The Lich (Adventure Time)

*- The Lich in Escape from the Citadel - his most famous quote, threatening Finn and Jake.*

*I have learned much, from you. Thank you, my teachers. And now, for your... education, Before there was time. Before there was anything... there was nothing. And before there was nothing... there were monsters.*
*Here's your gold star..*

*- The Lich's other most famous quote combined with Sweet P's soul.*

## Evil-Doer

* The Lich
* Disguised As Billy
* Waving Snail Disguise
* As A Comet

## Character Overview:

### Status:

Unknown.
(Most likely alive)

### Alias:

The Lich
The Lich King
The End
The End Of All Life
The Eradicator
The Ancient Sorcerer
The Unknown
The Face Of Death
The End Of Time
The Life Beyond Existence
The Spawn Of Life And Death
The Eternal Beast
Skull Man (By Sweet P)
Basic Guy (By Finn)

### Occupation:

Sorcerer.
The Last Scholar Of GOLB.
(Both Possibly)
Unknown.

### Powers/Skills:

Nigh-Omnipotence
Nigh-Omniscience
Nigh-Omnipresence
Psychological Manipulation
Master Of Manipulation
Genius-Level Intelligence
Inhuman Strength
Inhuman Speed
Inhuman Durability
Inhuman Stamina
Inhuman Endurance
Inhuman Resistance
Inhuman Persistence
Immense Knowledge
Fighting Tactics
Combat Prowess
Stealth
Telepathy
Teleportation
Dark Magic
Immortality
Pyrokinesis
Illusion Manipulation
Possession
Telepathy
Mind Control
Flight
Necromancy
Death Aura
Death Breath
Intimidation
Umbrakinesis
Interdimensional TravelPossession
Reality Warping
Mind Manipulation
Soul Removal

### Goals:

Annihilate all life in the multiverse.
Kill Billy.
Kill anyone who dares to cross him.
Destroy the Citadel and leave everyone to die.
(All Succeeded; Ongoing for annihilation of all life)
Kill Finn and Jake. (Failed; Partially Ongoing)

### Hobby:

Killing people.
Trying to end all life.
Trying to kill Finn and his friends.
Manipulating people.
Stalking people.
Scheming.
Planning.
Causing destruction.

### Crimes:

Mass Murder
Mass Mundicide
Mass Omnicide
Mass Destruction
Mass Terrorism
Attempted Multiversal Domination
Reality-Altercation
Stalking
Malefic
Torture
Psychological Torture
Corruption
Conspiracy
Possession
Brainwashing
Animal Cruelty
Mutilation
Identity Theft
Psychological & Physical Abuse
Arson
Attempted Child Murder
Child Abuse
Assault
Theft
Pollution
Treason
Politicide
Trespassing

### Type of Villain:

Enigmatic Cataclysmic Mastermind

**The Lich**, also known as **The** **Lich King**, is the main antagonist of the Cartoon Network series *Adventure Time*.

The Lich is an ancient undead sorcerer who is hellbent on eradicating all life in the multiverse until nothing but himself remains. Years prior to the story, the Lich was defeated and sealed away by the Land of Ooo hero; Billy. However, The Lich is years later released from his prison (unintentionally) by the Waving Snail. After resurfacing, the Lich murders Billy and resumes his scheme to destroy all of reality. He is also the archenemy of Finn The Human and Jake The Dog.

He is voiced by Ron Perlman.

## Biography:

In the episode "Gold Stars," the Lich implies he is older than existence itself, a survivor of a time "before there was nothing." After that, in some way, his essence was transferred to a catalyst comet, whose task was to kill all living beings on Earth. The comet seen in "Evergreen" is bared a resemblance to the Lich, as evidenced by its green coloration and horn-like flames, and was implied to have caused the K–T extinction event that killed the dinosaurs. The Lich was later unleashed onto the world from the Mushroom Bomb during the Great Mushroom War.

At some point, he attempted to destroy all life but was defeated and imprisoned within amber in the Candy Kingdom's tree by the hero, Billy many years ago. Regardless of this information, most of The Lich's backstory and history is currently unknown.

## Personality:

The Lich is a cold, cruel, suave, and ruthless being who is representative of death and destruction: more of a cosmic force of inevitable oblivion than anything else. Altogether in addition to his heinous desires, the Lich has absolutely no redeeming qualities, as Finn refers to him as "basic", being so evil Finn can’t even enjoy characterizing him (though the Lich does not appear insulted by this).

Unlike most of the other antagonists of *Adventure Time*, or even in most fiction as a whole, The Lich is completely uninterested in fame, power, wealth, or dominion over others, completely dedicated to his ultimate goal of wiping out all life from existence. He is unswayed by bargains, pleas, threats, or appeals to emotion of any kind, and can only be stopped by physically destroying or restraining him. On rare occasions he'll reach out for assistance from others, but only through manipulating them with false promises or trickery, or simply enslaving them via his mind control powers. Even then, he immediately disposes of them once he no longer needs them.

Despite his desire to kill everything, The Lich is not a mindless killing machine who simply slaughters everything in his path (save unless for the trail of dead fish he creates after silently swimming through the ocean). He actively seeks out the most thorough and efficient means of eliminating all life in existence, such as wishing for it from Prismo The Wishmaster. He is a very analytical and cunning entity who readily learns from his past failures, carefully assessing those who where a thorn in his side, and manipulating situations to come out in his favor when the odds are seemingly stacked against him. He is very resourceful and adaptable, and incredibly patient and thick-skinned, allowing others to ridicule and humiliate him while trapped in Prismo's time room for months until an opportunity at omnicide presented itself. The Lich also never makes the same mistake twice.

However, he is not completely emotionless. He found Finn's attempt at killing him amusing, giving a hearty laugh while being attacked. There have been times where the Lich shows sadistic amusement or pleasure in the deaths of others, laughing in delight when the portal to the Time Room is opened and when he finally succeeds in eradicating all life with his wish. The farmworld version of the Lich also chuckled with pleasure when the portal to the multiverse was opened. Despite his calm and collected nature, the Lich can still be shocked or taken by surprise, as seen when Jake changed the Lich's wish to return Finn and Jake home and when the Lich was turned into Sweet Pea. In the farmworld timeline he was visibly startled when his spirit was purged from Farmworld Jake's body, and when he was betrayed and defeated by Sweet Pea.

## Appearance:

Before his change, the Lich wore a crown. Another feature of his is his horns, one of which has broken off. However, before being struck down by Billy, both of his horns were intact, so it is possible that it got broken off as a result of that encounter. The Lich also dresses in a large, loose robe with multiple layers and a large cape that is severely torn at its end.

Physically, the Lich is also remarkably large, As shown In the flashback "His Hero," the Lich is shown to rival Billy in size. The arms of the Lich are bare-bones with little to no tissue left, and his skeletal hands burn with an eerie fire when casting spells. His face is defined by horrific green lights as pupils peering out of his empty eye sockets, and pale undead skin is pulled tight against his nose-less skull. His skin is frayed away from his lips revealing a wicked and perpetual grin.

In "Escape from the Citadel," The Lich breaks out of the crystal in an explosion, removing his skeletal disguise of Billy entirely, revealing a completely skeletal form, with a spiked vertebral column and shoulders, several bone fractures, and a small metal plate attached to his ribcage.

## Trivia:

* The Lich is still referred to by his old name, The Lich King, in various official episode summaries and clip descriptions on Cartoon Network's site, indicating that the name change may have been done very late in production.
* His original name, The Lich King, was only changed because this name already belonged to a *World Of Warcraft* character and Frederator Studios was afraid that they would get sued.
* In fantasy fiction, a lich is a powerful magician who has transformed himself into an undead creature to achieve immortality.
* The Lich is the first character Finn and Jake have faced that has endangered the fate of the world.
* The Lich was redesigned at least once, as the creators felt that his original design wasn't scary enough.
	+ The Lich's final design is similar to that of The Horned King from the 1985 Disney film *The Black Cauldron*, which is an adaptation of the novel *The Book of Three*.
	+ On CartoonNetwork.com, you can set your profile picture as the original Lich.
* In France/Belgium, there was a translation problem with The Lich's name. During his appearance in "*His Hero*," he is called " Le Roi sangsue," which translates to "Leech King."
* In the original storyboard of *The Lich* episode, Billy explains he would push The Lich into the Crystal Citadel, a prison that no one can escape from, one of the prisoners being Finn's father.
* The Lich was originally supposed to convince Finn to give him the Enchiridon by bringing back his parents.
* In "Come Along With Me", it is hinted that the Lich was presumably created by the GOLB's breath.

## Gallery:

The Lich swimming and later poisoning a lake.The Lich in Sweet P's nightmare.The Lich killing Prismo.The Lich's skeletal appearance in "Escape To The Citadel".The Lich showing Finn his well of infinite power.Finn fighting against The Lich.The Lich's appearance in Finn's nightmares.The Lich realizing he had accidentally let Finn live via his magical sweater (Though he does not appear entirely bothered by this)."Shhhh....", The Lich silently quieting Finn and Jake.The Lich physically tormenting Finn in an ensuing battle.The Lich and his atomic nuclear bomb in which he was supposedly born from, nearly 1-5 trillion years ago.The Lich thanking Finn for allowing him to unintentionally escaping to the multiversal prison, thus letting him manipulate the universal guards.The Lich placed on an episodes portrait of the same name.The Lich's supposedly fan-made poster made to alert others of his great power and existence, noting that he's "Not Funny".The Lich physically imprisoned in his amber-oak casing.The Lich after killing Billy disguising as Billy to gain access towards one of his ancient spellbooks, so he could continue further with his End Of All Life plan.The Lich's famous appearance in "Escape To The Citadel" along with his famous catchphrase.