Chthon

Chthon, chthonian or chthonic may refer to:

Fiction

Other uses

See also

Chthon (Marvel Comics)

Chthon is a fictional character, a demonic Elder God appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. His name derives from chthon, the Greek word for "earth" and "earthly", especially pertaining to earth that was not life giving soil, but dark like that of the grave or the underworld. In some instances, Chthon is portrayed as the Marvel equivalent of the primal Devil of some kind predating that of Judeo-Christian teachings, as his creations, the N'Garai, were driven from Earth by the angel Lucifer before his rebellion against God.

Fictional character biography

Ancient history

During the era in which the first single-celled organism formed on Earth, the Elder God Demiurge achieved consciousness after being formed and coalesced from the Earth's biosphere. As conditions on Earth began to support life, it became aware. Wanting to know itself, the Demiurge split itself into countless aspects, one of which evidently became Chthon. Consequently, Chthon is billions of years old.

Chthon (novel)

Chthon is a science fiction novel by Piers Anthony, originally released in 1967. It was Anthony's first published novel, and was nominated for both the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1967 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1968.

Its sequel is Phthor and two additional novels in the series were written by Charles Platt: Plasm and Soma.

Synopsis

The novel is set around 400 years after humans have achieved interstellar travel. Many different planets have been settled and a strange malady called the chill is sweeping the galaxy. The chill affects whole planets in regular waves and kills over half the population unless they flee the planet immediately on experiencing the symptoms.

The protagonist, Aton Five, is from a powerful farming family on the planet Hvee. The Five family has fallen on hard times since the death of Aton's mother, which led to Aton's father, Aurelius, abandoning his farm for a time to seek solace on other planets. Aton is expected to become a successful farmer and restore the fortunes of his family. This allows his father to secure a betrothal between Aton and the daughter of another powerful family. However, Aton meets a strange and extremely beautiful woman in the forest named Malice. He develops an obsession for her and, ignoring his father's warning that she is a legendary and dangerous siren called a minionette, leaves Hvee to search for her, abandoning his betrothed before even meeting her.