Someone called. I came.
Anyways, perhaps we should start with the 'bigwigs' of the Mythos, like Yog-Sothoth and Azathoth, then move down from there. Or something.
EDIT: BTW, anyone read Cthulhu's Reign? I recently picked up a copy, and the amount of distinctly non-Lovecraftian concepts in it made me go cross-eyed.
edited 3rd Mar '11 5:08:34 AM by GreatGodPan
Spooky.After reading Beyondthe Wallof Sleep, I am of the opinion that while the leaders of the Great Old Ones (Cthulhu and Co.) were sealed under the oceans, under the Earth, and so on by the Elder Gods, the vast majority of the Great Old Ones were sealed in mortal form - WE ARE THE GREAT OLD ONES.
I'm tsundere for Sui-Feng.
Not really when you consider that the Elder Gods aren't really good per se. Like the Great Old Ones (who we might actually be), they consider Humans as less than fleas - their interests just coincide with our own.
Thats the thing, the Elder Gods, while still running around with the 'Uncaring Alien' Morality, still give Humanity someone to root for. It's that little element of hope, that there exists something out there that's capable of taking on the Old Ones and winning, that just bugs me.
While we're on the topic, I've also always disliked the classifications of all the Old Ones into a Pantheon. They're not an Evil Empire of Aliens out to destroy the Earth, they're unfathomable Sufficiently Advanced Aliens that just so happen to share several similarities with each other.
And don't get me started on the whole 'Hastur is Cthulhu's brother' thing...
Spooky.And what happens the moment their interests no longer coincide with our own? They'd destroy us on a whim, or worse. And even if we did invoke them, they're just as capricious as the Outer Gods - they'd only act if it suited them at the time.
EDIT: I'm not so afraid of the Deep Ones and the Old Ones (not Cthulhu and Co. but the ones destroyed by the Shoggoths) anymore - a full-scale nuclear bombardment would finish the job nicely.
edited 23rd Oct '12 7:06:57 AM by BloodRavenFan
I'm tsundere for Sui-Feng.Yes, but it's not an Immpersonal sort of Apocalyptic Destruction. When (Or if) they do destroy humanity, it will be another Trope entirely, not the total coincidental annihilation of the human race caused by Insert Name Of Old One Here's awakening.
I can see humans sort of standing a chance against the Deep Ones. When you go back far enough, we're practically family after all, being native to Earth and likewise descended from Elder Thing experiments. I very much doubt we're on the same class as the Elder Things, however, at least when they were in their prime.
edited 23rd Oct '12 7:16:44 AM by GreatGodPan
Spooky.If its on ground and air, the Deep Ones stand no chance. The problem is that they control the sea - which covers a large portion of the planet's surface. They probably outnumber us, and they also probably have an advantage in terms of resources. Our advanced technology goes some way to close the gap, but ultimately, we're going to have to resort to full scale nuclear war just to win...if we can win. The only way to strike them where it matters would be by means of submarines, which would be suicidal - we'd be fighting them on their own terms. An alternative (which we currently do not have) would be to use orbit-based coilguns firing kilo-tonne grade projectiles at relativistic speeds. A 3000-tonne ferrous-tungsten slug at 20,000 km/sec would punch through the ocean and still have enough power to destroy their cities and devastate the surrounding sea bed.
As for the Elder Things...well, no, we cannot win. Not the way we are now (we're currently Tier 4 - Space Age). Perhaps if we achieve Tier 3 (Space-faring) on the Technological Achievement Scale we might stand a chance. Tier 2 (Interstellar) would be better, and at Tier 1 (World Builder) we'd be their equal. We'd have to reach Tier 0 (Trans-sapient) to match the Great Old Ones/Outer Gods/Elder Gods though, and while we'd remain Human at Tier 1 (assuming we make it that far), we probably wouldn't be recognizably Human anymore at Tier 0.
edited 23rd Oct '12 7:42:52 AM by BloodRavenFan
I'm tsundere for Sui-Feng.

And maybe the Marshes