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9[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mind_flayer.png]]]]
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11A monster with a face of tentacles resembling everyone's favorite EldritchAbomination, Franchise/{{Cthulhu|Mythos}}. Using the official pronunciation of "Cthulhu" given by Creator/HPLovecraft, the [[StarfishLanguage closest thing to the correct pronunciation]] [[BlackSpeech the human vocal apparatus can manage is]] "Khlulhloominoid."[[note]]Cu thoo loo om in oid, in case you ''actually'' wanted to try![[/note]] Now [[TongueTwister say that five times fast.]]
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13Different variations exist. The being(s) may have tentacled fingers, or they may have completely normal fingers. They almost always have an unusual skin pigmentation such as green, grey, greenish grey, or orange. [[MonsterMouth They might have a beak within their mass of tentacles like a real octopus]], or a LampreyMouth concealed among them; alternately, they might have a humanoid mouth just above or below the tentacles. Their strength varies, but they are almost never of the same power level as the EldritchAbomination that inspired them. In fact, they may act nothing at all like the original Cthulhu, but still, expect them to be compared to such by fans.
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15Also note, while examples may or may not be supernaturally enhanced, this is not about {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, but about humanoids who look vaguely like Cthulhu.
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17A SubTrope of MonsterMouth, since it's mostly about the structure of the mouthparts. Related to UnscaledMerfolk, FishPeople, BeastMan, HumanoidAbomination, AnimalisticAbomination.
18
19----
20!!Examples:
21[[foldercontrol]]
22
23[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24* Dagomon in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' has "arms" that are a bound mass of tentacles, and above where those tentacles connect with the shoulders are a ''[[EyesDoNotBelongThere pair of eyes]]''.
25* Poseidon Nero from ''Manga/EdensZero'' has [[WeirdBeard tentacles dangling in front of his mouth like a huge mustache]], on top of [[AlienHair a full head full of tentacle hair]], to fit his appearance as ruler of the oceanic Aoi Cosmos.
26* In ''Manga/FrankenFran'', the mimic octopus that Fran tinkered with starts out as a blobby body with a head that has a human face but octopus arms for hair. It eventually develops a fully humanoid body and proceeds to mate with the man who had adopted it. [[spoiler:At the end of the chapter, he's possibly dead and definitely serving as the nursery for thousands of mutant octopus eggs.]]
27* Innsmouth (named after [[Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth another of Lovecraft's stories]]) from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is an [[UnscaledMerfolk aquatic-based metahuman]] with tentacles coming out of many body parts, including his face.
28* Tabula Smaragdina, one of the 41 Supreme Beings in ''Literature/Overlord2012'' has an octopus-shaped head. He is an alchemist, noted as the creator of Albedo, Nigredo and Rubedo, the latter of which is said to be the strongest being in Nazarick (which is saying something, considering how powerful the rest of the Guardians are).
29* The Black Mass in ''Manga/SoulEater'', also known as "the Great Old One of Power", a mysterious entity who suspiciously resembles Cthulhu if he were made of some kind of viscous, dark, ever-shifting liquid.
30[[/folder]]
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32[[folder:Comic Books]]
33%%* [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100501012758/marvel_dc/images/f/f6/Topo_II_01.jpg Topo,]] an ''Comicbook/{{Aquaman}}'' supporting character sports this look.
34* Minor ''Comicbook/DoctorStrange'' villain the Dweller-In-Darkness is designed with Cthulhu in mind, appearing as a blue-skinned octopus-faced demon with a bulbous brain and the ability to generate fear.
35* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' had an arc where he had to face some interdimensional race of aquatic invaders that had many octopus traits.
36* Thanks to the tendrils covering his mouth and his connection to fear, ''ComicBook/ManThing'' is a heroic example of this trope.
37* Mr. Fane from ''ComicBook/{{Nocturnals}}'' is an unusual example in that he looks mostly human, and manages to pass as an ordinary if somewhat eccentric man as long as he keeps the lower half of his face covered. [[DramaticUnmask Underneath that concealing scarf]], though... Well, [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean he really does have the face for tentacles]].
38* ''ComicBook/Superboy1994'': The two most common alien species seen amongst Kossak's slaves are both relatively humanoid with a bunch of tentacles on their lower faces. The first group just has prehensile tentacles as a sort of mustache/beard combo and four eyes while the other has an opening starting where a human nose would be and widening down to their chin full of short stubby tentacles that are a darker tone than their skin.
39* Ullux'yl Kwan Tae Syn, the being responsible for the obscure Marvel character [[ComicBook/{{Bloodstone}} Ulysses Bloodstone]] becoming an immortal [[HunterOfMonsters monster slayer,]] was a green-skinned humanoid with a tentacled head.
40* In ''ComicBook/WelcomeToTheJungle'', a graphic novel prequel to ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Harry ponders which type of monster may have killed a night watchman. One panel shows a PoliceLineup of the (monstrous) "usual suspects", including a stocky, long-tentacled humanoid.
41* While a cubi's default form is the classic HotAsHell look in ''ComicBook/FinePrint'', their true forms are a not so pedestrian, adding scales and various other tails that look like tentacles at first glance. They usually hide this form from humans because the human mind was not equipped to handle gazing upon it, resulting in things from bleeding from their eyes to spontaneous combustion.
42[[/folder]]
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44[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
45* The proto-Prawns from Creator/NeillBlomkamp's short film ''Alive in Jo'burg'', which inspired ''Film/District9'', look like this instead of the [[InsectoidAliens insectoid appearance]] of the big budget adaptation.
46* ''Film/{{Dagon}}'': All the Dagon cultists in the village are various types of FishPeople. Xuia's father has a face that resembles an octopus.
47* The howling ghost that emerges from the subway entrance in the original ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'' appears to have a face full of tendrils, if it can said to have a "face" at all.
48%%* Cthulhu himself is actually depicted like this in the comic-book section of ''Film/TheLastLovecraftRelicOfCthulhu''. Also Starspawn, his pets and the "half-breed" also count.
49* The Bodati (the alien whose tentacle is accidentally stepped on by Alex in the briefing room) in ''Film/TheLastStarfighter''.
50* ''Film/{{Necronomicon}}'': In "The Drowned", any of the drowned returned from the dead by the blasphemous ritual initially look normal, but then sprout octopus tentacles from their mouth that take over their entire face as they attempt to devour their loved ones.
51* Davy Jones from ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' is certainly not the first example, but due to the popularity of the films, he might very well be the [[TropeCodifier most well-known example]]. He has facial tentacles, a crab pincer for a hand, and one of his legs resembles that of a crab. Designed to resemble a [[WeirdBeard beard]], [[DressedToPlunder hook and peg leg]], of course. His tentacle beard is articulate enough to play a pipe organ (something he can't do with his hands, lacking the digits).
52* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The Quarren, one of the two sentient species of Mon Cala, have squid-like heads complete with four tentacles around their mouths.
53[[/folder]]
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55[[folder:Gamebooks]]
56* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': In ''Literature/CavernsOfTheSnowWitch'', you encounter a creature called a Brain Slayer; unlike a Mind Flayer, it has a head like an [[https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Brain_Slayer?file=BrainSlayer.jpg octopus]] rather than a squid.
57[[/folder]]
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59[[folder:Literature]]
60%%* The Grel from the ''Literature/BerniceSummerfield'' series.
61* Grivnizoids in their true from, from ''Literature/{{Borgel}}'' look like a cross between a humanoid tree and an octopus, as they are covered with tentacles.
62* ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'': The {{Trope Namer|s}} here should very well be one of [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft's]] own alien races, the octopoid "star-spawn of Cthulhu" which look much like their master/father/high priest/god.
63* ''Literature/LilithsBrood'': The Oankali are a spacefaring species that have patches of short "sensory tentacles" across their scalps, foreheads, and throats in place of eyes, ears, or noses. Humans describe them as looking somewhat like anthropomorphic sea slugs -- and also as being ''viscerally, skin-crawlingly horrifying'' until you get used to them. Also, their hands and feet have sixteen digits each, but at least those have bones in them.
64%%* Colonel Brandon in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibilityAndSeaMonsters''.
65* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
66** The Quarren species also appears in the [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], where it's noted that they are sometimes derogatorily referred to as "Squidheads" in refrence to their appearance. They lack any particular strength, aside from being seedy business men of the criminal underworld.
67** In ''Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye'', the MacGuffin is found on a statue of [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Pomojema Pomojema,]] a benevolent minor deity of healing from the planet Mimban who looks exactly like Cthulhu. Yes, you read that right, he is a ''benevolent'' Cthulhumanoid [[RecycledINSPACE IN STAR WARS]].
68** ''[[Franchise/StarWarsTheHighRepublic The High Republic]]'': [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Nameless The Nameless]] are quadrupedal, non-sapient examples. They are also known as the "Shrii-ka-rai", which translates to "Eater of the Force". Notably, they can cause hallucinations in Force users with [[BrownNoteBeing their presence alone]], and [[MageHuntingMonster feed on them while doing so]]. As [[AnimalisticAbomination horrifying as they are]], they are more [[HorrorHunger hungry]] than malicious, and groups that have a grudge against the Jedi (such as [[SpacePirates the Nihil]] and [[AntiMagicalFaction the Path of the Open Hand]]) weaponize this against them.
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71[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
72* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' has the true humanoid form of Hive, a parasitic inhuman able to infest and possess the deceased's bodies. His true form is a human-like creature with tentacles for hair.
73* ''Series/Archive81'': [[spoiler:Kaelego]]. It is an ancient Demon God who lives in another dimension called the Otherworld. He is worshipped by the Vos Society and Alexander Davenport.
74* ''Series/BabylonFive'' has the pak'ma'ra, hunched humanoids with three pairs of tentacles around a tough beak. Despite their appearances, they are a relatively nice people, although secretive, carrion-eating, and smelly.
75* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
76** The Ood are an interesting sort of double subversion in that despite their creepy appearance, they're perfectly cheerful and friendly, but their psychic hivemind also makes them prone to takeover by genuine {{Eldritch Abomination}}s.
77** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E4DaleksInManhattan "Daleks in Manhattan"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks "Evolution of the Daleks"]]: [[spoiler:After merging with the human Diagoras, Dalek Sec's hybrid form looks somewhat like this, with stubby remnants of the tentacles full Daleks have on the sides of his head.]]
78* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' has Gedächtnis Esser. An octopus-like Wesen that can use the four arms on its head to steal all your memories and leave you suffering dementia. Basically, it's a Wesen race of Human-sized Cthulhu. Interestingly for a fairy tales and folklore-themed series, they were based on/inspired by [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Beholders.]]
79* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' / ''Franchise/SuperSentai''
80** The ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' episode "The Power Stealer", gave us one as the MonsterOfTheWeek in the form of the aptly named Octophantom.
81** ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' / ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' has N Ma / the Master. He starts out as a Lovecraft-esque squid monster, then takes a more humanoid form (with plenty of tentacles) after possessing someone, now resembling a cross between Cthulhu and a BigRedDevil.
82** Hone no Shitari from ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' pretty much ''is'' a tentacle head, as is his American counterpart Octoroo from ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai''.
83[[/folder]]
84
85[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
86* [=InterSpecies=] Wrestling featured Wrestling/LloydCthulowitz, based on the original, and created by the MadScientist [[PunnyName "Dr. Gene Spleissing"]]. Oh, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and he's a lawyer]].
87[[/folder]]
88
89[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
90* ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'' has [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Gal'kzuulim, demons]] that serve [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Archdemon Charyptoroth]]. They are created through a ritual from humans and krakonier (Deep One expies).
91* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
92** The TropeMaker is the tentacle-faced Mind Flayers/Illithids, but despite the similarities Gary Gygax did ''not'' base his creations directly on Cthulhu, but on a novel cover.[[note]]The cover depicts a Chthonian emerging from the ground, a tentacled worm-monster from the Cthulhu Mythos, though Gygax seems not to have been aware of its pedigree at the time.[[/note]]
93** The Krakentua from TabletopGame/KaraTur are enormous octopus-headed spirits standing [[{{Kaiju}} 100 feet tall]] and dressed in lavish silk robes. They hide in the depths of the sea and come out mainly to enslave lesser beings. The tentacles on their faces are also dexterous, allowing them to wield weapons in each of their seven tentacles.
94** Piscoloths/Piscodaemons are a species of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Yugoloth/Daemon]] with lobster-like bodies and arms, birds' feet, and tentacled heads, However, rather than cephalopods, their heads are based on carrion crawlers (giant maggot-like monsters with paralyzing tentacles around their mouths). They obviously had also influence on the naming of the Franchise/FinalFantasy example below.
95* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'':
96** The Solar queen K'Tula is said to have eventually warped her body into a cephalopod horror, a change so drastic that it was too far removed from the human potential that Solar Charms work off of for her to make any that could enhance it.
97** Tentacle men are Wyld creatures resembling humans with rubbery, hairless skin and a cluster of tentacles replacing their heads, with a hooked beak where these join with the torso.
98* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
99** A huge, unholy, tentacle-faced monstrosity from the deep: [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=247542 Wrexial, the Risen Deep.]] An even more Lovecraftian kraken followed several years later with [[https://scryfall.com/card/vow/246/runo-stromkirk-krothuss-lord-of-the-deep?back Krothuss, Lord of the Deep]], the towering nightmare from the depths that Runo Stromkirk worships.
100** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=121174 Drelnoch]] is a mutant yeti with tentacles.
101** While cephalids from Dominaria are shown as being very squidlike, those from the plane of Capenna (home of the city of New Capenna) tend to have a more humanoid frame, with female examples typically having tentacles for hair and men also having tentacle beards. Actual intimidation factor tends to be a little low, though, since New Capenna is aesthetically firmly in TheRoaringTwenties and everyone is dressed like a character from a gangster movie.
102* As beings physically inspired by the mind flayers, the Ilthusians from the ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' Freedom City setting also count. They're less scary than most of these examples, since the main representative of their species, Captain Kraken, [[TalkLikeAPirate communicates mainly in "Yarrr, me hearties!"]]
103* The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' had the Chulorvia, an underwater race of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. They have several breeds, one of which is a classic Cthulhumanoid.
104* 50 Fathoms, a ''TabletopGame/SavageWorlds'' setting, has the Kraken - resembling the illithid, but they're ''playable'' - and don't make bad wizards, either.
105* The [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' incorporate this as bioforms:
106** Lictors always have "feeder tendrils," but many other units in the army list have the option of buying that upgrade to create a giant chitinous army of slavering, gibbering mini-Cthulhus.
107** The artwork for Ymgarl Genestealers generally presents them as such, with octopus-like heads topped on hunched semi-reptilian bodies (the former trait being a result of mutation from standard Tyranid Genestealers). The unit background states the HiveMind goes out of its way to avoid reabsorbing their biomass because they undergo physical mutations constantly and uncontrollably. Some editions represent them as regular Genestealers with the feeder tendril upgrade and perhaps some other options, while others create a separate unit, but either way the tentacle faces remain.
108* Invoked in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' with Lokhir Fellheart the Krakenlord, a Dark Elf [[KingOfThieves pirate king]] who goes into battle wearing a golden mask/helmet resembling a [[KrakenAndLeviathan kraken]], giving him the appearance of this trope - even if underneath, he's an ordinary - if extremely tough - elf.
109[[/folder]]
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111[[folder:Video Games]]
112* In ''VideoGame/TheAgeOfDecadence,'' one of the possible endings has the player character fighting [[spoiler: Agathoth, a creature from another dimension that was called by humans to fight a war against others of his kind that had invaded, the war that lead to the game's ''AfterTheEnd'' setting. He is, understandably, impossible to defeat without a build specialized toward fighting (and even then, near-impossible).]]
113* ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'' gives us [[spoiler:the Lost Ones: humanoid, skeletal ink beings with strands of ink dangling from their faces, sort of looking like tentacles. [[DarkIsNotEvil They're completely harmless]], thankfully, however it's implied they're actually [[WasOnceAMan former studio employees]]]].
114* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'':
115** Emaciated, robed humanoids with tentacled faces that use paralyzing magic attacks and try to grab the player, and upon succeeding grown an extra, funnel-like tentacle from top of their head and use it to suck out both health and Insight.
116** Amygdala, which is (by [[EldritchAbomination Great One]] standards) pretty damn humanoid. It's also got lots of arms, six fingers on each of its hands, and the bulbous be-tentacled head is [[BrainMonster a mostly-exposed brain]] that's (sometimes) also covered in [[EyesDoNotBelongThere eyes]]...
117** The DLC adds the Nightmare Executioner: one of the ogre-like, axe-wielding Executioners from the core game, but fitted with a tentacular face that it occasionally lashes out at you with.
118** Variation with the Shadows of Yharnam boss fight, who, at the beginning of the second stage of the fight, sprout live snakes from their faces for a very similar aesthetic.
119* ''VideoGame/BountyOfOne'': Brainsuckers are squid-faced late-game enemies that attack by using their hands to fire ''[[PainfullySlowProjectile painfully slow]]'' energy balls, allowing them to clog the screen with projectiles. They're also [[{{Expy}} expies]] of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''[='=] Illithids, being parasitic entities that take over the bodies of their hosts.
120* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': The Malachi from later games is literally just Cthulhu, complete with the octopus-like head, bat wings, and backstory as an AncientEvil. Malachi's debut game of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' has another enemy called Cthulhu which is a headswap of Malachi with a demon head, suggesting that Malachi was meant to be called Cthulhu in the English version but the names got swapped with the later games just sticking with the name it got.
121* ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'': You have the option to make yourself one. Just get the facial feature "tentacles," and for bonus points webbed or tentacled hands and/or feet.
122* ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'': Faceless Void's model looks like this, due to being based on the aforementioned Faceless Ones of ''Warcraft''. ''VideoGame/DOTA2'' makes his head more similar to that of a hammerhead shark instead.
123* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'': The Tower of Latria, now converted into a prison, is guarded by Mind Flayers, who have tentacles growing from their faces and appear squidlike in general, even having the tiny beak associated with octopi. They wear long robes, wield bells and cast magic spells to paralyze the player, then grab them with their tentacles.
124* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' features enormous grey humanoids known as Wormfaces that, as the name implies, have a mass of writhing forms instead of a face. They make constant, unsettling gibbering sound and attack the player character by vomiting Deathblight-infected worms all over them. There's also an even larger variant of the same enemy capable of swallowing the player character whole.
125* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
126** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'': High ranking Sixth House members who are able to control their transformations after being afflicted with the Corprus disease will sprout tentacles from their faces. Ascended Sleepers are a prime example.
127** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': In the ''Dragonborn'' DLC, Seekers are hulking, tentacled [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]] in service to Hermaeus Mora, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge Knowledge]] who himself takes a very EldritchAbomination form. Invoked with the DLC's BigBad, Miraak, and the [[OurLichesAreDifferent Dragon Priests]] under his command, who wear distinctly mollusc-like masks.
128* ''VideoGame/EnemyOnBoard'': One of the aliens, The Leech, has a humanoid body type, and what appears to be tentacles on its face.
129* The Mine Flayer, one of the bosses in ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'', is a giant-sized illithid who carries a bell like the ones in ''Demon's Souls''; its name is a reference to the explosives it occasionally fills the room with, turning it into a minefield.
130* The basic Ioxian alien mooks in ''VideoGame/{{Eradicator}}'' are these, with their heads resembling brown, miniature octopuses. It's worth noting that the marketing and promotional materials, cover art, posters and whatnot ''doesn't'' show how the alien mooks looks like, focusing instead on the three playable heroes - the octopus-headed aliens only shows up in proper gameplay.
131* ''VideoGame/TheEvilWithin'': One unique kind of Haunted which is capable of turning invisible has a unique form of FacialHorror with meat and bone peeled away to form swaying tentacles of flesh hanging from its head.
132* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'':
133** The Rubbery Men are green humanoids with tentacled faces and tentacle fingers, who are trying very hard to fit into human society. They're quite friendly and harmless, but are unable to speak English and look disturbing enough that they're easy targets for FantasticRacism.
134** The spin-off games ''VideoGame/SunlessSea'' and ''VideoGame/SunlessSkies'' also feature the species, with ''Sea'' having one of the men -- named Nacreous Outcast -- as a recruitable officer.
135* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': The Mind Flayers from ''D&D'' appear in several installments of the series, since it stole much of its early bestiary from ''Dungeons and Dragons''. In the original translation of the first game, they were simply called "Wizard" and "Sorcerer," then in ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', became "Mindflare," while in the "Treasures of Aht Urghan" expansion of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' they are known as "Soulflayers." The official English name for them now is "Piscodemon;"[[note]]a name also borrowed from D&D, referring to a type of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent daemon]] with a tentacled face[[/note]] "pisco" as in "piscene" or "fish-like."
136* ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'': Implied through the JollyRoger flown by SpacePirate ships, which feature octopus-like faces superimposed over crossed bones in place of the traditional human skulls.
137* ''VideoGame/GrimDawn : Ashes of Malmouth'' adds the Rylok to the [[LegionsOfHell infernal hordes of the Chthonians]]. They are humanoid, massive brutes with tentacled faces, their stronger variants sporting wings and longer tentacles. You first encounter a very powerful one as a boss in Void's Edge, the dimension [[spoiler: where Ulgrim was sent after fighting the FinalBoss with you.]]
138* ''VideoGame/KingdomRush'' has a few of these:
139** The original features the [[GiantMook Swamp Things]], the [[CameBackWrong results of earth elementals dying]] on certain levels. Their HealingFactor, ranged [[PoisonousPerson poisonous]] attack, lack of gold reward, and ungodly amounts of health combine to make them one of [[DemonicSpiders the most frustrating enemies in the game]]. Of course, [[BrutalBonusLevel they do only show up on bonus missions]]...
140** ''VideoGame/KingdomRushFrontiers'' features the Bluegales, [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of [[Literature/CthulhuMythos Cthulhu's star-spawn]]. Bluegales also have a reputation for being DemonicSpiders, for their ability to summon stormclouds that covers the field and make your towers and spells useless within that area. They also serve the sea-based evil Leviathan.
141* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': Kassadin wears full armor and a helmet that makes him look like having Cthulhu's head. He could best be described as a gray-blue skinned man wearing gear that makes him look like Darth Cthulhu. He's a Champion that got his power from the Void, a chaotic and destructive realm not that unlike Lovecraft's works. Surprisingly, despite his power's origin and monstrous appearance, Kassadin is overall a very heroic character. As a [[ShoutOut shout out]] to this similarity in appearance, a skin has been released called "[[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Deep One]] Kassadin."
142* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': The species depicted in sculptures found on Ilos and seen in Shepard's dreams resemble this. Initially assumed to be [[{{Precursors}} the protheans]], they're actually [[spoiler:the inusannon -- the precursors to the Protheans themselves]].
143* ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrionII'':
144** The game has the aquatic, transdimensional race of Trilarians. When you add the fact planets named "Arkham" and "Rlyeh" (and "Arlyeh") are there as well, you realize somebody at the developers must've ''really'' wanted to do a ShoutOut. The [[AllThereInTheManual manual]] also suggests that they were descended from a colony of the main BigBad race of the game. At the same time they tend towards the "Pacifistic" personality-type, and can often be convinced to simply hand over planets to you if you ask them nicely. Their diplomacy music is also one of the mellowest tunes in the whole game, and even their physical appearance may seem quite beautiful rather than terrifying to you.
145** The Meklar have a mass of tentacles on their face.
146* The point and click adventure game series ''VideoGame/AMatterOfCaos'' available on Kongregate features Mr. Gilbert, a private detective with tentacles growing out of his face as the protagonist. The setting is such that Mr. Gilbert doesn't come across as too odd. [[spoiler:He is actually a depowered EldritchAbomination who had long ago grown attached to mortals and appointed himself as a guardian of sorts. Between various jobs he hunts down the remaining artifacts of his race and destroys them so that they cannot endanger anyone. For a brief moment in the final game he regains his full power, and he looks almost exactly like Cthulhu himself. Since "Mr. Gilbert" is just an alias, he might actually ''be'' Cthulhu.]]
147* The sligs from the ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'' games are only partially humanoid, as they have robotic "pants" instead of legs, but they do have a face full of weird tentacles.
148* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': The 2017 Halloween Terror event added a bonus Cultist skin for the [[ReligiousRobot robot monk]] Zenyatta, which transforms him into a robotic version of this trope. Besides a purple paint job, he gets a set of cultist robes and a Cthulhoid, tentacled head, in addition to his orbs getting decorated with slitted green eyeballs. He also gets some exceptionally creepy voice lines like "Zenyatta is everywhere", "Listen to the whispers of madness" and "Be consumed by the shadows" to go with this look.
149* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has a kid-friendly version in Malamar. A humanoid upside-down squid-thing with tentacles as hair and hands, [[DarkIsEvil Dark]]/[[MindRape Psychic]] typing, and has the ability to make its foes bend to its will.
150%%* In ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'', possible enemy encounters include Cult of the Dark One members who have been warped into Cthulhumanoids.
151* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations'' there's a new type of infected, the Ooze, who are mixed with genetic material from sea creatures, so, many of those resemble Cthulhumanoids.
152%%* Bloodsuckers from ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}''.
153* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'':
154** One of the Pyro's cosmetics, [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Beast_From_Below the Beast from Below]], replaces Pyro's usual gas mask with a six-valved respirator mask clearly made to resemble Cthulhu.
155** One of Demoman's cosmetics, [[https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Cap%27n_Calamari Cap'n Calamari]], gives him an octopus-head as an allusion to [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Davy Jones]].
156* In ''VideoGame/TerraInvicta'', there's the Hydra, the dominant species of the [[AlienInvasion alien invaders]]. They are tall, dark grey humanoid creatures with red tendrils dangling from their mouths, and have the ability to MindControl creatures using emotion-manipulating pherocytes.
157* ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland'': Azul Ashengrotto, being based on [[Franchise/TheLittleMermaid Ursula the Sea Witch]], is a part-octopus merperson.
158* ''VideoGame/TheUltimateHauntedHouse'' has the Squid Creature, which resembles a cross between Medusa and Cthulhu, and is one of the monsters roaming around the house waiting to curse you.
159* In ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III'', the n'raqi (Faceless Ones) have tentacles both for heads and hands. Bonus points in that they are the servants of [[EldritchAbomination the Old Gods]], [[ShoutOut Shouts Out]] to the Cthulhu mythos.
160* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
161** The Faceless Ones, who were created by the Old Gods to serve as their priests and commanders.
162** The C'Thrax (Faceless General) model resembles Cthulhu even more than the n'raqi thanks to its more hulking build and the presence of two vestigial claws on the back that resemble wings.
163** ''Battle for Azeroth'' introduced the K'thir, who have an emaciated human body with an octopus-like head with unusually long tentacles. They are servants of the Old God N'zoth and, much like Dagon's worshippers, have begun corrupting Kul Tirans and secretly transforming them into more k'thir.
164** Patch 8.3 of ''Battle for Azeroth'' is all about ridding the world of N'zoth, and the gear available in it gives the player character a Cthulhumanoid look, no matter the type of armor. And plenty of K'thir and other such abominations have to be fought in it.
165* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'': The Prone have humanoid bodies, but their faces have six eyes, several tentacles on the cheeks and sides of the head, and an enormous cavity where their mouth should be (the actual mouth is suggested to be further in). Doesn't stop one human in the game from falling in love with a Prone woman (who reciprocates).
166* ''VideoGame/UltraversePrime'' have occasional, green-skinned humanoid mutants with an octopus for a head as enemies. They revert back into a human-sized green octopus after they're defeated.
167* ''Videogame/Wizard101'' has a being known as "The Old One" who is said to be "the secret author of history, always watching, always nudging." He looks like Cthulhu and dresses like UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln.
168[[/folder]]
169
170[[folder:Web Animation]]
171* Kasulouh from ''WebAnimation/{{Japanoschlampen}}'', one of Master Futsi's "four beautiful daughters," has tentacles in her face. Her three sisters, [[OddNameOut Suzy, Sissy and Susu]], don't.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Webcomics]]
175* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' had a group of cultists who sported the look. In their first appearance, the tentacles are called out as being masks; in the second, they seem to have become genuinely inhuman. Doesn't help them against Black Mage's knife in either case.
176* ''Webcomic/{{Academia}}'': Invoked. when Pasha gets his pet octopus to climb onto his face. Backfires when the octopus refuses to get off.
177-->''Stephen, help. He has ''suction cups.
178* ''Webcomic/TheCallOfWhatever'': The Cthulhu spawn look like humanoids with octopus heads (as opposed to the canonical Cthulhu spawn which look like cthulhu, but only big instead of mindbendingly huge).
179* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': This is implied to be what Sam Starfall looks like under his environment suit, though his face supposedly [[BrownNote causes humans to puke]] so we haven't seen [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1400/fc01346.htm very]] [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1600/fc01551.htm much.]] Later comics have revealed that his species actually moves around on eight tentacles and cannot stand up unassisted.
180* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Before the comic's start, Rose was gifted a large princess doll by her mother that she modified to have tentacles for arms and a squid for a head. Later, after she uses this doll to prototype her kernelsprite, several of the imps encountered in Sburb develop similar arm and lip tentacles as well.
181* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'': The [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/435 Asteroid Trading Post]] guy is an alien with three legs, four arms, and tentacles for lips.
182%%* ''Webcomic/TheMansionOfE'': Ichyoids; they have claws for hands.
183%%* ''Webcomic/{{Monsterful}}'' had a cthulhumanoid with a little baby daughter as an extra on [[http://www.monsterful.com/chapter09page03.htm this page]].
184* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', being based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', has an illithid referred to as a [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0030.html "squid thingy"]].
185* ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'': Rithuly, ruler of the Never, has a "tentacle-headed ghost" form. When he's shown more closely in "The Immortal King", he's also green and parodies ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'' tropes.
186* ''Webcomic/StarPower'' has the Shuletin race, a race that looks a lot like Chtulu (as is considered a racist insult to refer to a Shuletin as one).
187[[/folder]]
188
189[[folder:Web Original]]
190* Red Guy from ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' is a more benign version of this. He towers over the other characters and has a mass of strings/tentacles instead of a face. Even still, he mostly just wants to eat breakfast and watch television, and it's ''everyone else'' that [[EldritchAbomination destroys reality]].
191* ''Website/{{Serina}}'' has a uniquely avian take on this trope with the tentacle birds. They were originally descended from a small platypus-like water bird known as the snuffle that had a soft bill with fleshy tendrils to help them locate prey, these birds were able to survive a mass extinction which allowed them to greatly diversify with their most prominent feature being mobile facial appendages derived from these tendrils, legs set further back on the body which gives them a more upright human-like stance and a [[ArmlessBiped complete lack of wings]]. They eventually leave the water and split into two main groups: the gloves and the mittens.
192** The gloves have finger-like appendages supported by rigid cartilaginous rods that allow for a firmer grip as well as claws at the end for hooking into prey.
193** The mittens have more tentacle-like protrusions that are supported by flexible ring structures, their grip isn't as strong as the gloves but they have much greater dexterity and are generally more intelligent.
194* In the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, the mutant psychic who now goes by the codename Fubar. He had a bad encounter with a Mythos thing and transformed into something that looks like a Star Spawn. He lives in a big water tank and has been stuck there for ''decades''. This is [[ShoutOut rather appropriate, since Lovecraft used the name "Whateley" rather famously]].
195** Sara Waite, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting when she wants to]], can look like this. Justified by the fact that her father actually ''is'' an EldritchAbomination.
196[[/folder]]
197
198[[folder:Western Animation]]
199* Vilgax, the BigBad of ''Franchise/Ben10'', resembles a hulking green humanoid with tentacles effectively replacing what would be hair for humans, as do the rest of his species. Lampshaded in one arc, when he uses his appearance to pose as the avatar of an ''actual'' EldritchAbomination, the Dagon, in order to manipulate the Esoterica, a cult dedicated to serving the Dagon, into carrying out his newest EvilPlan. [[spoiler:Which turns out to be stealing Dagon's power to become just straight up Cthulhu.]]
200* The Rahkshi in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}}: The Mask of Light'' could split their faces open to reveal a mass of writhing tentacles - a trait completely absent from their toyline counterparts (who instead opened up their backs).
201* Many of the M'arrillians in ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'', especially G'harlag, who is just like Cthulhu.
202* ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' had the AffablyEvil Mr. Squid, who ''successfully'' captured the Ghostbusters even though Prime Evil didn't believe him. Just before Jake dematerialized him, he asked [[HeelFaceTurn if he might one day join the 'Busters]]. Interestingly enough, his character design anticipates Davy Jones from ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' by almost twenty years!
203* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'', villain Waylon Jeepers summons a Cthulhu {{Expy}} named "Vorn the Unspeakable", who fits this trope to a "T".
204* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
205** [[SpaceJews Decapodians]] like Zoidberg have tentacles on the part of their faces where human have noses/upper lips, though they are smaller (and goofier) than those of most Cthulhumanoids in fiction.
206** Spoofed when Leela crawls through the radioactive muck in the sewers of New New York. We see her body with an octopus for a head, and the initial assumption is that she mutated. However, [[{{Foreshadowing}} she is immune]], and when she gets to shore she disgustedly pulls off the octopus that got stuck to her face. Said octopus says (in its best [[Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit Baby Hermann]] voice) that before being mutated it ''[[WasOnceAMan was a little blonde girl named Virginia]]''.
207** A gag in one episode shows a Cthulhu-like alien buying the Milky Way Galaxy off eBay.
208* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': The Galangian species, who are aliens native to Galang-22 are shown to be humanoid cephalopods whose culture is very similar to that of Europe during the medieval and renaissance periods. Ironically in a parody of octopus intelligence, most galangians including its queen are shown to be idiotic and dumb.
209* Squid of ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' fits this trope, having quite a few features taken from his namesake.
210* A few of the Sea Tribe characters from ''WesternAnimation/GormitiTheLordsOfNatureReturn'' are just like this.
211* The [[{{Mooks}} Glorft]] in ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' have octopus-like heads and cybernetic humanoid bodies. A few of them have organic tentacles instead of mechanical legs.
212* ''WesternAnimation/MyDadTheBountyHunter'': Glorlox, a rival bounty hunter to the title character, has teal skin and his face has four tentacles and an octopus beak.
213* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' episode "By the Book", Star, Marco, and Glossaryck see a movie where the male lead is in love with a woman who is revealed to be this. Before they leave, Glossaryck spoils to the whole room that she dies in the end.
214* Karkull in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' is the seventh Demon Lord of the Inner Pit, appearing as a mass of tentacles shaped into a shadowy humanoid form topped with a Cthulhu-like head.
215* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode “The Good Bad Guy” has Major Threat AKA Jeff, Lord Hater’s former idol that got him into evil, before preforming a HeelFaceTurn. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Concept art]] reveals that he was planned to be even more Cthulhu-like, with actual Tentacles and a more octopus-like head.
216[[/folder]]
217----
218''Need a [[TheStinger Stinger]]? [[Memes/{{Futurama}} Why not Zoidberg]]?'' [[note]]Your stinger is bad and you should feel bad![[/note]]

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