The term lich comes from the Old English lic, (pronounced the same) which means "corpse"; an alternative spelling is "liche". The word is cognate with modern German Leiche, meaning "corpse"; for the linguistic background see lich on the German language Wikipedia. Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... The Wikipedia logo. ...

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a lich is a spellcaster who seeks to defy death by magical means. They convert themselves into an undead state by means of black magic and necromancy, storing their souls in magical receptacles called phylacteries. In some sources this is referred to as the Ritual of Endless Night. Players Handbook for D&D version 3. ... Fantasy is a genre of art, literature, film, television, and music that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of either plot, theme, setting, or all three. ... A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of fictional characters and spontaneously describe their exploits. ... The ancient symbol of the pentagram is often used as a symbol for magic. ... Undead is a collective name for all types of supernatural entities who were once alive in the normal sense, died, and then continued to exist in the world of the living, in forms spiritual (as ghosts) or corporeal (as animated corpses). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Necromancy (νεκρομαντία) is the alleged divination by which a person raises the spirits of the dead or, in some cases, merely their corpses. ... The soul according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ... Phylactery can mean: The Greek term for a Judaic tefillin, leather boxes worn on the arm and head, and which contain scrolls enscribed with specific Biblical verses. ...

As a consequence, the only permanent way to kill a lich is to destroy its phylactery; otherwise, it will be able to recreate a new body for itself. Occasionally, this metamorphosis occurs by accident as a result of life-prolonging magic. A lich retains the abilities that it possessed in life, but it has a virtual eternity to hone its skills and inevitably becomes quite powerful. Metamorphosis has several meanings: Look up Metamorphosis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For metamorphosis as it applies to animals (biology) see Metamorphosis (biology) In geology, metamorphosis refers to the changes undergone by metamorphic rock due to geological processes. ...

Some argue that liches are the most powerful of the undead. The gods Vecna from the Greyhawk campaign setting, Velsharoon from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting and The Drow goddess Kiaransalee had been liches before ascending to godhood. The githyanki lich-queen Vlaakith CLVII has been attempting to attain godhood as well. Spoiler warning: Vecna is a fictional character from the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. ... The cover of the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast. ... Velsharoon the Archmage of Necromancy, aka the Vaunted, is a fictional deity of the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. ... The Forgotten Realms Second Edition logo. ... Drow (pronounced: ) are a species of elf in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. ... A deity or a god, is a postulated preternatural being, usually, but not always, of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings. ... The githyanki are a fictional race, first created by George R. R. Martin in his science fiction novel Dying of the Light. ... In the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, Vlaakith was the name of the first ruler of the githyanki race after the death of Gith, the rebel leader that united them against the illithids. ...

If a lich exists long enough it becomes a "demilich". The demilich's interest turns away from the physical realm, instead using astral projection to travel across other planes of existence. The magics preserving the demilich's body against the ravages of time weaken, usually causing the body to gradually deteriorate until only a skull or even a single skeletal hand remains. Despite its ruined body, a demilich is far from powerless; if disturbed, the skull will levitate and suck the souls from nearby living creatures. The most notable demiliches are Acererak, found in the classic adventure Tomb of Horrors, and Kangaxx, one of the most powerful adversaries in the PC game Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. Astral projection (or astral travel) is a controversial interpretation of out-of-body experiences achieved either consciously or via lucid dreaming, deep meditation, or use of disassociatives, like DXM, LSD, Psilocybin or 5-MeO-DMT. Proponents of astral projection maintain that their consciousness or soul has transferred into an astral... See plane (cosmology) for the common meaning of plane as used in cosmology. ... A hippopotamuss skull A skull, or cranium, is a bony structure of Craniates which serves as the general framework for a head. ... A human hand typically has four fingers and a thumb The hand (med. ... Cover of module S1, Tomb of Horrors Tomb of Horrors is an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game adventure module, written by Gary Gygax in 1978. ... The tower of a personal computer. ...

Many other works of fantasy fiction have borrowed the term and concept of the lich to lend an element of supernatural fear to their cast or atmosphere. Such works include the games NetHack, the Might and Magic series, Warcraft III, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, the Final Fantasy and Ultima series, the Mage: The Ascension and Shadowrun role-playing games, and the novel Perdido Street Station by China Miéville. David Drake's Lord of the Isles series of novels used the term to mean the corpse of a drowned man, animated by magic. They can only be destroyed by smashing their skulls. In the game Disciples II, the most powerful liches are referred to as Arch-liches, though several other varieties of this term have appeared in other works. For other definitions of fantasy see fantasy (psychology). ... A game is a recreational activity involving one or more players. ... NetHack is a roguelike computer game. ... Might and Magic (MM) is a series of computer role-playing games from New World Computing, a subsidiary of The 3DO Company. ... Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2002, is a real-time strategy computer game and the second sequel to Warcraft. ... Though each Final Fantasy story is independent, many themes and elements of gameplay recur throughout the series. ... Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from Origin Systems, Inc. ... Mage: The Ascension is a role-playing game based in the World of Darkness, and is published by White Wolf Game Studio. ... Cover of Shadowrun Third Edition Shadowrun is a cyberpunk-fantasy cross-genre role-playing game, set in the years 2050, 2060 or 2070 (depending on the game edition) following a great cataclysm that has brought use of magic back to the world, just as it begins to embrace the marvels... A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of fictional characters and spontaneously describe their exploits. ... Perdido Street Station is the second novel written by China Miéville, and the first set in New Crobuzon. ... China Tom Miéville (born September 6, 1972, Norwich) is a British writer of fantastic fiction. ... David Drake (born September 24, 1945) is a successful author of science fiction and fantasy literature. ... TotalGaming. ...

The character of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series shares all the attributes of a lich; evidence from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince spells this out. Lord Voldemort (born December 31, 1926) is the fictional archvillain of the Harry Potter series of novels. ... Cover of the original novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. ... A Horcrux is a magical object in the Harry Potter series, first introduced in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. ... This article is about the book. ...

Historical background

While the term "Lich" is peculiar to D&D, 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 strongly suggestive of the burial practices of Egypt. This would make the Lich a very-far-from-its-roots mythologization of Egyptian pharaohs. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Folklore is the ethnographic concept of the tales, legends, or superstitions current among a particular population, a part of the Oral tradition or oral history of a particular culture. ... Pharaoh (Hebrew פַּרְעֹה (without niqqud: פרעה), Standard Hebrew Parʿo, Tiberian Hebrew Parʿōh, Arabic فرعون) is a title used to refer to the kings (of godly status) in ancient Egypt. ...

Like many of the creatures found in Dungeons & Dragons, the Lich was derived from monsters found in classic Sword & 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 - 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". A Robert E. Howard pastiche, "Conan and the Sorcerer", features the Sand-Lich, Tosya Zul. Lichs are also characters in the Disciples game series. The video game Gauntlet: Dark Legacy features a lich as the boss of its Forsaken Province realm. The book series "Rise to Heaven" features the lich Soveliss, who chose the path of lichhood instead of succumbing to a life-threatening disease. Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893-August 14, 1961) was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. ... Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ... Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was a writer of fantasy and historical adventure pulp stories, published primarily in Weird Tales magazine in the 1930s. ...

External links

• A detailed description of liches in fantasy