Markup View

Author: MetaFour

Jul 25th 2008 at 4:04:59 PM

''{{MetaFour}}, defining the difference between a genre and a character type isn't a sensible thing to do. You might as well define the difference between an apple and the colour green.''

That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is:
*EldritchAbomination = Fish-Tentacle-Alien-Monster. 
*CosmicHorror = Monster whose very existence makes a mockery of man's understanding of the universe, whose very existence proves Humanity's Utter Insignificane. 
**May or may not also be an EldritchAbomination.
**The term is also used for the genre in which such monsters appear, analagous to the use of the term "{{Kaiju}}".

By that criteria:
*Cthulhu is both a CosmicHorror and an EldritchAbomination. 
*The Snarl from ''OrderOfTheStick'' (a malevolent entity that can unmake souls and kill gods, but it looks like a knot of yarn) is a CosmicHorror but ''not'' an EldritchAbomination. 
*Sammael from the ''{{Hellboy}}'' film (a slimy, tentacled HellHound who can be [[KillItWithFire killed with fire]]) is an EldritchAbomination but ''not'' a CosmicHorror.

''What that paragraph current does is briefly describe Eldritch Abominations. Remove it and, without any other changes, we've got a good description of what CosmicHorror is. For the new page, the term needs defining by comparison with other types of alien and monster - how to distinguish between a StarfishAlien and an ElritchAbomination.''

The paragraph in question specifies that what makes these monsters monstrous is that they "scare you with the abject insignificance of your entire life." And the rest of the article says exactly the same thing about CosmicHorror: "It is a world where Humanity is surrounded by nameless horrors, and all our hopes are a cruel illusion... Then they shall return to rule this world, and all humanity's labours shall have been in vain, for we are but mice in the wainscotting, making merry while the cat's away. ...truths so terrible than none may comprehend them and remain sane."

If you think that's the defining feature of EldritchAbomination, then what the heck is CosmicHorror about?