Respect the Cthulhu Mythos

[Spuro]

Doesn't literally just LOOKING at cthulhu drive one insane? I've never actually read cthulhu mythos, but from what i've heard gazing upon him = madness: and no doubt, Godzilla is intelligent enough to be able to go insane.

No, it doesn't. It's a gross exaggeration of the main character suffering PTSD from surviving a giant fucking monster.

Chtulhu makes you no more insane by looking at him than Rodan does.

[RamshackleRanger]

Doesn't literally just LOOKING at cthulhu drive one insane? I've never actually read cthulhu mythos, but from what i've heard gazing upon him = madness: and no doubt, Godzilla is intelligent enough to be able to go insane.

No, it doesn't. It's a gross exaggeration of the main character suffering PTSD from surviving a giant fucking monster.

Chtulhu makes you no more insane by looking at him than Rodan does.

good to know.

[Zarm]

Chtulhu makes you no more insane by looking at him than Rodan does.

Is that an intentional choice of Kaiju to use for the comparison? Because that's kind of exactly what happens to the main character in Rodan. (To be fair, that was essentially a form of PTSD as well, but it literally did just come from seeing him.)

[MoarCrossovers]

So Cthulhu can't induce madness in people? At least, not willingly or as a guaranteed power?

[GodzillavsRayquaza]

So Cthulhu can't induce madness in people? At least, not willingly or as a guaranteed power?

In some interpretations, yes. In others, no. The Cthulhu mythos is a hodgepodge of stories by a bunch of different authors, along with many other stories in different mediums.
There is no set canon.
In some versions, likely including Lovecraft's original, KaijuKing42's assessment is correct. In other versions, Cthulhu is in fact capable of inducing madness in people willingly.

I say likely including the original because the original tells us next to nothing about Cthulhu's abilities. Which is why most people rely upon the Cthulhu Mythos for his abilities, but like I said, the Cthulhu Mythos is confusing because there's no singular canon, yet no distinctions are made between the canons. Also, most stories don't even have guys like Cthulhu come out preform feats of great power, because that would be the end of the story, because it would be the irreversible apocalypse, in just about every case.

[Spuro]

Chtulhu makes you no more insane by looking at him than Rodan does.

Is that an intentional choice of Kaiju to use for the comparison? Because that's kind of exactly what happens to the main character in Rodan. (To be fair, that was essentially a form of PTSD as well, but it literally did just come from seeing him.)

Yeah, it was intentional. Rodan is probably the most Lovecraftian kaiju movie in terms of atmosphere. At least the first act.

My point was that the mental conditions weren't caused by a magical ability on Rodan or Chtulhu's part, but by incredible fear and stress by the characters. Keep in mind the protagonist of Call of Chtulhu had just survived a labyrinth of impossible angles and an attack by a giant monster, and the protagonist of Rodan had been lost in a cave of monsters for who knows how long?

So Cthulhu can't induce madness in people? At least, not willingly or as a guaranteed power?

In some interpretations, yes. In others, no. The Cthulhu mythos is a hodgepodge of stories by a bunch of different authors, along with many other stories in different mediums.
There is no set canon.
In some versions, likely including Lovecraft's original, KaijuKing42's assessment is correct. In other versions, Cthulhu is in fact capable of inducing madness in people willingly.

I never really consider the other versions canon. August Derleth was a sleazy hack who abused the death of his friend to sell books in his name. He didn't understand the point of Lovecraft's work at all. The others are more or less glorified fan-fiction. Some are good, some are bad. But I wouldn't consider using them for an FM. (Granted, I wouldn't consider using Lovecraft's monsters for FMs in the first place, for many of the reasons we find Varan or the OG Godzilla so difficult to be sure of. His stuff just isn't built for FMs. But that's another story entirely.)

Many of the tales by Clark Ashton Smith and Robert Howard (author of Conan the Barbarian) MAY however be considered canon to the mythos.

[GodzillavsRayquaza]

I never really consider the other versions canon. August Derleth was a sleazy hack who abused the death of his friend to sell books in his name. He didn't understand the point of Lovecraft's work at all. The others are more or less glorified fan-fiction. Some are good, some are bad. But I wouldn't consider using them for an FM. (Granted, I wouldn't consider using Lovecraft's monsters for FMs in the first place, for many of the reasons we find Varan or the OG Godzilla so difficult to be sure of. His stuff just isn't built for FMs. But that's another story entirely.

I agree completely with the part about them not being fit for FMs. But, you know how some people are, they gotta see how strong everything is. Not calling anyone out on here, but other forums with vs debates have issues with that.

Also agreed on Derleth, but that's neither here nor there.