Nyarlathotep is the most human-like Outer God Lovecraft has given us, which isn’t saying much. He’s the Devil incarnate. Lovecraft and his followers have given Nyarlathotep many names: the Crawling Chaos, the Crawling Mist, Ahtu, the Haunter of the Dark, the Faceless God, … The list is long, although Lovecraft himself used the character only in four stories and two poems (not counting mere references to him in other stories). His first recorded appearance in human history is as the Black Pharaoh, but he takes on many guises.

I thought that was interesting: a creature with boundless powers taking (different) human form(s). It inspired me to give the Nyarlathotep character a little tweak. In Dream Whisperer, he can only interact with our reality when he possesses a physical being. He needs an avatar like gamers in an RPG. Our reality is his gaming world, and he can make and break the rules at will. He has all the cheat codes. And that’s his problem. It makes life boring. So he’s looking for a real challenge, and he’s willing to accept a handicap to level the playing field.

Often, Lovecraft protagonists lose their minds when the Outer Gods finally manifest themselves. His stories build up to that ultimate confrontation and then stop abruptly because all resistance is futile. In a story that goes beyond such a well-worn standard ending, the Outer Gods’ power levels need to be toned down. But it has to be done without making the bad guy a mere shadow of himself. In Dream Whisperer — another alias for Nyarlathotep — the problem is solved by letting the protagonist make that decision himself. He’s like Dash in The Incredibles: he runs far slower than he can to make it seem like a real race. But just like Dash, the Dream Whisperer wants to win so very badly. So will he, in the last few yards, switch back to his superhuman speed to beat his rivals at the finish line?

In Lovecraft’s stories, Nyarlathotep’s pedigree is impeccable. He’s the offspring of Azathoth, the head honcho amongst the Outer Gods. Instead of becoming Crown Prince, Nyarlathotep is never considered as a successor when the ‘Idiot God’ finally loses his mind. Sometimes, he’s described as the messenger of the Outer Gods. More likely, he’s a dark court jester. I imagined him as never being taken quite seriously by his peers and, as a consequence, always frustrated and rebellious. Earth is his playground where he takes out his frustrations on mankind. In Dream Whisperer, it’s suggested that he’s been left behind on Earth because he hasn’t made the grade. He’s a failure. He’s been given a token task, but is it more than a sinecure?