References to the Cthulhu Mythos in Digimon

Throughout the Digimon franchise there are various references to the works of, in particular the. A significant number of these references are due to the influence of Chiaki J. Konaka, who is also an acknowledged Lovecraft writer and is known for occasionally adding elements to his works.

Digimon with references to the Cthulhu Mythos

 * Dagomon is named after, a minor named for the Semitic god , though its appearance is based on that of.
 * The name of one of Ancient Wisemon's Special Moves where it summons the ultimate evil god from another dimension is a reference to the "", a magical symbol created by the  as a form of protection against the Great Old Ones. Also, the description of the technique itself is a reference to the Elder Sign being a key "whereby the powers of the Elder Gods may be summoned when used with the proper words and shapes", mentioned in the , which has strong associations with the Cthulhu Mythos, under the name "Agga".
 * Demon has a variant of the Elder Sign, a star-shaped version first described by in . In its "robed appearance", its pendant also contains symbols that resemble the "eye" part of the Elder Sign in addition to the star. Like Demon, Mephismon also has this variant of the Elder Sign engraved on its chest.

In episode 13, the original title itself is a pun on the alternative translation of Lovecraft's  (クトゥルフの呼び声 Kuturufu no Yobigoe). In the opening title, a column of DigiCode appears displaying the following: 

This translates to "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" (フングルイ ムグルウナフ クトゥルウ ルルイエ ウガフナグル フタグン), an occult phrase originating from The Call of Cthulhu which means "In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming". Later, when Hikari is alone, she walks past a sign on a fence that reads "" which translates to "" (インスマウス), a fictional town in. The mysterious entities that inhabit the World of Darkness asssuming the form of Hangyomon are a reference to the. In relation to their affinity for human interbreeding, they attempt to capture Hikari in order for her to mate with Dagomon.

In episode 45, as Demon was being banished to the World of Darkness, he mentions "Dagomon's Ocean". It is unknown whether this link was an intentional one, though one may gather from this connection that this means Dagomon cannot hurt Demon.



The two programs Hypnos uses, Yuggoth and Shaggai, are named after the fictional planets and. Hypnos itself may be a reference to the short story  written by Lovecraft, albeit not connected to the Cthulhu Mythos, or the Elder God.

In episode 44, Tetsuo Uchiharato (内原戸 哲夫), seen being interviewed on the news during the D-Reaper crisis in West Shinjuku, is a professor from "Miskatonic University", a reference to, a fictional university in the works of Lovecraft that makes several appearances in the Cthulhu Mythos.