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A Deep One is a Fictional Character in the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft . The beings first appeared in Lovecraft's Short Story " The Shadow Over Innsmouth " ( 1931 ). The Deep Ones are a race of frog-like, ocean-dwelling creatures with an affinity for mating with humans. Numerous mythos elements are associated with the Deep Ones, including the legendary town of Innsmouth , the undersea city of Y'ha-nthlei, the Esoteric Order of Dagon, and the beings known as Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. After their debut in Lovecraft's tale, the sea-dwelling creatures resurfaced in the works of other authors, especially August Derleth The Deep Ones are a popular fixture in Derleth's Cthulhu Mythos fiction, appearing in about half of his tales. ("Derleth's Use of the Words 'Ichthic' and 'Batrachian'", ''Crypt of Cthulhu #9''.). SUMMARY
The Deep Ones are a race of undersea-dwelling humanoids whose preferred habitat is deep in the ocean (hence their name). However, despite being primarily marine creatures, they can come to the surface and can survive on land for some time. All Deep Ones are immortal; none die except by accident or violence. They serve the beings known as Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, as well as Cthulhu . They are opposed by mysterious beings known as the Old One s, whose powerful magic can keep them in check. DEEP ONE HYBRID On occasion, Deep Ones will make deals with humans. In exchange for Human Sacrifices , Deep Ones will bestow various gifts such as gold jewelry or, if the humans are sea folk, the guarantee of plentiful fishing. But eventually they will demand "mixing"—the mating, perhaps forced—of themselves and humans. The offspring of the pairing is immortal. Unfortunately, it is a Faustian Bargain , because although the Deep One hybrid is born with the appearance of a normal human being, the individual will eventually transform into a Deep One, gaining immortality—by default—only when the transformation is complete. The transformation of a hybrid into a Deep One usually does not occur until the individual reaches middle age, though some hybrids have been known to develop sooner. In any event, the transformation always follows the same pattern. As the hybrid gets older, it begins to take on more and more attributes of the Deep One race: The ears shrink, the eyes bulge and become unblinking, the head narrows and gradually goes bald, the skin becomes scabrous as it changes into scales, and the neck develops folds which later become gills. When the hybrid becomes too obviously non-human, it is hidden away from outsiders. Eventually, however, the hybrid will be compelled to slip into the sea and will then go live with the Deep Ones in one of their undersea cities. In the '' Call Of Cthulhu '' Role-playing Game , the Deep Ones' unusual mating habits are attributed to the fact that as the population in a given undersea city increases, fertility decreases, because female Deep Ones begin eating their young. FATHER DAGON AND MOTHER HYDRA Father Dagon and '''Mother Hydra''' are both ''minor'' Great Old One s; though it is possible that they are merely Deep Ones that have grown abnormally large. Together with Cthulhu, they form the triad of gods worshipped by the Deep Ones. (''See Dagon , a Semitic fertility deity.'') Mother Hydra is the consort to Father Dagon. The ''Call of Cthulhu'' role-playing game suggests that Mother Hydra may not be a Great Old One at all but is in fact just a gigantic Deep One. It is also possible that she holds a titular position for the city that happens to have the largest and nastiest Deep One in its civilization. Y'HA-NTHLEI "Cyclopean and many-columned Y'ha-nthlei"Lovecraft, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". is by far the most prominent Deep One city. It is a great undersea metropolis located below Devil's Reef just off the coast of Massachusetts , near the town of Innsmouth . Its exact age is not known, but it is probably thousands of centuries old"For eighty thousand years Pht'thya-l'yi had lived in Y'ha-nthlei" (ibid). By inference, Y'ha-nthlei is probably much older.. In 1928 , the U.S. government torpedoed Devil's Reef as part of a raid on the town of Innsmouth (the press attributed the raids to Prohibition -era "war on liquor", but certain hints suggested that a darker purpose was at work). Years later, Devil's Reef was bombed yet again by Delta Green (in 1953 ) and the Wilmarth Foundation (in 1974 ). Despite these repeated attacks, it is likely that the Deep Ones' great metropolis is still thriving. Deep One cities doubtless exist in all the oceans of the world. At least two other undersea metropoli are known of: Ahu-Y'hloa near Cornwall and G'll-Hoo in the Northern Sea near Surtsey . POPULAR CULTURE The movie Dagon features the Deep Ones and the Esoteric Order of Dagon appears as the primary antagonists. It is inspired by " The Shadow Over Innsmouth ." The movie moves the action to a small coastal town in Galicia , in the northwest of Spain . The town is named Imboca ("boca" is the Spanish word for "mouth"), though the main characters are American tourists. One of them wears a sweatshirt from Miskatonic University . Deep Ones are also featured as adversaries in the video game Alone In The Dark . In the role playing game game there is a quest which concerns a small village south of Chorrol by the name of Hackdirt. The village shares many similarities with Lovecraft's description of Innsmouth. A cult similar to the many cults of the Cthulu mythos has a hold over the town, controlling all activities. This cult is called the Brethren and captures innocent victims and imprisons them underground in caves underneath the town, in order to sacrifice them to the Deep Ones. If the player visits the Church of the Brethren in Hackdirt you can find a book named The Bible of The Deep Ones. This bible contains refrences to how a priest of the town was given this item by supernatural beings called Deep Ones. The rest of the bible is unreadable as it written in a strange language. The cult is also very hostile rejecting all outsiders and attacking them if they are there too long or attack anyone in the town. There is also a quest to save an Argonian girl from the caves under Hackdirt which is called "The Shadow over Hackdirt". Clearly this town is based directly off of Innsmouth from "The Shadow over Innsmouth." SEE ALSO
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Secondary sources
:—"Deep Ones", pp. 81–82. Ibid. :—"Hydra (Mother Hydra)", p. 143. Ibid. :—"Y'ha-nthlei", p. 340. Ibid.
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