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hypergojira β Dagon
Published: 2009-03-04 15:01:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 3927; Favourites: 51; Downloads: 46
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Description
I've been slowed down by an ear infection so I have had a little more time to draw. So here is the demon lord Dagon. I hope to ink and color when I get my tablet working again. Sorry, but I had to scan it in pieces and I didn't put it back together to well. I will fix that in the color version.Dagon is fish god/demon of the sea in prechristian and christian mythology and is part of the Lovecraft mythos (lord of the deep ones) and D&D cosmology as well.
No stats yet, hopefully I'll post them with the color version
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Comments: 54
Father Dagon,we await your arrivalΒ
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Thank god you gave him a tail. I hate tail-less Dagons, they look so weird and stupid.
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Well, it is a fishy demon-god isn't it?!
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For reals. Fish have tails, y'all, take the hint. Even Donald Tyson, who is otherwise perfect, has this paragraph in the Necronomicon about how Dagon doesn't have a tail, it's just when he swims with his legs together (how does that even work?) it just LOOKS like a tail.
There's a really interesting version in one of the Castlevania games, I think on the DS. Something like a cross between a frog and Bogun. It's really off-model, but way cool.
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Dagon's story is quite interesting actually. Prior to lovecraft, and his friends, Dagon was often represented as a half man half fish beast/demon (with a fish tail). This was apparently a mistake by early Christians (if I remember correctly) that got the god Dagon confused with another god. The original Dagon wasn't related to the sea or water at all.
Now a can't remember if Lovercraft's description in "Dagon" included a tail or not, i don't remember it being very specific. Other than the fact that "Dagon" is worshiped by the deep ones I don't think it is ever described again.
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HPL never mentioned whether Dagon had a tail. Of course, since he went with the fish-monster thing (the mistake was more recent, christians just demonized him, archaeologists got confused and thought it meant "fish of sadness," put the two together and you've got demon fish), the obvious assumption would be that Dagon had a tail since... you know, fishes have tails.
There's no evidence in Lovecraft either way, I just think a fish monster with no tail looks a little clumsy and weird.
But your version is awesome.
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And it has a tail!
There is also debate about whether or not the creature in "Dagon" is actually HPL's version of Dagon or simply one of the inhabitants.
And other than that short I don't think HPL every describes Dagon (if it is Dagon in that story), or mother Hydra.
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Well, I've never heard that. It's too big to be just a deep one.
But yeah, he never got around to spelling out anything about Dagon other than what was on that monolyth in the short story.
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I don't have the short in front of me, but I believe the size of the creature is rather ambiguous. I also believe that deep ones grow throughout their lives (like sharks), so that they can get rather large. This may not be HPL canon though; I could be mixing it up with how the deep ones are described in the game Call of Cthulhu.
I do remember that in the short the narrator does not call the creature he sees βDagon.β He only comments that he is reminded of the legends/myths of Dagon. In addition, I believe he describes the creature as looking like the creatures in the stone carvings. Insinuating, I think, that it resembles a member of a race of creatures, not a unique creature.
Finally (I didnβt know this until I just did a wiki attack before my previous post), I guess there is some scholarly debate regarding whether βDagonβ is just another name for Cthulhu. But, if that is the case β who the hell is Mother Hydra? Though it is interesting that Dagon and M. Hydra do not follow the typical HPL naming conventions. It does seem reasonable that they could names given by humans to creatures with more difficulty pronounced names.
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I am amazed by this fine piece of art. In my school, so far nobody I have met knows who Lovecraft is! I mean wow hoe dumb can you be! Hahah sorry.
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Thanks and sorry to hear about the lack HPL support at your school. That means it is up to you ot spread the madness!
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I will spread the madness!!!!!!!!!!
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I see you like Kung Fu Panda as well. Its a beautiful piece of art in the animated movie world. There was so much deep symbolism to it.
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Patched back together or not, this pisceoid abomination beggars my capacity for critique. Its various horns, membranes & barbels add that essential flavor whilst remaining practically-proportioned (i.e. unlikely to impede motion); those gargantuan meathook forearms balance out the short, angular hindlegs...and lordy, whatta face. That mesh of piscine & quasi-reptilian features is astoundingly fresh, given how many times the Toothy Biped Fish-Thing(C) has appeared in various media. One question: are those ridges on the back of his neck gill slits?
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thanks, that is what I was going for.
I don't think so. I intended for them to be plates of some sort(the whole head had a much more dunkleosteus feel to it at one point), but they reminded me of gills as well and I didn't really draw them anywhere else. I'm just not sure I want them to be gills.
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Hey, we are dealing with a *demon* here...for all we know he could "breathe" anything from molten rock to hard vacuum without batting a lidless eye. I suppose the upper-neck placement would also be a bit off for gills.
As far as Dagon's current mug goes, dunkleosteoid jaw-plates strike me as more primordial than diabolic, if that makes any sense. Good call on that needle-toothed 'grin'.
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very true, it is a demon and not simply a giant undersea monster
I thought the teeth made it look more creepy and alien - like a deep sea fish
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wow thats awesome i can see you were trying to make it more like a alien with the antennas i mean most of lovecraft creation are aliens
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well actually I was going for that deep sea fish look - which are about the most alien looking things on the planet. I don't know if Lovecrafts Dagon was supposed to be alien or not, but many of his creatures were
And thank you for the fave
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hmm the design is different compared to toher versions of him,the head looks a bit draconic,and the body desing and the long arm look very good hope the ear infection clears up soon
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I was trying to go pretty fishy in general (deep sea fish actually), but the horns on the head are probably what give it a draconic feel. I added these to try and give it more of a demonic look as this is my version of the D&D demon lord Dagon not the historical god or the loveraft old-one type beast.
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thank you - hopefully I can clean it up and color it soon
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Awesome! 
I love the face on this guy-big, somehow terrifying fish eyes, jagged, toothy maw, and the tendrils and horns all really make him look fearsome.
The extra long, dragging arms with the big, webbed claws, the fins along his back, shoulder, arms and thighs, and the long tail with the eel like fins all look terrific as well.
And are all of those little spots bio-luminecent (sp?) too?
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Thanks, I was hoping that the tendrils wouldn't make it look to "cute."
Yes, the spots and tendril tips would be bio-luminescent. I imagine unwary travelers being attracted by the shinning lights only to be grabbed by the giant arms bolting out of the darkness!
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Oh, and I hope the ear infection clears up soon. Those are really terrible, painful things.
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pretty nice pic there, LOL's at the 3 sheets of paper to finish
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thanks - but I wasn't laughing when I was trying to rearrange my sketch pad in my tiny scanner 3 or 4 times!
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Nice to see the old fish man. Are you going to do Mother Hydra as well?
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I don't think so, i really don't know anything about her. As far as I know she is never actually in any story(other than the name), but I could be wrong.
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cool design i especialley like the elongated arms
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thanks. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to give it long arms
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i understand because artists feel compeled to make there artwork origanal
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personally I think I was being guided by demonic forces, but you could be right!
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Very cool design of father Dagon .
And I agree it's very annoying to piece a drawing like that . I usually draw mine on A3 paper sheet so I know what is it . I should try a tablet .
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thanks
tablet are a lot of fun - when you have a working graphics card!
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Nice work. Yeah, I used to do the pieces thing too with my art.
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