Chaosium is renaming Shub-Niggurath for it's upcoming edition of Call of Cthulhu
"Why We Changed the Name of Shub-Niggurath
The decision to change the name of Shub-Niggurath to Shub-Gorath came from a few different considerations, both in and outside of the game’s world.
One reason was the feedback we saw online. Some people pointed out that “Shub-Niggurath” could be hurtful to some audiences, particularly when considered alongside Lovecraft’s own views. We want everyone sitting down to play our games to feel welcome at the table, so this was something we took seriously. Although Lovecraft scholars concur “Shub-Niggurath” was not derived from the slur, unfortunately it is one of those words that sometimes triggers automatic content filters. This is something known as the “Scunthorpe Problem”. Since our games and campaigns are promoted and discussed across many different platforms, we wanted to avoid creating an unnecessary obstacle for players and the community simply because of a character’s name.
There is also a little bit of in-world reasoning behind the change. Old Ones Origins takes place in an age long before humanity, when these entities existed without the names and titles that human cultures would later give them. Names such as Mother of All or Black Goat are therefore not necessarily the names these beings would have used for themselves.
So why Shub-Gorath? The name comes from Shuma-Gorath, a name associated with Robert E. Howard’s contributions to the mythos. Bringing elements like these together feels very much in the spirit of how Lovecraft, Howard, and other writers built these interconnected worlds in the first place: borrowing ideas, adapting names, and combining elements from one another’s stories and mythologies. Shub-Gorath grew out of that same creative tradition.
We feel like names given to beings that existed long before humans—and long before the languages we use to try to describe them—can evolve. Shub-Gorath is still Shub. She is still the same Old One, with the same place in the cosmic conflict.
We also understand that for some players, staying as close as possible to the original names is an important part of preserving the legacy of these characters. We don’t have a simple answer that will satisfy everyone, but we felt it was important to be transparent about why we made this decision rather than leave the change unexplained. We’ll continue listening to the community as we consider the best way forward.
The Stars Bear Witness.
Chaosium Board Games Team"
