In the frozen desolation of the Far North—where blizzards howl like damned souls and the aurora twists into mocking shapes—stalks Ithaqua, the Great Old One known as the Wind-Walker, the Wendigo, or He Who Walks on the Winds. This entity embodies the merciless cruelty of arctic winter, a living incarnation of starvation, isolation, and the cannibalistic madness that seizes those who defy the ice. To invoke Ithaqua is to court a fate worse than death: abduction into endless, freezing voids or transformation into a ravenous thing that hungers eternally for human flesh.
Ithaqua is counted among the Great Old Ones, imprisoned or restricted like many of his kin, yet uniquely mobile within his domain. Ancient legends suggest he was banished to Earth from a distant star-world (possibly the binary star Arcturus or the planet Borea in the Mythos' expanded cosmology), confined to walk only above the northernmost latitudes—never touching solid ground south of the Arctic Circle, save in rare stellar alignments. His essence merges with the polar winds, making him both a physical giant and an elemental force.
Drawing heavily from Algonquian folklore of the Wendigo—a spirit that possesses the starving, driving them to cannibalism and monstrous transformation—Ithaqua represents the Mythos' syncretism of human myth with cosmic horror. He is not a creator or messenger but a predator of loneliness, preying on isolated settlements and travelers. His malice is personal and vindictive: he delights in prolonging suffering, turning victims into eternal wanderers or wendigo-like thralls.
Unlike indifferent Outer Gods, Ithaqua exhibits a savage intelligence, responding to rituals with deliberate cruelty. He is sometimes linked to other wind-related entities (like Hastur or the Flying Polyps' tempests) but stands alone in his glacial dominion.
Survivors' accounts—fragmented and madness-tinged—describe Ithaqua as a colossal, emaciated humanoid silhouette against the storm, towering hundreds of feet yet capable of shrinking to stalk prey. His form is gaunt and elongated, with skin like cracked ice or desiccated hide stretched over skeletal frames. Vast, bat-like wings (or perhaps membranes of frozen vapor) allow him to stride upon the winds without touching earth.
His face is a nightmare: a skull-like visage with glowing, red-weeping eyes that burn like embers in snow, a lipless maw filled with jagged fangs, and antlers or branching horns evoking a corrupted stag. Clawed limbs end in talons that rake the air, and his passage leaves trails of rime and hoarfrost. In blizzards, he manifests partially—gigantic footprints appearing in snowdrifts without approach, or shadowy outlines striding treetops—while his full form emerges only in the heart of tempests, accompanied by a deafening, mournful howl.
Ithaqua's powers revolve around cold, wind, and psychological torment:
Wind-Walking: He treads the upper atmosphere on gale-force currents, invisible until he chooses to manifest, allowing global reach within polar regions.
Blizzard Summoning: Invokes unnatural storms that bury settlements, induce hypothermia, and isolate victims for his hunt.
Abduction and Transformation: Preferred victims are seized in freezing gusts and carried to interdimensional prisons (such as the icy world Borea) or dropped in remote wastes. Exposure to his presence risks "wendigo psychosis"—insatiable hunger leading to cannibalism and physical mutation (elongated limbs, furred skin, antler growth).
Cannibalistic Curse: Thralls become wendigo-like monsters, immortal yet eternally starving, spreading his influence through murder and consumption.
Psychic Influence: Whispers on the wind drive the isolated mad, compelling self-destruction or sacrifice.
Weaknesses are few: fire repels him (he cannot approach open flames), and certain elder wards or southern latitudes limit his direct manifestation. Modern accounts suggest aircraft disruptions or radar anomalies during his activity.
Ithaqua's followers are sparse but fanatical, concentrated in northern indigenous communities (blending native lore with Mythos corruption) and isolated outposts. Cults in Alaska, northern Canada (especially Manitoba), Siberia, and Greenland perform rituals during solstice blizzards: human sacrifices left exposed on ice, chants invoking his names, and offerings of fresh meat to appease storms.
Worshippers seek his "blessings"—immunity to cold, enhanced hunting prowess, or transformation into wind-walkers—or propitiate him to spare villages. Degenerate tribes view him as a god of the hunt gone malignant, while modern cults (rare urban offshoots) lure victims into wilderness traps.
Algonquian Legends: Rooted in Wendigo myths of the Cree and Ojibwe, adapted into the Mythos as Ithaqua's earthly mask.
"The Thing That Walked on the Wind" (1933): A key tale where a professor encounters his cult in northern Canada, witnessing abductions and transformations.
Expanded Mythos: Links to Antarctic winds or conflicts with other Great Old Ones (e.g., rivalry with Cthulhu's aquatic dominion). Investigators report missing persons in polar expeditions, with frozen corpses showing ritual marks.
In Forbidden Tomes: Referenced obliquely in the Necronomicon as a "walker on winds"; more explicitly in Derleth's expansions and the Ponape Scripture's polar verses.
Ithaqua embodies the Mythos' primal fear of nature's hostility: not the vast indifference of space, but the intimate, devouring cold that strips civilization bare. In the North, where winter never truly ends, listen for the wind's unnatural howl—for the Wendigo God walks, and his hunger is eternal. To venture into his domain unprepared is to become another frozen whisper in the storm.