Nyarlathotep enacts the will of the Outer Gods, and is their 'messenger, heart and soul', 'the immemorial figure of the deputy or messenger of hidden and terrible powers' He is also the servant of Azathoth, whose fitful, spastic wishes he immediately fulfills. In this regard, he is probably the most human-like among the Outer Gods. Finally, most of them are all-powerful yet evidently without clear purpose or agenda, yet Nyarlathotep seems to be deliberately deceptive and manipulative, and even uses propaganda to achieve his goals. Most Outer Gods use strange alien languages, while Nyarlathotep uses human languages and can easily pass for a human being if he chooses to do so. Most of the Outer Gods have their own cults serving them Nyarlathotep seems to serve as He serves several cults and takes care of their affairs in the other Outer Gods' absence. He has 'a thousand' other forms and manifestations, many reputed to be quite horrific and sanity-blasting.

Most of the Outer Gods are exiled to the stars, like Yog-Sothoth and Azathoth, and most of the Great Old Ones are sleeping and dreaming like Cthulhu Nyarlathotep, however, is active and frequently walks the Earth in the guise of a human being, usually a tall, slim, joyous man. Nyarlathotep differs from the other deities in the Mythos in a number of ways. He merely pointed to a book of prodigious size which lay open on the table. The man did not speak, and bore no trace of expression on his small, regular features. His feet were indistinguishable because of the table and bench, but he must have been shod, since there was a clicking whenever he changed position. a tall, lean man of dead black colouration but without the slightest sign of negroid features: wholly devoid of either hair or beard, and wearing as his only garment a shapeless robe of some heavy black fabric.

Lovecraft dreams in the witch house