The Great Race of Yith.

The Yithians are another species only featured in a single story by Lovecraft, but they

continue to intrigue mythos fans with their unique nature.

They are perhaps the least hostile and horrific entities in Lovecraft's works, which makes

them stand out from the rest of the pack.

The Great Race was introduced in the story The Shadow Out of Time in 1936.

Leaning more towards science fiction and less on horror, the story is one of the most popular

tales among Lovecraft's works.

The Yithians, as you may imagine, come from the planet of Yith, though some say they were not

originally from there. Knowledge of the Great race's original form is long since lost, but regardless they possess extraordinary mental prowess.

They built many great cities on Yith, along with some spectacular inventions, but most notably is their ability to project their consciousness across time.

In doing so, they effectively swap minds with any creature of their choosing,

taking over the unwilling participant's body while letting their victim use the Yithian's body.

They care little for how the participant feels about the intrusion,

but their actions are not done out of hostility, but instead curiosity.

The Yithians are historians, studying not only Aeon's past, but also the distant future.

When the Ythian transferred its mind, it spent some time exploring the difference in

society, learning as much as it could, while the other person spent time in the Yithians body being questioned by other Yithians.

After the process is over, the Ythians wiped the memory of the transferred mind, although some remnants may remain in fragmented dreams.

By foreseen their own future, the great race was able to witness their own demise on Yith, although the cause of this fate is unknown.

Instead of accepting their fate, the Yithians transferred their minds in mass to Earth, taking over the bodies of a race that existed here in the distant past,

and letting their unwilling victims meet a demise on Yith.

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