Ithaqua (Art by Christian Bravery)
Ithaqua, also known as the Wind-Walker or the Wendigo, is one of the Ogdru Hem and the son of Hastur. He is credited as the progenitor of the Yeti and the possible catalyst behind the Wendigo.
Description[]
Ithaqua appears as a 50-foot-tall monstrous humanoid with unnaturally long limbs. His webbed feet are always concealed in blasts of thick cold winds, and always leave behind monstrous tracks in the snow. Onlookers rarely remember his shape beyond his two glowing red eyes.
Overview[]
Ithaqua is one of the Old Ones and appears as a horrifying giant with a roughly human shape and glowing red eyes. He has been reported from as far north as the Arctic to the Sub-Arctic, where Native Americans first encountered him. He is believed to prowl the Arctic waste, hunting down unwary travelers and slaying them in a gruesome fashion. The Yetis, who were once his descendants, defend human travelers from Ithaqua though they themselves are not on good terms with humans.
It is also believed that Ithaqua is the creator of the Yeti, who were early hominids that roamed the primeval Earth only to be taken and corrupted by Ithaqua to become his servants; some even say that the Yeti were the children of Ithaqua. Moreover, the Native Americans equated him with the mythical Wendigo though whether or not the Wendigo's origins are related to Ithaqua is not fully explored. Milo Thatch theorizes that the Wendigos were the result of Ithaqua forcing the earliest humans that remained on Borea, a splintered section of the continent Hyperborea, to devour their own in order to embrace and transcend beyond the limits of mortal flesh and wield the power of Ithaqua, seeing through his eyes. In the process, their souls were tainted and unable to pass on to the afterlife, resulting in them undergoing a dark and twisted process that led to the creation of the Wendigo spirit.
Ithaqua is known for his attempts to mate with any humanoid females by inserting a psychic "seed" into the womb, which will develop into his offspring, in an effort to create children whose abilities will outstrip his own. He hopes that one day, one of these children will aid him in his goal of freeing the other Ogdru Hem and, ultimately, in destroying the polytheistic gods once and for all. However, in all the many years of his existence, none of these children has ever lived up to his dreams, and every one has turned on their father. It is even suggested that Ithaqua has the ulterior motive of desiring offspring to assuage his bitter loneliness, as he is the only one of his kind.