Great Cthulhu

Cthulhu, Great Cthulhu, Great Priest Cthulhu, or Dark God Cthulhu (amongst others) is the most famous of the Great Old Ones as well as one of three gods worshiped by the Esoteric Order of Dagon in Innsmouth.

History and origins
Cthulhu is one of the three gods worshiped by the Esoteric Order of Dagon in Innsmouth and the Deep Ones. He is a Great Old One and their priest, who came from outer space with a race known as Cthulhui. He and his minions built the great city of R'lyeh. Cthulhu and his army attacked another alien race called the Elder Things, who already colonised the Earth by that time. Although his army was stronger than the army of the Elder Things, the stars changed and Cthulhu couldn't live any more. So he fled into his city and fell asleep until the stars were righted again. Even though he is sleeping, he is still not entirely alive nor dead.

Later, when humans evolved, Cthulhu and the few of Cthulhu's kin that survived the changing of the stars would create the cult that the humans would later build to a higher level. A mantra spoken by the cultists announces his future return : "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", which translates roughly to English as: "In his house of R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming".

How Dagon and Hydra are connected with Cthulhu is unclear, but they may have came to Earth with Cthulhu and his kin and likely brought the Deep Ones with them. Or they may be Great Old Ones themselves.

In the Necronomicon, the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred writes   That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die."''

Cthulhu is worshipped by the aptly named Cult of Cthulhu, which waits for his rise and new conquest." ...the secret priests would take great Cthulhu from his tomb to revive His subjects and resume his rule of earth [...] Then mankind would have become as the Great Old Ones; free and wild and beyond good and evil, with laws and morals thrown aside and all men shouting and killing and revelling in joy. Then the liberated Old Ones would teach them new ways to shout and kill and revel and enjoy themselves, and all the earth would flame with a holocaust of ecstasy and freedom. ""(H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu, 1927)"

Appearance
"'If I say that my somewhat extravagant imagination yielded simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature, I shall not be unfaithful to the spirit of the thing. A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; but it was the general outline of the whole which made it most shockingly frightful.”""(H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu, 1927)"Cthulhu is described as a colossal Great Old One. His appearance - based upon depictions and idols of him - seems to be a mix between a dragon, an octopi and a grotesque human with has wings (it is unclear whether they are of any use to him), an octopus head and other monstrous body parts. Many say that a single look on him would make any man insane.

Role in the game :
"'I hope to god that I'm wrong... but my studies over these last months tell me that's a stone carving of Great Cthulhu.' (Jack Walters upon seeing the Cthulhu-shaped door in the Marsh Refinery)"While Cthulhu never appears in-game (for obvious reasons), numerous carvings in his image are present as well as a great statue in the secret worship area beneath the Marsh Refinery. Looking at the statue for too long can cause Jack to lose his sanity.

The Tablets of Dagon also prophecies the return of Great Cthulhu upon the Earth.