-- ReginaldGusto - 08 Nov 2015

“So we sit and we watch as the city lights
Go out one by one.
Mother Nature sits on the other side
With a loaded gun.”

—Genesis

“Father maintains the balance of this world, but Mother has no qualms sending one of her own to take care of business when it is needed.”
—Nibiru Yog-Sothoth

The Elder God:

Sometimes referred to by other Kaiju as a “Big Brother” or “Big Sister,” An Elder God is a particularly old form of Kaiju swimming around the deep waters, one with wisdom and knowledge beyond Human experience. An Elder God typically manifests with a single agenda in mind, and will carry out that agenda with a calm, supernatural focus. He typically embodies some facet of nature, or principle of existence carried to extreme, such as "We must destroy before we can rebuild," "Nature must be re-balanced," "This sinful city will be cast into the sea," and so on. There is frequently a cyclical or otherwise predictable nature to his path, such that there will be pre-existing lore about the Elder God.
If you’re playing an Elder God, what you’re actually playing is a very special kind of Human. That Human will take one of two forms, which I will call the Hero and the Lich for short. The Hero is a single-minded person on a mission, and he will stop at nothing to complete that mission. He has resolved that he will brook no interference by his own ego, and is willing to sacrifice everything about himself if he must. The Hero will naturally be regarded by the some Kaiju as an adversary--you don't just waltz across the Threshold into the Immortal World and not have to explain yourself to the border patrol.
But the Lich is in a far more precarious position. The Lich, by contrast to the hero, wants something from the Elder God. Usually, he has summoned the Elder God in order to harness the power of the Eruption for some purpose, such as to revenge himself on an enemy, raze a city to rebuild it in his image, make a pact with the Kaiju, or something else. And he better pray the Elder God likes him. The presumption to summon and command a Kaiju of any kind, let alone an Elder God, is a dire one. You have to be a special kind of stupid or crazy to try that.
But the Hero? Well, depending on how well liked he is across the threshold, he might have some credibility to spend. Or, if he's in the unenviable position of having to go in direct opposition to an Elder God, he better approach with humility, and no ego. The eruption of an Elder God should be ordained by Nature/The Universe/The Divine, or caused by a presumptuous Lich. The eruption should be awe-inspiring, and seen by as many people as possible. An Elder God feeds on the emotions of his audience just as any other Kaiju does.
The character options here are numerous. How did the character gain a connection to the Elder God? Did the Elder God contact him in a dream? Did the Kaiju’s cult recruit the character? Was he already in the cult? Was he in the wrong place at the wrong time and walk into a summoning, or speak the incantation himself without knowing what it was? If you’re going with a Lich, how did he find out about the Elder God in the first place? Does he work with the cult, or is he opposed by them for his presumption? What does he hope to gain? For either one, what is the Elder God’s focus, his mission, and why does he want or need this character to fulfil it? Are the touchstone and the Kaiju working together, or in opposition? Did the Human touchstone have his driving goal in mind before he met the Elder God, or did he gain it as a result of that contact? Has the touchstone resigned himself to a certain fate, or will he try to steer his destiny?
In short, you’ll need to flesh out who your character is, how and why he made contact with the Elder God, what their driving goal is, and what their relationship is. This will probably be the hardest Kaiju to play.

Eruption:

Upon eruption, the Elder God will do whatever is necessary to fulfill his purpose and complete his task. When an Elder God erupts, the world changes. Period. There is no stopping it. He is single-minded of focus, and he will not stop until he alters the world the way he was meant to alter it. People may die, landscapes may be rearranged like so many building-blocks, cities may be crushed or drowned in the ocean, planets may be ripped apart, but he will do what he came to do. Gozer came to destroy, Cthulhu came to pave the way for Azathoth, and Godzilla came to make us respect nuclear power.
What an Elder God Kaiju seeks is fulfilment, usually in the form of a vision for the world. Sometimes they are actually serving the good of the world, sometimes their vision is skewed and selfish, and sometimes their vision is just for themselves but in line with what the world actually needs. A Campbellian Hero would need to be able to discern between these, because he might be able to do some good with just his cleverness and determination, if the Kaiju’s mission is right. But if he faces a Kaiju that holds a vision not in line with the Universe, he will have a long, uphill battle that will very likely end in both resounding victory and crushing defeat one way or the other.

Details:

Domain: “Mission.”
Celestial Counterpart: “The Council of Wizards.”
Title: The Elder God will always have a name and a title that denotes his mission, and/or his place in the cosmos, such as “The Lord of the Last Day,” “The Devourer of Suns,” “The Chamberlain of the Seven Heads,” etc. Most people think of the name of an Elder God as disrespectful to speak, so most will use the title. When addressing the Elder God directly, your best general guess is “Great One.” Any use of “Great” or “Dread” in combination with a portion of their title is also probably a good guess (”Great Lord,” “Dread Devourer,” etc). “Great,” “Dread,” or “Lord”/”Lady” plus their name might also be a good guess (”Great Cthulhu,” “Lord Fenrir,” etc.). It is generally considered a bad idea to use their name familiarly. Some Kaiju refer to Elder Gods as “Big Brother,” or “Big Sister.”
Human Support Structure: “Cult,” “Priests,” “Avatar” if manifestation is by possession (The cult and priests of an Elder God will usually address the touchstone as “Avatar,” or something more reverent depending on how they feel about him, something like “Sacred One,” or “Reverend Vessel.”)
Trigger: One mission.
Manifestation: Summoning or Possession

Subgenre Features:

The Elder God must take Prophesy, which contains both a benefit and a drawback. You also have a mission built into your character. What is he or she here to do?

Artistic examples:
Gojira
Cthulhu
Nyarlathotep
Gozer
Fenrisulfr
Galactus
Pinhead
Hellboy
Leviathan
Azazel
The King in Yellow
Muad D'ib