Lich
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In modern fantasy fiction, a lich (sometimes spelled liche, and pronounced 'litch') is a type of undead creature, usually an evil magician or a powerful undead king. The use of the term lich as a specific type of undead creature originates in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game; previous works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's "Empire of the Necromancers", had used it as a general term for any animated or inanimate corpse. Liches often control other undead, using them as their soldiers and servants.
In Roman Catholicism or the Church of England, the "lychgate" is a covered area at the entrance to the cemetery where the casket awaits the clergy before proceeding into the cemetery for proper burial, "lych" being a word meaning body or corpse derived from Old English. In fantasy, the Lich is an undead creature that was never properly buried, never made it to the grave. This is different from other types of undead creatures, such as vampires and zombies, who were buried and returned from the dead.
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[edit] Liches in Dungeons & Dragons
In the Dungeons & Dragons game (and many other unrelated works of fantasy fiction that draw upon D&D for inspiration), a lich is a spellcaster who seeks to defy death by magical means. They are necromancers that are unsatisfied with the level of power that they currently have, wish for a longer life, and who seek to unburden themselves with the necessities of bodily functions (such as eating and sleeping) so that they might dedicate every moment of their existence to the attainment of knowledge and power. Liches convert themselves into a skeletal undead creature by means of black magic and necromancy, storing their soul in a magical receptacle called a phylactery. They do so to extend their life in order to study the deepest levels of magic. With their soul bound to a material focus, they can never truly die. If their body is destroyed, a lich can simply regenerate or find a new one in a relatively quick manner. According to the Dungeons & Dragons mythos, the only way to truly destroy a lich is to first destroy its phylactery, thereby removing their anchor to the material world, and then destroy its physical form. Since removing their own soul in order to evade mortality is against the natural order of the universe, liches are almost invariably evilly aligned (Vecna is a canonical example).
In some fantasy worlds, such as that of Heroes of Might and Magic, liches are evil creatures that exist much like a vampire, except that unlike a vampire, they drain or steal the player's soul. By that power, they can also make the player's animated form a part of their undead army.
[edit] Historical background
While this usage of the term "lich" is particular to Dungeons & Dragons and other modern fantasy fiction, the underlying idea of eluding death by means of arcane study and black magic is not. It can be traced to Middle Eastern folklore, and the method of achieving immortality by placing one's soul in a jar (which is usually hidden in some vast fortress) is suggestive of the burial practices of Egypt. This would make the Lich a very-far-from-its-roots mythologization of Egyptian pharaohs. It should be noted that for the Ancient Egyptians, the purpose of the mummy was to provide a place for the soul to fly back to; it was free to exist in both the afterlife and physical world (to commune with its descendants).
Eastern Slavic legends tell of a powerful dark wizard or a demon, Koschei the Deathless, who evades death by having his fiery soul placed in the eye of a magical needle. The needle is inside an egg, which is inside a duck, which is inside a hare, which is locked in an iron chest, placed at the roots of a great oak tree, on a magical island of Buyan. Koschei can be killed only by breaking the magical needle, which is much like a phylactery of a lich. This image is extremely consistent with the modern interpretation of the lich, possibly marking it as the "truer" origin of the concept.
Like many of the creatures found in Dungeons and Dragons, the Lich was derived from monsters found in classic sword and sorcery fiction, which is filled with powerful sorcerers who used their magic to triumph over death. Many of Clark Ashton Smith's short stories feature powerful wizards whose magic enables them to return from the dead. The term "lich", used as an archaic word for corpse (or body), is commonly used in these stories. Other imagery surrounding demiliches, in particular that of a jeweled skull, is drawn from the early Fritz Leiber story "Thieves' House".
[edit] Liches in other fictional works
The concept of a powerful undead being was borrowed in use and concept from Dungeons and Dragons to lend an element of supernatural fear to their cast or atmosphere. Because of this, the lich has enjoyed enormous popularity in certain genres and has become a staple of many computer and video games, fantasy fiction novels, and role-playing games. One of this instances is the concept of Horcruxes in Harry Potter books.
Other fantasy liches:
- Among others from the Warcraft lore, Kel'Thuzad (the last boss in the end-game World of Warcraft raid to Naxxramas), Ner'zhul the Lich King , Araj the Summoner, Amnennar the Coldbringer, Ras Frostwhisper and Rage Winterchill.
- The Horned King from Disney's "Black Cauldron" (1985) and the Lloyd Alexander books that inspired the film.
- The concept of a Horcrux from the Harry Potter universe is very similar to the idea of a phylactery. This would make the primary antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort, a lich or a demi-lich (since he has created 6 phylactries).
- The former advisor to the King of Orr (the last boss in the Guild Wars Prophecies Campaign).
- In AdventureQuest, a character with the Necromancer class is able to become a Lich upon death. There is also a dracolich, a cross between dragon and lich, in the game.
- In Times of Lore, a wizard who has transformed himself into a Lyche resides under a ruined temple in the desert. He is depicted as an inanimate corpse sitting on a throne.
- Lich is a species of undead in the Elder Scrolls computer game series.
- The "Gray Witch" in the anime/manga Lodoss (Note:Kala the Gray Witch only puts her will in a Head ornaments before her death, not her Soul. And the ornament controls the next person who wears it)
- Golden Sun uses liches as an enemy
- The game Disciples II: Dark Prophecy features Liches as powerful creatures serving the Undead Hordes.
- The GURPS supplement GURPS Undead enables a wizard to become a lich, who requires monthly doses of a special elixir made from "some rather unpleasant materials (free but illegal)" to survive. In the GURPS Technomancer setting there are several "atomic liches" who were created by experiments with radiation and who now secretly work to promote death and destruction.
- Dark Lich as a boss from the SNES game Secret of Mana, and the games sequel Seiken Densetsu 3. In Secret of Mana, he first appears as the game's main villain, Thanatos, before showing his true form.
- The Iron Liches as bosses from the PC game Heretic.
- In City of Villains, a Necromancer Mastermind's most powerful pet is a Lich
- Xykon, the evil villain of the webcomic The Order of the Stick, is a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired lich
- In the original Final Fantasy, Lich is one of the Four Fiends of Chaos, associated with the element of Earth.
- In Final Fantasy IV, Scarmiglione, the Earth Fiend, is a Lich-like undead wizard, commanding zombies in battle.
- In Final Fantasy Tactics, Lich is the name of a summon.
- In Final Fantasy IX Lich is the Earth Guardian of Terra.
- In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, a Lich is the boss of the undead-filled area Rebena Te Ra. This Lich, unrelated to the Lich of other Final Fantasy games, resembles a giant Yuke.
- The first boss of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy has the name of Lich.
- The Heroes of Might and Magic series have Liches and Power Liches as Necropolis units.
- In Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, liches are a form of undead
- Liches appear in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion where they are a powerful form of undead, but can be summoned with a spell by a necromancer, or by the player if they have a high enough conjuration level.
- In Ultima Online, a lich is a type of undead enemy with a strong melee attack and powerful spells. There are three types of liches: the regular lich, the more powerful Lich Lord, and the nearly invincible Ancient Lich.
- Liches also feature as undead spell-casters in dark robes in the game MU Online.
- The Warhammer Fantasy setting includes liches such as Nagash and near liche characters such as the Lichemaster.
- In the MMORPG Nexus War a lich is one of the classes characters can take after a certain level.
- In the text-based MUD MajorMud, Zanthus the Lich is featured as the most powerful NPC in the game.
- While not created in the same manner as the traditional lich, Pious Augustus of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem could be seen as one, as his body and soul were corrupted when he touched one of the three hallowed relics of the Ancients, and transfromed into a skeletal, emaciated monster with vast magical abilities and a keen intelligence (though bound to serve his Ancient masters). He is also referred to in the game as "The Liche". Like many other liches, he had control over the Ancient's undead monsters.
- In Warlords IV, Liches are the second level Undead unit. They are fairly weak rank-and file fighters who have an extremely unreliable death gaze.
- In Planescape: Torment, Strahan Runeshadow, an evil magician raising dead in Sigil's Mausoleum, wanted to become a lich, but he was stopped (and killed) by Nameless One and his friends.
- In the Might & Magic series, Liches are a class of player upgraded from a Necromancer.
- In the Chzo Mythos, an amateur adventure game series, Chzo's serveant, the Tall Man was a lich.
- The roguelike computer game NetHack features lich, demilich, arch-lich and master lich.
- The roguelike computer game ADOM features lich, lich king, emperor lich and master lich.
- Ogre Battle and its sequels feature lichs, generally as the most powerful type of spellcaster. They may also be capable of recruiting undead characters.
- In the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms computer game Neverwinter Nights, liches are one of the most powerful undead players can summon.
