“ | 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. | „ |
~ HPL , The Dunwich Horror. |
Yog-Sothoth is the first of the Ogdru Jahad and the embodiment of space-time continuums that course through the 'eldriverse' which he essentially is as well.
Overview[]
According to the Necronomicon, Yog-Sothoth was born from the pits of chaos. As Azathoth thrashed within the waters of the void, the primordial black flames he spewed forth made the dark seas boil, and from the bubbles which held the Shakti came a chain reaction consisting of dark matter and temporal energy that took form. He is also the progenitor of Cthulhu, Hastur the Unspeakable and the ancestor of the Voormi. He is also the father of Wilbur Whateley.
Given that he is an entire existence created by Azathoth, this allows him to be connected to the multiverse itself but only within reach of the Outerverse which is completely separate from the multiverse made by God and Asherah. Like many Lovecraftian deities, Yog-Sothoth has a number of avatars and even followers (such as the Chorazos Cult) by which to expand his influence. It is an entity of vast knowledge and power, and those who treat with it may learn much; any who do so must be wary, however: as with many of the creatures of the beyond, the mere sight of Yog-Sothoth's full form is sufficient to drive the mortal mind over the edge of insanity.
Appearance[]
Like many Lovecraftian gods, Yog-Sothoth has many different appearances throughout the history of the mythos, by various authors. However, there seems to be a common agreement that Yog-Sothoth visually manifests as a mass of glowing orbs, with eyes or tendrils in some versions, and in others simply the orbs.
Like its brethren and children, Yog-Sothoth is thoroughly indescribable and inconceivable, way beyond human comprehension, and those in its presence can only perceive an approximation. it was described in many different ways throughout the various legends. However, there seems to be a common agreement that Yog-Sothoth visually manifests as a mass of glowing orbs that continuously merge, regrow and break apart, with eyes or tendrils in some versions. This shows that despite its locking, Yog-Sothoth is capable of communicating to some extend beyond the "No Space", demonstrating a form of omnipresence as well.
In At the Mountains of Madness, he is portrayed as a huge mass of yellow tendrils and in Beyond the Gates of the Silver Key, he is shown as a large creature with eyes and tendrils. Whatever the case, Yog-Sothoth is among the most eldritch and incomprehensible of even Lovecraftian deities; far surpassing any and all of the Great Old Ones and even other Outer Gods, only matched in sheer power by fellow supreme Outer Gods.
History[]
Genesis[]
Yog-Sothoth was created by the chaos through Azathoth, who created all Ogdru Jahad and Ogdru Hem in order to battle both God and His ancient armies. Yog-Sothoth is said to be the first of the Ogdru Jahad that was created due to the fact that it embodies the 'eldriverse' molded by Azathoth through Chaos. And when God witnessed the sort of horrendous and terrible creations that Azathoth and its children are capable of constructing, He waged war against the eternal darkness.
After the defeat of Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth was imprisoned by God in what is said to be an omni-lock, meaning that it is completely locked away from the current mainstream reality and among other realities, with it being its own reality that inhabits an existence which is not connected to any of the branches of creation and defines both human and inhuman conceptual equations made by the clashing between God and Azathoth.
Yog-Sothoth, alongside most other Outer Gods, are currently trapped in the Outerverse by God Himself, from which they can only be released with the Right Hand of Doom, the mysterious key to that dimension. The Right Hand of Doom is also said to be the key that would destroy the lock of the Outerverse and that being the Nihilo Mask which contains Yog-Sothoth and the other Ogdru Jahad within the shadowlands outside of creation itself. Even when trapped, slivers of Yog-Sothoth's 'essence' were able to slip through the cracks. This in turn allowed him to project avatars of himself and was even able to have several children like Wilbur Whateley.
Through the Gates of the Silver Key[]
Charles Randolph Carter actually meets him. The encounter makes it very clear that it is the point of view which defines the nature of the interaction; there is nothing inherently evil or frightening about him. He opens the gates of the Multiverse to anyone who is willing to glimpse it and unlike the "nameless devourers" he is not going to harm you or force you into what you do not want.
He gives Carter the option of leaving or going forward; The price is to see the true or at least partial vastness of what is, a flood of knowledge that overwhelms the current "self". Once Carter is at the nexus of all he is, was and will be, he is distilled into one being: a Wizard in a planet engaged in a battle; yet all Carter wants is to go back to Earth saying, "How limited are we truly, and what does it take to move on beyond?"
At the Mountains of Madness[]
When William Dyer and Danforth escaped from a Shoggoth and leaving the Mountains on their plane, Danforth looks back and sees something that causes him to go insane. He refuses to tell anyone (even Dyer) what he saw, though it is implied that it has something to do with what lies beyond the larger mountain range that even the Old Ones feared. It is likely that this entity was an avatar of Yog-Sothoth.
A similar experience occurred with the Great Race of Yith who used their mastered abilities of peering into the future to advance their society and record ancient knowledge. But they peered too far into the future where they witnessed a glimpse of a cataclysmic conflict they refer to as the Great Collapse. It is believed that by peering too much into the confines of the time stream, they accidentally came into contact with Yog-Sothoth.
Dunwich Horror[]
Yog-Sothoth has some connection to the mysterious Old Ones mentioned in The Dunwich Horror (1929), but their nature, their number, and their connection to Yog-Sothoth are unknown. Nonetheless, they are probably allied to him in some way, since Wilbur Whateley, the half-human son of Yog-Sothoth, tried to summon them so that they could control Wilbur's more tainted twin and make it reproduce.
Ragna Rök[]
The key that kept Yog-Sothoth at bay ended up in Hell at some point, where it was held by Mammon. Later on, Mammon and Astaroth grafted the key onto a young cambion named Anung un Rama, who would be the only who can truly unleash the ancient deity into the universe. This cambion was later summoned to Earth by Project Ragna Rok, the final project of the Ahnenerbe, which was led by Grigori Rasputin.
Rasputin himself came into contact with Yog-Sothoth sometime during the 19th century, when the mystic was brought back to life by the Outer God after he was assassinated by Russian nobles. This only happened because Rasputin not only was able to understand the Necronomicon but also preserve his sanity from the contents of the accursed book. This made Rasputin somewhat valuable to Yog-Sothoth. Grigori Rasputin became a prophet of the Ogdru Jahad, and granted immortality after his attempted assassination in 1916. In 1944, Rasputin was one step closer to releasing his master through Project Ragna Rok, which only released a demon who bore the Right Hand of Doom from Hell. The key that would be used to free Yog-Sothoth and the Ogdru Jahad was attached to the right arm of the infant demon.
It is revealed that the events which transpired by Grigori, the Ahnenerbe and others who take an interest in Hellboy's Right Hand of Doom was all a ploy woven by Nyarlathotep, the Messenger of the Outer Gods. The material which makes up the Right Hand of Doom would be used by Nyarlathotep to graft unto the Void Sword, which would then be plunged into the Nihilo Mask as it is placed upon the Alpha Earth whereby Yog-Sothoth would encompass the entire Multiverse in his darkness, corrupting and tainting it with the stains of Azathoth himself.
Personality[]
Although he is classed as "evil", he is technically an amoral character who is simply beyond our understanding of petty morality or sanity. (Indeed, Lovecraft wrote in a very dark fashion that swayed away from moral absolutes, and saw the universe as being cold and cruel by Yog-Sothoth's very nature.)
Power and Abilities[]
Yog-Sothoth is among the most powerful beings in existence, with its power being almost equal to that of its creator. It is a limitless cosmic being that is connected with all of space and time yet is locked away from mainstream reality. This monstrous deity sees all and knows all and can impart knowledge to anyone foolish enough to seek its favor, which often required human sacrifice or worse and would ultimately bring calamity and ruin to the would-be-follower.
Being the Outer God of time and space, Yog-Sothoth has control over all of space and time. Yog-Sothoth is himself all of the spacetime continuum and is omnipresent. Likely Yog-Sothoth's defining trait is his omniscience; Yog-Sothoth sees all, knows all, and is all, and possesses the vast sapience that not even his grandfather can lay claim to. Every being that possesses intelligence is considered a mere facet of Yog-Sothoth, from a mere human to the most complex Outer God. He has also shown to be able to bestow this omniscience to those he deems worthy, such as Randolph Carter.
He is, by all technicalities, indestructible and immortal for it is implied that nothing short of Azathoth's release could truly get rid of him. He exists outside of the universe in an omni-lock. The entity is so powerful that merely seeing it or learning too much about its existence would drive one insane and create disaster. He is considered to be absolutely boundless from the perspectives of almost all beings, but is in truth implicitly restricted by Chaos. Regardless, Yog-Sothoth is considered to be of equal importance to Nyarlathotep as numerous individuals seek to release him in order to unleash the Ogdru Jahad from their prison.
Quotes[]
“ | From across the Black seas of Infinity and beyond the mists of time, Yog-Sothoth watches and waits. For he is the guardian of the gateway between worlds and he alone holds the key to unlock the gate. For when the ancient rites have been spoken, and the lords of darkness have been awakened and summoned forth, then shall the gateway between the stars open once more. | „ |
~ The Necronomicon (about Yog-Sothoth). |
“ | It was 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 whole unbounded sweep – the last, utter sweep which has no confines and which outreaches fancy and mathematics alike. It was perhaps that which certain secret cults of earth have whispered of as YOG-SOTHOTH, and which has been a deity under other names; that which the crustaceans of Yuggoth worship as the Beyond-One, and which the vaporous brains of the spiral nebulae know by an untranslatable Sign…yet in a flash the Carter-facet realized how slight and fractional all these conceptions are. | „ |
~ H.P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffman Price (about Yog-Sothoth). |