Tekeli-li!

Squit

Squit!

So, what is Cthulhu. Seemingly simple answer, he's just the big guy in the ocean with the octopus head, right? He's dead but will come back some day, he broadcasts his dreams, HPL is pretty explicit about Big C, going so far as to draw him on multiple occasions. Pretty uncomplicated.

And I hate uncomplicated (when it comes to Mythos beasties) so let's talk about my Cthulhu.

There exists a force which has been interpreted and reinterpreted by various cultures which have interacted with its influence. It is localized at a central point which appears at seemingly random times, a strange and gigantic formation of stones that give the appearance of a great city. There is a biological mass under these stones. How large? Completely unknown, as it has never left, if it even can.

This mass, this force, this being, it is a massive psychic explosion, continuously transmitting itself to the brains of those sensitive to feel it. Those touched by its outreach are driven to acts they never thought possible, given knowledge they should never have, seeing the distant future and past. Pacifist philosophers become serial killers, violent criminals become sensitive artists. The devout priest denounces their faith, and the staunch atheist claims he saw angels.

On rare occasions, these psychic phenomenon become physically manifest. They follow no laws of physics, are nit made of matter, but are very much real. The Deep Ones call the manifestation they witness Dagon. We know one as the creature depicted in the famed idol of the Louisiana Swamp Cult. But these are not Cthulhu, just his pure psychic energy given manifest. The thing that slumbers under R’lyeh is much larger, much more terrible, and constantly casting it's horrible influence on the Earth.

Thematically, Cthulhu is about the end of the world. Specifically, it's about the inevitability of the end. It's the crushing ocean-like pressure of knowing that nothing you do will matter in the end. Like. It represents total control, the perfect storm, the end of days that could never be avoided with every step meticulously placed. Not an uncaring cosmos, but a cosmos so perfectly designed to fuck you over.

It's a realization that transforms you. Some people find it freeing. Toss aside your morals, your responsibilities, nothing matters anyways! Kill and revel and enjoy yourself! This is the only time you get before it crushes you underfoot.