Thanks to Privacy for sponsoring the video! New customers will automatically get $5 to spend on your first purchase. Head to privacy.com/eckharts and sign up for an account. ALSO, I know more votes went towards the SCP idea on my recent community post. I'm doing both, that just needs more time! All art used linked in the description :)
Yes! 100% YES. I really hope others support both the Lovecraft and SPC Lore. I think you’re going to do a great job man. Keep it up, keep innovating, you’re doing great.
Nyarlat-hotep (“the beautiful soul” in ancient Egyptian) is the Christ analogue in Lovecraft’s dark trinity of Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, and Yog-Sothoth; which are inversions of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit respectively. This is why Nyarlathotep takes a human form and interacts directly with humanity.
That's fascinating - I haven't dug into the Mythos more than just reading some of the classics, and that will make for some excellent RPG setting fodder...
Doesn't that just make him the antichrist? I've always seen him as more akin to Lucifer who is also technically a son of God, his powers and personality are also very similar. Since he was not the son of a mortal and God but more a direct creation of Azathoth himself that makes more sense to me. This analogy strikes me as more personal interpretation than an actual theme of Lovecraft himself.
Imagine were ants, and the gods are people just going about their day, not looking down at insects they step on. Nyarlathotep however is that kid that likes to pinch the legs off ants
More like he's the kid who likes to test out everything from burning the ants with a magnifying glass, to salting their anthill, to transplanting them to a different fucking PLANET just to see if they adapt... and that's just when he's not being creative.
Easily my favorite of all the Lovecraft gods, unlike the rest of the pantheon he acknowledges humanity but this is far from a good thing. The dude lives to see us fail and suffer, killing his avatars and stopping his plans do not inconvenience him in the slightest because the end goal of his plans is to create as much misery and pain as possible. He's such a terrifying schemer man. I bet he and Tzeentch from 40K would get along just fine.
I find this dude more terrifying than Cthulu, a sleeping deity with clear boundaries to his current realm. Nyarlathotep is a more present nightmare than even Azathoth, the blind idiot god who could blink our world into nothingness by simply waking up. Nyarlathotep is a terrifying villain, not just because of his power, but because of his invested interest in us. Let us hope he never grows bored, as his apathy would be the end of everything.
I really like your Lovecraftian lore videos. It brings that weird part of science fiction/fantasy that I can't put into words, but is just so fascinating. Keep up the great videos Eck!
@@implodingsoftly That's probably because Nyarlethotep was directly inspired by Hastur, or rather, the King in Yellow. Hastur was created long before Nyarlethotep by a different author.
The day is dark, you are alone in the midle of nowhere, sudden you see a slender figure against the dark chaotic backgound uttering the words "Return the Slaab." You resist the horror that suddenly floods your mind and respond "What's your offer?"
The most terrifying thing about Nyarlathotep, isn't the fact that he can wipe out the entirety of our species. It's that he chooses not to, our suffering is infinitely more amusing.
I also love the theory that Nyarl might be the manifestation of Azathoth's (the first and basically greatest of all Lovecraftian gods) mind or even his soul which may explain why he's openly malicious when all the other Lovecraft gods are either apathetic or just unaware of humanities existence.
It is unlikely and Azathoth is far from most important deities as Outer Gods exist outside his dream. Nyarlathotep is most likely a Great Old One, but he serve as avatar of other Outer Gods, even if he love to twist they orders laughing from they ignorance. Also he is not strictly malicious, as he in fact protect his toys from others.
@@TheRezro how is it unlikely? It is basically confirmed that he, Nameless Mist and The Darkness Embody the three core aspects of Azathoth. Nyarlathotep- Mind Nameless Mist- Existence Darkness- Oblivion
@@humanity600 Uhhh... Since when? Yoggy is, if you go by Lovecrafts own works, the ultimate God of the setting. He is the Gate, the Key, and the Lock. He transcends all; even Azathoth (whom, keep in mind, is only stated to exist in our universe.)
@@BlankEmporium the Nameless Mist created Yog Sothoth man.🤨 And Yog is not the ultimate god. When he was viewed beyond the Gate, it is stated all the outer gods have similar true forms to that (the Archetypes).
Please tell me I'm not the only one. I see names of lovecraftian gods like Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep , and my mind just subconsciously jumps to Merryweather Comics Lovecraft Girls series. XD
I knew this guy and he "worked with demons". Take it however you want it but he was very knowledgeable in thr ars goetica I think its called. I asked him if there were other demons and angels not conneceted to Christianity. He got real serious and said theres 2 levels of angels on that side humans cant connect with as they are too powerful or something. Then he thought for a moment and said something about others you could connect with but would be disinterested in humans and would be annoyed you called. He said his teacger said if they call out to you, you better hope you dont understand. I wish I remmebered what he said but it was pretty much the equivalent of lovecraftian gods and how lovecraft almost got it right. I personally dont know what to make of it he had weird burn marks on his arm he said from working with Andreas or however you spell it. Again he was an ex addict but he said rehabs never worked until one demon told him he wouldnt be taken seriously using drugs by these beings and that got him to quit so Idk.
Love this content. I imagine the madness characters face is like discovering something unfathomable. Like living in a world where there's only two colors and suddenly you see another color that's completely different which is better exemplified in Colour out of space (also by Lovecraft). Of all the Lovecraftian deities, I find Nyarlathotep the most interest and distinct from the rest of his peers for the reasons you mentioned. I think he is the most akin to the devil or one of the archangels of Judeo-Christian and Islamic lore. To me, it has always seemed that unlike his peers, he is bored and wants to give visions of chaos or interact with us and other species to pass his time.
he kinda reminds me of Loki-or at least, popular depictions of the character, if not the original version. though I can see clear parallels between Nyarlathotep and Satan. (man, imagine if demons were proven to exist and were capable of everything Lovecraft's god-monsters are.)
I will note that Lovecraft’s dream of Nyarlathotep and my dream of Enoch did indeed have some similarities. Their coming seemed to herald a coming global chaos over the earth. They enacted the will of Greater Divinities. They were their messenger, heart and soul. They were both servants of a Father God, whose wishes they immediately fulfill. There are definitely differences though. Causing madness is more important and enjoyable than death and destruction to Nyarlathotep. My dream seemed like the antithesis of Lovecraft’s dream. My dreams was more like Martin Luther King Junior’s dream, positively advocating the Golden Dream of integrating all races into one human race: African, American Indian, Asian, Australian, European, Indian, Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian It should be noted that a sudden massive revelation that the Almighty was indeed real all along could be enough to drive some people completely mad, perhaps even entire societies as a whole. It is suggested by some that Nyarlathotep will destroy the human race and possibly the Earth as well. And in Enoch’s case, he is definitely here to announce the end of the world as we know it. But Enoch was here to announce a potential for renewed relationship with the Almighty. It was the End of an Age - not a complete destruction of everything. I suppose to some pessimistic people there would be no difference. So Lovecraft’s dream of Nyarlathotep did indeed seem to be a distorted reflection of my dream of Enoch. But where did it come from? And were others having similar dreams? “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” ― Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers It should be noted that wasn’t long after my dream in 1997 that I also watched a movie called the Green Mile sometime in 1999. Tom Hanks played Paul Edgecomb, a corrections officer who walked the mile of death row with a variety of cons. But in the movie it was clear that Paul had never encountered someone like John Coffey. Played by Michael Clarke Duncan, John Coffey was a massive African male convicted of brutally killing a pair of young sisters. He had scars of unknown origin all over his body. And he healed others by taking on their illness into his own body accompanied by strange electrical discharges. And as he took on their illness, a macabre path of black flies flew from the ill person into Coffey, like as if he was swallowing up the Lord of the Flies that was causing their illness. Beelzebub means “Lord of the Flies".
Eck, you should totally explore more Lovecraft and definitely touch the SCP lore, it's a perfect escapism from SW if you're feeling burned down, would definitely love if you decide to write an SCP one day.
I’d love to see a story from the perspective of a gleefully willing worshipper or cultist. Like someone sees the cosmic truth, and instead of slowly breaking down and fighting their inner madness they are just like fuck yeah let’s serve the great old ones
@@sheevpalpatine2128 I don't know who and or what that is so I might be back depends on how much reading. Although when I said Loki for some reason I was thinking of a composite Loki from all over the Marvel Franchise at least.
"He speaks as a man speaks but his voice has the coldness that lies between the stars, and few wish to hear his sardonic laughter, for then there will be death. Men are to him as playthings to a child --- to be taken up for a time, then abruptly cast away and trodden into the earth. Even so, he teaches great mysteries to those who worship him, but always leading to evil works, for he delights in wickedness." -Of Nyarlathotep from within the pages of The Necronomicon
I recommend the movie "The Empty Man". The deity is not named but it looks and behaves like Nyarlothep and I consider this movie a Lovecraftian marvel.
Highly reccomend The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. This dude is why HP Lovecraft even exists - Lovecraft even took the 'Necronomicon' from him. Chambers is a master of never showing us what is so frightening and always implies many answers rather than giving any outright
The King In Yellow has stayed with me in a way not even Lovecraft's writings fail to do. The visions of Dim Carcosa, the haunting ethereal beauty of the place, desolate air, the desperation to reach it, and the awareness that one should never seek it out.
Nyarlathotep appeared in the game Dusk, voiced by Stephen Weyte who did an amazing job. It's cool learning more about him and now a lot of the things within the game make a lot more sense
@@AmayzingJack it's almost as if Caleb because some kind of eldritch deity himself, more powerful than Chernobog could have ever dreamed of being. Then began to recruit the most powerful fps characters from other realms to build his own army. I hope we get a Dusk sequel
The way that you pronounce "Nyarlethotep" and "Kadath" throw me off. Not that they're wrong, necessarily, but that I'm so used to the way my friends and I pronounce them.
one thing that You've heard about but doesn't get enough love from youtubers is the good old Freespace 1 and 2. It had a simple but well executed story, with a bunch of lore and voice acting, lovely amounts of mystery and thrilling space battles. I think I only recall Spacedock covering Orion class destroyer once in the past. I'm actually surprised after I learned we're the same age that a sci fi fan like You didn't check it out, at least here in eastern Europe it was a big deal in 1999-2001
What happened to the space sim genre? X-wing/Tie Fighter, Wing Commander, Freespace and Colony Wars were pretty big about that time but Elite Dangerous is the only thing current I can think of.
The most bone-chilling thing about Nyarlathotep is that, for all intents and purposes, he’s “real.” Lovecraft himself was said to suffer from sleep paralysis, and based Nyarlathotep off of the same entity that haunted him, and many others, including myself, likely the same “sleep paralysis demon” people also refer to as “The Hat Man.” I consider myself logical and not prone to religion or fancy, but my encounter with that dark entity was enough for me to rethink things, and realizing there could be some “truth” behind this entity is definitely a bit chilling.
Cosmic horror isn't "oooh the abyss! Scary!", it's when you go from being an ant to a human to an ant again. Imagine trying to explain how a circuit board works to an ant. It has no point of reference, nowhere to even begin to understand the what, how, why, of whatever you're talking about. Imagine becoming a human, and suddenly being aware of the existance, function and purpose of vaccum cleaners, internal combustion engines, and taxes, then being transformed back into an ant. How can you contextualise what you just saw and felt and knew? How can your fellow ants understand? Can you go back to being an ant with what you know, unable to forget? That is the madness of the cthulhu mythos. It's not the fear of falling into the abyss, it's being able to glimpse the bottom and understand it.
The point of cosmic horror is to show just how little your life really means in the grand scheme of all things - seeing everything you believed to be in important in life becoming absolutely irrelevant to a cold and uncaring universe. And the ultimate twist of the knife is in learning that it’s true in your life and not just the story - the fourth wall can protect you from fictions like vampires and werewolves and such, but the realization of ones own lack of significance (which is what Lovecraftian horrors ultimately represent) can’t be confined to the pages of a book or the run time of a film…
@@FrankCastle-tq9bz Yes it can. All I have to do is look at another book that says the things out there do care about me, and that I am important in the grand scheme of things, and choose which of those books I want to believe, and the other instantly becomes kind of amusing in a pathetic way.
@@samueldimmock694 Just one little problem here - you don’t choose what you believe in. No one can: our beliefs are based on inherent predispositions, not choice.
@@FrankCastle-tq9bz Well, I am predisposed to believe that choice does play a role. Not saying it's always easy: there are predispositions involved, but they can be overcome.
I had a dream last week that im convinced almost killed me. Almost exactly like depicted at 4:06. It was coming out of the ceiling of this little home i was staying at in a jungle of mexico. I was completely mesmerized by it and i wanted to know what it was when i heard a blood curdling scream that i immediately identified as my own. I jumped out of bed feeling fear and ran for the door but i woke up in bed. Thinking i was out i scanned the room and felt relief until i looked at the ceiling again. There it was, a dark fuzzy spot on the ceiling when the arms came out i got up and tried to run but the same thing happened. I woke up in bed again. It mustve happened three more times in different ways before i felt my heart go crazy and i finally really woke up. My chest hurt the whole day and when driving i could see the roads ahead stretch out to the point id get tunnel vision. Im 20, in decent health. I believe there's something in that room . Last year i had a similar dream where i kept "respawning" in bed whenever i attempted to leave the room, this dream however ended with a man sitting in the corner. when i confronted him his face contorted and spun into the classic image of the devil. he laughed and shook the home but for some reason i wasnt startled I grabbed him by the throat and warned him for every second i was dreaming id grant him not death but 1000 yrs of darkness and i woke up immediately. Who knows.. ive heard stories about my grandma and some of my ancestors turning into animals, flying and being proficient in magic but I don't really believe in any of it. These dreams are the only thing out of the ordinary for me and i only get them when im back in mexico where my blood originated. I wonder if there are any tentacled creatures in "actual" stories related to darkness.
Very glad Eck is expanding his lore. Diversify the audiences, expose SW weebos to other franchises. I’ve been reading Lovecraft for a decade and I still have to go back to digest his works to decipher the lore better, which is fun when you read a Conan comic and realize it’s in the same universe.
Do a video on azathoth next! We need a video about lovecraft’s mind, his creations and how they might connect to Carl jung’s work about the collective unconscious.
Burroughs' Barsoom series. There's a decent amount of lore to dig into there. But if you really want a trove of goodness, Howard. Conan's weird fantasy, Solomon Kane and his adventures, etc.
Nylar is the only outer god that truly notices us and he adores toying with us. Yog simply wishes to spread knowledge. Not truly evil. Shub I'm not even sure she knows what's occurring around her
I’m currently working on a Nyarlathotep audible project. This has to be one of the creepiest Lovecraft gods, because he is so aware of humans and likes to mess with them, unlike Azathoth, which isn’t even aware of humanity.
i really liked this video, the subject was one that holds a lot of possibilities in my mind, and your brand of focus and dissection would be perfect for more horrors beyond knowing
Unpopular opinion: Nyarlathotep at least in the top 3 most dangerous Lovecraftain deities. He rarely unleashes his eldritch powers and prefers to sway masses of mortals to destroy themselves for him. He's like a competent Loki on steroids.
I like to see Nyarlethotep as Lovecraftian Thor. He just kinda likes humans. Except in this case, it’s a Lovecraftian affinity, so it doesn’t end well.
You should totally check out Red Rising. It’s an epic science fiction book series that’s becoming really popular in recent years. It has great world building and characters as well as a fast pace plot. I personally recommend the Audio Books
Nyalrathotep’s name and its meaning comes from the next hieroglyphs: N(y): a negation form Har: the verb “to be” Rut: the gate, as a monument Hotep: means peace or order. Religious hieroglyph. The translation gives something like: there is no rest at the gate. But it is an approximative translation made by h.p. Lovecraft, which doesn’t make a lot of sense in ancient demotic. All the information come from a role play book about the ancient names of the divinities, but i don’t remember which.
Personally I'd like a video on Yig, the father of serpents. Considering out of all the deities he seems to be the least malicious. His curses tend to be reserved for those who disrespect his kin.
For any King fans, Nyarlathotep was the inspiration for Randall Flagg. They may even be one in the same. IIRC, the drums and the pipes are those of the eternally slumbering Yog-soggoth.
*"Understand that there is no reason to live! Cry, for there is no answer!"* *"where there is darkness, there are Shadows. I, Myself, am all of you humans!"*
Good to see your into Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos and Nyarlathotep is my favorite you should cover Azathoth the OG Spawn known as the Idiot God among other alias. As well as short stories from Anthology works like Dagon, Cats of Ulthar, Doom That Came To Sarnath, Hebert West Re-Animator (legendary best influential work), Dreams In The Witch House (features 2 of Nyarlathotep’s servant the Witch Keziah Mason and Brown Jenkin the talking rat with the human face), The Unnameable, At The Mountain Of Madness, Dunwich Horror just so many amazing stories I am inspired by HP Lovecraft as a writer.
Also has been known as a silver haired girl who went to Japan and fell in love with a young male there. Earth entertainment is big business in space, where she is from. (It's an anime)
He feels like a antichrist messenger. Like the devil mixed with Hermes. (Edit): It even knows how to break humanity apart whether they knew it or not. Whether they join the masses or deny its implication. If it’s true or not for what the screen say?
Always loved this one, he's about as close as you can get to a true antagonist in Lovecraft's pantheon, he actively enjoys messing with mankind and takes great pleasure with his schemes
There is primeval mythos inside of us, inside everything, the fabric of space and time ....I really like this Lovecraftian cover of this :) even it is one of more unpleasant ones. To feel insignificant, so sweet :) There is dreaming...and then there is waking up....the cycle goes again, and again, and again.....i love the space where people do look like a naked bipedal monkey, with water, green etc.
Some have speculated that Lovecraft may have actually been speaking of Nikola Tesla when he referenced Nyarlathotep. And there may be some truth to this. But the dream he had was so utterly bizarre. And reflecting on this more, it is actually a remarkably accurate description of the effects of social media combined with too much cellular technology in our current age.
In the upcoming remake/reboot of Alone In The Dark, there's this new recently revealed character (known as The Dark Man) that's dressed in black Egyptian Pharaoh-esque clothing, I wonder if it's supposed to be Nyarlathotep?
Do the King In Yellow, from the original book. It is quite a fascinating thing as it is in the transitionary phase of Victorian and Cosmic Horror. The King is strange, mind numbing, horrifying and yet he has a pattern, and he represents a vice of humanity.
I'm trying learn more about all the Lovecraftian mythos because of the anime Haiyore! Nyarko-San. I feel I can appreciate it even more when I understand the inspiration for the anime.
I can't be scared of the Lovecraftian mythos. See, it's a bunch of big and bad and evil things you can't really do anything about in the long run, and there's a certain comfort in the knowledge that nothing you can do can really change destiny, you can only delay it. What terrifies me are things that are certainly fixable within the bounds of reality...but nobody allows you to, because they are too invested in the system. You are born for no reason, and are forced to accept the unreasonable. I can't help but wonder if Lovecraftian tales are really the result of the author's existential crisis. A metaphor for the world in which we truly live. Even so, I would rather face down a single Old One, than the masses of incoherent collectivist thralls that exist in reality. Regardless of their power, it is far easier to change one mind, than it is to have your pleas wasted as the collectivists pass madness amongst each other, erasing whatever hope that you have that reason might prevail. Alas, that option is not available. So instead, you must descend into even greater madness than theirs to have any chance at survival. But that's exactly what they want you to do, so they can convince themselves that they are sane!
Nyarlathotep used to hold meetings and gatherings in halls. He had showpieces of high voltage electrical equipment that made the audience’s hair stand on end and put the taste of metal in their mouths. But he also showed a cinema reel at these meetings: this reel showed things you didn’t want to ever see. Glimpses of other places. To me it looked like the ruins of a castle or a city, the remnants of a civilisation. The skies were slate grey with an otherworldly atmosphere. The figures were sitting facing opposite each other within the Ruins, a piece of stone or masonry between them. Sat on the stone was the metal likeness of what looked like a huge golden spider. That’s what I remember. There was also some footage of a completely different scene: what looked like men in an office sat at drawing boards, they seemed to be working to design a city, using slide rules and pencils to draw floor plans and maps.
Nyarlathotep the coolest of the outer gods, there's something terrifying knowing that we only exist because he enjoys tormenting us. Anyway as a tribute to him and the outer gods going to get Azathoth, Nyarlathotep and Yog-sathoth tattooed on me, Nyarlathotep being my first one. has a real father, son, holy spirit kinda vibe, in a horrific nihilistic kinda way...
You forgot to mention Nyarlathotep's other incarnation as Nyaro-chan, the cute anime girl. Also, for something truely shocking and horrifying, try googling what H.P. Lovecraft named his cat.
The most terrifying truth about the universe to me would be that it truly is as it appears.. empty, futile and decaying.. the ultimate end for everything being a dark cold heat death.
