List of liches

This is a list of liches in fictional works (including literature, drama and video games). A lich is a type of undead magic user.

In print

• Lord Voldemort: The main antagonist of the Harry Potter series. In his attempts to cheat death, he uses powerful magic to split his soul and store parts of it in horcruxes, thus reducing how much soul his body contains.
• Ruthie: The main Hero of the Ministry comic series, Ruthie, is a variation of a lich. Although she possesses supernatural powers, her main skill lies in manipulating the mad.
• Morda: The wizard Morda from Lloyd Alexander's book Taran Wanderer, part of The Chronicles of Prydain, who kept his life force in a bone fragment.
• Lich King: In the comic book Gold Digger, the Lich King, one of the deadliest and most evil adversaries in the entire run of the book, is grandfather of the book's protagonist. He did not use a phylactery, but was typical in every other way being a consummate schemer.^[1]
• In the short story "Sticks" by Karl Edward Wagner, the protagonist comes in contact with a lich in a deserted farmhouse.^[2]
• Acererak: In the book Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline, the guardian of the Copper Key is Acererak the Demi-Lich.^[3]
• Ains Ooal Gown in the Overlord light novel series, is an Overlord, The most powerful type of Undead. While it is uncertain if he is actually an lich, he is often referred to as a Lich or an Elder Lich.

In movies

• The 1997 animated movie Anastasia depicts Rasputin, the main antagonist of the film, as a lich. Because of the terms of the curse he put on Tsar Nicholas II and his family, Rasputin cannot die until the entire royal family has been killed - as long as his reliquary is intact. This, along with his desire for revenge against the Tsar, is more than enough to motivate him to finish the curse by killing Anastasia. At the end of the movie, Anastasia defeats him by grinding the reliquary to powder under her high-heeled shoe. The demonic minions from within the reliquary are released, and they destroy Rasputin's body and presumably take his soul towards damnation.

In television

• In Adventure Time, the Lich is featured as one of the central antagonists.
• In Lost Girl, a Fae character known as the Lich appeared in Season 2, Episode 8, "Death Didn't Become Him". The Lich is from an ancient Egyptian Fae royal family. The Lich has an insatiable hunger for knowledge and eats flesh to feed his body, but he lives to feed his mind. He had the power to reanimate corpses and have them obey his wishes.^[4] Characters in the show, however, repeatedly mispronounce the word as "lick" (instead of /ˈlɪtʃ/).
• In Anime OverLord, the Main Character Momonga (later known as Ains Ooal Gown) is an Elder Lich.

In Internet media

• The webcomic The Order of the Stick uses Xykon as its chief villain.

In non-computer games

• The Warhammer Fantasy setting includes liches such as Nagash and near liche characters such as the Lichemaster, as well as Liche-Priests in Khemri.^[5]
• 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.^[6]
• The D&D campaign setting Ravenloft contains the powerful and scheming lich Azalin.^[7]
• The D&D campaign setting Greyhawk includes the god Vecna, who was formerly a powerful lich.

In video games

• The villain of the Catacomb 3-D series, Nemesis, is a lich.
• In The Battle for Wesnoth, Lich is an alternative upgrade path of the Dark Sorcerer beside the Necromancer, and liches are used as villains in many scenarios and campaigns, although some campaigns give the player control of friendly liches and their far more deadly counterparts, Ancient liches. Perhaps the most important lich in The Battle for Wesnoth is Mal Keshar, formerly known as Malin Keshar.
• Blizzard's Warcraft plays host to a number of liches who belong to the Undead Scourge: Araj the Summoner, Amnennar the Coldbringer, Ras Frostwhisper, Rage Winterchill and Arch-Lich Kel'Thuzad, who holds the position of majordomo to Arthas Menethil, the former Lich King.^[8] The ruler of the Scourge, first Ner'zhul, then Arthas, now Bolvar Fordragon, is known as the Lich King.
• In The Elder Scrolls series, human necromancers can imbue themselves with necromantic magic and transform into undead liches. They rely upon black magic, both from their staves and from their spells, and will usually summon an undead underling, such as a skeleton warrior. The character Mannimarco is also supposed to be a lich, even if he appears as a normal High Elf in the fourth of the series (see below). In the second of the series (Daggerfall) Mannimarco appears far more lich-like.
• Barilzar, one of the most powerful liches in the Elder Scrolls series, created a magical ring (known as Barilzar's Mazed Band), so powerful that he made himself a lich to keep the ring safe, and away from the world. In the encounter with him in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind's Expansion, Tribunal, the only reason that the player is able to defeat him is because of his long period of time wasting away in the tomb.
• In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, liches 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. Also, players joining the Dark Brotherhood are required to assassinate the necromancer Celedaen, before he completes his transformation into a lich. This is done by stealing his soul container, an hourglass called "Sands of Resolve".
• Guild Wars
  • The last boss in Guild Wars Prophecies is a liche.
  • Palawa Joko is a liche in Guild Wars Nightfall.
• The action-RPG PC game Nox features enemy sorcerers called liches.
• In the MMORPG Tibia, a lich is a mid-strong undead creature with an arsenal of spells.
• In AdventureQuest, a character with the Necromancer class is able to become a lich upon death. There is also a dracolich, which is an undead dragon.
• 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.
• In Phantasy Star, liches feature as a minor enemy in some dungeons.
• Golden Sun uses liches as an enemy.
• Disciples II: Dark Prophecy features liches as powerful creatures serving the Undead Hordes.
• Dark Lich is a boss from Secret of Mana and its sequel Seiken Densetsu 3. In Secret of Mana, he first appears as the main villain, Thanatos, before showing his true form.
• The Iron Liches are bosses from Heretic.
• In City of Villains, a Necromancer Mastermind's most powerful pet is a lich.
• In the original Final Fantasy, Lich is one of the Four Fiends of Chaos, associated with the element of Earth. He causes the earth to rot and decay by blocking the power of the Crystal of Earth from escaping the cavern in which he rests. A vampire, his subservient, is encountered before him as a sub-boss battle.
• In Final Fantasy IX, Lich is the Earth Guardian of Terra.
• In Final Fantasy XII, a lich is a monster which can be found in the Tomb of Raithwall.
• In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, a lich is the boss of the undead-filled area Rebena Te Ra. This lich, unrelated to the liches of other Final Fantasy games, resembles a giant Yuke.
• Liches appear in Vagrant Story, where they are 'evil' type enemies described as mages who gained eternal life through making pacts with demons. They are powerful magic users capable of teleporting around the rooms they appear in. The game also features lich lords, more powerful versions of the basic liches, and Death, a Lich-like enemy who resembles the Grim Reaper and is tasked with hunting down the possessed.
• "The Lich" is the final boss of the "Forsaken Province" territory in Gauntlet Dark Legacy.
• Liches are prominent villains and player characters throughout the Might and Magic series, notably Might and Magic VII, VIII and IX.
• The Heroes of Might and Magic series' Necropolis faction contains Liches and Power Liches (alternatively named Archliches and Lich Masters in the fifth game) as troops. Some Liches are also major storyline characters and protagonists, such as Sandro the Necromancer and Nicolas Gryphonheart.
• In Heroes of Might and Magic IV, Lich is a class of hero attained by mastering the death magic and chaos magic skills. Lich heroes can age enemy units by attacking them, reducing their attributes.
• In Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, liches are a form of undead.
• 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 feature as undead spell-casters in dark robes in MU Online.
• In the MMORPG Nexus War, a lich is one of the classes characters can take after a certain level.
• In Lost Souls, liches are found serving the master necromancer Necrolak, who seems to have nearly completed lich transformation himself. There is also a dracolich named Klavromethicos imprisoned by Kalyxes in the Shadow Tower.
• In MajorMUD, Zanthus the Lich is featured as the most powerful NPC in the game.
• In Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes, the undead faction is named "Liche King", suggesting that it is lich-controlled. Liches are a non-recruitable ally to the undead faction that inspires fear.
• Bane, Horseman of Death and leader of the undead faction in the Warlords series, is described in Warlords Battlecry III as 'a giant lich riding a chariot'.
• In the Chzo Mythos, an amateur adventure game series, Chzo's servant the Tall Man was a lich.
• NetHack features lich, demilich, arch-lich and master lich.
• Ancient Domains of Mystery features lich, lich king, emperor lich and master lich.
• Ogre Battle and its sequels feature liches, generally as the most powerful type of spellcaster. They may also be capable of recruiting undead characters.
• In Kingdom of Loathing the lihc [sic] is a monster in the Misspelled Cemetery parodying the lich.
• In Clan Lord, Liches appear frequently in the Dark Temple and are part of a pirate-like community of non-player characters called "Darshaks."
• One of the bosses inside several versions of the MMOG GunZ: The Duel is a Lich. It is possible to reach this boss by defeating several enemies in an underground/dungeon "Quest" match.
• In Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django, the Lich and Lich+ enemies appear as minibosses.
• In Tales of Phantasia, some enemies can summon a lich.
• In EverQuest II, Varsoon the Undying is a relatively young lich (only 300 years or so old) who remains in the Chamber of Immortality within the Ruins of Varsoon. While the Ruins are located in the Thundering Steppes, his tomb is on an island off the northwest coast of Antonica. Lucan Dlere, the overlord of Freeport, is also a lich.
• In the MMORPG Grand Chase, a lich is a boss in the Forsaken Barrows, capable of holding down players with zombies, summoning undead orcs, and using lightning bolts.
• The computer RPG Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and its expansion pack Throne of Bhaal frequently use liches as mid- to high-level enemies, including Kangaxx the Demilich (BG2) and an unnamed Demilich in Throne of Bhaal.
• Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II includes the lich Lyran.
• Neverwinter Nights allows powerful players to summon liches.
• The Neverwinter Nights expansion pack Shadows of Undrentide uses the lich Belpheron in the plot, although he was destroyed before the game's start. Belpheron appears briefly as an enemy in the Hordes of the Underdark expansion (though his name is spelt Balpheron). Though not a true lich, the character Kel-garas (also appearing in Shadows of Undrentide) has attained undeath through similar means (namely, binding his soul to a phylactery).
• In Lost Kingdoms, there is a Liche card, a Weapon-type card allowing Katia to shoot blasts of fire from the Liche's wand that appears.
• In Siege of Avalon, there is an unnamed lich that must be fought, at the price of the life of the necromancer that must accompany you for this quest.
• In the MMORPG Mabinogi, liches are incredibly powerful monsters residing in areas where either much death has occurred (probably in trying to kill them) and in deep underground, dark lairs. They are traditional liches, only differing in that they lack the item which to tie their souls to. This is confirmed via a cutscene showing one magician's transformation into a lich.
• In Eternal Darkness, the character Pius Augustus is transformed into a skeletal "liche" at the end of his chapter, and serves as the main antagonist for the rest of the game.
• In Dota 2, Ethreain the Lich is a playable support hero.
• In the side scrolling dungeon crawler Rogue Legacy, a Lich is a playable class available to the player with low strength and starting stats that grows stronger with each defeated enemy

References

1. Gold Digger v3, 38 (December 2002)
2. Wagner, Karl (1976), Two Suns Setting
3. Janet Maslin (14 August 2011). "A Future Wrapped in 1980s Culture". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
4. "Death Didn't Become Him". 2. Episode 08. 14 November 2011.
5. Johnson, J; King, B; Blanche, J; Gibbons, M (1994). Warhammer Armies: Undead. Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8.
6. Punch, Sean; Burles, Kent; Cavotta, Matt (2002). GURPS Undead. Steve Jackson Games. p. 70. ISBN 1-55634-352-3.
7. Haddock, Erik; Wise, David (1993). Ravenloft: Roots of Evil. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 1-56076-597-6.
8. "Faces of Warcraft: The Essential Introduction to Characters". Game Informer (183). July 2008.