's 13th Dynasty and writer of the Black Rites. The name is Robert Bloch's to Lovecraft.)M
Marsh, Obadiah
A sea captain and the founder of the Esoteric Order of Dagon in Innsmouth. See "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".Mason, Keziah
See "The Dreams in the Witch House".Misquamacus
See The Lurker at the Threshold.Morgan, (Professor) Francis
Professor of Medicine and Comparative Anatomy at Miskatonic University who helped defeat the Dunwich Horror. See "The Dunwich Horror".Mülder, (Doctor & Professor) Gottfried
Scientist and travel-companion of [|von Junst]. Wrote the foreword to Unaussprechlichen Kulten as well as The Secret Mysteries of Asia, with a Commentary on the Ghorl Nigräl .Mylakhrion
Most powerful wizard of Theem'hdra. He attained immortality by making a bargain with the Great Old One Cthulhu. He was killed by Cthulhu after attempting to renege on the agreement. Lived in Humquass and Tharamoon.N
Nephren-Ka
The Black Pharaoh, an insane pharaoh who secured the Shining Trapezohedron for Egypt, but after being convinced by the resident Haunter of the Dark, he had a lightless temple created to hold the stone and the deity within. That temple became a center of abominable happenings, and the rites carried out there were so monstrous the temple was destroyed and the Pharaoh's name was struck from all records and monuments. The Pharaoh was controlled by the cruel god Nyarlathotep, of whom the Haunter of the Dark was likely an avatar.P
Peaslee, Nathaniel Wingate
In Lovecraft's "The Shadow Out of Time", a Professor of Political Economy at Miskatonic University and one-time victim of the Great Race of Yith. See "The Shadow Out of Time". He was killed in the epilogue of The Transition of Titus Crow in the aftermath of Project X's unsuccessful attempt to kill Cthylla.Phelan, Andrew
One-time assistant of Laban Shrewsbury. See The Trail of Cthulhu.Philetas, Theodorus
A fictional Greek scholar from Constantinople, Byzantine Empire. In 950AD, Philetas translated Al Hazred's Kitab Al Azif into Greek and gave it the title Necronomicon.Phillips, Ward (1)
First president of the institution later known as Miskatonic University and one of the three instructors at the school. In 1693, he donated the first books to what would become Miskatonic's famed library.Phillips, Ward (2)
Reverend of the Second Church of Arkham and author of Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-England Canaan. See The Lurker at the Threshold.Phillips, Ward (3)
Aged writer of pulp fiction in Providence, Rhode Island and friend of Randolph Carter.Phillips, Winfield
Pickman, Richard Upton
Renowned Boston painter infamous for his ghoulish works. In 1926, he vanished from his home. See "Pickman's Model".Pott, Johannes Henricus
German chemist, seePrinn, Abigail
In Henry Kuttner's "The Salem Horror", an alleged witch and self-proclaimed high priestess of Nyogtha in Salem, Massachusetts. She died mysteriously before the Salem witch trials began. Fearing she had cursed the town, superstitious colonists drove a stake through her heart before burying her. She may be a descendant of Ludwig Prinn.She rose from the dead to summon Nyogtha and attack the protagonist of The Salem Horror.
Prinn, Ludwig
Sorcerer and author of De Vermis Mysteriis.R
Rice, (Professor) Warren
Professor of Classical Languages at Miskatonic University and a member of the famous trio that defeated the Dunwich Horror. See "The Dunwich Horror".S
Schrach, Gerhard
Character in Hero of DreamsShrewsbury, Laban
An anthropologist and professor of philosophy at Miskatonic University who disappeared for twenty years, only to be presumed killed in a house fire shortly after his reappearance. See The Trail of Cthulhu.Silberhutte, Hank
A telepath from Texas with the ability to sense the minds of alien beings. In 1966, he joined the Wilmarth Foundation to help fight the Cthulhu Cycle Deities. He is introduced in Brian Lumley's The Burrowers Beneath and reappears on his own in Spawn of the Winds and In the Moons of Borea as well as a guest-appearance in Elysia.Sincaul, Cyprian
In Clark Ashton Smith's "The Hunters From Beyond", Sincaul is a renowned San Francisco sculptor with a reputation for producing morbid works. He also appears in Lin Carter's "Out of the Ages".Smith, Japhet
An agent of the Cthulhu cult. See The Trail of Cthulhu.Smith, Morgan
scholar and author of the seminal Sign of the Skull.Surama
Humanoid teacher and collaborator of Dr Clarendon. Surama was perhaps a serpent man.T
Thurston, Francis Wayland
The grand-nephew of [|George Angell], who discovers the secret of the Cthulhu Cult while going through his late uncle's papers. See "The Call of Cthulhu".Tuttle, Amos
Miskatonic Library benefactor, collector of the Tuttle Celaeno Fragments and the R'leyh Text.T'yog
In "Out of the Aeons", ghostwritten by Lovecraft, T'yog is high priest of Shub-Niggurath and sorcerer in the province of K'naa in ancient Mu. He sought to challenge the power of Ghatanothoa by confronting the god in its lair on Yaddith-Gho. To protect himself from the god's medusa-like ability, he prepared a special scroll. T'yog was defeated when Ghatanothoa's priests replaced his scroll with a fake.He also appears in Lin Carter's "The Thing in the Pit".
Typer, Alonzo Hasbrouch
Came to and disappeared in Chorazin, N.Y., and his diary was found in 1935. See The Diary of Alonzo TyperU
Undercliffe, Errol
Enigmatic writer of horror fiction in Brichester, England. He disappeared in 1967 after looking into the death of Roland Franklyn. His stories appear in two collections: The Man Who Feared to Sleep and Photographed by Lightning. His correspondent Ramsey Campbell paid tribute to him in Demons by Daylight, and noted that a Korean director, Harry Chang, was to film some of Undercliffe's stories under the title Red Dreams.Upton, Daniel
Character in The Thing on the Doorstep. Father of Edward Derby Upton.V
Von Junzt, Friedrich Wilhelm
The author of the Unaussprechlichen Kulten. See The Black Stone.W
Waite, Asenath
In Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep", she is the daughter and victim of Ephraim Waite.Waite, Ephraim
In Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep", he is the father of Asenath Waite who later possessed her body.Walmsley, Gordon (of Goole)
Author and expert in the science of ciphersWard, Charles Dexter
See The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.Warren, Harley
Occult friend of Randolph Carter and victim of unknown forces. See Harley Warren.Webb, William Channing
An explorer and professor of Anthropology at Princeton University who encountered the Cthulhu Cult in Greenland. See "The Call of Cthulhu".Wendy-Smith, Sir Amery
Archaeologist, explorer, and author of the G'harne Fragments.West, Herbert
medical student who experimented with the reanimation of corpses. See "Herbert West-Reanimator".Whateley, Lavinia
Albino daughter of Noah Whateley. See "The Dunwich Horror".Whateley, (Wizard) Noah
Backwoods farmer and reputed sorcerer. See "The Dunwich Horror".Whateley, Wilbur
Son of Lavinia Whateley and Yog-Sothoth. See "The Dunwich Horror".Wilmarth, Albert N.
Folklorist and assistant professor of English at Miskatonic University who investigated strange events in Vermont. See "The Whisperer in Darkness".Wormius, Olaus
A man who prepared the Latin edition of the Necronomicon during the eleventh century.Y
Yakthoob
In Lin Carter's 1971 short story “The Doom of Yakthoob”, the title character is a wizard who apprenticed the young Abdul Alhazred. He perishes horribly during an ill-fated summoning of a demon.Z
Zamacona Y Nuñez, Panfilio De
In the 1940 Zealia Bishop short story "The Mound", ghost-written by Lovecraft, Zamacona Y Nuñez is a Spanish conquistador who accompanied Coronado on an excursion into the New World. After Coronado turned back in 1541, Zamacona continued into what is now Oklahoma searching for a lost city of gold. Instead, he discovers the underground realm of K'n-yan.,After living with the increasingly inhuman people of K'n-yan for a few years, he attempts escape, but is betrayed by a pack-beast. A second attempt ends horribly with him captured, and made into a mutilated zombie monster guarding the mound entrance referred to in the story's title.