Cthulhu is a monstrous entity created by HP Lovecraft. His creation was first featured in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the American magazine Weird Tales in 1928. Believed to be a Great Old One with great power who resides in a sleep mimicking features of death deep in the Pacific Ocean, hidden in the sunken city of R'lyeh. He remains an overwhelming presence in relations between the Eldrichs on our world. Cthulhu holds his place within the pantheon of Lovecraftian entities as the most feared of all and has since been featured in countless cultural references. Lovecraft explains his creation as an enormous being worshiped by crazed cultists. Cthulhu's appearance is described as resembling an octopus, a dragon, and an overly exaggerated human monstrosity, often towering several stories high. His name was given to the Lovecraft-inspired universe in which he and his ilk exist, the Cthulhu Mythos. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay Although created by Lovecraft, the name Cthulhu comes from the word Chthonic, coming from the classical Greek meaning "underground", such as it is referred to by Lovecraft himself at the end of his 1923 tale Rats in the Walls. Cthulhu in the "Myth" was born on the planet Vhoorl to two other Great Old Ones, Nug and Yeb. At some point, he then traveled to the Xoth star system, where he mated with Idh-Yaa, another Great Old One, and was later worshiped by his own shapeshifting offspring. Idh-Yaa eventually gave birth to four more children: Gthanothoa, Ythogtha, Zoth- and Cthylla. At this point, Cthulhu and his newly formed family traveled to Earth where he built the great city of R'lyeh, where his own offspring, Ythogtha, was ultimately destroyed. This was the start of a great war between the Ancients until nothing was left but dust and they all came to the conclusion that the Earth should be divided between their kingdoms. Cthulhu lies dormant in his sleep deep within the sunken city of R'lyeh, awaiting the day when the stars align correctly and he can rise again. In the spring of 1925, "sentient people" were deliriously dreaming of a supernatural city and strange words from the Cthulhu language, fhtagn. These words come from a saying of Cthulhu cultists at that time: "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn". Roughly translated, this phrase means "In his home of R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits to dream." Indeed, Cthulhu's dreams had touched the minds of these humans. (Price, Robert M.) It was later discovered that the stars had aligned and Cthulhu had risen. However, fortune had not smiled on him and his worshipers were unable to witness his awakening. Instead, he was defeated and banished again by a brave, if terrified, ship captain known as the Swede. Although Cthulhu survived and regenerated, he was unable to unleash more madness and he and his city sank once again beneath the ocean awaiting another opportunity to seize the world. If Cthulhu had been resurrected, he would have most likely brought madness and destruction and likely paved the way for the emergence of the remaining Great Old Ones on Earth. The greatest hope for survival would have been a voluntary sacrifice, such is the tradition of “Call of Cthulhu”. Lovecraft's myth of monstrous and evil beings is often called the "Cthulhu Mythos" or the "Cthulhu Cycle" to contrast with his "dream cycle" stories. It includes many other similar beings, some much more.