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Cthulhu is a deity/monster/alien featured in H.P.Lovecraft’s science fiction, particularly The Call of Cthulhu. The original character is anything but cute; in fact he’s powerful, evil, horrifying, and scary, too. But the heart of comedy is a juxtaposition of opposites, so it’s natural to try to make Cthulhu into something cute.
French artist Francois Launet puts a comic spin on the horror of Cthulhu at the webcomic The Unspeakable Vault of Doom.
Artist Gala Tokareva drew baby Cthulhu in the classic nude-on-belly pose. See more at her site.
Oh, there’s lot more, after the jump.
This Baby Cthulhu logo (along with Sleepy Cthulhu) is available on t-shirts, bags, and wallets from Goth Stuff.
Think Geek has this plush Cthulhu.
There are more plush Cthulhus available. One made it into a slideshow story, The Tale of the Plush Cthulhu.
The Toy Vault has these comfy Cthulhu slippers and other monsterous plush items.
This homemade Cthulhu iPod cozy was featured at Something Awful. A commenter noted it was a “love-craft”.
Michelle made this darling Cthulhu Halloween costume for her son Alistair.
And what could be cuter than this homemade knitted Cthulhu?
The Misadventures of Hello Cthulhu is a webcomic mashup of Cthulhu and Hello Kitty.
Coming soon to a toy store near you… My Little Cthulhu. Or they may be available now, if you can get one before they are all snapped up! Little Victims sold separately.
The first time I saw this liscence plate, it was labeled “Adults for Dessert”. Maybe not exactly cute, but a funny juxtaposition of dreadful and darling.
You’d think Lovecraft would be rolling in his grave over these, but he had a dark and clever sense of humor. He would probably be quite proud.
you forgot - Irregular Webcomic! go there and go back until you find a panel with Lego Cthulhu in it!
posted by leggy on 4-24-2007 at 7:03 am
Cthulhu loves me this I know,
especially with oregano,
baked or boiled or batter-fried,
there’s no way he hasn’t tried…
posted by Jason! on 4-24-2007 at 8:13 am
The ipod cozy looks more like Sigmund the Seamonster!
posted by Melanie on 4-24-2007 at 8:44 am
Forgive my ignorance… but how do you pronounce “Cthulhu”?
posted by dman on 4-24-2007 at 9:20 am
Hahaha! I have no idea.
posted by Miss Cellania on 4-24-2007 at 9:23 am
I’ve always pronounced it ke-too-loo.
The license plate is especially great with the red handprints, as long as, you know, you don’t think about VT. Oops.
Oh well, just read Jason’s song again and laugh.
posted by Johnny Cat on 4-24-2007 at 9:34 am
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned the Cthulhu for President campaign. The tagline: “Why settle for the lesser evil?”
posted by Jason! on 4-24-2007 at 9:43 am
I mentioned it in a previous post (”Those Crazy Candidates”). Trying to keep to the “cute” theme this time.
posted by Miss Cellania on 4-24-2007 at 9:51 am
According to Wikipedia:
“Lovecraft transcribed the pronunciation of Cthulhu as ‘Khlûl’hloo’ or ‘Kathooloo’ S. T. Joshi points out, however, that Lovecraft gave several differing pronunciations on different occasions. According to Lovecraft, however, this is merely the closest that the human vocal apparatus can come to reproducing the syllables of an alien language.”
posted by n2y2 on 4-24-2007 at 10:48 am
In Anchorage, AK, several alleys have Cthulhu head graffiti and the words “ia ia cthulhu fthaghn”, which essentially means “Cthulhu awaits”…a few years ago i saw a website started by a college student; he was trying to raise support for “Jews for Cthulhu” to oppose his campus’ active Jews for Jesus campaign.
posted by Andrew on 4-24-2007 at 11:37 am
“Jews for Cthulhu”…I find that endlessly amusing.
I remember a webcomic artist that used to make chibi-(baby-like)Cthulhu-giving-the-thumbs-up t-shirts labeled “Buddy-C”. I had always wanted to get one, but he stopped making them before I could. I think you can still find him if you google “Mac Hall webcomic”.
posted by heather on 4-24-2007 at 12:54 pm
I was talking to a friend about today’s Miss Cellania post and learned through him that there is apparently a game out there that is “an unholy cross between Cthulhu mythos and Pokemon” called Pokethulhu…
posted by Jason! on 4-24-2007 at 1:35 pm
Thanks for showing all the cool Cthulhu stuff. I thought you would like to see my Lovecraft/Cthulhu sculpture
www.slaughterhousestudios.blogspot.com/
Lisa
posted by Lisa on 4-30-2007 at 11:35 am
I’ve been working on a Cthulhu sculpture and keeping track of it as I go:
www.thosedewolfes.com/?q=taxonomy/term/19,20,21
posted by Mike DeWolfe on 5-23-2007 at 1:36 pm
sooooooooooo cool!!!!!!!!
posted by bla on 9-20-2007 at 12:00 am