'Gan' is the creative overforce in the cosmology of the fictional
Stephen King universe. Stephen King's "inspiration" for the word remains unknown, but he may have taken it from a Hebrew word, which means, simply, "garden."
The being is first mentioned by name in the Stephen King novel
''Song of Susannah'', the sixth installment in the Dark Tower series.
In the cosmology of the Stephen King Multiverse, Gan is that which the High Speech term
"The White" refers to. Gan created the
Dark Tower, the universes and infinite alternate universes that the Dark Tower holds in place and, it is implied, Gan also created the real world universe where the reader reads Stephen King novels and where the real Stephen King writes them; it is implied that in the series that Gan inspires Stephen King to write the tale of the Gunslinger so that the Gunslinger could successfully go about his task of reaching the Dark Tower; had the author died before completing his task, the Gunslinger would not have "known" how to further proceed on his quest to the Dark Tower and, without any significant remaining opposition, the
Crimson King would have eventually destroyed the entire Stephen King multiverse -including the universe of the readers of Stephen King books -by finally toppling the Dark Tower.
It is unknown at the current time if Gan is the creator of such all-powerful artifacts (that exist on other worlds/story settings in the Stephen King Cosmology) as the
Talisman and the Dark Tower, or if these items are actually lesser or greater aspects of Gan itself. Nor is it known whether or not the various instances of "God" that occur in such Stephen King novels as
''Desperation'' and
''The Stand'' are appearances of Gan or "merely" the Gods of those particular levels of the Tower, created by Gan as well.
According to
Rando Thoughtful, the Crimson King's Head of State, the Crimson King is actually an insane aspect of Gan itself, as opposed to a separately created being.
Connections to other Stephen King Books
In
''Insomnia'', the main character,
Ralph Roberts, gains an "audience" with the Powers Above to make a deal so that he can sacrifice his own life to save the life of a loved one; the Voice heard above all others, that ultimately approves of the exchange, is implied -though not explicitly named -to be Gan, Itself (this Entity was implied in the novel to be responsible for creating everything in existence).
Gan is very likely The Other that created the near-omnipotent creature (It) and the Turtle (Maturin), as well as congratulated Bill Denbrough for destroying It, in the early Stephen King novel
''It''.
References
Song of Susannah by Stephen King
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Insomnia by Stephen King