The fictional deity in The Call of Cthulhu is Cthulhu. H. P. Lovecraft introduced the character in his short story, first published in the February 1928 issue of Weird Tales.
Cthulhu is portrayed as a gigantic cosmic entity with an octopus-like head, a scaly humanoid body, claws and wings. Within Lovecraft’s fictional cosmology, he is one of the Great Old Ones. The story places him in the sunken city of R’lyeh, where he lies imprisoned and waits to awaken while human cults worship him.
The story’s famous premise is that Cthulhu’s presence creates a kind of subconscious terror across humanity, even while he remains hidden. Readers often confuse Cthulhu with other Lovecraftian names. Yog-Sothoth is another cosmic entity, Nyarlathotep is a shape-shifting messenger figure, and Dagon is associated with a separate aquatic cult tradition. The pronunciation is also disputed: Lovecraft gave several versions, while modern popular culture often says “kuh-THOO-loo.”