He is the ruler of the Outer Gods, and may be seen as a symbol for primordial chaos.
Outside the ordered universe that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity, the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.
Lovecraft