| “ | For it was only a penguin — albeit of a huge, unknown species larger than the greatest of the known king penguins, and monstrous in its combined albinism and virtual eyelessness. |
” |
— William Dyer, At the Mountains of Madness (1936).
| ||
| Albino Penguin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Naming | |||
| Others | Cave Penguin | ||
| Binomen | Aptenodytes miskatonensis | ||
| Morphology | |||
| Body type | Avian | ||
| Average height | ~ 1.8 m | ||
| Intelligence | |||
| Sentience | Sentient | ||
| Sapience | Non-Sapient | ||
| Aggressivity | Harmless | ||
| Ecology | |||
| Place of origin | Antarctica | ||
| Habitat | Underground passages beneath the ruins of the Old Ones's city | ||
| Diet | Piscivorous (presumed) | ||
| Locomotion | Bipedal | ||
| Behind the Scenes | |||
| Universe | Cthulhu Mythos | ||
| Created by | H. P. Lovecraft | ||
This is a species of six-foot-tall albino blind penguins, which evolved from a stock bred in prehistoric times by the Old Ones. They currently inhabit the warm subterranean chambers that form the entrance to a great abyss, to which the Old Ones retreated, within the Antarctic plateau (speculated to be the legendary Plateau of Leng by Danforth), beneath the abandoned cities that once belonged to that same alien race.
After several generations away from any source of light, the giant penguins lost all of their pigmentation, and their eyes atrophied to the point of being barely visible. Despite their grotesque appearance, they're docile creatures, and don't seem to attack intruders. They're preyed by the monstrous Shoggoths.
Appearances[]
- At the Mountains of Madness, by H. P. Lovecraft (1936)
- "The Fillmore Shoggoth", by Harry Turtledove (2014)
Gallery[]
Illustrated by I. N. J. Culbard.