Old One - Other Appearances

Other Appearances

• A theocratic group of Martians called the "Old Ones" are mentioned by the main character in Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (1961).

• Old Ones appear in the Time Quartet (1962–1986), Madeleine L'Engle's series of science fantasy books about the Murry family, notably in A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978). Similar to those found in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series, the Old Ones are humans born with unusual mystical powers and dedicated to a never-ending struggle against the powers of darkness and evil. In both series, the Old Ones are associated with an Old Music.

• Lovecraftian-style Old Ones appear in Marvel Comics as extradimensional demons who once ruled the Earth tens of thousands of years ago. They serve largely as back-story, the only one of note being the Doctor Strange enemy Shuma-Gorath who first appeared in 1972.

• In the 1995 novel Earthfall by Orson Scott Card, part of the Homecoming Saga (1992–1995), humans are referred to as the Old Ones by the two sentient, indigenous species of Earth.

• John Carpenter's 1995 film In the Mouth of Madness, which is partly based on H. P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

• In the 2000 novel Shadow Scourge by Mark Ellis, part of the Outlanders series (1997–2011), the antagonist Ocajinik is suspected of being an Old One.

• In the short story "A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman – originally featured in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street (2003) and later appearing in his collection Fragile Things (2006) – the Great Old Ones have taken control of Earth's governments. For instance, the Queen of England is described thus: "She was called Victoria because she had beaten us in battle seven hundred years before, and she was called Gloriana, because she was glorious, and she was called the Queen, because the human mouth was not shaped to say her true name. She was huge—huger than I imagined possible— and she squatted in the shadows, staring at us without moving."

• The Old Ones are the main villains in Anthony Horowitz's book series The Power of Five (2005–2012). As shapeshifting demons, they can take many forms. In the series, the Old Ones ruled Earth ten thousand years ago and suppressed numerous human rebellions before finally being banished into another dimension by the Gatekeepers, who are later reincarnated into modern teenagers in order to stop the Old Ones when their prison is unlocked.

• In the 2006 novel Bec by Darren Shan, fourth installment in The Demonata series (2005–2010), the "Old Creatures" are beings of light who live in a cave under the sea. The Demonata hate but fear them. They left Earth and ascended to the Heavens almost two thousand years ago when their time came to an end.

• The Old Ones are a caste of vampire elders in the BBC Three supernatural drama-comedy television series Being Human (2009–present).

• Old One, named after H. P. Lovecraft's fictional race of gods, is a psychedelic doom band from Morehead, Kentucky; they released a single, self-titled album in 2009.

• There is a filk entitled "The Old Ones" by Zander Nyrond that was inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos and is set to the tune of the 1962 Cliff Richard pop song "The Young Ones".