Chaugnar Faugn
Chaugnar Faugn is a Lovecraftian horror which first appeared in Frank Belknap Long's 1963 novel The Horror from the Hills. Also pronounced Chaugnar Faughn, the creature was described as "proboscidian" or trunked by H.P. Lovecraft himself in "The Horror in the Museum." Many depictions of Chaugnar Faugn bear a striking resemblance to the Hindu deity Ganesha, though their elephantine features are the only similarities. In fact, Chaugnar Faugn's form in The Horror from the Hills combines elephant, octopus, and human features. This form is an idol made out of an unknown element. Below is the Frank Belknap Long's original description.
"Words could not adequately convey the repulsiveness of the thing. It was endowed with a trunk and great, uneven ears, and two enormous tusks protruded from the corners of its mouth. But it was not an elephant. Indeed, its resemblance to an actual elephant was, at best, sporadic and superficial, despite certain unmistakable points of similarity. The ears were webbed and tentacled, the trunk terminated in a huge flaring disk at least a foot in diameter, and the tusks, which intertwined and interlocked at the base of the statue, were as translucent as rock crystal." - Frank Belknap Long, The Horror From the Hills
Chaugnar Faugn Lovecraft
Chaugnar
Faugn is one of the Ancient Ones or Great Old Ones. When it first appeared
on Earth from another dimension, the dominant life on Earth was its
amphibians. Chaugnar Faugn took these beings and used them to create the
servitor race known as the Miri Nigri. This races of creatures became the
progenitor race for the modern Tcho-Tcho people.
Chaugnar Faugn Mythos - Tcho-Tcho People
In the modern world as it's presented in the Cthulhu Mythos, the Tcho-Tcho people are the chief worshippers of Chaugnar Faugn. It seems that the ancient god remains motionless in a cave in mountainous Asia, where the subterranean and cannibalistic Tcho-Tcho worship Chaugnar Faugn in requisite Lovecraftian rituals to ghastly to be named.
Arkham Horror: Chaugnar Faugn
Chaugnar Faugn is one of the threats you might face in the Arkham Horror board game. Chaugnar Faugn's first appearance as an opponent was in the Innsmouth Horror expansion.
Chaugnar Faugn has a combat rating of -4 and the "Physical Immunity" defense. All Tcho-tchos and Tcho-tcho Priests gain a +2 rating to their toughness, because they are his worshippers. Also, Chaugnar Faugn has a special power called "Curse of the Jungle". Anytime he stirs from his slumber, any investigator holding an Elder Sign suffers a -1 to all skill checks. Those investigators not carring an Elder Sign, but in the neighborhood of a fellow investigator doing so, suffers the same penalty.
Anytime an investigator encounters Chaugnar Faugn, he or she must discard either 1 ally or 3 Clue tokens or be devoured by the creature. When you do damage to Chaugnar Faugn, he cannot have more than 3 doom tokens removed from his doom track during any round of combat. Any further successes by the characters are simply ignored.
Chaugnar Faugn has a doom track of 12, placing him squarely in the mid-ranks of the Ancient Ones (in game terms).
Chaugnar Faugn Epic Battle
The epic battle card for Chaugnar Faugn can be particularly nasty. When the Ancient One attacks, the caption reads: "After a moment, it struck, killing the one of our number who had done the most to thwart its plans." When this happens, the investigator holding the most gate trophies is simply devoured.
Another card allows Chaugnar Faugn to attack as normal, though disallowing the investigators from launching any form of reprisal attack. The caption for this card read, "For a time, the Beast seemed to be calling upon some inner power, and our attacks were utterly ineffectual against it."
The third Chaugnar Faugn card allows the beast to devour the first player encountered, while also improving its combat rating by -1. The captain this time mentions that the investigators were driving the elephantine creature back, but it turned the tide by clutching a member of the party and twisting "his body into a horrible mockery of his own form...We called out nervously, but the Thing had twisted our friend to its own purposes."
Chaugnar Faugn Miniatures
I've seen some excellent Chaugnar Faugn miniatures, though my favorite is the one with an undead-looking version of the elephantine creature is sitting cross-legged. This posture gives Chaugnar Faugn the look of an East Indian swami in repose, adding to the creep factor with its seeming human traits.
Another one you can find bears a more striking resemblance to an elephant, though the creature sits on a pile of human skulls, has draconic features in its ears and down its spine, and has proboscis-like horns flowing down to its waist. A third give the creature a more dessicated body and more humanlike hands, which sit upturned as if Chaugnar Faugn is trying to make a point or draw attention to itself. This version has a more wormlike trunk, rows of tusks that look like teeth, and something of a unicorn's horn. All three of these mini-sculptures are incredibly creepy looking.
Chaugnar Faugn the Ancient One
Chaugnar Faugn is by no means one of the most famous names among the Ancient Ones, but he's one of the easiest to spot, due to the vague resemblance to a famous real-world focus of worship. Your investigators might laugh at the big elephant guy coming to wreak havoc on the Earth, but whether they're playing the role-playing game or one of the board games, Chaughnar Faugn will devour them in no time.