Lich

This article is about the undead creature. For other uses, see Lich (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with lichen.

Lich

A lich from the game The Battle for Wesnoth
Grouping	Legendary creature
Sub grouping	Undead
Other name(s)	Liche

In fantasy fiction, a lich (/ˈlɪtʃ/; from Old English līċ meaning "corpse") is a type of undead creature. Often such a creature is the result of a transformation, as a powerful magician skilled in necromancy or a king striving for eternal life using spells or rituals to bind his intellect and soul to his phylactery and thereby achieving a form of immortality. Liches are depicted as being clearly cadaverous, bodies desiccated or completely skeletal. Liches are often depicted as holding power over hordes of lesser undead creatures, using them as soldiers and servants. Unlike zombies, which are often depicted as mindless, a lich retains independent thought and is usually at least as intelligent as it was prior to its transformation.

Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's "Empire of the Necromancers" (1936), had used lich as a general term for any corpse, animated or inanimate, before the term's specific use in fantasy role-playing games. The more recent use of the term lich for a specific type of undead creature originates from the 1976 Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game booklet Greyhawk, written by Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz.

Historical background

Lich is an old English word for "corpse", the gate at the lowest end of the cemetery where the coffin and funerary procession usually entered was commonly referred to as the Lich Gate. This gate was quite often covered by a small roof where part of the funerary service could be carried out.

In literature

Further information: List of liches

The lich developed from monsters found in earlier classic sword and sorcery fiction, which is filled with powerful sorcerers who use 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. Several stories by Robert E. Howard, such as the novella Skull-Face (1929) and the short story "Scarlet Tears", feature undying sorcerers who retain a semblance of life through mystical means, their bodies reduced to shriveled husks with which they manage to maintain inhuman mobility and active thought. Gary Gygax, one of the cocreators of Dungeons & Dragons, stated that he based the description of a lich included in the game on the short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer" (1969) by Gardner Fox. The term lich, used as an archaic word for corpse (or body), is commonly used in these stories. Ambrose Bierce's tale of possession "The Death of Halpin Frayser" features the word in its introduction, referring to a corpse. H. P. Lovecraft also used the word in "The Thing on the Doorstep" (published 1937) where the narrator refers to the corpse of his friend possessed by a sorcerer. Other imagery surrounding demiliches, in particular that of a jeweled skull, is drawn from the early Fritz Leiber story "Thieves' House".

In popular culture

• In the Dungeons & Dragons game (and other works of fantasy fiction that draw upon D&D for inspiration) a lich is often a spellcaster or someone assisted by a spellcaster who seeks to defy death by magical means.
• Warcraft III and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King features the continent of Northrend, the realm of the eponymous Lich King and his undead minions.
• In Gothic story "The Death of Halpin Frayser".
• In the Harry Potter book series, the primary antagonist, Voldemort, is a dark wizard who separates his soul from his body using magic, and then imbues these soul fragments into various objects, creatures, and people. He is thereafter unkillable until said vessels are destroyed, making him and his horcruxes very similar to the concept of a lich and its phylactery. The demilich, a more powerful subtype of a lich in Dungeons & Dragons, can likewise store portions of its soul into eight or more different phylacteries.
• Liches are prominent in the Might and Magic series of video games, appearing primarily as enemies, but also as playable characters in several installments. They are equally prevalent in the spin-off series Heroes of Might and Magic, where they appear in most installments as recruitable creatures, but also as heroes. One of the most prolific liches in New World Computing's old continuity was Sandro, appearing in many titles and referenced in many more. The primary antagonist of Heroes of Might and Magic III: Restoration of Erathia is also a lich: the former king of Erathia raised by necromancers.
• In The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, liches are powerful undead enemies the player may face in certain ruins. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim features dragon priests in Nordic tombs that are considered to be powerful liches. Liches also appear in The Elder Scrolls Online.
• In the game Dota 2, Lich is one of the playable heroes.
• In the Adventure Time television series, the main antagonist is an evil, undead being known simply as "The Lich". He describes himself as an ancient, cosmic being who is the manifestation of the inevitable death of all things, while Finn is his opposite, a being of life and goodwill. Both are manifestations of Catalyst Comets, colored comets that broke off the Cosmic Comet, the source of life. The Lich is born of the Green Comet while Finn is born of the Blue Comet.
• In Ready Player One, a novel by Ernest Cline, main character Parzival first earned the Copper Key by defeating a lich two games out of three at the arcade game Joust.
• In the light novel series KonoSuba, as well as its manga and anime adaptations, the supporting character Wiz is a lich. She has a human-like appearance, unlike many other liches in fiction.
• In Mysticons, the undead sorceress Queen Necrafa is a Lich-Queen. Her power is suggested to originate from something called the spectral hand, the nature of which is as of yet unknown.
• In the webcomic The Order of the Stick, the main villain Xykon is a Lich.
• In the 1997 animated film Anastasia, the character of Rasputin is an example of a lich. Rasputin lives beyond death by storing his soul in Phylactery described as an "unholy reliquary," which must be destroyed by the film's protagonist at the conclusion of the film.
• In the game Enter the Gungeon. Lich is the final boss located in Bullet Hell.
• In the film The Black Cauldron, the character of The Horned King is hinted at being a lich with his skeleton-like appearance and immense magical power.
• In the novel Taran Wanderer, Book 4 of the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, the title character Taran meets a wizard named Morda who placed his soul into a finger and hid it. Taran is unable to harm Morda, nor Morda him, until Taran recognizes and destroys Morda's phylactery.
• In Catacomb 3D and related games, the main antagonist is a lich named Nemesis.
• In Magic: The Gathering, several cards represent liches.
• In the Guild Wars game franchise, the character Palawa Joko is a lich.
• In the Balance Arc of D&D-based podcast and fantasy series “The Adventure Zone” the characters of Lup and Barry Bluejeans as well as antagonists Lydia and Edward are all known liches.
• In the CRPG Divinity Original Sin the players have to fight a lich late in the last act, Cassandra, the sister of one of the main antagonists.
• In the novel Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge by Larry Correia and John Ringo, Chad Gardenier and the company he works for, Monster Hunter International, destroy a Lich in Seattle who is sacrificing virgins to create strong undead for sale to the highest bidder.

See also

• Lyke-Wake Dirge
• Koschei
• Nazgûl
• Thulsa Doom
• Wight
• Wraith