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Alhoon

2021-05-30T04:42:13Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7:

{{dnd-stub}}
[[File:Alhoon 5e.png|right|300px]]
[[File:Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg|left|300px|thumb|An Alhoon and <s>his JoJo stand "Rob Zombie"</s> a human lich from ''Monsters of Faerun''.]]
'''Alhoons''' are undead [[illithid]]s in the realms of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Sometimes presented with the alternative name of '''Illithiliches''', which other sources claim are an entirely different thing, alhoons are mind flayers outcast from their society due to their study of the forbidden arts of [[magic]] over [[psionics]]. As this denies them their culturally-promised immortality through joining the Elder Brain upon death, alhoons instead seek their own immortality through undeath, becoming [[lich]]-like monsters that often prey on their living kin.

5th edition makes alhoons and illithiliches separate things, with the former being the result of illithid spellcasters taking a shortcut, and attaining a lesser form of lichdom that's easier to achieve, and the latter being the real deal holyfield, losing none of their mind flayer abilities (alhoons can't eat brains anymore) and gaining only advantage from their undead state. In 5e, alhoons achieve their immortality by sacrificing victims to a communal periapt that they share with 8 other alhoons. This sacrifice basically allows the alhoon to live as long as the victim did, so the older the victim, the better. Something that makes alhoons inferior to true illithiliches is that they don't reform their bodies when they are destroyed, instead their mind gets transferred to the periapt where it hangs out with other destroyed alhoons and sacrificed souls.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Monsters]] [[Category: Undead]]

Alhoon

2021-05-30T04:41:44Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7:

{{dnd-stub}}
[[File:Alhoon 5e.png|right|300px]]
[[File:Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg|left|300px|thumb|An Alhoon and <s>his JoJo stand "Rob Zombie"</s> a human lich from ''Monsters of Faerun''.]]
'''Alhoons''' are undead [[illithid]]s in the realms of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Sometimes presented with the alternative name of '''Illithiliches''', which other sources claim are an entirely different thing, alhoons are mind flayers outcast from their society due to their study of the forbidden arts of [[magic]] over [[psionics]]. As this denies them their culturally-promised immortality through joining the Elder Brain upon death, alhoons instead seek their own immortality through undeath, becoming [[lich]]-like monsters that often prey on their living kin.

5th edition makes alhoons and illithiliches separate things, with the former being the result of illithid spellcasters taking a shortcut, and attaining a lesser form of lichdom that's easier to achieve, and the latter being the real deal holyfield, losing none of their mind flayer abilities (alhoons can't eat brains anymore) and gaining only advantage from their undead state. In 5e, alhoons achieve their immortality by sacrificing victims to a communal periapt that they share with 8 other alhoons. This sacrifice basically allows the alhoon to live as long as the victim did, so the older the victim, the better. Something that makes alhoons inferior to true illithiliches is that they don't reform their bodies when they are destroyed, instead their mind gets transferred to the periapt where it gets to chill with other destroyed alhoons and sacrificed souls.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Monsters]] [[Category: Undead]]

Alhoon

2021-05-30T04:40:40Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7:

{{dnd-stub}}
[[File:Alhoon 5e.png|right|300px]]
[[File:Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg|left|300px|thumb|An Alhoon and <s>his JoJo stand "Rob Zombie"</s> a human lich from ''Monsters of Faerun''.]]
'''Alhoons''' are undead [[illithid]]s in the realms of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Sometimes presented with the alternative name of '''Illithiliches''', which other sources claim are an entirely different thing, alhoons are mind flayers outcast from their society due to their study of the forbidden arts of [[magic]] over [[psionics]]. As this denies them their culturally-promised immortality through joining the Elder Brain upon death, alhoons instead seek their own immortality through undeath, becoming [[lich]]-like monsters that often prey on their living kin.

5th edition makes alhoons and illithiliches separate things, with the former being the result of illithid spellcasters taking a shortcut, and attaining a lesser form of lichdom that's easier to achieve, and the latter being the real deal holyfield, losing none of their mind flayer abilities (alhoons can't eat brains anymore) and gaining only advantage from their undead state. In 5e, alhoons achieve their immortality by sacrificing victims to a communal periapt that they share with 8 other alhoons. This sacrifice basically allows the alhoon to live as long as the victim did, so the older the victim, the better. Something that makes alhoons inferior to true illithiliches is that they don't reform their bodies when they are destroyed, so instead their mind gets transferred to the periapt where it gets to chill with other destroyed alhoons and sacrificed souls.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Monsters]] [[Category: Undead]]

Lich

2021-05-30T04:25:10Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Dracolich */

[[Image:KR_12_bard_lich.jpg|right|thumb|400px]]
'''Liches''' (from ''Leiche'', German for "corpse") are spellcasters, typically [[necromancer]]s who have mastered their self proclaimed 'art' to cross the line between life and death, becoming undead creatures of immense mystical power. After decades of research, practice, gathering of rare-materials, spell components and forbidden dark-lore, a Lich to-be performs a ritual that extracts the soul/'life force' from it's body and places it in a phylactery. This object, often in narrative is usually an ornament of value to the Lich in it's past life, barring that- it's usually appearance-wise on par with the like of a reliquary, a small sealed box with bindings on it with varied iconography, sometimes with an item inside. This transformation process in tabletop tradition is left vague but given implication it is an evil act- though many sources have gone on to explain and detail the likes of such a transformation.

After culminating the ritual with the caster's death and sometimes a brief period of inactivity following reanimation- the Lich comes to be. The Lich sports the unique benefits that the undead are privy to, and should the lich's physical body ever be destroyed, It will reform at the phylactery- though in older works- this has been limited to the concept of possessing actively present corpses to return to unlife, and this is possible so long as the phylactery remains intact. This makes liches nice persistent foes for a [[DM]] to throw at an adventuring [[party]]. Other benefits of lichdom include the ability to (un)live without eating or sleeping, giving the lich that much more time to 'get things done', though in some cases there is a type of maintenance that must be performed by the Lich for it to retain its hold on the world of the living, and in addition the Phylactery offers protection against various magics and effects that could be used to harm the soul.

The ritual/ceremony for becoming a lich (and many other applications of necromancy) tend to involve sacrificing innocents, trafficking with evil outsiders, using a freshly cut out heart of a sentient being, desecrating holy ground to perform the 'art', abusing the souls of the dead, worshiping evil gods, and generally being a bigger dickhead version of Prometheus in the grand cosmic scale- often with all of these examples playing into one another, so it's a given that in various mediums liches are generally of evil [[alignment]], especially certain since the proceeds to this state of being also accommodate the fact that turning into an undead creature tends to erase mortal trappings and turns its subject into something more akin to an unfeeling uncaring machine.

But- a person who neither eats nor sleeps, dies or fatigues can certainly do a lot of good seeing as it is part of a fantasy genre where magic benefits others. Liches with all time in the world, continuously developing magic in a state of pure academia, taking the arcane to heights unreachable in measurable generations. Depending on the setting, it may be possible to become a lich without doing anything irredeemably evil (or even mean-spirited) for the good of all. And even in some settings where Lichdom is in the general standing of- if the local citizens hear of it, an army is raised to combat it- because it is that much of a social taboo, there do exist good variants of this Undead creature.

To note- Phylactery use does not explicitly mean or make a Lich- a Lich- as this is fiction and at the most strained view of the concept, a Lich is fundamentally an undead/undead-like spellcaster who has extended their lifespan via unnatural means. Extended from this, unnatural may constitute unholiness or otherwise, something about the being that clearly earns it its name, due to it being a walking withered corpse missing its eyes, in place, unnatural glowing pinpoint lights in the eyesockets presenting to an onlooker clear negative visual stimuli.

==Liches in Dungeons and Dragons==
[[File:Osterneth the Bronze Lich.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Osterneth, the Bronze Lich, a rare example of a female lich]]
Liches have always been a staple of Dungeons and Dragons, following through the tabletop system and its settings and editions continuously up to the 5th edition. Historically they were the most difficult to Turn, before the "Specials" (''i.e.'' demons). In the lore they are deities, adversaries, characters in novels, and more with later editions featured as playable options for players seeking means to retire his/her characters ingame- through OD&D-AD&D to 2e, and 3.5, liches have followed a progressive evolution in form, functionality and inclusion, peaking at 3.5 before 4e came in and returned the state of this creature to its older rules and regulations in the first edition, as an evil undead creature that maintains its imperfect immortality through the consumption of souls.

Back in 2e D&D, liches came in multiple types depending on what kind of magic was used to create them. Your common lich was a former wizard, with separate stats in other splats for clerical, bardic and psionic liches (though that last one is derided by Psionics fans, despite the fact it's actually been around a '''long''' time) . There was also the Archlich, which was a lich of any of the previous varieties that wasn't evil, stated to be "as rare as Roc's teeth." The "must periodically sacrifice the souls of mortals to phylactery to stay around" aspect of lichdom was probably tacked on in later editions because the writers realized that there would otherwise be no logical reason ''for'' the Archlich to be so rare. Other splats added their own unique lich variants, mostly those books relating to [[Ravenloft]].

3e simplified things, boiling away most of the race or class-based variants of the lich into a single, readily applied template. This is an idea that both 4th and 5th edition preserved, though each put their own spin on it.

==Liches in Pathfinder==
Like most 3.5 OGL monsters, Liches are relatively unchanged in Pathfinder except for system wide changes, but they have some minor tweaks in a few areas. The one change to the template itself is that lich no longer have d12 HD for everything and instead, like all undead in Pathfinder, they can now use their [[Charisma]] score instead of their non-existent [[Constitution]] to determine bonus hit points per level. With a Charisma of 14 before transformation, this works out to the same, with a [[Sorcerer]], [[Bard]] or [[Oracle]] entry being even bulkier. In the PC's favor is that lich are no longer immune to polymorph effects except their own.

Fluff wise they are also near identical with one major change: The ritual to become a Lich is unique to every individual and must be researched but is pretty much always evil. Since D&D was incredibly vague on this subject, even beyond OGL, other than that it was absolutely something that made you Evil aligned this doesn't change much. One consequence of this is that people can become part lich by ''accident'' as shown by one Oracle curse.

==Liches in Warcraft and World of Warcraft==
While Liches existed before the Third War, the most notable and possibly the first Lich of the setting is the Lich King, created by the demon Kil'jaeden after merging the tortured soul of the former Warchief and shaman Ner'zhul into a set of armor and the runeblade Frostmourne, then encasing it inside a magical ice-crystal.

Other Liches, like Kel'thuzad, are usually former necromancers who impressed the Lich King in some way to be resurrected as giant, magic skeletons rather than some sword fodder zombie that can cast spells. Kel'thuzad, for instance, was resurrected by Arthas for his magical know-how as well as his part in killing the majority of the largest human nation for undead soldiers; Arthas was only able to resurrect a soul like Kel's after invading the elven nation of Quel'thalas and using the magical waters of their Sunwell (with a bit help from the demon Tichondrius). After this, they both go on to create more liches, both from orcs and humans, but how is rather unclear. A few bits of information states that one has to commit suicide, and the involvement of a higher being (Lich King or Kel'thuzad for example) is necessary for their ascension.

It should also be noted that the first sapient undead of the setting were the Death Knights created by Gul'dan, which shared a similar process of creation with the mainstray lich. The soul of an orc warlock was sealed within a gem, and that gem was then placed on the body of a slain human knight. The process was fueled by the sacrifice of a few dozen orc necrolytes.

It is also possible to become a Lich independent of the Lich King, as shown with two existing Liches in Warcraft, one being Gunther Arcanus, a forsaken that you can meet who keeps to himself, and the other a part of the canonized quest to obtain Ashbringer, who became a Lich post mortem using a quite brilliant method that you should check out.

Liches are seen as evil by both the Horde and the Alliance.

==Liches in World of Darkness==
Depending on how generous you are with your definitions, both [[World of Darkness|Worlds of Darkness]] are positively crawling with Liches. The most obvious are the [[Tremere]], who fit the description of "wizards who became undead to preserve their power" despite being [[Vampire the Masquerade|vampires]] rather than liches in the traditional sense. Likewise, the Nagaraja bloodline have even more in common with liches, being former death mages who channeled [[Wraith: The Oblivion|Oblivion]] itself in exchange for power and immortality. Of course, they're also vampires and, given their compulsion to consume flesh as well as blood, there's more than a bit of [[Ghoul]] in them too.

The [[Mage: The Ascension|magical]] technique used by the Nagaraja is called "Necrosynthesis", and it has been used numerous times, usually by the [[Order of Hermes]] to create liches ([[White Wolf]] uses the singular "liche", because of fucking course they do) in the more traditional sense, becoming undead without losing their Avatar and ability to do magic. They are apparently mostly Etruscan in cultural origin and, like most crazy things you can do to yourself with magic, titanic Paradox magnets.

[[Changeling: The Dreaming]] includes a variety of Dauntain (the okay C20 kind, not the pants-on-head stupid 2e kind) that is called a Lich and basically works how you'd expect, Phylactery and everything.

Meanwhile, in the new World of Darkness, we have the contents of the Immortals sourcebook, all of whom arguably qualify as liches to some degree. There are also the Abmortals of [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]], who are pretty similar.

Of course, the term is actually used in [[Mage: The Awakening]] as a descriptor for any Legacy that grants its adherents immortality, generally at the cost of their humanity, their morality, or both. The nWoD version of the [[Tremere]] are the most prominent of these, but far from the only ones.

==Liches in Mythology==
Russian mythology brings us [[Koschei the deathless]], an archetypal lich with a rather original way of storing his phylactery. Koschei's soul (or the moment of his death, depending on who you ask) is hidden in a needle, which is hidden in an egg, which is hidden in a hare, which is hidden in a duck; all of this in a locked chest buried under a tree on the Russian equivalent of Atlantis. Aside from his original fusion of magical, culinary, and geographic defenses, he also differs from most liches in that he kidnaps princesses instead of studying magic all the time like a [[Thousand Sons|fucking nerd.]] Is the namesake for [[Kostchtchie]].

==Liches in the Elder Scrolls==
Like most things involving necromancy, liches are a product of one big dick named Mannimarco. Being a bootleg Nagash, Mannimarco decided that living sucks and being an immortal wizard of master race in a magical order so powerful they casually control time is just too casual for him. So with a bit of soul rape he managed to achieve (more) immortality as an indestructible lich only to be casually destroyed in Oblivion. Though his questionable achievements did inspire a lot of necromancers.

Those undead mages consider the be most powerful among undead do to mastery of necromancy and various magic art. Though, given consistency of elder scrolls universe, lich powers and methods to become one are usually depends on part of the game or in universe exploration: time and place.

*In High Rock and Hamerfell(Daggerfall), liches as powerful as powerful mages and have benefits of undead like resistance to normal weapons (read “any non-fantasy weapon”), resistance to diseases, etc.
*In Morrowind (dlc Tribunal), liches decided that magic is for pussies and with only few of spells they also utilize strong melee weapons. Combine this with undead immunity to weapons and high resistance to frost this makes them rather nasty tanks instead of powerful wizards.
*In Cyrodiil (Oblivion), liches are the closest to classic lich. Those liches are not joke, having immunity to weapons, resistance to elemental magic save for fire(because undead), ability to reflect both magic and normal attacks. Combine this with big tier magic like summoning and protective spells and you get a rape machine... unless they didn’t see you. Despite all of this liches of Cyrodiil are fragile and two hits with non-normal weapon is enough to kill them.
*In Skyrim (...Skyrim) they don’t have liches in normal “necromancer turn undead” way, but they have dragon priests. Those people of ancient dragon cult who sucked dragon-dong the most were given immortality in form of undeath. Dragon priest is one of the stronger enemy the game has to offer, they cast protective magic from spell and physical damage, they fly around with staff that has adept and expert level of magic(instant death if you don’t have resistance to it), they use Storm Atronachs, the big demons that shoots lighting and hit with rock hands, and they are generally tough...and they are also a damn cowards. Seriously, fighting those guys is what fight with mage actually looks like: bastards with lots of protection, use minions and they always run away from you. If all previous liches did have at least some sort of close combat, dragon priests don’t want in close combat, so you just need to run as fast as you can in order to hit them. Morrowind liches think that they are nerds.

As for transformation into one, it’s pretty much the same as in D&D, individually. It can go from curse to suck someone soul, from classic phylactery to pact with demons, hell you can combine wrong ingredients and create poison that will strip you from flesh and increase your magic and this will count. One interesting note is dragon priests, who have the most original way of obtaining lichhood. When dragon transform cultists they also create draugr (Viking zombie). While it can be created without dragon priest involvement, draugr serve both as bodyguard and as daily meal. To put it simple, you can’t fully kill draugr while dragon priest around because they are connected and while draugr slumber he “collects” energy that allows priest to keep themselves alive and powerful while draugr receive enough to be mindless zombie with only goal: protect.

Overall, being lich is kinda a bummer, consider that in elder scrolls universe you have 9000 options to become immortal. Sometimes you don’t even want to, consider the fact that the are at least several heavens and with right cards, you can be get access to all of them.

==Liches & their Variants==
===Basic Lich===
[[File:Lankyface_the_unlivings_2nd_and_only_other_existing_picture_in_3.5.png|right|thumb|250px|3.5's Lich and his Phylactery]]
The common lich all come to know through the Monster Manual. Said to be made by committing an evil act left up to the GM- but later publications throughout each edition always give actual detail that is either overlooked in later publications- or used, causing additional and sometimes conflicting fluff- said fluff evolved through the first edition until 3.5, before 4e & 5e took a step back to 1e. Is only possible for non humanoids to become this lich through patronage to Orcus, Demon Prince/Lord of the Undead- bar certain races who have a variant of their own. There is also a rule in savage species which says this lich can be good, at the expense of no longer having a fear aura, and needing to go through a ritual of alignment to retain it's original alignment or making a will save prior to transformation to avoid moving towards the alignment of the average Lich- though given what happens as a part of the ritual, it's preparation, transformation/gradual transition becoming aligned with evil is almost unavoidable.

===Archlich===
[[Archmage]] 1st, lich 2nd, introduced in [[Spelljammer]], having lessened spellcasting capacity depending on edition, later becoming a [[Epic Destiny]] in [[4e]], the archlich is the mentor of mages past its twilight years, moving on to higher levels of knowledge, cheating death, and the hungry evils of the lower planes that would seek to claim it's soul. Nothing is stopping the zealous from trying to purge their 'oh so benevolent' not-evil asses, mind you. Well, clerics can't turn them, though it's not like immunity isn't mistaken for resistance- oops. As the answer to the question of "/tg/! /tg/! can there be good liches?" they're pretty rare, often out the way retirees of the intrigues of mortal planes. Despite this, in the face of threat from higher undead controllers, the archlich is kind of a downgrade from a regular evil lich, as they can't obtain the goodies a lich would obtain in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, and demilichdom is out of the question too. They still get to cast spells as a generalist & specialist- technically. Another thing that doesn't work in the favor of these would-be good guys is the fact that the term 'Arch-Lich' is often used to describe incredibly powerful liches, [[Vecna]], [[Acererak]] & [[Demios]] have all been referred to as such. Tough break.

===Arch-Shadow===
A spellcaster who attempted to become a lich and failed, and instead become a ghostly undead connected to a random magic item instead of their intended phylactery. If they drain enough life energy from people who have touched the item it is bound to, they can regain a solid body, becoming a Demi-Shade.

==='Good' Lich===
Found in the Libris Mortis, this Lich is immune to turning due to it's good nature, and can turn Undead as a cleric of a level equal to it's hit die. Essentially an anti-lich with the same motivations as say, a Baelnorm or Archlich

===Baelnorn===
A good-aligned [[elf]] lich, created willingly from an elf who wants to be undead only to guard something very important or who wants to stick around beyond death to keep watch over their family, or is made so by their racial deity. Despite being of good alignment, they're just another reason to hate elves, and they often act as Elven Mossad, covering up the usual cosmic elf fuckup that tends to bite everyone else in the ass in whatever setting they're based in. If you're planning a trip to a ruined knife-ear civilization, watch out for these guys, because they might just kill you for trespassing.

===Banelich===
Introduced in the [[Forgotten Realms]] 2nd edition, Baneliches are [[cleric]]al liches devoted to [[Bane]], who was really big on identity branding in that edition. They're slightly more powerful than the standard clerical lich, and gain access to unique salient powers, including a pain-inflicting gaze-attack, a hypnotic voice that compels truthful answers from enthralled victims, and a 1/day death touch attack.

===Bardic Lich===
A lich who was originally a [[bard]]. This was originally introduced in [[Ravenloft]] 2nd edition as a single unique monster - a [[half-elf]] named Andres Duvall who was transformed into a lich-like, magic-eating monster in an accident involving [[Darklord|Azalin]], a lightning bolt spell, and a really powerful grimoire full of evil magic.

Due to the simplified means of attaining lichhood in 3e, bardic liches are fully plausible, but never really explored.

[[Kobold Press]] revived the idea as the ''Virtuoso Lich'' for 5e in their Tome of Beasts II [[splatbook]].

===Boneclaw===
In fifth edition, boneclaws are the result of a failed attempt to become a lich. If the soul fails to go into the phylactery, it instead binds to a random evil humanoid, [[Fail|whom the boneclaw becomes enslaved to]]. The boneclaw is permanently destroyed only when the humanoid it is bonded with dies or stops being evil. This connection is a complete 5e retcon; boneclaws first appeared as a fairly generic-fluffed undead mook in the [[Monster Manual]] 3 for 3rd edition, and were refluffed an [[undead]] [[construct]] created by [[hag]]s, using the assembled carcasses of [[ogre]]s and trapping the spirit of a slain [[oni]] in it for brains/motivation, in 4e's MM1.
<gallery>
Boneclaw MM3 3e.jpg
Boneclaw MM 4e.jpg
Boneclaw 5e.png
</gallery>

===Bone Sage===
Originally from [[Pathfinder]], these guys really came into their own in its sister setting, [[Starfinder]]. The Bone Sages are the deceased inhabitants of the blasted worlds of Eox, the last members of a race known as the Elebrians. Through a combination of their mastery of magic and technology, some were able to rebuild themselves as what are essentially cyber-liches after the backlash from a superweapon destroying their planet's atmosphere. Mechanically, they're a dead ringer for more conventional liches, except with an affinity for bionic implants and a phylactery that acts as its own spellbook.

===[[Death Knight]]===
Essentially the [[gish]] version of a lich, an undead warrior-wizard. Originally just the next step up from the skeleton warrior by gaining some increased HD and spell-like abilities, they got more lich-like in 4th edition, complete with their chosen weapons doubling as their phylacteries. In 5th, a Death Knight is what happens when an evil paladin dies. Every time they die, they come back again until they atone for their sins. Which is completely optional.

===Deathless===
A race of goodly lich-like undead created in 3rd edition for the [[Eberron]] setting. They're fueled by Positive Energy rather than Negative Energy and are basically "reverse liches".

===Defiler Lich===
Exactly what it says; a [[defiler]] who managed to avoid being lynched long enough that they were able to study [[Necromancer|necromancy]] and turn themselves into undead defilers. They're also known as ''Kaisharga'', which is how they were originally introduced in [[Dark Sun]], where they could be found in [[psion]], [[templar]], [[wizard]], [[fighter]], [[ranger]] and [[gladiator]] variants. It was in [[Ravenloft]] where the Wizardly Kaisharga, or Defiler Lich as it was called there, truly was focused on.

Defiler liches essentially combine the standard abilities of a high-level lich with the Defiling Magic trait and a number of [[psionics|wild talents]]. They can also ascend to their own unique form of demilichhood, which has the special ability to utter baleful curses on victims - a side effect of which is that cursed individuals slowly kill all plant life around them, in a manner similar to a defiler using their magic.

===Demilich/Demi-Lich===
A lich who derped around for so long that his body is just a flying bit of skeleton (usually a skull) full of soul gems. Despite their small size, they're much nastier than a normal lich; their spellcasting is even stronger, they have oodles of opportunities to cast Soul Trap and bone you, and they like to fly juuuust out of players' easy reach. They are also immune to most spells and magical effects, except for a few holy-powered ones and one derpy second-level spell called ''shatter'' that screws them something fierce by blowing out their soul gems. Their lore's flipflopped between editions, going from the next step in lichly evolution to a weakened form caused when a lich either gets too bored with existence ([[Pathfinder]]), or fails to eat enough souls. Fifth edition goes both ways, stating that most liches eventually become demiliches after failing to devour enough souls for their phylacteries, but that some [[Tomb of Horrors|like the infamous Acererak]] prepare for this by fitting their skulls with gems that devour souls while their spirits cruise through different planes of existence in search of greater knowledge.
<gallery>
Demilich S4.png|S4
Demilich MM 1e.jpg|1e
Demilich 3e.jpg|3e
Demilich 5e.jpg|5e
Demilich B3 PF.png|PF
</gallery>

===[[Dracolich]]===
Lichified [[dragon]]s, mostly associated with the crazy [[Cult of the Dragon]] from [[Forgotten Realms]] who want to create dracoliches to rule the world/fulfill their every scaliefag desire/forge the greatest metal album covers in history. They still have phylacteries, but need to possess a dragon's physical remains to come back rather than just rejuvenating in full, this is due to complications due to the fluff surrounding the nature of dragonsouls- but a workaround is just having minions prepare remains to possess- possibly through transmutation. They can also possess a variety of prepared draconic corpses, so if a true dragon won't do- the 100+ 'lesser dragon' variants are also on the menu- even some large lizards may suffice. Most Dracoliches' existence tend to be as a means of extending a dragon's pride/lifespan rather than the actual terrifying prospect of being practiced dedicated spellcasters- which is a blessing in itself, as next to innate sorceries, dragons have access to a small library shelf worth of splat for unique magical spells, and now the addition of the expanse necromancy and undead only spells on offer. That said, there are Dragon DEMILICHES in canon- but as to why such beings have not otherwise been detailed as major players on the grand cosmic scale is anyone's guess. Some mediums use Dracolich as the synonymous word to refer to an 'undead' dragon.

===Drow===
[[Drow]] and [[Drider]]s got their own lichly variants back in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], due to that ruleset not being able to handle slapping templates on existing creatures. Drow liches were divided into wizardly liches, who were pretty standard, and [[Lolth]]ite priestess liches, who had the unique ability to transform swarms of normal spiders into swarms of ''giant'' spiders.

Drider liches also have both wizard and cleric variants, but they don't have the same abilities as their drow counterparts. Instead, regardless of magical class, drider liches lose their innate ability to control ''humanoid'' undead to instead be able to control ''insectoid undead'' (they can still use spells to create and control humanoid undead). Also, they can communicate with spiders, and hock up a web effect 3/day.

Drow liches, wizardly and priestly, can become demiliches, retaining their unique abilities and adding them to the standard demilich powers. Nobody knows if driders can also become demiliches.

===Dry Lich===
Basically a mummy lich, and the ultimate result of the "walker in the waste" [[prestige class]]. Can't be good aligned, but doesn't have to be evil aligned either. They also get some cute Con-draining and desiccating attacks liches don't, and ''five'' phylacteries in the form of canoptic jars containing their organs, all on top of getting the template for free as part of their advancement, in addition to acquiring a planar touchstone that provides them with regenerative capabilities.

===Elemental Lich===
The Elemental Lich is another [[Ravenloft]] unique breed, created from [[elementalist]]s who went nuts and became obsessed with studying the way that [[elemental]]s are mutated and transformed by the fundamental energies of the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. This gives them a number of variant powers, including four different touch attacks based on the dread elementals (each Touch can be used 1/day) that replace the normal at-will paralytic touch ability, an innate ability to summon dread elementals, the instinctive loyalty of dread elementals, and lacking the ability to intuitively control the undead.

The Touch of the Grave is a hyper-deadly attack that forces a save vs. death magic. On a success, the victim "merely" takes 1d10 damage. On a fail, the victim dies one round later as their bones shatter into pieces and tear their way out of their body - unless a Heal spell is cast on them before this happens. Even then, they need to pass a System Shock roll, or die anyway!

The Touch of the Pyre deals a burning hit that causes the victim's clothes or armor to ignite in a supernatural blaze that will continue burning until magically expelled or it completely consumes their clothing.

The Touch of Blood requires the victim to pass a save vs. paralysis or their blood begins oozing from their pores, causing ongoing damage and level drain until magically healed.

The Touch of Mist forces the victim's alignment to change to Chaotic Evil, renders them the elemental lich's charmed slave, and gives the lich a telepathic link to control them through.

Elemental liches who attain demilichhood are especially deadly, because the body of anyone affected by their innate soul-trapping abilities becomes a random dread elemental under the elemental demilich's control!

===Fireliches===
They come from the [[Spelljammer]] setting and are what happens when an idiot [[wizard]] undergoing the lich transition ritual casts a fire spell in the Phlogiston... which is, essentially, an entire dimension full of flammable gas. The result is a cursed undead who basically exists as a giant free-floating sapient fireball with a skull in its center. [[Grimdark|Said skull is perpetually screaming in pain, as their existence is one of endless burning torment from the fire engulfing their very soul.]] They have the bad habit of crashing into spelljammers like sapient missiles in a futile attempt to end their tortured unlife.

===Grey Shivers===
Spiders that take up residence inside the skulls of destroyed liches, and absorb fragments of the lich's soul, turning them into sapient, spell-casting monsters. Whilst still being little spiders hiding inside skulls.

===Illithiliches===
Sometimes synonymous with [[Alhoon]]s. These are [[Mind Flayer]] liches, and the inevitable result of any illithid that chooses to abandon the Elder Brain, as they're all ''terrified'' of the idea of ceasing to exist after death. 5e distinguishes them from alhoons, with illithiliches being the much-more-powerful and dangerous version and alhoons being illithids who were not powerful enough to become illithiliches and so took an alternative method of becoming undead to escape death.

===Inheritor Liches===
Hailing from the [[Red Steel]] setting, they are what happens when one of the local Inheritors turns into a lich.

===Lichfiend===
Also found in the Libris Mortis. The result of a fiend becoming a lich. It seems pretty unnecessary because fiends are already immortal and can return from death if killed outside their home plane, so they don't get much benefit from becoming a lich.

===Master Liches===
Another [[Spelljammer]] creation, they were turned into liches by pacts with [[Demon Prince]]s or [[Arch-Devil]]s, but then betrayed their master and fled into Wildspace to avoid paying their debt. The big difference is that they don't have a phylactery, but have a fairly potent regeneration ability.

===Power Liches===
In the world of [[Might and Magic]], they were the long skirted bone dudes, who were the only shooters of the Necropolis town. And they were such badass shooters. They appeared in Might and magic 7 as well.

===Psionic Liches===
Also known as ''Mentalist Liches'', these were introduced in [[Ravenloft]], getting both their own dedicated segment in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich and a dedicated monster writeup at its end, both of which were repeated in Van Richten's Monster Hunters' Compendium Volume 2, and with the monster writeup being repeated in the 3rd Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix.

Basically, these are as close to a standard lich as you can get when you're replacing the arcane magic with [[psionics]]. One of the biggest changes is that transforming into a psionic lich leaves the mentalist very vulnerable, as they must steadily "divorce" their psionic abilities from their own body and seal them into the phylactery, rendering them unable to use those powers until and unless they successfully complete the transition into undeath.

===Priestly Liches===
[[Cleric]]s and [[druid]]s being able to turn into liches goes all the way back to AD&D and the [[Forgotten Realms]], where they could be of any alignment. They got their own section in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, which basically iterated that the major differences between the two is the types of magic they use and that priestly liches are more likely to have salient abilities. Oh, and in [[Ravenloft]], such liches are always evil.

===Scroll Mummy (Grisgol)===
A construct created by destroying a lich's body and then trapping its phylactery inside of a construct made out of broken magic items and pieces of magic scrolls. The lich will reform in a few days if the Scroll Mummy is destroyed.

===Shadow lich===

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">

A rare variant lich with little coverage or backstory. There have been four instances of this monster throughout D&D. (This section has been put into a collapsible because somebody decided to go into way too much detail and it made this entry too long)

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

The first shadow lich is in '''Dragon Magazine #261| Conjuring in the half-dark |July 1999.'''. The means to become a shadow lich are found in shadowbooks- named thus as they don't open in lighted conditions, and are to be read with darkvision. The details of becoming the creature are omitted by the publisher, a 'long-gone' illusionist by the name of Heriabgher, the 'Midnight-Mage'. Heriabhgher metions thusly before the ommitted content: ''"What follows is the formula for the transformation of an archmage into a shadow-lich.".'' The shadowbooks contain new spells, many of which are incredibly useful and indicative of the research Heriabhger undertook to become famous, as well as common ones found in splatbooks.
New spells include:
*'''Hide shadow,''' allowing a caster to roll up their shadow to store and avoid effects that target it(or play vampire).
**Shadow weave, allowing temporary creation of semi-solid shapes from shadows, ropes,(4ftxCL) ladders,(8ftxCL) nets & blankets as big as the shadow used to make them trap a whole room why don't you? Trick someone to thinking a darkmantle is attacking! Concealling cloaks, and containers.
To note, one could use the rope to garrote, blankets to smother(possibly make a new variation of a sheet phantom in the process) and containers to quickly hide objects.
*'''Shadow warrior,''' a spell that allows the casters shadow to attack a target's shadow to inflict harm, avoiding all but natural AC.
*'''Shadow replay''', a spell that is Jojo's Moody blues, but with shadows- past events of up to 2 hours ago by level 20.
*'''Death shade''', a spell that extends a mile per caster level, dealing 1 point of damage to anything humanoid including giants, caught in the darkness that cannot be restored without the spell heal or restoration. Death Shade, theoretically could be stacked with other effects to make it more deadly it could be used to soften up a large enemy force with multiple castings.
*'''Shadow trap''' shoves a person inside their own shadow, trapping them inside as a moving shadow stuck to whatever darkness inhbits a room, and magical light harms them until death, in which they fall out of their own shadow, dead. victims cannot communicate or cast spells in the trap, but can fight shadows or 'slow shadows' as the spell- '''shadow warrior''', and casters using the shadow warrior spell; they cannot interact with other shadows outside these conditions. True seeing and divination reveals the nature of a victim and dispel magic, remove curse and limited wish can save them.

The article is published alongside Me & My Shadow and 'Wizards of Dusk & Gloom - Shadow Mages, all in DMG261 both are tied to the [[Shadow Mage]] from 2e's Player's Option: Spells and Magic, offering new kits and spells to this type of spellcaster. For more on 'slow shadows' see ''Me & my Shadow.''' All three articles are intended for use toghether.

The second instance of the shadow-lich is in ''October 31st 2000's Ravenloft netbook: 'Book of shadows''', and is by far the most substantial of the sources, providing a means of creation, powers, and an archtypical villian to suitor such a being and it's motivations. Umbran, the shadow lich. The story goes that Marcus Shadowmehr, a rich kid, blows his money on magic research into shadow magic as a shadow mage, and one day, when turning himself into a shade in his workshop wine cellar with an "instant spooky" alchemical version of 9th level spell to become a shade, (how that got into the demiplane of dread is another story entirely) accidentally snags an unwelcome surprise for his spell components- an undead shadow infected with the shadow virus. This infects him, causing his shadow to shatter and he to start fading away. Desperate, Marcus quaffs his would-be shade potion, which, had an adverse effect on him due to his being infected with the undead contagion, turning him into a shadow lich, now going by Umbran. A shadow lich appears as one would expect a typical shade to appear, bar the exception that the eyes of the creature are nothing but black pits, this is quite the boon, a it allows the creature to pass off as living far more than any other version of a lich. Umbran has a fear aura like other liches- but the aura has the additional ability of being tied in with a shade's natural ability to dim light sources, material & magical, which allows the user to cast shadow-magic more effectively in any given location, including direct sunlight. The touch of a shado lich is no longer a paralytic touch of death, but is the same as an undead shadows strength drain- though it does not produce spawn. What's more notable is that in addition to the default resistances a lich benefits from as undead, shadow liches are not affected by illusions of any kind. Due to having a trio-planr link, shadow lichs like umbran are turned as 'special' undead. If tht wasn't enough, next to the obscurity of such a creature granting it probable impossiblle means to scry or learn anything about it to slay, the rejuvanation method differs entirely from the traditional means a lich recovers from defeat, and is so obscure, that it is extremly unlikely anyone could vanquish it- here is the means in which the shadow-lich retores it's broken form- it's a treat.

''"Destroying Umbran is a bit more involved than destroying other liches. Umbran keeps his life in his shadow, which remains intangible and unable to be affected on the Prime. The process of transformation caused the lich’s flesh to be replaced with shadowstuff, so when enough damage is inflicted on the lich to “kill it, the shadowstuff around his bones dissipates, causing his skeleton to fall to the ground. His shadow remains unaffected and hides under the bones. When the lich’s life is totally in his shadow, he is said to be in shadowform. While he is in shadowform, he is mobile and should be treated much as a standard shadow, save with its original lich aura and damage capability and greater immaterialness (still takes +1 to hit). After 1d3 days, Umbran manages to accumulate enough shadowstuff to wrap around his bones and reanimate them. If his skeleton is destroyed as well, (Truly destroyed, such as by a disintegrate or wish spell, not simply chopping up the bones—if the bones are simply broken up, the lich can “glue” them back together with shadowstuff) the lich’s shadowform retreats to his lair or some other place of darkness, away from the adventurers that damaged him so. After 1d3 weeks, he regenerates enough of this shadowstuff substance to return to the Prime. There he will search for a new set of bones to wrap his shadowstuff around and reanimate over 1d3 days. The only way to destroy him is to trap his shadowform in an area he cannot slip out of, and use a combination of continual light, bless, and dispel evil to completely dissipate his spirit.''

The third instance is in the '''[[Neverwinter Nights]]: Shadows of Undrentide''' campaign, where the player encounters a shadow lich, an archmage who, due to overexposure to the plane of shadow, became such a creature. It uses the same model as an undead shadow, and is described as having the traditonal lich glowing red-eye sockets and is fought alongside it's shadowvar students. It is unknown if the creature was a lich, then became a shadow lich, or was human before. It wears the robe of vecna, which may be chalked up to the encounter being a side-mission before the final encounter- this is also plausible, as in realmslore, the extended mutliverse is accessible through some means found only in the plane of shadow as some deities of the realms ae found in other campaign settings- this may also be related to bioware's hand in NWN, as Baldur's gate featured the robes of Vecna. Other extraplanar items are lootable as well, leaning towards this possibility. The other intrigues of this shadow lich, is that it came about through means of decay- and it holds similarities with the process that the older 1e-2e versons of the demilich possessed when matters of it's astral self or spirit came into play- it is perhaps likely that this shadow lich is what happens if a lich decays annd trasitions into a demi-lich in the plane of shadow- but this is debatable, as the Kharlat Jhareg quest in Neverwinter indicated that lichdom was following the procedures detiled in the 3e savage progression Lich & weretiger web article, with the half-lich state. It also hold links with the rules for Umbran's shadowform.

The fourth and final instance of a shadow lich is in 3.5s Tome of magic- though said lich is most likely a lich shadowcaster using the shadow-weave. He lives in a tower, researching the sphere of annhilation as some perfect idealized darkness, like a villain from Kingdom Hearts. Darkity darkity darkness.

</div></div>

===Suel Liches===
Originally from [[Greyhawk]], Suloise liches are a sort of lich-ghost hybrid; they were once wizards who turned their souls into Negative Energy, which isn't really a good idea- because as they say, "Xeg-yi, Xag-Ya." but when facing imminent nuking during the Rain of Colorless Fire, you take what you can get, winding up as ghosts needing to possess living hosts, killing them and making them into their undead bodies. But, hosts decay at a rapid pace because these desperate wizards are literally rot them inside-out thanks to turning their life-force into an energy-type that breaks-down all life and destroys it- including their own. Suel Liches, are far more desperate and deadly versions of the lich because of this- their survival is tied to possession, and their lich abilities find themselves augmented, with their fear aura becoming an aura of terror that can insta-kill those that fail, and fear those that save, as well as being able to channel their own negative energies as blackfire, dealing necrotic damage and fire damage- something that shares ties with a type of spell used by a demon lord slain in the early eras of the blood war, when the lord of the 10th was still active in the hells- said demon lord becoming a vestige thereafter- vilefire as it was called, the abyss's answer to hellfire. That, or a side-effect of the rain of colorless fire from the era they hail from.

===Thicket Dryad Lich===
This is what happens when a Dryad becomes undead. The Dryad's favorite tree becomes their phylactery.

===Vassalich===
A lesser form of lich introduced in the [[Ravenloft]] setting - mages who couldn't get the mojo to transform themselves, so they submit in service to existing liches to become weaker knock-offs by sucking on their bone-daddies liquefied blackened bone marrow. They can turn into real liches by forging their own phylactery in time, but it's not easy as their masters keep a tight grip on the lesser phylactery made linked to their own- capping the servants XP gain and loss, and using it for themselves. They're essentially to liches what vampire spawn are to true vampires.

===Void Lich===
Sometimes the ritual that transforms a person into a lich attracts the attention of an evil spirit from the [[Far Realm]] that hijacks the ritual and steals the would-be lich's body.

==Notable Liches, famous and named==
* [[Acererak]]: Demilich cambion creator of the infamous [[Tomb of Horrors]] and [[Tomb of Annihilation]]. Apprentice to [[Vecna]] who attempted to subvert the will of the plane of negative energy to subsequently control all undead planeswide, failed and became a vestige. Is now someone almost entirely different in the 5th edition.
* [[Erandis d'Vol]]: Probably better known as Lady Vol or The Lich Queen (to us at least. Not a lot of people know about her in her setting). She is an NPC in [[Eberron]] and is the leader of both the [[Blood of Vol]] and the Emerald Claw.
* Gharnef: The secondary main antagonist in the first Fire Emblem games, made Immortal through the use of his dark tome, Imhullu.
* [[Kel'Thuzad]]: Disgraced mage of the Kirin Tor turned necromancer and Archlich of the Undead Scourge, and final boss in both versions of Naxxramas from Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If not for China, he'd still be relevant.
* Koschei the Deathless: A character from Slavic folklore who predates the homogenized concept of a lich but matches the description to a T. His phylactery is a needle inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, under a tree on a mythical teleporting island. Good luck finding it. He spends his time kidnapping maidens to literally bone.
* The Lich: An absolutely terrifying villain from the goofy world of Adventure Time. Is the personification of a nuclear bomb who seeks the extinction of all life. As if that weren't metal enough, he's voiced by Ron Perlman.
* [[Larloch]]: The ancient and powerful Netherese Sorcerer-King of the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting, who resides in the Warlock's Crypt a superdungeon within the Troll Hills. Is essentially a veteran oldfag with all the best ingame premium items that will never be available to newer players, sporting abilities such as almost total magic immunity, as well as having a repertoire of netherese spells, and a filled capacity of wish spells used to gain every advantage in the book. At the same time, he's not super proactive, and is content to sit in his crypt not bothering anyone, and even when he does occasionally rouse himself it's for the greater good, such as defending Mystra so that magic doesn't collapse, even earning a kiss from an elf queen that would've had him blushing if he still had cheeks.
* The Magian: One of the [[awnshegh]] from the ''[[Birthright]]'' setting, the Magian is a lich who absorbed another creature's Azrai blood through bloodtheft, removing many of the disadvantages of his undead condition, while still looking like a semi-fleshed corpse. The Magian is a bit of a visionary, for an awnshegh warlord anyway, driven not by ambition and lust for power like his rivals the Gorgon or the Raven, but by a desire to destroy chaos and impose order, a perfect, one world order that would, in his own mind, justify any means used to attain it. Of course, given this means conquering all other nations, killing all other awnshegh, and performing all kinds of horrible experiments on innocent people in the bargain, whether this actually makes him any better is debatable. His people do ultimately love him for the peace and prosperity he brings, in a Dr. Doom sort of way where they don't exactly have a ton of choice.
* [[The Elder Scrolls|Mannimarco]], King of Worms: Acclaimed as the first lich, Sload hero, god, and pioneer of modern necromancy, this High elf necromancer turned terrifying immortal with a globe-spanning influence is a leading narrative force in the world of the elder scrolls as the founding focus of the world-spanning mages guild and is the general prime argument against necromancy in the setting.
* [[Momonga]]/[[Ainz Ooal Gown]]: Villain protagonist of the Web/Light Novel- Anime & Manga Overlord. A Japanese salaryman living in a post failed /pol/ uprising cyberpunk dystopia who got trapped in the body of his MMORPGVR Character and sent to another world with all of his NPC minions and belongings, his minions gaining personalities based on their Bio information present in the game, often conflicting with fluff their levels, classes and races were published with- is kind of a merge with Larloch and Ssazz Tam if played by a clueless social shut-in wageslave.
* [[Nagash]]: First Lich, creator of vampires and the all around evil-badass of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]
* [[Osterneth]], the Bronze Lich: [[Vecna]]'s most powerful and trusted servant, who became a lich by implanting herself with Vecna's heart. She uses her beauty (actually an illusion) and charming personality to tempt powerful men into worshiping Vecna.
* [[Sauron]]: The titular lord of [[Lord of the Rings]]. Not really a lich, but is an early example of the archetype of a powerful villain who can only be killed by destroying a certain item. Sauron is a fallen angel who created 19 magical rings and gave them out as gifts to the rulers of the elves, dwarves, and humans, but also a 20th ring that had the powers of all the rings and would allow him to corrupt the owners of the other rings into wraiths under his control. This ring would also act as his phylactery, which had to be destroyed by throwing it back into the volcano where he forged it. His ring also had a mind of its own and would make anybody who owned it more like Sauron and eventually turn them into a wraith as well.
* Sharlee the Enchantress: The epic level demilich leader of The Order of the Book. She is on a holy mission to gather every single arcane spell in the multiverse into a single tome called The Last Book. She spends nearly all her time franticly writing new spells in The Last Book because even as a disembodied hand that never needs to rest, The Order of the Book is constantly bringing her new spells faster than she can copy them.
* [[Szass Tam]]: Zulkir of [[Thay]], lich and a dead-ringer for Ming the Merciless in life, this fellow is the master of Valindra Shadowmantle, the titular Lichess villain of Neverwinter online, Szass Tam is the ruler of an entire country, governed by other Zulkirs, featuring an economy of slavery, unique specialist spellcasters, and a standing undead army in search of world domination through any means necessary, namely through use of embassies in other countries to undermine and subvert them, and is the only person in Forgotten Realms to meet with Larloch and strike a working relationship with him. Usually gets into fights with the Harpers and adventurers.
* [[Vlaakith CLVII]]: Lich-queen of the Githyanki, secretly eats the souls of anyone over level 15 in her kingdom as to not be overthrown.
* [[Vecna]]: Lich who became a god and almost came close to rule the DnD Multiverse, as he bypassed the Lady of Pain's wards of preventing gods to enter Sigil. His divine presence in Sigil was enough for the multiverse to start breaking down.
* [[Valindra Shadowmantle]]: Villainess of Neverwinter online, and second-hand woman to Szass Tam, Zulkir of Thay - a rule breaking nutjob with a phylactery a 9 ft tall purple crystal that breaks conventional rules of lore and undeath on a regular basis- such as vampire ghosts, for example.
* Voldemort: Villain of Harry Potter. Although he is never called a lich, he is barely human because of how he split his soul into pieces which are placed in seven objects called horcruxes to keep him alive. According to Rowling, the process of doing this is incredibly vile that only one person who asked her has heard it, and was nauseated by the information. One thing that the books do say about the process is that the first step is murdering somebody because murder damages your soul and makes it able to be split. Unlike liches in other fiction, he isn't able to fully reform his body on his own when it is destroyed and needs a servant to create a potion using body parts of different people to complete his regeneration.
* Xykon: The [[Big Bad Evil Guy]] of the webcomic [[Order of the Stick]], or at least thinks he is. Is an epic level sorcerer planning to take control of a god killing monster. A charming psychopath who misses being able to drink bad coffee.

==Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Lich.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The MGE's take on the lich-as-monstergirl.]]
{{Monstergirls}}

Whilst being one of the two most famous free-willed undead - the other being the [[vampire]], unlike their fellow "willful dead", liches are almost never seen in a sexified light. This probably has to do with the fact that, whilst the vampire has both obvious monster traits ''and'' a long history of being presented in a darkly eroticized light anyway, a lich is hard to define as anything more than an undead [[wizard]]. Not helping is that whilst even non-monstergirl vampires are traditionally portrayed as sexy, voluptuous women with red eyes and elongated canines clad in gothic dresses that flatter their figures, the traditional depiction of a lich is... a skeleton clad in moldering ragged robes. Worse yet, liches are usually depicted as being indifferent to their physical form - even Osterneth, one of the few named female liches of D&D, has her vanity end at conjuring up a beautiful illusion, then plating her bones in bronze and studding them with gemstones. None of this makes them particularly ''bone''r inducing.

This, then, presents a would-be monstergirl maker with quite the dilemma: how to actually make a female lich look sexy? Preferably without going the copout of either "they look just like sexy living women, but that's an illusion to disguise that they're skeletons" or "they just look like sexy living women and their lichdom manifests in their powers". Many ultimately go with routes similar to the [[Flesh Golem]] or [[Zombie]], relying on a "sexy preserved corpse" or "artifical" theme for the lich's body, representing how the lich's physical form is a shell that it can wear and discard as it likes. Others more or less take the [[vampire]] route, and make them beautiful and pale-looking but essentially fleshy undead, which actually has some mechanical support. (At the level at which lichdom becomes a possibility, a once-per-day ''gentle-repose'' spell is a magical pittance.)

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the lich is presented as just a dead-eyed human woman with corpse-grey skin and an ominous-yet-sexy "wizardly" robe. They are described as being, essentially, pervy female nerds who turned themselves into undead so they could better study and master the diffuse array of perverse applications of magic in their world.

That being said, the titular Magical Girls from ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' are sometimes jokingly referred to as liches outside of the show due to their "undead" nature and being tied to a soul gem. But there are some non trivial differences between them and D&D liches. For example if a D&D lich were to have his phylactery destroyed he would be fine until personally destroyed (and would fail to regenerate as a lich with a functional phylactery would). Magical girls from Madoka Magica on the other hand die instantly if their soul gem is destroyed. Not only that, but a Magical Girl's body goes limp and decomposes if it isn't close enough to its proper owner's soul gem. Another factor is it seems that Magical Girls do continue to age (as humans do), despite Sayaka's claims of zombie-hood.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
lich 1e.jpg|1e
lich 1 MCV1.jpg|2e
lich 2 MCV1.jpg
lich MM 2e 1.png
lich MM 2e 2.png
lich 3e.jpg|3e
Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg
lich 4e.jpg|4e
lich 5e.jpg|5e
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Death Knight]], the surprisingly badass [[fighter]] version of a Lich.
* [[Drew the Lich]], a [[Quest]] where [[/tg/]] played a lich.
* The [[Millennial King]], a story and setting inspired by /tg/ speculating on what a good necromancer would be like. To make a long story short: he becomes a lich and leads his kingdom to an era of prosperity with a skeleton-powered industrial revolution.
* [[Deep Rot]], a skeletal supercomputer constructed by a mad lich.
* [[Dreadnought]], which, when a Librarian is entombed within, is basically a mecha-lich.
* [[Heucuva]], the lamer [[Cleric]] version of a Lich.
* [[Nagash]], everyone's favourite Warhammer lich.
* [[The Bank of Liches]], what happens when a bunch of liches decide to pool their phylacteries in a safe and secure location.
* [[Vecna]], a [[Awesome|god that is a lich]].

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Undead]]

Lich

2021-05-30T04:24:11Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Dracolich */

[[Image:KR_12_bard_lich.jpg|right|thumb|400px]]
'''Liches''' (from ''Leiche'', German for "corpse") are spellcasters, typically [[necromancer]]s who have mastered their self proclaimed 'art' to cross the line between life and death, becoming undead creatures of immense mystical power. After decades of research, practice, gathering of rare-materials, spell components and forbidden dark-lore, a Lich to-be performs a ritual that extracts the soul/'life force' from it's body and places it in a phylactery. This object, often in narrative is usually an ornament of value to the Lich in it's past life, barring that- it's usually appearance-wise on par with the like of a reliquary, a small sealed box with bindings on it with varied iconography, sometimes with an item inside. This transformation process in tabletop tradition is left vague but given implication it is an evil act- though many sources have gone on to explain and detail the likes of such a transformation.

After culminating the ritual with the caster's death and sometimes a brief period of inactivity following reanimation- the Lich comes to be. The Lich sports the unique benefits that the undead are privy to, and should the lich's physical body ever be destroyed, It will reform at the phylactery- though in older works- this has been limited to the concept of possessing actively present corpses to return to unlife, and this is possible so long as the phylactery remains intact. This makes liches nice persistent foes for a [[DM]] to throw at an adventuring [[party]]. Other benefits of lichdom include the ability to (un)live without eating or sleeping, giving the lich that much more time to 'get things done', though in some cases there is a type of maintenance that must be performed by the Lich for it to retain its hold on the world of the living, and in addition the Phylactery offers protection against various magics and effects that could be used to harm the soul.

The ritual/ceremony for becoming a lich (and many other applications of necromancy) tend to involve sacrificing innocents, trafficking with evil outsiders, using a freshly cut out heart of a sentient being, desecrating holy ground to perform the 'art', abusing the souls of the dead, worshiping evil gods, and generally being a bigger dickhead version of Prometheus in the grand cosmic scale- often with all of these examples playing into one another, so it's a given that in various mediums liches are generally of evil [[alignment]], especially certain since the proceeds to this state of being also accommodate the fact that turning into an undead creature tends to erase mortal trappings and turns its subject into something more akin to an unfeeling uncaring machine.

But- a person who neither eats nor sleeps, dies or fatigues can certainly do a lot of good seeing as it is part of a fantasy genre where magic benefits others. Liches with all time in the world, continuously developing magic in a state of pure academia, taking the arcane to heights unreachable in measurable generations. Depending on the setting, it may be possible to become a lich without doing anything irredeemably evil (or even mean-spirited) for the good of all. And even in some settings where Lichdom is in the general standing of- if the local citizens hear of it, an army is raised to combat it- because it is that much of a social taboo, there do exist good variants of this Undead creature.

To note- Phylactery use does not explicitly mean or make a Lich- a Lich- as this is fiction and at the most strained view of the concept, a Lich is fundamentally an undead/undead-like spellcaster who has extended their lifespan via unnatural means. Extended from this, unnatural may constitute unholiness or otherwise, something about the being that clearly earns it its name, due to it being a walking withered corpse missing its eyes, in place, unnatural glowing pinpoint lights in the eyesockets presenting to an onlooker clear negative visual stimuli.

==Liches in Dungeons and Dragons==
[[File:Osterneth the Bronze Lich.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Osterneth, the Bronze Lich, a rare example of a female lich]]
Liches have always been a staple of Dungeons and Dragons, following through the tabletop system and its settings and editions continuously up to the 5th edition. Historically they were the most difficult to Turn, before the "Specials" (''i.e.'' demons). In the lore they are deities, adversaries, characters in novels, and more with later editions featured as playable options for players seeking means to retire his/her characters ingame- through OD&D-AD&D to 2e, and 3.5, liches have followed a progressive evolution in form, functionality and inclusion, peaking at 3.5 before 4e came in and returned the state of this creature to its older rules and regulations in the first edition, as an evil undead creature that maintains its imperfect immortality through the consumption of souls.

Back in 2e D&D, liches came in multiple types depending on what kind of magic was used to create them. Your common lich was a former wizard, with separate stats in other splats for clerical, bardic and psionic liches (though that last one is derided by Psionics fans, despite the fact it's actually been around a '''long''' time) . There was also the Archlich, which was a lich of any of the previous varieties that wasn't evil, stated to be "as rare as Roc's teeth." The "must periodically sacrifice the souls of mortals to phylactery to stay around" aspect of lichdom was probably tacked on in later editions because the writers realized that there would otherwise be no logical reason ''for'' the Archlich to be so rare. Other splats added their own unique lich variants, mostly those books relating to [[Ravenloft]].

3e simplified things, boiling away most of the race or class-based variants of the lich into a single, readily applied template. This is an idea that both 4th and 5th edition preserved, though each put their own spin on it.

==Liches in Pathfinder==
Like most 3.5 OGL monsters, Liches are relatively unchanged in Pathfinder except for system wide changes, but they have some minor tweaks in a few areas. The one change to the template itself is that lich no longer have d12 HD for everything and instead, like all undead in Pathfinder, they can now use their [[Charisma]] score instead of their non-existent [[Constitution]] to determine bonus hit points per level. With a Charisma of 14 before transformation, this works out to the same, with a [[Sorcerer]], [[Bard]] or [[Oracle]] entry being even bulkier. In the PC's favor is that lich are no longer immune to polymorph effects except their own.

Fluff wise they are also near identical with one major change: The ritual to become a Lich is unique to every individual and must be researched but is pretty much always evil. Since D&D was incredibly vague on this subject, even beyond OGL, other than that it was absolutely something that made you Evil aligned this doesn't change much. One consequence of this is that people can become part lich by ''accident'' as shown by one Oracle curse.

==Liches in Warcraft and World of Warcraft==
While Liches existed before the Third War, the most notable and possibly the first Lich of the setting is the Lich King, created by the demon Kil'jaeden after merging the tortured soul of the former Warchief and shaman Ner'zhul into a set of armor and the runeblade Frostmourne, then encasing it inside a magical ice-crystal.

Other Liches, like Kel'thuzad, are usually former necromancers who impressed the Lich King in some way to be resurrected as giant, magic skeletons rather than some sword fodder zombie that can cast spells. Kel'thuzad, for instance, was resurrected by Arthas for his magical know-how as well as his part in killing the majority of the largest human nation for undead soldiers; Arthas was only able to resurrect a soul like Kel's after invading the elven nation of Quel'thalas and using the magical waters of their Sunwell (with a bit help from the demon Tichondrius). After this, they both go on to create more liches, both from orcs and humans, but how is rather unclear. A few bits of information states that one has to commit suicide, and the involvement of a higher being (Lich King or Kel'thuzad for example) is necessary for their ascension.

It should also be noted that the first sapient undead of the setting were the Death Knights created by Gul'dan, which shared a similar process of creation with the mainstray lich. The soul of an orc warlock was sealed within a gem, and that gem was then placed on the body of a slain human knight. The process was fueled by the sacrifice of a few dozen orc necrolytes.

It is also possible to become a Lich independent of the Lich King, as shown with two existing Liches in Warcraft, one being Gunther Arcanus, a forsaken that you can meet who keeps to himself, and the other a part of the canonized quest to obtain Ashbringer, who became a Lich post mortem using a quite brilliant method that you should check out.

Liches are seen as evil by both the Horde and the Alliance.

==Liches in World of Darkness==
Depending on how generous you are with your definitions, both [[World of Darkness|Worlds of Darkness]] are positively crawling with Liches. The most obvious are the [[Tremere]], who fit the description of "wizards who became undead to preserve their power" despite being [[Vampire the Masquerade|vampires]] rather than liches in the traditional sense. Likewise, the Nagaraja bloodline have even more in common with liches, being former death mages who channeled [[Wraith: The Oblivion|Oblivion]] itself in exchange for power and immortality. Of course, they're also vampires and, given their compulsion to consume flesh as well as blood, there's more than a bit of [[Ghoul]] in them too.

The [[Mage: The Ascension|magical]] technique used by the Nagaraja is called "Necrosynthesis", and it has been used numerous times, usually by the [[Order of Hermes]] to create liches ([[White Wolf]] uses the singular "liche", because of fucking course they do) in the more traditional sense, becoming undead without losing their Avatar and ability to do magic. They are apparently mostly Etruscan in cultural origin and, like most crazy things you can do to yourself with magic, titanic Paradox magnets.

[[Changeling: The Dreaming]] includes a variety of Dauntain (the okay C20 kind, not the pants-on-head stupid 2e kind) that is called a Lich and basically works how you'd expect, Phylactery and everything.

Meanwhile, in the new World of Darkness, we have the contents of the Immortals sourcebook, all of whom arguably qualify as liches to some degree. There are also the Abmortals of [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]], who are pretty similar.

Of course, the term is actually used in [[Mage: The Awakening]] as a descriptor for any Legacy that grants its adherents immortality, generally at the cost of their humanity, their morality, or both. The nWoD version of the [[Tremere]] are the most prominent of these, but far from the only ones.

==Liches in Mythology==
Russian mythology brings us [[Koschei the deathless]], an archetypal lich with a rather original way of storing his phylactery. Koschei's soul (or the moment of his death, depending on who you ask) is hidden in a needle, which is hidden in an egg, which is hidden in a hare, which is hidden in a duck; all of this in a locked chest buried under a tree on the Russian equivalent of Atlantis. Aside from his original fusion of magical, culinary, and geographic defenses, he also differs from most liches in that he kidnaps princesses instead of studying magic all the time like a [[Thousand Sons|fucking nerd.]] Is the namesake for [[Kostchtchie]].

==Liches in the Elder Scrolls==
Like most things involving necromancy, liches are a product of one big dick named Mannimarco. Being a bootleg Nagash, Mannimarco decided that living sucks and being an immortal wizard of master race in a magical order so powerful they casually control time is just too casual for him. So with a bit of soul rape he managed to achieve (more) immortality as an indestructible lich only to be casually destroyed in Oblivion. Though his questionable achievements did inspire a lot of necromancers.

Those undead mages consider the be most powerful among undead do to mastery of necromancy and various magic art. Though, given consistency of elder scrolls universe, lich powers and methods to become one are usually depends on part of the game or in universe exploration: time and place.

*In High Rock and Hamerfell(Daggerfall), liches as powerful as powerful mages and have benefits of undead like resistance to normal weapons (read “any non-fantasy weapon”), resistance to diseases, etc.
*In Morrowind (dlc Tribunal), liches decided that magic is for pussies and with only few of spells they also utilize strong melee weapons. Combine this with undead immunity to weapons and high resistance to frost this makes them rather nasty tanks instead of powerful wizards.
*In Cyrodiil (Oblivion), liches are the closest to classic lich. Those liches are not joke, having immunity to weapons, resistance to elemental magic save for fire(because undead), ability to reflect both magic and normal attacks. Combine this with big tier magic like summoning and protective spells and you get a rape machine... unless they didn’t see you. Despite all of this liches of Cyrodiil are fragile and two hits with non-normal weapon is enough to kill them.
*In Skyrim (...Skyrim) they don’t have liches in normal “necromancer turn undead” way, but they have dragon priests. Those people of ancient dragon cult who sucked dragon-dong the most were given immortality in form of undeath. Dragon priest is one of the stronger enemy the game has to offer, they cast protective magic from spell and physical damage, they fly around with staff that has adept and expert level of magic(instant death if you don’t have resistance to it), they use Storm Atronachs, the big demons that shoots lighting and hit with rock hands, and they are generally tough...and they are also a damn cowards. Seriously, fighting those guys is what fight with mage actually looks like: bastards with lots of protection, use minions and they always run away from you. If all previous liches did have at least some sort of close combat, dragon priests don’t want in close combat, so you just need to run as fast as you can in order to hit them. Morrowind liches think that they are nerds.

As for transformation into one, it’s pretty much the same as in D&D, individually. It can go from curse to suck someone soul, from classic phylactery to pact with demons, hell you can combine wrong ingredients and create poison that will strip you from flesh and increase your magic and this will count. One interesting note is dragon priests, who have the most original way of obtaining lichhood. When dragon transform cultists they also create draugr (Viking zombie). While it can be created without dragon priest involvement, draugr serve both as bodyguard and as daily meal. To put it simple, you can’t fully kill draugr while dragon priest around because they are connected and while draugr slumber he “collects” energy that allows priest to keep themselves alive and powerful while draugr receive enough to be mindless zombie with only goal: protect.

Overall, being lich is kinda a bummer, consider that in elder scrolls universe you have 9000 options to become immortal. Sometimes you don’t even want to, consider the fact that the are at least several heavens and with right cards, you can be get access to all of them.

==Liches & their Variants==
===Basic Lich===
[[File:Lankyface_the_unlivings_2nd_and_only_other_existing_picture_in_3.5.png|right|thumb|250px|3.5's Lich and his Phylactery]]
The common lich all come to know through the Monster Manual. Said to be made by committing an evil act left up to the GM- but later publications throughout each edition always give actual detail that is either overlooked in later publications- or used, causing additional and sometimes conflicting fluff- said fluff evolved through the first edition until 3.5, before 4e & 5e took a step back to 1e. Is only possible for non humanoids to become this lich through patronage to Orcus, Demon Prince/Lord of the Undead- bar certain races who have a variant of their own. There is also a rule in savage species which says this lich can be good, at the expense of no longer having a fear aura, and needing to go through a ritual of alignment to retain it's original alignment or making a will save prior to transformation to avoid moving towards the alignment of the average Lich- though given what happens as a part of the ritual, it's preparation, transformation/gradual transition becoming aligned with evil is almost unavoidable.

===Archlich===
[[Archmage]] 1st, lich 2nd, introduced in [[Spelljammer]], having lessened spellcasting capacity depending on edition, later becoming a [[Epic Destiny]] in [[4e]], the archlich is the mentor of mages past its twilight years, moving on to higher levels of knowledge, cheating death, and the hungry evils of the lower planes that would seek to claim it's soul. Nothing is stopping the zealous from trying to purge their 'oh so benevolent' not-evil asses, mind you. Well, clerics can't turn them, though it's not like immunity isn't mistaken for resistance- oops. As the answer to the question of "/tg/! /tg/! can there be good liches?" they're pretty rare, often out the way retirees of the intrigues of mortal planes. Despite this, in the face of threat from higher undead controllers, the archlich is kind of a downgrade from a regular evil lich, as they can't obtain the goodies a lich would obtain in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, and demilichdom is out of the question too. They still get to cast spells as a generalist & specialist- technically. Another thing that doesn't work in the favor of these would-be good guys is the fact that the term 'Arch-Lich' is often used to describe incredibly powerful liches, [[Vecna]], [[Acererak]] & [[Demios]] have all been referred to as such. Tough break.

===Arch-Shadow===
A spellcaster who attempted to become a lich and failed, and instead become a ghostly undead connected to a random magic item instead of their intended phylactery. If they drain enough life energy from people who have touched the item it is bound to, they can regain a solid body, becoming a Demi-Shade.

==='Good' Lich===
Found in the Libris Mortis, this Lich is immune to turning due to it's good nature, and can turn Undead as a cleric of a level equal to it's hit die. Essentially an anti-lich with the same motivations as say, a Baelnorm or Archlich

===Baelnorn===
A good-aligned [[elf]] lich, created willingly from an elf who wants to be undead only to guard something very important or who wants to stick around beyond death to keep watch over their family, or is made so by their racial deity. Despite being of good alignment, they're just another reason to hate elves, and they often act as Elven Mossad, covering up the usual cosmic elf fuckup that tends to bite everyone else in the ass in whatever setting they're based in. If you're planning a trip to a ruined knife-ear civilization, watch out for these guys, because they might just kill you for trespassing.

===Banelich===
Introduced in the [[Forgotten Realms]] 2nd edition, Baneliches are [[cleric]]al liches devoted to [[Bane]], who was really big on identity branding in that edition. They're slightly more powerful than the standard clerical lich, and gain access to unique salient powers, including a pain-inflicting gaze-attack, a hypnotic voice that compels truthful answers from enthralled victims, and a 1/day death touch attack.

===Bardic Lich===
A lich who was originally a [[bard]]. This was originally introduced in [[Ravenloft]] 2nd edition as a single unique monster - a [[half-elf]] named Andres Duvall who was transformed into a lich-like, magic-eating monster in an accident involving [[Darklord|Azalin]], a lightning bolt spell, and a really powerful grimoire full of evil magic.

Due to the simplified means of attaining lichhood in 3e, bardic liches are fully plausible, but never really explored.

[[Kobold Press]] revived the idea as the ''Virtuoso Lich'' for 5e in their Tome of Beasts II [[splatbook]].

===Boneclaw===
In fifth edition, boneclaws are the result of a failed attempt to become a lich. If the soul fails to go into the phylactery, it instead binds to a random evil humanoid, [[Fail|whom the boneclaw becomes enslaved to]]. The boneclaw is permanently destroyed only when the humanoid it is bonded with dies or stops being evil. This connection is a complete 5e retcon; boneclaws first appeared as a fairly generic-fluffed undead mook in the [[Monster Manual]] 3 for 3rd edition, and were refluffed an [[undead]] [[construct]] created by [[hag]]s, using the assembled carcasses of [[ogre]]s and trapping the spirit of a slain [[oni]] in it for brains/motivation, in 4e's MM1.
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Boneclaw MM3 3e.jpg
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Boneclaw 5e.png
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===Bone Sage===
Originally from [[Pathfinder]], these guys really came into their own in its sister setting, [[Starfinder]]. The Bone Sages are the deceased inhabitants of the blasted worlds of Eox, the last members of a race known as the Elebrians. Through a combination of their mastery of magic and technology, some were able to rebuild themselves as what are essentially cyber-liches after the backlash from a superweapon destroying their planet's atmosphere. Mechanically, they're a dead ringer for more conventional liches, except with an affinity for bionic implants and a phylactery that acts as its own spellbook.

===[[Death Knight]]===
Essentially the [[gish]] version of a lich, an undead warrior-wizard. Originally just the next step up from the skeleton warrior by gaining some increased HD and spell-like abilities, they got more lich-like in 4th edition, complete with their chosen weapons doubling as their phylacteries. In 5th, a Death Knight is what happens when an evil paladin dies. Every time they die, they come back again until they atone for their sins. Which is completely optional.

===Deathless===
A race of goodly lich-like undead created in 3rd edition for the [[Eberron]] setting. They're fueled by Positive Energy rather than Negative Energy and are basically "reverse liches".

===Defiler Lich===
Exactly what it says; a [[defiler]] who managed to avoid being lynched long enough that they were able to study [[Necromancer|necromancy]] and turn themselves into undead defilers. They're also known as ''Kaisharga'', which is how they were originally introduced in [[Dark Sun]], where they could be found in [[psion]], [[templar]], [[wizard]], [[fighter]], [[ranger]] and [[gladiator]] variants. It was in [[Ravenloft]] where the Wizardly Kaisharga, or Defiler Lich as it was called there, truly was focused on.

Defiler liches essentially combine the standard abilities of a high-level lich with the Defiling Magic trait and a number of [[psionics|wild talents]]. They can also ascend to their own unique form of demilichhood, which has the special ability to utter baleful curses on victims - a side effect of which is that cursed individuals slowly kill all plant life around them, in a manner similar to a defiler using their magic.

===Demilich/Demi-Lich===
A lich who derped around for so long that his body is just a flying bit of skeleton (usually a skull) full of soul gems. Despite their small size, they're much nastier than a normal lich; their spellcasting is even stronger, they have oodles of opportunities to cast Soul Trap and bone you, and they like to fly juuuust out of players' easy reach. They are also immune to most spells and magical effects, except for a few holy-powered ones and one derpy second-level spell called ''shatter'' that screws them something fierce by blowing out their soul gems. Their lore's flipflopped between editions, going from the next step in lichly evolution to a weakened form caused when a lich either gets too bored with existence ([[Pathfinder]]), or fails to eat enough souls. Fifth edition goes both ways, stating that most liches eventually become demiliches after failing to devour enough souls for their phylacteries, but that some [[Tomb of Horrors|like the infamous Acererak]] prepare for this by fitting their skulls with gems that devour souls while their spirits cruise through different planes of existence in search of greater knowledge.
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===[[Dracolich]]===
Lichified [[dragon]]s, mostly associated with the crazy [[Cult of the Dragon]] from [[Forgotten Realms]] who want to create dracoliches to rule the world/fulfill their every scaliefag desire/forge the greatest metal album covers in history. They still have phylacteries, but need to possess a dragon's physical remains to come back rather than just rejuvenating in full, this is due to complications due to the fluff surrounding the nature of dragonsouls- but a workaround is just having minions prepare remains to possess- possibly through transmutation. They can also possess a variety of prepared draconic corpses, so if a true dragon won't do- the 100+ 'lesser dragon' variants are also on the menu- even some large lizards may suffice. Most Dracoliches tend to be as a means of extending a dragon's pride\lifespan than the actual terrifying prospect of being practiced dedicated spellcasters- which is a blessing in itself, as next to innate sorceries, dragons have access to a small library shelf worth of splat for unique magical spells, and now the addition of the expanse necromancy and undead only spells on offer. That said, there are Dragon DEMILICHES in canon- but as to why such beings have not otherwise been detailed as major players on the grand cosmic scale is anyone's guess. Some mediums use Dracolich as the synonymous word to refer to an 'undead' dragon.

===Drow===
[[Drow]] and [[Drider]]s got their own lichly variants back in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], due to that ruleset not being able to handle slapping templates on existing creatures. Drow liches were divided into wizardly liches, who were pretty standard, and [[Lolth]]ite priestess liches, who had the unique ability to transform swarms of normal spiders into swarms of ''giant'' spiders.

Drider liches also have both wizard and cleric variants, but they don't have the same abilities as their drow counterparts. Instead, regardless of magical class, drider liches lose their innate ability to control ''humanoid'' undead to instead be able to control ''insectoid undead'' (they can still use spells to create and control humanoid undead). Also, they can communicate with spiders, and hock up a web effect 3/day.

Drow liches, wizardly and priestly, can become demiliches, retaining their unique abilities and adding them to the standard demilich powers. Nobody knows if driders can also become demiliches.

===Dry Lich===
Basically a mummy lich, and the ultimate result of the "walker in the waste" [[prestige class]]. Can't be good aligned, but doesn't have to be evil aligned either. They also get some cute Con-draining and desiccating attacks liches don't, and ''five'' phylacteries in the form of canoptic jars containing their organs, all on top of getting the template for free as part of their advancement, in addition to acquiring a planar touchstone that provides them with regenerative capabilities.

===Elemental Lich===
The Elemental Lich is another [[Ravenloft]] unique breed, created from [[elementalist]]s who went nuts and became obsessed with studying the way that [[elemental]]s are mutated and transformed by the fundamental energies of the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. This gives them a number of variant powers, including four different touch attacks based on the dread elementals (each Touch can be used 1/day) that replace the normal at-will paralytic touch ability, an innate ability to summon dread elementals, the instinctive loyalty of dread elementals, and lacking the ability to intuitively control the undead.

The Touch of the Grave is a hyper-deadly attack that forces a save vs. death magic. On a success, the victim "merely" takes 1d10 damage. On a fail, the victim dies one round later as their bones shatter into pieces and tear their way out of their body - unless a Heal spell is cast on them before this happens. Even then, they need to pass a System Shock roll, or die anyway!

The Touch of the Pyre deals a burning hit that causes the victim's clothes or armor to ignite in a supernatural blaze that will continue burning until magically expelled or it completely consumes their clothing.

The Touch of Blood requires the victim to pass a save vs. paralysis or their blood begins oozing from their pores, causing ongoing damage and level drain until magically healed.

The Touch of Mist forces the victim's alignment to change to Chaotic Evil, renders them the elemental lich's charmed slave, and gives the lich a telepathic link to control them through.

Elemental liches who attain demilichhood are especially deadly, because the body of anyone affected by their innate soul-trapping abilities becomes a random dread elemental under the elemental demilich's control!

===Fireliches===
They come from the [[Spelljammer]] setting and are what happens when an idiot [[wizard]] undergoing the lich transition ritual casts a fire spell in the Phlogiston... which is, essentially, an entire dimension full of flammable gas. The result is a cursed undead who basically exists as a giant free-floating sapient fireball with a skull in its center. [[Grimdark|Said skull is perpetually screaming in pain, as their existence is one of endless burning torment from the fire engulfing their very soul.]] They have the bad habit of crashing into spelljammers like sapient missiles in a futile attempt to end their tortured unlife.

===Grey Shivers===
Spiders that take up residence inside the skulls of destroyed liches, and absorb fragments of the lich's soul, turning them into sapient, spell-casting monsters. Whilst still being little spiders hiding inside skulls.

===Illithiliches===
Sometimes synonymous with [[Alhoon]]s. These are [[Mind Flayer]] liches, and the inevitable result of any illithid that chooses to abandon the Elder Brain, as they're all ''terrified'' of the idea of ceasing to exist after death. 5e distinguishes them from alhoons, with illithiliches being the much-more-powerful and dangerous version and alhoons being illithids who were not powerful enough to become illithiliches and so took an alternative method of becoming undead to escape death.

===Inheritor Liches===
Hailing from the [[Red Steel]] setting, they are what happens when one of the local Inheritors turns into a lich.

===Lichfiend===
Also found in the Libris Mortis. The result of a fiend becoming a lich. It seems pretty unnecessary because fiends are already immortal and can return from death if killed outside their home plane, so they don't get much benefit from becoming a lich.

===Master Liches===
Another [[Spelljammer]] creation, they were turned into liches by pacts with [[Demon Prince]]s or [[Arch-Devil]]s, but then betrayed their master and fled into Wildspace to avoid paying their debt. The big difference is that they don't have a phylactery, but have a fairly potent regeneration ability.

===Power Liches===
In the world of [[Might and Magic]], they were the long skirted bone dudes, who were the only shooters of the Necropolis town. And they were such badass shooters. They appeared in Might and magic 7 as well.

===Psionic Liches===
Also known as ''Mentalist Liches'', these were introduced in [[Ravenloft]], getting both their own dedicated segment in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich and a dedicated monster writeup at its end, both of which were repeated in Van Richten's Monster Hunters' Compendium Volume 2, and with the monster writeup being repeated in the 3rd Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix.

Basically, these are as close to a standard lich as you can get when you're replacing the arcane magic with [[psionics]]. One of the biggest changes is that transforming into a psionic lich leaves the mentalist very vulnerable, as they must steadily "divorce" their psionic abilities from their own body and seal them into the phylactery, rendering them unable to use those powers until and unless they successfully complete the transition into undeath.

===Priestly Liches===
[[Cleric]]s and [[druid]]s being able to turn into liches goes all the way back to AD&D and the [[Forgotten Realms]], where they could be of any alignment. They got their own section in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, which basically iterated that the major differences between the two is the types of magic they use and that priestly liches are more likely to have salient abilities. Oh, and in [[Ravenloft]], such liches are always evil.

===Scroll Mummy (Grisgol)===
A construct created by destroying a lich's body and then trapping its phylactery inside of a construct made out of broken magic items and pieces of magic scrolls. The lich will reform in a few days if the Scroll Mummy is destroyed.

===Shadow lich===

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A rare variant lich with little coverage or backstory. There have been four instances of this monster throughout D&D. (This section has been put into a collapsible because somebody decided to go into way too much detail and it made this entry too long)

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

The first shadow lich is in '''Dragon Magazine #261| Conjuring in the half-dark |July 1999.'''. The means to become a shadow lich are found in shadowbooks- named thus as they don't open in lighted conditions, and are to be read with darkvision. The details of becoming the creature are omitted by the publisher, a 'long-gone' illusionist by the name of Heriabgher, the 'Midnight-Mage'. Heriabhgher metions thusly before the ommitted content: ''"What follows is the formula for the transformation of an archmage into a shadow-lich.".'' The shadowbooks contain new spells, many of which are incredibly useful and indicative of the research Heriabhger undertook to become famous, as well as common ones found in splatbooks.
New spells include:
*'''Hide shadow,''' allowing a caster to roll up their shadow to store and avoid effects that target it(or play vampire).
**Shadow weave, allowing temporary creation of semi-solid shapes from shadows, ropes,(4ftxCL) ladders,(8ftxCL) nets & blankets as big as the shadow used to make them trap a whole room why don't you? Trick someone to thinking a darkmantle is attacking! Concealling cloaks, and containers.
To note, one could use the rope to garrote, blankets to smother(possibly make a new variation of a sheet phantom in the process) and containers to quickly hide objects.
*'''Shadow warrior,''' a spell that allows the casters shadow to attack a target's shadow to inflict harm, avoiding all but natural AC.
*'''Shadow replay''', a spell that is Jojo's Moody blues, but with shadows- past events of up to 2 hours ago by level 20.
*'''Death shade''', a spell that extends a mile per caster level, dealing 1 point of damage to anything humanoid including giants, caught in the darkness that cannot be restored without the spell heal or restoration. Death Shade, theoretically could be stacked with other effects to make it more deadly it could be used to soften up a large enemy force with multiple castings.
*'''Shadow trap''' shoves a person inside their own shadow, trapping them inside as a moving shadow stuck to whatever darkness inhbits a room, and magical light harms them until death, in which they fall out of their own shadow, dead. victims cannot communicate or cast spells in the trap, but can fight shadows or 'slow shadows' as the spell- '''shadow warrior''', and casters using the shadow warrior spell; they cannot interact with other shadows outside these conditions. True seeing and divination reveals the nature of a victim and dispel magic, remove curse and limited wish can save them.

The article is published alongside Me & My Shadow and 'Wizards of Dusk & Gloom - Shadow Mages, all in DMG261 both are tied to the [[Shadow Mage]] from 2e's Player's Option: Spells and Magic, offering new kits and spells to this type of spellcaster. For more on 'slow shadows' see ''Me & my Shadow.''' All three articles are intended for use toghether.

The second instance of the shadow-lich is in ''October 31st 2000's Ravenloft netbook: 'Book of shadows''', and is by far the most substantial of the sources, providing a means of creation, powers, and an archtypical villian to suitor such a being and it's motivations. Umbran, the shadow lich. The story goes that Marcus Shadowmehr, a rich kid, blows his money on magic research into shadow magic as a shadow mage, and one day, when turning himself into a shade in his workshop wine cellar with an "instant spooky" alchemical version of 9th level spell to become a shade, (how that got into the demiplane of dread is another story entirely) accidentally snags an unwelcome surprise for his spell components- an undead shadow infected with the shadow virus. This infects him, causing his shadow to shatter and he to start fading away. Desperate, Marcus quaffs his would-be shade potion, which, had an adverse effect on him due to his being infected with the undead contagion, turning him into a shadow lich, now going by Umbran. A shadow lich appears as one would expect a typical shade to appear, bar the exception that the eyes of the creature are nothing but black pits, this is quite the boon, a it allows the creature to pass off as living far more than any other version of a lich. Umbran has a fear aura like other liches- but the aura has the additional ability of being tied in with a shade's natural ability to dim light sources, material & magical, which allows the user to cast shadow-magic more effectively in any given location, including direct sunlight. The touch of a shado lich is no longer a paralytic touch of death, but is the same as an undead shadows strength drain- though it does not produce spawn. What's more notable is that in addition to the default resistances a lich benefits from as undead, shadow liches are not affected by illusions of any kind. Due to having a trio-planr link, shadow lichs like umbran are turned as 'special' undead. If tht wasn't enough, next to the obscurity of such a creature granting it probable impossiblle means to scry or learn anything about it to slay, the rejuvanation method differs entirely from the traditional means a lich recovers from defeat, and is so obscure, that it is extremly unlikely anyone could vanquish it- here is the means in which the shadow-lich retores it's broken form- it's a treat.

''"Destroying Umbran is a bit more involved than destroying other liches. Umbran keeps his life in his shadow, which remains intangible and unable to be affected on the Prime. The process of transformation caused the lich’s flesh to be replaced with shadowstuff, so when enough damage is inflicted on the lich to “kill it, the shadowstuff around his bones dissipates, causing his skeleton to fall to the ground. His shadow remains unaffected and hides under the bones. When the lich’s life is totally in his shadow, he is said to be in shadowform. While he is in shadowform, he is mobile and should be treated much as a standard shadow, save with its original lich aura and damage capability and greater immaterialness (still takes +1 to hit). After 1d3 days, Umbran manages to accumulate enough shadowstuff to wrap around his bones and reanimate them. If his skeleton is destroyed as well, (Truly destroyed, such as by a disintegrate or wish spell, not simply chopping up the bones—if the bones are simply broken up, the lich can “glue” them back together with shadowstuff) the lich’s shadowform retreats to his lair or some other place of darkness, away from the adventurers that damaged him so. After 1d3 weeks, he regenerates enough of this shadowstuff substance to return to the Prime. There he will search for a new set of bones to wrap his shadowstuff around and reanimate over 1d3 days. The only way to destroy him is to trap his shadowform in an area he cannot slip out of, and use a combination of continual light, bless, and dispel evil to completely dissipate his spirit.''

The third instance is in the '''[[Neverwinter Nights]]: Shadows of Undrentide''' campaign, where the player encounters a shadow lich, an archmage who, due to overexposure to the plane of shadow, became such a creature. It uses the same model as an undead shadow, and is described as having the traditonal lich glowing red-eye sockets and is fought alongside it's shadowvar students. It is unknown if the creature was a lich, then became a shadow lich, or was human before. It wears the robe of vecna, which may be chalked up to the encounter being a side-mission before the final encounter- this is also plausible, as in realmslore, the extended mutliverse is accessible through some means found only in the plane of shadow as some deities of the realms ae found in other campaign settings- this may also be related to bioware's hand in NWN, as Baldur's gate featured the robes of Vecna. Other extraplanar items are lootable as well, leaning towards this possibility. The other intrigues of this shadow lich, is that it came about through means of decay- and it holds similarities with the process that the older 1e-2e versons of the demilich possessed when matters of it's astral self or spirit came into play- it is perhaps likely that this shadow lich is what happens if a lich decays annd trasitions into a demi-lich in the plane of shadow- but this is debatable, as the Kharlat Jhareg quest in Neverwinter indicated that lichdom was following the procedures detiled in the 3e savage progression Lich & weretiger web article, with the half-lich state. It also hold links with the rules for Umbran's shadowform.

The fourth and final instance of a shadow lich is in 3.5s Tome of magic- though said lich is most likely a lich shadowcaster using the shadow-weave. He lives in a tower, researching the sphere of annhilation as some perfect idealized darkness, like a villain from Kingdom Hearts. Darkity darkity darkness.

</div></div>

===Suel Liches===
Originally from [[Greyhawk]], Suloise liches are a sort of lich-ghost hybrid; they were once wizards who turned their souls into Negative Energy, which isn't really a good idea- because as they say, "Xeg-yi, Xag-Ya." but when facing imminent nuking during the Rain of Colorless Fire, you take what you can get, winding up as ghosts needing to possess living hosts, killing them and making them into their undead bodies. But, hosts decay at a rapid pace because these desperate wizards are literally rot them inside-out thanks to turning their life-force into an energy-type that breaks-down all life and destroys it- including their own. Suel Liches, are far more desperate and deadly versions of the lich because of this- their survival is tied to possession, and their lich abilities find themselves augmented, with their fear aura becoming an aura of terror that can insta-kill those that fail, and fear those that save, as well as being able to channel their own negative energies as blackfire, dealing necrotic damage and fire damage- something that shares ties with a type of spell used by a demon lord slain in the early eras of the blood war, when the lord of the 10th was still active in the hells- said demon lord becoming a vestige thereafter- vilefire as it was called, the abyss's answer to hellfire. That, or a side-effect of the rain of colorless fire from the era they hail from.

===Thicket Dryad Lich===
This is what happens when a Dryad becomes undead. The Dryad's favorite tree becomes their phylactery.

===Vassalich===
A lesser form of lich introduced in the [[Ravenloft]] setting - mages who couldn't get the mojo to transform themselves, so they submit in service to existing liches to become weaker knock-offs by sucking on their bone-daddies liquefied blackened bone marrow. They can turn into real liches by forging their own phylactery in time, but it's not easy as their masters keep a tight grip on the lesser phylactery made linked to their own- capping the servants XP gain and loss, and using it for themselves. They're essentially to liches what vampire spawn are to true vampires.

===Void Lich===
Sometimes the ritual that transforms a person into a lich attracts the attention of an evil spirit from the [[Far Realm]] that hijacks the ritual and steals the would-be lich's body.

==Notable Liches, famous and named==
* [[Acererak]]: Demilich cambion creator of the infamous [[Tomb of Horrors]] and [[Tomb of Annihilation]]. Apprentice to [[Vecna]] who attempted to subvert the will of the plane of negative energy to subsequently control all undead planeswide, failed and became a vestige. Is now someone almost entirely different in the 5th edition.
* [[Erandis d'Vol]]: Probably better known as Lady Vol or The Lich Queen (to us at least. Not a lot of people know about her in her setting). She is an NPC in [[Eberron]] and is the leader of both the [[Blood of Vol]] and the Emerald Claw.
* Gharnef: The secondary main antagonist in the first Fire Emblem games, made Immortal through the use of his dark tome, Imhullu.
* [[Kel'Thuzad]]: Disgraced mage of the Kirin Tor turned necromancer and Archlich of the Undead Scourge, and final boss in both versions of Naxxramas from Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If not for China, he'd still be relevant.
* Koschei the Deathless: A character from Slavic folklore who predates the homogenized concept of a lich but matches the description to a T. His phylactery is a needle inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, under a tree on a mythical teleporting island. Good luck finding it. He spends his time kidnapping maidens to literally bone.
* The Lich: An absolutely terrifying villain from the goofy world of Adventure Time. Is the personification of a nuclear bomb who seeks the extinction of all life. As if that weren't metal enough, he's voiced by Ron Perlman.
* [[Larloch]]: The ancient and powerful Netherese Sorcerer-King of the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting, who resides in the Warlock's Crypt a superdungeon within the Troll Hills. Is essentially a veteran oldfag with all the best ingame premium items that will never be available to newer players, sporting abilities such as almost total magic immunity, as well as having a repertoire of netherese spells, and a filled capacity of wish spells used to gain every advantage in the book. At the same time, he's not super proactive, and is content to sit in his crypt not bothering anyone, and even when he does occasionally rouse himself it's for the greater good, such as defending Mystra so that magic doesn't collapse, even earning a kiss from an elf queen that would've had him blushing if he still had cheeks.
* The Magian: One of the [[awnshegh]] from the ''[[Birthright]]'' setting, the Magian is a lich who absorbed another creature's Azrai blood through bloodtheft, removing many of the disadvantages of his undead condition, while still looking like a semi-fleshed corpse. The Magian is a bit of a visionary, for an awnshegh warlord anyway, driven not by ambition and lust for power like his rivals the Gorgon or the Raven, but by a desire to destroy chaos and impose order, a perfect, one world order that would, in his own mind, justify any means used to attain it. Of course, given this means conquering all other nations, killing all other awnshegh, and performing all kinds of horrible experiments on innocent people in the bargain, whether this actually makes him any better is debatable. His people do ultimately love him for the peace and prosperity he brings, in a Dr. Doom sort of way where they don't exactly have a ton of choice.
* [[The Elder Scrolls|Mannimarco]], King of Worms: Acclaimed as the first lich, Sload hero, god, and pioneer of modern necromancy, this High elf necromancer turned terrifying immortal with a globe-spanning influence is a leading narrative force in the world of the elder scrolls as the founding focus of the world-spanning mages guild and is the general prime argument against necromancy in the setting.
* [[Momonga]]/[[Ainz Ooal Gown]]: Villain protagonist of the Web/Light Novel- Anime & Manga Overlord. A Japanese salaryman living in a post failed /pol/ uprising cyberpunk dystopia who got trapped in the body of his MMORPGVR Character and sent to another world with all of his NPC minions and belongings, his minions gaining personalities based on their Bio information present in the game, often conflicting with fluff their levels, classes and races were published with- is kind of a merge with Larloch and Ssazz Tam if played by a clueless social shut-in wageslave.
* [[Nagash]]: First Lich, creator of vampires and the all around evil-badass of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]
* [[Osterneth]], the Bronze Lich: [[Vecna]]'s most powerful and trusted servant, who became a lich by implanting herself with Vecna's heart. She uses her beauty (actually an illusion) and charming personality to tempt powerful men into worshiping Vecna.
* [[Sauron]]: The titular lord of [[Lord of the Rings]]. Not really a lich, but is an early example of the archetype of a powerful villain who can only be killed by destroying a certain item. Sauron is a fallen angel who created 19 magical rings and gave them out as gifts to the rulers of the elves, dwarves, and humans, but also a 20th ring that had the powers of all the rings and would allow him to corrupt the owners of the other rings into wraiths under his control. This ring would also act as his phylactery, which had to be destroyed by throwing it back into the volcano where he forged it. His ring also had a mind of its own and would make anybody who owned it more like Sauron and eventually turn them into a wraith as well.
* Sharlee the Enchantress: The epic level demilich leader of The Order of the Book. She is on a holy mission to gather every single arcane spell in the multiverse into a single tome called The Last Book. She spends nearly all her time franticly writing new spells in The Last Book because even as a disembodied hand that never needs to rest, The Order of the Book is constantly bringing her new spells faster than she can copy them.
* [[Szass Tam]]: Zulkir of [[Thay]], lich and a dead-ringer for Ming the Merciless in life, this fellow is the master of Valindra Shadowmantle, the titular Lichess villain of Neverwinter online, Szass Tam is the ruler of an entire country, governed by other Zulkirs, featuring an economy of slavery, unique specialist spellcasters, and a standing undead army in search of world domination through any means necessary, namely through use of embassies in other countries to undermine and subvert them, and is the only person in Forgotten Realms to meet with Larloch and strike a working relationship with him. Usually gets into fights with the Harpers and adventurers.
* [[Vlaakith CLVII]]: Lich-queen of the Githyanki, secretly eats the souls of anyone over level 15 in her kingdom as to not be overthrown.
* [[Vecna]]: Lich who became a god and almost came close to rule the DnD Multiverse, as he bypassed the Lady of Pain's wards of preventing gods to enter Sigil. His divine presence in Sigil was enough for the multiverse to start breaking down.
* [[Valindra Shadowmantle]]: Villainess of Neverwinter online, and second-hand woman to Szass Tam, Zulkir of Thay - a rule breaking nutjob with a phylactery a 9 ft tall purple crystal that breaks conventional rules of lore and undeath on a regular basis- such as vampire ghosts, for example.
* Voldemort: Villain of Harry Potter. Although he is never called a lich, he is barely human because of how he split his soul into pieces which are placed in seven objects called horcruxes to keep him alive. According to Rowling, the process of doing this is incredibly vile that only one person who asked her has heard it, and was nauseated by the information. One thing that the books do say about the process is that the first step is murdering somebody because murder damages your soul and makes it able to be split. Unlike liches in other fiction, he isn't able to fully reform his body on his own when it is destroyed and needs a servant to create a potion using body parts of different people to complete his regeneration.
* Xykon: The [[Big Bad Evil Guy]] of the webcomic [[Order of the Stick]], or at least thinks he is. Is an epic level sorcerer planning to take control of a god killing monster. A charming psychopath who misses being able to drink bad coffee.

==Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Lich.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The MGE's take on the lich-as-monstergirl.]]
{{Monstergirls}}

Whilst being one of the two most famous free-willed undead - the other being the [[vampire]], unlike their fellow "willful dead", liches are almost never seen in a sexified light. This probably has to do with the fact that, whilst the vampire has both obvious monster traits ''and'' a long history of being presented in a darkly eroticized light anyway, a lich is hard to define as anything more than an undead [[wizard]]. Not helping is that whilst even non-monstergirl vampires are traditionally portrayed as sexy, voluptuous women with red eyes and elongated canines clad in gothic dresses that flatter their figures, the traditional depiction of a lich is... a skeleton clad in moldering ragged robes. Worse yet, liches are usually depicted as being indifferent to their physical form - even Osterneth, one of the few named female liches of D&D, has her vanity end at conjuring up a beautiful illusion, then plating her bones in bronze and studding them with gemstones. None of this makes them particularly ''bone''r inducing.

This, then, presents a would-be monstergirl maker with quite the dilemma: how to actually make a female lich look sexy? Preferably without going the copout of either "they look just like sexy living women, but that's an illusion to disguise that they're skeletons" or "they just look like sexy living women and their lichdom manifests in their powers". Many ultimately go with routes similar to the [[Flesh Golem]] or [[Zombie]], relying on a "sexy preserved corpse" or "artifical" theme for the lich's body, representing how the lich's physical form is a shell that it can wear and discard as it likes. Others more or less take the [[vampire]] route, and make them beautiful and pale-looking but essentially fleshy undead, which actually has some mechanical support. (At the level at which lichdom becomes a possibility, a once-per-day ''gentle-repose'' spell is a magical pittance.)

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the lich is presented as just a dead-eyed human woman with corpse-grey skin and an ominous-yet-sexy "wizardly" robe. They are described as being, essentially, pervy female nerds who turned themselves into undead so they could better study and master the diffuse array of perverse applications of magic in their world.

That being said, the titular Magical Girls from ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' are sometimes jokingly referred to as liches outside of the show due to their "undead" nature and being tied to a soul gem. But there are some non trivial differences between them and D&D liches. For example if a D&D lich were to have his phylactery destroyed he would be fine until personally destroyed (and would fail to regenerate as a lich with a functional phylactery would). Magical girls from Madoka Magica on the other hand die instantly if their soul gem is destroyed. Not only that, but a Magical Girl's body goes limp and decomposes if it isn't close enough to its proper owner's soul gem. Another factor is it seems that Magical Girls do continue to age (as humans do), despite Sayaka's claims of zombie-hood.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
lich 1e.jpg|1e
lich 1 MCV1.jpg|2e
lich 2 MCV1.jpg
lich MM 2e 1.png
lich MM 2e 2.png
lich 3e.jpg|3e
Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg
lich 4e.jpg|4e
lich 5e.jpg|5e
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Death Knight]], the surprisingly badass [[fighter]] version of a Lich.
* [[Drew the Lich]], a [[Quest]] where [[/tg/]] played a lich.
* The [[Millennial King]], a story and setting inspired by /tg/ speculating on what a good necromancer would be like. To make a long story short: he becomes a lich and leads his kingdom to an era of prosperity with a skeleton-powered industrial revolution.
* [[Deep Rot]], a skeletal supercomputer constructed by a mad lich.
* [[Dreadnought]], which, when a Librarian is entombed within, is basically a mecha-lich.
* [[Heucuva]], the lamer [[Cleric]] version of a Lich.
* [[Nagash]], everyone's favourite Warhammer lich.
* [[The Bank of Liches]], what happens when a bunch of liches decide to pool their phylacteries in a safe and secure location.
* [[Vecna]], a [[Awesome|god that is a lich]].

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Undead]]

Death Knight

2021-05-30T04:20:30Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Death Knights in Warcraft */

[[File:1499611878863.png|thumb|300px|right]]
The '''Death Knight''' is a powerful [[undead]] monster originating from [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Taking the form of an armored undead warrior with potent magical abilities, it is something of a more [[gish]]y [[Lich]] and has become an iconic "upgrade" for the [[Blackguard]], or otherwise martial champion decked out in the most evil attire you can think of fit for a death metal album cover- it's basically the [[lich]]dom for the melee chad that leads the army of darkness unto the forces of good.

==Death Knights in D&D/D20==
Planeswide in most settings, Death Knights hold their origins in the [[Greyhawk]] campaign setting- originally created by Prince of Demons [[Demogorgon]] after violently raping the treacherous knight Sir Kargoth's eyesockets with his rot-inducing-actually-cock tentacles for three days straight until he died, then arising as an incredibly angry undead-monstrosity. Thence it marched through the [[Fiend Folio]] to your gaming table.

The death knight glares out from the archetypical [[lich]]-like pinpoint lights from within its sunken eye-sockets, alongside his unlucky colleagues in the same fashion. The death knight is a force to be reckoned with, commanding great magical power, usage of power words- typically stun and die, and ignoring AC, they're the martial champions of evil and generals of undead hordes they'd attract as cohorts, beings infused with the power of the [[Abyss]] in chaos and evil, and the negative energy of death. Not all of these Death Knights are okay with their current existence, in fact- some instances created by Kargoth's betrayal are in fact- cursed. One may note that in Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's gate, that Doomknights and Demonknights of Demogorgon also exist, so whether these are separate creatures, doomknights being the most distinct, or placeholders for such creatures is a question left unanswered.

[[Demogorgon]] however did not hold onto the rights to his creation for long, the means to creating them were eventually stolen, and distributed across his rivals- Orcus, Eltab, and then every other Tanar'ri. Eventually death knights became known and used planeswide by [[Demons]], [[Devils]], [[Daemons]], and evil deities alike. Death Knights are typically found serving a lich as bodyguards, or <strike>meatbags</strike>bonebags for buffing spells, or as solitary creatures, living in the ruins of towers, castles, and other large structures awarded to military men and militia for valor and service to a local lord. Some Death Knights even continue to manage their fief or holdings unto death, and things either sway to the place becoming abandoned, undead infested, or even a somewhat secure place for an individual to work the lands as they would do in the norm- though the risk of undead attack is greater because of the master's own powers.

That said, in the setting of [[Dragonlance]], Death Knights are creatures of divine origin, statistically stronger than their native abyssal counterparts and made by the act of gods cursing knights who fail to uphold their virtues or assigned tasks. The infamous [[Lord Soth]] is the first example of this, a Death Knight above all others that even ended up in the [[Ravenloft]] Campaign setting before the gods called before him let him off the hook on his punishment for being a zealous dickhead worried about being cuckolded. Soth also used his powers by reciting songs- which makes him additionally spooky- but the Death Knights of Krynn are by no means a joke, especially in a setting where magic is limited and the advantages of being undead put the risk of all life being wiped out if they were to ever go white walker on everyone's ass very real. Soth also had additional abilities as a death knight unique to himelf.

Death Knights typically had power words, fireballs as a 20th level caster, abyssal blast, the ability to attract undead cohorts, and ex-paladin blackguard abilities, on top of their potent immunities as undead- in effect, they're a basically a straight upgrade for some martial professions give or take.

In 4th edition, the similarity to liches was emphasized by giving Death Knights the same ability to reconstitute themselves after death, with their weapons serving as a kind of phylactery.

In 5th edition, Death Knights are now what happens to a Paladin that breaks his oath and dies before he can atone. What makes them interesting in this edition is that they will always come back from the grave until someone manages to get them to repent of their sins.

The [[Pathfinder]] Graveknight is much the same creature, with the dead warrior's soul bound to his armour in much the same way as a [[Lich]]'s is bound to a phylactery. This tends to go badly for anyone who loots a defeated Graveknight's armour, with the wearer being transformed into a replacement body.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Death knight MM 1e.webp|1e
Death knight MM 2e.png|2e
1499611878863.png|3e
Death knight Dragon 360.jpg|4e (Dragon #360)
Death knight Dragon 360 2.jpg|also Dragon #360
Mauglurien Dragon 364.jpg|Dwarf death knight from Dragon #364.
Death knight MM 5e.jpg|5e
Graveknight akeiron.jpg|Pathfinder
Graveknight B3 PF.png
Graveknight PF 2e.png|Pathfinder 2e
</gallery>

==Death Knights in Warcraft==

Death Knights in Warcraft are just about what you'd expect from a Death Knight from Greyhawk. Except toss out the whole demonic aspect and just fill it with undead. Hilariously, there are two kinds of Death Knights in Warcraft. First off, there are the ones created by Gul'dan before the events of Warcraft 2. These Death Knights were created using the bodies of dead knights infused with the spirits of sacrificed necrolytes(his own orcish troops). Most, if not all, of these "First generation," death knights were killed by the Alliance and the subsequent destruction of Draenor though the most infamous of them remained, what can be noted of this generation is that they were more akin to martial warlocks than that of the later generations, often sporting a Nazgul-esque appearance. The "second generation," Death Knights were made by Ner'zul not long after he was imprisoned as the Lich King before Warcraft 3. These new Death Knights were either raised into undeath because they were powerful warriors in life, or they're Paladins who've fallen from grace. Most of the time, people assume they're both one and the same since they have practically the same abilities. They're not entirely wrong as Death Knights were just a recycled unit given a new role for a new faction in their next game. The third generation began with Arthas, as the Lich king, creating the Ebon blade, and establishing the rune system, which were archtypes a death knight in his service could assume when pursuing further power- past this, there are fourth ad fith generation death knights which are more of the same, but they include other previous non-death knight races as well.

Despite some shortcomings, Warcraft death knights are particularly deadly, as they have the ability to shut down spellcasters effortlessly, because they can force choke a bitch from afar- and they have the ability to do edgy underdeveloped derivative blood magic, which is more thematic and made only on rule of cool, NURGLEMODE, and Frostymode.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Undead]]

Death Knight

2021-05-30T04:19:55Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Death Knights in Warcraft */

[[File:1499611878863.png|thumb|300px|right]]
The '''Death Knight''' is a powerful [[undead]] monster originating from [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Taking the form of an armored undead warrior with potent magical abilities, it is something of a more [[gish]]y [[Lich]] and has become an iconic "upgrade" for the [[Blackguard]], or otherwise martial champion decked out in the most evil attire you can think of fit for a death metal album cover- it's basically the [[lich]]dom for the melee chad that leads the army of darkness unto the forces of good.

==Death Knights in D&D/D20==
Planeswide in most settings, Death Knights hold their origins in the [[Greyhawk]] campaign setting- originally created by Prince of Demons [[Demogorgon]] after violently raping the treacherous knight Sir Kargoth's eyesockets with his rot-inducing-actually-cock tentacles for three days straight until he died, then arising as an incredibly angry undead-monstrosity. Thence it marched through the [[Fiend Folio]] to your gaming table.

The death knight glares out from the archetypical [[lich]]-like pinpoint lights from within its sunken eye-sockets, alongside his unlucky colleagues in the same fashion. The death knight is a force to be reckoned with, commanding great magical power, usage of power words- typically stun and die, and ignoring AC, they're the martial champions of evil and generals of undead hordes they'd attract as cohorts, beings infused with the power of the [[Abyss]] in chaos and evil, and the negative energy of death. Not all of these Death Knights are okay with their current existence, in fact- some instances created by Kargoth's betrayal are in fact- cursed. One may note that in Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's gate, that Doomknights and Demonknights of Demogorgon also exist, so whether these are separate creatures, doomknights being the most distinct, or placeholders for such creatures is a question left unanswered.

[[Demogorgon]] however did not hold onto the rights to his creation for long, the means to creating them were eventually stolen, and distributed across his rivals- Orcus, Eltab, and then every other Tanar'ri. Eventually death knights became known and used planeswide by [[Demons]], [[Devils]], [[Daemons]], and evil deities alike. Death Knights are typically found serving a lich as bodyguards, or <strike>meatbags</strike>bonebags for buffing spells, or as solitary creatures, living in the ruins of towers, castles, and other large structures awarded to military men and militia for valor and service to a local lord. Some Death Knights even continue to manage their fief or holdings unto death, and things either sway to the place becoming abandoned, undead infested, or even a somewhat secure place for an individual to work the lands as they would do in the norm- though the risk of undead attack is greater because of the master's own powers.

That said, in the setting of [[Dragonlance]], Death Knights are creatures of divine origin, statistically stronger than their native abyssal counterparts and made by the act of gods cursing knights who fail to uphold their virtues or assigned tasks. The infamous [[Lord Soth]] is the first example of this, a Death Knight above all others that even ended up in the [[Ravenloft]] Campaign setting before the gods called before him let him off the hook on his punishment for being a zealous dickhead worried about being cuckolded. Soth also used his powers by reciting songs- which makes him additionally spooky- but the Death Knights of Krynn are by no means a joke, especially in a setting where magic is limited and the advantages of being undead put the risk of all life being wiped out if they were to ever go white walker on everyone's ass very real. Soth also had additional abilities as a death knight unique to himelf.

Death Knights typically had power words, fireballs as a 20th level caster, abyssal blast, the ability to attract undead cohorts, and ex-paladin blackguard abilities, on top of their potent immunities as undead- in effect, they're a basically a straight upgrade for some martial professions give or take.

In 4th edition, the similarity to liches was emphasized by giving Death Knights the same ability to reconstitute themselves after death, with their weapons serving as a kind of phylactery.

In 5th edition, Death Knights are now what happens to a Paladin that breaks his oath and dies before he can atone. What makes them interesting in this edition is that they will always come back from the grave until someone manages to get them to repent of their sins.

The [[Pathfinder]] Graveknight is much the same creature, with the dead warrior's soul bound to his armour in much the same way as a [[Lich]]'s is bound to a phylactery. This tends to go badly for anyone who loots a defeated Graveknight's armour, with the wearer being transformed into a replacement body.

===Gallery===
<gallery>
Death knight MM 1e.webp|1e
Death knight MM 2e.png|2e
1499611878863.png|3e
Death knight Dragon 360.jpg|4e (Dragon #360)
Death knight Dragon 360 2.jpg|also Dragon #360
Mauglurien Dragon 364.jpg|Dwarf death knight from Dragon #364.
Death knight MM 5e.jpg|5e
Graveknight akeiron.jpg|Pathfinder
Graveknight B3 PF.png
Graveknight PF 2e.png|Pathfinder 2e
</gallery>

==Death Knights in Warcraft==

Death Knights in Warcraft are just about what you'd expect from a Death Knight from Greyhawk. Except toss out the whole demonic aspect and just fill it with undead. Hilariously, there are two kinds of Death Knights in Warcraft. First off, there are the ones created by Gul'dan before the events of Warcraft 2. These Death Knights were created using the bodies of dead knights infused with the spirits of sacrificed necrolytes(his own orcish troops). Most, if not all, of these "First generation," death knights were killed by the Alliance and the subsequent destruction of Draenor though the most infamous of them remained, what can be noted of this generation is that they were more akin to martial warlocks than that of the later generations, often sporting a Nazgul-esque appearance. The "second generation," Death Knights were made by Ner'zul not long after he was imprisoned as the Lich King before Warcraft 3. These new Death Knights were either raised into undeath because they were powerful warriors in life, or they're Paladins who've fallen from grace. Most of the time, people assume they're both one and the same since they have practically the same abilities. They're not entirely wrong as Death Knights were just a recycled unit given a new role for a new faction in their next game. The third generation began with Arthas, as the Lich king, creating the Ebon blade, and establishing the rune system, which were archtypes a death knight in his service could assume when pursuing further power- past this, there are fourth ad fith generation death knights which are more of the same, but they include other previous non-death knight races as well.

Despite some shortcomings, Warcraft death knights are particularlry deadly, as they have the ability to shut down spellcasters effortlessly, because they can force choke a bitch from afar- and they have the ability to do edgy underdeveloped derivative blood magic, which is more thematic and made only on rule of cool, NURGLEMODE, and Frostymode.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Undead]]

Lich

2021-05-30T04:13:21Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Archlich */

[[Image:KR_12_bard_lich.jpg|right|thumb|400px]]
'''Liches''' (from ''Leiche'', German for "corpse") are spellcasters, typically [[necromancer]]s who have mastered their self proclaimed 'art' to cross the line between life and death, becoming undead creatures of immense mystical power. After decades of research, practice, gathering of rare-materials, spell components and forbidden dark-lore, a Lich to-be performs a ritual that extracts the soul/'life force' from it's body and places it in a phylactery. This object, often in narrative is usually an ornament of value to the Lich in it's past life, barring that- it's usually appearance-wise on par with the like of a reliquary, a small sealed box with bindings on it with varied iconography, sometimes with an item inside. This transformation process in tabletop tradition is left vague but given implication it is an evil act- though many sources have gone on to explain and detail the likes of such a transformation.

After culminating the ritual with the caster's death and sometimes a brief period of inactivity following reanimation- the Lich comes to be. The Lich sports the unique benefits that the undead are privy to, and should the lich's physical body ever be destroyed, It will reform at the phylactery- though in older works- this has been limited to the concept of possessing actively present corpses to return to unlife, and this is possible so long as the phylactery remains intact. This makes liches nice persistent foes for a [[DM]] to throw at an adventuring [[party]]. Other benefits of lichdom include the ability to (un)live without eating or sleeping, giving the lich that much more time to 'get things done', though in some cases there is a type of maintenance that must be performed by the Lich for it to retain its hold on the world of the living, and in addition the Phylactery offers protection against various magics and effects that could be used to harm the soul.

The ritual/ceremony for becoming a lich (and many other applications of necromancy) tend to involve sacrificing innocents, trafficking with evil outsiders, using a freshly cut out heart of a sentient being, desecrating holy ground to perform the 'art', abusing the souls of the dead, worshiping evil gods, and generally being a bigger dickhead version of Prometheus in the grand cosmic scale- often with all of these examples playing into one another, so it's a given that in various mediums liches are generally of evil [[alignment]], especially certain since the proceeds to this state of being also accommodate the fact that turning into an undead creature tends to erase mortal trappings and turns its subject into something more akin to an unfeeling uncaring machine.

But- a person who neither eats nor sleeps, dies or fatigues can certainly do a lot of good seeing as it is part of a fantasy genre where magic benefits others. Liches with all time in the world, continuously developing magic in a state of pure academia, taking the arcane to heights unreachable in measurable generations. Depending on the setting, it may be possible to become a lich without doing anything irredeemably evil (or even mean-spirited) for the good of all. And even in some settings where Lichdom is in the general standing of- if the local citizens hear of it, an army is raised to combat it- because it is that much of a social taboo, there do exist good variants of this Undead creature.

To note- Phylactery use does not explicitly mean or make a Lich- a Lich- as this is fiction and at the most strained view of the concept, a Lich is fundamentally an undead/undead-like spellcaster who has extended their lifespan via unnatural means. Extended from this, unnatural may constitute unholiness or otherwise, something about the being that clearly earns it its name, due to it being a walking withered corpse missing its eyes, in place, unnatural glowing pinpoint lights in the eyesockets presenting to an onlooker clear negative visual stimuli.

==Liches in Dungeons and Dragons==
[[File:Osterneth the Bronze Lich.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Osterneth, the Bronze Lich, a rare example of a female lich]]
Liches have always been a staple of Dungeons and Dragons, following through the tabletop system and its settings and editions continuously up to the 5th edition. Historically they were the most difficult to Turn, before the "Specials" (''i.e.'' demons). In the lore they are deities, adversaries, characters in novels, and more with later editions featured as playable options for players seeking means to retire his/her characters ingame- through OD&D-AD&D to 2e, and 3.5, liches have followed a progressive evolution in form, functionality and inclusion, peaking at 3.5 before 4e came in and returned the state of this creature to its older rules and regulations in the first edition, as an evil undead creature that maintains its imperfect immortality through the consumption of souls.

Back in 2e D&D, liches came in multiple types depending on what kind of magic was used to create them. Your common lich was a former wizard, with separate stats in other splats for clerical, bardic and psionic liches (though that last one is derided by Psionics fans, despite the fact it's actually been around a '''long''' time) . There was also the Archlich, which was a lich of any of the previous varieties that wasn't evil, stated to be "as rare as Roc's teeth." The "must periodically sacrifice the souls of mortals to phylactery to stay around" aspect of lichdom was probably tacked on in later editions because the writers realized that there would otherwise be no logical reason ''for'' the Archlich to be so rare. Other splats added their own unique lich variants, mostly those books relating to [[Ravenloft]].

3e simplified things, boiling away most of the race or class-based variants of the lich into a single, readily applied template. This is an idea that both 4th and 5th edition preserved, though each put their own spin on it.

==Liches in Pathfinder==
Like most 3.5 OGL monsters, Liches are relatively unchanged in Pathfinder except for system wide changes, but they have some minor tweaks in a few areas. The one change to the template itself is that lich no longer have d12 HD for everything and instead, like all undead in Pathfinder, they can now use their [[Charisma]] score instead of their non-existent [[Constitution]] to determine bonus hit points per level. With a Charisma of 14 before transformation, this works out to the same, with a [[Sorcerer]], [[Bard]] or [[Oracle]] entry being even bulkier. In the PC's favor is that lich are no longer immune to polymorph effects except their own.

Fluff wise they are also near identical with one major change: The ritual to become a Lich is unique to every individual and must be researched but is pretty much always evil. Since D&D was incredibly vague on this subject, even beyond OGL, other than that it was absolutely something that made you Evil aligned this doesn't change much. One consequence of this is that people can become part lich by ''accident'' as shown by one Oracle curse.

==Liches in Warcraft and World of Warcraft==
While Liches existed before the Third War, the most notable and possibly the first Lich of the setting is the Lich King, created by the demon Kil'jaeden after merging the tortured soul of the former Warchief and shaman Ner'zhul into a set of armor and the runeblade Frostmourne, then encasing it inside a magical ice-crystal.

Other Liches, like Kel'thuzad, are usually former necromancers who impressed the Lich King in some way to be resurrected as giant, magic skeletons rather than some sword fodder zombie that can cast spells. Kel'thuzad, for instance, was resurrected by Arthas for his magical know-how as well as his part in killing the majority of the largest human nation for undead soldiers; Arthas was only able to resurrect a soul like Kel's after invading the elven nation of Quel'thalas and using the magical waters of their Sunwell (with a bit help from the demon Tichondrius). After this, they both go on to create more liches, both from orcs and humans, but how is rather unclear. A few bits of information states that one has to commit suicide, and the involvement of a higher being (Lich King or Kel'thuzad for example) is necessary for their ascension.

It should also be noted that the first sapient undead of the setting were the Death Knights created by Gul'dan, which shared a similar process of creation with the mainstray lich. The soul of an orc warlock was sealed within a gem, and that gem was then placed on the body of a slain human knight. The process was fueled by the sacrifice of a few dozen orc necrolytes.

It is also possible to become a Lich independent of the Lich King, as shown with two existing Liches in Warcraft, one being Gunther Arcanus, a forsaken that you can meet who keeps to himself, and the other a part of the canonized quest to obtain Ashbringer, who became a Lich post mortem using a quite brilliant method that you should check out.

Liches are seen as evil by both the Horde and the Alliance.

==Liches in World of Darkness==
Depending on how generous you are with your definitions, both [[World of Darkness|Worlds of Darkness]] are positively crawling with Liches. The most obvious are the [[Tremere]], who fit the description of "wizards who became undead to preserve their power" despite being [[Vampire the Masquerade|vampires]] rather than liches in the traditional sense. Likewise, the Nagaraja bloodline have even more in common with liches, being former death mages who channeled [[Wraith: The Oblivion|Oblivion]] itself in exchange for power and immortality. Of course, they're also vampires and, given their compulsion to consume flesh as well as blood, there's more than a bit of [[Ghoul]] in them too.

The [[Mage: The Ascension|magical]] technique used by the Nagaraja is called "Necrosynthesis", and it has been used numerous times, usually by the [[Order of Hermes]] to create liches ([[White Wolf]] uses the singular "liche", because of fucking course they do) in the more traditional sense, becoming undead without losing their Avatar and ability to do magic. They are apparently mostly Etruscan in cultural origin and, like most crazy things you can do to yourself with magic, titanic Paradox magnets.

[[Changeling: The Dreaming]] includes a variety of Dauntain (the okay C20 kind, not the pants-on-head stupid 2e kind) that is called a Lich and basically works how you'd expect, Phylactery and everything.

Meanwhile, in the new World of Darkness, we have the contents of the Immortals sourcebook, all of whom arguably qualify as liches to some degree. There are also the Abmortals of [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]], who are pretty similar.

Of course, the term is actually used in [[Mage: The Awakening]] as a descriptor for any Legacy that grants its adherents immortality, generally at the cost of their humanity, their morality, or both. The nWoD version of the [[Tremere]] are the most prominent of these, but far from the only ones.

==Liches in Mythology==
Russian mythology brings us [[Koschei the deathless]], an archetypal lich with a rather original way of storing his phylactery. Koschei's soul (or the moment of his death, depending on who you ask) is hidden in a needle, which is hidden in an egg, which is hidden in a hare, which is hidden in a duck; all of this in a locked chest buried under a tree on the Russian equivalent of Atlantis. Aside from his original fusion of magical, culinary, and geographic defenses, he also differs from most liches in that he kidnaps princesses instead of studying magic all the time like a [[Thousand Sons|fucking nerd.]] Is the namesake for [[Kostchtchie]].

==Liches in the Elder Scrolls==
Like most things involving necromancy, liches are a product of one big dick named Mannimarco. Being a bootleg Nagash, Mannimarco decided that living sucks and being an immortal wizard of master race in a magical order so powerful they casually control time is just too casual for him. So with a bit of soul rape he managed to achieve (more) immortality as an indestructible lich only to be casually destroyed in Oblivion. Though his questionable achievements did inspire a lot of necromancers.

Those undead mages consider the be most powerful among undead do to mastery of necromancy and various magic art. Though, given consistency of elder scrolls universe, lich powers and methods to become one are usually depends on part of the game or in universe exploration: time and place.

*In High Rock and Hamerfell(Daggerfall), liches as powerful as powerful mages and have benefits of undead like resistance to normal weapons (read “any non-fantasy weapon”), resistance to diseases, etc.
*In Morrowind (dlc Tribunal), liches decided that magic is for pussies and with only few of spells they also utilize strong melee weapons. Combine this with undead immunity to weapons and high resistance to frost this makes them rather nasty tanks instead of powerful wizards.
*In Cyrodiil (Oblivion), liches are the closest to classic lich. Those liches are not joke, having immunity to weapons, resistance to elemental magic save for fire(because undead), ability to reflect both magic and normal attacks. Combine this with big tier magic like summoning and protective spells and you get a rape machine... unless they didn’t see you. Despite all of this liches of Cyrodiil are fragile and two hits with non-normal weapon is enough to kill them.
*In Skyrim (...Skyrim) they don’t have liches in normal “necromancer turn undead” way, but they have dragon priests. Those people of ancient dragon cult who sucked dragon-dong the most were given immortality in form of undeath. Dragon priest is one of the stronger enemy the game has to offer, they cast protective magic from spell and physical damage, they fly around with staff that has adept and expert level of magic(instant death if you don’t have resistance to it), they use Storm Atronachs, the big demons that shoots lighting and hit with rock hands, and they are generally tough...and they are also a damn cowards. Seriously, fighting those guys is what fight with mage actually looks like: bastards with lots of protection, use minions and they always run away from you. If all previous liches did have at least some sort of close combat, dragon priests don’t want in close combat, so you just need to run as fast as you can in order to hit them. Morrowind liches think that they are nerds.

As for transformation into one, it’s pretty much the same as in D&D, individually. It can go from curse to suck someone soul, from classic phylactery to pact with demons, hell you can combine wrong ingredients and create poison that will strip you from flesh and increase your magic and this will count. One interesting note is dragon priests, who have the most original way of obtaining lichhood. When dragon transform cultists they also create draugr (Viking zombie). While it can be created without dragon priest involvement, draugr serve both as bodyguard and as daily meal. To put it simple, you can’t fully kill draugr while dragon priest around because they are connected and while draugr slumber he “collects” energy that allows priest to keep themselves alive and powerful while draugr receive enough to be mindless zombie with only goal: protect.

Overall, being lich is kinda a bummer, consider that in elder scrolls universe you have 9000 options to become immortal. Sometimes you don’t even want to, consider the fact that the are at least several heavens and with right cards, you can be get access to all of them.

==Liches & their Variants==
===Basic Lich===
[[File:Lankyface_the_unlivings_2nd_and_only_other_existing_picture_in_3.5.png|right|thumb|250px|3.5's Lich and his Phylactery]]
The common lich all come to know through the Monster Manual. Said to be made by committing an evil act left up to the GM- but later publications throughout each edition always give actual detail that is either overlooked in later publications- or used, causing additional and sometimes conflicting fluff- said fluff evolved through the first edition until 3.5, before 4e & 5e took a step back to 1e. Is only possible for non humanoids to become this lich through patronage to Orcus, Demon Prince/Lord of the Undead- bar certain races who have a variant of their own. There is also a rule in savage species which says this lich can be good, at the expense of no longer having a fear aura, and needing to go through a ritual of alignment to retain it's original alignment or making a will save prior to transformation to avoid moving towards the alignment of the average Lich- though given what happens as a part of the ritual, it's preparation, transformation/gradual transition becoming aligned with evil is almost unavoidable.

===Archlich===
[[Archmage]] 1st, lich 2nd, introduced in [[Spelljammer]], having lessened spellcasting capacity depending on edition, later becoming a [[Epic Destiny]] in [[4e]], the archlich is the mentor of mages past its twilight years, moving on to higher levels of knowledge, cheating death, and the hungry evils of the lower planes that would seek to claim it's soul. Nothing is stopping the zealous from trying to purge their 'oh so benevolent' not-evil asses, mind you. Well, clerics can't turn them, though it's not like immunity isn't mistaken for resistance- oops. As the answer to the question of "/tg/! /tg/! can there be good liches?" they're pretty rare, often out the way retirees of the intrigues of mortal planes. Despite this, in the face of threat from higher undead controllers, the archlich is kind of a downgrade from a regular evil lich, as they can't obtain the goodies a lich would obtain in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, and demilichdom is out of the question too. They still get to cast spells as a generalist & specialist- technically. Another thing that doesn't work in the favor of these would-be good guys is the fact that the term 'Arch-Lich' is often used to describe incredibly powerful liches, [[Vecna]], [[Acererak]] & [[Demios]] have all been referred to as such. Tough break.

===Arch-Shadow===
A spellcaster who attempted to become a lich and failed, and instead become a ghostly undead connected to a random magic item instead of their intended phylactery. If they drain enough life energy from people who have touched the item it is bound to, they can regain a solid body, becoming a Demi-Shade.

==='Good' Lich===
Found in the Libris Mortis, this Lich is immune to turning due to it's good nature, and can turn Undead as a cleric of a level equal to it's hit die. Essentially an anti-lich with the same motivations as say, a Baelnorm or Archlich

===Baelnorn===
A good-aligned [[elf]] lich, created willingly from an elf who wants to be undead only to guard something very important or who wants to stick around beyond death to keep watch over their family, or is made so by their racial deity. Despite being of good alignment, they're just another reason to hate elves, and they often act as Elven Mossad, covering up the usual cosmic elf fuckup that tends to bite everyone else in the ass in whatever setting they're based in. If you're planning a trip to a ruined knife-ear civilization, watch out for these guys, because they might just kill you for trespassing.

===Banelich===
Introduced in the [[Forgotten Realms]] 2nd edition, Baneliches are [[cleric]]al liches devoted to [[Bane]], who was really big on identity branding in that edition. They're slightly more powerful than the standard clerical lich, and gain access to unique salient powers, including a pain-inflicting gaze-attack, a hypnotic voice that compels truthful answers from enthralled victims, and a 1/day death touch attack.

===Bardic Lich===
A lich who was originally a [[bard]]. This was originally introduced in [[Ravenloft]] 2nd edition as a single unique monster - a [[half-elf]] named Andres Duvall who was transformed into a lich-like, magic-eating monster in an accident involving [[Darklord|Azalin]], a lightning bolt spell, and a really powerful grimoire full of evil magic.

Due to the simplified means of attaining lichhood in 3e, bardic liches are fully plausible, but never really explored.

[[Kobold Press]] revived the idea as the ''Virtuoso Lich'' for 5e in their Tome of Beasts II [[splatbook]].

===Boneclaw===
In fifth edition, boneclaws are the result of a failed attempt to become a lich. If the soul fails to go into the phylactery, it instead binds to a random evil humanoid, [[Fail|whom the boneclaw becomes enslaved to]]. The boneclaw is permanently destroyed only when the humanoid it is bonded with dies or stops being evil. This connection is a complete 5e retcon; boneclaws first appeared as a fairly generic-fluffed undead mook in the [[Monster Manual]] 3 for 3rd edition, and were refluffed an [[undead]] [[construct]] created by [[hag]]s, using the assembled carcasses of [[ogre]]s and trapping the spirit of a slain [[oni]] in it for brains/motivation, in 4e's MM1.
<gallery>
Boneclaw MM3 3e.jpg
Boneclaw MM 4e.jpg
Boneclaw 5e.png
</gallery>

===Bone Sage===
Originally from [[Pathfinder]], these guys really came into their own in its sister setting, [[Starfinder]]. The Bone Sages are the deceased inhabitants of the blasted worlds of Eox, the last members of a race known as the Elebrians. Through a combination of their mastery of magic and technology, some were able to rebuild themselves as what are essentially cyber-liches after the backlash from a superweapon destroying their planet's atmosphere. Mechanically, they're a dead ringer for more conventional liches, except with an affinity for bionic implants and a phylactery that acts as its own spellbook.

===[[Death Knight]]===
Essentially the [[gish]] version of a lich, an undead warrior-wizard. Originally just the next step up from the skeleton warrior by gaining some increased HD and spell-like abilities, they got more lich-like in 4th edition, complete with their chosen weapons doubling as their phylacteries. In 5th, a Death Knight is what happens when an evil paladin dies. Every time they die, they come back again until they atone for their sins. Which is completely optional.

===Deathless===
A race of goodly lich-like undead created in 3rd edition for the [[Eberron]] setting. They're fueled by Positive Energy rather than Negative Energy and are basically "reverse liches".

===Defiler Lich===
Exactly what it says; a [[defiler]] who managed to avoid being lynched long enough that they were able to study [[Necromancer|necromancy]] and turn themselves into undead defilers. They're also known as ''Kaisharga'', which is how they were originally introduced in [[Dark Sun]], where they could be found in [[psion]], [[templar]], [[wizard]], [[fighter]], [[ranger]] and [[gladiator]] variants. It was in [[Ravenloft]] where the Wizardly Kaisharga, or Defiler Lich as it was called there, truly was focused on.

Defiler liches essentially combine the standard abilities of a high-level lich with the Defiling Magic trait and a number of [[psionics|wild talents]]. They can also ascend to their own unique form of demilichhood, which has the special ability to utter baleful curses on victims - a side effect of which is that cursed individuals slowly kill all plant life around them, in a manner similar to a defiler using their magic.

===Demilich/Demi-Lich===
A lich who derped around for so long that his body is just a flying bit of skeleton (usually a skull) full of soul gems. Despite their small size, they're much nastier than a normal lich; their spellcasting is even stronger, they have oodles of opportunities to cast Soul Trap and bone you, and they like to fly juuuust out of players' easy reach. They are also immune to most spells and magical effects, except for a few holy-powered ones and one derpy second-level spell called ''shatter'' that screws them something fierce by blowing out their soul gems. Their lore's flipflopped between editions, going from the next step in lichly evolution to a weakened form caused when a lich either gets too bored with existence ([[Pathfinder]]), or fails to eat enough souls. Fifth edition goes both ways, stating that most liches eventually become demiliches after failing to devour enough souls for their phylacteries, but that some [[Tomb of Horrors|like the infamous Acererak]] prepare for this by fitting their skulls with gems that devour souls while their spirits cruise through different planes of existence in search of greater knowledge.
<gallery>
Demilich S4.png|S4
Demilich MM 1e.jpg|1e
Demilich 3e.jpg|3e
Demilich 5e.jpg|5e
Demilich B3 PF.png|PF
</gallery>

===[[Dracolich]]===
Lichified [[dragon]]s, mostly associated with the crazy [[Cult of the Dragon]] from [[Forgotten Realms]] who want to create dracoliches to rule the world/fulfill their every scaliefag desire/forge the greatest metal album covers in history. They still have phylacteries, but need to possess a dragon's physical remains to come back rather than just rejuvenating in full, this is due to complications due to the fluff surrounding the nature of dragonsouls- but a workaround is just having minions prepare remains to posses- possibly through transmutation. They can also possess a variety of prepared draconic corpses, so if a true dragon won't do- the 100+ 'lesser dragon' variants are also on the menu- even some large lizards may suffice. Most Dracoliches tend to be as a means of extending a dragon's pride\lifespan than the actual terrifying prospect of being practiced dedicated spellcasters- which is a blessing in itself, as next to innate sorceries, dragons have access to a small library shelf worth of splat for unique magical spells, and now the addition of the expanse necromancy and undead only spells on offer. That said, there are Dragon DEMILICHES in canon- but as to why such beings have not otherwise been detailed as major players on the grand cosmic scale is anyone's guess. Some mediums use Dracolich as the synonymous word to refer to an 'undead' dragon.

===Drow===
[[Drow]] and [[Drider]]s got their own lichly variants back in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], due to that ruleset not being able to handle slapping templates on existing creatures. Drow liches were divided into wizardly liches, who were pretty standard, and [[Lolth]]ite priestess liches, who had the unique ability to transform swarms of normal spiders into swarms of ''giant'' spiders.

Drider liches also have both wizard and cleric variants, but they don't have the same abilities as their drow counterparts. Instead, regardless of magical class, drider liches lose their innate ability to control ''humanoid'' undead to instead be able to control ''insectoid undead'' (they can still use spells to create and control humanoid undead). Also, they can communicate with spiders, and hock up a web effect 3/day.

Drow liches, wizardly and priestly, can become demiliches, retaining their unique abilities and adding them to the standard demilich powers. Nobody knows if driders can also become demiliches.

===Dry Lich===
Basically a mummy lich, and the ultimate result of the "walker in the waste" [[prestige class]]. Can't be good aligned, but doesn't have to be evil aligned either. They also get some cute Con-draining and desiccating attacks liches don't, and ''five'' phylacteries in the form of canoptic jars containing their organs, all on top of getting the template for free as part of their advancement, in addition to acquiring a planar touchstone that provides them with regenerative capabilities.

===Elemental Lich===
The Elemental Lich is another [[Ravenloft]] unique breed, created from [[elementalist]]s who went nuts and became obsessed with studying the way that [[elemental]]s are mutated and transformed by the fundamental energies of the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. This gives them a number of variant powers, including four different touch attacks based on the dread elementals (each Touch can be used 1/day) that replace the normal at-will paralytic touch ability, an innate ability to summon dread elementals, the instinctive loyalty of dread elementals, and lacking the ability to intuitively control the undead.

The Touch of the Grave is a hyper-deadly attack that forces a save vs. death magic. On a success, the victim "merely" takes 1d10 damage. On a fail, the victim dies one round later as their bones shatter into pieces and tear their way out of their body - unless a Heal spell is cast on them before this happens. Even then, they need to pass a System Shock roll, or die anyway!

The Touch of the Pyre deals a burning hit that causes the victim's clothes or armor to ignite in a supernatural blaze that will continue burning until magically expelled or it completely consumes their clothing.

The Touch of Blood requires the victim to pass a save vs. paralysis or their blood begins oozing from their pores, causing ongoing damage and level drain until magically healed.

The Touch of Mist forces the victim's alignment to change to Chaotic Evil, renders them the elemental lich's charmed slave, and gives the lich a telepathic link to control them through.

Elemental liches who attain demilichhood are especially deadly, because the body of anyone affected by their innate soul-trapping abilities becomes a random dread elemental under the elemental demilich's control!

===Fireliches===
They come from the [[Spelljammer]] setting and are what happens when an idiot [[wizard]] undergoing the lich transition ritual casts a fire spell in the Phlogiston... which is, essentially, an entire dimension full of flammable gas. The result is a cursed undead who basically exists as a giant free-floating sapient fireball with a skull in its center. [[Grimdark|Said skull is perpetually screaming in pain, as their existence is one of endless burning torment from the fire engulfing their very soul.]] They have the bad habit of crashing into spelljammers like sapient missiles in a futile attempt to end their tortured unlife.

===Grey Shivers===
Spiders that take up residence inside the skulls of destroyed liches, and absorb fragments of the lich's soul, turning them into sapient, spell-casting monsters. Whilst still being little spiders hiding inside skulls.

===Illithiliches===
Sometimes synonymous with [[Alhoon]]s. These are [[Mind Flayer]] liches, and the inevitable result of any illithid that chooses to abandon the Elder Brain, as they're all ''terrified'' of the idea of ceasing to exist after death. 5e distinguishes them from alhoons, with illithiliches being the much-more-powerful and dangerous version and alhoons being illithids who were not powerful enough to become illithiliches and so took an alternative method of becoming undead to escape death.

===Inheritor Liches===
Hailing from the [[Red Steel]] setting, they are what happens when one of the local Inheritors turns into a lich.

===Lichfiend===
Also found in the Libris Mortis. The result of a fiend becoming a lich. It seems pretty unnecessary because fiends are already immortal and can return from death if killed outside their home plane, so they don't get much benefit from becoming a lich.

===Master Liches===
Another [[Spelljammer]] creation, they were turned into liches by pacts with [[Demon Prince]]s or [[Arch-Devil]]s, but then betrayed their master and fled into Wildspace to avoid paying their debt. The big difference is that they don't have a phylactery, but have a fairly potent regeneration ability.

===Power Liches===
In the world of [[Might and Magic]], they were the long skirted bone dudes, who were the only shooters of the Necropolis town. And they were such badass shooters. They appeared in Might and magic 7 as well.

===Psionic Liches===
Also known as ''Mentalist Liches'', these were introduced in [[Ravenloft]], getting both their own dedicated segment in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich and a dedicated monster writeup at its end, both of which were repeated in Van Richten's Monster Hunters' Compendium Volume 2, and with the monster writeup being repeated in the 3rd Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix.

Basically, these are as close to a standard lich as you can get when you're replacing the arcane magic with [[psionics]]. One of the biggest changes is that transforming into a psionic lich leaves the mentalist very vulnerable, as they must steadily "divorce" their psionic abilities from their own body and seal them into the phylactery, rendering them unable to use those powers until and unless they successfully complete the transition into undeath.

===Priestly Liches===
[[Cleric]]s and [[druid]]s being able to turn into liches goes all the way back to AD&D and the [[Forgotten Realms]], where they could be of any alignment. They got their own section in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, which basically iterated that the major differences between the two is the types of magic they use and that priestly liches are more likely to have salient abilities. Oh, and in [[Ravenloft]], such liches are always evil.

===Scroll Mummy (Grisgol)===
A construct created by destroying a lich's body and then trapping its phylactery inside of a construct made out of broken magic items and pieces of magic scrolls. The lich will reform in a few days if the Scroll Mummy is destroyed.

===Shadow lich===

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">

A rare variant lich with little coverage or backstory. There have been four instances of this monster throughout D&D. (This section has been put into a collapsible because somebody decided to go into way too much detail and it made this entry too long)

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

The first shadow lich is in '''Dragon Magazine #261| Conjuring in the half-dark |July 1999.'''. The means to become a shadow lich are found in shadowbooks- named thus as they don't open in lighted conditions, and are to be read with darkvision. The details of becoming the creature are omitted by the publisher, a 'long-gone' illusionist by the name of Heriabgher, the 'Midnight-Mage'. Heriabhgher metions thusly before the ommitted content: ''"What follows is the formula for the transformation of an archmage into a shadow-lich.".'' The shadowbooks contain new spells, many of which are incredibly useful and indicative of the research Heriabhger undertook to become famous, as well as common ones found in splatbooks.
New spells include:
*'''Hide shadow,''' allowing a caster to roll up their shadow to store and avoid effects that target it(or play vampire).
**Shadow weave, allowing temporary creation of semi-solid shapes from shadows, ropes,(4ftxCL) ladders,(8ftxCL) nets & blankets as big as the shadow used to make them trap a whole room why don't you? Trick someone to thinking a darkmantle is attacking! Concealling cloaks, and containers.
To note, one could use the rope to garrote, blankets to smother(possibly make a new variation of a sheet phantom in the process) and containers to quickly hide objects.
*'''Shadow warrior,''' a spell that allows the casters shadow to attack a target's shadow to inflict harm, avoiding all but natural AC.
*'''Shadow replay''', a spell that is Jojo's Moody blues, but with shadows- past events of up to 2 hours ago by level 20.
*'''Death shade''', a spell that extends a mile per caster level, dealing 1 point of damage to anything humanoid including giants, caught in the darkness that cannot be restored without the spell heal or restoration. Death Shade, theoretically could be stacked with other effects to make it more deadly it could be used to soften up a large enemy force with multiple castings.
*'''Shadow trap''' shoves a person inside their own shadow, trapping them inside as a moving shadow stuck to whatever darkness inhbits a room, and magical light harms them until death, in which they fall out of their own shadow, dead. victims cannot communicate or cast spells in the trap, but can fight shadows or 'slow shadows' as the spell- '''shadow warrior''', and casters using the shadow warrior spell; they cannot interact with other shadows outside these conditions. True seeing and divination reveals the nature of a victim and dispel magic, remove curse and limited wish can save them.

The article is published alongside Me & My Shadow and 'Wizards of Dusk & Gloom - Shadow Mages, all in DMG261 both are tied to the [[Shadow Mage]] from 2e's Player's Option: Spells and Magic, offering new kits and spells to this type of spellcaster. For more on 'slow shadows' see ''Me & my Shadow.''' All three articles are intended for use toghether.

The second instance of the shadow-lich is in ''October 31st 2000's Ravenloft netbook: 'Book of shadows''', and is by far the most substantial of the sources, providing a means of creation, powers, and an archtypical villian to suitor such a being and it's motivations. Umbran, the shadow lich. The story goes that Marcus Shadowmehr, a rich kid, blows his money on magic research into shadow magic as a shadow mage, and one day, when turning himself into a shade in his workshop wine cellar with an "instant spooky" alchemical version of 9th level spell to become a shade, (how that got into the demiplane of dread is another story entirely) accidentally snags an unwelcome surprise for his spell components- an undead shadow infected with the shadow virus. This infects him, causing his shadow to shatter and he to start fading away. Desperate, Marcus quaffs his would-be shade potion, which, had an adverse effect on him due to his being infected with the undead contagion, turning him into a shadow lich, now going by Umbran. A shadow lich appears as one would expect a typical shade to appear, bar the exception that the eyes of the creature are nothing but black pits, this is quite the boon, a it allows the creature to pass off as living far more than any other version of a lich. Umbran has a fear aura like other liches- but the aura has the additional ability of being tied in with a shade's natural ability to dim light sources, material & magical, which allows the user to cast shadow-magic more effectively in any given location, including direct sunlight. The touch of a shado lich is no longer a paralytic touch of death, but is the same as an undead shadows strength drain- though it does not produce spawn. What's more notable is that in addition to the default resistances a lich benefits from as undead, shadow liches are not affected by illusions of any kind. Due to having a trio-planr link, shadow lichs like umbran are turned as 'special' undead. If tht wasn't enough, next to the obscurity of such a creature granting it probable impossiblle means to scry or learn anything about it to slay, the rejuvanation method differs entirely from the traditional means a lich recovers from defeat, and is so obscure, that it is extremly unlikely anyone could vanquish it- here is the means in which the shadow-lich retores it's broken form- it's a treat.

''"Destroying Umbran is a bit more involved than destroying other liches. Umbran keeps his life in his shadow, which remains intangible and unable to be affected on the Prime. The process of transformation caused the lich’s flesh to be replaced with shadowstuff, so when enough damage is inflicted on the lich to “kill it, the shadowstuff around his bones dissipates, causing his skeleton to fall to the ground. His shadow remains unaffected and hides under the bones. When the lich’s life is totally in his shadow, he is said to be in shadowform. While he is in shadowform, he is mobile and should be treated much as a standard shadow, save with its original lich aura and damage capability and greater immaterialness (still takes +1 to hit). After 1d3 days, Umbran manages to accumulate enough shadowstuff to wrap around his bones and reanimate them. If his skeleton is destroyed as well, (Truly destroyed, such as by a disintegrate or wish spell, not simply chopping up the bones—if the bones are simply broken up, the lich can “glue” them back together with shadowstuff) the lich’s shadowform retreats to his lair or some other place of darkness, away from the adventurers that damaged him so. After 1d3 weeks, he regenerates enough of this shadowstuff substance to return to the Prime. There he will search for a new set of bones to wrap his shadowstuff around and reanimate over 1d3 days. The only way to destroy him is to trap his shadowform in an area he cannot slip out of, and use a combination of continual light, bless, and dispel evil to completely dissipate his spirit.''

The third instance is in the '''[[Neverwinter Nights]]: Shadows of Undrentide''' campaign, where the player encounters a shadow lich, an archmage who, due to overexposure to the plane of shadow, became such a creature. It uses the same model as an undead shadow, and is described as having the traditonal lich glowing red-eye sockets and is fought alongside it's shadowvar students. It is unknown if the creature was a lich, then became a shadow lich, or was human before. It wears the robe of vecna, which may be chalked up to the encounter being a side-mission before the final encounter- this is also plausible, as in realmslore, the extended mutliverse is accessible through some means found only in the plane of shadow as some deities of the realms ae found in other campaign settings- this may also be related to bioware's hand in NWN, as Baldur's gate featured the robes of Vecna. Other extraplanar items are lootable as well, leaning towards this possibility. The other intrigues of this shadow lich, is that it came about through means of decay- and it holds similarities with the process that the older 1e-2e versons of the demilich possessed when matters of it's astral self or spirit came into play- it is perhaps likely that this shadow lich is what happens if a lich decays annd trasitions into a demi-lich in the plane of shadow- but this is debatable, as the Kharlat Jhareg quest in Neverwinter indicated that lichdom was following the procedures detiled in the 3e savage progression Lich & weretiger web article, with the half-lich state. It also hold links with the rules for Umbran's shadowform.

The fourth and final instance of a shadow lich is in 3.5s Tome of magic- though said lich is most likely a lich shadowcaster using the shadow-weave. He lives in a tower, researching the sphere of annhilation as some perfect idealized darkness, like a villain from Kingdom Hearts. Darkity darkity darkness.

</div></div>

===Suel Liches===
Originally from [[Greyhawk]], Suloise liches are a sort of lich-ghost hybrid; they were once wizards who turned their souls into Negative Energy, which isn't really a good idea- because as they say, "Xeg-yi, Xag-Ya." but when facing imminent nuking during the Rain of Colorless Fire, you take what you can get, winding up as ghosts needing to possess living hosts, killing them and making them into their undead bodies. But, hosts decay at a rapid pace because these desperate wizards are literally rot them inside-out thanks to turning their life-force into an energy-type that breaks-down all life and destroys it- including their own. Suel Liches, are far more desperate and deadly versions of the lich because of this- their survival is tied to possession, and their lich abilities find themselves augmented, with their fear aura becoming an aura of terror that can insta-kill those that fail, and fear those that save, as well as being able to channel their own negative energies as blackfire, dealing necrotic damage and fire damage- something that shares ties with a type of spell used by a demon lord slain in the early eras of the blood war, when the lord of the 10th was still active in the hells- said demon lord becoming a vestige thereafter- vilefire as it was called, the abyss's answer to hellfire. That, or a side-effect of the rain of colorless fire from the era they hail from.

===Thicket Dryad Lich===
This is what happens when a Dryad becomes undead. The Dryad's favorite tree becomes their phylactery.

===Vassalich===
A lesser form of lich introduced in the [[Ravenloft]] setting - mages who couldn't get the mojo to transform themselves, so they submit in service to existing liches to become weaker knock-offs by sucking on their bone-daddies liquefied blackened bone marrow. They can turn into real liches by forging their own phylactery in time, but it's not easy as their masters keep a tight grip on the lesser phylactery made linked to their own- capping the servants XP gain and loss, and using it for themselves. They're essentially to liches what vampire spawn are to true vampires.

===Void Lich===
Sometimes the ritual that transforms a person into a lich attracts the attention of an evil spirit from the [[Far Realm]] that hijacks the ritual and steals the would-be lich's body.

==Notable Liches, famous and named==
* [[Acererak]]: Demilich cambion creator of the infamous [[Tomb of Horrors]] and [[Tomb of Annihilation]]. Apprentice to [[Vecna]] who attempted to subvert the will of the plane of negative energy to subsequently control all undead planeswide, failed and became a vestige. Is now someone almost entirely different in the 5th edition.
* [[Erandis d'Vol]]: Probably better known as Lady Vol or The Lich Queen (to us at least. Not a lot of people know about her in her setting). She is an NPC in [[Eberron]] and is the leader of both the [[Blood of Vol]] and the Emerald Claw.
* Gharnef: The secondary main antagonist in the first Fire Emblem games, made Immortal through the use of his dark tome, Imhullu.
* [[Kel'Thuzad]]: Disgraced mage of the Kirin Tor turned necromancer and Archlich of the Undead Scourge, and final boss in both versions of Naxxramas from Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If not for China, he'd still be relevant.
* Koschei the Deathless: A character from Slavic folklore who predates the homogenized concept of a lich but matches the description to a T. His phylactery is a needle inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, under a tree on a mythical teleporting island. Good luck finding it. He spends his time kidnapping maidens to literally bone.
* The Lich: An absolutely terrifying villain from the goofy world of Adventure Time. Is the personification of a nuclear bomb who seeks the extinction of all life. As if that weren't metal enough, he's voiced by Ron Perlman.
* [[Larloch]]: The ancient and powerful Netherese Sorcerer-King of the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting, who resides in the Warlock's Crypt a superdungeon within the Troll Hills. Is essentially a veteran oldfag with all the best ingame premium items that will never be available to newer players, sporting abilities such as almost total magic immunity, as well as having a repertoire of netherese spells, and a filled capacity of wish spells used to gain every advantage in the book. At the same time, he's not super proactive, and is content to sit in his crypt not bothering anyone, and even when he does occasionally rouse himself it's for the greater good, such as defending Mystra so that magic doesn't collapse, even earning a kiss from an elf queen that would've had him blushing if he still had cheeks.
* The Magian: One of the [[awnshegh]] from the ''[[Birthright]]'' setting, the Magian is a lich who absorbed another creature's Azrai blood through bloodtheft, removing many of the disadvantages of his undead condition, while still looking like a semi-fleshed corpse. The Magian is a bit of a visionary, for an awnshegh warlord anyway, driven not by ambition and lust for power like his rivals the Gorgon or the Raven, but by a desire to destroy chaos and impose order, a perfect, one world order that would, in his own mind, justify any means used to attain it. Of course, given this means conquering all other nations, killing all other awnshegh, and performing all kinds of horrible experiments on innocent people in the bargain, whether this actually makes him any better is debatable. His people do ultimately love him for the peace and prosperity he brings, in a Dr. Doom sort of way where they don't exactly have a ton of choice.
* [[The Elder Scrolls|Mannimarco]], King of Worms: Acclaimed as the first lich, Sload hero, god, and pioneer of modern necromancy, this High elf necromancer turned terrifying immortal with a globe-spanning influence is a leading narrative force in the world of the elder scrolls as the founding focus of the world-spanning mages guild and is the general prime argument against necromancy in the setting.
* [[Momonga]]/[[Ainz Ooal Gown]]: Villain protagonist of the Web/Light Novel- Anime & Manga Overlord. A Japanese salaryman living in a post failed /pol/ uprising cyberpunk dystopia who got trapped in the body of his MMORPGVR Character and sent to another world with all of his NPC minions and belongings, his minions gaining personalities based on their Bio information present in the game, often conflicting with fluff their levels, classes and races were published with- is kind of a merge with Larloch and Ssazz Tam if played by a clueless social shut-in wageslave.
* [[Nagash]]: First Lich, creator of vampires and the all around evil-badass of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]
* [[Osterneth]], the Bronze Lich: [[Vecna]]'s most powerful and trusted servant, who became a lich by implanting herself with Vecna's heart. She uses her beauty (actually an illusion) and charming personality to tempt powerful men into worshiping Vecna.
* [[Sauron]]: The titular lord of [[Lord of the Rings]]. Not really a lich, but is an early example of the archetype of a powerful villain who can only be killed by destroying a certain item. Sauron is a fallen angel who created 19 magical rings and gave them out as gifts to the rulers of the elves, dwarves, and humans, but also a 20th ring that had the powers of all the rings and would allow him to corrupt the owners of the other rings into wraiths under his control. This ring would also act as his phylactery, which had to be destroyed by throwing it back into the volcano where he forged it. His ring also had a mind of its own and would make anybody who owned it more like Sauron and eventually turn them into a wraith as well.
* Sharlee the Enchantress: The epic level demilich leader of The Order of the Book. She is on a holy mission to gather every single arcane spell in the multiverse into a single tome called The Last Book. She spends nearly all her time franticly writing new spells in The Last Book because even as a disembodied hand that never needs to rest, The Order of the Book is constantly bringing her new spells faster than she can copy them.
* [[Szass Tam]]: Zulkir of [[Thay]], lich and a dead-ringer for Ming the Merciless in life, this fellow is the master of Valindra Shadowmantle, the titular Lichess villain of Neverwinter online, Szass Tam is the ruler of an entire country, governed by other Zulkirs, featuring an economy of slavery, unique specialist spellcasters, and a standing undead army in search of world domination through any means necessary, namely through use of embassies in other countries to undermine and subvert them, and is the only person in Forgotten Realms to meet with Larloch and strike a working relationship with him. Usually gets into fights with the Harpers and adventurers.
* [[Vlaakith CLVII]]: Lich-queen of the Githyanki, secretly eats the souls of anyone over level 15 in her kingdom as to not be overthrown.
* [[Vecna]]: Lich who became a god and almost came close to rule the DnD Multiverse, as he bypassed the Lady of Pain's wards of preventing gods to enter Sigil. His divine presence in Sigil was enough for the multiverse to start breaking down.
* [[Valindra Shadowmantle]]: Villainess of Neverwinter online, and second-hand woman to Szass Tam, Zulkir of Thay - a rule breaking nutjob with a phylactery a 9 ft tall purple crystal that breaks conventional rules of lore and undeath on a regular basis- such as vampire ghosts, for example.
* Voldemort: Villain of Harry Potter. Although he is never called a lich, he is barely human because of how he split his soul into pieces which are placed in seven objects called horcruxes to keep him alive. According to Rowling, the process of doing this is incredibly vile that only one person who asked her has heard it, and was nauseated by the information. One thing that the books do say about the process is that the first step is murdering somebody because murder damages your soul and makes it able to be split. Unlike liches in other fiction, he isn't able to fully reform his body on his own when it is destroyed and needs a servant to create a potion using body parts of different people to complete his regeneration.
* Xykon: The [[Big Bad Evil Guy]] of the webcomic [[Order of the Stick]], or at least thinks he is. Is an epic level sorcerer planning to take control of a god killing monster. A charming psychopath who misses being able to drink bad coffee.

==Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Lich.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The MGE's take on the lich-as-monstergirl.]]
{{Monstergirls}}

Whilst being one of the two most famous free-willed undead - the other being the [[vampire]], unlike their fellow "willful dead", liches are almost never seen in a sexified light. This probably has to do with the fact that, whilst the vampire has both obvious monster traits ''and'' a long history of being presented in a darkly eroticized light anyway, a lich is hard to define as anything more than an undead [[wizard]]. Not helping is that whilst even non-monstergirl vampires are traditionally portrayed as sexy, voluptuous women with red eyes and elongated canines clad in gothic dresses that flatter their figures, the traditional depiction of a lich is... a skeleton clad in moldering ragged robes. Worse yet, liches are usually depicted as being indifferent to their physical form - even Osterneth, one of the few named female liches of D&D, has her vanity end at conjuring up a beautiful illusion, then plating her bones in bronze and studding them with gemstones. None of this makes them particularly ''bone''r inducing.

This, then, presents a would-be monstergirl maker with quite the dilemma: how to actually make a female lich look sexy? Preferably without going the copout of either "they look just like sexy living women, but that's an illusion to disguise that they're skeletons" or "they just look like sexy living women and their lichdom manifests in their powers". Many ultimately go with routes similar to the [[Flesh Golem]] or [[Zombie]], relying on a "sexy preserved corpse" or "artifical" theme for the lich's body, representing how the lich's physical form is a shell that it can wear and discard as it likes. Others more or less take the [[vampire]] route, and make them beautiful and pale-looking but essentially fleshy undead, which actually has some mechanical support. (At the level at which lichdom becomes a possibility, a once-per-day ''gentle-repose'' spell is a magical pittance.)

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the lich is presented as just a dead-eyed human woman with corpse-grey skin and an ominous-yet-sexy "wizardly" robe. They are described as being, essentially, pervy female nerds who turned themselves into undead so they could better study and master the diffuse array of perverse applications of magic in their world.

That being said, the titular Magical Girls from ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' are sometimes jokingly referred to as liches outside of the show due to their "undead" nature and being tied to a soul gem. But there are some non trivial differences between them and D&D liches. For example if a D&D lich were to have his phylactery destroyed he would be fine until personally destroyed (and would fail to regenerate as a lich with a functional phylactery would). Magical girls from Madoka Magica on the other hand die instantly if their soul gem is destroyed. Not only that, but a Magical Girl's body goes limp and decomposes if it isn't close enough to its proper owner's soul gem. Another factor is it seems that Magical Girls do continue to age (as humans do), despite Sayaka's claims of zombie-hood.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
lich 1e.jpg|1e
lich 1 MCV1.jpg|2e
lich 2 MCV1.jpg
lich MM 2e 1.png
lich MM 2e 2.png
lich 3e.jpg|3e
Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg
lich 4e.jpg|4e
lich 5e.jpg|5e
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Death Knight]], the surprisingly badass [[fighter]] version of a Lich.
* [[Drew the Lich]], a [[Quest]] where [[/tg/]] played a lich.
* The [[Millennial King]], a story and setting inspired by /tg/ speculating on what a good necromancer would be like. To make a long story short: he becomes a lich and leads his kingdom to an era of prosperity with a skeleton-powered industrial revolution.
* [[Deep Rot]], a skeletal supercomputer constructed by a mad lich.
* [[Dreadnought]], which, when a Librarian is entombed within, is basically a mecha-lich.
* [[Heucuva]], the lamer [[Cleric]] version of a Lich.
* [[Nagash]], everyone's favourite Warhammer lich.
* [[The Bank of Liches]], what happens when a bunch of liches decide to pool their phylacteries in a safe and secure location.
* [[Vecna]], a [[Awesome|god that is a lich]].

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Undead]]

Lich

2021-05-30T04:12:04Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Liches in the Elder Scrolls */

[[Image:KR_12_bard_lich.jpg|right|thumb|400px]]
'''Liches''' (from ''Leiche'', German for "corpse") are spellcasters, typically [[necromancer]]s who have mastered their self proclaimed 'art' to cross the line between life and death, becoming undead creatures of immense mystical power. After decades of research, practice, gathering of rare-materials, spell components and forbidden dark-lore, a Lich to-be performs a ritual that extracts the soul/'life force' from it's body and places it in a phylactery. This object, often in narrative is usually an ornament of value to the Lich in it's past life, barring that- it's usually appearance-wise on par with the like of a reliquary, a small sealed box with bindings on it with varied iconography, sometimes with an item inside. This transformation process in tabletop tradition is left vague but given implication it is an evil act- though many sources have gone on to explain and detail the likes of such a transformation.

After culminating the ritual with the caster's death and sometimes a brief period of inactivity following reanimation- the Lich comes to be. The Lich sports the unique benefits that the undead are privy to, and should the lich's physical body ever be destroyed, It will reform at the phylactery- though in older works- this has been limited to the concept of possessing actively present corpses to return to unlife, and this is possible so long as the phylactery remains intact. This makes liches nice persistent foes for a [[DM]] to throw at an adventuring [[party]]. Other benefits of lichdom include the ability to (un)live without eating or sleeping, giving the lich that much more time to 'get things done', though in some cases there is a type of maintenance that must be performed by the Lich for it to retain its hold on the world of the living, and in addition the Phylactery offers protection against various magics and effects that could be used to harm the soul.

The ritual/ceremony for becoming a lich (and many other applications of necromancy) tend to involve sacrificing innocents, trafficking with evil outsiders, using a freshly cut out heart of a sentient being, desecrating holy ground to perform the 'art', abusing the souls of the dead, worshiping evil gods, and generally being a bigger dickhead version of Prometheus in the grand cosmic scale- often with all of these examples playing into one another, so it's a given that in various mediums liches are generally of evil [[alignment]], especially certain since the proceeds to this state of being also accommodate the fact that turning into an undead creature tends to erase mortal trappings and turns its subject into something more akin to an unfeeling uncaring machine.

But- a person who neither eats nor sleeps, dies or fatigues can certainly do a lot of good seeing as it is part of a fantasy genre where magic benefits others. Liches with all time in the world, continuously developing magic in a state of pure academia, taking the arcane to heights unreachable in measurable generations. Depending on the setting, it may be possible to become a lich without doing anything irredeemably evil (or even mean-spirited) for the good of all. And even in some settings where Lichdom is in the general standing of- if the local citizens hear of it, an army is raised to combat it- because it is that much of a social taboo, there do exist good variants of this Undead creature.

To note- Phylactery use does not explicitly mean or make a Lich- a Lich- as this is fiction and at the most strained view of the concept, a Lich is fundamentally an undead/undead-like spellcaster who has extended their lifespan via unnatural means. Extended from this, unnatural may constitute unholiness or otherwise, something about the being that clearly earns it its name, due to it being a walking withered corpse missing its eyes, in place, unnatural glowing pinpoint lights in the eyesockets presenting to an onlooker clear negative visual stimuli.

==Liches in Dungeons and Dragons==
[[File:Osterneth the Bronze Lich.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Osterneth, the Bronze Lich, a rare example of a female lich]]
Liches have always been a staple of Dungeons and Dragons, following through the tabletop system and its settings and editions continuously up to the 5th edition. Historically they were the most difficult to Turn, before the "Specials" (''i.e.'' demons). In the lore they are deities, adversaries, characters in novels, and more with later editions featured as playable options for players seeking means to retire his/her characters ingame- through OD&D-AD&D to 2e, and 3.5, liches have followed a progressive evolution in form, functionality and inclusion, peaking at 3.5 before 4e came in and returned the state of this creature to its older rules and regulations in the first edition, as an evil undead creature that maintains its imperfect immortality through the consumption of souls.

Back in 2e D&D, liches came in multiple types depending on what kind of magic was used to create them. Your common lich was a former wizard, with separate stats in other splats for clerical, bardic and psionic liches (though that last one is derided by Psionics fans, despite the fact it's actually been around a '''long''' time) . There was also the Archlich, which was a lich of any of the previous varieties that wasn't evil, stated to be "as rare as Roc's teeth." The "must periodically sacrifice the souls of mortals to phylactery to stay around" aspect of lichdom was probably tacked on in later editions because the writers realized that there would otherwise be no logical reason ''for'' the Archlich to be so rare. Other splats added their own unique lich variants, mostly those books relating to [[Ravenloft]].

3e simplified things, boiling away most of the race or class-based variants of the lich into a single, readily applied template. This is an idea that both 4th and 5th edition preserved, though each put their own spin on it.

==Liches in Pathfinder==
Like most 3.5 OGL monsters, Liches are relatively unchanged in Pathfinder except for system wide changes, but they have some minor tweaks in a few areas. The one change to the template itself is that lich no longer have d12 HD for everything and instead, like all undead in Pathfinder, they can now use their [[Charisma]] score instead of their non-existent [[Constitution]] to determine bonus hit points per level. With a Charisma of 14 before transformation, this works out to the same, with a [[Sorcerer]], [[Bard]] or [[Oracle]] entry being even bulkier. In the PC's favor is that lich are no longer immune to polymorph effects except their own.

Fluff wise they are also near identical with one major change: The ritual to become a Lich is unique to every individual and must be researched but is pretty much always evil. Since D&D was incredibly vague on this subject, even beyond OGL, other than that it was absolutely something that made you Evil aligned this doesn't change much. One consequence of this is that people can become part lich by ''accident'' as shown by one Oracle curse.

==Liches in Warcraft and World of Warcraft==
While Liches existed before the Third War, the most notable and possibly the first Lich of the setting is the Lich King, created by the demon Kil'jaeden after merging the tortured soul of the former Warchief and shaman Ner'zhul into a set of armor and the runeblade Frostmourne, then encasing it inside a magical ice-crystal.

Other Liches, like Kel'thuzad, are usually former necromancers who impressed the Lich King in some way to be resurrected as giant, magic skeletons rather than some sword fodder zombie that can cast spells. Kel'thuzad, for instance, was resurrected by Arthas for his magical know-how as well as his part in killing the majority of the largest human nation for undead soldiers; Arthas was only able to resurrect a soul like Kel's after invading the elven nation of Quel'thalas and using the magical waters of their Sunwell (with a bit help from the demon Tichondrius). After this, they both go on to create more liches, both from orcs and humans, but how is rather unclear. A few bits of information states that one has to commit suicide, and the involvement of a higher being (Lich King or Kel'thuzad for example) is necessary for their ascension.

It should also be noted that the first sapient undead of the setting were the Death Knights created by Gul'dan, which shared a similar process of creation with the mainstray lich. The soul of an orc warlock was sealed within a gem, and that gem was then placed on the body of a slain human knight. The process was fueled by the sacrifice of a few dozen orc necrolytes.

It is also possible to become a Lich independent of the Lich King, as shown with two existing Liches in Warcraft, one being Gunther Arcanus, a forsaken that you can meet who keeps to himself, and the other a part of the canonized quest to obtain Ashbringer, who became a Lich post mortem using a quite brilliant method that you should check out.

Liches are seen as evil by both the Horde and the Alliance.

==Liches in World of Darkness==
Depending on how generous you are with your definitions, both [[World of Darkness|Worlds of Darkness]] are positively crawling with Liches. The most obvious are the [[Tremere]], who fit the description of "wizards who became undead to preserve their power" despite being [[Vampire the Masquerade|vampires]] rather than liches in the traditional sense. Likewise, the Nagaraja bloodline have even more in common with liches, being former death mages who channeled [[Wraith: The Oblivion|Oblivion]] itself in exchange for power and immortality. Of course, they're also vampires and, given their compulsion to consume flesh as well as blood, there's more than a bit of [[Ghoul]] in them too.

The [[Mage: The Ascension|magical]] technique used by the Nagaraja is called "Necrosynthesis", and it has been used numerous times, usually by the [[Order of Hermes]] to create liches ([[White Wolf]] uses the singular "liche", because of fucking course they do) in the more traditional sense, becoming undead without losing their Avatar and ability to do magic. They are apparently mostly Etruscan in cultural origin and, like most crazy things you can do to yourself with magic, titanic Paradox magnets.

[[Changeling: The Dreaming]] includes a variety of Dauntain (the okay C20 kind, not the pants-on-head stupid 2e kind) that is called a Lich and basically works how you'd expect, Phylactery and everything.

Meanwhile, in the new World of Darkness, we have the contents of the Immortals sourcebook, all of whom arguably qualify as liches to some degree. There are also the Abmortals of [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]], who are pretty similar.

Of course, the term is actually used in [[Mage: The Awakening]] as a descriptor for any Legacy that grants its adherents immortality, generally at the cost of their humanity, their morality, or both. The nWoD version of the [[Tremere]] are the most prominent of these, but far from the only ones.

==Liches in Mythology==
Russian mythology brings us [[Koschei the deathless]], an archetypal lich with a rather original way of storing his phylactery. Koschei's soul (or the moment of his death, depending on who you ask) is hidden in a needle, which is hidden in an egg, which is hidden in a hare, which is hidden in a duck; all of this in a locked chest buried under a tree on the Russian equivalent of Atlantis. Aside from his original fusion of magical, culinary, and geographic defenses, he also differs from most liches in that he kidnaps princesses instead of studying magic all the time like a [[Thousand Sons|fucking nerd.]] Is the namesake for [[Kostchtchie]].

==Liches in the Elder Scrolls==
Like most things involving necromancy, liches are a product of one big dick named Mannimarco. Being a bootleg Nagash, Mannimarco decided that living sucks and being an immortal wizard of master race in a magical order so powerful they casually control time is just too casual for him. So with a bit of soul rape he managed to achieve (more) immortality as an indestructible lich only to be casually destroyed in Oblivion. Though his questionable achievements did inspire a lot of necromancers.

Those undead mages consider the be most powerful among undead do to mastery of necromancy and various magic art. Though, given consistency of elder scrolls universe, lich powers and methods to become one are usually depends on part of the game or in universe exploration: time and place.

*In High Rock and Hamerfell(Daggerfall), liches as powerful as powerful mages and have benefits of undead like resistance to normal weapons (read “any non-fantasy weapon”), resistance to diseases, etc.
*In Morrowind (dlc Tribunal), liches decided that magic is for pussies and with only few of spells they also utilize strong melee weapons. Combine this with undead immunity to weapons and high resistance to frost this makes them rather nasty tanks instead of powerful wizards.
*In Cyrodiil (Oblivion), liches are the closest to classic lich. Those liches are not joke, having immunity to weapons, resistance to elemental magic save for fire(because undead), ability to reflect both magic and normal attacks. Combine this with big tier magic like summoning and protective spells and you get a rape machine... unless they didn’t see you. Despite all of this liches of Cyrodiil are fragile and two hits with non-normal weapon is enough to kill them.
*In Skyrim (...Skyrim) they don’t have liches in normal “necromancer turn undead” way, but they have dragon priests. Those people of ancient dragon cult who sucked dragon-dong the most were given immortality in form of undeath. Dragon priest is one of the stronger enemy the game has to offer, they cast protective magic from spell and physical damage, they fly around with staff that has adept and expert level of magic(instant death if you don’t have resistance to it), they use Storm Atronachs, the big demons that shoots lighting and hit with rock hands, and they are generally tough...and they are also a damn cowards. Seriously, fighting those guys is what fight with mage actually looks like: bastards with lots of protection, use minions and they always run away from you. If all previous liches did have at least some sort of close combat, dragon priests don’t want in close combat, so you just need to run as fast as you can in order to hit them. Morrowind liches think that they are nerds.

As for transformation into one, it’s pretty much the same as in D&D, individually. It can go from curse to suck someone soul, from classic phylactery to pact with demons, hell you can combine wrong ingredients and create poison that will strip you from flesh and increase your magic and this will count. One interesting note is dragon priests, who have the most original way of obtaining lichhood. When dragon transform cultists they also create draugr (Viking zombie). While it can be created without dragon priest involvement, draugr serve both as bodyguard and as daily meal. To put it simple, you can’t fully kill draugr while dragon priest around because they are connected and while draugr slumber he “collects” energy that allows priest to keep themselves alive and powerful while draugr receive enough to be mindless zombie with only goal: protect.

Overall, being lich is kinda a bummer, consider that in elder scrolls universe you have 9000 options to become immortal. Sometimes you don’t even want to, consider the fact that the are at least several heavens and with right cards, you can be get access to all of them.

==Liches & their Variants==
===Basic Lich===
[[File:Lankyface_the_unlivings_2nd_and_only_other_existing_picture_in_3.5.png|right|thumb|250px|3.5's Lich and his Phylactery]]
The common lich all come to know through the Monster Manual. Said to be made by committing an evil act left up to the GM- but later publications throughout each edition always give actual detail that is either overlooked in later publications- or used, causing additional and sometimes conflicting fluff- said fluff evolved through the first edition until 3.5, before 4e & 5e took a step back to 1e. Is only possible for non humanoids to become this lich through patronage to Orcus, Demon Prince/Lord of the Undead- bar certain races who have a variant of their own. There is also a rule in savage species which says this lich can be good, at the expense of no longer having a fear aura, and needing to go through a ritual of alignment to retain it's original alignment or making a will save prior to transformation to avoid moving towards the alignment of the average Lich- though given what happens as a part of the ritual, it's preparation, transformation/gradual transition becoming aligned with evil is almost unavoidable.

===Archlich===
[[Archmage]] 1st, lich 2nd, introduced in [[Spelljammer]], having lessened spellcasting capacity depending on edition, later becoming a [[Epic Destiny]] in [[4e]], the archlich is the mentor of mages past it's twilight years, moving on to higher levels of knowledge, cheating death, and the hungry evils of the lower planes that would seek to claim it's soul. Nothing is stopping the zealous from trying to purge their 'oh so benevolent' not-evil asses, mind you. Well, clerics can't turn them, though it's not like immunity isn't mistaken for resistance- oops. As the answer to the question of "/tg/! /tg/! can there be good liches?" they're pretty rare, often out the way retirees of the intrigues of mortal planes. Despite this, in the face of threat from higher undead controllers, the archlich is kind of a downgrade from a regular evil lich, as they can't obtain the goodies a lich would obtain in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, and demilichdom is out of the question too. They still get to cast spells as a generalist & specialist- technically. Another thing that doesn't work in the favor of these would-be good guys is the fact that the term 'Arch-Lich' is often used to describe incredibly powerful liches, [[Vecna]], [[Acererak]] & [[Demios]] have all been referred to as such. Tough break.

===Arch-Shadow===
A spellcaster who attempted to become a lich and failed, and instead become a ghostly undead connected to a random magic item instead of their intended phylactery. If they drain enough life energy from people who have touched the item it is bound to, they can regain a solid body, becoming a Demi-Shade.

==='Good' Lich===
Found in the Libris Mortis, this Lich is immune to turning due to it's good nature, and can turn Undead as a cleric of a level equal to it's hit die. Essentially an anti-lich with the same motivations as say, a Baelnorm or Archlich

===Baelnorn===
A good-aligned [[elf]] lich, created willingly from an elf who wants to be undead only to guard something very important or who wants to stick around beyond death to keep watch over their family, or is made so by their racial deity. Despite being of good alignment, they're just another reason to hate elves, and they often act as Elven Mossad, covering up the usual cosmic elf fuckup that tends to bite everyone else in the ass in whatever setting they're based in. If you're planning a trip to a ruined knife-ear civilization, watch out for these guys, because they might just kill you for trespassing.

===Banelich===
Introduced in the [[Forgotten Realms]] 2nd edition, Baneliches are [[cleric]]al liches devoted to [[Bane]], who was really big on identity branding in that edition. They're slightly more powerful than the standard clerical lich, and gain access to unique salient powers, including a pain-inflicting gaze-attack, a hypnotic voice that compels truthful answers from enthralled victims, and a 1/day death touch attack.

===Bardic Lich===
A lich who was originally a [[bard]]. This was originally introduced in [[Ravenloft]] 2nd edition as a single unique monster - a [[half-elf]] named Andres Duvall who was transformed into a lich-like, magic-eating monster in an accident involving [[Darklord|Azalin]], a lightning bolt spell, and a really powerful grimoire full of evil magic.

Due to the simplified means of attaining lichhood in 3e, bardic liches are fully plausible, but never really explored.

[[Kobold Press]] revived the idea as the ''Virtuoso Lich'' for 5e in their Tome of Beasts II [[splatbook]].

===Boneclaw===
In fifth edition, boneclaws are the result of a failed attempt to become a lich. If the soul fails to go into the phylactery, it instead binds to a random evil humanoid, [[Fail|whom the boneclaw becomes enslaved to]]. The boneclaw is permanently destroyed only when the humanoid it is bonded with dies or stops being evil. This connection is a complete 5e retcon; boneclaws first appeared as a fairly generic-fluffed undead mook in the [[Monster Manual]] 3 for 3rd edition, and were refluffed an [[undead]] [[construct]] created by [[hag]]s, using the assembled carcasses of [[ogre]]s and trapping the spirit of a slain [[oni]] in it for brains/motivation, in 4e's MM1.
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Boneclaw MM3 3e.jpg
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Boneclaw 5e.png
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===Bone Sage===
Originally from [[Pathfinder]], these guys really came into their own in its sister setting, [[Starfinder]]. The Bone Sages are the deceased inhabitants of the blasted worlds of Eox, the last members of a race known as the Elebrians. Through a combination of their mastery of magic and technology, some were able to rebuild themselves as what are essentially cyber-liches after the backlash from a superweapon destroying their planet's atmosphere. Mechanically, they're a dead ringer for more conventional liches, except with an affinity for bionic implants and a phylactery that acts as its own spellbook.

===[[Death Knight]]===
Essentially the [[gish]] version of a lich, an undead warrior-wizard. Originally just the next step up from the skeleton warrior by gaining some increased HD and spell-like abilities, they got more lich-like in 4th edition, complete with their chosen weapons doubling as their phylacteries. In 5th, a Death Knight is what happens when an evil paladin dies. Every time they die, they come back again until they atone for their sins. Which is completely optional.

===Deathless===
A race of goodly lich-like undead created in 3rd edition for the [[Eberron]] setting. They're fueled by Positive Energy rather than Negative Energy and are basically "reverse liches".

===Defiler Lich===
Exactly what it says; a [[defiler]] who managed to avoid being lynched long enough that they were able to study [[Necromancer|necromancy]] and turn themselves into undead defilers. They're also known as ''Kaisharga'', which is how they were originally introduced in [[Dark Sun]], where they could be found in [[psion]], [[templar]], [[wizard]], [[fighter]], [[ranger]] and [[gladiator]] variants. It was in [[Ravenloft]] where the Wizardly Kaisharga, or Defiler Lich as it was called there, truly was focused on.

Defiler liches essentially combine the standard abilities of a high-level lich with the Defiling Magic trait and a number of [[psionics|wild talents]]. They can also ascend to their own unique form of demilichhood, which has the special ability to utter baleful curses on victims - a side effect of which is that cursed individuals slowly kill all plant life around them, in a manner similar to a defiler using their magic.

===Demilich/Demi-Lich===
A lich who derped around for so long that his body is just a flying bit of skeleton (usually a skull) full of soul gems. Despite their small size, they're much nastier than a normal lich; their spellcasting is even stronger, they have oodles of opportunities to cast Soul Trap and bone you, and they like to fly juuuust out of players' easy reach. They are also immune to most spells and magical effects, except for a few holy-powered ones and one derpy second-level spell called ''shatter'' that screws them something fierce by blowing out their soul gems. Their lore's flipflopped between editions, going from the next step in lichly evolution to a weakened form caused when a lich either gets too bored with existence ([[Pathfinder]]), or fails to eat enough souls. Fifth edition goes both ways, stating that most liches eventually become demiliches after failing to devour enough souls for their phylacteries, but that some [[Tomb of Horrors|like the infamous Acererak]] prepare for this by fitting their skulls with gems that devour souls while their spirits cruise through different planes of existence in search of greater knowledge.
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===[[Dracolich]]===
Lichified [[dragon]]s, mostly associated with the crazy [[Cult of the Dragon]] from [[Forgotten Realms]] who want to create dracoliches to rule the world/fulfill their every scaliefag desire/forge the greatest metal album covers in history. They still have phylacteries, but need to possess a dragon's physical remains to come back rather than just rejuvenating in full, this is due to complications due to the fluff surrounding the nature of dragonsouls- but a workaround is just having minions prepare remains to posses- possibly through transmutation. They can also possess a variety of prepared draconic corpses, so if a true dragon won't do- the 100+ 'lesser dragon' variants are also on the menu- even some large lizards may suffice. Most Dracoliches tend to be as a means of extending a dragon's pride\lifespan than the actual terrifying prospect of being practiced dedicated spellcasters- which is a blessing in itself, as next to innate sorceries, dragons have access to a small library shelf worth of splat for unique magical spells, and now the addition of the expanse necromancy and undead only spells on offer. That said, there are Dragon DEMILICHES in canon- but as to why such beings have not otherwise been detailed as major players on the grand cosmic scale is anyone's guess. Some mediums use Dracolich as the synonymous word to refer to an 'undead' dragon.

===Drow===
[[Drow]] and [[Drider]]s got their own lichly variants back in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], due to that ruleset not being able to handle slapping templates on existing creatures. Drow liches were divided into wizardly liches, who were pretty standard, and [[Lolth]]ite priestess liches, who had the unique ability to transform swarms of normal spiders into swarms of ''giant'' spiders.

Drider liches also have both wizard and cleric variants, but they don't have the same abilities as their drow counterparts. Instead, regardless of magical class, drider liches lose their innate ability to control ''humanoid'' undead to instead be able to control ''insectoid undead'' (they can still use spells to create and control humanoid undead). Also, they can communicate with spiders, and hock up a web effect 3/day.

Drow liches, wizardly and priestly, can become demiliches, retaining their unique abilities and adding them to the standard demilich powers. Nobody knows if driders can also become demiliches.

===Dry Lich===
Basically a mummy lich, and the ultimate result of the "walker in the waste" [[prestige class]]. Can't be good aligned, but doesn't have to be evil aligned either. They also get some cute Con-draining and desiccating attacks liches don't, and ''five'' phylacteries in the form of canoptic jars containing their organs, all on top of getting the template for free as part of their advancement, in addition to acquiring a planar touchstone that provides them with regenerative capabilities.

===Elemental Lich===
The Elemental Lich is another [[Ravenloft]] unique breed, created from [[elementalist]]s who went nuts and became obsessed with studying the way that [[elemental]]s are mutated and transformed by the fundamental energies of the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. This gives them a number of variant powers, including four different touch attacks based on the dread elementals (each Touch can be used 1/day) that replace the normal at-will paralytic touch ability, an innate ability to summon dread elementals, the instinctive loyalty of dread elementals, and lacking the ability to intuitively control the undead.

The Touch of the Grave is a hyper-deadly attack that forces a save vs. death magic. On a success, the victim "merely" takes 1d10 damage. On a fail, the victim dies one round later as their bones shatter into pieces and tear their way out of their body - unless a Heal spell is cast on them before this happens. Even then, they need to pass a System Shock roll, or die anyway!

The Touch of the Pyre deals a burning hit that causes the victim's clothes or armor to ignite in a supernatural blaze that will continue burning until magically expelled or it completely consumes their clothing.

The Touch of Blood requires the victim to pass a save vs. paralysis or their blood begins oozing from their pores, causing ongoing damage and level drain until magically healed.

The Touch of Mist forces the victim's alignment to change to Chaotic Evil, renders them the elemental lich's charmed slave, and gives the lich a telepathic link to control them through.

Elemental liches who attain demilichhood are especially deadly, because the body of anyone affected by their innate soul-trapping abilities becomes a random dread elemental under the elemental demilich's control!

===Fireliches===
They come from the [[Spelljammer]] setting and are what happens when an idiot [[wizard]] undergoing the lich transition ritual casts a fire spell in the Phlogiston... which is, essentially, an entire dimension full of flammable gas. The result is a cursed undead who basically exists as a giant free-floating sapient fireball with a skull in its center. [[Grimdark|Said skull is perpetually screaming in pain, as their existence is one of endless burning torment from the fire engulfing their very soul.]] They have the bad habit of crashing into spelljammers like sapient missiles in a futile attempt to end their tortured unlife.

===Grey Shivers===
Spiders that take up residence inside the skulls of destroyed liches, and absorb fragments of the lich's soul, turning them into sapient, spell-casting monsters. Whilst still being little spiders hiding inside skulls.

===Illithiliches===
Sometimes synonymous with [[Alhoon]]s. These are [[Mind Flayer]] liches, and the inevitable result of any illithid that chooses to abandon the Elder Brain, as they're all ''terrified'' of the idea of ceasing to exist after death. 5e distinguishes them from alhoons, with illithiliches being the much-more-powerful and dangerous version and alhoons being illithids who were not powerful enough to become illithiliches and so took an alternative method of becoming undead to escape death.

===Inheritor Liches===
Hailing from the [[Red Steel]] setting, they are what happens when one of the local Inheritors turns into a lich.

===Lichfiend===
Also found in the Libris Mortis. The result of a fiend becoming a lich. It seems pretty unnecessary because fiends are already immortal and can return from death if killed outside their home plane, so they don't get much benefit from becoming a lich.

===Master Liches===
Another [[Spelljammer]] creation, they were turned into liches by pacts with [[Demon Prince]]s or [[Arch-Devil]]s, but then betrayed their master and fled into Wildspace to avoid paying their debt. The big difference is that they don't have a phylactery, but have a fairly potent regeneration ability.

===Power Liches===
In the world of [[Might and Magic]], they were the long skirted bone dudes, who were the only shooters of the Necropolis town. And they were such badass shooters. They appeared in Might and magic 7 as well.

===Psionic Liches===
Also known as ''Mentalist Liches'', these were introduced in [[Ravenloft]], getting both their own dedicated segment in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich and a dedicated monster writeup at its end, both of which were repeated in Van Richten's Monster Hunters' Compendium Volume 2, and with the monster writeup being repeated in the 3rd Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix.

Basically, these are as close to a standard lich as you can get when you're replacing the arcane magic with [[psionics]]. One of the biggest changes is that transforming into a psionic lich leaves the mentalist very vulnerable, as they must steadily "divorce" their psionic abilities from their own body and seal them into the phylactery, rendering them unable to use those powers until and unless they successfully complete the transition into undeath.

===Priestly Liches===
[[Cleric]]s and [[druid]]s being able to turn into liches goes all the way back to AD&D and the [[Forgotten Realms]], where they could be of any alignment. They got their own section in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, which basically iterated that the major differences between the two is the types of magic they use and that priestly liches are more likely to have salient abilities. Oh, and in [[Ravenloft]], such liches are always evil.

===Scroll Mummy (Grisgol)===
A construct created by destroying a lich's body and then trapping its phylactery inside of a construct made out of broken magic items and pieces of magic scrolls. The lich will reform in a few days if the Scroll Mummy is destroyed.

===Shadow lich===

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A rare variant lich with little coverage or backstory. There have been four instances of this monster throughout D&D. (This section has been put into a collapsible because somebody decided to go into way too much detail and it made this entry too long)

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">

The first shadow lich is in '''Dragon Magazine #261| Conjuring in the half-dark |July 1999.'''. The means to become a shadow lich are found in shadowbooks- named thus as they don't open in lighted conditions, and are to be read with darkvision. The details of becoming the creature are omitted by the publisher, a 'long-gone' illusionist by the name of Heriabgher, the 'Midnight-Mage'. Heriabhgher metions thusly before the ommitted content: ''"What follows is the formula for the transformation of an archmage into a shadow-lich.".'' The shadowbooks contain new spells, many of which are incredibly useful and indicative of the research Heriabhger undertook to become famous, as well as common ones found in splatbooks.
New spells include:
*'''Hide shadow,''' allowing a caster to roll up their shadow to store and avoid effects that target it(or play vampire).
**Shadow weave, allowing temporary creation of semi-solid shapes from shadows, ropes,(4ftxCL) ladders,(8ftxCL) nets & blankets as big as the shadow used to make them trap a whole room why don't you? Trick someone to thinking a darkmantle is attacking! Concealling cloaks, and containers.
To note, one could use the rope to garrote, blankets to smother(possibly make a new variation of a sheet phantom in the process) and containers to quickly hide objects.
*'''Shadow warrior,''' a spell that allows the casters shadow to attack a target's shadow to inflict harm, avoiding all but natural AC.
*'''Shadow replay''', a spell that is Jojo's Moody blues, but with shadows- past events of up to 2 hours ago by level 20.
*'''Death shade''', a spell that extends a mile per caster level, dealing 1 point of damage to anything humanoid including giants, caught in the darkness that cannot be restored without the spell heal or restoration. Death Shade, theoretically could be stacked with other effects to make it more deadly it could be used to soften up a large enemy force with multiple castings.
*'''Shadow trap''' shoves a person inside their own shadow, trapping them inside as a moving shadow stuck to whatever darkness inhbits a room, and magical light harms them until death, in which they fall out of their own shadow, dead. victims cannot communicate or cast spells in the trap, but can fight shadows or 'slow shadows' as the spell- '''shadow warrior''', and casters using the shadow warrior spell; they cannot interact with other shadows outside these conditions. True seeing and divination reveals the nature of a victim and dispel magic, remove curse and limited wish can save them.

The article is published alongside Me & My Shadow and 'Wizards of Dusk & Gloom - Shadow Mages, all in DMG261 both are tied to the [[Shadow Mage]] from 2e's Player's Option: Spells and Magic, offering new kits and spells to this type of spellcaster. For more on 'slow shadows' see ''Me & my Shadow.''' All three articles are intended for use toghether.

The second instance of the shadow-lich is in ''October 31st 2000's Ravenloft netbook: 'Book of shadows''', and is by far the most substantial of the sources, providing a means of creation, powers, and an archtypical villian to suitor such a being and it's motivations. Umbran, the shadow lich. The story goes that Marcus Shadowmehr, a rich kid, blows his money on magic research into shadow magic as a shadow mage, and one day, when turning himself into a shade in his workshop wine cellar with an "instant spooky" alchemical version of 9th level spell to become a shade, (how that got into the demiplane of dread is another story entirely) accidentally snags an unwelcome surprise for his spell components- an undead shadow infected with the shadow virus. This infects him, causing his shadow to shatter and he to start fading away. Desperate, Marcus quaffs his would-be shade potion, which, had an adverse effect on him due to his being infected with the undead contagion, turning him into a shadow lich, now going by Umbran. A shadow lich appears as one would expect a typical shade to appear, bar the exception that the eyes of the creature are nothing but black pits, this is quite the boon, a it allows the creature to pass off as living far more than any other version of a lich. Umbran has a fear aura like other liches- but the aura has the additional ability of being tied in with a shade's natural ability to dim light sources, material & magical, which allows the user to cast shadow-magic more effectively in any given location, including direct sunlight. The touch of a shado lich is no longer a paralytic touch of death, but is the same as an undead shadows strength drain- though it does not produce spawn. What's more notable is that in addition to the default resistances a lich benefits from as undead, shadow liches are not affected by illusions of any kind. Due to having a trio-planr link, shadow lichs like umbran are turned as 'special' undead. If tht wasn't enough, next to the obscurity of such a creature granting it probable impossiblle means to scry or learn anything about it to slay, the rejuvanation method differs entirely from the traditional means a lich recovers from defeat, and is so obscure, that it is extremly unlikely anyone could vanquish it- here is the means in which the shadow-lich retores it's broken form- it's a treat.

''"Destroying Umbran is a bit more involved than destroying other liches. Umbran keeps his life in his shadow, which remains intangible and unable to be affected on the Prime. The process of transformation caused the lich’s flesh to be replaced with shadowstuff, so when enough damage is inflicted on the lich to “kill it, the shadowstuff around his bones dissipates, causing his skeleton to fall to the ground. His shadow remains unaffected and hides under the bones. When the lich’s life is totally in his shadow, he is said to be in shadowform. While he is in shadowform, he is mobile and should be treated much as a standard shadow, save with its original lich aura and damage capability and greater immaterialness (still takes +1 to hit). After 1d3 days, Umbran manages to accumulate enough shadowstuff to wrap around his bones and reanimate them. If his skeleton is destroyed as well, (Truly destroyed, such as by a disintegrate or wish spell, not simply chopping up the bones—if the bones are simply broken up, the lich can “glue” them back together with shadowstuff) the lich’s shadowform retreats to his lair or some other place of darkness, away from the adventurers that damaged him so. After 1d3 weeks, he regenerates enough of this shadowstuff substance to return to the Prime. There he will search for a new set of bones to wrap his shadowstuff around and reanimate over 1d3 days. The only way to destroy him is to trap his shadowform in an area he cannot slip out of, and use a combination of continual light, bless, and dispel evil to completely dissipate his spirit.''

The third instance is in the '''[[Neverwinter Nights]]: Shadows of Undrentide''' campaign, where the player encounters a shadow lich, an archmage who, due to overexposure to the plane of shadow, became such a creature. It uses the same model as an undead shadow, and is described as having the traditonal lich glowing red-eye sockets and is fought alongside it's shadowvar students. It is unknown if the creature was a lich, then became a shadow lich, or was human before. It wears the robe of vecna, which may be chalked up to the encounter being a side-mission before the final encounter- this is also plausible, as in realmslore, the extended mutliverse is accessible through some means found only in the plane of shadow as some deities of the realms ae found in other campaign settings- this may also be related to bioware's hand in NWN, as Baldur's gate featured the robes of Vecna. Other extraplanar items are lootable as well, leaning towards this possibility. The other intrigues of this shadow lich, is that it came about through means of decay- and it holds similarities with the process that the older 1e-2e versons of the demilich possessed when matters of it's astral self or spirit came into play- it is perhaps likely that this shadow lich is what happens if a lich decays annd trasitions into a demi-lich in the plane of shadow- but this is debatable, as the Kharlat Jhareg quest in Neverwinter indicated that lichdom was following the procedures detiled in the 3e savage progression Lich & weretiger web article, with the half-lich state. It also hold links with the rules for Umbran's shadowform.

The fourth and final instance of a shadow lich is in 3.5s Tome of magic- though said lich is most likely a lich shadowcaster using the shadow-weave. He lives in a tower, researching the sphere of annhilation as some perfect idealized darkness, like a villain from Kingdom Hearts. Darkity darkity darkness.

</div></div>

===Suel Liches===
Originally from [[Greyhawk]], Suloise liches are a sort of lich-ghost hybrid; they were once wizards who turned their souls into Negative Energy, which isn't really a good idea- because as they say, "Xeg-yi, Xag-Ya." but when facing imminent nuking during the Rain of Colorless Fire, you take what you can get, winding up as ghosts needing to possess living hosts, killing them and making them into their undead bodies. But, hosts decay at a rapid pace because these desperate wizards are literally rot them inside-out thanks to turning their life-force into an energy-type that breaks-down all life and destroys it- including their own. Suel Liches, are far more desperate and deadly versions of the lich because of this- their survival is tied to possession, and their lich abilities find themselves augmented, with their fear aura becoming an aura of terror that can insta-kill those that fail, and fear those that save, as well as being able to channel their own negative energies as blackfire, dealing necrotic damage and fire damage- something that shares ties with a type of spell used by a demon lord slain in the early eras of the blood war, when the lord of the 10th was still active in the hells- said demon lord becoming a vestige thereafter- vilefire as it was called, the abyss's answer to hellfire. That, or a side-effect of the rain of colorless fire from the era they hail from.

===Thicket Dryad Lich===
This is what happens when a Dryad becomes undead. The Dryad's favorite tree becomes their phylactery.

===Vassalich===
A lesser form of lich introduced in the [[Ravenloft]] setting - mages who couldn't get the mojo to transform themselves, so they submit in service to existing liches to become weaker knock-offs by sucking on their bone-daddies liquefied blackened bone marrow. They can turn into real liches by forging their own phylactery in time, but it's not easy as their masters keep a tight grip on the lesser phylactery made linked to their own- capping the servants XP gain and loss, and using it for themselves. They're essentially to liches what vampire spawn are to true vampires.

===Void Lich===
Sometimes the ritual that transforms a person into a lich attracts the attention of an evil spirit from the [[Far Realm]] that hijacks the ritual and steals the would-be lich's body.

==Notable Liches, famous and named==
* [[Acererak]]: Demilich cambion creator of the infamous [[Tomb of Horrors]] and [[Tomb of Annihilation]]. Apprentice to [[Vecna]] who attempted to subvert the will of the plane of negative energy to subsequently control all undead planeswide, failed and became a vestige. Is now someone almost entirely different in the 5th edition.
* [[Erandis d'Vol]]: Probably better known as Lady Vol or The Lich Queen (to us at least. Not a lot of people know about her in her setting). She is an NPC in [[Eberron]] and is the leader of both the [[Blood of Vol]] and the Emerald Claw.
* Gharnef: The secondary main antagonist in the first Fire Emblem games, made Immortal through the use of his dark tome, Imhullu.
* [[Kel'Thuzad]]: Disgraced mage of the Kirin Tor turned necromancer and Archlich of the Undead Scourge, and final boss in both versions of Naxxramas from Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If not for China, he'd still be relevant.
* Koschei the Deathless: A character from Slavic folklore who predates the homogenized concept of a lich but matches the description to a T. His phylactery is a needle inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, under a tree on a mythical teleporting island. Good luck finding it. He spends his time kidnapping maidens to literally bone.
* The Lich: An absolutely terrifying villain from the goofy world of Adventure Time. Is the personification of a nuclear bomb who seeks the extinction of all life. As if that weren't metal enough, he's voiced by Ron Perlman.
* [[Larloch]]: The ancient and powerful Netherese Sorcerer-King of the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting, who resides in the Warlock's Crypt a superdungeon within the Troll Hills. Is essentially a veteran oldfag with all the best ingame premium items that will never be available to newer players, sporting abilities such as almost total magic immunity, as well as having a repertoire of netherese spells, and a filled capacity of wish spells used to gain every advantage in the book. At the same time, he's not super proactive, and is content to sit in his crypt not bothering anyone, and even when he does occasionally rouse himself it's for the greater good, such as defending Mystra so that magic doesn't collapse, even earning a kiss from an elf queen that would've had him blushing if he still had cheeks.
* The Magian: One of the [[awnshegh]] from the ''[[Birthright]]'' setting, the Magian is a lich who absorbed another creature's Azrai blood through bloodtheft, removing many of the disadvantages of his undead condition, while still looking like a semi-fleshed corpse. The Magian is a bit of a visionary, for an awnshegh warlord anyway, driven not by ambition and lust for power like his rivals the Gorgon or the Raven, but by a desire to destroy chaos and impose order, a perfect, one world order that would, in his own mind, justify any means used to attain it. Of course, given this means conquering all other nations, killing all other awnshegh, and performing all kinds of horrible experiments on innocent people in the bargain, whether this actually makes him any better is debatable. His people do ultimately love him for the peace and prosperity he brings, in a Dr. Doom sort of way where they don't exactly have a ton of choice.
* [[The Elder Scrolls|Mannimarco]], King of Worms: Acclaimed as the first lich, Sload hero, god, and pioneer of modern necromancy, this High elf necromancer turned terrifying immortal with a globe-spanning influence is a leading narrative force in the world of the elder scrolls as the founding focus of the world-spanning mages guild and is the general prime argument against necromancy in the setting.
* [[Momonga]]/[[Ainz Ooal Gown]]: Villain protagonist of the Web/Light Novel- Anime & Manga Overlord. A Japanese salaryman living in a post failed /pol/ uprising cyberpunk dystopia who got trapped in the body of his MMORPGVR Character and sent to another world with all of his NPC minions and belongings, his minions gaining personalities based on their Bio information present in the game, often conflicting with fluff their levels, classes and races were published with- is kind of a merge with Larloch and Ssazz Tam if played by a clueless social shut-in wageslave.
* [[Nagash]]: First Lich, creator of vampires and the all around evil-badass of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]
* [[Osterneth]], the Bronze Lich: [[Vecna]]'s most powerful and trusted servant, who became a lich by implanting herself with Vecna's heart. She uses her beauty (actually an illusion) and charming personality to tempt powerful men into worshiping Vecna.
* [[Sauron]]: The titular lord of [[Lord of the Rings]]. Not really a lich, but is an early example of the archetype of a powerful villain who can only be killed by destroying a certain item. Sauron is a fallen angel who created 19 magical rings and gave them out as gifts to the rulers of the elves, dwarves, and humans, but also a 20th ring that had the powers of all the rings and would allow him to corrupt the owners of the other rings into wraiths under his control. This ring would also act as his phylactery, which had to be destroyed by throwing it back into the volcano where he forged it. His ring also had a mind of its own and would make anybody who owned it more like Sauron and eventually turn them into a wraith as well.
* Sharlee the Enchantress: The epic level demilich leader of The Order of the Book. She is on a holy mission to gather every single arcane spell in the multiverse into a single tome called The Last Book. She spends nearly all her time franticly writing new spells in The Last Book because even as a disembodied hand that never needs to rest, The Order of the Book is constantly bringing her new spells faster than she can copy them.
* [[Szass Tam]]: Zulkir of [[Thay]], lich and a dead-ringer for Ming the Merciless in life, this fellow is the master of Valindra Shadowmantle, the titular Lichess villain of Neverwinter online, Szass Tam is the ruler of an entire country, governed by other Zulkirs, featuring an economy of slavery, unique specialist spellcasters, and a standing undead army in search of world domination through any means necessary, namely through use of embassies in other countries to undermine and subvert them, and is the only person in Forgotten Realms to meet with Larloch and strike a working relationship with him. Usually gets into fights with the Harpers and adventurers.
* [[Vlaakith CLVII]]: Lich-queen of the Githyanki, secretly eats the souls of anyone over level 15 in her kingdom as to not be overthrown.
* [[Vecna]]: Lich who became a god and almost came close to rule the DnD Multiverse, as he bypassed the Lady of Pain's wards of preventing gods to enter Sigil. His divine presence in Sigil was enough for the multiverse to start breaking down.
* [[Valindra Shadowmantle]]: Villainess of Neverwinter online, and second-hand woman to Szass Tam, Zulkir of Thay - a rule breaking nutjob with a phylactery a 9 ft tall purple crystal that breaks conventional rules of lore and undeath on a regular basis- such as vampire ghosts, for example.
* Voldemort: Villain of Harry Potter. Although he is never called a lich, he is barely human because of how he split his soul into pieces which are placed in seven objects called horcruxes to keep him alive. According to Rowling, the process of doing this is incredibly vile that only one person who asked her has heard it, and was nauseated by the information. One thing that the books do say about the process is that the first step is murdering somebody because murder damages your soul and makes it able to be split. Unlike liches in other fiction, he isn't able to fully reform his body on his own when it is destroyed and needs a servant to create a potion using body parts of different people to complete his regeneration.
* Xykon: The [[Big Bad Evil Guy]] of the webcomic [[Order of the Stick]], or at least thinks he is. Is an epic level sorcerer planning to take control of a god killing monster. A charming psychopath who misses being able to drink bad coffee.

==Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Lich.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The MGE's take on the lich-as-monstergirl.]]
{{Monstergirls}}

Whilst being one of the two most famous free-willed undead - the other being the [[vampire]], unlike their fellow "willful dead", liches are almost never seen in a sexified light. This probably has to do with the fact that, whilst the vampire has both obvious monster traits ''and'' a long history of being presented in a darkly eroticized light anyway, a lich is hard to define as anything more than an undead [[wizard]]. Not helping is that whilst even non-monstergirl vampires are traditionally portrayed as sexy, voluptuous women with red eyes and elongated canines clad in gothic dresses that flatter their figures, the traditional depiction of a lich is... a skeleton clad in moldering ragged robes. Worse yet, liches are usually depicted as being indifferent to their physical form - even Osterneth, one of the few named female liches of D&D, has her vanity end at conjuring up a beautiful illusion, then plating her bones in bronze and studding them with gemstones. None of this makes them particularly ''bone''r inducing.

This, then, presents a would-be monstergirl maker with quite the dilemma: how to actually make a female lich look sexy? Preferably without going the copout of either "they look just like sexy living women, but that's an illusion to disguise that they're skeletons" or "they just look like sexy living women and their lichdom manifests in their powers". Many ultimately go with routes similar to the [[Flesh Golem]] or [[Zombie]], relying on a "sexy preserved corpse" or "artifical" theme for the lich's body, representing how the lich's physical form is a shell that it can wear and discard as it likes. Others more or less take the [[vampire]] route, and make them beautiful and pale-looking but essentially fleshy undead, which actually has some mechanical support. (At the level at which lichdom becomes a possibility, a once-per-day ''gentle-repose'' spell is a magical pittance.)

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the lich is presented as just a dead-eyed human woman with corpse-grey skin and an ominous-yet-sexy "wizardly" robe. They are described as being, essentially, pervy female nerds who turned themselves into undead so they could better study and master the diffuse array of perverse applications of magic in their world.

That being said, the titular Magical Girls from ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' are sometimes jokingly referred to as liches outside of the show due to their "undead" nature and being tied to a soul gem. But there are some non trivial differences between them and D&D liches. For example if a D&D lich were to have his phylactery destroyed he would be fine until personally destroyed (and would fail to regenerate as a lich with a functional phylactery would). Magical girls from Madoka Magica on the other hand die instantly if their soul gem is destroyed. Not only that, but a Magical Girl's body goes limp and decomposes if it isn't close enough to its proper owner's soul gem. Another factor is it seems that Magical Girls do continue to age (as humans do), despite Sayaka's claims of zombie-hood.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
lich 1e.jpg|1e
lich 1 MCV1.jpg|2e
lich 2 MCV1.jpg
lich MM 2e 1.png
lich MM 2e 2.png
lich 3e.jpg|3e
Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg
lich 4e.jpg|4e
lich 5e.jpg|5e
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Death Knight]], the surprisingly badass [[fighter]] version of a Lich.
* [[Drew the Lich]], a [[Quest]] where [[/tg/]] played a lich.
* The [[Millennial King]], a story and setting inspired by /tg/ speculating on what a good necromancer would be like. To make a long story short: he becomes a lich and leads his kingdom to an era of prosperity with a skeleton-powered industrial revolution.
* [[Deep Rot]], a skeletal supercomputer constructed by a mad lich.
* [[Dreadnought]], which, when a Librarian is entombed within, is basically a mecha-lich.
* [[Heucuva]], the lamer [[Cleric]] version of a Lich.
* [[Nagash]], everyone's favourite Warhammer lich.
* [[The Bank of Liches]], what happens when a bunch of liches decide to pool their phylacteries in a safe and secure location.
* [[Vecna]], a [[Awesome|god that is a lich]].

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Undead]]

Lich

2021-05-30T04:10:24Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Liches in the Elder Scrolls */

[[Image:KR_12_bard_lich.jpg|right|thumb|400px]]
'''Liches''' (from ''Leiche'', German for "corpse") are spellcasters, typically [[necromancer]]s who have mastered their self proclaimed 'art' to cross the line between life and death, becoming undead creatures of immense mystical power. After decades of research, practice, gathering of rare-materials, spell components and forbidden dark-lore, a Lich to-be performs a ritual that extracts the soul/'life force' from it's body and places it in a phylactery. This object, often in narrative is usually an ornament of value to the Lich in it's past life, barring that- it's usually appearance-wise on par with the like of a reliquary, a small sealed box with bindings on it with varied iconography, sometimes with an item inside. This transformation process in tabletop tradition is left vague but given implication it is an evil act- though many sources have gone on to explain and detail the likes of such a transformation.

After culminating the ritual with the caster's death and sometimes a brief period of inactivity following reanimation- the Lich comes to be. The Lich sports the unique benefits that the undead are privy to, and should the lich's physical body ever be destroyed, It will reform at the phylactery- though in older works- this has been limited to the concept of possessing actively present corpses to return to unlife, and this is possible so long as the phylactery remains intact. This makes liches nice persistent foes for a [[DM]] to throw at an adventuring [[party]]. Other benefits of lichdom include the ability to (un)live without eating or sleeping, giving the lich that much more time to 'get things done', though in some cases there is a type of maintenance that must be performed by the Lich for it to retain its hold on the world of the living, and in addition the Phylactery offers protection against various magics and effects that could be used to harm the soul.

The ritual/ceremony for becoming a lich (and many other applications of necromancy) tend to involve sacrificing innocents, trafficking with evil outsiders, using a freshly cut out heart of a sentient being, desecrating holy ground to perform the 'art', abusing the souls of the dead, worshiping evil gods, and generally being a bigger dickhead version of Prometheus in the grand cosmic scale- often with all of these examples playing into one another, so it's a given that in various mediums liches are generally of evil [[alignment]], especially certain since the proceeds to this state of being also accommodate the fact that turning into an undead creature tends to erase mortal trappings and turns its subject into something more akin to an unfeeling uncaring machine.

But- a person who neither eats nor sleeps, dies or fatigues can certainly do a lot of good seeing as it is part of a fantasy genre where magic benefits others. Liches with all time in the world, continuously developing magic in a state of pure academia, taking the arcane to heights unreachable in measurable generations. Depending on the setting, it may be possible to become a lich without doing anything irredeemably evil (or even mean-spirited) for the good of all. And even in some settings where Lichdom is in the general standing of- if the local citizens hear of it, an army is raised to combat it- because it is that much of a social taboo, there do exist good variants of this Undead creature.

To note- Phylactery use does not explicitly mean or make a Lich- a Lich- as this is fiction and at the most strained view of the concept, a Lich is fundamentally an undead/undead-like spellcaster who has extended their lifespan via unnatural means. Extended from this, unnatural may constitute unholiness or otherwise, something about the being that clearly earns it its name, due to it being a walking withered corpse missing its eyes, in place, unnatural glowing pinpoint lights in the eyesockets presenting to an onlooker clear negative visual stimuli.

==Liches in Dungeons and Dragons==
[[File:Osterneth the Bronze Lich.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Osterneth, the Bronze Lich, a rare example of a female lich]]
Liches have always been a staple of Dungeons and Dragons, following through the tabletop system and its settings and editions continuously up to the 5th edition. Historically they were the most difficult to Turn, before the "Specials" (''i.e.'' demons). In the lore they are deities, adversaries, characters in novels, and more with later editions featured as playable options for players seeking means to retire his/her characters ingame- through OD&D-AD&D to 2e, and 3.5, liches have followed a progressive evolution in form, functionality and inclusion, peaking at 3.5 before 4e came in and returned the state of this creature to its older rules and regulations in the first edition, as an evil undead creature that maintains its imperfect immortality through the consumption of souls.

Back in 2e D&D, liches came in multiple types depending on what kind of magic was used to create them. Your common lich was a former wizard, with separate stats in other splats for clerical, bardic and psionic liches (though that last one is derided by Psionics fans, despite the fact it's actually been around a '''long''' time) . There was also the Archlich, which was a lich of any of the previous varieties that wasn't evil, stated to be "as rare as Roc's teeth." The "must periodically sacrifice the souls of mortals to phylactery to stay around" aspect of lichdom was probably tacked on in later editions because the writers realized that there would otherwise be no logical reason ''for'' the Archlich to be so rare. Other splats added their own unique lich variants, mostly those books relating to [[Ravenloft]].

3e simplified things, boiling away most of the race or class-based variants of the lich into a single, readily applied template. This is an idea that both 4th and 5th edition preserved, though each put their own spin on it.

==Liches in Pathfinder==
Like most 3.5 OGL monsters, Liches are relatively unchanged in Pathfinder except for system wide changes, but they have some minor tweaks in a few areas. The one change to the template itself is that lich no longer have d12 HD for everything and instead, like all undead in Pathfinder, they can now use their [[Charisma]] score instead of their non-existent [[Constitution]] to determine bonus hit points per level. With a Charisma of 14 before transformation, this works out to the same, with a [[Sorcerer]], [[Bard]] or [[Oracle]] entry being even bulkier. In the PC's favor is that lich are no longer immune to polymorph effects except their own.

Fluff wise they are also near identical with one major change: The ritual to become a Lich is unique to every individual and must be researched but is pretty much always evil. Since D&D was incredibly vague on this subject, even beyond OGL, other than that it was absolutely something that made you Evil aligned this doesn't change much. One consequence of this is that people can become part lich by ''accident'' as shown by one Oracle curse.

==Liches in Warcraft and World of Warcraft==
While Liches existed before the Third War, the most notable and possibly the first Lich of the setting is the Lich King, created by the demon Kil'jaeden after merging the tortured soul of the former Warchief and shaman Ner'zhul into a set of armor and the runeblade Frostmourne, then encasing it inside a magical ice-crystal.

Other Liches, like Kel'thuzad, are usually former necromancers who impressed the Lich King in some way to be resurrected as giant, magic skeletons rather than some sword fodder zombie that can cast spells. Kel'thuzad, for instance, was resurrected by Arthas for his magical know-how as well as his part in killing the majority of the largest human nation for undead soldiers; Arthas was only able to resurrect a soul like Kel's after invading the elven nation of Quel'thalas and using the magical waters of their Sunwell (with a bit help from the demon Tichondrius). After this, they both go on to create more liches, both from orcs and humans, but how is rather unclear. A few bits of information states that one has to commit suicide, and the involvement of a higher being (Lich King or Kel'thuzad for example) is necessary for their ascension.

It should also be noted that the first sapient undead of the setting were the Death Knights created by Gul'dan, which shared a similar process of creation with the mainstray lich. The soul of an orc warlock was sealed within a gem, and that gem was then placed on the body of a slain human knight. The process was fueled by the sacrifice of a few dozen orc necrolytes.

It is also possible to become a Lich independent of the Lich King, as shown with two existing Liches in Warcraft, one being Gunther Arcanus, a forsaken that you can meet who keeps to himself, and the other a part of the canonized quest to obtain Ashbringer, who became a Lich post mortem using a quite brilliant method that you should check out.

Liches are seen as evil by both the Horde and the Alliance.

==Liches in World of Darkness==
Depending on how generous you are with your definitions, both [[World of Darkness|Worlds of Darkness]] are positively crawling with Liches. The most obvious are the [[Tremere]], who fit the description of "wizards who became undead to preserve their power" despite being [[Vampire the Masquerade|vampires]] rather than liches in the traditional sense. Likewise, the Nagaraja bloodline have even more in common with liches, being former death mages who channeled [[Wraith: The Oblivion|Oblivion]] itself in exchange for power and immortality. Of course, they're also vampires and, given their compulsion to consume flesh as well as blood, there's more than a bit of [[Ghoul]] in them too.

The [[Mage: The Ascension|magical]] technique used by the Nagaraja is called "Necrosynthesis", and it has been used numerous times, usually by the [[Order of Hermes]] to create liches ([[White Wolf]] uses the singular "liche", because of fucking course they do) in the more traditional sense, becoming undead without losing their Avatar and ability to do magic. They are apparently mostly Etruscan in cultural origin and, like most crazy things you can do to yourself with magic, titanic Paradox magnets.

[[Changeling: The Dreaming]] includes a variety of Dauntain (the okay C20 kind, not the pants-on-head stupid 2e kind) that is called a Lich and basically works how you'd expect, Phylactery and everything.

Meanwhile, in the new World of Darkness, we have the contents of the Immortals sourcebook, all of whom arguably qualify as liches to some degree. There are also the Abmortals of [[Geist: The Sin-Eaters]], who are pretty similar.

Of course, the term is actually used in [[Mage: The Awakening]] as a descriptor for any Legacy that grants its adherents immortality, generally at the cost of their humanity, their morality, or both. The nWoD version of the [[Tremere]] are the most prominent of these, but far from the only ones.

==Liches in Mythology==
Russian mythology brings us [[Koschei the deathless]], an archetypal lich with a rather original way of storing his phylactery. Koschei's soul (or the moment of his death, depending on who you ask) is hidden in a needle, which is hidden in an egg, which is hidden in a hare, which is hidden in a duck; all of this in a locked chest buried under a tree on the Russian equivalent of Atlantis. Aside from his original fusion of magical, culinary, and geographic defenses, he also differs from most liches in that he kidnaps princesses instead of studying magic all the time like a [[Thousand Sons|fucking nerd.]] Is the namesake for [[Kostchtchie]].

==Liches in the Elder Scrolls==
Like most things involving necromancy, liches are a product of one big dick named Mannimarco. Being a bootleg Nagash, Mannimarco decided that living sucks and being an immortal wizard of master race in magical order so powerful they casually controls time is just too casual for him. So with a bit of soul rape he managed to achieve (more)immorality as indestructible lich only to be casually destroyed in Oblivion. Though his questionable achievements did inspire a lot of necromancers.

Those undead mages consider the be most powerful among undead do to mastery of necromancy and various magic art. Though, given consistency of elder scrolls universe, lich powers and methods to become one are usually depends on part of the game or in universe exploration: time and place.

*In High Rock and Hamerfell(Daggerfall), liches as powerful as powerful mages and have benefits of undead like resistance to normal weapons (read “any non-fantasy weapon”), resistance to diseases, etc.
*In Morrowind (dlc Tribunal), liches decided that magic is for pussies and with only few of spells they also utilize strong melee weapons. Combine this with undead immunity to weapons and high resistance to frost this makes them rather nasty tanks instead of powerful wizards.
*In Cyrodiil (Oblivion), liches are the closest to classic lich. Those liches are not joke, having immunity to weapons, resistance to elemental magic save for fire(because undead), ability to reflect both magic and normal attacks. Combine this with big tier magic like summoning and protective spells and you get a rape machine... unless they didn’t see you. Despite all of this liches of Cyrodiil are fragile and two hits with non-normal weapon is enough to kill them.
*In Skyrim (...Skyrim) they don’t have liches in normal “necromancer turn undead” way, but they have dragon priests. Those people of ancient dragon cult who sucked dragon-dong the most were given immortality in form of undeath. Dragon priest is one of the stronger enemy the game has to offer, they cast protective magic from spell and physical damage, they fly around with staff that has adept and expert level of magic(instant death if you don’t have resistance to it), they use Storm Atronachs, the big demons that shoots lighting and hit with rock hands, and they are generally tough...and they are also a damn cowards. Seriously, fighting those guys is what fight with mage actually looks like: bastards with lots of protection, use minions and they always run away from you. If all previous liches did have at least some sort of close combat, dragon priests don’t want in close combat, so you just need to run as fast as you can in order to hit them. Morrowind liches think that they are nerds.

As for transformation into one, it’s pretty much the same as in D&D, individually. It can go from curse to suck someone soul, from classic phylactery to pact with demons, hell you can combine wrong ingredients and create poison that will strip you from flesh and increase your magic and this will count. One interesting note is dragon priests, who have the most original way of obtaining lichhood. When dragon transform cultists they also create draugr (Viking zombie). While it can be created without dragon priest involvement, draugr serve both as bodyguard and as daily meal. To put it simple, you can’t fully kill draugr while dragon priest around because they are connected and while draugr slumber he “collects” energy that allows priest to keep themselves alive and powerful while draugr receive enough to be mindless zombie with only goal: protect.

Overall, being lich is kinda a bummer, consider that in elder scrolls universe you have 9000 options to become immortal. Sometimes you don’t even want to, consider the fact that the are at least several heavens and with right cards, you can be get access to all of them.

==Liches & their Variants==
===Basic Lich===
[[File:Lankyface_the_unlivings_2nd_and_only_other_existing_picture_in_3.5.png|right|thumb|250px|3.5's Lich and his Phylactery]]
The common lich all come to know through the Monster Manual. Said to be made by committing an evil act left up to the GM- but later publications throughout each edition always give actual detail that is either overlooked in later publications- or used, causing additional and sometimes conflicting fluff- said fluff evolved through the first edition until 3.5, before 4e & 5e took a step back to 1e. Is only possible for non humanoids to become this lich through patronage to Orcus, Demon Prince/Lord of the Undead- bar certain races who have a variant of their own. There is also a rule in savage species which says this lich can be good, at the expense of no longer having a fear aura, and needing to go through a ritual of alignment to retain it's original alignment or making a will save prior to transformation to avoid moving towards the alignment of the average Lich- though given what happens as a part of the ritual, it's preparation, transformation/gradual transition becoming aligned with evil is almost unavoidable.

===Archlich===
[[Archmage]] 1st, lich 2nd, introduced in [[Spelljammer]], having lessened spellcasting capacity depending on edition, later becoming a [[Epic Destiny]] in [[4e]], the archlich is the mentor of mages past it's twilight years, moving on to higher levels of knowledge, cheating death, and the hungry evils of the lower planes that would seek to claim it's soul. Nothing is stopping the zealous from trying to purge their 'oh so benevolent' not-evil asses, mind you. Well, clerics can't turn them, though it's not like immunity isn't mistaken for resistance- oops. As the answer to the question of "/tg/! /tg/! can there be good liches?" they're pretty rare, often out the way retirees of the intrigues of mortal planes. Despite this, in the face of threat from higher undead controllers, the archlich is kind of a downgrade from a regular evil lich, as they can't obtain the goodies a lich would obtain in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, and demilichdom is out of the question too. They still get to cast spells as a generalist & specialist- technically. Another thing that doesn't work in the favor of these would-be good guys is the fact that the term 'Arch-Lich' is often used to describe incredibly powerful liches, [[Vecna]], [[Acererak]] & [[Demios]] have all been referred to as such. Tough break.

===Arch-Shadow===
A spellcaster who attempted to become a lich and failed, and instead become a ghostly undead connected to a random magic item instead of their intended phylactery. If they drain enough life energy from people who have touched the item it is bound to, they can regain a solid body, becoming a Demi-Shade.

==='Good' Lich===
Found in the Libris Mortis, this Lich is immune to turning due to it's good nature, and can turn Undead as a cleric of a level equal to it's hit die. Essentially an anti-lich with the same motivations as say, a Baelnorm or Archlich

===Baelnorn===
A good-aligned [[elf]] lich, created willingly from an elf who wants to be undead only to guard something very important or who wants to stick around beyond death to keep watch over their family, or is made so by their racial deity. Despite being of good alignment, they're just another reason to hate elves, and they often act as Elven Mossad, covering up the usual cosmic elf fuckup that tends to bite everyone else in the ass in whatever setting they're based in. If you're planning a trip to a ruined knife-ear civilization, watch out for these guys, because they might just kill you for trespassing.

===Banelich===
Introduced in the [[Forgotten Realms]] 2nd edition, Baneliches are [[cleric]]al liches devoted to [[Bane]], who was really big on identity branding in that edition. They're slightly more powerful than the standard clerical lich, and gain access to unique salient powers, including a pain-inflicting gaze-attack, a hypnotic voice that compels truthful answers from enthralled victims, and a 1/day death touch attack.

===Bardic Lich===
A lich who was originally a [[bard]]. This was originally introduced in [[Ravenloft]] 2nd edition as a single unique monster - a [[half-elf]] named Andres Duvall who was transformed into a lich-like, magic-eating monster in an accident involving [[Darklord|Azalin]], a lightning bolt spell, and a really powerful grimoire full of evil magic.

Due to the simplified means of attaining lichhood in 3e, bardic liches are fully plausible, but never really explored.

[[Kobold Press]] revived the idea as the ''Virtuoso Lich'' for 5e in their Tome of Beasts II [[splatbook]].

===Boneclaw===
In fifth edition, boneclaws are the result of a failed attempt to become a lich. If the soul fails to go into the phylactery, it instead binds to a random evil humanoid, [[Fail|whom the boneclaw becomes enslaved to]]. The boneclaw is permanently destroyed only when the humanoid it is bonded with dies or stops being evil. This connection is a complete 5e retcon; boneclaws first appeared as a fairly generic-fluffed undead mook in the [[Monster Manual]] 3 for 3rd edition, and were refluffed an [[undead]] [[construct]] created by [[hag]]s, using the assembled carcasses of [[ogre]]s and trapping the spirit of a slain [[oni]] in it for brains/motivation, in 4e's MM1.
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===Bone Sage===
Originally from [[Pathfinder]], these guys really came into their own in its sister setting, [[Starfinder]]. The Bone Sages are the deceased inhabitants of the blasted worlds of Eox, the last members of a race known as the Elebrians. Through a combination of their mastery of magic and technology, some were able to rebuild themselves as what are essentially cyber-liches after the backlash from a superweapon destroying their planet's atmosphere. Mechanically, they're a dead ringer for more conventional liches, except with an affinity for bionic implants and a phylactery that acts as its own spellbook.

===[[Death Knight]]===
Essentially the [[gish]] version of a lich, an undead warrior-wizard. Originally just the next step up from the skeleton warrior by gaining some increased HD and spell-like abilities, they got more lich-like in 4th edition, complete with their chosen weapons doubling as their phylacteries. In 5th, a Death Knight is what happens when an evil paladin dies. Every time they die, they come back again until they atone for their sins. Which is completely optional.

===Deathless===
A race of goodly lich-like undead created in 3rd edition for the [[Eberron]] setting. They're fueled by Positive Energy rather than Negative Energy and are basically "reverse liches".

===Defiler Lich===
Exactly what it says; a [[defiler]] who managed to avoid being lynched long enough that they were able to study [[Necromancer|necromancy]] and turn themselves into undead defilers. They're also known as ''Kaisharga'', which is how they were originally introduced in [[Dark Sun]], where they could be found in [[psion]], [[templar]], [[wizard]], [[fighter]], [[ranger]] and [[gladiator]] variants. It was in [[Ravenloft]] where the Wizardly Kaisharga, or Defiler Lich as it was called there, truly was focused on.

Defiler liches essentially combine the standard abilities of a high-level lich with the Defiling Magic trait and a number of [[psionics|wild talents]]. They can also ascend to their own unique form of demilichhood, which has the special ability to utter baleful curses on victims - a side effect of which is that cursed individuals slowly kill all plant life around them, in a manner similar to a defiler using their magic.

===Demilich/Demi-Lich===
A lich who derped around for so long that his body is just a flying bit of skeleton (usually a skull) full of soul gems. Despite their small size, they're much nastier than a normal lich; their spellcasting is even stronger, they have oodles of opportunities to cast Soul Trap and bone you, and they like to fly juuuust out of players' easy reach. They are also immune to most spells and magical effects, except for a few holy-powered ones and one derpy second-level spell called ''shatter'' that screws them something fierce by blowing out their soul gems. Their lore's flipflopped between editions, going from the next step in lichly evolution to a weakened form caused when a lich either gets too bored with existence ([[Pathfinder]]), or fails to eat enough souls. Fifth edition goes both ways, stating that most liches eventually become demiliches after failing to devour enough souls for their phylacteries, but that some [[Tomb of Horrors|like the infamous Acererak]] prepare for this by fitting their skulls with gems that devour souls while their spirits cruise through different planes of existence in search of greater knowledge.
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===[[Dracolich]]===
Lichified [[dragon]]s, mostly associated with the crazy [[Cult of the Dragon]] from [[Forgotten Realms]] who want to create dracoliches to rule the world/fulfill their every scaliefag desire/forge the greatest metal album covers in history. They still have phylacteries, but need to possess a dragon's physical remains to come back rather than just rejuvenating in full, this is due to complications due to the fluff surrounding the nature of dragonsouls- but a workaround is just having minions prepare remains to posses- possibly through transmutation. They can also possess a variety of prepared draconic corpses, so if a true dragon won't do- the 100+ 'lesser dragon' variants are also on the menu- even some large lizards may suffice. Most Dracoliches tend to be as a means of extending a dragon's pride\lifespan than the actual terrifying prospect of being practiced dedicated spellcasters- which is a blessing in itself, as next to innate sorceries, dragons have access to a small library shelf worth of splat for unique magical spells, and now the addition of the expanse necromancy and undead only spells on offer. That said, there are Dragon DEMILICHES in canon- but as to why such beings have not otherwise been detailed as major players on the grand cosmic scale is anyone's guess. Some mediums use Dracolich as the synonymous word to refer to an 'undead' dragon.

===Drow===
[[Drow]] and [[Drider]]s got their own lichly variants back in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], due to that ruleset not being able to handle slapping templates on existing creatures. Drow liches were divided into wizardly liches, who were pretty standard, and [[Lolth]]ite priestess liches, who had the unique ability to transform swarms of normal spiders into swarms of ''giant'' spiders.

Drider liches also have both wizard and cleric variants, but they don't have the same abilities as their drow counterparts. Instead, regardless of magical class, drider liches lose their innate ability to control ''humanoid'' undead to instead be able to control ''insectoid undead'' (they can still use spells to create and control humanoid undead). Also, they can communicate with spiders, and hock up a web effect 3/day.

Drow liches, wizardly and priestly, can become demiliches, retaining their unique abilities and adding them to the standard demilich powers. Nobody knows if driders can also become demiliches.

===Dry Lich===
Basically a mummy lich, and the ultimate result of the "walker in the waste" [[prestige class]]. Can't be good aligned, but doesn't have to be evil aligned either. They also get some cute Con-draining and desiccating attacks liches don't, and ''five'' phylacteries in the form of canoptic jars containing their organs, all on top of getting the template for free as part of their advancement, in addition to acquiring a planar touchstone that provides them with regenerative capabilities.

===Elemental Lich===
The Elemental Lich is another [[Ravenloft]] unique breed, created from [[elementalist]]s who went nuts and became obsessed with studying the way that [[elemental]]s are mutated and transformed by the fundamental energies of the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. This gives them a number of variant powers, including four different touch attacks based on the dread elementals (each Touch can be used 1/day) that replace the normal at-will paralytic touch ability, an innate ability to summon dread elementals, the instinctive loyalty of dread elementals, and lacking the ability to intuitively control the undead.

The Touch of the Grave is a hyper-deadly attack that forces a save vs. death magic. On a success, the victim "merely" takes 1d10 damage. On a fail, the victim dies one round later as their bones shatter into pieces and tear their way out of their body - unless a Heal spell is cast on them before this happens. Even then, they need to pass a System Shock roll, or die anyway!

The Touch of the Pyre deals a burning hit that causes the victim's clothes or armor to ignite in a supernatural blaze that will continue burning until magically expelled or it completely consumes their clothing.

The Touch of Blood requires the victim to pass a save vs. paralysis or their blood begins oozing from their pores, causing ongoing damage and level drain until magically healed.

The Touch of Mist forces the victim's alignment to change to Chaotic Evil, renders them the elemental lich's charmed slave, and gives the lich a telepathic link to control them through.

Elemental liches who attain demilichhood are especially deadly, because the body of anyone affected by their innate soul-trapping abilities becomes a random dread elemental under the elemental demilich's control!

===Fireliches===
They come from the [[Spelljammer]] setting and are what happens when an idiot [[wizard]] undergoing the lich transition ritual casts a fire spell in the Phlogiston... which is, essentially, an entire dimension full of flammable gas. The result is a cursed undead who basically exists as a giant free-floating sapient fireball with a skull in its center. [[Grimdark|Said skull is perpetually screaming in pain, as their existence is one of endless burning torment from the fire engulfing their very soul.]] They have the bad habit of crashing into spelljammers like sapient missiles in a futile attempt to end their tortured unlife.

===Grey Shivers===
Spiders that take up residence inside the skulls of destroyed liches, and absorb fragments of the lich's soul, turning them into sapient, spell-casting monsters. Whilst still being little spiders hiding inside skulls.

===Illithiliches===
Sometimes synonymous with [[Alhoon]]s. These are [[Mind Flayer]] liches, and the inevitable result of any illithid that chooses to abandon the Elder Brain, as they're all ''terrified'' of the idea of ceasing to exist after death. 5e distinguishes them from alhoons, with illithiliches being the much-more-powerful and dangerous version and alhoons being illithids who were not powerful enough to become illithiliches and so took an alternative method of becoming undead to escape death.

===Inheritor Liches===
Hailing from the [[Red Steel]] setting, they are what happens when one of the local Inheritors turns into a lich.

===Lichfiend===
Also found in the Libris Mortis. The result of a fiend becoming a lich. It seems pretty unnecessary because fiends are already immortal and can return from death if killed outside their home plane, so they don't get much benefit from becoming a lich.

===Master Liches===
Another [[Spelljammer]] creation, they were turned into liches by pacts with [[Demon Prince]]s or [[Arch-Devil]]s, but then betrayed their master and fled into Wildspace to avoid paying their debt. The big difference is that they don't have a phylactery, but have a fairly potent regeneration ability.

===Power Liches===
In the world of [[Might and Magic]], they were the long skirted bone dudes, who were the only shooters of the Necropolis town. And they were such badass shooters. They appeared in Might and magic 7 as well.

===Psionic Liches===
Also known as ''Mentalist Liches'', these were introduced in [[Ravenloft]], getting both their own dedicated segment in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich and a dedicated monster writeup at its end, both of which were repeated in Van Richten's Monster Hunters' Compendium Volume 2, and with the monster writeup being repeated in the 3rd Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix.

Basically, these are as close to a standard lich as you can get when you're replacing the arcane magic with [[psionics]]. One of the biggest changes is that transforming into a psionic lich leaves the mentalist very vulnerable, as they must steadily "divorce" their psionic abilities from their own body and seal them into the phylactery, rendering them unable to use those powers until and unless they successfully complete the transition into undeath.

===Priestly Liches===
[[Cleric]]s and [[druid]]s being able to turn into liches goes all the way back to AD&D and the [[Forgotten Realms]], where they could be of any alignment. They got their own section in [[Van Richten's Guide]] to the Lich, which basically iterated that the major differences between the two is the types of magic they use and that priestly liches are more likely to have salient abilities. Oh, and in [[Ravenloft]], such liches are always evil.

===Scroll Mummy (Grisgol)===
A construct created by destroying a lich's body and then trapping its phylactery inside of a construct made out of broken magic items and pieces of magic scrolls. The lich will reform in a few days if the Scroll Mummy is destroyed.

===Shadow lich===

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A rare variant lich with little coverage or backstory. There have been four instances of this monster throughout D&D. (This section has been put into a collapsible because somebody decided to go into way too much detail and it made this entry too long)

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The first shadow lich is in '''Dragon Magazine #261| Conjuring in the half-dark |July 1999.'''. The means to become a shadow lich are found in shadowbooks- named thus as they don't open in lighted conditions, and are to be read with darkvision. The details of becoming the creature are omitted by the publisher, a 'long-gone' illusionist by the name of Heriabgher, the 'Midnight-Mage'. Heriabhgher metions thusly before the ommitted content: ''"What follows is the formula for the transformation of an archmage into a shadow-lich.".'' The shadowbooks contain new spells, many of which are incredibly useful and indicative of the research Heriabhger undertook to become famous, as well as common ones found in splatbooks.
New spells include:
*'''Hide shadow,''' allowing a caster to roll up their shadow to store and avoid effects that target it(or play vampire).
**Shadow weave, allowing temporary creation of semi-solid shapes from shadows, ropes,(4ftxCL) ladders,(8ftxCL) nets & blankets as big as the shadow used to make them trap a whole room why don't you? Trick someone to thinking a darkmantle is attacking! Concealling cloaks, and containers.
To note, one could use the rope to garrote, blankets to smother(possibly make a new variation of a sheet phantom in the process) and containers to quickly hide objects.
*'''Shadow warrior,''' a spell that allows the casters shadow to attack a target's shadow to inflict harm, avoiding all but natural AC.
*'''Shadow replay''', a spell that is Jojo's Moody blues, but with shadows- past events of up to 2 hours ago by level 20.
*'''Death shade''', a spell that extends a mile per caster level, dealing 1 point of damage to anything humanoid including giants, caught in the darkness that cannot be restored without the spell heal or restoration. Death Shade, theoretically could be stacked with other effects to make it more deadly it could be used to soften up a large enemy force with multiple castings.
*'''Shadow trap''' shoves a person inside their own shadow, trapping them inside as a moving shadow stuck to whatever darkness inhbits a room, and magical light harms them until death, in which they fall out of their own shadow, dead. victims cannot communicate or cast spells in the trap, but can fight shadows or 'slow shadows' as the spell- '''shadow warrior''', and casters using the shadow warrior spell; they cannot interact with other shadows outside these conditions. True seeing and divination reveals the nature of a victim and dispel magic, remove curse and limited wish can save them.

The article is published alongside Me & My Shadow and 'Wizards of Dusk & Gloom - Shadow Mages, all in DMG261 both are tied to the [[Shadow Mage]] from 2e's Player's Option: Spells and Magic, offering new kits and spells to this type of spellcaster. For more on 'slow shadows' see ''Me & my Shadow.''' All three articles are intended for use toghether.

The second instance of the shadow-lich is in ''October 31st 2000's Ravenloft netbook: 'Book of shadows''', and is by far the most substantial of the sources, providing a means of creation, powers, and an archtypical villian to suitor such a being and it's motivations. Umbran, the shadow lich. The story goes that Marcus Shadowmehr, a rich kid, blows his money on magic research into shadow magic as a shadow mage, and one day, when turning himself into a shade in his workshop wine cellar with an "instant spooky" alchemical version of 9th level spell to become a shade, (how that got into the demiplane of dread is another story entirely) accidentally snags an unwelcome surprise for his spell components- an undead shadow infected with the shadow virus. This infects him, causing his shadow to shatter and he to start fading away. Desperate, Marcus quaffs his would-be shade potion, which, had an adverse effect on him due to his being infected with the undead contagion, turning him into a shadow lich, now going by Umbran. A shadow lich appears as one would expect a typical shade to appear, bar the exception that the eyes of the creature are nothing but black pits, this is quite the boon, a it allows the creature to pass off as living far more than any other version of a lich. Umbran has a fear aura like other liches- but the aura has the additional ability of being tied in with a shade's natural ability to dim light sources, material & magical, which allows the user to cast shadow-magic more effectively in any given location, including direct sunlight. The touch of a shado lich is no longer a paralytic touch of death, but is the same as an undead shadows strength drain- though it does not produce spawn. What's more notable is that in addition to the default resistances a lich benefits from as undead, shadow liches are not affected by illusions of any kind. Due to having a trio-planr link, shadow lichs like umbran are turned as 'special' undead. If tht wasn't enough, next to the obscurity of such a creature granting it probable impossiblle means to scry or learn anything about it to slay, the rejuvanation method differs entirely from the traditional means a lich recovers from defeat, and is so obscure, that it is extremly unlikely anyone could vanquish it- here is the means in which the shadow-lich retores it's broken form- it's a treat.

''"Destroying Umbran is a bit more involved than destroying other liches. Umbran keeps his life in his shadow, which remains intangible and unable to be affected on the Prime. The process of transformation caused the lich’s flesh to be replaced with shadowstuff, so when enough damage is inflicted on the lich to “kill it, the shadowstuff around his bones dissipates, causing his skeleton to fall to the ground. His shadow remains unaffected and hides under the bones. When the lich’s life is totally in his shadow, he is said to be in shadowform. While he is in shadowform, he is mobile and should be treated much as a standard shadow, save with its original lich aura and damage capability and greater immaterialness (still takes +1 to hit). After 1d3 days, Umbran manages to accumulate enough shadowstuff to wrap around his bones and reanimate them. If his skeleton is destroyed as well, (Truly destroyed, such as by a disintegrate or wish spell, not simply chopping up the bones—if the bones are simply broken up, the lich can “glue” them back together with shadowstuff) the lich’s shadowform retreats to his lair or some other place of darkness, away from the adventurers that damaged him so. After 1d3 weeks, he regenerates enough of this shadowstuff substance to return to the Prime. There he will search for a new set of bones to wrap his shadowstuff around and reanimate over 1d3 days. The only way to destroy him is to trap his shadowform in an area he cannot slip out of, and use a combination of continual light, bless, and dispel evil to completely dissipate his spirit.''

The third instance is in the '''[[Neverwinter Nights]]: Shadows of Undrentide''' campaign, where the player encounters a shadow lich, an archmage who, due to overexposure to the plane of shadow, became such a creature. It uses the same model as an undead shadow, and is described as having the traditonal lich glowing red-eye sockets and is fought alongside it's shadowvar students. It is unknown if the creature was a lich, then became a shadow lich, or was human before. It wears the robe of vecna, which may be chalked up to the encounter being a side-mission before the final encounter- this is also plausible, as in realmslore, the extended mutliverse is accessible through some means found only in the plane of shadow as some deities of the realms ae found in other campaign settings- this may also be related to bioware's hand in NWN, as Baldur's gate featured the robes of Vecna. Other extraplanar items are lootable as well, leaning towards this possibility. The other intrigues of this shadow lich, is that it came about through means of decay- and it holds similarities with the process that the older 1e-2e versons of the demilich possessed when matters of it's astral self or spirit came into play- it is perhaps likely that this shadow lich is what happens if a lich decays annd trasitions into a demi-lich in the plane of shadow- but this is debatable, as the Kharlat Jhareg quest in Neverwinter indicated that lichdom was following the procedures detiled in the 3e savage progression Lich & weretiger web article, with the half-lich state. It also hold links with the rules for Umbran's shadowform.

The fourth and final instance of a shadow lich is in 3.5s Tome of magic- though said lich is most likely a lich shadowcaster using the shadow-weave. He lives in a tower, researching the sphere of annhilation as some perfect idealized darkness, like a villain from Kingdom Hearts. Darkity darkity darkness.

</div></div>

===Suel Liches===
Originally from [[Greyhawk]], Suloise liches are a sort of lich-ghost hybrid; they were once wizards who turned their souls into Negative Energy, which isn't really a good idea- because as they say, "Xeg-yi, Xag-Ya." but when facing imminent nuking during the Rain of Colorless Fire, you take what you can get, winding up as ghosts needing to possess living hosts, killing them and making them into their undead bodies. But, hosts decay at a rapid pace because these desperate wizards are literally rot them inside-out thanks to turning their life-force into an energy-type that breaks-down all life and destroys it- including their own. Suel Liches, are far more desperate and deadly versions of the lich because of this- their survival is tied to possession, and their lich abilities find themselves augmented, with their fear aura becoming an aura of terror that can insta-kill those that fail, and fear those that save, as well as being able to channel their own negative energies as blackfire, dealing necrotic damage and fire damage- something that shares ties with a type of spell used by a demon lord slain in the early eras of the blood war, when the lord of the 10th was still active in the hells- said demon lord becoming a vestige thereafter- vilefire as it was called, the abyss's answer to hellfire. That, or a side-effect of the rain of colorless fire from the era they hail from.

===Thicket Dryad Lich===
This is what happens when a Dryad becomes undead. The Dryad's favorite tree becomes their phylactery.

===Vassalich===
A lesser form of lich introduced in the [[Ravenloft]] setting - mages who couldn't get the mojo to transform themselves, so they submit in service to existing liches to become weaker knock-offs by sucking on their bone-daddies liquefied blackened bone marrow. They can turn into real liches by forging their own phylactery in time, but it's not easy as their masters keep a tight grip on the lesser phylactery made linked to their own- capping the servants XP gain and loss, and using it for themselves. They're essentially to liches what vampire spawn are to true vampires.

===Void Lich===
Sometimes the ritual that transforms a person into a lich attracts the attention of an evil spirit from the [[Far Realm]] that hijacks the ritual and steals the would-be lich's body.

==Notable Liches, famous and named==
* [[Acererak]]: Demilich cambion creator of the infamous [[Tomb of Horrors]] and [[Tomb of Annihilation]]. Apprentice to [[Vecna]] who attempted to subvert the will of the plane of negative energy to subsequently control all undead planeswide, failed and became a vestige. Is now someone almost entirely different in the 5th edition.
* [[Erandis d'Vol]]: Probably better known as Lady Vol or The Lich Queen (to us at least. Not a lot of people know about her in her setting). She is an NPC in [[Eberron]] and is the leader of both the [[Blood of Vol]] and the Emerald Claw.
* Gharnef: The secondary main antagonist in the first Fire Emblem games, made Immortal through the use of his dark tome, Imhullu.
* [[Kel'Thuzad]]: Disgraced mage of the Kirin Tor turned necromancer and Archlich of the Undead Scourge, and final boss in both versions of Naxxramas from Warcraft and World of Warcraft. If not for China, he'd still be relevant.
* Koschei the Deathless: A character from Slavic folklore who predates the homogenized concept of a lich but matches the description to a T. His phylactery is a needle inside an egg, inside a duck, inside a hare, inside a chest, under a tree on a mythical teleporting island. Good luck finding it. He spends his time kidnapping maidens to literally bone.
* The Lich: An absolutely terrifying villain from the goofy world of Adventure Time. Is the personification of a nuclear bomb who seeks the extinction of all life. As if that weren't metal enough, he's voiced by Ron Perlman.
* [[Larloch]]: The ancient and powerful Netherese Sorcerer-King of the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting, who resides in the Warlock's Crypt a superdungeon within the Troll Hills. Is essentially a veteran oldfag with all the best ingame premium items that will never be available to newer players, sporting abilities such as almost total magic immunity, as well as having a repertoire of netherese spells, and a filled capacity of wish spells used to gain every advantage in the book. At the same time, he's not super proactive, and is content to sit in his crypt not bothering anyone, and even when he does occasionally rouse himself it's for the greater good, such as defending Mystra so that magic doesn't collapse, even earning a kiss from an elf queen that would've had him blushing if he still had cheeks.
* The Magian: One of the [[awnshegh]] from the ''[[Birthright]]'' setting, the Magian is a lich who absorbed another creature's Azrai blood through bloodtheft, removing many of the disadvantages of his undead condition, while still looking like a semi-fleshed corpse. The Magian is a bit of a visionary, for an awnshegh warlord anyway, driven not by ambition and lust for power like his rivals the Gorgon or the Raven, but by a desire to destroy chaos and impose order, a perfect, one world order that would, in his own mind, justify any means used to attain it. Of course, given this means conquering all other nations, killing all other awnshegh, and performing all kinds of horrible experiments on innocent people in the bargain, whether this actually makes him any better is debatable. His people do ultimately love him for the peace and prosperity he brings, in a Dr. Doom sort of way where they don't exactly have a ton of choice.
* [[The Elder Scrolls|Mannimarco]], King of Worms: Acclaimed as the first lich, Sload hero, god, and pioneer of modern necromancy, this High elf necromancer turned terrifying immortal with a globe-spanning influence is a leading narrative force in the world of the elder scrolls as the founding focus of the world-spanning mages guild and is the general prime argument against necromancy in the setting.
* [[Momonga]]/[[Ainz Ooal Gown]]: Villain protagonist of the Web/Light Novel- Anime & Manga Overlord. A Japanese salaryman living in a post failed /pol/ uprising cyberpunk dystopia who got trapped in the body of his MMORPGVR Character and sent to another world with all of his NPC minions and belongings, his minions gaining personalities based on their Bio information present in the game, often conflicting with fluff their levels, classes and races were published with- is kind of a merge with Larloch and Ssazz Tam if played by a clueless social shut-in wageslave.
* [[Nagash]]: First Lich, creator of vampires and the all around evil-badass of [[Warhammer Fantasy]]
* [[Osterneth]], the Bronze Lich: [[Vecna]]'s most powerful and trusted servant, who became a lich by implanting herself with Vecna's heart. She uses her beauty (actually an illusion) and charming personality to tempt powerful men into worshiping Vecna.
* [[Sauron]]: The titular lord of [[Lord of the Rings]]. Not really a lich, but is an early example of the archetype of a powerful villain who can only be killed by destroying a certain item. Sauron is a fallen angel who created 19 magical rings and gave them out as gifts to the rulers of the elves, dwarves, and humans, but also a 20th ring that had the powers of all the rings and would allow him to corrupt the owners of the other rings into wraiths under his control. This ring would also act as his phylactery, which had to be destroyed by throwing it back into the volcano where he forged it. His ring also had a mind of its own and would make anybody who owned it more like Sauron and eventually turn them into a wraith as well.
* Sharlee the Enchantress: The epic level demilich leader of The Order of the Book. She is on a holy mission to gather every single arcane spell in the multiverse into a single tome called The Last Book. She spends nearly all her time franticly writing new spells in The Last Book because even as a disembodied hand that never needs to rest, The Order of the Book is constantly bringing her new spells faster than she can copy them.
* [[Szass Tam]]: Zulkir of [[Thay]], lich and a dead-ringer for Ming the Merciless in life, this fellow is the master of Valindra Shadowmantle, the titular Lichess villain of Neverwinter online, Szass Tam is the ruler of an entire country, governed by other Zulkirs, featuring an economy of slavery, unique specialist spellcasters, and a standing undead army in search of world domination through any means necessary, namely through use of embassies in other countries to undermine and subvert them, and is the only person in Forgotten Realms to meet with Larloch and strike a working relationship with him. Usually gets into fights with the Harpers and adventurers.
* [[Vlaakith CLVII]]: Lich-queen of the Githyanki, secretly eats the souls of anyone over level 15 in her kingdom as to not be overthrown.
* [[Vecna]]: Lich who became a god and almost came close to rule the DnD Multiverse, as he bypassed the Lady of Pain's wards of preventing gods to enter Sigil. His divine presence in Sigil was enough for the multiverse to start breaking down.
* [[Valindra Shadowmantle]]: Villainess of Neverwinter online, and second-hand woman to Szass Tam, Zulkir of Thay - a rule breaking nutjob with a phylactery a 9 ft tall purple crystal that breaks conventional rules of lore and undeath on a regular basis- such as vampire ghosts, for example.
* Voldemort: Villain of Harry Potter. Although he is never called a lich, he is barely human because of how he split his soul into pieces which are placed in seven objects called horcruxes to keep him alive. According to Rowling, the process of doing this is incredibly vile that only one person who asked her has heard it, and was nauseated by the information. One thing that the books do say about the process is that the first step is murdering somebody because murder damages your soul and makes it able to be split. Unlike liches in other fiction, he isn't able to fully reform his body on his own when it is destroyed and needs a servant to create a potion using body parts of different people to complete his regeneration.
* Xykon: The [[Big Bad Evil Guy]] of the webcomic [[Order of the Stick]], or at least thinks he is. Is an epic level sorcerer planning to take control of a god killing monster. A charming psychopath who misses being able to drink bad coffee.

==Monstergirls==
[[File:MGE Lich.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The MGE's take on the lich-as-monstergirl.]]
{{Monstergirls}}

Whilst being one of the two most famous free-willed undead - the other being the [[vampire]], unlike their fellow "willful dead", liches are almost never seen in a sexified light. This probably has to do with the fact that, whilst the vampire has both obvious monster traits ''and'' a long history of being presented in a darkly eroticized light anyway, a lich is hard to define as anything more than an undead [[wizard]]. Not helping is that whilst even non-monstergirl vampires are traditionally portrayed as sexy, voluptuous women with red eyes and elongated canines clad in gothic dresses that flatter their figures, the traditional depiction of a lich is... a skeleton clad in moldering ragged robes. Worse yet, liches are usually depicted as being indifferent to their physical form - even Osterneth, one of the few named female liches of D&D, has her vanity end at conjuring up a beautiful illusion, then plating her bones in bronze and studding them with gemstones. None of this makes them particularly ''bone''r inducing.

This, then, presents a would-be monstergirl maker with quite the dilemma: how to actually make a female lich look sexy? Preferably without going the copout of either "they look just like sexy living women, but that's an illusion to disguise that they're skeletons" or "they just look like sexy living women and their lichdom manifests in their powers". Many ultimately go with routes similar to the [[Flesh Golem]] or [[Zombie]], relying on a "sexy preserved corpse" or "artifical" theme for the lich's body, representing how the lich's physical form is a shell that it can wear and discard as it likes. Others more or less take the [[vampire]] route, and make them beautiful and pale-looking but essentially fleshy undead, which actually has some mechanical support. (At the level at which lichdom becomes a possibility, a once-per-day ''gentle-repose'' spell is a magical pittance.)

In the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], the lich is presented as just a dead-eyed human woman with corpse-grey skin and an ominous-yet-sexy "wizardly" robe. They are described as being, essentially, pervy female nerds who turned themselves into undead so they could better study and master the diffuse array of perverse applications of magic in their world.

That being said, the titular Magical Girls from ''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' are sometimes jokingly referred to as liches outside of the show due to their "undead" nature and being tied to a soul gem. But there are some non trivial differences between them and D&D liches. For example if a D&D lich were to have his phylactery destroyed he would be fine until personally destroyed (and would fail to regenerate as a lich with a functional phylactery would). Magical girls from Madoka Magica on the other hand die instantly if their soul gem is destroyed. Not only that, but a Magical Girl's body goes limp and decomposes if it isn't close enough to its proper owner's soul gem. Another factor is it seems that Magical Girls do continue to age (as humans do), despite Sayaka's claims of zombie-hood.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
lich 1e.jpg|1e
lich 1 MCV1.jpg|2e
lich 2 MCV1.jpg
lich MM 2e 1.png
lich MM 2e 2.png
lich 3e.jpg|3e
Lich Alhoon MoF.jpg
lich 4e.jpg|4e
lich 5e.jpg|5e
</gallery>

==See Also==
* [[Death Knight]], the surprisingly badass [[fighter]] version of a Lich.
* [[Drew the Lich]], a [[Quest]] where [[/tg/]] played a lich.
* The [[Millennial King]], a story and setting inspired by /tg/ speculating on what a good necromancer would be like. To make a long story short: he becomes a lich and leads his kingdom to an era of prosperity with a skeleton-powered industrial revolution.
* [[Deep Rot]], a skeletal supercomputer constructed by a mad lich.
* [[Dreadnought]], which, when a Librarian is entombed within, is basically a mecha-lich.
* [[Heucuva]], the lamer [[Cleric]] version of a Lich.
* [[Nagash]], everyone's favourite Warhammer lich.
* [[The Bank of Liches]], what happens when a bunch of liches decide to pool their phylacteries in a safe and secure location.
* [[Vecna]], a [[Awesome|god that is a lich]].

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]][[Category:Undead]]

Doom

2021-05-29T11:06:01Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Demons */

{{/vg/}}
{{Oldschool}}
{{awesome}}
{{Cleanup}}
[[File:Doom cover poster.jpeg|thumb|If you don't already have the first level's music in your head, you may be on the wrong site.]]
{{topquote|Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon...|[[Discworld|Terry Pratchett]]}}

The father of the first-person shooter, the original ass-kicking demon-slaying 3D slaughter-fest, '''''Doom''''' is a franchise that demands respect even in the hallowed halls of /tg/. It was actually inspired by a [[Dungeons & Dragons]] campaign played by the founders of id Software; John Romero had given a demon lord the key to overrunning the material plane in exchange for a magic [[Katanas are Underpowered in d20|katana]] because he's an edgy little bitch like that, and John Carmack (the DM and one of the many forms of Tzeentch) decided it made a good premise for their new 3D game. The katana in question would later be used in Romero's game ''Daikatana'', which was a total failure for reasons that aren't important enough to go over right now.

The plot? In an FPS? Here's your plot: you are a Space Marine (no, not the 40K guy, a jumped-up soldier who is sent to fight on other planets, so closer to the [[Imperial Guard]]...though considering recent events he may be the equivalent of a standard Astartes, just much shorter.) stationed on Phobos. Somehow, demons broke through into our reality and slaughter everyone else. Your job? Fight your way to where, you hope, there's a ride off of this rock, and make bloody mincemeat out of everything standing between you and salvation. Standing in your way are armies of zombified fellow marines and eggheads, fireball-tossing imps, hulking flesh-eating demons, cyborg-demon monstrosities, and various other hell-spawned nasties who want to kill you horribly. Good luck. You'll need it...

Although not the very ''first'' of the FPS genre (even its predecessor, [[Wolfenstein]] 3D, wasn't the first, as the history of the genre goes back all the way into the '70s), Doom was definitive to the genre, so much so that "Doom Clone" was the standard nickname for many years afterwards. People are still playing it and making it even more awesome with [[Homebrew|their own custom modifications]] 24 years later, which isn't something you hear that often outside of /tg/; this is one of the main reasons why the franchise is so well-respected.

Fun fact: that iconic Doom monster, the Cacodemon, was actually inspired by the artwork for an Astral Dreadnought on the cover of the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition [[Manual of the Planes]] splatbook. Also relevant to /tg/ is that Sandy Petersen, co-designer of [[Ghostbusters RPG]], creator of [[Call of Cthulhu]], and author of some [[RuneQuest]] stuff, worked on the game. He designed some levels (more in the sequel) and made some contributions to the monster design.

==Classic DOOM (aka The Good Shit)==
{{topquote|Welcome to DOOM, a lightning-fast virtual reality adventure where you're the toughest space trooper ever to suck vacuum. Your mission is to shoot your way through a monster-infested holocaust. Living to tell the tale if possible.|README.TXT, Doom 1.8 shareware}}
The original Doom was fast-paced and bloody compared to what came before but wasn't afraid to vary the pace with more labyrinthine levels or make you shit your pants by dropping you into a crowd of demons when you least expected it. (Fun fact No. 2: The extra levels included in the physical version of Doom (henceforth called ''Ultimate Doom'') were built by the same guy who wrote [[Call of Cthulhu]] in just 10 weeks.) Doom II on the other hand was a circle-strafing explosion-rich gorefest and is what basically everyone thinks of when they think of both Doom and 90s FPS gameplay in general. The plot was bare-minimum: Demons took over Phobos and ate Deimos, kill them all. Or, in Doom 2's case, Demons are trying to infest Earth in revenge, kill them all AGAIN. But this time, ''it's personal''. (No, seriously, they killed your pet bunny Daisy.) The Doom engine is extremely mod-friendly for a 90's game (as both Carmack and Romero had been big into software tinkering in their day) and the modding community is still very present and perhaps even more prolific than it was back in the day. In fact, id Software actually paid some modding groups for the right to sell their works as retail (Final Doom and the Master Levels for Doom 2). Also relevant is SIGIL, John Romero's own 25th-anniversary level-pack and unofficial Episode 5 for Doom 1 that he released to the public for free (unless you wanted the special Buckethead soundtrack for [[Edgy|$6.66 USD]]).

Slightly more obscure but still relevant is Doom 64, which replaced the high-speed Explode-o-Rama with a stronger horror theme and more deliberate pace.

id Software then for a time turned toward more multiplayer-oriented games with the ''Quake'' franchise and gave Doom a well-earned rest.

===The Doom Comic===
{{topquote|'''DYNAMITE! I'M COOKING WITH GAS! I'VE GOTTA HANDFUL OF VERTEBRAE AND A HEADFUL OF MAD! YEAH, THAT'S YOUR SPINAL CORD, BABY! DIG IT!'''|You, the moment you read that heading}}
The origin of [[Rip and Tear]]. Possibly the most ridiculously, amazingly, stupidly 90's thing that has ever been put to paper with the possible exception of Image Comics. It has to be read to be believed. [https://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/ So go read it.]

===Monsters===
[[File:Reaperminis.jpg|thumb|right|Limited-edition monster minis from [[Reaper Miniatures]]. Admit it, you want <s>that Cyberdemon</s> all of them for your Daemons of Chaos army.]]
These are the monsters you'll encounter in Doom 1, Doom 2 and their spinoffs.
*'''[[Zombie|Former human]]''': Wet toilet paper. Only dangerous until you get a shotgun.
**'''Former Sergeant''': Still wet toilet paper, but full of broken glass; if one of these assholes gets behind you before you find armor you're probably dead. Likely to be your first source for shotguns.
**'''Former Commando''': Unlike the other formers, this guy is no joke: he's durable enough to not die when breathed on and his hitscan chaingun is almost as powerful as yours. Using hordes of these guys in an open arena with no cover is the pinnacle of dick moves in Doom mapping.
*'''Imp''': The first true demon you encounter with an easy-to-dodge projectile and more health than the formers. The first meaningful enemy you meet, and runner-up for most iconic non-boss monster.
*'''Demon''': Otherwise known as '''Pinkies'''. Giant hairless gorilla with a mouth that could give a [[squig]] lessons in eating. [[Derp|They can't walk and bite at the same time]] so you can just step out of their way, but they tend to come in large groups and dance around like spastic toddlers (which makes them harder to shoot) as they run up to you.
**'''Spectre''': Demon with Predator-style optic camo. An absolute bitch to deal with in dark environments, which is naturally where you find them.
*'''Cacodemon''': Mr. [[Astral Dreadnought]] Head. These fuckers can fly and you can't look up, so have fun fighting them in close quarters where they can float out of your field of view. Dangerous, but get a rapid-fire weapon and they become a joke as you stunlock them until they are all dead. ''The'' most iconic non-boss monster, partially because of its sheer WTFery but mostly because of how easy it is to chibi/make plushies out of.
**'''Pain Elemental''': [[Meme|Meatball demon.]] Like a cacodemon, but instead of shooting fireballs, it shoots Lost Souls. Has the opposite problem to the pinkies in that [[Derp|you can stand in front of its face]] and prevent the lost souls from spawning.
*'''Lost Soul''': Floating flaming skulls that fly at you at approximately SANIC miles per hour. Fairly weak, but very fast and has a habit of nibbling at you while you focus on something more dangerous.
*'''Revenant''': [[Meme|Agitating skeleton aka '''DOOT'''.]] One of the few monsters that moves anywhere near as fast as you do, plus he runs up and tries to punch your head off if you move inside the minimum range of the homing rockets he shoots. It is a fact that any given Doom map is automatically casuals-only unless the mapper adds at least 100 revenants.
*'''Mancubus''': [[Festus the Leechlord|HELLO I'M FUCKING FAT.]] Slow, but very tanky, and he has dual [[Flamer|heavy flamers]] for arms that hurt like hell. Fortunately, this also applies to any nearby demons, so you can make them kill each other for your amusement just by standing between a mancubus and another monster.
*'''Arch-vile''': One of the few monsters that that's faster than the player at a full run. Sets you on fire [[Psyker|with its mind]] and revives any monsters it comes across so you have to kill them all over again. Meeting one of these guys in a slaughtermap will make you [[Khorne|hate everything forever.]]
*'''Hell Knight''': Now we're talking. [[Space Marine]] sized and equipped with a punch and moderate projectile attacks (fireballs). Shooting him in the face with a shotgun will kill him pretty quickly.
**'''Baron of Hell''': Super hell knight with double the health. Big and equipped with nasty melee and projectile attacks. Shooting ''him'' in the face with a shotgun just '''pisses him off'''. Super shotguns will work though. Probably the best-known Barons are the "Bruiser Bros", the pair of Barons you fight as the bosses of the first episode.
*'''Cyberdemon''': [[Rip and tear|Is huge, and therefore has huge guts.]] Basically a (Chaos possessed?) Carnifex with a rocket launcher for an arm, and significantly faster than he looks. Without a doubt the fuckingest monster in the classic game, and practically tailor-made for soaking up BFG shots.
*'''Spider Mastermind''': Doom 1’s final boss, [[Derp|despite being inferior in almost every way to the Cyberdemon you fight earlier.]] Go figure. Even more XBOX HUEG than the Cyberdemon, but has a super-chaingun instead of a rocket launcher and refuses to let up until either you or it are dead. Has the critical weakness of BFG shots up the ass due to the way its hugeness interacts with the mechanics of the classic BFG.
**'''Arachnotron''': Baby Masterminds that go fast and shit plasma at you.
*'''The Icon of Sin''': Doom 2's final boss. [[FAIL|A wall with a demon face on it]] and a hole in its forehead that serves as its weak point. Spawns monsters to attack you, but dies pretty quickly from a few well-aimed rockets... though, you need good timing to shoot them through the hole in its head. You probably know this, but the entity that takes damage is John Romero's severed head on a pole.

===Weapons===
{{topquote|I do need a gun. I need a big gun. I need a really big gun...|Doomguy, Doom comic}}
Doomguy himself <s>has</s> shows about as much personality as your average [[Adventurer|Murderhobo]], (there is more to him but you don’t see it until later) so the game's real main characters are the weapons.
*'''Fists''': Only good at punching through the above-mentioned wet toilet paper, and complete suicide to use on anything stronger than an Imp. [[Rip and tear|Should you find a Berserk pack, though...]]
**'''[[Chain Weapon|Chainsaw]]''': [[Meme|The great communicator.]] Stronger than your fists and capable of tearing through Cacodemons and below without much problem.
*'''Pistol''': You start the game with this and 50 bullets. Gets overshadowed by every single other weapon.
*'''Shotgun''': Now we're talking. The first gun you get that can actually kill stuff in a decent amount of time.
**'''Super Shotgun''': A double-barrelled version of the original. A complete [[rape]] machine at close range, delivering about as much damage per hit as a rocket, but falls off greatly at longer distances.
*'''Chaingun''': [[Dakka|WAAAAAAAAAAGH!]] Great at stunlocking enemies, especially the aforementioned Cacodemons.
*'''Rocket Launcher''': Capable of [[Khorne|reducing enemies to puddles of blood]] from a safe distance. Also capable of reducing ''you'' to a puddle of blood if used from an unsafe distance.
*'''Plasma Rifle''': Fires a stream of plasma balls that hit hard, move fast, and won't hurt you at close range. Unfortunately, it shares its ammo count with...
*'''BFG''': The most beautiful sight any soldier can behold, at least according to the Doom comic. ''The'' gun. The '''big''' gun. Anything it's fired at is [[Anal circumference|in for a bad time]], especially at close range.

==Doom 3==
In the early 2000s, Doom 3 came along. It blows chunks compared to the classics, but since the classics are so damn good it ends up being pretty good anyway. Since Valve had made "story-driven" shooters and "realistic" scripted encounters the in thing, id decided to rip off Half-Life, grafting on elements of the original Doom that had been scrapped at the concept stage. Unfortunately, the gameplay was too slow and similar to the rest of the genre, the scripting and story interludes just made the gameplay even clunkier and the big technological gimmick (per-pixel lighting) meant you had to choose between seeing what you're supposed to shoot with a crappy little flashlight and actually being able to shoot it. Supposedly the lighting effects were resource-intense during development and this was the "solution" (of course we know better that they wanted to make it a quasi survival horror). Naturally, the first mod for the game was duct tape so you can use the flashlight and a gun at the same time. This mod would eventually become official when the BFG Edition re-release came around about a decade later.

The plot itself is essentially a reboot - You are a generic marine who just transferred to Mars and after pissing around with all your co-workers whom you will never see in one piece again, an experiment involving a portal to Hell (This time with no reason besides the head researcher being kinda absolutely evil) goes horribly awry and now the facility is completely fucked. Your task then devolves into simply surviving, as you're cut off from any command and have to make your way to various checkpoints. Along the way, you come across an ancient artifact made by the original denizens of Mars, who made it in order to kill all the demons, and so the demons sealed it away in Hell. After a couple of trips in and out of hell, you manage to understand how the artifact works (by feeding off the souls of slain demons) and use it to kill the Cyberdemon, their greatest champion, and bail home. You'd think this is the end...except the mad scientist responsible for this is revealed to have turned into a full-blown demon.

===Resurrection of Evil===
An expansion to Doom 3, this game takes the original game and puts a few nifty spins to make it feel unique like the gravity gun (because Half-Life 2 did it too). Instead of the classic plot, you are now a nameless space engineer who comes across a different and wholly demonic artifact called the Hell Heart. This makes you more of a target compared to before, as Hell sends out three special hunters to reclaim the heart, each of whom give it a special ability for you to abuse once you kill them.

==Doom 4 (aka DOOM aka DOOD aka Brutal Doom HD)==
{{topquote|They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you? You will be '''worse'''. [[Rip and Tear]], until it is '''DONE'''.|A direct order from what is either [[God-Emperor of Mankind|God's]] [[Living Saint|seraphs]] or [[Khorne]] himself. Do you really need more of a mission briefing?}}

Listen to it here[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpllUQ38CKY]

Then the latest Doom came out in May 2016. This rendition can basically be described as "3d Brutal Doom II" only sexier, with features like [[Rip and tear|ripping enemies apart with your bare hands]] and having to stay on the move to avoid being torn to shreds. The plot is also as bare minimum as the original (albeit with a surprising amount of lore hidden away in the Codex...that makes one feel it’s set in the 40k verse), kicking the player straight into the action with waking up on Mars, immediately [[Rip and tear|smashing a zombie’s skull]], and basically being told: “demonic invasion, go kill everything.” Starts with corporate big wig trying to talk you into being on his side and [[Awesome|your answer is a solid ''"FUCK YOU" fist]]. Also, the player this time around is someone the demons call the “Doom Slayer", who has traveled through “Worlds and Time” (hinting that the Doom Slayer could very well be the original Doomguy from the first two games, having also survived Doom 64 and has been traveling Hell since, later all but confirmed in the sequel), and millennia ago [[Awesome|kicked Hell’s ass so hard that the best the demons could do is seal him away so that he wouldn’t destroy Hell]].
The Slayers testament tells in sparse detail but leaves enough imagination to realise what the Legions of Hell were up against. A near-immortal being of pure hate, blessed by the Seraphims (or Khorne...which would make this a suicide attempt), capable of standing against Legions of Demons completely alone and harnessing their power as he slaughters them. THEN he fought a [[Titan (D&D)|Titan]] of "immeasurable Power and Ferocity" with only his Sword (it was a laser sword though so there's that), killing and absorbing its power to turn them on the Demons. Desperate now, the highest [[Daemon Prince|Archdevils]] realized nothing short of a God will stop the Slayer (fitting since a god summoned it in the first place), so they prepared an elaborate Trap involving what may have been a Blackstone Sarcophagus.
It speaks for itself, of what the Bait, which lured the slayer to the temple of the Blood Keep, must have been made of... or was.
Now at the peak of his might, with sword and shield of "adamantine strength", he stood before [[Chaos|the Horde]], and [[rip and tear|split heads open, punched, maimed, killed, burnt]] until finally the whole temple collapsed on him and he was sealed in the Cursed Sarcophagus.
Millennia passed until the UAC decided to deal with an Energy Crisis by quite literally [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|slamming an Oil Derrick on a Hell Portal to siphon off Hell Energy for power]], and just for giggles starts tomb raiding Hell for artifacts and treasures as well, ultimately running off with the Doomguy's sarcophagus. The demons see that the Doomguy’s prison/tomb is empty, and the subsequent invasion is actually a panicked attempt to stop the Doomguy from being woken up. Obviously, they fail and he butchers every last one of them.

Samuel Hayden is the guy in charge of the UAC, a cyborg the size of a 40k [[Space Marine]]. He and Vega, the Mars UAC AI, basically are quest givers for the most part. His subordinate Olivia Pierce pretty much ran a cult while Hayden was pillaging artifacts from Hell, [[Grimdark|being the only one to make it back from the expeditions]]. When shit hits the fan he decides to wake the Doom Slayer up with the hopes that this wild card could help take control of the facility without causing too much damage. Of course, once awake, he goes on a rampage and busts the UAC's shit, as Hayden's disregard for human life is too far for even Doomguy to take, expressing his outrage without the need for a voice actor.

So now it's up to the Doom Slayer in awesome power armor to [[Rip and Tear|rip and tear]] and dakka every demon he comes across to stop Olivia while wrecking the UAC's energy production. After going to Hell at least once due to Olivia breaking an Argent Accumulator and making it back to Mars, then after Hayden installs a "tether" to him, Hayden sends Doomguy on a quest to find the Helix Stone, picking up the most powerful version of the BFG 9000 yet on the way (more on that below). Once he reaches the Helix Stone it directs Doomguy to acquire the Crucible, a relic in the Titan's Realm. So Doomguy has to kill the Cyberdemon to get back to hell, make a long trek and fight the three Hell Guardians who guard the Crucible and returns to Mars again. To finally stop Olivia, Hayden, being the bastard that he is, even sacrifices his old creation Vega, though unlike everyone else, at least our player character is nice enough to make a backup without anyone even bothering to ask. The Doom Slayer uses the Crucible to shutdown Hell's energy wells and releases the spirits of his old friends, the Night Sentinels.

Once Olivia is found once again, she transforms into the Spider Mastermind. If you've been collecting all the stuff as you should have, she can easily be (along with the other game other bosses in the game) cheesed by the best weapons even on the highest difficulty, with the [[Cheese|Rich get Richer]] Rune fully upgraded. Once she's dead it's the final cutscene, where Hayden steals the "Crucible" which turns out to be an energy blade that makes a [[Lightsaber]] look like a toothpick, then sends the Doom Slayer off to who knows where with the tether he installed into the Praetor Suit earlier, disposing of a potential threat before it decides to become one. After this, you experience one of the best credit sequences made for a video game in over a decade.

Mick Gordon's soundtrack gives the game the best metal music ever. BFG Division being the standout in the soundtrack. Used for two whole levels and the final boss music is a Glitch remix of it. There is also some inspiration from RPG style FPS a la Metro 2033 and [[Samus|Metroid Prime]]. As collecting Argent Energy, weapon mods, elite guard tokens, and Runes allow them to upgrade the Praetor Suit and weapons to their preferred play style. The engine allows the Doom Slayer a wide range of first-person animations, as his destruction of UAC property and actions portrays an "I'm too old for this shit" attitude; having to fight demons for centuries doesn't make for a happy camper.

The damage of the BFG 9000 itself is notable. This thing instantly vaporizes every non-boss enemy on-screen! (and them too if you exploit a glitch. However what a player does that the devs didn't intend is dubious canon.) You read that correctly, you don't have to aim it directly at your targets to kill them. You just have to find the right opening to make it kill every demon you can. As the Plasma Bolt throws out lightning or much more likely, solar flares. That would mean the Plasma the BFG fires is likely firing a fucking miniature star with each shot! The F in BFG may stand for Fermentation, Grimdark! with science!. We can wait while you Google it.

Don't be impressed just yet. A Baron of Hell is 2000 pounds and because the BFG's ordinance turns everything it comes in contact with into gibs, that means it has to have 7 Gigajoules of energy and would have to be heated up to over 100,000 degrees Celsius! [[Anal_Circumference|A temperature range which is only seen in small stars and nebula!]] That's not just [[GrimDark]], that's just fucking cold in the most brutal way possible and speaks to the insanity of the UAC for building this thing. Are we sure somebody didn't screw up the name? Though Brown Dwarf Gun 9000 doesn't sound as cool. (Though why is it green? Because it's blue-green! As blue in space equals very fucking hot! Red Giant/Supergiants/Hyper-giants are (relatively) cold because they are old, a young blue star, giant or not, is insanely hot. Red Dwarfs are insanely long-lived because they are cold and slow-burning) In all possibility, if the Doom Slayer didn't wear his Praetor Suit, firing the weapon would instantly annihilate him too! (since Photons are their own particle and antiparticle the word is valid) No apologies for the science jokes. They are necessary evils in explaining how the BFG 9000 works.

It also says a lot of the bosses as a direct hit will merely stun them (without using the weapon wheel glitch) while shaving off large portions of their health. So you need either a very advanced suit of Powered Armor or a significant amount of mass to survive a direct hit from the plasma bolt and its flares. The only real con to using the BFG 9000 is it's limited ammo of four shots. Though a good player can get around that if they set up their Runes correctly.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig_gQAITzIk| Science and math mostly explained in this Youtube video ]. So yeah, the BFG 9000 shoots miniature stars.

===DOOM Eternal===
{{topquote|Against all the evil that hell can conjure, all the wickedness that mankind can produce, we will send up to them, only you. Rip and Tear until it is done!|King Novik of the Night Sentinels}}

Doom Eternal was announced at E3 and a gameplay reveal was shown at Quakecon 2018. To say that its awesome is an understatement.
[[File:Slayer on corpses.png|400px|thumb|right|"The only thing they fear... is YOU!"
If the whole Warp, set for Khorne, actively shits their pants when the Slayer comes, you're in for [[Rip_and_tear|FUN]].]]
We are introduced to the Maykrs of Urdak, an elder race with a techno-angelic motif that serves as the Sentinels' patron. One of them was the so-called Seraphim that empowered the Doomguy even further, turning him into the nigh-godlike and unstoppable avatar of sheer [[Awesome]] that is the Doom Slayer (seriously, the Doom Slayer is compared to a [[Titan]] on the level of the Icon of Sin). They may actually be a group of [[C'tan]], but we are not sure.

Sadly, all good things come to an end. The Sentinels were betrayed from within, the Doom Slayer banished to Hell ''again'' (eventually leading to him being entombed before the events of '''Doom 2016''') and what's worse, it turns out the Maykrs were only using the Sentinels to further their own race's objectives. What's more, the current invasion of Earth was the result of one of their long-term plans, with humanity as simply one more race that was to receive "penitence" in their place (read: the Maykrs are using Hell energy to prolong their lives, and willingly let Demons eat entire worlds to that end). Yet more evidence that these guys are C’tan.

The game picks up a few months after the end of the previous game with Samuel Hayden returning to Earth after the destruction of the Argent Tower on Mars that was the only way of getting free, unlimited energy out of Hell. But, he has the Crucible (confiscated from the Doom Slayer in the ending of 2016) with which he starts developing a synthesized form of Argent energy while the UAC begins to completely fall under the control of their leaders, the Hell Priests who entombed the Slayer so long ago. They start sacrificing humans left and right to start a ritual that will allow the demons to consume Earth, terraform the land to living flesh and molten lava, kill all that resist, transport their souls to Hell and refine them to pure Argent Energy while the impure Souls are made into new demons! A full-scale demonic incursion is now underway on Earth, with billions of dead, over two-thirds of Earth consumed while half of the UAC has gone full Quisling to the invaders, with the other half putting up a token [[Planetary Defense Force| resistance as the Armoured Response Coalition (ARC)]]. All hope seems lost...

"...We watched as the horde overwhelmed the very best and most advanced machinery and weapons technology that we could muster against the opposition. It was useless, they moved too quickly, they cared not for themselves, only sought out the blood of humanity. They were willing to sacrifice their own to get to the heart of our world. We slaughtered thousands and millions more followed, but then HE came - he cut through them like a sickle through a field - his fury surpassing their own. He is faster - more relentless - unyielding. I believe him now to be more than just a man - he is...DOOM." --Dr. Elena Richardson.

Equipped with his new Predator suit (3 guesses why it is called that, the first two don't count), he seeks his prey from his orbital fortress monastery (fittingly called the Fortress of DOOM), strikes with merciless fury surpassing the Death Company, Flesh Tearers, World Eaters (primarch included) and Skarbrand '''Combined''', and he will stop at nothing to destroy the demonic hordes. Read: Personally [[Rip_and_tear|kill. Every. Single. Demon. With extreme prejudice.]]

Immediately after defeating the Hell Priest Deag Nilox's guardian off screen locating his whereabouts on Earth, the Slayer teleports onto his barge, kicks all doors in and vice grips the head off of the Priest, reducing the consumption of the Earth by 36.8%.

He then gatecrashes the nearby Citadel, interrupting the ritual of the Priests with Nilox's severed head, before being interrupted by the Khan Maykr. The C'tan by any other name tells him even he goes too far this time, before teleporting the Priests out of the Slayer's reach. Since the Hell Priests classify as Alpha Plus Psykers, (the first one being able to command his own legion of Titans AND shield himself from even nuclear bombardment) they can be found with a Celestial Locator. To construct a Locator, the Slayer goes to Exultia (an Argenta city) to retrieve the Celestial Casing, only to be scolded by the late King Novik for killing the Priests and that Humanity is no longer his people to be saved. Realizing that no ordinary individual will help him, the Slayer enters [[Warp|Hell]], and it's even more magnificent than Doom 2016, with gigantic walls and corridors made of flesh, abandoned [[Warlord_Battle_Titan| Sentinel Mechs]] and the remains of the Titan Demons that were killed by them, and near everything you could think of, even the Tower Of Babel in the background. Here the Slayer finds Valen, known by most as the Betrayer, repenting in his exile. After telling the Slayer that saving humanity will only make his burden worse, the Betrayer nevertheless installs the Celestial Power Core for the Slayer, as well as giving him a dagger he may need later.

Now able to locate the other Priests, the Slayer goes to Deag Ranak's UAC Cultist base in the Arctic, wrecking its operations before moving onto the neighboring Doom Hunter base. As yet more proof the Maykrs are [[C'tan]], the priest recovered an extinct race of demons once bred to destroy the Slayer (take a wild guess why exactly they went extinct) and, with nothing better to do, turned these things into [[Necron Destroyer|Semi-Organic Necron Destroyers]], labeling them “Doom hunters”, and calling you a heretic...which is [[HERESY|{{BLAM|'''''BLASTPHAMY'''''}}]]. After [[Rip and tear|losing]] them and complaining about it, the Priest, in the face of his impending DOOM, tries to bribe the Slayer, which [[Fail|literally costs him his head]].

Now furious, the Khan Makyr leads the last Priest to safety, while demonic activity on Earth skyrockets. Realizing Earth needs immediate backup at the Super Gore Nest in Europe after a failed attack from the [[Imperial_Guard|Earth Forces]] (with a casualty rate of over 87%), the Slayer arrives at what can only be described as a border between Slaanesh's and Nurgle's Domains. Every building in the vicinity has grown flesh, teeth and openings that look like both mouths and birth canals, the air is filled with toxicity, tentacles sprouted everywhere. But after a nuclear meltdown of the local reactor which conveniently houses the heart of the Gore Nest, the problem is quickly taken care of.

Back to searching and destroying the last Priest, VEGA is sure that Samuel Hayden would be able to locate him immediately. However, a combined Demon attack on his headquarters, the ARC Complex, left him badly wounded. Just as the Slayer gets to him and is about to teleport back to his fortress, the Earth beneath him quakes and a red portal opens up, and from it emerges the Marauder. Imagine a heretic [[Adeptus_Custodes|Custodes]] empowered by Khorne but with battle tactics from Tzeentch, the endurance of Nurgle and the speed of Slaanesh. These guys are absolutely no joke (yes, there are more of them) and if you haven't been playing like your life depended on it, prepare to be absolutely [[Anal_Circumference|curbstomped]].

Meanwhile, its clear that Samuel Hayden knows *way* more about the Slayer, Hell, and the Maykrs than he let on in the last game, strongly hinting that Samuel may in fact be a Maykr himself (which begs the question of what he was up to if he understood just how dangerous Hell was and how Argent Energy was made). He tells us that the last Priest hides in the Arena of Sentinel Prime, the Capital of the Night Sentinels and the only way to gain access is hidden in the core of [[Mars|Mars]]. But instead of calling the [[Adeptus_Mechanicus|Mechanicus]] to help, the Slayer enters the Moon of Phobos, where the battleship-sized BFG 10,000 is stationed, takes the gun over, targets Mars and [[Exterminatus|blasts the Core open]]... despite Samuel’s protests. He then proceeds to hop into a giant mass driver and blast himself to his next destination, [[Angry_Marines|streaking across the ruined Martian sky like a rage-fueled missile]].

Now on Sentinel Prime, the game goes into who the Doom Slayer really is. It turns out the Doom Slayer really ''is'' the classic [[Doomguy]] from Doom 1, 2, and 64, who after staying behind in <s>the warp</s> Hell he is eventually spat out, [[Gotrek_%26_Felix#Gotrek_in_the_Age_of_Sigmar|half-delirious and nuts from his experience of fighting off its hordes for an eternity]], unto the world of Argent D'Nur, where he is found by the ''Night Sentinels'', [[Grey Knights|an order of techno-knights dedicated to fighting demons]]. He is nursed back to sanity, and joins their order, eventually rising through their ranks due the sheer [[Rip and Tear]] he was capable of.

The final Priest, hiding in the Colosseum, is confident that the Slayer would never kill him in the arena, as it is against holy law of the Sentinels to spill Priest blood, especially in such a sacred place. He sends out his Gladiator, a being that even if its flesh is destroyed, its soul would prevail until its body is reformed. But the Soul resides in the gigantic shield it uses, so the Slayer destroys the shield first and then the face of the gladiator, and despite the warning shoots the final Priest to death. And by "shoot to death", we mean blow his head clean off with the Super Shotgun as he smugly declares how he can't be killed. The Khan Maykr is rather pissed about this.

As soon as he gets back home, she manages to hack into the Fortress of Doom, turning off the power and flooding the bridge with Demons. The attack obviously fails like so many other attempts. Hayden mocking her as the Slayer restores power with Hayden's own Crucible. Now the plans of the Khan Maykr are ruined, as there are no more priests to maintain the Hell gates, so if the Earth Forces kill all the demons, they would prevail. As a desperate last resort, the Khan Maykr wants to resurrect the Icon of Sin to eradicate all life on Earth. Of course, the prospect of seeing ''another'' Earth brought to ruin has made the Doom Slayer rightly [[Rage|pissed]], and suffice to say, [[Not As Planned|the Maykrs have no idea what they've just unleashed]].
So it's time for the Doomslayer to recover his own Crucible in Taras Nabad. Which was stuck into the skull of a Titan and breaks off the hilt to prevent its resurrection. Now it needs to be recharged. Once finished the Demons attack to give players an opportunity to test the new weapon. The Crucible is a one-hit kill on all but the strongest of enemies and there are respawning charges that only appear at this location. Use this for practice time before moving forward because the OHKO drops health picks faster than normal glory kills.

To reach the Khan Maykr, Doomguy now teleports to Nekravol, the City of the Damned. It's a [[Grimdark|place of biblical torment, fire and brimstone, cages bursting with humans piled up like livestock]], [[Commorragh| a place where human souls are "tenderized" and tortured until all hope is broken and every sense but the pain is gone.]] Only then can their souls be extracted and converted to pure Argent energy, which will be sent to the Khan Maykr in the City of Urdak (Heaven), while the empty shells of the humans are sent to the blood swamps to transform into more Demons. A process which every [[Haemonculus]] pays respect to. As it is, things that are worthy of being called "holy" are often more horrendous than the horrors of Hell itself.

The Slayer rips and tears through all of that mercilessly, and finally destroys the transmitter tower. Its destruction resulted in the Slayer being transported straight to "Heaven", a completely unnatural location in true H.R. Giger aesthetic, littered with white and gold colours and blood-red trees. In true Doomguy fashion, he interrupts the ritual that will resurrect the Icon of Sin by stabbing its heart with the dagger he got from the Betrayer. [[Not_as_planned|The Icon wakes up, corrupts the entire realm, and invites all sorts of demons to ravage Urdak]] before leaving to Earth.

Doomguy immediately follows but is interrupted by the Khan Maykr herself. In true Eldar fashion, she accuses Doomguy of all the bad things that SHE did which broke the seal to Urdak, and that the use of thousand other species as Argent Energy for her race is justified in her traditions. Doomguy then slaps the shit out of her, and even in her final moments, she tells us that we have doomed all of creation. It’s likely she’s lying to hide the fact that she’s a C’tan.

Back on Earth, the final fight against the Icon of Sin begins. Now with a full-body, it is no longer a static boss fight but a semi-static. You blow parts from the Icon, until you finish it with your Crucible, by [[Awesome|slamming it into its forehead]]

===DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods===
{{Template:Spoilers}}
A two parts stand-alone DLC for Doom Eternal: The Icon may be dead, but now that the demons have free reign over Urdak and have initiated a second invasion of Earth, its up to Doomguy to clean up the mess he left behind. This Cleanup begins on an UAC oilrig platform, where the remaining conciousness of the Seraphim is hidden, as Samuel informs the Slayer that only he can give us an answer for a long term solution to the demons (besides killing them all) After aquiring the orb with the Seraphim in it, the Facility AI self destructs the whole Rig to prevent the Slayer from leaving, but just mildly annoys him. Now traveling to the bottom of the Ocean with only his pure rage against the pressure and fighting in a Kill Room with TWO Marauders, he reaches a Room with a Maykr in it. Big surprise; they confirm Hayden is the Seraphim and VEGA as the Father aka the creator of the Universe, but as Hayden fractured in his Life sphere and conciousness. The life sphere rests atop the Ingmur Sanctom of the Blodswamps in Hell. While this sounds incredible stupid to put the mightiest being directly in the most corrupted Part of Hell, francly speaking Nurgles private Garden, the sanctum itself is protected to only let the one who passes the Trial of Malligog through, Malligog beeing an extremly enormous Titan, ranging in size of 2-3 Kilometers. Reaching the sanctum, Samuel already awaits him to take the Fathers life sphere to save the humans, but his rapidly proceeding transfiguration (mutating into a demon) lets him slip his tounge; He only wants to save himself.
Doomguy however has other plans; he denies the Seraphim and destroys the Father's life sphere, so he can never interfere directly again. THEN walks to a life sphere of pure darkness, [[Khorne|the Dark Lord's one]], so he can summon him and face him mano-a-mano, as he is responsible for the ever expanding Realm of hell and its forces. Back to Urdak in its most holy place, the luminarium, Samuel embraces his full mutation into a demon to desperatly stop the Slayer, but has to be bailed out by the Fathers remaining presence, after nearly getting killed. The luminarium then restores the Dark Lord to his physical form, but the biggest surprise of all is that the Dark Lord takes the form of the Doomguy himself!

Part Two can best be described as laying Siege on what would become Khorne’s brass Citadel, breaking in, seeing him get up from his throne, dig up his own oversized suit of power armor and fight you to the death. On the opposite end, the Slayer was [[awesome|ready to siege the citadel on his own]], getting support from the remaining [[Grey Knights|Night]] [[Legion of the Damned|Sentinels]] bringing their entire army and join him in smashing the Dark Lord's shit (and we finally get to see that fuckhuge mecha in the fortress actually walk, AND hitting equally huge Titan demons in the face).
The Dark lord faces you with his immortal body, [[Contemptor-Galatus_Dreadnought|his own set of Praetor Armor]] and worst of all, ALL your own abilitys (if he hits you, he regenerates his own health back.) Lore wise this battle would last an eternity, two personifications of unrestrained Rage, able to heal themselves as they inflict unspeakable carnage upon creation, until the dark lord finally goes down. Even near death he still reaches his sword to fight on, but finally gives in, having created the Slayer in what amounts to an incredibly convoluted but awesome suicide by battle, and asks the Slayer if he has anything to say to his Creator before striking him down, to which the Slayer simply says "No".

Bad News: Mick Gordon isn't coming back this time around (due to some internal issues, he was let go). Good News: Andrew Hulshult and David Levi, another rather well-known composers who helped compose for some other shooters (Dusk, Amid Evil, Rise of the Triad 2013) are coming to take his place. While it's clear Hulshult and Levi might not be able to imitate Gordon, it's obvious they dont disappoint.

===Demons===
Doom 2016 by itself has more demons than the classic games do, even though not all of them return from those games. Doom Eternal ups the count even more, although not all demons from 2016 return. Some demons are upgraded versions of a base model; they are sorted as such.

*'''The Possessed/Zombies''': In 2016, Possessed were humans that underwent horrific mutations due to the Lazarus Wave released by Olivia Pierce on the Mars Outpost. In Eternal, Zombies are the emaciated husks of humans stripped of their soul and mutated by demonic corruption. In both cases: wet toilet paper. They are some of the weakest enemies in the games and can easily be dispatched. 2016's Possessed are cheap glory kill fodder, while Eternal's Zombies are classified under the Fodder demon class, i.e. one of the chief targets of your Glory Kills, Chainsaw, Flame Belch, ice bomb and all other ways with which to keep your health, armour and ammo stocked up.
**'''Possessed Engineers/Cueballs''': Little more than walking bombs. Either shoot them to detonate them or melee them to launch them and have them detonate on impact. Returning as Cueballs in Eternal, these Ambient-class demons replace the "walking" part with "standing gormlessly in one spot, ignorant of any fighting going on around them". This allows the Slayer to use them as flying, explosive barrels if shot at the right angle.
**'''Possessed Soldiers/Blaster Zombie Soldiers''': Unlike their gormless lesser brethren, Possessed Soldiers move faster and with more tact, are hardier and can use a plasma gun fused to their arm to lay down suppressive fire. They're still not much of a threat. Eternal's Blaster Zombies are little more than Possessed Soldiers with a Classic Doom zombieman coat of paint, so make sure to keep some distance.
**'''Possessed Security/Shield Zombie Soldiers''': Wet toilet paper with shards of glass. Equipped with shields and shotguns, these can really ruin your day if you let them. The most effective strategy against them in 2016 is either to chainsaw them or use the Plasma Rifle's stun bomb to disable their shields. While Eternals Shield Zombies still hit just as hard, their threat level dropped off the abyss thanks to their energy shields ''violently exploding'' in response to absorbing too many Plasma Rifle bolts.
**'''Hell Razer''': 2016 exclusive, Hell Razers fight at a distance with arm-mounted laser cannons, which are actually parasites converting a human into a Hell Razer. Fire slowly and have distinct tells to their attacks. Don't pose too much of a threat: dodge their attack, get close and shotgun them.
**'''Mecha Zombie''': New in Eternal, these gore-covered terminator knockoffs are armed with metal claws, a plasma gun and a flamethrower, the latter of which they will flail about in order to hit you. Still fairly ineffectual.
*'''Imps''': The fodder from the original game, now quick as a hiccup. They jump all over the place, pelting you with fireballs and clawing at you if you get too close. Because they're one of the first enemies you face they don't pose much of a threat; your Combat Shotgun makes quick work of them (especially with the Explosive Shot/Sticky Bomb mod), and they gain an explicit weakness to bullet weapons (Heavy Cannon and Chaingun) in Eternal. Eternal also classifies them under Fodder demons, meaning that they make for great resource piñatas.
**'''Gargoyles''': Added in Eternal. Pretty much Imps with wings and [[Tyranid|scything talons]], they jump around and spit acid at you. They'll occasionally hover in place to fire off an acid volley, causing them to become instantly staggered for a Glory Kill when hit during this attack, so take your opportunity. Also classified as Fodder demons.
**'''Prowlers''': Originally added in 2016's multiplayer, they were promoted to regular enemies in Eternal. They function the same as Imps but with more health and they can teleport, often right behind you to claw at you. Classified as a Heavy Demon, meaning they require more Chainsaw fuel to mow down compared to Imps.
*'''Carcasses''': Debuting as Heavy demons in Doom Eternal, the Carcass' attacks are not that powerful and they don't have a lot of health. What they do have is the ability to summon energy barriers, blocking your ability to move around freely, home in on them, glory kill other demons and use explosive weapons safely. Your primary target in an encounter because eliminating them makes a fight a lot easier. Thankfully, these barriers share the same explosive vulnerability to plasma fire as the Shield Zombies' Shields.
*'''Pinkies''': Ol' faithful is now covered in armour, turning them into living battering rams. They (still) roar and charge in on you, dealing significant damage upon impact. The armour soaks most damage they take from the front, so circle them and [[Meme|attack their weak point for massive damage]]. In Eternal, they gain the Heavy demon classification and a crippling weakness to the Blood Punch, being the only attack that can kill them without deliberately striking their weak point.
**'''Spectres''': As the Pinky, but invisible. A bit harder to deal with because of this, but thankfully a lot less common and lack the armour plating.
*'''Cacodemons''': [[Star Wars|They fly now!]] Their spit attacks slow and disorient you, and their bite attack does a lot of damage. But because they fly now you can easily pick them off with your rocket launcher or gauss cannon. As Heavy demons in Eternal, they decided to min-max; their bite takes off a surprisingly large chunk of your health and is often paired with an aggressively distant lunge, while their shock-balls can be fired in a multi-shot volley. But it comes with devastating weakness: a single Combat Shotgun Sticky Bomb or Equipment Cannon Frag Grenade into their mouths causes them to swallow it, instantly staggering them for an easy glory kill. As an airborne demon, they also gain a weakness to Ballista attacks, dying in one Arbalest bolt.
**'''Pain Elementals''': Returning in Doom Eternal as Heavy demons, they endlessly summon chuck the homing suicide bomber Lost Souls at you. While they don't swallow any grenades like their Cacodemon compatriots, they ''do'' share the innate weakness of all airborne demons against the Ballista. Despite this, they are still more of threat that their short-limbed buddies could ever be.
*'''Lost Souls''': Horned, burning skulls that scream, fling themselves at you and explode for an annoying amount of damage. At least in 2016; in Eternal, they also appear when summoned by a Pain Elemental which is when they function more or less the same.
*'''Revenants''': [[Meme|DOOT]]. Made from humans in a gruesome process, the Revenants have jetpacks that let them fly around to put themselves in the perfect possession to launch barrages of missiles at you. They can also claw at you for significant damage, so keep your distance and take them out. In Eternal, you become able to shoot off their shoulder cannons, permanently grounding them restricting their melee attacks to the easily-evaded claw swipes. Classified under the Heavy class and, surprisingly, as airborne demons, making them into potent Ballista chow. Their meme potential is so great that a trumpet-equipped Revenant is a skin included in the pre-order edition of Doom Eternal.
*'''Summoners''': Only appearing in 2016, Summoners are pared-down versions of the Archvile. They possess lithe bodies that let them easily zip around and set up a summon circle away from your location, allowing them to call in aid. Sustained fire from just about any weapon will take them down.
**'''Spirits''': Doom Eternal DLC. While they look like the ghastly Remains of the Summoner, the Spirit will possess other Demons, taking their Fear and ability to feel Pain, while making them faster and more resilient. But even an upgraded body will give in with enough Dakka. Destroy the Spirit with the microwave mod of the Plasma cannon. OR kill everything living and watch the spirit, unable to manifest itself in Realspace anymore, fade out of existence.
**'''Harvesters''': Unique to 2016's multiplayer, the only demon to be so. Harvesters move around and instead of summoning other demons will shoot balls of plasma and drain life from other players, allowing them to supercharge their regular attacks.
*'''Arachnotrons''': Back in Doom Eternal, the Arachnotrons are walking gun platforms that can cling to ceilings to get a better vantage point to shoot at you. Their plasma turrets are mounted on an exposed, scorpion-like tail, which can be destroyed to limited their attacks to the more manageable and telegraphed bomb volley. Their resemblance to the Spider Mastermind from 2016 is intentional: the UAC cloned them using the Spider Mastermind's genetic material. [[Looted|and when the demonic invasion began, the automated facility making them was taken over by the possesed]]...[[Just As Planned|Which was planned]]
*'''Whiplashes''': The first all-female demons introduced in Doom Eternal resembling [[lamia]]e, but don't expect any monster girls. They are as nasty as any Heavy demon in Doom, and they use their great speed to slither in and around the battlefield, dodging heavy-hitting weapons before hacking away at your health from a distance with a pair of chained whips. Difficult to hit, but once you start hitting them they'll go down eventually. That, or use a Lock-On Burst from the Rocket Launcher to delete them.
*'''Mancubi''': Big fat bastards equipped with heavy cannons to blast you with fireballs and flamethrowers to keep you at a distance. They're big, slow targets with slow attacks so if you can keep your distance they're not too big a threat. In Eternal, these Heavy demons got faster (and fatter) but you can blast their flamethrowers off, severely nerfing their damage output. After that, sustained Chain gun fire or a few missiles/Super Shotgun blasts will easily take them out.
**'''Cyber Mancubi''': Heavily armoured versions of the Mancubus. They fire globs of acid that linger on terrain for a bit, limiting your movement options, but lack the flamethrower attack. In 2016 you just pour more damage into them to take them out. In Eternal, their armour is destructible and can be stripped instantly with a single Blood Punch, making it easier for you to deal with them. But because their cannons are armoured you can't blast them off like you can with the regular Mancubi.
*'''Archviles''': Oh HELL no. The Summoner on crack, an Archvile can put up barriers of fire to keep you away while they Summon more demons. If you don't interrupt them you'll be facing a more difficult fight, especially if they summon a MOTHERFUCKING MARAUDER. Even when not summoning they are tough and can dish out a lot of damage, setting the ground beneath you aflame or sweeping fire waves in your direction, while any friends they successfully summon receives a buff that lasts until the Archvile's death. In short, after taking out all Carcasses in an area, they are your next target if you want to win a fight.
*'''Hell Knights''': [[World Eaters|Big dudes who revel in wrecking your shit]]. They are fast, closing the distance to pummel you or to perform a leaping ground slam for a short-ranged area of effect attack. Keep your distance and pump them full of lead to take them down quickly if you don't want to be taken out yourself. In Eternal, they gain the Heavy demon classification and a crippling weakness to Chaingun fire.
**'''Dread Knights''': Cybernetically enhanced Hell Knights constantly pumped full of adrenaline and dopamine for every kill they make. Appearing only in Eternal as Heavy demons, their most prominent feature are a pair of energy blades, which considerably extends their melee range and causes their ground slams to leave a lingering, damaging pool of energy for a bit. Can fire lasers from their blades at you, and shares a weakness to the Chaingun, as with other Hell Nobles.
**'''Barons of Hell''': [[Bloodthirster|Big red bastards]] who are the toughest regular enemies in 2016. They hit like trucks and can blast you with powerful balls of green fire. The best way to deal with them is a heavily upgraded chainsaw or the BFG to not deal with their bullshit. In Eternal, they return as the Fireborne Barons; a Super-Heavy class demon that is immune to the chainsaw and cannot be one-shot by the BFG, so you'll have your work cut out for you. Befitting their name, Firebone Barons are also [[Salamanders_(Chapter)|coated in flames with obsidian skin]] and have burning blades coming from their lower arms, which fits given how much more dangerous they are.
*'''Tyrants''': Pretty much downgraded Cyberdemons (Looking more like the classic Cyber rather than 2016's beefy Balgaar monstrosity) and one of the most powerful common enemies in the game. Packing a powerful laser cannon, a laser blade and the ability to fire missile barrages, paired with a MASSIVE pool of health, these Super-Heavies should be eliminated as fast as you can so that you can deal with the rest of the demons. The fastest way to do so is with the Crucible, which will hack a Tyrant up in no time. [[FAIL|Just make sure that you actually hit the Tyrant itself and not the fodder running around it]]. Otherwise, just exploit its slow turning speed to dedicate as much ammunition you have on-hand to shooting at it until it dies.
*'''Makyr Drones''': The generic rank-and-file of the Maykrs. Annoyingly resilient for Fodder demons and armed with rapid-fire laser turrets, headshotting them with (almost) any weapon is a guaranteed insta-kill that provides ammo as well.
*'''Blood Maykrs''': Definitly not [[Blood Angels]]. The normal Maykr population after getting corrupted by Hell. They shield themselves with a golden aura that negates all damage, and attack with slow energy balls. Once they notice that such things would never work, they will lower their shield to start a Powerful Argent energy attack. A Headshot instakills them like a drone while sustained Fire on their body works too.
*'''Doom Hunters''': Introduced as a boss and later reused as rare Super-Heavy demons. A species of demons driven to extinction by the Doom Slayer and brought back by the Hell Priest Deag Ranak, the Doom Hunters resemble [[Necron Destroyer]]s with a cannon and a chainsaw for arms and missiles that can be fired from its hover sled. They have an energy shield that you need to deplete to be able to damage them directly, though it's possible to attack their Blood-Punch-vulnerable hover sled directly first to disconnect the main body from it. Infamous for being a boss that is lazily reused during the course of the game, as early as [[Rage|THE VERY NEXT COMBAT ARENA AFTER FIGHTING THE FIRST ONE]]. However, the mook versions don't have immunity to Ice Grenades.
*'''Marauders''': [[Chaos_Space_Marine|Former Night Sentinels corrupted by Hell]], the Marauders are fast, deadly and a pain to kill. They possess energy shields that block all incoming damage, including the BFG, Crucible, and Unmakyr (though not splash damage from explosives), can pelt energy beams from long-range, blast you with their own ''Super Shotgun'' at close range, and can summon spirit wolves to hunt you down if you shoot their shield too often. If baited into sprinting at you and brought into mid-range, their eyes will flash green as they swing their axe at you: use this as an opening to blast them with your Super Shotgun or Ballista, then quickly switch between the two until their stagger expires. Repeat this, rip and tear, done.
*'''The Gladiator''': The Last Living Hell Knight of DOOM II and, unlike the Doom Hunter, has survived the extinction event that is the Slayer. Armed with a gargantuan soul-vessel shield that blocks all incoming damage, and a flail with a retractable chain for close and distant attacks. Like the Marauder, if his eyes blink green you have an opening to shoot him with any weapon (though Ballista or Super Shotgun are still preferable). A headshot will stagger him for a glory kill, but the Slayer will simply beat the shit out of him. Phase 1 ends with the destruction of the shield, and now the Gladiator goes ballistic with TWO flails. The best approach now is to shoot at it until it dies (when it isn't spinning its flail to reflect attacks back at you).
*'''The Icon of Sin''': A legendary titan, resurrected into the body of the Son of the Betrayer, [[Chaos_Spawn|deformed and warped beyond recognition]], his very existence in Realspace causing destruction and madness. Its described that, if left unchecked, it will drag the entire dimension to Hell through a supermassive black hole - so basically if one of the Chaos Gods themselves manifested in Realspace. The Khan Maykr thought It could be controlled using the Soul of the Betrayer's Son, putting it into [[Power_Armour|Power Armour]] for insurance. But then, the Doom Slayer stabbed the heart containing the son's soul with a dagger provided by the Betrayer ([[Matt_Ward|though without carving the Name of the Betrayer into it]]), setting the soul free and, with it, the beast from Maykr control over. The battle itself is, on paper, pretty easy: eight pieces of the Icon's armour must be destroyed (head, both upper arms, both forearms, both pectorals and abdomen) using your whole arsenal. While doing so, lesser demons will try to harass you and distract you from the Icon. With the armour's destruction, the whole process starts again in the second phase, but this time, you chip away at the flesh and bone of those same regions until the Icon collapses, giving you time to ram your Crucible into Its Brain.
*'''The Original Dark Lord/ Davoth''': The original Dark Lord created by the Father as a Primeval, one of the first gods. Doomguy's equal. Designed to truly care about his People, he spiraled out of control in search for eternal life, to save his people from death. Formerly a caring guardian, he tortured everyone who slightly deviated from this goal. After Davoth got imprisoned in his soul sphere by the Father, demons apparently fought one other to claim his title while he still whispered his influence to them. The Dark Lord of the First Age after Davoth made the deal with the Khan Maykr and the most recent one, the Dark Lord of the Fourth Age, is implied to have been the Spider Mastermind that possessed Olivia Pierce before getting her head blown off by BFG-9000. Davoth himself apparently prevented anyone from becoming Dark Lord of the Fifth Age as he was released from his soul sphere several months later. Currently only seen in one cutscene after his soul sphere was unlocked and everyone hopes the final fight will be the same as a Unreal Tournament/ Quake Deathmatch.

===Trivia===
*The Fortress of Doom is the personal fortress-monastery/mancave of the Slayer, once used for the Galaxy spanning Crusade of The Night Sentinels. Features a Teleportarium with an absurd range (teleporting the Slayer from Earth's orbit to the Hell-absorbed Argent D'nur, which is on a completely different dimensional plane to the Sol system), a Hangar bay with a Sentinel "Atlan" Mech, and a prison named the "Ripatorium", filled with Demons the Slayer undoubtedly abducted, to slaughter them for sport.
**On at least one occasion, the Slayer seems to have fought against Noise Marines, as his personal quarters feature a guitar made of flesh.
**The Fortress has a shit-ton of easter eggs and even a few unlockable weapons. Such as a redesigned Unmaykr (unlockable) froom Doom 64 and the Soul Cube of Doom 3(just a prop). You'll want the Unmaykr whither you want to slaughter demons or a completionist. The Slayers own room also displays all the weapons and toys players have collected over the game. There is a bookshelf that references other franchises, a cage for his dead rabbit Daisy and even a painting of said pet and the Slayer.
*It is said that the "Wretch" who gave the Slayer an adamantine armour, forged from the Fires of Hell, was in fact Khorne Himself. Even if he can't corrupt the Slayer, he doesn’t need to. The carnage he brings upon demons is the equivalent of centuries of war.
**Doomguy and Khorne may have flat-out '''teamed up''', as Doomguy wants to kill demons (Khorne technically isn’t a demon), and Khorne wants to take over Hell. The two of them have become fire-forged friends since then, to such a degree that, according to a legend passed down among demons, Khorne has a stasis pod containing the Doomguy stored deep in the heart of his personal fortress. Possibly underneath the skull throne itself.
***Khorne is Doomguys equal. In the ancient Gods DLC the life essence of the true Ruler of Hell gets resurrected, and he takes on the form of Doomguy. The Dark Lord of Hell is the leader of Hell`s armies. Not a King, but a warrior of the Dark Realm. The fiercest among all, as only the strongest could rule. He is you. Wait a minute [[Samus|that sounds familiar]], Hey if your going to steal, you may as well do it from the best.
*Since the Night Sentinels went to war against the Demons, they are effectively the first Space Marine Chapter (preceding even the Thunder Warriors), since they are to an extent Psykers, deploy with Argent (warp) using Weapons, have their own Titan Legion, Use a Space fleet of Flying Castles, have an Arena for duels to the Death, and only The Strongest among them can become King, they even had a mini civil war. the only thing they are missing is DNA from the God-Emperor...and even then, Doomguy may have it.
**The Sentinel Titans are called "Atlans" and are the Ultimate Example of a [[Invictor Tactical Warsuit|Babycarrier]] done right. Armed with one or two shoulder-mounted Giant [[Plasma Annihilators|Plasma_Annihilator]], the Palms of the Hands featuring the same sort of plasma weapon but weaker. The Melee Weapon being an ECKS BAKS HUEG Energy Spear for impaling equally huge Titans.
*The Makyrs in Doom Eternal bare a surprising resemblance to the [[C'tan]] (even being unable to show their true forms outside of Urdak). They also possess a sort of metal skin on all castes of there race, resembling necrodermis.
*Sometime between the events of Doom 64 and Doom (2016), the Slayer was subjected to something called the "Divinity Machine," given his new abilities from that point forward, it's possible he had a fragment of <s>the Warp</s> hell itself imbued within him, thereby making him a man uplifted with <s>psyker</s> argent powers. This might make him this dimension's equivalent of [[The God-Emperor of Mankind|The Emperor]]... if this is a separate dimension.
*In Doom Eternal, the Slayers new armour is not fully sealed, giving a look Upon His Arms, like a certain [[Kharn the Betrayer|Swell Guy]].
*Said Swell Guy <s>may or may have not been</s> probably is a Descendant of The Slayer's "friend," Valen the previous holder of the title of "Betrayer". The best guess would be that the Emperor used his Genetic Code for The Basics of Angron, and later the World Eaters Legion.
*The Crucible uses pure Argent energy to create its blade. This means it's soul-powered and therefore, since the Doom Slayer absorbs the power of the demons (giving them a true death), [[Grimdark|uses the life essence of demons to kill more demons]].
**Because the Doom Slayer does give true death to deamons, this may mean he can do what every single eldar, necron, and psychically adept human thought was impossible...actually '''kill''' the chaos gods, he would probably choose [[Slaanesh]] first
*The forces of Hell seem to be a serious threat even judging from the absurd standard of 40k. Samuel Hayden gave the surviving humans insane technology (full functioning AI battlesuits for infantry, and colossal Titan mechs, Dark Age Technology so to speak) and still couldn't get the upper hand. The only viable solution to gain ground seemed to be [[Exterminatus|total nuclear annihilation.]]
**This seemed to be simply because of Hells literally [[Orks|infinite]] [[tyranids|numbers]] since they multiply by both ordinary breeding and turning the aforementioned bodies of the mulched human souls into demons. Even if they took out one thousand demons, one billion would take their place. It seems this was the only reason for their defeat since, once all of the avenues for invasion are cut off, the remainder are mopped up without much fanfare. One wonders if all of the priests were on Sentinel Prime how things would go since there would be no cut off for the entering demons.

==Doom: The Board Game==
Yes, there is a Board Game - made by [[Fantasy Flight Games]] no less - giving the vague '/tg/ related' qualifications this site uses.
It was released around the time Doom 3 was released, though it wasn't that remarkable and is pretty hard to find nowadays.

One guy plays the baddies, the other 1-4 players play a band of unfortunate marines. The heroes start with 2-3 powerup cards, and the baddies get 5 cards from his own deck and during the game, he gets to draw more (the rate of which is equal to how many marines there are) and if his deck is empty, he gets to insta-kill one of the Marines. His guys are more varied in their movement but they can only shoot once.

The marines have three options: move 8 spaces without shooting, move 4 spaces and shoot once, or shoot twice without movement. They need to explore the board, find computers and other events as the board provides. The baddies, meanwhile, can either upgrade his monsters or bring more to the board.
Either way, his goal is to score 6 kills on the Marines.

A new board game got released shortly after May 2016 Doom, which, to my understanding, is basically just the same shit as before with a new coat of paint.
* It's different, but not too different. Similar in concept and design, with the main differences seeming to be in how the Marines play, and victory conditions for certain scenarios. Absolutely beautiful models, however, and incredibly fun. Highly recommended.

==Movie==
Also (roughly) around the same time as Doom 3 was a movie starring Karl Urban and former WWE superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. It pretty much replaced the whole Hell plot with some genetic experimentation to give people superpowers that only succeeds in creating hyper-aggressive mutants, and a squad of Marines sent to investigate the mayhem. It wasn't that good, with the only really 'good' scene being this one scene where it's all FPS-style like the original games and has monster killing.

Another movie was released in 2019, named ''Doom: Annihilation.'' When asked what they thought about this, id Software simply replied: "We are not involved in the movie." But the last five minutes of CGI demons was fucking phenomenal.

==TLDR==
{{blam|Rip and Tear Motherfucker!}}
==External Links==
*[https://doomwiki.org/ Doom Wiki] for all your Doom-related needs
*[https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/ /idgames/], the home of pretty much every Doom mod worth playing (and pretty much every Doom mod that isn't worth playing) since 1994.

[[Category:Video Games]][[Category:Awesome]]

Doom

2021-05-29T11:03:55Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods */

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[[File:Doom cover poster.jpeg|thumb|If you don't already have the first level's music in your head, you may be on the wrong site.]]
{{topquote|Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon...|[[Discworld|Terry Pratchett]]}}

The father of the first-person shooter, the original ass-kicking demon-slaying 3D slaughter-fest, '''''Doom''''' is a franchise that demands respect even in the hallowed halls of /tg/. It was actually inspired by a [[Dungeons & Dragons]] campaign played by the founders of id Software; John Romero had given a demon lord the key to overrunning the material plane in exchange for a magic [[Katanas are Underpowered in d20|katana]] because he's an edgy little bitch like that, and John Carmack (the DM and one of the many forms of Tzeentch) decided it made a good premise for their new 3D game. The katana in question would later be used in Romero's game ''Daikatana'', which was a total failure for reasons that aren't important enough to go over right now.

The plot? In an FPS? Here's your plot: you are a Space Marine (no, not the 40K guy, a jumped-up soldier who is sent to fight on other planets, so closer to the [[Imperial Guard]]...though considering recent events he may be the equivalent of a standard Astartes, just much shorter.) stationed on Phobos. Somehow, demons broke through into our reality and slaughter everyone else. Your job? Fight your way to where, you hope, there's a ride off of this rock, and make bloody mincemeat out of everything standing between you and salvation. Standing in your way are armies of zombified fellow marines and eggheads, fireball-tossing imps, hulking flesh-eating demons, cyborg-demon monstrosities, and various other hell-spawned nasties who want to kill you horribly. Good luck. You'll need it...

Although not the very ''first'' of the FPS genre (even its predecessor, [[Wolfenstein]] 3D, wasn't the first, as the history of the genre goes back all the way into the '70s), Doom was definitive to the genre, so much so that "Doom Clone" was the standard nickname for many years afterwards. People are still playing it and making it even more awesome with [[Homebrew|their own custom modifications]] 24 years later, which isn't something you hear that often outside of /tg/; this is one of the main reasons why the franchise is so well-respected.

Fun fact: that iconic Doom monster, the Cacodemon, was actually inspired by the artwork for an Astral Dreadnought on the cover of the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition [[Manual of the Planes]] splatbook. Also relevant to /tg/ is that Sandy Petersen, co-designer of [[Ghostbusters RPG]], creator of [[Call of Cthulhu]], and author of some [[RuneQuest]] stuff, worked on the game. He designed some levels (more in the sequel) and made some contributions to the monster design.

==Classic DOOM (aka The Good Shit)==
{{topquote|Welcome to DOOM, a lightning-fast virtual reality adventure where you're the toughest space trooper ever to suck vacuum. Your mission is to shoot your way through a monster-infested holocaust. Living to tell the tale if possible.|README.TXT, Doom 1.8 shareware}}
The original Doom was fast-paced and bloody compared to what came before but wasn't afraid to vary the pace with more labyrinthine levels or make you shit your pants by dropping you into a crowd of demons when you least expected it. (Fun fact No. 2: The extra levels included in the physical version of Doom (henceforth called ''Ultimate Doom'') were built by the same guy who wrote [[Call of Cthulhu]] in just 10 weeks.) Doom II on the other hand was a circle-strafing explosion-rich gorefest and is what basically everyone thinks of when they think of both Doom and 90s FPS gameplay in general. The plot was bare-minimum: Demons took over Phobos and ate Deimos, kill them all. Or, in Doom 2's case, Demons are trying to infest Earth in revenge, kill them all AGAIN. But this time, ''it's personal''. (No, seriously, they killed your pet bunny Daisy.) The Doom engine is extremely mod-friendly for a 90's game (as both Carmack and Romero had been big into software tinkering in their day) and the modding community is still very present and perhaps even more prolific than it was back in the day. In fact, id Software actually paid some modding groups for the right to sell their works as retail (Final Doom and the Master Levels for Doom 2). Also relevant is SIGIL, John Romero's own 25th-anniversary level-pack and unofficial Episode 5 for Doom 1 that he released to the public for free (unless you wanted the special Buckethead soundtrack for [[Edgy|$6.66 USD]]).

Slightly more obscure but still relevant is Doom 64, which replaced the high-speed Explode-o-Rama with a stronger horror theme and more deliberate pace.

id Software then for a time turned toward more multiplayer-oriented games with the ''Quake'' franchise and gave Doom a well-earned rest.

===The Doom Comic===
{{topquote|'''DYNAMITE! I'M COOKING WITH GAS! I'VE GOTTA HANDFUL OF VERTEBRAE AND A HEADFUL OF MAD! YEAH, THAT'S YOUR SPINAL CORD, BABY! DIG IT!'''|You, the moment you read that heading}}
The origin of [[Rip and Tear]]. Possibly the most ridiculously, amazingly, stupidly 90's thing that has ever been put to paper with the possible exception of Image Comics. It has to be read to be believed. [https://www.doomworld.com/10years/doomcomic/ So go read it.]

===Monsters===
[[File:Reaperminis.jpg|thumb|right|Limited-edition monster minis from [[Reaper Miniatures]]. Admit it, you want <s>that Cyberdemon</s> all of them for your Daemons of Chaos army.]]
These are the monsters you'll encounter in Doom 1, Doom 2 and their spinoffs.
*'''[[Zombie|Former human]]''': Wet toilet paper. Only dangerous until you get a shotgun.
**'''Former Sergeant''': Still wet toilet paper, but full of broken glass; if one of these assholes gets behind you before you find armor you're probably dead. Likely to be your first source for shotguns.
**'''Former Commando''': Unlike the other formers, this guy is no joke: he's durable enough to not die when breathed on and his hitscan chaingun is almost as powerful as yours. Using hordes of these guys in an open arena with no cover is the pinnacle of dick moves in Doom mapping.
*'''Imp''': The first true demon you encounter with an easy-to-dodge projectile and more health than the formers. The first meaningful enemy you meet, and runner-up for most iconic non-boss monster.
*'''Demon''': Otherwise known as '''Pinkies'''. Giant hairless gorilla with a mouth that could give a [[squig]] lessons in eating. [[Derp|They can't walk and bite at the same time]] so you can just step out of their way, but they tend to come in large groups and dance around like spastic toddlers (which makes them harder to shoot) as they run up to you.
**'''Spectre''': Demon with Predator-style optic camo. An absolute bitch to deal with in dark environments, which is naturally where you find them.
*'''Cacodemon''': Mr. [[Astral Dreadnought]] Head. These fuckers can fly and you can't look up, so have fun fighting them in close quarters where they can float out of your field of view. Dangerous, but get a rapid-fire weapon and they become a joke as you stunlock them until they are all dead. ''The'' most iconic non-boss monster, partially because of its sheer WTFery but mostly because of how easy it is to chibi/make plushies out of.
**'''Pain Elemental''': [[Meme|Meatball demon.]] Like a cacodemon, but instead of shooting fireballs, it shoots Lost Souls. Has the opposite problem to the pinkies in that [[Derp|you can stand in front of its face]] and prevent the lost souls from spawning.
*'''Lost Soul''': Floating flaming skulls that fly at you at approximately SANIC miles per hour. Fairly weak, but very fast and has a habit of nibbling at you while you focus on something more dangerous.
*'''Revenant''': [[Meme|Agitating skeleton aka '''DOOT'''.]] One of the few monsters that moves anywhere near as fast as you do, plus he runs up and tries to punch your head off if you move inside the minimum range of the homing rockets he shoots. It is a fact that any given Doom map is automatically casuals-only unless the mapper adds at least 100 revenants.
*'''Mancubus''': [[Festus the Leechlord|HELLO I'M FUCKING FAT.]] Slow, but very tanky, and he has dual [[Flamer|heavy flamers]] for arms that hurt like hell. Fortunately, this also applies to any nearby demons, so you can make them kill each other for your amusement just by standing between a mancubus and another monster.
*'''Arch-vile''': One of the few monsters that that's faster than the player at a full run. Sets you on fire [[Psyker|with its mind]] and revives any monsters it comes across so you have to kill them all over again. Meeting one of these guys in a slaughtermap will make you [[Khorne|hate everything forever.]]
*'''Hell Knight''': Now we're talking. [[Space Marine]] sized and equipped with a punch and moderate projectile attacks (fireballs). Shooting him in the face with a shotgun will kill him pretty quickly.
**'''Baron of Hell''': Super hell knight with double the health. Big and equipped with nasty melee and projectile attacks. Shooting ''him'' in the face with a shotgun just '''pisses him off'''. Super shotguns will work though. Probably the best-known Barons are the "Bruiser Bros", the pair of Barons you fight as the bosses of the first episode.
*'''Cyberdemon''': [[Rip and tear|Is huge, and therefore has huge guts.]] Basically a (Chaos possessed?) Carnifex with a rocket launcher for an arm, and significantly faster than he looks. Without a doubt the fuckingest monster in the classic game, and practically tailor-made for soaking up BFG shots.
*'''Spider Mastermind''': Doom 1’s final boss, [[Derp|despite being inferior in almost every way to the Cyberdemon you fight earlier.]] Go figure. Even more XBOX HUEG than the Cyberdemon, but has a super-chaingun instead of a rocket launcher and refuses to let up until either you or it are dead. Has the critical weakness of BFG shots up the ass due to the way its hugeness interacts with the mechanics of the classic BFG.
**'''Arachnotron''': Baby Masterminds that go fast and shit plasma at you.
*'''The Icon of Sin''': Doom 2's final boss. [[FAIL|A wall with a demon face on it]] and a hole in its forehead that serves as its weak point. Spawns monsters to attack you, but dies pretty quickly from a few well-aimed rockets... though, you need good timing to shoot them through the hole in its head. You probably know this, but the entity that takes damage is John Romero's severed head on a pole.

===Weapons===
{{topquote|I do need a gun. I need a big gun. I need a really big gun...|Doomguy, Doom comic}}
Doomguy himself <s>has</s> shows about as much personality as your average [[Adventurer|Murderhobo]], (there is more to him but you don’t see it until later) so the game's real main characters are the weapons.
*'''Fists''': Only good at punching through the above-mentioned wet toilet paper, and complete suicide to use on anything stronger than an Imp. [[Rip and tear|Should you find a Berserk pack, though...]]
**'''[[Chain Weapon|Chainsaw]]''': [[Meme|The great communicator.]] Stronger than your fists and capable of tearing through Cacodemons and below without much problem.
*'''Pistol''': You start the game with this and 50 bullets. Gets overshadowed by every single other weapon.
*'''Shotgun''': Now we're talking. The first gun you get that can actually kill stuff in a decent amount of time.
**'''Super Shotgun''': A double-barrelled version of the original. A complete [[rape]] machine at close range, delivering about as much damage per hit as a rocket, but falls off greatly at longer distances.
*'''Chaingun''': [[Dakka|WAAAAAAAAAAGH!]] Great at stunlocking enemies, especially the aforementioned Cacodemons.
*'''Rocket Launcher''': Capable of [[Khorne|reducing enemies to puddles of blood]] from a safe distance. Also capable of reducing ''you'' to a puddle of blood if used from an unsafe distance.
*'''Plasma Rifle''': Fires a stream of plasma balls that hit hard, move fast, and won't hurt you at close range. Unfortunately, it shares its ammo count with...
*'''BFG''': The most beautiful sight any soldier can behold, at least according to the Doom comic. ''The'' gun. The '''big''' gun. Anything it's fired at is [[Anal circumference|in for a bad time]], especially at close range.

==Doom 3==
In the early 2000s, Doom 3 came along. It blows chunks compared to the classics, but since the classics are so damn good it ends up being pretty good anyway. Since Valve had made "story-driven" shooters and "realistic" scripted encounters the in thing, id decided to rip off Half-Life, grafting on elements of the original Doom that had been scrapped at the concept stage. Unfortunately, the gameplay was too slow and similar to the rest of the genre, the scripting and story interludes just made the gameplay even clunkier and the big technological gimmick (per-pixel lighting) meant you had to choose between seeing what you're supposed to shoot with a crappy little flashlight and actually being able to shoot it. Supposedly the lighting effects were resource-intense during development and this was the "solution" (of course we know better that they wanted to make it a quasi survival horror). Naturally, the first mod for the game was duct tape so you can use the flashlight and a gun at the same time. This mod would eventually become official when the BFG Edition re-release came around about a decade later.

The plot itself is essentially a reboot - You are a generic marine who just transferred to Mars and after pissing around with all your co-workers whom you will never see in one piece again, an experiment involving a portal to Hell (This time with no reason besides the head researcher being kinda absolutely evil) goes horribly awry and now the facility is completely fucked. Your task then devolves into simply surviving, as you're cut off from any command and have to make your way to various checkpoints. Along the way, you come across an ancient artifact made by the original denizens of Mars, who made it in order to kill all the demons, and so the demons sealed it away in Hell. After a couple of trips in and out of hell, you manage to understand how the artifact works (by feeding off the souls of slain demons) and use it to kill the Cyberdemon, their greatest champion, and bail home. You'd think this is the end...except the mad scientist responsible for this is revealed to have turned into a full-blown demon.

===Resurrection of Evil===
An expansion to Doom 3, this game takes the original game and puts a few nifty spins to make it feel unique like the gravity gun (because Half-Life 2 did it too). Instead of the classic plot, you are now a nameless space engineer who comes across a different and wholly demonic artifact called the Hell Heart. This makes you more of a target compared to before, as Hell sends out three special hunters to reclaim the heart, each of whom give it a special ability for you to abuse once you kill them.

==Doom 4 (aka DOOM aka DOOD aka Brutal Doom HD)==
{{topquote|They are rage, brutal, without mercy. But you? You will be '''worse'''. [[Rip and Tear]], until it is '''DONE'''.|A direct order from what is either [[God-Emperor of Mankind|God's]] [[Living Saint|seraphs]] or [[Khorne]] himself. Do you really need more of a mission briefing?}}

Listen to it here[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpllUQ38CKY]

Then the latest Doom came out in May 2016. This rendition can basically be described as "3d Brutal Doom II" only sexier, with features like [[Rip and tear|ripping enemies apart with your bare hands]] and having to stay on the move to avoid being torn to shreds. The plot is also as bare minimum as the original (albeit with a surprising amount of lore hidden away in the Codex...that makes one feel it’s set in the 40k verse), kicking the player straight into the action with waking up on Mars, immediately [[Rip and tear|smashing a zombie’s skull]], and basically being told: “demonic invasion, go kill everything.” Starts with corporate big wig trying to talk you into being on his side and [[Awesome|your answer is a solid ''"FUCK YOU" fist]]. Also, the player this time around is someone the demons call the “Doom Slayer", who has traveled through “Worlds and Time” (hinting that the Doom Slayer could very well be the original Doomguy from the first two games, having also survived Doom 64 and has been traveling Hell since, later all but confirmed in the sequel), and millennia ago [[Awesome|kicked Hell’s ass so hard that the best the demons could do is seal him away so that he wouldn’t destroy Hell]].
The Slayers testament tells in sparse detail but leaves enough imagination to realise what the Legions of Hell were up against. A near-immortal being of pure hate, blessed by the Seraphims (or Khorne...which would make this a suicide attempt), capable of standing against Legions of Demons completely alone and harnessing their power as he slaughters them. THEN he fought a [[Titan (D&D)|Titan]] of "immeasurable Power and Ferocity" with only his Sword (it was a laser sword though so there's that), killing and absorbing its power to turn them on the Demons. Desperate now, the highest [[Daemon Prince|Archdevils]] realized nothing short of a God will stop the Slayer (fitting since a god summoned it in the first place), so they prepared an elaborate Trap involving what may have been a Blackstone Sarcophagus.
It speaks for itself, of what the Bait, which lured the slayer to the temple of the Blood Keep, must have been made of... or was.
Now at the peak of his might, with sword and shield of "adamantine strength", he stood before [[Chaos|the Horde]], and [[rip and tear|split heads open, punched, maimed, killed, burnt]] until finally the whole temple collapsed on him and he was sealed in the Cursed Sarcophagus.
Millennia passed until the UAC decided to deal with an Energy Crisis by quite literally [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|slamming an Oil Derrick on a Hell Portal to siphon off Hell Energy for power]], and just for giggles starts tomb raiding Hell for artifacts and treasures as well, ultimately running off with the Doomguy's sarcophagus. The demons see that the Doomguy’s prison/tomb is empty, and the subsequent invasion is actually a panicked attempt to stop the Doomguy from being woken up. Obviously, they fail and he butchers every last one of them.

Samuel Hayden is the guy in charge of the UAC, a cyborg the size of a 40k [[Space Marine]]. He and Vega, the Mars UAC AI, basically are quest givers for the most part. His subordinate Olivia Pierce pretty much ran a cult while Hayden was pillaging artifacts from Hell, [[Grimdark|being the only one to make it back from the expeditions]]. When shit hits the fan he decides to wake the Doom Slayer up with the hopes that this wild card could help take control of the facility without causing too much damage. Of course, once awake, he goes on a rampage and busts the UAC's shit, as Hayden's disregard for human life is too far for even Doomguy to take, expressing his outrage without the need for a voice actor.

So now it's up to the Doom Slayer in awesome power armor to [[Rip and Tear|rip and tear]] and dakka every demon he comes across to stop Olivia while wrecking the UAC's energy production. After going to Hell at least once due to Olivia breaking an Argent Accumulator and making it back to Mars, then after Hayden installs a "tether" to him, Hayden sends Doomguy on a quest to find the Helix Stone, picking up the most powerful version of the BFG 9000 yet on the way (more on that below). Once he reaches the Helix Stone it directs Doomguy to acquire the Crucible, a relic in the Titan's Realm. So Doomguy has to kill the Cyberdemon to get back to hell, make a long trek and fight the three Hell Guardians who guard the Crucible and returns to Mars again. To finally stop Olivia, Hayden, being the bastard that he is, even sacrifices his old creation Vega, though unlike everyone else, at least our player character is nice enough to make a backup without anyone even bothering to ask. The Doom Slayer uses the Crucible to shutdown Hell's energy wells and releases the spirits of his old friends, the Night Sentinels.

Once Olivia is found once again, she transforms into the Spider Mastermind. If you've been collecting all the stuff as you should have, she can easily be (along with the other game other bosses in the game) cheesed by the best weapons even on the highest difficulty, with the [[Cheese|Rich get Richer]] Rune fully upgraded. Once she's dead it's the final cutscene, where Hayden steals the "Crucible" which turns out to be an energy blade that makes a [[Lightsaber]] look like a toothpick, then sends the Doom Slayer off to who knows where with the tether he installed into the Praetor Suit earlier, disposing of a potential threat before it decides to become one. After this, you experience one of the best credit sequences made for a video game in over a decade.

Mick Gordon's soundtrack gives the game the best metal music ever. BFG Division being the standout in the soundtrack. Used for two whole levels and the final boss music is a Glitch remix of it. There is also some inspiration from RPG style FPS a la Metro 2033 and [[Samus|Metroid Prime]]. As collecting Argent Energy, weapon mods, elite guard tokens, and Runes allow them to upgrade the Praetor Suit and weapons to their preferred play style. The engine allows the Doom Slayer a wide range of first-person animations, as his destruction of UAC property and actions portrays an "I'm too old for this shit" attitude; having to fight demons for centuries doesn't make for a happy camper.

The damage of the BFG 9000 itself is notable. This thing instantly vaporizes every non-boss enemy on-screen! (and them too if you exploit a glitch. However what a player does that the devs didn't intend is dubious canon.) You read that correctly, you don't have to aim it directly at your targets to kill them. You just have to find the right opening to make it kill every demon you can. As the Plasma Bolt throws out lightning or much more likely, solar flares. That would mean the Plasma the BFG fires is likely firing a fucking miniature star with each shot! The F in BFG may stand for Fermentation, Grimdark! with science!. We can wait while you Google it.

Don't be impressed just yet. A Baron of Hell is 2000 pounds and because the BFG's ordinance turns everything it comes in contact with into gibs, that means it has to have 7 Gigajoules of energy and would have to be heated up to over 100,000 degrees Celsius! [[Anal_Circumference|A temperature range which is only seen in small stars and nebula!]] That's not just [[GrimDark]], that's just fucking cold in the most brutal way possible and speaks to the insanity of the UAC for building this thing. Are we sure somebody didn't screw up the name? Though Brown Dwarf Gun 9000 doesn't sound as cool. (Though why is it green? Because it's blue-green! As blue in space equals very fucking hot! Red Giant/Supergiants/Hyper-giants are (relatively) cold because they are old, a young blue star, giant or not, is insanely hot. Red Dwarfs are insanely long-lived because they are cold and slow-burning) In all possibility, if the Doom Slayer didn't wear his Praetor Suit, firing the weapon would instantly annihilate him too! (since Photons are their own particle and antiparticle the word is valid) No apologies for the science jokes. They are necessary evils in explaining how the BFG 9000 works.

It also says a lot of the bosses as a direct hit will merely stun them (without using the weapon wheel glitch) while shaving off large portions of their health. So you need either a very advanced suit of Powered Armor or a significant amount of mass to survive a direct hit from the plasma bolt and its flares. The only real con to using the BFG 9000 is it's limited ammo of four shots. Though a good player can get around that if they set up their Runes correctly.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig_gQAITzIk| Science and math mostly explained in this Youtube video ]. So yeah, the BFG 9000 shoots miniature stars.

===DOOM Eternal===
{{topquote|Against all the evil that hell can conjure, all the wickedness that mankind can produce, we will send up to them, only you. Rip and Tear until it is done!|King Novik of the Night Sentinels}}

Doom Eternal was announced at E3 and a gameplay reveal was shown at Quakecon 2018. To say that its awesome is an understatement.
[[File:Slayer on corpses.png|400px|thumb|right|"The only thing they fear... is YOU!"
If the whole Warp, set for Khorne, actively shits their pants when the Slayer comes, you're in for [[Rip_and_tear|FUN]].]]
We are introduced to the Maykrs of Urdak, an elder race with a techno-angelic motif that serves as the Sentinels' patron. One of them was the so-called Seraphim that empowered the Doomguy even further, turning him into the nigh-godlike and unstoppable avatar of sheer [[Awesome]] that is the Doom Slayer (seriously, the Doom Slayer is compared to a [[Titan]] on the level of the Icon of Sin). They may actually be a group of [[C'tan]], but we are not sure.

Sadly, all good things come to an end. The Sentinels were betrayed from within, the Doom Slayer banished to Hell ''again'' (eventually leading to him being entombed before the events of '''Doom 2016''') and what's worse, it turns out the Maykrs were only using the Sentinels to further their own race's objectives. What's more, the current invasion of Earth was the result of one of their long-term plans, with humanity as simply one more race that was to receive "penitence" in their place (read: the Maykrs are using Hell energy to prolong their lives, and willingly let Demons eat entire worlds to that end). Yet more evidence that these guys are C’tan.

The game picks up a few months after the end of the previous game with Samuel Hayden returning to Earth after the destruction of the Argent Tower on Mars that was the only way of getting free, unlimited energy out of Hell. But, he has the Crucible (confiscated from the Doom Slayer in the ending of 2016) with which he starts developing a synthesized form of Argent energy while the UAC begins to completely fall under the control of their leaders, the Hell Priests who entombed the Slayer so long ago. They start sacrificing humans left and right to start a ritual that will allow the demons to consume Earth, terraform the land to living flesh and molten lava, kill all that resist, transport their souls to Hell and refine them to pure Argent Energy while the impure Souls are made into new demons! A full-scale demonic incursion is now underway on Earth, with billions of dead, over two-thirds of Earth consumed while half of the UAC has gone full Quisling to the invaders, with the other half putting up a token [[Planetary Defense Force| resistance as the Armoured Response Coalition (ARC)]]. All hope seems lost...

"...We watched as the horde overwhelmed the very best and most advanced machinery and weapons technology that we could muster against the opposition. It was useless, they moved too quickly, they cared not for themselves, only sought out the blood of humanity. They were willing to sacrifice their own to get to the heart of our world. We slaughtered thousands and millions more followed, but then HE came - he cut through them like a sickle through a field - his fury surpassing their own. He is faster - more relentless - unyielding. I believe him now to be more than just a man - he is...DOOM." --Dr. Elena Richardson.

Equipped with his new Predator suit (3 guesses why it is called that, the first two don't count), he seeks his prey from his orbital fortress monastery (fittingly called the Fortress of DOOM), strikes with merciless fury surpassing the Death Company, Flesh Tearers, World Eaters (primarch included) and Skarbrand '''Combined''', and he will stop at nothing to destroy the demonic hordes. Read: Personally [[Rip_and_tear|kill. Every. Single. Demon. With extreme prejudice.]]

Immediately after defeating the Hell Priest Deag Nilox's guardian off screen locating his whereabouts on Earth, the Slayer teleports onto his barge, kicks all doors in and vice grips the head off of the Priest, reducing the consumption of the Earth by 36.8%.

He then gatecrashes the nearby Citadel, interrupting the ritual of the Priests with Nilox's severed head, before being interrupted by the Khan Maykr. The C'tan by any other name tells him even he goes too far this time, before teleporting the Priests out of the Slayer's reach. Since the Hell Priests classify as Alpha Plus Psykers, (the first one being able to command his own legion of Titans AND shield himself from even nuclear bombardment) they can be found with a Celestial Locator. To construct a Locator, the Slayer goes to Exultia (an Argenta city) to retrieve the Celestial Casing, only to be scolded by the late King Novik for killing the Priests and that Humanity is no longer his people to be saved. Realizing that no ordinary individual will help him, the Slayer enters [[Warp|Hell]], and it's even more magnificent than Doom 2016, with gigantic walls and corridors made of flesh, abandoned [[Warlord_Battle_Titan| Sentinel Mechs]] and the remains of the Titan Demons that were killed by them, and near everything you could think of, even the Tower Of Babel in the background. Here the Slayer finds Valen, known by most as the Betrayer, repenting in his exile. After telling the Slayer that saving humanity will only make his burden worse, the Betrayer nevertheless installs the Celestial Power Core for the Slayer, as well as giving him a dagger he may need later.

Now able to locate the other Priests, the Slayer goes to Deag Ranak's UAC Cultist base in the Arctic, wrecking its operations before moving onto the neighboring Doom Hunter base. As yet more proof the Maykrs are [[C'tan]], the priest recovered an extinct race of demons once bred to destroy the Slayer (take a wild guess why exactly they went extinct) and, with nothing better to do, turned these things into [[Necron Destroyer|Semi-Organic Necron Destroyers]], labeling them “Doom hunters”, and calling you a heretic...which is [[HERESY|{{BLAM|'''''BLASTPHAMY'''''}}]]. After [[Rip and tear|losing]] them and complaining about it, the Priest, in the face of his impending DOOM, tries to bribe the Slayer, which [[Fail|literally costs him his head]].

Now furious, the Khan Makyr leads the last Priest to safety, while demonic activity on Earth skyrockets. Realizing Earth needs immediate backup at the Super Gore Nest in Europe after a failed attack from the [[Imperial_Guard|Earth Forces]] (with a casualty rate of over 87%), the Slayer arrives at what can only be described as a border between Slaanesh's and Nurgle's Domains. Every building in the vicinity has grown flesh, teeth and openings that look like both mouths and birth canals, the air is filled with toxicity, tentacles sprouted everywhere. But after a nuclear meltdown of the local reactor which conveniently houses the heart of the Gore Nest, the problem is quickly taken care of.

Back to searching and destroying the last Priest, VEGA is sure that Samuel Hayden would be able to locate him immediately. However, a combined Demon attack on his headquarters, the ARC Complex, left him badly wounded. Just as the Slayer gets to him and is about to teleport back to his fortress, the Earth beneath him quakes and a red portal opens up, and from it emerges the Marauder. Imagine a heretic [[Adeptus_Custodes|Custodes]] empowered by Khorne but with battle tactics from Tzeentch, the endurance of Nurgle and the speed of Slaanesh. These guys are absolutely no joke (yes, there are more of them) and if you haven't been playing like your life depended on it, prepare to be absolutely [[Anal_Circumference|curbstomped]].

Meanwhile, its clear that Samuel Hayden knows *way* more about the Slayer, Hell, and the Maykrs than he let on in the last game, strongly hinting that Samuel may in fact be a Maykr himself (which begs the question of what he was up to if he understood just how dangerous Hell was and how Argent Energy was made). He tells us that the last Priest hides in the Arena of Sentinel Prime, the Capital of the Night Sentinels and the only way to gain access is hidden in the core of [[Mars|Mars]]. But instead of calling the [[Adeptus_Mechanicus|Mechanicus]] to help, the Slayer enters the Moon of Phobos, where the battleship-sized BFG 10,000 is stationed, takes the gun over, targets Mars and [[Exterminatus|blasts the Core open]]... despite Samuel’s protests. He then proceeds to hop into a giant mass driver and blast himself to his next destination, [[Angry_Marines|streaking across the ruined Martian sky like a rage-fueled missile]].

Now on Sentinel Prime, the game goes into who the Doom Slayer really is. It turns out the Doom Slayer really ''is'' the classic [[Doomguy]] from Doom 1, 2, and 64, who after staying behind in <s>the warp</s> Hell he is eventually spat out, [[Gotrek_%26_Felix#Gotrek_in_the_Age_of_Sigmar|half-delirious and nuts from his experience of fighting off its hordes for an eternity]], unto the world of Argent D'Nur, where he is found by the ''Night Sentinels'', [[Grey Knights|an order of techno-knights dedicated to fighting demons]]. He is nursed back to sanity, and joins their order, eventually rising through their ranks due the sheer [[Rip and Tear]] he was capable of.

The final Priest, hiding in the Colosseum, is confident that the Slayer would never kill him in the arena, as it is against holy law of the Sentinels to spill Priest blood, especially in such a sacred place. He sends out his Gladiator, a being that even if its flesh is destroyed, its soul would prevail until its body is reformed. But the Soul resides in the gigantic shield it uses, so the Slayer destroys the shield first and then the face of the gladiator, and despite the warning shoots the final Priest to death. And by "shoot to death", we mean blow his head clean off with the Super Shotgun as he smugly declares how he can't be killed. The Khan Maykr is rather pissed about this.

As soon as he gets back home, she manages to hack into the Fortress of Doom, turning off the power and flooding the bridge with Demons. The attack obviously fails like so many other attempts. Hayden mocking her as the Slayer restores power with Hayden's own Crucible. Now the plans of the Khan Maykr are ruined, as there are no more priests to maintain the Hell gates, so if the Earth Forces kill all the demons, they would prevail. As a desperate last resort, the Khan Maykr wants to resurrect the Icon of Sin to eradicate all life on Earth. Of course, the prospect of seeing ''another'' Earth brought to ruin has made the Doom Slayer rightly [[Rage|pissed]], and suffice to say, [[Not As Planned|the Maykrs have no idea what they've just unleashed]].
So it's time for the Doomslayer to recover his own Crucible in Taras Nabad. Which was stuck into the skull of a Titan and breaks off the hilt to prevent its resurrection. Now it needs to be recharged. Once finished the Demons attack to give players an opportunity to test the new weapon. The Crucible is a one-hit kill on all but the strongest of enemies and there are respawning charges that only appear at this location. Use this for practice time before moving forward because the OHKO drops health picks faster than normal glory kills.

To reach the Khan Maykr, Doomguy now teleports to Nekravol, the City of the Damned. It's a [[Grimdark|place of biblical torment, fire and brimstone, cages bursting with humans piled up like livestock]], [[Commorragh| a place where human souls are "tenderized" and tortured until all hope is broken and every sense but the pain is gone.]] Only then can their souls be extracted and converted to pure Argent energy, which will be sent to the Khan Maykr in the City of Urdak (Heaven), while the empty shells of the humans are sent to the blood swamps to transform into more Demons. A process which every [[Haemonculus]] pays respect to. As it is, things that are worthy of being called "holy" are often more horrendous than the horrors of Hell itself.

The Slayer rips and tears through all of that mercilessly, and finally destroys the transmitter tower. Its destruction resulted in the Slayer being transported straight to "Heaven", a completely unnatural location in true H.R. Giger aesthetic, littered with white and gold colours and blood-red trees. In true Doomguy fashion, he interrupts the ritual that will resurrect the Icon of Sin by stabbing its heart with the dagger he got from the Betrayer. [[Not_as_planned|The Icon wakes up, corrupts the entire realm, and invites all sorts of demons to ravage Urdak]] before leaving to Earth.

Doomguy immediately follows but is interrupted by the Khan Maykr herself. In true Eldar fashion, she accuses Doomguy of all the bad things that SHE did which broke the seal to Urdak, and that the use of thousand other species as Argent Energy for her race is justified in her traditions. Doomguy then slaps the shit out of her, and even in her final moments, she tells us that we have doomed all of creation. It’s likely she’s lying to hide the fact that she’s a C’tan.

Back on Earth, the final fight against the Icon of Sin begins. Now with a full-body, it is no longer a static boss fight but a semi-static. You blow parts from the Icon, until you finish it with your Crucible, by [[Awesome|slamming it into its forehead]]

===DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods===
{{Template:Spoilers}}
A two parts stand-alone DLC for Doom Eternal: The Icon may be dead, but now that the demons have free reign over Urdak and have initiated a second invasion of Earth, its up to Doomguy to clean up the mess he left behind. This Cleanup begins on an UAC oilrig platform, where the remaining conciousness of the Seraphim is hidden, as Samuel informs the Slayer that only he can give us an answer for a long term solution to the demons (besides killing them all) After aquiring the orb with the Seraphim in it, the Facility AI self destructs the whole Rig to prevent the Slayer from leaving, but just mildly annoys him. Now traveling to the bottom of the Ocean with only his pure rage against the pressure and fighting in a Kill Room with TWO Marauders, he reaches a Room with a Maykr in it. Big surprise; they confirm Hayden is the Seraphim and VEGA as the Father aka the creator of the Universe, but as Hayden fractured in his Life sphere and conciousness. The life sphere rests atop the Ingmur Sanctom of the Blodswamps in Hell. While this sounds incredible stupid to put the mightiest being directly in the most corrupted Part of Hell, francly speaking Nurgles private Garden, the sanctum itself is protected to only let the one who passes the Trial of Malligog through, Malligog beeing an extremly enormous Titan, ranging in size of 2-3 Kilometers. Reaching the sanctum, Samuel already awaits him to take the Fathers life sphere to save the humans, but his rapidly proceeding transfiguration (mutating into a demon) lets him slip his tounge; He only wants to save himself.
Doomguy however has other plans; he denies the Seraphim and destroys the Father's life sphere, so he can never interfere directly again. THEN walks to a life sphere of pure darkness, [[Khorne|the Dark Lord's one]], so he can summon him and face him mano-a-mano, as he is responsible for the ever expanding Realm of hell and its forces. Back to Urdak in its most holy place, the luminarium, Samuel embraces his full mutation into a demon to desperatly stop the Slayer, but has to be bailed out by the Fathers remaining presence, after nearly getting killed. The luminarium then restores the Dark Lord to his physical form, but the biggest surprise of all is that the Dark Lord takes the form of the Doomguy himself!

Part Two can best be described as laying Siege on what would become Khorne’s brass Citadel, breaking in, seeing him get up from his throne, dig up his own oversized suit of power armor and fight you to the death. On the opposite end, the Slayer was [[awesome|ready to siege the citadel on his own]], getting support from the remaining [[Grey Knights|Night]] [[Legion of the Damned|Sentinels]] bringing their entire army and join him in smashing the Dark Lord's shit (and we finally get to see that fuckhuge mecha in the fortress actually walk, AND hitting equally huge Titan demons in the face).
The Dark lord faces you with his immortal body, [[Contemptor-Galatus_Dreadnought|his own set of Praetor Armor]] and worst of all, ALL your own abilitys (if he hits you, he regenerates his own health back.) Lore wise this battle would last an eternity, two personifications of unrestrained Rage, able to heal themselves as they inflict unspeakable carnage upon creation, until the dark lord finally goes down. Even near death he still reaches his sword to fight on, but finally gives in, having created the Slayer in what amounts to an incredibly convoluted but awesome suicide by battle, and asks the Slayer if he has anything to say to his Creator before striking him down, to which the Slayer simply says "No".

Bad News: Mick Gordon isn't coming back this time around (due to some internal issues, he was let go). Good News: Andrew Hulshult and David Levi, another rather well-known composers who helped compose for some other shooters (Dusk, Amid Evil, Rise of the Triad 2013) are coming to take his place. While it's clear Hulshult and Levi might not be able to imitate Gordon, it's obvious they dont disappoint.

===Demons===
Doom 2016 by itself has more demons than the classic games do, even though not all of them return from those games. Doom Eternal ups the count even more, although not all demons from 2016 return. Some demons are upgraded versions of a base model; they are sorted as such.

*'''The Possessed/Zombies''': In 2016, Possessed were humans that underwent horrific mutations due to the Lazarus Wave released by Olivia Pierce on the Mars Outpost. In Eternal, Zombies are the emaciated husks of humans stripped of their soul and mutated by demonic corruption. In both cases: wet toilet paper. They are some of the weakest enemies in the games and can easily be dispatched. 2016's Possessed are cheap glory kill fodder, while Eternal's Zombies are classified under the Fodder demon class, i.e. one of the chief targets of your Glory Kills, Chainsaw, Flame Belch, ice bomb and all other ways with which to keep your health, armour and ammo stocked up.
**'''Possessed Engineers/Cueballs''': Little more than walking bombs. Either shoot them to detonate them or melee them to launch them and have them detonate on impact. Returning as Cueballs in Eternal, these Ambient-class demons replace the "walking" part with "standing gormlessly in one spot, ignorant of any fighting going on around them". This allows the Slayer to use them as flying, explosive barrels if shot at the right angle.
**'''Possessed Soldiers/Blaster Zombie Soldiers''': Unlike their gormless lesser brethren, Possessed Soldiers move faster and with more tact, are hardier and can use a plasma gun fused to their arm to lay down suppressive fire. They're still not much of a threat. Eternal's Blaster Zombies are little more than Possessed Soldiers with a Classic Doom zombieman coat of paint, so make sure to keep some distance.
**'''Possessed Security/Shield Zombie Soldiers''': Wet toilet paper with shards of glass. Equipped with shields and shotguns, these can really ruin your day if you let them. The most effective strategy against them in 2016 is either to chainsaw them or use the Plasma Rifle's stun bomb to disable their shields. While Eternals Shield Zombies still hit just as hard, their threat level dropped off the abyss thanks to their energy shields ''violently exploding'' in response to absorbing too many Plasma Rifle bolts.
**'''Hell Razer''': 2016 exclusive, Hell Razers fight at a distance with arm-mounted laser cannons, which are actually parasites converting a human into a Hell Razer. Fire slowly and have distinct tells to their attacks. Don't pose too much of a threat: dodge their attack, get close and shotgun them.
**'''Mecha Zombie''': New in Eternal, these gore-covered terminator knockoffs are armed with metal claws, a plasma gun and a flamethrower, the latter of which they will flail about in order to hit you. Still fairly ineffectual.
*'''Imps''': The fodder from the original game, now quick as a hiccup. They jump all over the place, pelting you with fireballs and clawing at you if you get too close. Because they're one of the first enemies you face they don't pose much of a threat; your Combat Shotgun makes quick work of them (especially with the Explosive Shot/Sticky Bomb mod), and they gain an explicit weakness to bullet weapons (Heavy Cannon and Chaingun) in Eternal. Eternal also classifies them under Fodder demons, meaning that they make for great resource piñatas.
**'''Gargoyles''': Added in Eternal. Pretty much Imps with wings and [[Tyranid|scything talons]], they jump around and spit acid at you. They'll occasionally hover in place to fire off an acid volley, causing them to become instantly staggered for a Glory Kill when hit during this attack, so take your opportunity. Also classified as Fodder demons.
**'''Prowlers''': Originally added in 2016's multiplayer, they were promoted to regular enemies in Eternal. They function the same as Imps but with more health and they can teleport, often right behind you to claw at you. Classified as a Heavy Demon, meaning they require more Chainsaw fuel to mow down compared to Imps.
*'''Carcasses''': Debuting as Heavy demons in Doom Eternal, the Carcass' attacks are not that powerful and they don't have a lot of health. What they do have is the ability to summon energy barriers, blocking your ability to move around freely, home in on them, glory kill other demons and use explosive weapons safely. Your primary target in an encounter because eliminating them makes a fight a lot easier. Thankfully, these barriers share the same explosive vulnerability to plasma fire as the Shield Zombies' Shields.
*'''Pinkies''': Ol' faithful is now covered in armour, turning them into living battering rams. They (still) roar and charge in on you, dealing significant damage upon impact. The armour soaks most damage they take from the front, so circle them and [[Meme|attack their weak point for massive damage]]. In Eternal, they gain the Heavy demon classification and a crippling weakness to the Blood Punch, being the only attack that can kill them without deliberately striking their weak point.
**'''Spectres''': As the Pinky, but invisible. A bit harder to deal with because of this, but thankfully a lot less common and lack the armour plating.
*'''Cacodemons''': [[Star Wars|They fly now!]] Their spit attacks slow and disorient you, and their bite attack does a lot of damage. But because they fly now you can easily pick them off with your rocket launcher or gauss cannon. As Heavy demons in Eternal, they decided to min-max; their bite takes off a surprisingly large chunk of your health and is often paired with an aggressively distant lunge, while their shock-balls can be fired in a multi-shot volley. But it comes with devastating weakness: a single Combat Shotgun Sticky Bomb or Equipment Cannon Frag Grenade into their mouths causes them to swallow it, instantly staggering them for an easy glory kill. As an airborne demon, they also gain a weakness to Ballista attacks, dying in one Arbalest bolt.
**'''Pain Elementals''': Returning in Doom Eternal as Heavy demons, they endlessly summon chuck the homing suicide bomber Lost Souls at you. While they don't swallow any grenades like their Cacodemon compatriots, they ''do'' share the innate weakness of all airborne demons against the Ballista. Despite this, they are still more of threat that their short-limbed buddies could ever be.
*'''Lost Souls''': Horned, burning skulls that scream, fling themselves at you and explode for an annoying amount of damage. At least in 2016; in Eternal, they also appear when summoned by a Pain Elemental which is when they function more or less the same.
*'''Revenants''': [[Meme|DOOT]]. Made from humans in a gruesome process, the Revenants have jetpacks that let them fly around to put themselves in the perfect possession to launch barrages of missiles at you. They can also claw at you for significant damage, so keep your distance and take them out. In Eternal, you become able to shoot off their shoulder cannons, permanently grounding them restricting their melee attacks to the easily-evaded claw swipes. Classified under the Heavy class and, surprisingly, as airborne demons, making them into potent Ballista chow. Their meme potential is so great that a trumpet-equipped Revenant is a skin included in the pre-order edition of Doom Eternal.
*'''Summoners''': Only appearing in 2016, Summoners are pared-down versions of the Archvile. They possess lithe bodies that let them easily zip around and set up a summon circle away from your location, allowing them to call in aid. Sustained fire from just about any weapon will take them down.
**'''Spirits''': Doom Eternal DLC. While they look like the ghastly Remains of the Summoner, the Spirit will possess other Demons, taking their Fear and ability to feel Pain, while making them faster and more resilient. But even an upgraded body will give in with enough Dakka. Destroy the Spirit with the microwave mod of the Plasma cannon. OR kill everything living and watch the spirit, unable to manifest itself in Realspace anymore, fade out of existence.
**'''Harvesters''': Unique to 2016's multiplayer, the only demon to be so. Harvesters move around and instead of summoning other demons will shoot balls of plasma and drain life from other players, allowing them to supercharge their regular attacks.
*'''Arachnotrons''': Back in Doom Eternal, the Arachnotrons are walking gun platforms that can cling to ceilings to get a better vantage point to shoot at you. Their plasma turrets are mounted on an exposed, scorpion-like tail, which can be destroyed to limited their attacks to the more manageable and telegraphed bomb volley. Their resemblance to the Spider Mastermind from 2016 is intentional: the UAC cloned them using the Spider Mastermind's genetic material. [[Looted|and when the demonic invasion began, the automated facility making them was taken over by the possesed]]...[[Just As Planned|Which was planned]]
*'''Whiplashes''': The first all-female demons introduced in Doom Eternal resembling [[lamia]]e, but don't expect any monster girls. They are as nasty as any Heavy demon in Doom, and they use their great speed to slither in and around the battlefield, dodging heavy-hitting weapons before hacking away at your health from a distance with a pair of chained whips. Difficult to hit, but once you start hitting them they'll go down eventually. That, or use a Lock-On Burst from the Rocket Launcher to delete them.
*'''Mancubi''': Big fat bastards equipped with heavy cannons to blast you with fireballs and flamethrowers to keep you at a distance. They're big, slow targets with slow attacks so if you can keep your distance they're not too big a threat. In Eternal, these Heavy demons got faster (and fatter) but you can blast their flamethrowers off, severely nerfing their damage output. After that, sustained Chain gun fire or a few missiles/Super Shotgun blasts will easily take them out.
**'''Cyber Mancubi''': Heavily armoured versions of the Mancubus. They fire globs of acid that linger on terrain for a bit, limiting your movement options, but lack the flamethrower attack. In 2016 you just pour more damage into them to take them out. In Eternal, their armour is destructible and can be stripped instantly with a single Blood Punch, making it easier for you to deal with them. But because their cannons are armoured you can't blast them off like you can with the regular Mancubi.
*'''Archviles''': Oh HELL no. The Summoner on crack, an Archvile can put up barriers of fire to keep you away while they Summon more demons. If you don't interrupt them you'll be facing a more difficult fight, especially if they summon a MOTHERFUCKING MARAUDER. Even when not summoning they are tough and can dish out a lot of damage, setting the ground beneath you aflame or sweeping fire waves in your direction, while any friends they successfully summon receives a buff that lasts until the Archvile's death. In short, after taking out all Carcasses in an area, they are your next target if you want to win a fight.
*'''Hell Knights''': [[World Eaters|Big dudes who revel in wrecking your shit]]. They are fast, closing the distance to pummel you or to perform a leaping ground slam for a short-ranged area of effect attack. Keep your distance and pump them full of lead to take them down quickly if you don't want to be taken out yourself. In Eternal, they gain the Heavy demon classification and a crippling weakness to Chaingun fire.
**'''Dread Knights''': Cybernetically enhanced Hell Knights constantly pumped full of adrenaline and dopamine for every kill they make. Appearing only in Eternal as Heavy demons, their most prominent feature are a pair of energy blades, which considerably extends their melee range and causes their ground slams to leave a lingering, damaging pool of energy for a bit. Can fire lasers from their blades at you, and shares a weakness to the Chaingun, as with other Hell Nobles.
**'''Barons of Hell''': [[Bloodthirster|Big red bastards]] who are the toughest regular enemies in 2016. They hit like trucks and can blast you with powerful balls of green fire. The best way to deal with them is a heavily upgraded chainsaw or the BFG to not deal with their bullshit. In Eternal, they return as the Fireborne Barons; a Super-Heavy class demon that is immune to the chainsaw and cannot be one-shot by the BFG, so you'll have your work cut out for you. Befitting their name, Firebone Barons are also [[Salamanders_(Chapter)|coated in flames with obsidian skin]] and have burning blades coming from their lower arms, which fits given how much more dangerous they are.
*'''Tyrants''': Pretty much downgraded Cyberdemons (Looking more like the classic Cyber rather than 2016's beefy Balgaar monstrosity) and one of the most powerful common enemies in the game. Packing a powerful laser cannon, a laser blade and the ability to fire missile barrages, paired with a MASSIVE pool of health, these Super-Heavies should be eliminated as fast as you can so that you can deal with the rest of the demons. The fastest way to do so is with the Crucible, which will hack a Tyrant up in no time. [[FAIL|Just make sure that you actually hit the Tyrant itself and not the fodder running around it]]. Otherwise, just exploit its slow turning speed to dedicate as much ammunition you have on-hand to shooting at it until it dies.
*'''Makyr Drones''': The generic rank-and-file of the Maykrs. Annoyingly resilient for Fodder demons and armed with rapid-fire laser turrets, headshotting them with (almost) any weapon is a guaranteed insta-kill that provides ammo as well.
*'''Blood Maykrs''': Definitly not [[Blood Angels]]. The normal Maykr population after getting corrupted by Hell. They shield themselves with a golden aura that negates all damage, and attack with slow energy balls. Once they notice that such things would never work, they will lower their shield to start a Powerful Argent energy attack. A Headshot instakills them like a drone while sustained Fire on their body works too.
*'''Doom Hunters''': Introduced as a boss and later reused as rare Super-Heavy demons. A species of demons driven to extinction by the Doom Slayer and brought back by the Hell Priest Deag Ranak, the Doom Hunters resemble [[Necron Destroyer]]s with a cannon and a chainsaw for arms and missiles that can be fired from its hover sled. They have an energy shield that you need to deplete to be able to damage them directly, though it's possible to attack their Blood-Punch-vulnerable hover sled directly first to disconnect the main body from it. Infamous for being a boss that is lazily reused during the course of the game, as early as [[Rage|THE VERY NEXT COMBAT ARENA AFTER FIGHTING THE FIRST ONE]]. However, the mook versions don't have immunity to Ice Grenades.
*'''Marauders''': [[Chaos_Space_Marine|Former Night Sentinels corrupted by Hell]], the Marauders are fast, deadly and a pain to kill. They possess energy shields that block all incoming damage, including the BFG, Crucible, and Unmakyr (though not splash damage from explosives), can pelt energy beams from long-range, blast you with their own ''Super Shotgun'' at close range, and can summon spirit wolves to hunt you down if you shoot their shield too often. If baited into sprinting at you and brought into mid-range, their eyes will flash green as they swing their axe at you: use this as an opening to blast them with your Super Shotgun or Ballista, then quickly switch between the two until their stagger expires. Repeat this, rip and tear, done.
*'''The Gladiator''': [[Skub|The Last Living Hell Knight of DOOM II]] and, unlike the Doom Hunter, has survived the extinction event that is the Slayer. Armed with a gargantuan soul-vessel shield that blocks all incoming damage, and a flail with a retractable chain for close and distant attacks. Like the Marauder, if his eyes blink green you have an opening to shoot him with any weapon (though Ballista or Super Shotgun are still preferable). A headshot will stagger him for a glory kill, but the Slayer will simply beat the shit out of him. Phase 1 ends with the destruction of the shield, and now the Gladiator goes ballistic with TWO flails. The best approach now is to shoot at it until it dies (when it isn't spinning its flail to reflect attacks back at you).
*'''The Icon of Sin''': A legendary titan, resurrected into the body of the Son of the Betrayer, [[Chaos_Spawn|deformed and warped beyond recognition]], his very existence in Realspace causing destruction and madness. Its described that, if left unchecked, it will drag the entire dimension to Hell through a supermassive black hole - so basically if one of the Chaos Gods themselves manifested in Realspace. The Khan Maykr thought It could be controlled using the Soul of the Betrayer's Son, putting it into [[Power_Armour|Power Armour]] for insurance. But then, the Doom Slayer stabbed the heart containing the son's soul with a dagger provided by the Betrayer ([[Matt_Ward|though without carving the Name of the Betrayer into it]]), setting the soul free and, with it, the beast from Maykr control over. The battle itself is, on paper, pretty easy: eight pieces of the Icon's armour must be destroyed (head, both upper arms, both forearms, both pectorals and abdomen) using your whole arsenal. While doing so, lesser demons will try to harass you and distract you from the Icon. With the armour's destruction, the whole process starts again in the second phase, but this time, you chip away at the flesh and bone of those same regions until the Icon collapses, giving you time to ram your Crucible into Its Brain.
*'''The Original Dark Lord/ Davoth''': The original Dark Lord created by the Father as a Primeval, one of the first gods. Doomguy's equal. Designed to truly care about his People, he spiraled out of control in search for eternal life, to save his people from death. Formerly a caring guardian, he tortured everyone who slightly deviated from this goal. After Davoth got imprisoned in his soul sphere by the Father, demons apparently fought one other to claim his title while he still whispered his influence to them. The Dark Lord of the First Age after Davoth made the deal with the Khan Maykr and the most recent one, the Dark Lord of the Fourth Age, is implied to have been the Spider Mastermind that possessed Olivia Pierce before getting her head blown off by BFG-9000. Davoth himself apparently prevented anyone from becoming Dark Lord of the Fifth Age as he was released from his soul sphere several months later. Currently only seen in one cutscene after his soul sphere was unlocked and everyone hopes the final fight will be the same as a Unreal Tournament/ Quake Deathmatch.

===Trivia===
*The Fortress of Doom is the personal fortress-monastery/mancave of the Slayer, once used for the Galaxy spanning Crusade of The Night Sentinels. Features a Teleportarium with an absurd range (teleporting the Slayer from Earth's orbit to the Hell-absorbed Argent D'nur, which is on a completely different dimensional plane to the Sol system), a Hangar bay with a Sentinel "Atlan" Mech, and a prison named the "Ripatorium", filled with Demons the Slayer undoubtedly abducted, to slaughter them for sport.
**On at least one occasion, the Slayer seems to have fought against Noise Marines, as his personal quarters feature a guitar made of flesh.
**The Fortress has a shit-ton of easter eggs and even a few unlockable weapons. Such as a redesigned Unmaykr (unlockable) froom Doom 64 and the Soul Cube of Doom 3(just a prop). You'll want the Unmaykr whither you want to slaughter demons or a completionist. The Slayers own room also displays all the weapons and toys players have collected over the game. There is a bookshelf that references other franchises, a cage for his dead rabbit Daisy and even a painting of said pet and the Slayer.
*It is said that the "Wretch" who gave the Slayer an adamantine armour, forged from the Fires of Hell, was in fact Khorne Himself. Even if he can't corrupt the Slayer, he doesn’t need to. The carnage he brings upon demons is the equivalent of centuries of war.
**Doomguy and Khorne may have flat-out '''teamed up''', as Doomguy wants to kill demons (Khorne technically isn’t a demon), and Khorne wants to take over Hell. The two of them have become fire-forged friends since then, to such a degree that, according to a legend passed down among demons, Khorne has a stasis pod containing the Doomguy stored deep in the heart of his personal fortress. Possibly underneath the skull throne itself.
***Khorne is Doomguys equal. In the ancient Gods DLC the life essence of the true Ruler of Hell gets resurrected, and he takes on the form of Doomguy. The Dark Lord of Hell is the leader of Hell`s armies. Not a King, but a warrior of the Dark Realm. The fiercest among all, as only the strongest could rule. He is you. Wait a minute [[Samus|that sounds familiar]], Hey if your going to steal, you may as well do it from the best.
*Since the Night Sentinels went to war against the Demons, they are effectively the first Space Marine Chapter (preceding even the Thunder Warriors), since they are to an extent Psykers, deploy with Argent (warp) using Weapons, have their own Titan Legion, Use a Space fleet of Flying Castles, have an Arena for duels to the Death, and only The Strongest among them can become King, they even had a mini civil war. the only thing they are missing is DNA from the God-Emperor...and even then, Doomguy may have it.
**The Sentinel Titans are called "Atlans" and are the Ultimate Example of a [[Invictor Tactical Warsuit|Babycarrier]] done right. Armed with one or two shoulder-mounted Giant [[Plasma Annihilators|Plasma_Annihilator]], the Palms of the Hands featuring the same sort of plasma weapon but weaker. The Melee Weapon being an ECKS BAKS HUEG Energy Spear for impaling equally huge Titans.
*The Makyrs in Doom Eternal bare a surprising resemblance to the [[C'tan]] (even being unable to show their true forms outside of Urdak). They also possess a sort of metal skin on all castes of there race, resembling necrodermis.
*Sometime between the events of Doom 64 and Doom (2016), the Slayer was subjected to something called the "Divinity Machine," given his new abilities from that point forward, it's possible he had a fragment of <s>the Warp</s> hell itself imbued within him, thereby making him a man uplifted with <s>psyker</s> argent powers. This might make him this dimension's equivalent of [[The God-Emperor of Mankind|The Emperor]]... if this is a separate dimension.
*In Doom Eternal, the Slayers new armour is not fully sealed, giving a look Upon His Arms, like a certain [[Kharn the Betrayer|Swell Guy]].
*Said Swell Guy <s>may or may have not been</s> probably is a Descendant of The Slayer's "friend," Valen the previous holder of the title of "Betrayer". The best guess would be that the Emperor used his Genetic Code for The Basics of Angron, and later the World Eaters Legion.
*The Crucible uses pure Argent energy to create its blade. This means it's soul-powered and therefore, since the Doom Slayer absorbs the power of the demons (giving them a true death), [[Grimdark|uses the life essence of demons to kill more demons]].
**Because the Doom Slayer does give true death to deamons, this may mean he can do what every single eldar, necron, and psychically adept human thought was impossible...actually '''kill''' the chaos gods, he would probably choose [[Slaanesh]] first
*The forces of Hell seem to be a serious threat even judging from the absurd standard of 40k. Samuel Hayden gave the surviving humans insane technology (full functioning AI battlesuits for infantry, and colossal Titan mechs, Dark Age Technology so to speak) and still couldn't get the upper hand. The only viable solution to gain ground seemed to be [[Exterminatus|total nuclear annihilation.]]
**This seemed to be simply because of Hells literally [[Orks|infinite]] [[tyranids|numbers]] since they multiply by both ordinary breeding and turning the aforementioned bodies of the mulched human souls into demons. Even if they took out one thousand demons, one billion would take their place. It seems this was the only reason for their defeat since, once all of the avenues for invasion are cut off, the remainder are mopped up without much fanfare. One wonders if all of the priests were on Sentinel Prime how things would go since there would be no cut off for the entering demons.

==Doom: The Board Game==
Yes, there is a Board Game - made by [[Fantasy Flight Games]] no less - giving the vague '/tg/ related' qualifications this site uses.
It was released around the time Doom 3 was released, though it wasn't that remarkable and is pretty hard to find nowadays.

One guy plays the baddies, the other 1-4 players play a band of unfortunate marines. The heroes start with 2-3 powerup cards, and the baddies get 5 cards from his own deck and during the game, he gets to draw more (the rate of which is equal to how many marines there are) and if his deck is empty, he gets to insta-kill one of the Marines. His guys are more varied in their movement but they can only shoot once.

The marines have three options: move 8 spaces without shooting, move 4 spaces and shoot once, or shoot twice without movement. They need to explore the board, find computers and other events as the board provides. The baddies, meanwhile, can either upgrade his monsters or bring more to the board.
Either way, his goal is to score 6 kills on the Marines.

A new board game got released shortly after May 2016 Doom, which, to my understanding, is basically just the same shit as before with a new coat of paint.
* It's different, but not too different. Similar in concept and design, with the main differences seeming to be in how the Marines play, and victory conditions for certain scenarios. Absolutely beautiful models, however, and incredibly fun. Highly recommended.

==Movie==
Also (roughly) around the same time as Doom 3 was a movie starring Karl Urban and former WWE superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. It pretty much replaced the whole Hell plot with some genetic experimentation to give people superpowers that only succeeds in creating hyper-aggressive mutants, and a squad of Marines sent to investigate the mayhem. It wasn't that good, with the only really 'good' scene being this one scene where it's all FPS-style like the original games and has monster killing.

Another movie was released in 2019, named ''Doom: Annihilation.'' When asked what they thought about this, id Software simply replied: "We are not involved in the movie." But the last five minutes of CGI demons was fucking phenomenal.

==TLDR==
{{blam|Rip and Tear Motherfucker!}}
==External Links==
*[https://doomwiki.org/ Doom Wiki] for all your Doom-related needs
*[https://www.doomworld.com/idgames/ /idgames/], the home of pretty much every Doom mod worth playing (and pretty much every Doom mod that isn't worth playing) since 1994.

[[Category:Video Games]][[Category:Awesome]]

Bandit

2021-05-29T08:53:01Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Popular bandit archetypes */

[[File:Skyrim bandit.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"Never should have come here"]]

For the sake of this article a '''Bandit''' is a type of criminal which has removed his/herself from the bulk of society, dwells mainly in the wilderness (or in the seedier parts of a population center) and makes a living engaging by various means of armed robbery (or "banditry"). Since there is strength in numbers, bandits will often gang up, and depending on their infamy and wealth: these numbers can range anywhere from a handful of thieves, to having enough to rival a nation's armed forces and possibly seize power. Solo bandits also exist, although they're either such highly proficient robbers that they don't need any help (or against the idea of sharing their spoils), or a rookie with more balls than brains.

There are various permutations of this, but the common theme is that if you traveled from town to town there was a good chance that you'd be waylaid by armed people which would try to extract the valuables from your person by force.

== History ==
In general for most of the history of civilization crime was bad. '''Really Bad.''' The worst areas of the modern first world pale in comparison to that of the middle ages as far as crime goes. This was a time where most people were dirt poor and for most civilizations there was no form of police that cared about anyone other than the nobility or do more than nab the odd fellow they deem suspicious and scare a few more for a bit. In the Middle Ages, towns would have guards who'd protect the gates and deal with with riots, laws that required that random townsfolk or volunteers to patrol the streets at night with torches and chase away suspicious people, bounties were put out for thieves captured and rich people would have guys patrol their neighborhoods to catch anyone who looked suspicious. The countryside did not even have that and there were many nooks and crannies were ne'er-do-wells could lurk. And since most people lived in the countryside or sparsely populated villages, outlaws were an ever-present danger outside the boundaries of their homes. Empires such as Rome or China during the high points of the various dynasties and countries where things were stable like Edo Japan were somewhat better as they could have law enforcement forces, garrisons and patrols of rural areas, though they'd still be considered lawless by modern standards. The development of even somewhat modern policing (in terms of a dedicated full time professional law enforcement agency funded and run by the government, and who weren't just part of the army), which only really began to happen after the [[Renaissance]], led to a reduction; even then, the problem of banditry was a serious one well into the [[Industrial Revolution]], and in some places, the 20th century and/or the present day.

On the same note the worse off a country was, the more bandits it produced. In particular, armies, particularly mercenary armies, had a tendency when ill-disciplined or when badly losing to spin-off into banditry; until the 18th century, it was a common and frequently necessary tactic to pillage the countryside in order to support an army on foreign soil, and, well, people tend to do what they know.

For a further example of "war leads to bandits", if your cottage gets burned by a party of knights (possibly the ones who are supposed to be protecting ''you'') on a raid and the choice is letting your family starve or stealing some stuff from some passing merchant who never sold anything you could afford or a tax collector who's been bleeding people dry at the best of times, a fair number of people would steal from them. Robin Hood might have been a work of fiction, but men who steal from the rich and give to the poor when taxes were too high are not unprecedented. How much of this is altruism and how much of it was public relations would be something that varies from case to case. After all, if you provide a bit of treasure to people who have little enough to begin with, they're less likely to rat you out to the local knight (who they probably hate anyway for taxing them to hell and back, as mentioned above).

The above took on a further twist in the context of regions that had recently been conquered by rival countries (e.g. Greece following its conquest by the Ottoman Empire). Deprived of direct military force and with no other options to retaliate against their occupiers, their inhabitants sometimes took to banditry as a form of guerrilla warfare. As above, this was frequently supported by the commoners, who had no love for their new masters.

When did the age of banditry end? Well, that varies according to your definition of "banditry". The three most notable permutations of the concept for our purposes are:
* Highwaymen and Muggers, who target travelers.
* Robbers, who target individual buildings (banks, jewelery stores, etc).
* Raiders, who target entire towns and farms.

The era of Raiders ends with the birth of the modern army, who no longer needed to plunder in order to eat. The era of the Highwayman ends with either the train (train robbers are usually, well, more Robbers than Highwaymen; see below for more) or the invention of an effective Highway Patrol. Large scale robbery usually ends with the birth of the aforementioned dedicated police, with at least some people who follow up on things; nowadays the most important part of robbery planning is ''getting away with it'', which requires either a safe place to hide (a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty, forex) or good anonymity.

Some notable Real Life historical banditry:

* The Qin Dynasty fell in part because the penalty for reporting late (death) was the same as that for rebellion (death again), thus neatly creating a bandit and rebellion problem, among other things.
** Banditry was usually a part of the negative feedback loops which did Chinese dynasties in: corruption leads to a lack of funds for police and infrastructure projects in X province, infrastructure decays and the police spend more time shaking people down than fighting bandits, bandits operate unimpeded while the economy suffers (incidentally leading more people to get into banditry because there's no legitimate work to go around), which leads to budget cuts across the board which leads to more corruption.
* Alexander "Sawney" Bean, a guy in 16th century Scotland who started a whole family of bandits who decided that they didn't need the gold so much as they just wanted to eat people. And most of the grandchildren were the products of incest. I mean, if you're going to break one law, why not break them all? It took a manhunt led by the king himself to track them down.
* There were many outlaws during the period of the Wild West (in no small part due to the absence of an established police force) who get romanticized, like Billy The Kid, Jesse James, and Butch Cassidy. Many of them were portrayed as either Americanized Robin Hoods or free, unbound spirits that exemplified the Wild West, among other things. Although going past the romanticism, there was little evidence (if any at all) that proves they were anything more than proficient, opportunistic bandits that the simplefolk made stories about and eventually caught on as fact in the public mind. People tend to, incorrectly, take their existence and fame as evidence the west was swarming with criminals when it statistically had far lower crime rate than the east and most settlements went years without major crime.
** Side note: Many of the most notable figures had their origin in small scale "range wars", usually with both sides reaching for legal justification for their acts. [[Wikipedia:Category:Range_wars_and_feuds_of_the_American_Old_West | Wikipedia has articles on these conflicts]].
* There was also an outbreak of Bank Robbery during the 1930s that was later romanticized, with such names as "Pretty Boy" Floyd, John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, and Willie "Falsely Attributed as Saying 'I Rob Banks Because That's Where the Money Is'" Sutton.
* Mexican history is positively littered with bandit revolutionaries; [[wikipedia:Pancho Villa|Pancho Villa]] is probably the most notable, and among other things, he actually starred in a few Hollywood films about his exploits (yes, seriously), and provoked [[Wikipedia:Pancho Villa Expedition|a full military response]] when he attacked the US town of Columbus, New Mexico.

== Role in Tabletop Games ==
Bandits are great upper-low tier villains for a campaign, as they can come from diverse backgrounds with plenty of legroom to work with and typically don't lend themselves to sympathetic views. They can either be desperate townsfolk mugging passers-by to survive, a couple of assholes who can't be bothered to earn an honest living, to a unit of veteran soldiers who went rogue after realizing banditry is more favorable than serving in the military, or just having no other choice, either due to being on the losing side, or due to winding up on the wrong side of the law for some other reason. Additionally, just about any race with some semblance of sapience can become bandits. As intelligent human(oid) foes, they can employ nearly any tactic humanoids are capable of and are the only real option for low level humanoid enemies aside from [[Cultist]]s.

This leads to a variety of quest ideas from: some guys jump the party wanting to loot your stuff, there are some jerks out there robbing people on the highways that the King wants taken care of, to a well-organized crime syndicate who has total control over the region that you have to bring down or play nice with.

==Popular bandit archetypes==
*Mugger - Lowly miscreants who prey on civilians in a population center for petty valuables, relying on the element of surprise and a settlement's weapon laws to ensure that their victim doesn't retaliate. They usually don't put up too much of a fight and will run if they realize there's even a hint of risk they'll get caught (or worse, mobbed by the angry citizenfolk).

*Highwayman - Your stereotypical fantasy bandit. Highwaymen prey on travelers, primarily on unsecured highways (as highways linked to major cities and were established trade routes: a lot of money, rich folk, and trade goods regularly flowed through them), holding them up for whatever they can carry and disappearing into their hideout to count and distribute the spoils. That said, they're fully capable of sticking people up in any other location that suits them.

*Raider - Bandits who take a more direct approach and the other common archetype. They're much like highwaymen, but they prefer to invade poorly defended areas (like villages and small encampments) to pillage their goods and retreat to their hideout before an armed response force is mustered. Rinse and repeat. Also, throughout history but most commonly in the Bronze and Dark Ages, raiding was the most common type of warfare conducted, so the difference between state-sanctioned raiding and actual bandit raiding was very often pedantic. In fact, the former tended to devolve into the latter as soon as the raiders noticed they could get more money by raiding than they could from military pay- or when a war ended and left the raiders with no skills they could use in peacetime.

*Bank robber - One of the most popular in the list. Bank robbers are groups of men who rob banks by: going inside weapons drawn, and forcibly steal the bank's contents using brutal force, then making a quick getaway whilst attempting to evade the law. They're pretty popular in modern settings, getting into intricate planning segments to ensure they get in and out as quick as possible, high-speed vehicle chases, and heated gunfights with the law as they fight tooth and nail to escape with their haul.

*Train robber - Popularized by old American wild west movies. Train robbers basically rob moving trains of any loot they might have, and since trains were the most reliable form of quick transportation between cities in the old west: they normally carried plenty of valuables (and trains were also normally boarded by rich folk wishing to cross the country). Contrary to popular belief, they rarely jumped from their horses to get on trains (as this was incredibly risky, and hard to pull off from a physics standpoint), and would normally board the train like regular passengers, before signaling to the gang to commence the heist. To get off the train: they normally forced the engineer to engage the brakes. Alternately, they had some way to stop the train at roughly the right point (again, confederate who boards and then holds up the engineer, or one of the many legitimate ways to get a train to stop (doing stuff to the rail, etc.)), or alternately derail the train; either way, historically, passengers were small fry that a robber wouldn't be that interested in; the focus was usually on gold or payroll that was being shipped alongside them in safes.

*[[Slavery|Slavers]] - Normally considered the most despicable of all bandits. Bandits don't usually bother with kidnapping, as a ransom is typically too problematic for anyone but a well-connected syndicate to handle (as you need to find someone willing to shell out a lot of money for this person, then ensure they can't trace you back), and taking captives brings in a lot more heat than than usual. And even then, trying to move live cargo around and trying to find a good buyer for them comes with it's own sets of problems. Its simply a lot more efficient for most groups to hold people up and take their good stuff, then leave them alone; after all, inanimate goods generally don't fight back or escape (although see "Cattle Rustlers" below).
:Slavers however, say "fuck that", and in addition to the usual fighting and looting, they'll take prisoners home to sell on the slave market, with their captives' welfare usually being an afterthought, unless they were important/valuable enough to ensure the extra hassle of keeping them well fed and maintained. Slave raiders are terrifying to civilianfolk: while its depressing you can always get material possessions back one way or another. But how're you going to cope with losing friends and family? Once they're sold off, it's highly likely you're never going to see your loved ones again, and you'll be tormented to death not knowing if they're still alive or not. Hence, slave raiders typically attract the most attention, either from law enforcement and or local militia, as anyone incharge will want them gone as soon as possible (and from a less moral PoV but one that might be more common in a society that uses slaves itself: slavers are taking away your workers and taxpayers, how dare they cut into your fortunes and cost you good money to hunt them down?).

*[[Viking|Sea Raider]] - A fearsome cross with a [[Pirate]]. A Sea Raider raids coastal settlements then gets on their boat and runs away before the local lord can assemble his forces to deal with them. Among bandit types they have the narrative advantage of not needing even a temporary settlement to engage in their acts (allowing them to not just be criminals but ''foreign'' criminals) and being able to rip off all that cool Viking stuff. It was also believed for decades that sea raiders caused the collapse of several civilizations at the end of the Bronze Age.

*Banditos - Bandits with a little more ethnic flair thrown in, these are wild-west bandits with ponchos, sombreros, and pistolés representing the general lawlessness of the early Texan border (and then romanticized in western fiction.) They're also known for their ravishing handlebar mustaches. Actors that are actually Hispanic are completely optional. [[Webcomics|May or may not ride raptors into battle.]]

*Marauders - In the middle east there were a fair number of places where it was too dry to raise crops but you could raise sheep, goats or camels which were home to various nomadic pastoral peoples who'd supplement their income by trade, weaving, dealing in odds and ends and some banditry on the side. Since a tribe of nomads would be a set of family units who'd been at this way of life for centuries or millennia, they tended to have a more sustainable outlook about things: kill a merchant and you can rob for everything once, shake his caravan down and let him go and you can do it again and again.

*Cattle Rustlers - Men who steal cows. Common in Westerns, but were a problem wherever free range animals were a thing (sheep rustlers were and are a thing, for example, and in fact are still a problem in Scotland as of 2019). Cattle were just the most valuable animals, and the most likely to require a gang to steal; domesticated cattle are goddamn '''big'''--small cows weigh "only" 600 pounds(270 kg), but the big ones can get up to 2500 pounds (1100 kg). Why all the risk for cows, though? Well, back in the olden days a single healthy specimen of cattle would fetch anywhere between $20 (or around $500 today, adjusted for inflation) to $90 ($2,300 adjusted for 2020 inflation). And if you wanted to diversify your earnings, you could always process them for milk, meat, hides, and fertilizer (bones and unusable organs). As you can imagine, whatever you did: you had a lot of mileage with cattle, and any cattle rancher worth their salt would gladly put a round through you in a heartbeat, if you so much as think of stealing one of their livestock.

*Any Asian historically set action-focused work will usually have bandits, due to the usual reasons: They make good asskicking-fodder, and in most historical eras require almost no setup or explanation. Usually more likely to be de-romanticized and non-glamorous than American or European bandits. While there are some heroic bandits in such works, they are usually either cases of the Bandit being misguided (and thus become Heroes under the patronage/tutelage of an Old Master(tm) or other parochial figure), or the result of state corruption (and thus usually willing to turn away from banditry when that becomes a realistic option); either way, if they're to be in any way Heroic, the Banditry is an act of desparation. As mentioned above, China had frequent bandit problems in its history, leading, among other things, to the rise of the Shaolin monks and their brand of Kung-Fu for self defense.

== See Also ==
*[[Pirate]] - The bandits of the sea.

[[Category: History]]

Slavery

2021-05-29T08:47:33Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Slavery in Warhammer */

{{sick}}
[[image:Slaves sugar cane.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Slaves harvesting sugar cane, not a lot fun for them. It is really good in tea, though.]]
{{Topquote|I came here in peace, seeking gold and slaves.|Jack Handey, ''What I'd Say to the Martians''}}

'''Slavery''' is the institution of owning other humans ([[Hard Science Fiction|as well as other sapient]] [[Soft Science Fiction|beings by extrapolation]]) as property. As slaves are bound to their owners, they were prevented from leaving or refusing to work under threat of immediate violence for disobedience. When two groups would fight, it was not uncommon for the victor to capture some of the defeated along with the goods or territory and put them to work. Later on, as long-distance trade improved, they also began selling said captives to other cultures. The children of slaves usually were slaves themselves, though this was not universal.

In other cases, people would be put into slavery as a punishment, e.g. for failure to pay their debts, or voluntarily such as an alternative to paying for something. Some systems of slavery even offered opportunities for, like the Devshirmeh system in Ottoman Empire, where boys taken from among Christian vassals who were bright enough could actually end up as Grand Vizier of the Empire (with a few caveats; they had to be smart and all of them had to be converted to Islam willingly or not... either way they weren't allowed to stay Christian).

In addition to the practice of owning human beings as chattel, there are other contemporary and historical arrangements so similar to slavery that they are referred to as slavery informally or at that point in history. A few of these include serfdom ([[Peasant|serfs]] were not owned, but they were bound to the land owned by [[noble]]s and are required to work the noble's land 2-3 days per week for free and keep what else they could grow-keep-trade), indentured servitude in colonial America (in exchange for passage to the new world being paid, criminal fines or to discharge a debt, someone would be indentured to a contract holder and have to work off their debt over a number of years such as British criminals and Irish people too poor to pay for the trip), impressment and shanghaiing (where people were kidnapped from ports or ships and forced to serve as sailors with said debt not being hereditary), the various forced labor programs used by the [[Nazi|Nazis]] and other despotic regimes and the victims of human trafficking which is still ongoing today.

Presently it's generally acknowledged that humans cannot be considered ''real assets'', although there remain locations where this is not an absolute, and only the most extreme activists consider this to be a universal right that should be extended to other organisms. And there are very few countries that have addressed the more tricky issues of conscription, prison labor, and non-dischargeable debt.

Economically slavery is... tricky. At the first glance it looks like free labour, meaning easy way of getting rich without paying your workers. But slavery have lots of hidden expenses, most notably on security and overseeing work, making it not nearly as free as it looks. Furthermore, most slaves are unfit for any sophisticated work, being way worse motivated in the result of their labour than hired workers. That's not to say you can't have slave engineers, teachers or other high-intelligence jobs, but historically it only worked by giving said highly skilled slaves so much freedom and privilege they end up more like contracted workers with no way of getting out of the contracts, and not much (if any) cheaper than free people doing the same job, so the only upside is that they don't run away from you and tell your secrets to your enemies. For this reason in most cultures for the overwhelming length of history slaves were a luxury, not really a means of creating wealth, unless you happen to have highly profitable industry with very low skill requirement, like strip mining in antiquity (deep mining required way more skill), cotton farming in new age or textile sweatshops in modern times. Even then it have another hidden detriment: slaves don't consume as much as free people, so they put a giant handbrake on the economy, hampering the circulation of the capital and generally making everyone, including even slave owners, poorer compared to the same economy running on hired labour instead of slavery. In short, slavery excells at making nobles or their equivalents in society richer than plebs, but not at making them richer than "nobles" of other societies that don't run on slavery. One of the reasons modern slavery only survived in 3-d world countries is that they're 3-d world partly because they still use slavery.

== History stuff ==
{{skubby}}
The oldest surviving codex of laws yet discovered in the world, the "Code of Ur-Nammu" dating back to at least 2050 BC, has multiple references to slaves, so slavery has been with humanity for a ''very'' long time. Slavery was practiced in virtually every culture at some point throughout their history; as soon as a people progressed from a hunter-gathering and nomadic culture to an agrarian one it became more convenient to look for ways to increase productivity and lower expenses. Before the advent of modern machinery, that way was some flavor of slave workforce since you generally had to spend less resources on a slave than you would on your fellow clan member.

In the ancient world, basically all civilizations made use of slavery to some degree or another. Prisoners of war were taken as slaves and made to ply their trade for their conquerors, or were sold abroad for goods. Since civilizations would wax and wane from time to time, the enslavers of one generation might end up enslaved in the next. The Ancient Egyptians made use of slaves in various ways though even there there was something of a hierarchy among slaves, although contrary to popular beliefs pyramids weren't built by slaves but by free people (paid in fresh crops grown on the most fertile and irrigated lands in Egypt owned directly by king and worked by king's personal slaves as well as good amounts of meat). The Greeks made heavier-than-usual use of slaves, and the Romans even more so. The Persians did not use slavery themselves and tried to limit it, but slavery did exist in their Empire among their conquered vassals. Slaves worked in every field from miners (who were quickly worked to death) to farmers, to factory workers and skilled craftsmen. Other examples range from the [[Grimdark]] examples of sex slaves or fodder for human sacrifice (the latter being something the Aztecs were notorious for), to non dark examples such as entertainers, teachers and doctors (particularly Greeks who could buy their freedom in a year, or even less if skilled) and even up to high ranking government officials in the Empire. Ancient Romans used to grumble about all these slaves coming in stealing people's jobs (this sentence is not a joke).

Slavery existed in [[Medieval Stasis|Medieval Europe]], but declined after the year 1,000 AD in a lot of places, especially the north. The Domesday Book (a census carried out by William the Conqueror in 1086) stipulated that about 10% of the population of England was slaves. The Vikings practiced slavery, acquiring them primarily on expeditions or raids in Eastern Europe and the British Isles. They could also obtain Viking slaves at home, as crimes like murder and thievery were punished with slavery or through doing business with the Arab Slave Trade. The basis for the modern English word slave gets its roots here, as the Slavic races were so often put upon that [[Grimdark|the ordeal was named after them]], also providing the first example of race-based slavery. When Arabs, and later the Europeans, discovered the continent of Africa, there was much contact between local tribes and foreigners on this subject. Many nations would take slaves from the peoples of Africa abetted at times by local slavery systems among African people themselves (see below). [[Grimdark|In Brazil and most of the Caribbean between 1600 and 1800, the slave population never was able to achieve natural replacement rates due to a high death rate from overwork and abuse by their masters]]. The American system of slavery (aka "the peculiar institution") would arguably require an entire article of its own, but since we'd rather not try to poke that hornet's nest, suffice to say it was little different from the Caribbean experience and was only abolished by President Abraham Lincoln after the American Civil War (and was one of the reasons Lincoln was assassinated).

During this aforementioned time, the idea of racial slavery was raised. In the Classical World (for example, Ancient Rome), slaves were basically from everywhere in the Empire and many places beyond and the children of freed slaves (Libertus) in Rome became more Romans, and Rome being Rome, they even had the manumission (freeing) a religious/bureaucratic ritual onto itself. While if Slavic people are considered a race, they were the first case of racial slavery due to being popular choices of slaves. Ideas raised in attempts to justify the idea arose between the Arab Slave Trade and the Atlantic Slave Trade. Slavery is not a nice thing even at the best of times, but racial slavery adds to it the conception that an enslaved race is inferior, doomed to servitude forever, and that people from it are unfit for anything else. Those caught up in it had little hope of ever elevating themselves from a state of being a form of livestock with the hands for manual labor. Slave ships sailed from the Middle East and Europe to Africa loaded with manufactured goods, textiles and weapons which they traded for prisoners of war, criminals and existing slaves. They were packed in like sardines to be shipped back to the countries of their slavers.

Africa has had slavery between its various tribes and kingdoms for millennia, even to the present day. Between this and many foreign civilizations making extensive use of African slaves, the history of slavery in Africa is complicated and violent. In Africa, even prior to the Arab slave trade or the Atlantic/European slave trade, slavery happened in all forms from ancient times. This was enacted between many of the various tribes and nations of Africa; however, in many African societies where slavery was prevalent, the enslaved people were not treated as chattel slaves and had certain rights in a system similar to indentured servitude elsewhere in the world. When the Arab slave trade - and centuries later, the Atlantic slave trade - began, many of the local slave systems began supplying captives for slave markets outside Africa. They also supplied local criminals and captives from rival tribes or nations to the Arab, European or American slave trades. This means African slave traders unwittingly helped fan the flames of the issue of racial slavery, unaware of the dehumanization these buyers would subject them to - and that's before the Scramble for Africa caused many of them to become slaves themselves.

In the Ottoman Empire, whose system can ''arguably'' be seen as similar to the Eastern Roman Empire, the system was more or less the same, but with a small possibility of moving up if you were a Christian (or claiming to be one) because Christians (and Jews) are considered "people of the Book", meaning the worthiest of non-Muslim people according to Islam. It had three sources of slaves: The first was Africa, with the usual [[Grimdark]] fate for blacks brought by the thousands, many castrated and dying during transport, females ending up as house slaves and non-castrated males working agriculture in Egypt and Anatolia as ''fellahin''. The second was the slave-port of Caffa, the most underreported and forgotten white slavery port which took ''millions'' of white slaves from Ukraine, males killed and women sold as sex slaves([[SJW|you don't get to hear much about it because they are not black]]). ''Devshirmeh'' is the name for the system of taking one boy out of 40 houses from the population of Christian vassals in the Ottoman Empire; this mostly meant Balkan Christians, with the inclusion of Bosniak Muslims while Armenians, Romani and Jews were explicitly excluded. The taken boys were converted to Islam one way or another, then made into elite monastic troops called Janissaries (new soldiers). If they proved intelligent, they were sent to the Imperial Academy in Enderun to become bureaucrats. Being slaves, they had no ''habeas corpus'' and could be executed at any time - in theory. In practice, while the threat hanging over their heads was very real, they could also push back against this by working their way into military ranks, marrying Ottoman princesses, engineering palace coups to kill off sultans who didn't pay them enough, or even investing back in their native countries such as Bosnia (the reason Bosniaks mourned the fall of the Janissary institution while EVERYONE ELSE celebrated it). The dangers of the ''devshirmeh'' system didn't stop some families from actively sending their kids there in desperation, often to the point of bribing the Janissary Aghas.

Female slaves in the Ottoman Empire didn't get as many opportunities, with the "best" option allowed to them being to end up as palace concubines. But this contained more backstabbing than a Tzeentchian party, and few died peacefully. Ironically, many concubines who ended up marrying Viziers or military officers ended up in better positions than concubines who were gunning for the top spot. With the advent of nationalism, the French Revolution, Russia conquering Ukraine and destroying the Muslim-Tatar slavery business ([[Alignment#Lawful_Evil|If only to preserve their white serf population]]) and the growing need for military reforms bitterly opposed by the Janissaries, the system's flaws burst like rotting cysts, and Ottoman-style slavery went the way of the Dodo in 1847 thanks to [[Noblebright|Abdulmajid's reforms]]. The harem was numerous enough by then, and the freed whites went on with their lives while the black population [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Turks settled in Western Turkey as free farmers]. Slavery didn't ''completely'' end until [[Sebastian Thor|Atatürk]] did the [[Noblebright|final house-cleaning]] around the 1930's.

Eurasia, particularly Ukraine, was the hotbed of slavery for the Ottoman Empire, with the port city of Caffa being the continent's major slave ports. The Russians liberated it from the Crimean Khanate, whose major income was thousands of taken women and children from villages, supplying the Ottoman Empire's need for European/white women. Evliya Çelebi even wrote about the despair and cries of women separated from their children and then sold separately.

But the problem was particularly acute in Russia. Tzar Alexander II officially ended serfdom in Russia via two edicts in 1861 and 1866, liberating roughly 33 million people (23 million private serfs and at least 9 million state serfs) from obligations. But this was achieved by simply taxing all of them and paying the tax to their former lords. While this tax was intended to expire, ultimately the hardship this caused combined the Great War and other factors would lead to the abdication of the Tzar and the Russian Revolution.

In contrast to the above, slavery is virtually never mentioned in [[Oriental Adventures|east Asian-inspired]] settings. This has some basis in history in certain areas: The [[Mongols]]' nomadic lifestyle was not conductive to widespread slavery, though they did take some captives as slaves ([[Genghis motherfucking Khan|Genghis Khan]] himself was briefly a slave in his youth), and during the Mongol Empire's runs on conquering China people were often little better than slaves anyway. The Chinese themselves went through several periods of loosening and then making stricter laws surrounding slavery, usually rallying around who was in charge following their frequent wars to unify, only to break apart once more. The question of working conditions in China and comparisons to slavery along with "prison camps" came up during and after Mao Zedong's rise to power, but rather than poke that hornet's nest suffice to say these stories have more than a grain of truth to them (there's a reason for the stereotype of the Chinese sweatshop worker). The inhabitants of the Ryukyu islands "would die over" slavery rather than participate. Slavery in Asia was probably most prolific on the Korean peninsula, who had a caste system, but population growth, a few slave revolts and modernization eventually rendered it less than palatable.

The earliest European reports of [[Japan]] mention that, though it existed there, slavery was rare and primarily inflicted on debtors and prisoners of war. The main recorded examples are the maids/concubines of the rich, and those brought by Europeans themselves. One European held slave's physical stature impressed Oda Nobunaga so much that he purchased him, freed him and elevated him to samurai status. This man would be known as Yasuke, [[Anime|the only black samurai]]. During the Sengoku a not-insignificant of Japanese prisoners of war were sold to the Europeans for foreign trade until 1587/1595, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi banned it. HOWEVER... the Japanese were one of the last countries to give up serfdom; the feudal land system disappeared along with the Samurai who oversaw it during the Meiji Restoration.

==Slavery in Fantasy==
Because slavery is viewed as such a moral repugnance throughout the modern world, it is an easy way for lazy [[GM]]s to get a reaction from players. Slavery being one of the common features of a setting's bad guys makes for an easy way to establish that civilization or organization is [[Alignment|evil]]. A bunch of armed guys attack a peaceful village with chains and whips to catch its residents, bind them, and take them to their dwelling, where they're treated worse than how we treat livestock and forced to: toil, be beaten, probably raped, and made to fight to the death in arenas for the amusement and benefit of some sick bastards? That is more than enough reason to establish "these guys are bad, go [[murderhobo|kill their asses]]" regardless of alignment; even Evil characters can simply indulge their drive to kill by offing slavers, and exploit the freed villagers and their families for more favors - particularly Lawful Evil ones.

However, this is not always the case; both the perceived "good" and "bad" factions can also engage in slavery, although how they do it usually defines who's good and who's bad (regardless of how minute the difference is). Take [[Araby]] and the [[Dark Elves]] in the ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battles|Warhammer Fantasy]]'' setting, for example. Both factions engage in wanton slavery and have no qualms about it being a common thing everywhere. However, what sort of defines each of them is how they see their slaves. In Araby, slaves have several rights, the children of slaves are guaranteed by law to not be slaves, and particularly cruel mistreatment of slaves will result in punishment to the masters and the mistreated becoming free. The Dark Elves consider all non-Dark Elves to be beneath them and will torture and maim their slaves, just because they think it is fun.

Though it is found in both, slavery is more common in fantasy settings than in science fiction. In your typical Tolkien knockoff, the way you go about digging rocks, harvesting lumber, tilling fields and raising buildings is normally with strong backs. In most sci-fi worlds, why have a bunch of slaves working in an irradiated asteroid space mine when you could have a bunch of robots who don't need slave drivers, don't require food or air, won't plot escape/rebellion ([[Men of Iron|'''hopefully''']]), and are stronger and easier to repair if damaged?

Slavery of a [[/d/|certain kind]] is a common feature of many [[Magical Realm]]s.

===Slavery in [[Warhammer]]===

Since we are a bunch of [[Warhammer]] nerds, here's some examples<ref>Besides the pair that allows us to explain that there's a sliding scale of evilness associated with slave-holding societies</ref> from those two/three settings, because we can't restrain ourselves:

[[Tomb Kings|Ancient Nehekharan's]] society mostly have their labor powered by slaves that were either prisoners of war or captured from oversea raid (like their Egypt counterpart). Most slaves would overworked themselves and die under the whips of architects (or soon to be necrotect) while building a pyramid (which would cost the lives of one million slaves in 25 years to completed it. Settra's pyramid only took 20 years and cost over 2000 slaves). This does not mean Nehekharan are mostly cruel tyrants, for few kind or wise rulers would grant boon to talented slaves by giving them a place in their hierarchy, allowing some of them to even become a vizier (second most powerful man in a great city besides a priest king). Females would be used as a servant instead for labor just because they are good looking.

Then there's [[that guy]] named [[Nagash]]. Oh boy, the greatest tyrant of all. HE believed everyone but him are either his slaves, slave soldiers, his magic energy source or his enemies that should die. Being an evil necromancer, he harvest soul to either replenish energy for his dark magic or turn them into undead so they could serve him for eternity. Necromancy is literary the answer to his endless needs for free labors. He made the construction of his black pyramid with more casualties than his predecessor simply because he couldn't wait for 200 to 250 years for it to complete (even telling the slaves to carve with not actual tools, but human bones from died slaves). Not to mentioned he slit the throat of his architect once the pyramid as if he has outlived his usefulness. He treat and view woman as nothing but breeding cattle for human reproduction. Even those talented generals serves under him suffered many mistreatment from him as if their inferiority is equal to a slave. Due to how he could just raised back the dead, he simply has no regards or feelings to his important generals (even Arkhan), for he could just raise them back again and again. No one in the setting treats a slave like Nagash, NO ONE, except the Skavens, perhaps.

''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' actually justifies having slaves fairly well in that, in the [[Imperium]], such automation is considered techno-[[heresy]] (or simply decayed like spaceship artillery loaders) due to a robot rebellion happening in the past and the risk of Chaos corruption for the machines. In order to access free labors without the fear from Abominable Intelligence, they created [[Servitors]], cyborgs made out of human criminals or vat clones.

The [[Dark Eldar]] are sick bastards who need to consume souls of psychically susceptible species (human youngsters are prime specimens, while Tau souls taste bland and weak) and get their rocks off at making others miserable.

==A Digression About the Economics of Slavery==
For serious worldbuilders who have it, you need to consider what economics already considers a long-standing question: Is slavery profitable in the long term, and if so where?

The consensus answer among economic historians to the first one is that yes, slavery can be profitable, but only in those situations where technology does not offer a faster/cheaper/safer solution. Indeed, most ancient Empires (Egyptian, Greek, Roman) had some form of institutionalized slavery that allowed them to endure. This being said, the very concept of slavery has some serious downsides (that have nothing to do with morality) dooming it in the long run. The short answer to the "where" question is "cash crops and other agriculture, unskilled labor, and a bit of mining", in roughly that order of profitability.

The practical downsides that doom slavery include, but are not limited to:

*First of all, in any area where sabotage is a serious concern slavery is usually a non-starter. For a recent example, look at the [[Nazi]]s using forced labor to build their weapons later in the war, and the quality of said weapons. That rules out most semi-modern mining, as well as just about any industry with any degree of mechanization and a surprising amount of agriculture.
** Despite mining being the stereotypical use of slaves in fiction, mining past a certain depth is sufficiently deadly and expensive that semi-skilled labor is '''absolutely required''', and a slave has a nice way to commit suicide AND hurt his master's profits at the same time. While ''other'' exploitative practices may be used, the training required means actual slavery-based mining is very much a no-go save for tasks such as the very basic work of breaking surface mineral seams, as well as open-pit mining, where "getting stuck" is not an issue and carrying loads to processing stations a la South American silver mining done by Spanish or simple stone quarries where all one needs doing is to hit a stone with a pick and carry the resulting ore chunks to the storage.
*Second, unless reproduction is heavily encouraged (and ties down the female slaves to light labor), slave populations have a tendency to drop over time, especially compared to relatively free populations (even ignoring manumission, buying freedom in better societies and escapes), and five seconds of thought on slaves' living conditions should lead to a few obvious conclusions as to why. So if you want to keep up, you need to constantly raid (or trade with raiders) for more slaves. Last time this was done beyond the 16th century, the United States wrecked the entire Barbary coast with artillery and freed slaves. So any "sustainable" raiding *will* attract military threats that will make sure any slave taken will eventually be more expensive than a free worker who is A) already available and willing, B) lives within the empire and C) has many motivations, such as family, welfare and [[Tzeentch|hopes for a good future]]).
*Third, slave-holding societies are usually economically out-competed by non-slave-holding societies once military considerations are either removed or temporarily equalized. There are plenty of reasons for this, but the big ones are the twin spectres of Incentives (which align more closely in non-slave societies) and Efficiency (effort you expend on keeping slaves from escaping or rebelling could usually be more productively used elsewhere, and that's just to ''start'', saying nothing of potentially intelligent slaves wasted in labor they are not optimal for rather than being educated and made into scientists).
*Fourth, if slaves are owned in large numbers they start to displace the local non-slaves. This is not a simple case of [[Meme|"DEY TOOK AHR JERBS"]], as the Romans can attest: when large numbers of slaves started to displace local farmers who were forced to sell their land for some reason or the other, said ex-farmers were driven to the cities, where there were not a lot of jobs either. This bred poverty, and from poverty rose a class dissatisfied with their lot in life as they starve while the rich grow fat. And from this rose political and civilian unrest, which is never good for any state. In the case of the Romans, this gave birth to a populist dictator, Julius Caesar and his adoptive son Octavian, which created a major precedent for all modern dictatorships and bread-and-circuses states.
*Lastly, having a large slave population essentially constituted a permanent fifth column presence. Every empire that employed slavery was compelled to maintain a large armed presence in its home territory to suppress revolts. This tended to limit the size that a state could grow to territorially, with only a few superpowers managing to consolidate enough territory with reliable regional governors to sustain a permanent campaigning military while retaining enough force at home to prevent rebellion. Serfdom policed by religion was more effective at maintaining civil order, with serfs tending to rebel only in the case of famine and excessive taxation.

Slavery in worldbuilding is not confined strictly to historical settings; it is also a valid consideration in near future science fiction. The time and cost of moving individuals to other bodies in the solar system by conventional means, combined with the work to be done and the scarcity of hands will mean that people on such ventures will NOT have the luxury to quit. Space colonization under these circumstances will inevitably require a return to the ancient naval tradition that a captain at sea must be an absolute despot for the good of all aboard; "keeping ''everyone'' alive" and "avoiding ''everyone'' dying" are not synonymous, and many hazards of space make the distinction very important. Activity in space today is achieved as a pseudo-military expedition with carefully selected teams trained to cooperate, but larger scale operations WILL necessitate an organization divide between labor and operations and that will result in social friction. In some settings, colonization is achieved by using convicted prisoners as labor to sidestep the moral questions of compulsory work and sacrificing some to save all.

[[Category:History]]

Bandit

2021-05-29T08:42:50Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Popular bandit archetypes */

[[File:Skyrim bandit.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"Never should have come here"]]

For the sake of this article a '''Bandit''' is a type of criminal which has removed his/herself from the bulk of society, dwells mainly in the wilderness (or in the seedier parts of a population center) and makes a living engaging by various means of armed robbery (or "banditry"). Since there is strength in numbers, bandits will often gang up, and depending on their infamy and wealth: these numbers can range anywhere from a handful of thieves, to having enough to rival a nation's armed forces and possibly seize power. Solo bandits also exist, although they're either such highly proficient robbers that they don't need any help (or against the idea of sharing their spoils), or a rookie with more balls than brains.

There are various permutations of this, but the common theme is that if you traveled from town to town there was a good chance that you'd be waylaid by armed people which would try to extract the valuables from your person by force.

== History ==
In general for most of the history of civilization crime was bad. '''Really Bad.''' The worst areas of the modern first world pale in comparison to that of the middle ages as far as crime goes. This was a time where most people were dirt poor and for most civilizations there was no form of police that cared about anyone other than the nobility or do more than nab the odd fellow they deem suspicious and scare a few more for a bit. In the Middle Ages, towns would have guards who'd protect the gates and deal with with riots, laws that required that random townsfolk or volunteers to patrol the streets at night with torches and chase away suspicious people, bounties were put out for thieves captured and rich people would have guys patrol their neighborhoods to catch anyone who looked suspicious. The countryside did not even have that and there were many nooks and crannies were ne'er-do-wells could lurk. And since most people lived in the countryside or sparsely populated villages, outlaws were an ever-present danger outside the boundaries of their homes. Empires such as Rome or China during the high points of the various dynasties and countries where things were stable like Edo Japan were somewhat better as they could have law enforcement forces, garrisons and patrols of rural areas, though they'd still be considered lawless by modern standards. The development of even somewhat modern policing (in terms of a dedicated full time professional law enforcement agency funded and run by the government, and who weren't just part of the army), which only really began to happen after the [[Renaissance]], led to a reduction; even then, the problem of banditry was a serious one well into the [[Industrial Revolution]], and in some places, the 20th century and/or the present day.

On the same note the worse off a country was, the more bandits it produced. In particular, armies, particularly mercenary armies, had a tendency when ill-disciplined or when badly losing to spin-off into banditry; until the 18th century, it was a common and frequently necessary tactic to pillage the countryside in order to support an army on foreign soil, and, well, people tend to do what they know.

For a further example of "war leads to bandits", if your cottage gets burned by a party of knights (possibly the ones who are supposed to be protecting ''you'') on a raid and the choice is letting your family starve or stealing some stuff from some passing merchant who never sold anything you could afford or a tax collector who's been bleeding people dry at the best of times, a fair number of people would steal from them. Robin Hood might have been a work of fiction, but men who steal from the rich and give to the poor when taxes were too high are not unprecedented. How much of this is altruism and how much of it was public relations would be something that varies from case to case. After all, if you provide a bit of treasure to people who have little enough to begin with, they're less likely to rat you out to the local knight (who they probably hate anyway for taxing them to hell and back, as mentioned above).

The above took on a further twist in the context of regions that had recently been conquered by rival countries (e.g. Greece following its conquest by the Ottoman Empire). Deprived of direct military force and with no other options to retaliate against their occupiers, their inhabitants sometimes took to banditry as a form of guerrilla warfare. As above, this was frequently supported by the commoners, who had no love for their new masters.

When did the age of banditry end? Well, that varies according to your definition of "banditry". The three most notable permutations of the concept for our purposes are:
* Highwaymen and Muggers, who target travelers.
* Robbers, who target individual buildings (banks, jewelery stores, etc).
* Raiders, who target entire towns and farms.

The era of Raiders ends with the birth of the modern army, who no longer needed to plunder in order to eat. The era of the Highwayman ends with either the train (train robbers are usually, well, more Robbers than Highwaymen; see below for more) or the invention of an effective Highway Patrol. Large scale robbery usually ends with the birth of the aforementioned dedicated police, with at least some people who follow up on things; nowadays the most important part of robbery planning is ''getting away with it'', which requires either a safe place to hide (a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty, forex) or good anonymity.

Some notable Real Life historical banditry:

* The Qin Dynasty fell in part because the penalty for reporting late (death) was the same as that for rebellion (death again), thus neatly creating a bandit and rebellion problem, among other things.
** Banditry was usually a part of the negative feedback loops which did Chinese dynasties in: corruption leads to a lack of funds for police and infrastructure projects in X province, infrastructure decays and the police spend more time shaking people down than fighting bandits, bandits operate unimpeded while the economy suffers (incidentally leading more people to get into banditry because there's no legitimate work to go around), which leads to budget cuts across the board which leads to more corruption.
* Alexander "Sawney" Bean, a guy in 16th century Scotland who started a whole family of bandits who decided that they didn't need the gold so much as they just wanted to eat people. And most of the grandchildren were the products of incest. I mean, if you're going to break one law, why not break them all? It took a manhunt led by the king himself to track them down.
* There were many outlaws during the period of the Wild West (in no small part due to the absence of an established police force) who get romanticized, like Billy The Kid, Jesse James, and Butch Cassidy. Many of them were portrayed as either Americanized Robin Hoods or free, unbound spirits that exemplified the Wild West, among other things. Although going past the romanticism, there was little evidence (if any at all) that proves they were anything more than proficient, opportunistic bandits that the simplefolk made stories about and eventually caught on as fact in the public mind. People tend to, incorrectly, take their existence and fame as evidence the west was swarming with criminals when it statistically had far lower crime rate than the east and most settlements went years without major crime.
** Side note: Many of the most notable figures had their origin in small scale "range wars", usually with both sides reaching for legal justification for their acts. [[Wikipedia:Category:Range_wars_and_feuds_of_the_American_Old_West | Wikipedia has articles on these conflicts]].
* There was also an outbreak of Bank Robbery during the 1930s that was later romanticized, with such names as "Pretty Boy" Floyd, John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, and Willie "Falsely Attributed as Saying 'I Rob Banks Because That's Where the Money Is'" Sutton.
* Mexican history is positively littered with bandit revolutionaries; [[wikipedia:Pancho Villa|Pancho Villa]] is probably the most notable, and among other things, he actually starred in a few Hollywood films about his exploits (yes, seriously), and provoked [[Wikipedia:Pancho Villa Expedition|a full military response]] when he attacked the US town of Columbus, New Mexico.

== Role in Tabletop Games ==
Bandits are great upper-low tier villains for a campaign, as they can come from diverse backgrounds with plenty of legroom to work with and typically don't lend themselves to sympathetic views. They can either be desperate townsfolk mugging passers-by to survive, a couple of assholes who can't be bothered to earn an honest living, to a unit of veteran soldiers who went rogue after realizing banditry is more favorable than serving in the military, or just having no other choice, either due to being on the losing side, or due to winding up on the wrong side of the law for some other reason. Additionally, just about any race with some semblance of sapience can become bandits. As intelligent human(oid) foes, they can employ nearly any tactic humanoids are capable of and are the only real option for low level humanoid enemies aside from [[Cultist]]s.

This leads to a variety of quest ideas from: some guys jump the party wanting to loot your stuff, there are some jerks out there robbing people on the highways that the King wants taken care of, to a well-organized crime syndicate who has total control over the region that you have to bring down or play nice with.

==Popular bandit archetypes==
*Mugger - Lowly miscreants who prey on civilians in a population center for petty valuables, relying on the element of surprise and a settlement's weapon laws to ensure that their victim doesn't retaliate. They usually don't put up too much of a fight and will run if they realize there's even a hint of risk they'll get caught (or worse, mobbed by the angry citizenfolk).

*Highwayman - Your stereotypical fantasy bandit. Highwaymen prey on travelers, primarily on unsecured highways (as highways linked to major cities and were established trade routes: a lot of money, rich folk, and trade goods regularly flowed through them), holding them up for whatever they can carry and disappearing into their hideout to count and distribute the spoils. That said, they're fully capable of sticking people up in any other location that suits them.

*Raider - Bandits who take a more direct approach and the other common archetype. They're much like highwaymen, but they prefer to invade poorly defended areas (like villages and small encampments) to pillage their goods and retreat to their hideout before an armed response force is mustered. Rinse and repeat. Also, throughout history but most commonly in the Bronze and Dark Ages, raiding was the most common type of warfare conducted, so the difference between state-sanctioned raiding and actual bandit raiding was very often pedantic. In fact, the former tended to devolve into the latter as soon as the raiders noticed they could get more money by raiding than they could from military pay- or when a war ended and left the raiders with no skills they could use in peacetime.

*Bank robber - One of the most popular in the list. Bank robbers are groups of men who rob banks by: going inside weapons drawn, and forcibly steal the bank's contents using brutal force, then making a quick getaway whilst attempting to evade the law. They're pretty popular in modern settings, getting into intricate planning segments to ensure they get in and out as quick as possible, high-speed vehicle chases, and heated gunfights with the law as they fight tooth and nail to escape with their haul.

*Train robber - Popularized by old American wild west movies. Train robbers basically rob moving trains of any loot they might have, and since trains were the most reliable form of quick transportation between cities in the old west: they normally carried plenty of valuables (and trains were also normally boarded by rich folk wishing to cross the country). Contrary to popular belief, they rarely jumped from their horses to get on trains (as this was incredibly risky, and hard to pull off from a physics standpoint), and would normally board the train like regular passengers, before signaling to the gang to commence the heist. To get off the train: they normally forced the engineer to engage the brakes. Alternately, they had some way to stop the train at roughly the right point (again, confederate who boards and then holds up the engineer, or one of the many legitimate ways to get a train to stop (doing stuff to the rail, etc.)), or alternately derail the train; either way, historically, passengers were small fry that a robber wouldn't be that interested in; the focus was usually on gold or payroll that was being shipped alongside them in safes.

*[[Slavery|Slavers]] - Normally considered the most despicable of all bandits. Bandits don't usually bother with kidnapping, as a ransom is typically too problematic for anyone but a well-connected syndicate to handle (as you need to find someone willing to shell out a lot of money for this person, then ensure they can't trace you back), and taking captives brings in a lot more heat than than usual. And even then, trying to move live cargo around and trying to find a good buyer for them comes with it's own sets of problems. Its simply a lot more efficient for most groups to hold people up and take their good stuff, then leave them alone; after all, inanimate goods generally don't fight back or escape (although see "Cattle Rustlers" below).
:Slavers however, say "fuck that", and in addition to the usual fighting and looting, they'll take prisoners home to sell on the slave market, with their captives' welfare usually being an afterthought, unless they were important/valuable enough to ensure the extra hassle of keeping them well fed and maintained. Slave raiders are terrifying to civilianfolk: while its depressing you can always get material possessions back one way or another. But how're you going to cope with losing friends and family? Once they're sold off, it's highly likely you're never going to see your loved ones again, and you'll be tormented to death not knowing if they're still alive or not. Hence, slave raiders typically attract the most attention, either from law enforcement and or local militia, as anyone incharge will want them gone as soon as possible (and from a less moral PoV but one that might be more common in a society that uses slaves itself: slavers are taking away your workers and taxpayers, how dare they cut into your fortunes and cost you good money to hunt them down?).

*[[Viking|Sea Raider]] - A fearsome cross with a [[Pirate]]. A Sea Raider raids coastal settlements then gets on their boat and runs away before the local lord can assemble his forces to deal with them. Among bandit types they have the narrative advantage of not needing even a temporary settlement to engage in their acts (allowing them to not just be criminals but ''foreign'' criminals) and being able to rip off all that cool Viking stuff. It was also believed for decades that sea raiders caused the collapse of several civilizations at the end of the Bronze Age.

*Banditos - Bandits with a little more ethnic flair thrown in, these are wild-west bandits with ponchos, sombreros, and pistolés representing the general lawlessness of the early Texan border (and then romanticized in western fiction.) They're also known for their ravishing handlebar mustaches. Actors that are actually Hispanic are completely optional. [[Webcomics|May or may not ride raptors into battle.]]

*Marauders - In the middle east there were a fair number of places where it was too dry to raise crops but you could raise sheep, goats or camels which were home to various nomadic pastoral peoples who'd supplement their income by trade, weaving, dealing in odds and ends and some banditry on the side. Since a tribe of nomads would be a set of family units who'd been at this way of life for centuries or millennia, they tended to have a more sustainable outlook about things: kill a merchant and you can rob for everything once, shake his caravan down and let him go and you can do it again and again.

*Cattle Rustlers - Men who steal cows. Common in Westerns, but were a problem wherever free range animals were a thing (sheep rustlers were and are a thing, forex, and in fact are still a problem in Scotland as of 2019). Cattle were just the most valuable animals, and the most likely to require a gang to steal; domesticated cattle are goddamn '''big'''--small cows weigh "only" 600 pounds(270 kg), but the big ones can get up to 2500 pounds (1100 kg). Why all the risk for cows, though? Well, back in the olden days a single healthy specimen of cattle would fetch anywhere between $20 (or around $500 today, adjusted for inflation) to $90 ($2,300 adjusted for 2020 inflation). And if you wanted to diversify your earnings, you could always process them for milk, meat, hides, and fertilizer (bones and unusable organs). As you can imagine, whatever you did: you had a lot of mileage with cattle, and any cattle rancher worth their salt would gladly put a round through you in a heartbeat, if you so much as think of stealing one of their livestock.

*Any Asian historically set action-focused work will usually have bandits, due to the usual reasons: They make good asskicking-fodder, and in most historical eras require almost no setup or explanation. Usually more likely to be de-romanticized and non-glamorous than American or European bandits. While there are some heroic bandits in such works, they are usually either cases of the Bandit being misguided (and thus become Heroes under the patronage/tutelage of an Old Master(tm) or other parochial figure), or the result of state corruption (and thus usually willing to turn away from banditry when that becomes a realistic option); either way, if they're to be in any way Heroic, the Banditry is an act of desparation. As mentioned above, China had frequent bandit problems in its history, leading, among other things, to the rise of the Shaolin monks and their brand of Kung-Fu for self defense.

== See Also ==
*[[Pirate]] - The bandits of the sea.

[[Category: History]]

Bandit

2021-05-29T08:41:38Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7:

[[File:Skyrim bandit.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"Never should have come here"]]

For the sake of this article a '''Bandit''' is a type of criminal which has removed his/herself from the bulk of society, dwells mainly in the wilderness (or in the seedier parts of a population center) and makes a living engaging by various means of armed robbery (or "banditry"). Since there is strength in numbers, bandits will often gang up, and depending on their infamy and wealth: these numbers can range anywhere from a handful of thieves, to having enough to rival a nation's armed forces and possibly seize power. Solo bandits also exist, although they're either such highly proficient robbers that they don't need any help (or against the idea of sharing their spoils), or a rookie with more balls than brains.

There are various permutations of this, but the common theme is that if you traveled from town to town there was a good chance that you'd be waylaid by armed people which would try to extract the valuables from your person by force.

== History ==
In general for most of the history of civilization crime was bad. '''Really Bad.''' The worst areas of the modern first world pale in comparison to that of the middle ages as far as crime goes. This was a time where most people were dirt poor and for most civilizations there was no form of police that cared about anyone other than the nobility or do more than nab the odd fellow they deem suspicious and scare a few more for a bit. In the Middle Ages, towns would have guards who'd protect the gates and deal with with riots, laws that required that random townsfolk or volunteers to patrol the streets at night with torches and chase away suspicious people, bounties were put out for thieves captured and rich people would have guys patrol their neighborhoods to catch anyone who looked suspicious. The countryside did not even have that and there were many nooks and crannies were ne'er-do-wells could lurk. And since most people lived in the countryside or sparsely populated villages, outlaws were an ever-present danger outside the boundaries of their homes. Empires such as Rome or China during the high points of the various dynasties and countries where things were stable like Edo Japan were somewhat better as they could have law enforcement forces, garrisons and patrols of rural areas, though they'd still be considered lawless by modern standards. The development of even somewhat modern policing (in terms of a dedicated full time professional law enforcement agency funded and run by the government, and who weren't just part of the army), which only really began to happen after the [[Renaissance]], led to a reduction; even then, the problem of banditry was a serious one well into the [[Industrial Revolution]], and in some places, the 20th century and/or the present day.

On the same note the worse off a country was, the more bandits it produced. In particular, armies, particularly mercenary armies, had a tendency when ill-disciplined or when badly losing to spin-off into banditry; until the 18th century, it was a common and frequently necessary tactic to pillage the countryside in order to support an army on foreign soil, and, well, people tend to do what they know.

For a further example of "war leads to bandits", if your cottage gets burned by a party of knights (possibly the ones who are supposed to be protecting ''you'') on a raid and the choice is letting your family starve or stealing some stuff from some passing merchant who never sold anything you could afford or a tax collector who's been bleeding people dry at the best of times, a fair number of people would steal from them. Robin Hood might have been a work of fiction, but men who steal from the rich and give to the poor when taxes were too high are not unprecedented. How much of this is altruism and how much of it was public relations would be something that varies from case to case. After all, if you provide a bit of treasure to people who have little enough to begin with, they're less likely to rat you out to the local knight (who they probably hate anyway for taxing them to hell and back, as mentioned above).

The above took on a further twist in the context of regions that had recently been conquered by rival countries (e.g. Greece following its conquest by the Ottoman Empire). Deprived of direct military force and with no other options to retaliate against their occupiers, their inhabitants sometimes took to banditry as a form of guerrilla warfare. As above, this was frequently supported by the commoners, who had no love for their new masters.

When did the age of banditry end? Well, that varies according to your definition of "banditry". The three most notable permutations of the concept for our purposes are:
* Highwaymen and Muggers, who target travelers.
* Robbers, who target individual buildings (banks, jewelery stores, etc).
* Raiders, who target entire towns and farms.

The era of Raiders ends with the birth of the modern army, who no longer needed to plunder in order to eat. The era of the Highwayman ends with either the train (train robbers are usually, well, more Robbers than Highwaymen; see below for more) or the invention of an effective Highway Patrol. Large scale robbery usually ends with the birth of the aforementioned dedicated police, with at least some people who follow up on things; nowadays the most important part of robbery planning is ''getting away with it'', which requires either a safe place to hide (a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty, forex) or good anonymity.

Some notable Real Life historical banditry:

* The Qin Dynasty fell in part because the penalty for reporting late (death) was the same as that for rebellion (death again), thus neatly creating a bandit and rebellion problem, among other things.
** Banditry was usually a part of the negative feedback loops which did Chinese dynasties in: corruption leads to a lack of funds for police and infrastructure projects in X province, infrastructure decays and the police spend more time shaking people down than fighting bandits, bandits operate unimpeded while the economy suffers (incidentally leading more people to get into banditry because there's no legitimate work to go around), which leads to budget cuts across the board which leads to more corruption.
* Alexander "Sawney" Bean, a guy in 16th century Scotland who started a whole family of bandits who decided that they didn't need the gold so much as they just wanted to eat people. And most of the grandchildren were the products of incest. I mean, if you're going to break one law, why not break them all? It took a manhunt led by the king himself to track them down.
* There were many outlaws during the period of the Wild West (in no small part due to the absence of an established police force) who get romanticized, like Billy The Kid, Jesse James, and Butch Cassidy. Many of them were portrayed as either Americanized Robin Hoods or free, unbound spirits that exemplified the Wild West, among other things. Although going past the romanticism, there was little evidence (if any at all) that proves they were anything more than proficient, opportunistic bandits that the simplefolk made stories about and eventually caught on as fact in the public mind. People tend to, incorrectly, take their existence and fame as evidence the west was swarming with criminals when it statistically had far lower crime rate than the east and most settlements went years without major crime.
** Side note: Many of the most notable figures had their origin in small scale "range wars", usually with both sides reaching for legal justification for their acts. [[Wikipedia:Category:Range_wars_and_feuds_of_the_American_Old_West | Wikipedia has articles on these conflicts]].
* There was also an outbreak of Bank Robbery during the 1930s that was later romanticized, with such names as "Pretty Boy" Floyd, John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, and Willie "Falsely Attributed as Saying 'I Rob Banks Because That's Where the Money Is'" Sutton.
* Mexican history is positively littered with bandit revolutionaries; [[wikipedia:Pancho Villa|Pancho Villa]] is probably the most notable, and among other things, he actually starred in a few Hollywood films about his exploits (yes, seriously), and provoked [[Wikipedia:Pancho Villa Expedition|a full military response]] when he attacked the US town of Columbus, New Mexico.

== Role in Tabletop Games ==
Bandits are great upper-low tier villains for a campaign, as they can come from diverse backgrounds with plenty of legroom to work with and typically don't lend themselves to sympathetic views. They can either be desperate townsfolk mugging passers-by to survive, a couple of assholes who can't be bothered to earn an honest living, to a unit of veteran soldiers who went rogue after realizing banditry is more favorable than serving in the military, or just having no other choice, either due to being on the losing side, or due to winding up on the wrong side of the law for some other reason. Additionally, just about any race with some semblance of sapience can become bandits. As intelligent human(oid) foes, they can employ nearly any tactic humanoids are capable of and are the only real option for low level humanoid enemies aside from [[Cultist]]s.

This leads to a variety of quest ideas from: some guys jump the party wanting to loot your stuff, there are some jerks out there robbing people on the highways that the King wants taken care of, to a well-organized crime syndicate who has total control over the region that you have to bring down or play nice with.

==Popular bandit archetypes==
*Mugger - Lowly miscreants who prey on civilians in a population center for petty valuables, relying on the element of surprise and a settlement's weapon laws to ensure that their victim doesn't retaliate. They usually don't put up too much of a fight and will run if they realize there's even a hint of risk they'll get caught (or worse, mobbed by the angry citizenfolk).

*Highwayman - Your stereotypical fantasy bandit. Highwaymen prey on travelers, primarily on unsecured highways (as highways linked to major cities and were established trade routes: a lot of money, rich folk, and trade goods regularly flowed through them), holding them up for whatever they can carry and disappearing into their hideout to count and distribute the spoils. That said, they're fully capable of sticking people up in any other location that suits them.

*Raider - Bandits who take a more direct approach and the other common archetype. They're much like highwaymen, but they prefer to invade poorly defended areas (like villages and small encampments) to pillage their goods and retreat to their hideout before an armed response force is mustered. Rinse and repeat. Also, through out history but most commonly in Bronze and Dark Ages, raiding was the most common type of warfare conducted, so the difference between state-sanctioned raiding and actual bandit raiding was very often pedantic. In fact, the former tended to devolve into the latter as soon as the raiders noticed they could get more money by raiding than they could from military pay- or when a war ended and left the raiders with no skills they could use in peacetime.

*Bank robber - One of the most popular in the list. Bank robbers are groups of men who rob banks by: going inside weapons drawn, and forcibly steal the bank's contents using brutal force, then making a quick getaway whilst attempting to evade the law. They're pretty popular in modern settings, getting into intricate planning segments to ensure they get in and out as quick as possible, high-speed vehicle chases, and heated gunfights with the law as they fight tooth and nail to escape with their haul.

*Train robber - Popularized by old American wild west movies. Train robbers basically rob moving trains of any loot they might have, and since trains were the most reliable form of quick transportation between cities in the old west: they normally carried plenty of valuables (and trains were also normally boarded by rich folk wishing to cross the country). Contrary to popular belief, they rarely jumped from their horses to get on trains (as this was incredibly risky, and hard to pull off from a physics standpoint), and would normally board the train like regular passengers, before signaling to the gang to commence the heist. To get off the train: they normally forced the engineer to engage the brakes. Alternately, they had some way to stop the train at roughly the right point (again, confederate who boards and then holds up the engineer, or one of the many legitimate ways to get a train to stop (doing stuff to the rail, etc.)), or alternately derail the train; either way, historically, passengers were small fry that a robber wouldn't be that interested in; the focus was usually on gold or payroll that was being shipped alongside them in safes.

*[[Slavery|Slavers]] - Normally considered the most despicable of all bandits. Bandits don't usually bother with kidnapping, as a ransom is typically too problematic for anyone but a well-connected syndicate to handle (as you need to find someone willing to shell out a lot of money for this person, then ensure they can't trace you back), and taking captives brings in a lot more heat than than usual. And even then, trying to move live cargo around and trying to find a good buyer for them comes with it's own sets of problems. Its simply a lot more efficient for most groups to hold people up and take their good stuff, then leave them alone; after all, inanimate goods generally don't fight back or escape (although see "Cattle Rustlers" below).
:Slavers however, say "fuck that", and in addition to the usual fighting and looting, they'll take prisoners home to sell on the slave market, with their captives' welfare usually being an afterthought, unless they were important/valuable enough to ensure the extra hassle of keeping them well fed and maintained. Slave raiders are terrifying to civilianfolk: while its depressing you can always get material possessions back one way or another. But how're you going to cope with losing friends and family? Once they're sold off, it's highly likely you're never going to see your loved ones again, and you'll be tormented to death not knowing if they're still alive or not. Hence, slave raiders typically attract the most attention, either from law enforcement and or local militia, as anyone incharge will want them gone as soon as possible (and from a less moral PoV but one that might be more common in a society that uses slaves itself: slavers are taking away your workers and taxpayers, how dare they cut into your fortunes and cost you good money to hunt them down?).

*[[Viking|Sea Raider]] - A fearsome cross with a [[Pirate]]. A Sea Raider raids coastal settlements then gets on their boat and runs away before the local lord can assemble his forces to deal with them. Among bandit types they have the narrative advantage of not needing even a temporary settlement to engage in their acts (allowing them to not just be criminals but ''foreign'' criminals) and being able to rip off all that cool Viking stuff. It was also believed for decades that sea raiders caused the collapse of several civilizations at the end of the Bronze Age.

*Banditos - Bandits with a little more ethnic flair thrown in, these are wild-west bandits with ponchos, sombreros, and pistolés representing the general lawlessness of the early Texan border (and then romanticized in western fiction.) They're also known for their ravishing handlebar mustaches. Actors that are actually Hispanic are completely optional. [[Webcomics|May or may not ride raptors into battle.]]

*Marauders - In the middle east there were a fair number of places where it was too dry to raise crops but you could raise sheep, goats or camels which were home to various nomadic pastoral peoples who'd supplement their income by trade, weaving, dealing in odds and ends and some banditry on the side. Since a tribe of nomads would be a set of family units who'd been at this way of life for centuries or millennia, they tended to have a more sustainable outlook about things: kill a merchant and you can rob for everything once, shake his caravan down and let him go and you can do it again and again.

*Cattle Rustlers - Men who steal cows. Common in Westerns, but were a problem wherever free range animals were a thing (sheep rustlers were and are a thing, forex, and in fact are still a problem in Scotland as of 2019). Cattle were just the most valuable animals, and the most likely to require a gang to steal; domesticated cattle are goddamn '''big'''--small cows weigh "only" 600 pounds(270 kg), but the big ones can get up to 2500 pounds (1100 kg). Why all the risk for cows, though? Well, back in the olden days a single healthy specimen of cattle would fetch anywhere between $20 (or around $500 today, adjusted for inflation) to $90 ($2,300 adjusted for 2020 inflation). And if you wanted to diversify your earnings, you could always process them for milk, meat, hides, and fertilizer (bones and unusable organs). As you can imagine, whatever you did: you had a lot of mileage with cattle, and any cattle rancher worth their salt would gladly put a round through you in a heartbeat, if you so much as think of stealing one of their livestock.

*Any Asian historically set action-focused work will usually have bandits, due to the usual reasons: They make good asskicking-fodder, and in most historical eras require almost no setup or explanation. Usually more likely to be de-romanticized and non-glamorous than American or European bandits. While there are some heroic bandits in such works, they are usually either cases of the Bandit being misguided (and thus become Heroes under the patronage/tutelage of an Old Master(tm) or other parochial figure), or the result of state corruption (and thus usually willing to turn away from banditry when that becomes a realistic option); either way, if they're to be in any way Heroic, the Banditry is an act of desparation. As mentioned above, China had frequent bandit problems in its history, leading, among other things, to the rise of the Shaolin monks and their brand of Kung-Fu for self defense.

== See Also ==
*[[Pirate]] - The bandits of the sea.

[[Category: History]]

Bandit

2021-05-29T08:40:14Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* Popular bandit archetypes */

[[File:Skyrim bandit.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"Never should have come here"]]

For the sake of this article a '''Bandit''' is a type of criminal which has removed his/herself from the bulk of society, dwells mainly in the wilderness (or in the seedier parts of a population center) and makes a living engaging by various means of armed robbery (or "banditry"). Since there is strength in numbers, bandits will often gang up, and depending on their infamy and wealth: these numbers can range anywhere from a handful of thieves, to having enough to rival a nation's armed forces and possibly seize power. Solo bandits also exist, although they're either highly proficient robbers that they don't need any help (or against the idea of sharing their spoils), or a rookie with more balls than brains.

There are various permutations of this, but the common theme is that if you traveled from town to town there was a good chance that you'd be waylaid by armed people which would try to extract the valuables from your person by force.

== History ==
In general for most of the history of civilization crime was bad. '''Really Bad.''' The worst areas of the modern first world pale in comparison to that of the middle ages as far as crime goes. This was a time where most people were dirt poor and for most civilizations there was no form of police that cared about anyone other than the nobility or do more than nab the odd fellow they deem suspicious and scare a few more for a bit. In the Middle Ages, towns would have guards who'd protect the gates and deal with with riots, laws that required that random townsfolk or volunteers to patrol the streets at night with torches and chase away suspicious people, bounties were put out for thieves captured and rich people would have guys patrol their neighborhoods to catch anyone who looked suspicious. The countryside did not even have that and there were many nooks and crannies were ne'er-do-wells could lurk. And since most people lived in the countryside or sparsely populated villages, outlaws were an ever-present danger outside the boundaries of their homes. Empires such as Rome or China during the high points of the various dynasties and countries where things were stable like Edo Japan were somewhat better as they could have law enforcement forces, garrisons and patrols of rural areas, though they'd still be considered lawless by modern standards. The development of even somewhat modern policing (in terms of a dedicated full time professional law enforcement agency funded and run by the government, and who weren't just part of the army), which only really began to happen after the [[Renaissance]], led to a reduction; even then, the problem of banditry was a serious one well into the [[Industrial Revolution]], and in some places, the 20th century and/or the present day.

On the same note the worse off a country was, the more bandits it produced. In particular, armies, particularly mercenary armies, had a tendency when ill-disciplined or when badly losing to spin-off into banditry; until the 18th century, it was a common and frequently necessary tactic to pillage the countryside in order to support an army on foreign soil, and, well, people tend to do what they know.

For a further example of "war leads to bandits", if your cottage gets burned by a party of knights (possibly the ones who are supposed to be protecting ''you'') on a raid and the choice is letting your family starve or stealing some stuff from some passing merchant who never sold anything you could afford or a tax collector who's been bleeding people dry at the best of times, a fair number of people would steal from them. Robin Hood might have been a work of fiction, but men who steal from the rich and give to the poor when taxes were too high are not unprecedented. How much of this is altruism and how much of it was public relations would be something that varies from case to case. After all, if you provide a bit of treasure to people who have little enough to begin with, they're less likely to rat you out to the local knight (who they probably hate anyway for taxing them to hell and back, as mentioned above).

The above took on a further twist in the context of regions that had recently been conquered by rival countries (e.g. Greece following its conquest by the Ottoman Empire). Deprived of direct military force and with no other options to retaliate against their occupiers, their inhabitants sometimes took to banditry as a form of guerrilla warfare. As above, this was frequently supported by the commoners, who had no love for their new masters.

When did the age of banditry end? Well, that varies according to your definition of "banditry". The three most notable permutations of the concept for our purposes are:
* Highwaymen and Muggers, who target travelers.
* Robbers, who target individual buildings (banks, jewelery stores, etc).
* Raiders, who target entire towns and farms.

The era of Raiders ends with the birth of the modern army, who no longer needed to plunder in order to eat. The era of the Highwayman ends with either the train (train robbers are usually, well, more Robbers than Highwaymen; see below for more) or the invention of an effective Highway Patrol. Large scale robbery usually ends with the birth of the aforementioned dedicated police, with at least some people who follow up on things; nowadays the most important part of robbery planning is ''getting away with it'', which requires either a safe place to hide (a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty, forex) or good anonymity.

Some notable Real Life historical banditry:

* The Qin Dynasty fell in part because the penalty for reporting late (death) was the same as that for rebellion (death again), thus neatly creating a bandit and rebellion problem, among other things.
** Banditry was usually a part of the negative feedback loops which did Chinese dynasties in: corruption leads to a lack of funds for police and infrastructure projects in X province, infrastructure decays and the police spend more time shaking people down than fighting bandits, bandits operate unimpeded while the economy suffers (incidentally leading more people to get into banditry because there's no legitimate work to go around), which leads to budget cuts across the board which leads to more corruption.
* Alexander "Sawney" Bean, a guy in 16th century Scotland who started a whole family of bandits who decided that they didn't need the gold so much as they just wanted to eat people. And most of the grandchildren were the products of incest. I mean, if you're going to break one law, why not break them all? It took a manhunt led by the king himself to track them down.
* There were many outlaws during the period of the Wild West (in no small part due to the absence of an established police force) who get romanticized, like Billy The Kid, Jesse James, and Butch Cassidy. Many of them were portrayed as either Americanized Robin Hoods or free, unbound spirits that exemplified the Wild West, among other things. Although going past the romanticism, there was little evidence (if any at all) that proves they were anything more than proficient, opportunistic bandits that the simplefolk made stories about and eventually caught on as fact in the public mind. People tend to, incorrectly, take their existence and fame as evidence the west was swarming with criminals when it statistically had far lower crime rate than the east and most settlements went years without major crime.
** Side note: Many of the most notable figures had their origin in small scale "range wars", usually with both sides reaching for legal justification for their acts. [[Wikipedia:Category:Range_wars_and_feuds_of_the_American_Old_West | Wikipedia has articles on these conflicts]].
* There was also an outbreak of Bank Robbery during the 1930s that was later romanticized, with such names as "Pretty Boy" Floyd, John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde, and Willie "Falsely Attributed as Saying 'I Rob Banks Because That's Where the Money Is'" Sutton.
* Mexican history is positively littered with bandit revolutionaries; [[wikipedia:Pancho Villa|Pancho Villa]] is probably the most notable, and among other things, he actually starred in a few Hollywood films about his exploits (yes, seriously), and provoked [[Wikipedia:Pancho Villa Expedition|a full military response]] when he attacked the US town of Columbus, New Mexico.

== Role in Tabletop Games ==
Bandits are great upper-low tier villains for a campaign, as they can come from diverse backgrounds with plenty of legroom to work with and typically don't lend themselves to sympathetic views. They can either be desperate townsfolk mugging passers-by to survive, a couple of assholes who can't be bothered to earn an honest living, to a unit of veteran soldiers who went rogue after realizing banditry is more favorable than serving in the military, or just having no other choice, either due to being on the losing side, or due to winding up on the wrong side of the law for some other reason. Additionally, just about any race with some semblance of sapience can become bandits. As intelligent human(oid) foes, they can employ nearly any tactic humanoids are capable of and are the only real option for low level humanoid enemies aside from [[Cultist]]s.

This leads to a variety of quest ideas from: some guys jump the party wanting to loot your stuff, there are some jerks out there robbing people on the highways that the King wants taken care of, to a well-organized crime syndicate who has total control over the region that you have to bring down or play nice with.

==Popular bandit archetypes==
*Mugger - Lowly miscreants who prey on civilians in a population center for petty valuables, relying on the element of surprise and a settlement's weapon laws to ensure that their victim doesn't retaliate. They usually don't put up too much of a fight and will run if they realize there's even a hint of risk they'll get caught (or worse, mobbed by the angry citizenfolk).

*Highwayman - Your stereotypical fantasy bandit. Highwaymen prey on travelers, primarily on unsecured highways (as highways linked to major cities and were established trade routes: a lot of money, rich folk, and trade goods regularly flowed through them), holding them up for whatever they can carry and disappearing into their hideout to count and distribute the spoils. That said, they're fully capable of sticking people up in any other location that suits them.

*Raider - Bandits who take a more direct approach and the other common archetype. They're much like highwaymen, but they prefer to invade poorly defended areas (like villages and small encampments) to pillage their goods and retreat to their hideout before an armed response force is mustered. Rinse and repeat. Also, through out history but most commonly in Bronze and Dark Ages, raiding was the most common type of warfare conducted, so the difference between state-sanctioned raiding and actual bandit raiding was very often pedantic. In fact, the former tended to devolve into the latter as soon as the raiders noticed they could get more money by raiding than they could from military pay- or when a war ended and left the raiders with no skills they could use in peacetime.

*Bank robber - One of the most popular in the list. Bank robbers are groups of men who rob banks by: going inside weapons drawn, and forcibly steal the bank's contents using brutal force, then making a quick getaway whilst attempting to evade the law. They're pretty popular in modern settings, getting into intricate planning segments to ensure they get in and out as quick as possible, high-speed vehicle chases, and heated gunfights with the law as they fight tooth and nail to escape with their haul.

*Train robber - Popularized by old American wild west movies. Train robbers basically rob moving trains of any loot they might have, and since trains were the most reliable form of quick transportation between cities in the old west: they normally carried plenty of valuables (and trains were also normally boarded by rich folk wishing to cross the country). Contrary to popular belief, they rarely jumped from their horses to get on trains (as this was incredibly risky, and hard to pull off from a physics standpoint), and would normally board the train like regular passengers, before signaling to the gang to commence the heist. To get off the train: they normally forced the engineer to engage the brakes. Alternately, they had some way to stop the train at roughly the right point (again, confederate who boards and then holds up the engineer, or one of the many legitimate ways to get a train to stop (doing stuff to the rail, etc.)), or alternately derail the train; either way, historically, passengers were small fry that a robber wouldn't be that interested in; the focus was usually on gold or payroll that was being shipped alongside them in safes.

*[[Slavery|Slavers]] - Normally considered the most despicable of all bandits. Bandits don't usually bother with kidnapping, as a ransom is typically too problematic for anyone but a well-connected syndicate to handle (as you need to find someone willing to shell out a lot of money for this person, then ensure they can't trace you back), and taking captives brings in a lot more heat than than usual. And even then, trying to move live cargo around and trying to find a good buyer for them comes with it's own sets of problems. Its simply a lot more efficient for most groups to hold people up and take their good stuff, then leave them alone; after all, inanimate goods generally don't fight back or escape (although see "Cattle Rustlers" below).
:Slavers however, say "fuck that", and in addition to the usual fighting and looting, they'll take prisoners home to sell on the slave market, with their captives' welfare usually being an afterthought, unless they were important/valuable enough to ensure the extra hassle of keeping them well fed and maintained. Slave raiders are terrifying to civilianfolk: while its depressing you can always get material possessions back one way or another. But how're you going to cope with losing friends and family? Once they're sold off, it's highly likely you're never going to see your loved ones again, and you'll be tormented to death not knowing if they're still alive or not. Hence, slave raiders typically attract the most attention, either from law enforcement and or local militia, as anyone incharge will want them gone as soon as possible (and from a less moral PoV but one that might be more common in a society that uses slaves itself: slavers are taking away your workers and taxpayers, how dare they cut into your fortunes and cost you good money to hunt them down?).

*[[Viking|Sea Raider]] - A fearsome cross with a [[Pirate]]. A Sea Raider raids coastal settlements then gets on their boat and runs away before the local lord can assemble his forces to deal with them. Among bandit types they have the narrative advantage of not needing even a temporary settlement to engage in their acts (allowing them to not just be criminals but ''foreign'' criminals) and being able to rip off all that cool Viking stuff. It was also believed for decades that sea raiders caused the collapse of several civilizations at the end of the Bronze Age.

*Banditos - Bandits with a little more ethnic flair thrown in, these are wild-west bandits with ponchos, sombreros, and pistolés representing the general lawlessness of the early Texan border (and then romanticized in western fiction.) They're also known for their ravishing handlebar mustaches. Actors that are actually Hispanic are completely optional. [[Webcomics|May or may not ride raptors into battle.]]

*Marauders - In the middle east there were a fair number of places where it was too dry to raise crops but you could raise sheep, goats or camels which were home to various nomadic pastoral peoples who'd supplement their income by trade, weaving, dealing in odds and ends and some banditry on the side. Since a tribe of nomads would be a set of family units who'd been at this way of life for centuries or millennia, they tended to have a more sustainable outlook about things: kill a merchant and you can rob for everything once, shake his caravan down and let him go and you can do it again and again.

*Cattle Rustlers - Men who steal cows. Common in Westerns, but were a problem wherever free range animals were a thing (sheep rustlers were and are a thing, forex, and in fact are still a problem in Scotland as of 2019). Cattle were just the most valuable animals, and the most likely to require a gang to steal; domesticated cattle are goddamn '''big'''--small cows weigh "only" 600 pounds(270 kg), but the big ones can get up to 2500 pounds (1100 kg). Why all the risk for cows, though? Well, back in the olden days a single healthy specimen of cattle would fetch anywhere between $20 (or around $500 today, adjusted for inflation) to $90 ($2,300 adjusted for 2020 inflation). And if you wanted to diversify your earnings, you could always process them for milk, meat, hides, and fertilizer (bones and unusable organs). As you can imagine, whatever you did: you had a lot of mileage with cattle, and any cattle rancher worth their salt would gladly put a round through you in a heartbeat, if you so much as think of stealing one of their livestock.

*Any Asian historically set action-focused work will usually have bandits, due to the usual reasons: They make good asskicking-fodder, and in most historical eras require almost no setup or explanation. Usually more likely to be de-romanticized and non-glamorous than American or European bandits. While there are some heroic bandits in such works, they are usually either cases of the Bandit being misguided (and thus become Heroes under the patronage/tutelage of an Old Master(tm) or other parochial figure), or the result of state corruption (and thus usually willing to turn away from banditry when that becomes a realistic option); either way, if they're to be in any way Heroic, the Banditry is an act of desparation. As mentioned above, China had frequent bandit problems in its history, leading, among other things, to the rise of the Shaolin monks and their brand of Kung-Fu for self defense.

== See Also ==
*[[Pirate]] - The bandits of the sea.

[[Category: History]]

Humanity Fuck Yeah

2021-05-29T08:28:38Z

2603:8001:3500:CB:B195:1EEF:6E0D:88F7: /* An Alternate Take on HFY */

{{Topquote|We poison our air and water to weed out the weak! We set off fission bombs in our only biosphere! We nailed our One True God to a stick! '''Don't fuck with humanity!'''|Anonymous /tg/ poster}}
{{Topquote|God has a hard-on for marines. Because we kill everything we see.|Full Metal Jacket}}
{{Topquote|Everything in our superior culture symbolises death, meaning we can do away with metaphysics entirely. Instead, we can fully focus on the extermination of all other sentient creatures without long-winded, tedious and bloviating discussions, symposiums and debates getting in the way. Every moment we spend questioning our actions is a moment we could better spend slaughtering xenos, after all!|The Regimental Standard}}

Out of all threads that appear at the [[/tg/]], it is this kind of threads that hold that one special place in the hearts of [[neckbeards|fa/tg/uys]]. It shows [[Humans|humanity]] for what it really is: a savage but superior bunch of mighty and brilliant alphas with machines that [[rape]] any organism that dares stand in its path, then proceed to do the same to any aliens across which they come, as they are all pathetically inferior in every way. This can take many forms, including military, cultural, culinary, and sexual(is surprisingly not much). The foremost is the most common in these stories.

Many glorious hours of dedicated hard work were given to these threads, the finest lines of which would make any xeno race run to the edge of the known universe, even if the humans were still in the stone age. Reasons why humans are such a threat to the rest of the galaxy are various, but a good deal can be summed up in the following list:

*'''Our Creation''' - We were created and we THRIVED on all range of extreme environments all over the Earth, from the infernal heat of Africa where everything is trying to KILL YOU! '''ALL THE TIME!''', to the frigid apocalyptic wastelands of the North and the Ice Age where survival depended on constant invention and ingenuity. Fuck, the lowest recorded temperature in Canada (which most of America thinks is home to a bunch of pansies), where people live, is about that of [[Mars]], 33.9 million miles further away from the [[Sun]] than we are. Aliens usually evolved on some herbivore world or become less "on their guard" due to centuries of living away from nature, not troubled by survival.
*'''Our history''' - Humans have been getting better at killing each other basically even '''before''' they made stone axes, and we got [[awesome|better]] over time. You think proud warrior races have shit on us? Spartan style training they undergo makes only a handful of survivors. No matter how good they are, we'll just drown them in conscripts. We also nearly went extinct once, BECAUSE A '''HUGE''' VOLCANO EXPLODED, making us only have about 5000 INDIVIDUALS left and of them ONLY 40 PAIRS were BREEDING ONES. Did that make us quit? NOPE. Only about 70000 years later we had 7,4 BILLION INDIVIDUALS, having 100 TIMES more biomass than any other large animal species in the history of our planet!!! That is a [[Promotions|hell of a lot of breeding]] <s>(which has also made us have a very low genetic variety almost making us inbred but not quite. BUT STILL)</s> NOPE, after some time the amount of random mutations in generations following have restored the diversity, which had an added benefit of "flushing" the old traits and selecting for new ones. The moral of the story is that do not fuck with us, xenos. No matter what you do WE WILL SURVIVE. And after a while: WE. WILL. THRIVE.
*'''Our bodies''' -So-called "apex predators" like lions, bears and sharks are relatively harmless compared to us. Our blood is literally made of iron. We're the ultimate omnivores, we hunt down, kill, burn and fu-{{BLAM}} {{BLAM|[[Furries|Heresy of the highest order!]]}} eat absolutely anything, sometimes to the point of ''rendering entire species to extinction'' (Woolly mammoths, which are basically fucking huge elephants on steroids, learned this the hard way. And, contrary to what ''Jaws'' would have you believe, sharks are also getting the same genocidal treatment, as they're now a critically endangered species all because ''we eat their fins for fancy soup''). It's as if we are Tyranids without a hive mind. And if that piece of meat has parasites in it, or if that vegetable tastes a little too bland? No problem, as we have a little something called cooking: Just ''Burn'' it before you eat it! Kills the parasites so you can digest them, and also makes the flavour a lot better. We also, in a direct fuck you to Darwin's laws, have the reputation of consuming different kinds of toxic chemicals yet still remaining alive, all for the sake of the experience of consuming it: the most notorious of which is Alcohol, one of the most volatile, flammable, caustic solvents in chemistry that is for all intents and purposes, POISON. It's an instant [[Exterminatus]] for all bacteria and microorganisms, and a VX-like neurotoxin to invertebrates, arthropods and almost every other small animal. Why? Because it's FUN! We use nutmeg, a hepatotoxic hallucinogen (in higher doses anyway, although it contains chemicals similar to [[Spook|MDMA]]), because it's TASTY! If we have a headache ''after'' ingesting alcohol, we take acetaminophen, ''another'' drug that's a fuckyou to our liver that'll kill many other mammal species on the planet.
** Something that's also tend to be forgotten nowadays is that our ancestors were known for their extreme amounts of endurance. We used to walk for ''miles'' nonstop towards absolutely anywhere, and this physiology that evolved for a nomadic lifestyle is the reason for humanity spreading all over the earth when other terrestrial animals tend to stay only within a single biome. How do you think we were able to cross the inferno that was the Sahara (even as late as Pharaonic Egypt, the Sahara was significantly smaller than it is today; when our Paleo/Neolithic ancestors were first leaving Africa, most of the Sahara was still highly productive savannah), or settle in the infertile mountains of the North, without the use of modern amenities like cars, roads and trains?
*'''Our mind''' -The most terrifying aspect of us would probably be our brains and technology. Our aggressive instincts combined with our intelligence will never cease to come up with better and deadlier ways to warp reality in our own Image, and to torture and exterminate the enemy, and such would probably seem like incomprehensible Lovecraftian Magic to lower species. Our modern tech would scare the shit out of tribal communities. We have exterminated a lot of species like the Dodo ''simply by uncaring accident'' (which is probably why '''we are <s>thriving during</s> an extinction event''' (for now at least)). What we can come up with scares the shit out of ourselves even. Think Nuclear Weapons and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction M.A.D.] for example.

As you can see there is a lot of material to roll around in these kind of threads. Humans may not be as powerful sometimes, just a serious player in the galaxy through economic superiority or science, but that's not the real "Humanity Fuck Yeah" thread. The real deal is us having our way with the galaxy as we see fit. Murdering billions of xenos, or fucking them if they're hot enough, taking their delicious alien babies and eating them in front of their parents, mining their planets to the core and moving on, leaving nothing but dead rocks in our wake. We march on, our mantra singing through the stars:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvlFvp8j6d8 '''GENOCIDE! MINING! GENOCIDE! MINING! GENOCIDE! MINING!''']

This song pretty much sums it up nicely; [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHomtMvxqWs]

==Xenos Pay Attention You're Next==
[[Image:B5_Earth_Cruisers.gif|424px|thumb|Our [[METAL BOXES|metal boxes]] will blot out the sun.]]
Our species thought we knew war. We built our civilization on foundations of honor and prowess, we were like a rapier: crippling our foes with small yet decisive blows. We killed our enemies yet we allowed them to surrender, there was no needless killing. That was before the humans came and they showed us the truth... That we were just naive children and that true war is won through unrelenting cruelty and spite. Despite our warriors' training, despite all our experience, still we fell to the innumerable waves that the humans sent against us. They burned our worlds, slaughtering our children in horrific ways using them to learn how to kill us more efficiently. After many blood-filled years, these Terran butchers arrived on our home and they transformed it into a corpse-filled landscape. I tried to take my life but one of these power-armored animals stopped me. As he leveled his vicious weapon at me I noticed his face for the first time. His eyes were filled with murderous glee and his mouth twisted into a sneer as he whispered three final words to me: "Humanity, fuck yeah"...

''"Do they not know who we are, my brethren? We are the chosen of the Emperor, the scions of Terra. We are dominion and we are numberless. We are war itself and the death of all who oppose us. We are Humanity and we shall educate our ignorant foes as to the true meaning of that word!" -- Lord Inquisitor Aedrick Mantel of the Ordo Xenos, from [[Imperial Armour]] Volume 12 "The Fall of Orpheus".

In real life, there are people who claim encounters with aliens. Contrary to the popular trend here on HFY, the people who supposedly encountered aliens in real-life are often shocked or even frightened of them. In addition, abductees and witnesses stated the aliens had advanced technology beyond anything humanity has made that rendered the humans involved helpless against the aliens before being taken to their spaceships for experiments. But don't despair HFY, there are a few accounts where the people in question fought back: in one account a person was about to be abducted by an alien but stabbed them with a knife. Though the knife couldn't pierce the alien's skin, the resistance resulted in the aliens being driven off without abducting anyone. There was also an incident in which the would-be abductee ran inside, grabbed his rifle, ran out, and starting shooting at three aliens coming at him. One of them had to be dragged away by its compatriots. He hasn't had any xenos problems since then. Similarly, the Hopkinsville Goblin incident was when a group of people encountered some aliens that were harrassing them, and they responded by blasting them to hell with shotguns before fleeing due to the weapons doing nothing against them. In other words, if you're being abducted by aliens, fight back! Armed or not. Kick them in the gornacks! Gouge out their eyes! Bite them!

-- There was also a reference once on an infamous board to a story about an overweight powerlifter who was abducted, woke up and threw a few greys off him after breaking from restraints. Afterward, he was led down a hall where he passed out and woke up at home. I don't think he killed any of the aliens but they were supposedly the 4ft tall skinny greys, and he was able to punch one which flew into a wall, and the others retreated. He was then led into the hall. Source pending.

==Now with a song!==
Humanity<br>
Humanity

Humaniteh, fuck yeah!<br>
Coming again to kill some mother fucking xenos, yeah!<br>
Humaniteh, fuck yeah!<br>
Genocide is the only way, yeah

Aliens your game is through 'cause now you have to answer too<br>
Humaniteh, fuck yeah!<br>
So lick my butt and suck on my balls<br>
Humaniteh, fuck yeah!<br>
What you gonna to do when we come for you now

It's the dream that we all share<br>
It's the hope for tomorrow<br>
Fuck yeah!

Grox Burgers, fuck yeah!<br>
Space-mart, fuck yeah!<br>
Terra, fuck yeah!<br>
Grifball, fuck yeah!

Orbital drop, fuck yeah!<br>
Run and gun, fuck yeah!<br>
Commissariat, fuck yeah!<br>
Penal Legions, fuck yeah!

Fuck yeah!

Spacebucks, fuck yeah!<br>
Disneyverse, fuck yeah!<br>
Heresy, fuck yeah!<br>
Promethium, fuck yeah!

Assasination, fuck yeah!<br>
Killing, fuck yeah!<br>
Spacemarines, fuck yeah!<br>
Taco Bell, fuck yeah!

Rodeos, fuck yeah!<br>
Space ship and beyond<br>
Fuck yeah, fuck yeah

Buraeucracy, fuck yeah!<br>
Space ships, fuck yeah!<br>
Emprah, fuck yeah!<br>
Combat Drugs, fuck yeah!

Sly Marbo, fuck yeah!<br>
Sanguinala, fuck yeah!<br>
Premier Sanders, fuck yeah!<br>
Popeye, fuck yeah!

Capitalists, fuck yeah!<br>
Imperialists, fuck yeah!<br>
Fuck yeah, fuck yeah<br>
Simple deaths, fuck yeah!

[[Avenger Strike Fighter|A-10]], fuck yeah!<br>
[[Baneblade]], fuck yeah!

==Trivia==
"Humanity Fuck Yeah" sometimes refers to omnicidal maniac-level racism against everything that isn't non-powered and normal human beings (because, you know, a human with superpowers is not really a human, right?).

Readers may experience ocular bleeding due to excessive [[TVTropes]]isms escaping from humanity's natural habitats. This is a normal, if unpleasant side-effect.

Some great examples of "Humanity Fuck Yeah":
* [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2709630/ Humans are insane]
* [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2710711/ Humans are insane again]
* [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/2711290/ Humans are insane, still]
* [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/16727562/ Humans are insane (and also rapists)]
* [http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Humanity%20fuck%20yeah Every archived thread with the tag.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5QLokGTdyg A reminder of what we at HFY stand for]
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumansAreWarriors Now available at TVTropes, Humans Are Warriors.]
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumansAreCthulhu Humans Are Cthulhu]
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MugglesDoItBetter Muggles Do It Better]
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumanityIsSuperior Humanity Is Superior]
* <s>[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumansAreBastards Humans Are Bastards].</s> {{BLAM|'''*BLAM!*''' WE'LL KILL YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FUCKING INFERIOR RACE, XENO!}}
* [http://youtu.be/OcPqk-O-fD4 Danger: Humans]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04854XqcfCY Humanity Fuck Yeah's anthem]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDaOgu2CQtI Humanity Fuck Yeah's OTHER anthem]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTBzgyQiqC8 Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.]

==Recommended media about humans kicking ass==
'''Note:''' While any media can actually bring a moment of a human kicking ass, it is imperative that such narrative presents humanity as a whole showing exceptional abilities to defeat super-powered/non-human adversity. For example, a book about humans slaughtering hyper-advanced alien invaders is absolutely "Humanity, Fuck Yeah". A book about World War 2 is not "Humanity, Fuck Yeah", because although it presents humans kicking ass and taking names, it is against other humans and there's ass kicking on all sides so that does not count.

Also, "Humanity, Fuck Yeah" only applies if humans are defeating super-powered non-humans through strictly technological means. For example, in ''X-COM: UFO Defense'', regular troops gunning down aliens is HFY, as are heavy weapons platforms (big robotic gun platforms). PSI troopers, despite being humans, use supernatural powers so they are not HFY.

Behold a list of "Humanity, Fuck Yeah" works:
* As much as humanity gets its ass kicked in H.G. Wells' ''The War of the Worlds'' there are moments where humans manage to hold the fucking line against '''hundred foot tall murder machines from Mars''', in one instance with the British Army knocking down a tripod with cannonfire. But the crowning moment must be the scene with the HMS ''Thunder Child'' steaming into action, destroying two tripods with its guns, and then ramming a third before sinking. The end qualifies as well: humanity ultimately manages to outlast the invaders because unlike them, our bodies have built up an immunity to the microscopic lifeforms that inhabit our planet.
* Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series is one of the earliest examples of this. A Confederate veteran of the American Civil War finds himself on Mars and proceeds to kick everyone's ass, marry a princess, and become chief warlord of the entire planet.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHomtMvxqWs Xenophobia], a less than a minute-and-a-half song about committing Humanity Fuck Yeah with regards to Sci-Fi.
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/wiki/ref/universes/jenkinsverse Kevin Jenkins universe] Humans are from a 'deathworld'. Lots of stories here. [Now in it's 3rd year of serialization, with 40+ chapters and 2 million+ words in the main storyline alone, there's a lot to sink your teeth into if you're into this kind of thing.]
* '''Independence Day''' (1996). This is a must-see film. "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"
**Now having a sequel '''Fuck YOU ALIEN SCUM''
***Now kinda wishing we hadn't had that sequel.
* ''[[Starship Troopers]]'' novel by Robert A. Heinlein. The ''ST'' movie by Paul Verhoeven has humanity taking Humanity Fuck Yeah by the balls and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIGHCoVzqtk cranking it up past 11].
* [[Conan the Barbarian]] from Robert E. Howard, because going hand-to-hand combat with a cthulhu-like daemon-god and making it run away screaming in fear is the very definition of HFY. Remember that R.E.Howard and H.P.L. were friends, and many of the Cosmic Horror entities that HPL created are actually canon in Conan's universe, and he banishes them with brute force and axes.
* Incidentally H.P. Lovecraft, who was pals with Howard, got a few tales where humans beat back the Great Old Ones, namely The Dunwich Horror (elegan/tg/entlemen professors fight back a huge eldritch demigod), The Call of Cthulhu itself (badass norwegian officer ramming a ship against Cthulhu's head anyone?) and the Dream-Quest of unknown Kadath (/x/ dreamer rallies an army of ghouls and nightgaunts to kill lunar toad-like abominations and then storms Kadath, residence of Earth gods).
* The Damned trilogy, by Alan Dean Foster
* ARK: Survival Evolved. Basically you are a “survivor” placed on an “ark” which is a giant space station island with dinosaurs designed to kill you, to simulate natural selection so that future humans can have a group of the perfect specimens to save future humanity. You make the dinosaurs your bitches, breach the system, and prove you are the Übermensch.
* Warhammer 40000, obviously, particularly when it comes to the [[Imperial Guard]]. Although admittedly, Humanity Occasionally Does Not Fuck Yeah here, but then again, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzPuK1vib_c here is the awesome].
**By 9th edition, not even a galaxy-wide [[Great Rift|gate to Hell]] has managed to defeat Mankind, in fact, [[Roboute Guilliman|the new boss]] has launched an [[Indomitus Crusade|all-out counter-strike]].
* Traveller
* [[Star Trek]] - yes, somehow. A note - the Mirror Universe episodes (TOS - Mirror Mirror, various DS9 ones, ENT - In A Mirror Darkly part I and II) in general are basically Humanity Fuck Yeah at it's best. In TOS-MU, everyone is more badass and horny, and mass killing alien scum who refuse to submit is the order of the day, but get told to make things better and more peaceful by our flawless prime universe counterparts. Does that sound like humanity to you? No? Good, because it's not because fuck that noise. Even their uniforms are more awesome (and sexy). ENT's In A Mirror Darkly shows the Empire at it's most brutal, starts with Zefram Cochrane '''trying the Vulcan salute, only to pull out a shotgun and shoot the Vulcan point blank!''' And from there, they straight up are attacking THE THOLIANS, and STEAL the USS Defiant from TOS's The Tholian Web! Many other shenanigans ensue. No less than later in DS9 confirms that hippy peace kumbaya is bullshit as in the intervening 100 or so years, M-Spock became Emperor and instituted weakness, and the Empire is predictably overthrown by the Alliance (a Klingon/Cardassian dominated political order) - and it's not just humans that are mass enslaved, but all the core races who were cowed or bros with humans and the Empire like the Vulcans and Andorians. See, conquest and HFY is good for the galaxy! But thanks to efforts of people who find themselves on the other side like THE SISKO, not only do the enslaved start a rebellion, but by the last Mirror episode, are looking like they will seriously win it. According to some books, this was actually Emperor Spock's master plan - cause reform to weaken the Empire, and lead to it's seeming death, which would make him one of the best alien believers of HFY of all time. Eventually, revolution will come, and the Empire is reborn as a sort of human-centric Galactic Republic - shorn of all the weaknesses but with an unquenchable thirst for HFY. They are last seen conquering the Breen and Klings or some shit - pure [[awesome]]. Hell, lots of REGULAR Trek episodes eventually are filled with HFY - especially anything involving THE SISKO, later era [[Mary_Sue|Kathryn "KILL THEM ALL" Janeway]], or Section 31.
** Also, [http://beka-tiddalik.tumblr.com/post/150425828285/roachpatrol-deadcatwithaflamethrower a tumblr thread of utter hilarity] showed that compared to Vulcans, humanity is an entire species of Doc Browns -- a bunch of deranged hyper-neophiles tooling around in ships packed full of beyond-cutting-edge tech they don't actually understand very well. And constantly succeeding. When Vulcans have two warp cores, they experiment on one and save the other for a backup. When humans have two warp cores, they plug them both into a third warp core, travel to an alternate dimension, steal ''their'' warp cores and plug ''those'' together, punch their way back here, then try to turn a nearby sun into a torus because that was what their initial scientific experiment was for and they didn’t want to waste a trip. That happened last week and we still have no idea what the torus sun is supposed to accomplish.
* Mass Effect. Only on certain Renegade playthroughs, though; Paragon is hippy dippy "live in peace with xenos" Federation bullshit (to be fair, xenos in Mass Effect are actually friendly or reasonable, with a few exceptions). Even just the backstory has only-just-then-become-a-spacefaring-species humanity fighting a widely-feared and centuries-old galactic superpower to a standstill, followed up by earning their respect to such a degree that they let us jump the queue to join their galactic council club (or letting the current heads of the galactic council club die in battle so humanity fills the power vaccum). Although is just in the first game; the villains you stopped from getting summoned arrive anyway and since mankind never dominated the galaxy only multiculturalism can save you.
* X-COM: UFO Defense. And XCOM Enemy Unknown/Within. Turns out humanity is the greatest hope the alien invaders have, and we're being tested to see if we are worthy of it (we are). And XCOM 2, because even when we lost the war, we WILL win it!
* Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. '''BELIEVE IN THE ME WHO BELIEVES IN YOU!'''
* Gurren Lagann's precursor Getter Robo deserves mention, too. '''WHY DID THE GETTER RAYS CHOOSE LOWLY HUMANITY?!''' Also '''FUCK DINOSAURS!!'''
* Stargate, both SG-1 and Atlantis. Stargate is the most Humanity Fuck Yeah thing ever. A bunch of people extends Earth influence across the entire galaxy in less than ten years. When we manage to build the first real space combat vessels, it's too late. Job's already done, galaxy is ours. So we move to conquer the next one, with another bunch of people and a couple of ships. Entire races are wiped out by teams of five people armed with submachine guns.
**XSGCOM is this but upt to 11. Earth gets an empire, hover tanks, power armor, and so much more. It's amazing. Also armor capable of tanking a staff weapon. It's amazeballs.
***Actually the more advanced weapons you get, the less awesome is. The scary part of SG1 is that the military-industrial complex doesn't even have time to get to par with stolen xenos tech. Humans conquer the whole damn galaxy by small teams armed with pragmatism and one liners.
* '''Pacific Rim.''' [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vU7XqToZso Ye Gods, Pacific Rim.]
* Halo, because being the [[Mary Sue|special snowflake race that can manipulate]] [[Old Ones|the technology of long dead, super-galactic, hyper advance aliens]] [[AWESOME|and yet still having the "Humanity first and only bitch!" personality, as well as standing up to (and winning against) a massive alien hegemony and then an omnivorous parasite in a war lasting nearly THIRTY YEARS gives the UNSC the honorable status.]] . Further noted due to the UNSC Marines (Whose personality is a fusion between Alien's Colonial Marines and Starship Trooper's Mobile Infantry) and because the UNSC built a NOVA bomb which is a petaton-exaton thermonuclear bomb that vaporized an entire covenant fleet in orbit and the entire nightside of a planet, and completely SHATTERS another when its detonated on the surface.
* [[Command and Conquer]] Tiberium Wars. Xeno scum come to harvest Tiberium on our planet, then find out they got played like a bunch of fools. More forces wouldn't have helped the Scrin, Kane has a motherfucking Scrin battleship he built '''when Bill Clinton was president''', and another crashed UFO chilling out in Egypt. <s> What the hell were the expecting, trying to fight a grandchild of [[God]]? </s> They were expecting no resistance because they assumed all life on the planet had been consumed by Tiberium. The Scrin "invasion force" had only come to Earth to harvest Tiberium.
* Marvel Cinematic Universe. At numerous points in the setting (read: every other week), everything from alien empires and planet-eaters to GODS come to Earth looking to squash humanity like a Warboss sitting on a grot. They’ve conquered/destroyed/eaten every species/planet/galaxy they’ve encountered up to that point. Humanity’s heroes fly up and kick them in the dick!
*GATE: Thus The Self-Defense Force Fought There. Related to the above, but its other humans from a magical realm with mystical creatures backing them up invading modern-day Tokyo. Turns out swords and shields dont work to well against machine guns and attack helicopters...and then the JSDF proceeds to roll through the gate they came from and basically conquer the entire world on the other side...without a single casualty.
* Gears of War. A horde of inhuman killing beasts erupt from every human city and then later on our would-be 'fuel' turns out to be an ever-infectious virus of OMNOMNOM! which screws both of our races up. We came back, re-strengthen our forces and gave a response which includes the massacre of all three species including ours via mass orbital bombardment of lasers from SPEHS!, detonation of a bomb that kills by intense light and heat akin to a flashy nuke, the flooding of every cave and hole on our planet(by sinking our last sanctuary no less) and the detonation a fucking NEUTRON BOMB... all because we could.
* The annihilation series. Book one love conquers all. It's a stupid name but the book is really good it's about a boy who figures out that he has psychic powers that grant him the ability to fuck over people's shit the 2nd book is where things get crazy. An alien race who are arrogant and want nothing more then the human race to be gtfo go behind the galatic alliances back and attacks a colony killing 1/3 of the population. That's when the humans go batshit.
* The humourous Poul Anderson novel "The High Crusade". A hyper-advanced alien empire tries to 'ave a go at medieval England and get hilariously rolled over because EMP doesn't work on knights and longbowmen.
* Peter Bergs' Battleship. Generally shit storyline; basically aliens come down to Earth to fuck shit up, and accidentally land in the middle of a global naval wargame.
* Factorio. The premise sounds weaker than most other entries here, but considering you start with nothing but a steam drill, and you are going to have to wipe the floor with the local [[Tyranids|giant bug creatures]], even the smallest of which is about the size of a Smart car, in order to expand your mining, smelting and assembling industries, it is pretty much '''GENOCIDE! MINING! GENOCIDE! MINING! GENOCIDE! MINING!: ''THE GAME.''''' Well, other than [[Dwarf Fortress|''that one'']].
* All Brotherhood of Steel Fallout 4 breakthroughs. The Brotherhood supports genocide of all the non-human abominations that exist throughout the wasteland. Ad Victoriam! The Minutemen kinda qualify as well for the same reason as the Rimworld example listed above - less on the non-human killing, but instead its humans coming together, working together, and taming the everloving shit out of the irradiated and mutant-infested swamps of Massachusetts (post-nuclear war, must clarify) to make the cosiest apocalypse ever.
* While on the topic of [[Fallout]], the Enclave are most definitely HFY. Using a modified virus to systematically wipe out any and all mutated scum that rove the wasteland like it's theirs is a prime example of how awesome humans are at causing mass destruction, and even if a certain tribal mutant was able to infiltrate their base and blow it up, the legacy of the human patriotism of the Enclave will always live on. In New Vegas, even down to only five [[Old Ones|oldfags]] and a snot nosed kid, they kick veritable ''ass''. Though this one's a little up-to-you, as the Enclave were a wee bit too enthusiastic about the genocide part of HFY for their own good, as they actually wanted to bump off most of the human population of the post-apocalyptic US too.
* The Muv Luv franchise. In 1967, all consuming aliens (BETA - Beings of Extra Terrestrial origin which is an Adversary of the human race) are found on [[Mars]] during the explorations there. They land on the Moon, and even though we stand no chance then on the moon, America fights back with fucking prototype SPACE MARINES, space fighters, and re-purposing exoskeletal lifters as power armor. While the universe proves to run on a lot of Humanity What The Fuck Are You Doing too (the first BETA Hive on Earth lands in Kashgar, [[Derp|and the PRC and USSR get greedy letting them get powerful enough, so they can harvest whatever goodies they have]]. When they try landing a hive in Canada, America says "lol fuck no" and nukes the Hive to oblivion with only minimal apologies). What makes it so wonderful is that even for decades, as humanity loses constantly, as literally children are forced to fight, the breathing HFY of everyone involved making last stands and killing wave upon wave of alien scum in [[awesome]] mechs or as infantry on the battleline is enough to make you shed [[manly tears]]. Even when we're down to less than one billion people, we do NOT, STOP, FIGHTING. And then to crown it, in 2001, we have our first major victory with a captured Hive. The main storyline ends with humanity just about ready to start the great reconquest of Eurasia.The snippets in Exogularity show how AWESOME Humanity has become with the break-neck technological advancement fueled by alien tech. I mean Shielding, Mecha Hand-held practicle beam weapons, ships that have length measure in 8KM-9KM and HUNDREDS of G-17B(Descendants of the Susanoo, which they use to GLASS BETA hives on Mars) and other shits. HFY indeed.
* [[Doom]], Doom 2, Doom 3, and DOOM. Because one human can slaughter every breathing thing on two moons and then in Hell. And again. And again. The reboot takes it even further by taking the whole "ancient evil being locked away to prevent it wiping us out" trope and '''reversing it'''. So you, the human main character, is the ancient evil while the demons are the horrified and massacred prison wardens. '''Fuck yeah.'''
* Pokemon. I mean, mere human children can capture and enslave(those little balls they use to contain GIANT MOTHERFRICKIN DRAGONS! must be some brainwashing device!) peaceful creatures and then force those peaceful fire-breathing, water-spouting, grass-grassing monsters to fight each other to the death while the kids... KIDS! just stand behind them giving them orders. Also these little kids at the age of 10 are expected to go off on their own around the globe for fun.
* Space Battleship Yamato. Aliens (humans with green skin... they count right?) enter our solar system and we blow their spaceship up for no reason! Then our arse gets handed to us as they start bombarding our planet with meteorites using a tractor beam. However the moment a friendly alien race (hot chicks) gives us a power generator what do we do? We use it to invent a destructive ima-firin-my-lazor-cannon stick both items into a battleship turned spaceship, send that one ship off on its own to go get a life-saving tech thingy from hot chic aliens while single handedly blowing up an entire space empire armada... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs7r9NUlAuI All with a kickass main theme]
* The space opera grand strategy game by Paradox, Stellaris, can be played many different ways and allows you to go full HFY if you would like, you could even play as human fanatic purifiers. HFY is encouraged by one of the preset empires, The Commonwealth of Man, a xenophobic and militaristic faction of humans bent on enslaving xenos and dominating the galaxy. Refreshingly, humanity isn't actually special; if humanity wants to go full HFY, then they must work for it just like any other species.
* Rescue Party by Arthur C. Clarke. While there is not conflict in the short story it still counts. Hippie aliens arrive on Earth only hours before the sun will explode, destroying the planet. The mission of the hippie aliens is to try to save as many people and as much of the culture as possible. Normally the galactic civilization does surveys of planets every one million years for new species, but the human race did not exist the last time the survey was done – four hundred thousand years before. We simply evolved too fast for them! However, radio signals had been detected on a planet 200 light years away, indicating intelligent life had arisen. They arrive, but nobody is home. As they search for any living humans, we learn that its typical for races to take thousand of years between the invention of the radio and space flight. The only thing they find is a communication tower beaming into space. They follow the beam with their FTL ships and discover an enormous fleet of rocket space ships (the largest fleet in galactic history), traveling into space without any FTL tech. Their tiny alien minds melt in the face of the sheer determination and steel balls Humanity posses. As they watch Humanity flying toward their birth right of total Galactic domination, the hippie aliens know that they are fucked.
* '''Worldwar''' by Harry Turtledove. A series of eight alternative history novels. World War II is doing well, and humanity is having a lot of fun with itself, until 1942, when the reptilan aliens known as the Race attack. They start off by detonating nuclear weapons in the stratosphere, creating EMPs, which most developed nations don't even notice, because primitive vacuum tubes don't care about that at all. Their technology is pretty superior to the humans', but humans have a knack for thinking so far outside the box that the box can't even be seen anymore, combined with the fact that they simply don´t give up, like, at all. Notable HFY moments include all human armies, including lots of nasty partisan groups pretty much halting their previous conflicts, and all descending on their new, common foe (almost makes you pity the invaders); humans destroying an alien spaceship with a motherfucking huge cannon (hint: Dora), humans turning the aliens into drug addicts and disrupting their whole culture with their ''corruptive nature'', an alien invasion on Britain stopped by chemical warfare, humans nuking a whole alien fleet killing millions, and finally humans driving the Aliens away and forcing them to accept a jolly human tradition: peace by '''''mutual assured destruction'''''
* The [[Transformers]] "'''Beast Wars: Uprising'''" series of comics and short stories covering the intervening years between the Generation One and Beast Wars cartoons is an interesting case, focusing entirely on the aliens and rather than depicting the conflict with humanity itself, it deals with the disastrous effect that being on the receiving end of an HFY story has on their society. Tired of being caught up in the Autobots' and Decepticons' various conflicts, humanity steadily grows more and more militarized and eventually kicks the Transformers off Earth and forces them back to their dying homeworld of Cybertron. Confined to a single planet with limited supplies of energy, Cybertronian society begins to unravel even worse than it was before as the larger Transformers are left crippled due to their high fuel requirements and begin using smaller ones to fight in proxy wars. The Autobot/Decepticon conflict soon gives way to infighting as the energy crisis exacerbates the already existing inequalities between the two factions various sub-groups.
* In [[The Elder Scrolls]] universe, [[What|humans are split into distinct ethnic groups with their own histories and unique abilities]], but all of them are badass. Man's first foray into the continent of Tamriel was the ancient Atmorans, who landed in what is now Skyrim and eventually became the Nords (basically fantasy vikings). They had to fight against the Snow Elves (who they nearly drove to extinction with [[Awesome|only five hundred warriors]]), the dragons (who they also rendered extinct, but the gods, chief of all the dragon god who hated his own kids, had to help this time) and are still to this day locked in daily battles against bears, sabre-tooth cats, trolls, giants, big spiders and all kinds of other horrific stuff. Far to the south in Cyrodiil, the humans there (the Imperials, fantasy Romans basically) were enslaved by another race of elves named the Ayleids, until Saint Alessia (fantasy Joan of Arc) led a slave rebellion with the help of a man who was [[Rip and tear|on a constant and bloody never-ending]] [[WAAAGH]] against the elves named Pelinal Whitestrake (who it should be pointed out may have been a cyborg knight, complete with arm plasma cannon, from a horrifying future where Nazi elves won and very brutaly subjugated mankind which would explain his colossal hateboner for anything with pointy ears), and together they overthrew the Ayleids and forged the beginnings of the first Cyrodiilic Empire (and there would later be another two under the Reman and Septim dynasties). In the western peninsula of High Rock, breeding programs between the Aldmer and the Nedes had given rise to a new race of [[Half-Elf]] humans known as the Bretons (fantasy French), who are said to rival and even surpass the Altmer in magical talents and even get a magical resistance. Finally came the Redguards (fantasy Arabs), refugees from the sunken islands of Yokuda, the most talented warriors and sailors of Tamriel to the point of ''having sunk those islands with a sword technique that can split atoms'' and the only race in the setting with access to gunpowder. It is also said that the gods themselves favour the races of Men over the Mer (elves) because while elves see mortality as a cruel prison, men see "strength in weakness" and live their lives to the fullest free from fears of their mortality, and this is especially true for Lorkhan, who is said to have created men to be the "chaos" to the "order" of the Mer.
* ''[[Monster Hunter International]]'' by Larry Correia. A series of novels (with a pair of RPGs) where humanity kills all manner of monsters with the awesome power of modern firearms, tactical planning and keeping records of how best to exterminate xeno filth. The first book starts with the protagonist wrestling a werewolf and throwing it out a window to its death (though this does result in months of hospitalization). Xeno assistance is limited to individual exceptions that have proven their worth by mauling America's enemies for her. Uncontrolled xeno populations allowed to run amok are considered several times more dangerous than nuclear weapons (and this determination was made when people who thought nuclear weapons could ignite Earth's atmosphere in a chain reaction were considered reasonable scientists), yet humanity has managed to prevail against them.
*''Lego Mars Mission'' Yes, you heard me right. A little dark for Lego, which makes this even more awesome. The premise starts out peaceful, with some Astronauts showing up on Mars to mine some powerful crystals in order to solve a world energy crisis, like that fucking blue furry movie. The similarities end there. Eventually, these invasive green aliens get or had the same idea, and try to steal from the humans. Predictably, the humans diplomatically tell them to fuck off. The aliens respond like a bag of dicks, and start a fucking war. The astronauts quickly modify all their stuff to shoot lasers, capture aliens, crush them, and shit. The astros fight to a bloody stalemate as the amazing motherfucking guardsmen they are, until they discover the Alien hive. The astros launch themselves in a full scale assault on the hive, and manage to penetrate the deeper parts of it, systematically kicking the collective ass of the xenos scum, before tracking down the alien commander and brutally murdering him, claiming Mars for the humans as they fucking deserve. Vehicles that earn the HFY seal of approval include the Recon Dropship (A cool looking Gunship), Clawtank (a tank with a big ass claw to crush the xenos scum), and Crystal Reaper, a troop carrier with big saws to cut rock (or xenos) up.
* ''[[Victory Unintentional]]'' by Isaac Asimov. Humanity discovers that there is a xenophobic and supremacist (even ''more'' than us, if that's possible), hyper-advanced, sapient race living on the surface of Jupiter that (after a brief period of parley) declare war and their intention to exterminate us "lesser" beings. We, being a peace loving (cough cough cough) race, send three sapient robots (guided by "The Three Laws") to the Jovian surface to learn more, make contact, and try to smooth things over with the Jovians. The Jovians proceed to do everything in their power to destroy and/or impress the robots and intimidate mankind with its "inevitable doom" by exposing them to every deadly weapon, death-world-like (by ''our'' standards, and more importantly, theirs) environment and predator they can conceive of only to comprehensively, categorically fail to do more than mildly perplex the robots with their attempts and hostility. Eventually, the Jovians relent and send the robots packing to their ship with a hasty declaration of peace and a promise never to make war on humanity '''ever'''. On their way home, the robots ponder the meaning of the whole affair, and their conclusion? Well...read it: '''https://www.e-reading.life/chapter.php/81838/12/Azimov_-_The_Complete_Robot.html'''. Point being, we conquer an entire world of hostile, advanced, aliens that horrifically outnumber us '''ENTIRELY BY ACCIDENT WITHOUT EVER FIRING A SHOT'''. That's how bad-ass we are! Our tools/toys/probes '''INADVERTENTLY''' conquer worlds.

==An Alternate Take on HFY==
{{Topquote|Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.|Proverbs 16:18}}
{{Topquote|1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9g2r0SdEZc| I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment; but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet. You are a plague, and we...are the cure.|2=Agent Smith, ''The Matrix''}}

What started as a reasonable response to human suffering in fiction has blossomed into a cringe-fest of masturbatory autism that can be seen in the page quote. [[Eldar|Haughty pride, arrogance,]] [[Imperial Cult|zealotry, blind idiocy, self-righteousness,]] and many more vices are enabled by such tooting of our own metaphorical horns. [[Cancer|The worst part is how this attitude spreads to other fandoms like wildfire, even if humans or aliens aren't interacting with each other or even involved in the setting!]] The irony kicks in when you realize that many of the idols that HFY memers get their [[Heresy|Idolatry on for]] would be disappointed at such vainglorious pride, [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|The Man-peror of Mankind]] would not approve! Even more ironic is how this attitude is exactly the same as [[Matt Ward|a certain fluff rapist]] [[Ultramarines|and his favored infallible, can't do wrong, and always victorious]] [[Mary Sue|mary sues.]]

The real crime however, is how HFY quashes new ideas, sucking the rest of the entire fandom down a creative black hole. Guess you can in fact get sick of winning in fiction all the time!

Basically put, what little potential HFY had has long since been stifled in a sea of mental masturbation over our own imaginary greatness.

So when would such attitudes be appropriate? In dangerous settings where such attitudes are backed up by much human suffering and bloodshed. In settings where we truly earned the right to be a bit proud of our survival. [[Warhammer 40K|In settings where humanity is beset on sides by hostile foes within and without, eternally under siege, with their very vices and souls threatening to rebel against the- hey wait a minute...]]

HFY tends to manifest itself especially terribly in fanfiction, where whole fandoms are plagued by a never ending slew of shitty fix fics that look at settings where humanity is already ridiculously special for no good reason and already has disproportionate influence on the setting and is already among the setting's winners and go "nah, humans need to win some more". Thus turning the sentiment into a code for "this fanfiction is shit written by some moron who doesn't understand how dramatic tension works" and turning HFY from a statement of pride to an ironic statement of mockery and a seal of low quality writing. The worst kinds of these fanfics tend to be written by people who legitimately think that the [[/pol/|unfamiliar needs to be purged]] and it all starts reading rather disturbingly like Mein Kampf more than good literature (and worst of all, these fanfics will also have writing quality about as good as Mein Kampf, which is legendarily terrible and incoherent if you're unfamiliar with it) as the more mouthbreather type of fan projects their race war fantasies where they think no one will notice. However, much like with FATAL or Racial Holy War or other works written by the inbred, these attempts to escape notice tend to fail and instead will only draw further mockery upon discovery. Original works, even on /tg/, are little better in this respect due to the community that springs around them acting like an echo chamber to drown out any kind of negative feedback no matter how justified it may be.

The most important rule in any story with a conflict is of course a need to maintain tension. If people win without effort, it gets very boring very quickly unless effortless victory and anti-climax is the whole joke (and most fanfic writers simply aren't funny enough to make the space opera/high fantasy equivalent of one punch man and probably shouldn't try to either), so when you start writing humans as simply piledriving everyone in the way without trying you end up making the humans more insufferable than pretty much any variety of Elf has ever been. Instead of badasses, you have turned our species into uninteresting Mary Sues who most people who don't have their heads up their asses will start to root against, much like how people generally start rooting against a sports team that always seems to win. With no effort being expended, there's no reason to care about the struggle because there is no struggle to care about. Bad HFY forgets all this in favor of what amounts to masturbation via text and unfortunately, as most writers aren't all that great, most HFY fics will tend to be of the shitty tensionless curbstomp variety where humanity does nothing to deserve any victory it gets.

You can express how great humanity is, but always remember these few rules:

*Don't make everyone else stupid, this is not only a lazy means of making your favoured faction right it's also one of the strongest signifiers for a Mary Sue as not only are they always right, anyone against them is a moron and probably eats babies too. Do make humans suffer setbacks and make mistakes, nobody wants to read about a hero who is never challenged and never stumbles or fucks up.
**To quote an old saying "to err is to human", someone without flaw is more akin to a god (or God) than an actual person, so don't go that route unless the character is a god or God (whether you believe in a god/God/religion or not, that is a subject that should be handled with care). Push them to the brink of destruction and have them claw their way back up from nothing instead of acting as if the universe will bend over backwards for them on account of their species alone. And remember to give them humility as a result of whatever struggle they go through; they should be very much aware they're little fish in a very big pond.
*Don't use "human ingenuity" as an advantage; this trope is so tiresomely played out that it produces nothing but eyerolling these days, especially since it tends to be a signifier that you've created a planet of hats setting where humanity is the only species not forced to have a hat (ironic, since this is itself a hat). This is lazy and overdone so don't do it. If you -have- to, go with the historical data: humanity's hat on Earth wasn't developing new technologies all the time, but by winning through endurance. Earliest hunters above the Saharan line won by sheer attrition and endurance walking towards the prey animals until they exhausted, sieges lasted for years, and WW1 itself speaks volumes. This victory didn't come easy, victory by endurance is the '''most painful''' way of winning. If humanity is supposed to win, make them pay the price and describe the effects of victory on an exhausted human society.
**Elevating things like "pragmatism" and "brutality" in its place is just as bad if not even worse, because they make humanity look like a race of [[Tyranids|all-devouring monsters that leave nothing but destruction in their wake]] who need to be wiped out for the sake of all other sentient life in the universe.
*Don't force humanity into a hat itself either, saying things like "humans are good diplomats/warriors" is easily disproven by just looking at about a hundred randomly selected people so it's always going to ring kind of false to people in the real world. Do give people weaknesses of some sort, whether cultural or physical or governmental some kind of flaw will help to make humanity seem human instead of efficiency obsessed robots. After all, racial hat simple means the result of averages fitting into the global-galactic niche. If Salarian artists (which *do* exist) would have overtaken the galactic culture by chance and random luck in the universe of Mass Effect, we would come to believe Salarians are a race of smart artists.
**Do give other species nuance of their own, just as you shouldn't give out a hat to humanity, you should try to avoid essentially typecasting the races in your setting without a very good explanation like Orks having their mentalities being genetically programmed or a species being an outright hive mind, this just makes everyone more interesting overall.
*It's ridiculous to assume that alien life evolved (or was created, depending on the story and who you ask) along the same lines as we did. Consider showing how humans are just as unsuited for alien environments as the aliens would be unsuited for our own. Oh sure, we can breathe oxygen, but outside any Earth-like planet that's just a liability. What good is that when the air on most inhabitable planets either has minimal oxygen or flat-out poisons us?
**However, do still try to stick to some universal biological truths. Do you really think any long-lived alien race would've survived long enough to be their planet's dominant species without some adrenaline equivalent? Do you really think natural selection is limited to just Earth? Unless the rest of the universe has some benevolent omnipresent overseers to take care of all life and prevent fighting, organisms are going to compete with each other for resources and they won't be nice about it.
*Unless you're writing some deliberate subjective/propaganda piece, don't give humanity any excuses or special pleading for its flaws. If aliens are monsters for eating human babies, then humans are monsters for eating alien babies. If humanity filling its planets with toxic smog is the bee's knees, then alien planets filled with toxic smog are no worse. Try to be at least somewhat objective in the narration, as long as it fits the story of course.

While these tips are just generally good for worldbuilding and story telling, they should always be taken into account by anyone who wants to write HFY without falling into the ubiquitous pitfalls.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Humansfuckyeah.png|Start of earliest saved HFY threads.
File:Soniamproud.png|WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!
File:1222851447080.png|The banner is from Star Trek, but it gives you the basic idea.
File:Humanlegacy.png|Fine example of how we at HFY think.
File:Colonel-quaritchsmall.jpg|HFY's official spokesman.
File:Hfy imp.png|The [[Imperial Cult]] is basically built on HFY.
File:The_pulse.png|Technology "saves" the day.
File:Terra_Is_Alive.png|Terra is a cruel matriarch. But her forge has made us strong.
File:Semen.png|Humans are more hardcore than most sci-fi insect races.
File:HumanityFuckYeah1.jpg|This is what we do to OUR home. Think your planet will fare any better?
File:The Courage of Man.png
File:Stabbed.PNG
File:Diplomat_1.png|Part 1 of /tg/'s longest non-ongoing HFY.
File:Diplomat_2.png|Part 2 of /tg/'s longest non-ongoing HFY.
File:Diplomat_3.png|Part 3 of /tg/'s longest non-ongoing HFY.
File:Diplomat_4.png|Part 4 of /tg/'s longest non-ongoing HFY.
File:Diplomat_5.png|Part 5 of /tg/'s longest non-ongoing HFY.
File:Diplomat_6.png|Part 6 of /tg/'s longest non-ongoing HFY.
File:Welcome to america.jpg|A good example why you SHOULD NOT fuck with humans.
</gallery>

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBpu4DAvwI8| Watch 3 men scare off 15 lions to get some food], [[Awesome|yes this really happened]] (note how they don't underestimate the animals).

Persistence Hunting with David Attenborough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826HMLoiE_o

Humanity, fuck yeah.

<blockquote>''Let me tell you about humans, using something I'm familiar with in anthropology. When a Shoshone warrior wants a pony, he goes to a herd, picks one, and walks toward it. Naturally, the pony runs away. The Shonone follows, day and night just walking, usually for three full days. Pony runs away, man just keeps walking at a steady pace. Finally the pony simply collapses from exhaustion after running away for days, and the man walks up and puts a bridle on it. That is the kind of monster humans are.''</blockquote>

HFY vs African [[Pokemon]], by Andrew Ucles (without Pokeballs, because fuck you pokemons). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJiZ2HgV5E0

[https://youtu.be/VXVmMB2Echs?t=90 Lex Luthor vs Superman as ranted by Dan Harmon]