Tom Swyfte is a plucky young American scientist and inventor, who created an electric rifle.
Swyfte was employed by Charles Foster Kane in 1925 to pursue Janni and return the treasure of Ayesha.
After an encounter with a Shoggoth in the Mountains of Madness, Swyfte lost his mind and was committed to an asylum. Repeating the word “Tekelili” over and over, his ranting was misconstrued as the word “Tigerlily”.