Tcho-Tcho
Encyclopedia
The Tcho-Tcho, or Tcho-Tcho people, are a fictional human-like race in the Cthulhu Mythos
.
's 1933 short story "The Thing That Walked on the Wind", in which a character refers in passing to "the forbidden and accursed designs of the Tcho-Tcho people of Burma". Later that year, in "Lair of the Star-Spawn", co-written with Mark Shorer, Derleth expanded on the Tcho-Tcho, describing them as a short, hairless people that worship Lloigor and Zhar
.
In H. P. Lovecraft
's "The Shadow Out of Time
" (1936
), they are described as "abominable".
In T. E. D. Klein
's novella Black Man with a Horn
, first published in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos in 1980
, the Tcho-Tchos are described by an American
missionary
who has met them as "the nastiest people who ever lived(...) They'd been living way up in those hills I don't know how many centuries, and whatever it is they were doing, they weren't going to let a stranger in on it".
In the Call of Cthulhu
adventure game book "Curse of the Chthonians" the Tcho-Tchos are referred to as a degenerate and cannibalistic
race that worship strange gods. They are noted to have been living in southeast Asia
in the 1920's
, having migrated from Tibet
, their homeland. Apparently they follow an ancient legend about migrating toward the rising sun, which has caused speculation that they may have one time lived as far as Europe
. A Basque
legend of "dark dwarves that left their home in the Pyrenees
at the command of their priests" supports that theory.
The d20 System
version of the Call of Cthulhu roleplay setting
claims that some Tcho-Tcho have actually integrated themselves into modern society, masquerading as just another harmless ethnic group. It also claims that a delicacy of their cannibalistic cuisine, which they secretly dole out to unsuspecting diners at their "ethnic restaurants", is a dish called bak bon dzhow. This dish is composed of human ganglia mashed into a thick paste and is usually served in accompaniment to other "white pork" (human flesh) based dishes. Bak bon dzhow means, literally, human ganglia paste in their native tongue, though inquisitive outsiders are always told that the translation is "White Pork Sauce". Non-Tcho-Tchos who partake of it dream of lustily partaking in a vile cannibal feast the next time they sleep.
In the Delta Green
role playing game, the Tcho-Tcho are said to be cannibalistic criminals devoted to the worship of the Great Old Ones and to have received funding and weapons by the CIA-owned campaign of support to anti-Vietnamese ethnic groups in Indochina during the early 70s, via Tiger Transit, an Air America-style front company.
Tcho-Tchos attack Charles Fort
and Arthur Conan Doyle
on a couple of occasions in Gordon Rennie
and Frazer Irving
's 2000 AD
strip Necronauts
.
In the novel The Spiraling Worm
by David Conyers
and John Sunseri
, Tcho-Tchos are presented as combatants during the Vietnam War
who utilise the powers of an Outer God to gain military intelligence on their American foes.
Tcho-Tchos are briefly mentioned by "Oliver Haddo
" in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
.
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
.
Appearances
The Tcho-Tcho are first mentioned in August DerlethAugust Derleth
August William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first publisher of the writings of H. P...
's 1933 short story "The Thing That Walked on the Wind", in which a character refers in passing to "the forbidden and accursed designs of the Tcho-Tcho people of Burma". Later that year, in "Lair of the Star-Spawn", co-written with Mark Shorer, Derleth expanded on the Tcho-Tcho, describing them as a short, hairless people that worship Lloigor and Zhar
Zhar (Great Old One)
Zhar is a fictional deity in the Cthulhu Mythos. The being first appeared in the short story "The Lair of the Star-Spawn" by August Derleth and Mark Schorer.-Zhar in the mythos:...
.
In H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
's "The Shadow Out of Time
The Shadow Out of Time
The Shadow Out of Time is a novella by Americanhorror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written between November 1934 and February 1935, it was first published in the June 1936 issue of Astounding Stories.-Plot summary:...
" (1936
1936 in literature
The year 1936 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Life magazine is first published.* The Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's literature is established in the UK.-New books:...
), they are described as "abominable".
In T. E. D. Klein
T. E. D. Klein
Theodore "Eibon" Donald Klein is an American horror writer and editor.Klein has published very few works, but they have all achieved positive notice for their meticulous construction and subtle use of horror: critic S. T...
's novella Black Man with a Horn
Black Man with a Horn
Black Man with a Horn, by T. E. D. Klein, is a Cthulhu Mythos novella originally published in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Critic S. T...
, first published in New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos in 1980
1980 in literature
The year 1980 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Marguerite Yourcenar becomes the first woman to be elected to the Académie française....
, the Tcho-Tchos are described by an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
who has met them as "the nastiest people who ever lived(...) They'd been living way up in those hills I don't know how many centuries, and whatever it is they were doing, they weren't going to let a stranger in on it".
In the Call of Cthulhu
Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
adventure game book "Curse of the Chthonians" the Tcho-Tchos are referred to as a degenerate and cannibalistic
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
race that worship strange gods. They are noted to have been living in southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
in the 1920's
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
, having migrated from Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, their homeland. Apparently they follow an ancient legend about migrating toward the rising sun, which has caused speculation that they may have one time lived as far as Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. A Basque
Basque mythology
The mythology of the ancient Basques largely did not survive the, albeit late, arrival of Christianity in the Basque Country between the 4th and 12th century AD...
legend of "dark dwarves that left their home in the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
at the command of their priests" supports that theory.
The d20 System
D20 System
The d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons...
version of the Call of Cthulhu roleplay setting
Role-playing game system
A role-playing game system is a set of game mechanics used in a role-playing game to determine the outcome of a character's in-game actions...
claims that some Tcho-Tcho have actually integrated themselves into modern society, masquerading as just another harmless ethnic group. It also claims that a delicacy of their cannibalistic cuisine, which they secretly dole out to unsuspecting diners at their "ethnic restaurants", is a dish called bak bon dzhow. This dish is composed of human ganglia mashed into a thick paste and is usually served in accompaniment to other "white pork" (human flesh) based dishes. Bak bon dzhow means, literally, human ganglia paste in their native tongue, though inquisitive outsiders are always told that the translation is "White Pork Sauce". Non-Tcho-Tchos who partake of it dream of lustily partaking in a vile cannibal feast the next time they sleep.
In the Delta Green
Delta Green
Delta Green is a setting for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game created by Adam Scott Glancy, Dennis Detwiller, and John Tynes, aka the Delta Green Partnership, of the Seattle gaming house Pagan Publishing...
role playing game, the Tcho-Tcho are said to be cannibalistic criminals devoted to the worship of the Great Old Ones and to have received funding and weapons by the CIA-owned campaign of support to anti-Vietnamese ethnic groups in Indochina during the early 70s, via Tiger Transit, an Air America-style front company.
Tcho-Tchos attack Charles Fort
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...
and Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
on a couple of occasions in Gordon Rennie
Gordon Rennie
Gordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
and Frazer Irving
Frazer Irving
Frazer Irving is a British comic book artist known for the 2000 AD series Necronauts. Irving studied art at the University of Portsmouth, England, after which he took various temporary jobs in London...
's 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
strip Necronauts
Necronauts
Necronauts was a story that ran in the comics anthology 2000 AD, and was created by Gordon Rennie and Frazer Irving. It was this series that really brought Irving to public attention as his high contrast black and white artwork complimented Rennie's dark storyline.-Publication history:The outline...
.
In the novel The Spiraling Worm
The Spiraling Worm
The Spiraling Worm is a science fiction and Lovecraftian horror novel written in the style of a spy thriller, by authors David Conyers and John Sunseri and published in 2007. The novel went on to receive an Honourable Mention for Best Australian Horror Novel in the 12th Annual Aurealis Award and...
by David Conyers
David Conyers
David Conyers writes predominantly science fiction and Lovecraftian horror.Most of his childhood was spent in the Adelaide Hills, before moving to Melbourne. There he achieved a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Melbourne in 1993...
and John Sunseri
John Sunseri
John Sunseri is a horror writer from Portland, Oregon in the United States. As well as writing traditional horror fiction he also writes Lovecraftian horror. John spent two years at Yale University studying a major in English. Today he manages a restaurant.Writing since 2001, John has published...
, Tcho-Tchos are presented as combatants during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
who utilise the powers of an Outer God to gain military intelligence on their American foes.
Tcho-Tchos are briefly mentioned by "Oliver Haddo
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
" in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier is an original graphic novel in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. It was the last volume of the series to be published by DC Comics. Although the third book to be...
.