Mi-go
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Mi-Go are a fictional race of
extraterrestrials Extraterrestrial life, or alien life (colloquially, aliens), is life that originates from another world rather than on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been scientifically conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms ...
created by
H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...
and used by others in the
Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...
setting. The aliens are fungus-based lifeforms which are extremely varied due to their prodigious surgical, biological, chemical, and mechanical skill. The variants witnessed by the protagonist of " The Whisperer in Darkness" resemble winged human-sized
crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax. Their exoskeleton is often thickened and ha ...
. Mi-Go are first named as such in Lovecraft's short story "The Whisperer in Darkness" (1931). However, since they are described in this story as "fungi" that come "from Yuggoth," they can be considered an elaboration on earlier references to alien vegetation on dream-worlds in Lovecraft's sonnet cycle '' Fungi from Yuggoth'' (1929–30).


Description

The Mi-Go are large, pinkish, fungoid,
crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
-like entities the size of a man; where a head would be, they have a "convoluted ellipsoid" composed of pyramided, fleshy rings and covered in antennae. They are about long, and their crustacean-like bodies bear numerous sets of paired appendages. They possess a pair of membranous bat-like wings which are used to fly through the " aether" of outer space. The wings do not function well on Earth. Several other races in Lovecraft's Mythos also have wings like these. In the original short story, the creatures cannot be recorded using ordinary photographic film, due to their bodies being formed from otherworldly matter. They are capable of going into suspended animation until softened and reheated by the sun or some other source of heat. The Mi-Go can transport humans from Earth to
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
(and beyond) and back again by removing the subject's living
brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
and placing it into a "brain cylinder", which can be attached to external devices to allow it to see, hear, and speak. In " The Whisperer in Darkness" the Mi-Go are heard to give praise to Nyarlathotep and
Shub-Niggurath Shub-Niggurath is a deity created by H. P. Lovecraft. She is often associated with the phrase "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young". The only other name by which Lovecraft referred to her was "Lord of the Wood" in his story ''The W ...
, suggesting some form of worship. Their moral system is completely alien, making them seem highly malicious from a human perspective. One of the moons of Yuggoth holds designs that are sacred to the Mi-Go; these are useful in various processes mentioned in the '' Necronomicon''. It is said that transcriptions of these designs can be sensed by the Mi-Go, and those possessing them shall be hunted down by the few remaining on Earth.In "The Whisperer in Darkness", a "black stone with unknown hieroglyphics" from Yuggoth is among the items owned by the narrator that the Mi-Go want to recover as part of their plot to lure him to the Akeley farmhouse. The narrator of "The Whisperer in Darkness" learns that, ostensibly, a group known as the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign is dedicated to hunting down and exterminating the fungoid threat, though it is unknown if this is actually true since it was given as a pat explanation for the Mi-Go remaining hidden. The name "
Hastur Hastur (known by the epithets The Unspeakable One, The King in Yellow, Him Who Is Not to be Named, Assatur, Xastur, H'aaztre, Fenric, or Kaiwan) is an entity of the Cthulhu Mythos. Hastur first appeared in Ambrose Bierce's short story "Haïta t ...
" is mentioned in passing among several other places and things, was eventually applied into a god-like alien being by
August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. He made contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Lovecraftian horror, cosmi ...
who gave Hastur the title "Him Who is Not to be Named". However, in Lovecraft's story, a human ally of the Mi-Go mentions "Him Who Is Not to Be Named" in the list of honored entities along with Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath, and "Hastur" in connection with the cult of the Yellow Sign opposing the Mi-Go's work on Earth. Lovecraft never made a connection between Hastur and "Him Who Is Not to Be Named", and indeed did not even imply Hastur was a being; Derleth was the one to do so.


Notes


References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mi-Go Literary characters introduced in 1931 Cthulhu Mythos species Fictional fungi Fictional extraterrestrial characters Fictional extraterrestrial species and races Fictional monsters Fictional crabs