Too Many Eldritch Abominations?

After talking with a few writers that referenced me to this site, it seems that the marketing and character-base being fixed on Eldritch Baddies is starting to get too heavy.

Rather than following their example I have decided that I want to base the big bad on something else, but I do not know what.

If not that, I want to deviate from the generic "Tentacles and eyes" or ominous incorporeal shadow ElderBommies that I see put into different stories.

What are your ideas on cosmic horror monsters, and what is your base design on them? Does it deviate from HP's work, or is it a Shout-Out to it?

I have to agree on the oversaturation of Eldritch Abomination stories. It's really getting out of hand.

I mean in some works, they don't seem out of place. But do we have to insert a Cthulu/Yog-Sothoth knockoff into everything? (Even if they aren't some kind of madness inducing form or some kind of weird Alien Geometries thing.)

I don't actually think the tentacled, eye-covered visage of most Lovecraft-based Eldritch Abominations is scary enough because my mind can grasp it, and when I actually do see stuff like that, I don't even blink.

I actually think Humanoid Abominations are a hell of a lot scarier, probably due to a similar mechanic that the Uncanny Valley works off of. Like... my assassin protagonist, of all people, tries to invoke this when he's killing someone.

edited 10th Mar '11 7:04:31 PM by CrystalGlacia

I don't think it's the Eldritch Abomination concept that's become a Dead Horse Trope-I think that it's examples that rip off one of the assorted Trope Makers.

I really love the eye motif, because I associate eyes with symbolism and shit... tentacles are overrated, though. I don't really understand what about them is supposed to be mind-breakingly scary.

^ Also seconding this post.

edited 10th Mar '11 9:19:19 PM by melloncollie

You could rip off geometric ones instead of making another Cthulhumanoid.

My advice is to read Lovecraft's stuff and pick something that people have mostly overlooked to model your critter on.

EldritchAbominations are still great in my book, it's just that they tend to be too hands-on. An Old God isn't going to just stroll up to our heroes and attack them, even for reasons only it can understand. It needs Mooks and Dragons, usually in the form of HumanoidAbominations. Think of Slenderman or the Nerub'ar.

edited 11th Mar '11 9:33:53 AM by Takwin

I love them, but I never really base mine off H.P Lovecraft's. And they're usually not the big bad. Except for Sylizar.

Picture a vaporous, fuzzy, shapeless being, perhaps made of pure energy. Not very scary, is it? An electric jellyfish!

Make the damn thing insanely, absurdly powerful and with motives that are utterly alien, thinking in terms that only it can understand.

You can't fight it. You can't even know if it has noticed you, if it watches you with curiosity or with malevolence. You have no way to know, and if it wants, you die in horrible ways, or worse. You have the eerie feeling that this... thing has noticed YOU. Personally. It attempts to communicate *something* to you, something you can't, or shouldn't understand at all.

Or, alternatively, this thing doesn't actually care about you, but you've got the feeling that you're... inconveniencing it. An annoyance. That entity is vaguely hostile to you. And it can crush you.

edited 11th Mar '11 6:17:43 PM by SavageHeathen

I prefer the Uncanny Valley approach; I think the subtle differences that would stand between it and real humanity are the most effective.

I don't think true Eldritch Abominations are that common. That label has just been getting a lot of Square Peg Round Trope lately.

edited 11th Mar '11 7:49:32 PM by RTaco

For some reason (probably because I'm a big Lovecraft fan) I end up including Eldritch Abominations to a lot of my work. Forgotten Lore has a Lovecraft theming going on, so it makes sence to refer to the Mythos. The only Abomination to actually make a direct appearance, however, is the Herald of the Outer Gods, an expy of Nyarlathotep and a Humanoid Abomination. He plans to release Cthulhu and end the world, but is stopped by the protagonists before he can do it.

It seems my approach is the opposite of most people. I, ironically, make them more human.

Sure, they're eternal beings from beyond the veil that cannot be stopped, but they are also lazy, have various degrees of maturity and are all around rather personable. It also helps that they all can assume human form and are pretty snarky. Sure, they regard themselves as superior to humanity, but instead of regarding us as bugs with no intelligence, they sort of see us as cats: entertaining and endearing most of the time, but they can wear out their welcome.

Yeah. Too many people are going for the "Makes everyone insane, is incomprehensible and dwarfs the entire universe" approach for super villains in action-based stories, and it doesn't work for works of fiction not devoted to describing how horrible the monster is, but spends more time having his characters kick it's ass.

I agree with R Taco

Frankly I like a little tentacle and eye in my cosmic horror, I think it's cool. But I also try to develop the alien aspects, like the angles, motivations, morality. We're literally talking about god-like beings that can act with impunity. Their very presence has various adverse affects on us. Something about them goes against our reality as humans and any interaction is a Foregone Conclusion in their favor.

Bleh... I don't usually do Lovecraftian-style abominations, and when I do do abominations I like to focus more on the mind-fuckery and less on the appearance. The classic example of Jaws, where the monster is scarier by being seen less, is the rule for me, if its horror.

I one time had something vaguely Lovecraftian, which was actually a Genius Loci planet. Rather strange. I honestly prefer Humanoid Abominations, though. I think they're scarier.

After this thread, I must now go write more of my Slender Man story...

edited 27th Aug '11 8:42:06 AM by USAF713

I am wondering.

If your eldritch abominations become like this:

"lone mile-high soul-consuming monstrosity would be cause for worldwide pandemonium. If there were ten thousand such, descending from the cold stars on umbral wings every new moon to ravage the Earth, then that would just be an average-joe usual fact of life."

is it still an eldritch abomination?

Yeah. It just wouldn't be as... limited.

I mean, we'd probably all die from the first one, though, if they were the mind-fucker type that's oh-so-loved. But, I mean, look at Mass Effect...

I don't think humanity could "just get used to" real Eldritch Abominations

edited 27th Aug '11 9:13:59 AM by USAF713

If you want a good abomination, you gotta go abstract. Focus less on its physical appearance and more on the alien-ness. A personal creation:

Parasitical beings that exist as thought. Undetectable until they enter a human host, the creature takes hold as an idea. All one needs to be "infected" is to have heard about them from someone else (who, by the sake of knowing about them, would also be infected), or even to just have heard their name. Once someone's infected, the creature slowly pulls the rug out from under its host, and gradually assumes control. They keep one last little bit of the original alive though, locked away as a template. Then they assume their identity, using the host to infect as many others as possible.

I wrote a story quite similar to that, actually.

I personally love Cosmic Horror, but of course Eldritch Abominations, like anything, can get dull if overused. Reading this thread, though, it seems like the problem isn't in people overusing eldritch abominations, but in a lack of imagination as to what an eldritch abomination can or cannot be. For example, I can think of at least several of HP Lovecraft's creations that didn't have tentacles or turn anyone insane. The problem is probably with Lovecraft Lite more than anything.

If you want some good non-tentacly Eldritch Abominations, then I recommend reading some Simon R. Green books, especially the Haven and Nightside stories. Organic-machine hybrids, half-mad creatures based on the subconscious beliefs of humanity - he's got all kinds of them. File off the serial numbers, and it's good to go.

Hmm... well, the Stellarum (my worldbuilding project) has a few, but I wonder if they really count.

One is 'Mr. Noir', essentially a pitch-black Expy of Slendy who doesn't see other creatures as people: they just appear as glowing, noisy white blurs in an otherwise calm, peaceful darkness. So he works as hard as possible to turn off the lights.

The Citadel is another: a floating, artificial fortress which requires a sentient creature to serve as its' 'pilot'. Thing is, it possibly has a tendency to drive the pilot mad simply because its' archives contain all the knowledge in the galaxy.

The Source is based on the idea of a 'Fractal Deity': it exists inside of all living things, albeit with a single, central intelligent sealed away inside the super-massive black hole around which the galaxy turns. So yes: your life-force comes from a sentient, super massive black hole.

Discord is kind of an expy of the Warp: it's an artificially created alternate dimension that seems to have a mind of its own. Unfortunately, it's obsessed with killing 'the original' galaxy, so it takes the form of imperfection. You know how you sometimes get an urge to do something evil, or a thought crosses your mind that you instantly reject...? That's Discord.

So, uh, yes. As it is, three are 'physical' and have some sort of actual form, but two of them are pretty much immortal, and the other two are damn hard to destroy.

edited 28th Aug '11 10:33:14 AM by Eventua

Yeah, but you can understand why they do what they do. They have physical shape, and exist in a manner human beings would call "living". They're not traditional Eldritch Abominations (except maybe The Source)

I don't think I could write an Eldritch Abomination. My writing focuses heavily on clashing goals and personalities, so I'm stymied by any attempted to write about impersonal forces. (I have managed to write God, Gaia, and ancient demons, but only by giving them recognizable human motivations.)