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Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)

fictional monster from Dungeons & Dragons

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ6543175 ↗
Source-derived summary

The lich is an undead creature found in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Liches are spellcasters who seek to defy death by magical means.

The term derives from lich, an archaic term for a corpse. Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax stated that he based the description of a lich included in the game on the short story "The Sword of the Sorcerer" (1969) by Gardner Fox.

Publication history

The lich was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the Dungeons & Dragons game.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974–1976)

For the original D&D rule set, the lich was introduced in its first supplement, Greyhawk (1975). It is described simply as a skeletal monster that was formerly a magic-user or a magic-user/cleric in life and retains those abilities, able to send lower-level characters fleeing in fear.

The lich's interaction with the Psionics rules and the iconic lich Vecna were described in Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977–1988)

In AD&D 1st edition, the lich appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is given more detailed description; including a brief, cryptic note of having reached "a non-human, non-living existence through force of will. It retains this status by certain conjurations, enchantments, and a phylactery." The nature and function of this phylactery was not explained, though the word exists in the real world, where phylactery has several meanings, including a box of Jewish prayer verses or Christian relics.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)” as fictional monster from Dungeons & Dragons. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lich, Dungeons and Dragons.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1969, 1974, 1976, 1975—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Lich, Dungeons and Dragons providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)”, the useful work is to connect “fictional monster from Dungeons & Dragons” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6543175. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1969, 1974, 1976 and 1975.

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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.