A Deep One (Art by BorjaPindado)
The Deep Ones, also known as the Frog Men, are a race of amphibious humanoids that reside within the bottom of the oceans of Earth. They worship the Ogdru Hem, such as Cthulhu, Dagon, and Mother Hydra.
Appearance[]
The Deep Ones are humanoid beings with fish, human and amphibian-like traits, they are described as having greyish green, glossy and slippery skin with white stomachs. They have scaled, ridged backs, as well as webbed hands and gilled necks. Notably, they have a head similar to that of a fish, with eyes incapable of blinking. They move about in an inhuman fashion, by hopping oddly, and occasionally move on all fours.
Description[]
Deep Ones are often regarded as unholy perversions of Merfolk, as if they were made to mock what was once attributed to the divine. Robert Olmstead describes them as having abhorrent, croaking voices that spoke a language other than English. Their form was so horrid that their mere appearance caused Robert to lose consciousness for a while.
All hybrids are shown coming from a female Deep One and a male human. It is a safety measure based on the fact that both of those possess the limiting growth gene of their own species, otherwise the child would become much larger. It is similar to a liger, a hybrid born from a male lion and a female tigress who never stop growing until their maturity.
Overview[]
The Deep Ones are capable of procreating with humans, and as part of their pact with the Deep Ones, the residents of Innsmouth are forced to interbreed with them. Although the Deep One hybrid offspring are born with the appearance of a normal human being, they gradually assume the appearance of their Deep One ancestors.
When the hybrid becomes too obviously non-human, they go into seclusion in ostensibly abandoned buildings until fully capable of living solely underwater. The rate of progression varies with each individual. However, it normally does not reach completion until the human middle age. Once this transformation is complete they are also functionally immortal.
Apart from the physical change they also feel a scorn for humanity, an affinity for the Non-Euclidean artwork of the Deep One race, and an increasingly powerful desire to abandon the human world and go to the Deep One city of Y'ha-nthlei. Asenath Waite is a notable Deep One but she was killed before the transformation could finish.
The Deep Ones and their human-allies ran the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a secret cult, from the town of Innsmouth in Essex County, Massachusetts. This cult was destroyed by the 1920's by the U.S. Treasury Department and the British Paranormal Society, the precursors of B.P.R.D.
