Yog-Sothoth


Yog-Sothoth
Aliases:	Yok-Zothoth Yog-Sototl The Lurker at the Threshold
Continuity:	Cthulhu Mythos
Notability:	Antagonist
Type:	Cosmic being
Gender:	Male
Location:	Outside of Spacetime
Associations:	Old Ones
Relatives:	Azathoth Nameless Mist Cthulhu Hastur
Status:	Immortal
First:	The Dunwich Horror

Yog-Sothoth is a fictional giant monster, deific creature and cosmic entity featured in the writings of Gothic horror scribe H.P. Lovecraft. He first appeared in the 1928 short story "The Dunwich Horror", which was published in the April, 1929 issue of Weird Tales magazine (pages 481-508). Yog-Sothoth, along with the story that introduced him, are considered core elements of Lovecraft's greater Cthulhu Mythos.

Description[]

Yog-Sothoth is an immense deific creature and one of the Great Old Ones. His appearance varies based upon the observer, but he has often been described as a mass of iridescent globes; oft times accompanied by eyes or tentacles. In some instances, he is portrayed as a creature of flesh, immense in mass with trailing tendrils. Yog-Sothoth is the embodiment of all of time and space across an essentially infinite number of space-time continuums.

History[]

Yog-Sothoth was born of the Nameless Mist, Magnum Innominandum, who in turn was the offspring of Azathoth. Yog-Sothoth existed outside the normal definitions of the spacetime continuum, but was considered the guardian of the gate between worlds. He is all-seeing and all-knowing, and his influence touches all points of time simultaneously.

Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread.

Yog-Sothoth has been described as an All-in-One and One-in-All of limitless being and self—not merely a thing of one Space-Time continuum but allied to the ultimate animating essence of existence's whole unbounded sweep. Yog-Sothoth sees all and knows all. To "please" this deity could bring knowledge of many things. However, to see it or learn too much about it is to court death or madness. Yog-Sothoth is the offspring of the Nameless Mists, which were born of the deity Azathoth. Yog-Sothoth mated with Shub-Niggurath to produce the twin deities Nug and Yeb, while Nug sired Cthulhu through parthenogenesis. In 1928, Yog-Sothoth impregnates a mortal woman named Lavinia Whateley, who then gives birth to twin sons: the humanoid Wilbur Whateley and his more monstrous brother Cain Whateley.

The Great Old One Tawil at'Umr serves as the physical projection of Yog-Sothoth's will and pursues his goals across the dimensions. It is theorized that Tawil at'Umr is little more than the side effect of Yog-Sothoth brushing up against the Material Plane.

Relations[]

Azathoth - Grandfather
Magnum Innominandum - Father
Shub-Niggurath - Mate
Lavinia Whateley - Mate
Dunwich abomination - Offspring
Wilbur Whateley - Offspring
Nug - Offspring
Yeb - Offspring
Hastur - Offspring
Cthulhu - Grandchild
Tsathoggua - Grandchild

Notes & Trivia[]

Although Yog didn't make a proper appearance until "The Dunwich Horror", he was first referenced in the 1927 story "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward".
The Necronomicon provides names for the thirteen iridescent globes that provides Yog-Sothoth's form. They are as follows:

Gomory
Zagan
Sytry
Eligor
Durson
Vual
Scor
Algor
Sefon
Partas
Gamor
Umbra
Anaboth

Appearances[]

Short Stories[]

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - 1st mentioned.
The Last Test
The Dunwich Horror - 1st appearance.
The Electric Executioner
The Whisperer in Darkness
At the Mountains of Madness
The Horror in the Museum
Through the Gates of the Silver Key
The Haunter of the Dark
The Secret of Kralitz
Dig Me No Grave
The Druid of Castle Rock

Related categories[]

Yog-Sothoth appearances