Who is Hastur in Lovecraft’s Mythos? What powers does he have?
Hastur is the Great Old One of The Himalayan Mountains and Outer Tibet, and has placed under his protection the dream-haunted Plateau of Leng. He discovers those who stray too far from their bodies while in a dreaming state, and return them to their slumbers for another 10 years.
Hastur is part of a race of beings known as “the Great Ones.” They are immensely powerful beings that have existed since before time was born. They can take different forms; some look like man or animals and others simply appear as vibrations or colors without any shape at all. They often represent dualities such as joy and sorrow or life and death (though this applies more to younger gods than to the Great Ones, who are beyond such concerns).
Hastur is known as the “King in Yellow.” He appears as an extremely thin man draped in a tattered yellow cloak. His face is concealed by a mask, and his hands wield the Staff of Hastur (also called the Yellow Sign).
This is a difficult question because Hastur has appeared in so many works by H.P. Lovecraft and other writers that this overview can’t really be detailed enough to answer the questions properly. Simply put, he’s an antagonist who opposes strong willed humans and uses anything up his sleeve to terrify them and break their spirits. It’s unclear what power, if any, he possesses that defines him as such or not but one possible candidate would be his ability to drive men mad because of their worse impulses or denial of higher truths (such as Azathoth). This just off the top of my head though so I’m not entirely sure if there is a correct answer out there…maybe someone else could help with some of these!
Hastur the Unspeakable is one of the Outer Gods, and represents everything you can’t understand. He has no name, can appear in infinite forms, and will eventual enslave or destroy all other life in the universe. It’s important to note that he doesn’t represent a single theme or aspect; rather he embodies all themes and aspects of chaos. Therefore his “powers” are also all encompassing — since he can take on any appearance, promote any idea, or cause any event — there is nothing that Hastur cannot do!
Hastur is one of the Great Old Ones and is an Outer God. He can be summoned to earth by someone who has the knowledge of how to hold him back during this time. He can possess a human if they get close enough for too long or he will try and lure them away so that he can take over their body. And no, there are not any specific powers listed because every story involving him varies depending on what was happening in that chapter in the author’s life cycle when it was made.
He governs both dreams and intermittent periods of catalepsy, such as sleepwalking or night terrors for example when a person wakes up terrified after what appears to have just been a deep sleep, but then finds themselves actually still in a deep sleep. He has the ability to cause insanity, as well as suicide if he can get close enough and stay there long enough.
Hastur is considered a malevolent deity in the Cthulu mythos. He’s not a villain but something you don’t really want to wake up…
Hastur is also another name for Cthulhu, which may be more familiar to some people. (I’m sure Cthulhu would love it if we just called him by his other name…) Like most beings, Hastur has many areas of power and privilege- such as the ability to drive mortals insane, inflict madness and despair on those he encounters, bend reality to suit his needs on occasion, etc. What makes him different from others is that while their power gradually waxes or wanes depending on external circumstances such as proximity between creatures of unfathomable origin or numbers of faithful followers, Hastur’s influence has no real upper limit. Moreover, if someone knows what you’re up to and knows how to deal with it in some way, the best thing to do is bide your time and try something else later. Hastur never runs out of new tricks up his sleeve.
Hastur, the Unspeakable One, is a Great Old One of the Cthulhu mythos and is given several different possible classifications. He is said to be he boss or ruler of all evil gods, demons and devils in particular and all visible beings in general. He commands an army that includes amorphous monsters (invisible terrors) who are waiting for just one good fright before they terrify those to death; as well as Night Gaunts who suck blood from living victims while they sleep; Leng Ghouls with ape-like bodies but strangely human hands which clutch rosaries against their chests out of some pious guilt; gigantic shambling gophers from the fourth dimension called Shoggoths; metallic bird-men from Saturn called Shantaks; and the very air you breathe about two miles from this article.
Hastur, also known as The King in Yellow and the Yellow King, is a character from Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. He doesn’t have any overt powers of his own.
“One Christmas night, after a family dinner and their annual digesting-day nap, Mr. Ullman was on his way back to the music room with some of the children when they heard in all too plain evidence something that made them run at full tilt for home. But before he ever had time to see if it might be one of Debbie’s ‘games’, she was whisked off by her mother who remained less than steady on her feet; no doubt due much more to father’s frequent slugging than to actual intoxication.
Hastur is one of the Great Old Ones and a ruler in the Mythos. He has all kinds of powers, but he’s also totally predictable.
Hastur looks like this on Earth:
He doesn’t like to be worshipped (he prefers to control people), which makes him less powerful than his other friends who feed off fear or worship to maintain their power. But he can do some pretty serious stuff without being noticed if he needs to.
Some mythologists think that Hastur may have been based on Seneca’s Agamemnon, as well as members of Babylonian royalty who were sacrificed before battle for tactical advantage against their enemies. So yeah, we’re talking about an all-powerful guy with lots of tricks at his disposal, but not the easiest guy to get along with.
The Ancient One and the King in Yellow, Hastur is one of the Outer Gods. He has almost infinite power, however it can only be used for evil.
His symbols are a spiral ichiton with horns or a star on top which people call “Hastur’s rood” and is often depicted alongside his sister-wife, Cthulhu.
He seems to have a sort of psychic influence over humans that he enslaves to do his will on Earth – especially those who are weak, chaotic, criminal or insane but may also extend to an entire civilization if they worship him enough as their god.
Hastur is a seminal horror figure in Lovecraft’s pantheon of Great Old Ones. Hastur (appearing as “Hastor”) first appears in The Return of Hastur, a short story written by author Lin Carter and published in Weird Tales Vol. 15 No. 5 Jul 1966. He is described therein as the spawn of the Outer God called shoggoths, and he rules over planet Aldebaran within our own solar system from Earth’s moon; at his bidding, followers from all over the universe travel to Earth for their sinister purposes which they dare not enter upon openly lest they meet with sudden reversal or destruction.
Most notably there are two types of followers that answer to his command: ghouls who bear allegiance through ancient fealty, and the mysterious creatures called night-gaunts which serve only out of fear.
