Editing Cthulhu (section)

{{short description|Fictional cosmic entity}}
{{Other uses|Cthulhu (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Cthulhu
| series = [[Cthulhu Mythos]]
| image = Cthulhu3.jpg
| caption = Sketch of Cthulhu drawn by Lovecraft (11 May 1934)
| first = "[[The Call of Cthulhu]]" (1928)
| creator = [[H. P. Lovecraft]]
| species = [[Great Old Ones|Great Old One]]
| gender = Male
| family = {{plainlist|
*[[Azathoth]] (great-great-grandfather)
*[[Yog-Sothoth]] (grandfather)
*[[Shub-Niggurath]] (grandmother)
*[[List of Great Old Ones#Nug and Yeb|Nug]] (parent)<ref name="Lovecraft 1967 Letter 617">{{cite book|title=Selected Letters (1932–1934) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kr9lAAAAMAAJ |last=Lovecraft|first=H. P.|author-link=H. P. Lovecraft|year=1967|publisher=[[Arkham House]]|location=[[Sauk City, Wisconsin]]|isbn=0-87054-035-1|no-pp=y|page=Letter 617<!--|title-link=Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft IV (1932–1934)-->|access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref>}}
}}
'''Cthulhu''' is a [[fictional character|fictional]] [[Cosmicism|cosmic entity]] created by writer [[H. P. Lovecraft]]. It was introduced in his [[short story]] "[[The Call of Cthulhu]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lovecraftzine.com/2016/07/21/lovecrafts-cthulhu-and-the-great-old-ones-fact-iction-or-foretold-in-the-necronomicon |title={title} |access-date=2018-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802132049/https://lovecraftzine.com/2016/07/21/lovecrafts-cthulhu-and-the-great-old-ones-fact-fiction-or-foretold-in-the-necronomicon/ |archive-date=2018-08-02 |url-status=live }}</ref> published by the American [[pulp magazine]] ''[[Weird Tales]]'' in 1928. Considered a [[Cthulhu Mythos deities#Great Old Ones|Great Old One]] within the [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] of Lovecraftian cosmic entities, this creature has since been featured in numerous pop culture references. Lovecraft depicts it as a gigantic entity worshipped by cultists, in the shape of a green [[octopus]], [[dragon]], and a [[caricature]] of human form. It is the namesake of the Lovecraft-inspired [[Cthulhu Mythos]].