A shoggoth (occasionally shaggoth) is a fictional monster in the

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify ...

. The beings were mentioned in passing in H. P. Lovecraft's

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Fungi from Yuggoth ''Fungi from Yuggoth'' is a sequence of 36 sonnets by cosmic horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Most of the sonnets were written between 27 December 1929 – 4 January 1930; thereafter individual sonnets appeared in ''Weird Tales'' and other genre ...

'' (1929–30) and later described in detail in his

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...

'' At the Mountains of Madness'' (1931).

Description

The definitive descriptions of shoggoths come from the above-quoted story. In it, Lovecraft describes them as massive amoeba-like creatures made out of iridescent black slime, with multiple eyes "floating" on the surface. They are "

protoplasm Protoplasm (; ) is the living part of a cell that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. It is a mixture of small molecules such as ions, monosaccharides, amino acid, and macromolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc. In some defi ...

ic", lacking any default body shape and instead being able to form limbs and organs at will. A typical shoggoth measures 15 feet across when a

sphere A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the c ...

, though the story mentions the existence of others of much greater size. Being amorphous, shoggoths can take on any shape needed, making them very versatile within aquatic environments. Cthulhu Mythos media most commonly portray shoggoths as intelligent to some degree, but deal with problems using only their great size and strength. The shoggoth that appears in ''At the Mountains of Madness'' simply rolls over and crushes numerous giant penguins that are in its way as it pursues human characters. The character Abdul Alhazred is terrified by the mere idea of shoggoths' existence on Earth. The shoggoths bear a strong physical resemblance to Ubbo-Sathla, a god-like entity supposedly responsible for the origin of life on Earth in the Hyperborean cycle written by

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an American writer and artist. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne. As a poet, Smi ...

Fictional history

''At the Mountains of Madness'' includes a detailed account of the circumstances of the shoggoths' creation by the extraterrestrial Elder Things. Shoggoths were initially used to build the cities of their masters. Though able to "understand" the Elder Things' language, shoggoths had no real consciousness and were controlled through hypnotic suggestion. Over millions of years of existence, some shoggoths mutated, developed independent minds, and rebelled. The Elder Things succeeded in quelling the insurrection, but exterminating the shoggoths was not an option as the Elder Things were dependent on them for labor and had long lost their capacity to create new life. Shoggoths also developed the ability to survive on land, while the Elder Things retreated to the oceans. Shoggoths that remained alive in the abandoned Elder Thing city in

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would later poorly imitate their masters' art and voices, endlessly repeating "Tekeli-li" or "Takkeli",This cry is a reference to the

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

'' The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'', which is cited in ''At the Mountains of Madness''. (Pearsall, "Poe, Edgar Allan", ''The Lovecraft Lexicon'', p. 332.) a cry that their old masters used.

Notes

References

* * * Definitive version. * {{At the Mountains of Madness Cthulhu Mythos species Fictional amorphous creatures Fictional extraterrestrial characters Fictional extraterrestrial life forms Fictional genetically engineered characters Fictional monsters Literary characters introduced in 1930 Literary villains