Hallo! I wanna yap bout Luca Balsa, the theories and possibilities related to him and I came across your post a while ago
I was so interested by your idea, could you elaborate/further explain about Nyarlathotep and Luca? I recently got into Nyarlathotep lore and I was very fascinated by it ฅ^•▽•^ฅ mreow!
HI!!! OH MY GOSH!! IM SO SORRY I DIDNT SEE THIS!! It’s been extremely hectic for me recently but I ABSOLUTELY can elaborate on Luca and Nyarla.
First, something that is incredibly important to understand is that Nyarlathotep [ as written by Lovecraft ] is incredibly different from the post-Derleth mythos Nyarlathotep. The Nyarlathotep you know today is built on where hpl left off such as the call of Cthulhu games and the works of later authors, this version of him is the sadistic trickster, bill cipher-esque outer god who is often compared to a “bored kid with a magnifying glass”. This is the most popular version of Nyarla but I have to say that original Lovecraft Nyarla isn’t like this. A misconception is that the ‘chaos’ in his name is the English word chaos but it’s actually the Greek word, this heavily effects his characterization. August Derleth [ the one who continued hpls work by publishing them, creator of Ithaqua ] was a roman catholic and hpl was not, Derleth implemented aspects of the Abrahamic religion to the mythos which led to the ‘Nyarlathotep is the satan of the Cthulhu mythos’. There’s nothing wrong with this portrayal but it’s certainly not how hpl wrote him. I would even say that this version is a wild exaggeration of what little we know about him from hpls work.
Nyarlathotep is unique amongst his colleagues for he is incredibly human. He speaks our language, he interacts with us, and if you give he will return. Nowadays, his ‘humanity’ is portrayed in a cartoonish way where he walks around doing whatever whenever and for the shits and giggles. This is important for you to learn because Lucas whole character is 1:1 to the way hpl wrote Nyarla instead of post-Derleth. So how did hpl wrote Nyarla?
As in his debut story ‘Nyarlathotep’, Nyarla arrives in the narrators city and proceeds to host a science exhibition for his experiment [ this exhibition also features projections fun fact ]. However, the narrator calls him out and basically says ‘that’s just dumb man. what are you a pseudo scientist???’ Nyarla gets SOOO upset that he throws everyone out, he is genuinely offended at the prospect that someone would say that his work is ‘mere tricks’ and not actually legit or plausible. ‘Dream quest of unknown kadath’ is the one where you really get a glimpse of his personality. He meets Randolph Carter at the end and sarcastically praises him in an attempt to send him to the court of Azathoth. After Randolph mind games him, he throws a little hissy fit [ reoccurring theme lol ] he is very egotistical, and contrary to popular belief, actually seeks control. Whenever things don’t go his way, he gets mad and scrambles around in an attempt to gain the upper hand again. I think you can tell how much the misinterpretation of his title ‘the crawling chaos’ does to him now. His mask of omnipotence actually falls apart when actual ‘chaos’ comes creeping towards him. This guy is incredibly stubborn with what he believes in and maybe puts himself on a pedestal [ rightfully so in a way but I also think it’s a little too high ]
As we all familiar with, he is the messenger of Azathoth, who is his father. He is the soul of the other gods as well but we don’t rlly know what this means. It could mean he’s an extension to them but I’ve always seen it as him being the most human and how he will always be tied to this role, hence being ‘the soul’. I’m bringing him being ‘tied’ to this role because something I wish was mentioned more often is the fact that he actually doesn’t like his job. or his father. In Fungi from Yuggoth, he ‘strikes’ Azathoth with contempt all while saying he is his messenger. It’s like a statement where you don’t like your parent but you’ll always be tied to them, they’ll always be part of you no matter what. Azathoth is actually like a weigh on his shoulder, he’s not blindly loyal to his father, it’s just that he unfortunately has to be. So let me get this straight: Nyarlathotep is a self-righteous, stubborn idealist, whose rationality immediately falls apart when self interest is at stake making him appear like an uneducated child, some of his actions might also be possibly influenced by his hatred towards his father.
I’m not sure how idv is going to portray Nyarla but with the way things are going, I’m 90% sure they’ll go with hpls version of him. Luca is the biggest evidence. Let me restate what I said but replace Nyarla with Luca: Luca Balsa is a self-righteous, stubborn idealist, whose rationality immediately falls apart when self interest is at stake making him appear like an uneducated child, some of his actions might also be possibly influenced by his hatred towards his father.
I honestly don’t think this is a coincidence at all [ esp because Will Murray, who was the man who brought forth the idea that Nyarla is based on Tesla ] this is so incredibly specific lol. If they rlly do namedrop eod as Nyarla, Luca is definitely going to end up as one of my fav cosmic horror protagonists ever and maybe my fav to have ever been pit against Nyarla. It’s a lot more effective with him because they act the exact same despite being from completely different planets/dimensions, which leads to a lot of exploration of the ‘humanity’ and ‘right way of knowledge’ theme consistent between both characters and Game 11 as a whole.
The concept of them only being similar and having never met though is actually illogical. Ppl aren’t too deep into game 11 I fear so I’m not sure if you know this but it’s heavily implied that eod/Nyarla wanted Luca there, and Luca specifically. If not Nyarla then Master Herald decided that [ it was most certainly not Alva who decided this ]. Him and Ann’s encounters are orchestrated and Burkes letter implies that game 10 was designed for Luca to win, maybe not initially but with the interference of the cat cult, Luca became the designated winner. It’s not a fun little coincidence that Luca Balsa just so happened to be there, Dawn Fugue also implies this. Eod WANTED Luca there, which raises a lot of questions.
I also want to add that game 11 is very much staged like an incredibly unethical experiment [ in typical Nyarlathotep fashion ]. The manor only gave them a place to conduct it, everyone is an important variable and Luca is actually the center piece that makes or breaks everything. Amanda was discarded because she was too unpredictable. The null hypothesis is “The cat cults way of wisdom // Nyarlathoteps way of wisdom is the true way of wisdom” and the alternative hypothesis is “Humanity’s way of wisdom // Luca Balsas way of wisdom is the true way of wisdom”
There’s genuinely a lot to unpack between Luca and Nyarla but if this all ends up being a coincidence and Nyarla is somehow NOT eod, I’ll be more surprised than if he is. If u want to start reading specific books here is my recs:
1. Nyarlathotep by H.P Lovecraft
2. The Dream Quest of unknown Kadath by H.P Lovecraft
3. The Haunter of the dark by H.P Lovecraft [ this one is super important cause it introduces Nyarla as the haunter of the dark and god of wisdom which is what idv leans towards ]
4. The shadow from the steeple by Robert Bloch [ sequel to haunter ]