Great Old One

The Old Ones, sometimes known as the Great Old Ones, were beings from before the universe, according to the Doctor. (NA: White Darkness, All-Consuming Fire, MA: Millennial Rites)

Folowing the demise of the last universe, they passed on into this one in which they discovered they had god-like powers with which they manipulated the universe. (MA: Millennial Rites)


 * The appearance and powers of the Old Ones vary from entity to entity. They all have, in Human terms, immense powers.

List of Old Ones by their Mythos names

 * Azathoth
 * Cthulhu
 * Dagon
 * Hastur the Unspeakable
 * Lloigor
 * Nyarlathotep
 * Shub-Niggurath
 * Yog-Sothoth

Behind the Scenes
The Old Ones originated in the Cthulhu Mythos, which pre-dated Doctor Who. Some characters in televised Doctor Who, such as Sutekh (though based on an actual ancient Egyptian god) the Fendahl, had shown the apparent influence of the Mythos. Not until the novels White Darkness and then All-Consuming Fire and Millennial Rites explicitly named the Old Ones as existing in the Doctor Who Universe. The latter two books took certain known Doctor Who enemies, such as the Animus and explained that they had links to the Mythos. The Taking of Planet 5 showed that the Cthulhu Mythos also existed in the form of fiction in the Doctor Universe. The established Cthulhu Mythos and the Doctor Who version have some differences. The idea of the Old Ones originating before the universe originates in Doctor Who novels, for example.