Lich

Lich
Katakana	リッチ
Rōmaji	Ricchi
Type	Pureblood Heartless
Game	Kingdom Hearts III

Lich
Kingdom Hearts III
This haunting horror held the hearts of Sora's friends hostage. Time and again, Sora fought it back, but with each hard-won victory, it would simply slough its form and depart to another world. Its broad arsenal of magic made it a formidable foe to face alone, but in the end no Heartless could match the strength of Sora's resolve.

"The Lich you've been fighting—it's not like other Heartless. It exists to usher hearts down to the depths of darkness."

—Young Xehanort to Sora

The Lich is a Pureblood Heartless that appears in Kingdom Hearts III. Unlike other Heartless, it does not consume hearts to create more Heartless. Rather, it captures hearts and ferries them to the abyss of darkness. Also uniquely, if caught in time, it can be forced to relinquish the hearts it has captured, allowing them to return to their bodies.

Story

Kingdom Hearts III

The Lich first appears at the The Realm of the Gods/Courtyard in Olympus to collect Riku's heart after the guardians of light have been consumed by a Demon Tide and scattered across the worlds. After Sora chases the Lich down and frees Riku's heart, the Lich flees into a portal leading to other worlds to claim the hearts of the other fallen warriors—Aqua at The High Seas/Northern Waters in The Caribbean, Goofy at The Labyrinth of Ice/Middle Tier Arendelle, Donald Duck at Monster's Inc./Lobby & Offices in Monstropolis, Ventus at Galaxy Toys/Main Floor: 1F in Toy Box, Mickey Mouse at The Forest/Marsh in the Kingdom of Corona, and Lea at The City (Night) in San Fransokyo—forcing Sora to use the power of waking to give pursuit. Upon finally vanquishing the Lich, Sora is told by Young Xehanort that he has misused the power of waking too many times, and is condemned to meet the same fate as those whose hearts are taken by the Lich.

Design

The Lich is a large black Heartless with the shape of a roughly humanoid torso. It wears a black robe which fades into white tendrils at its base, and has draping sleeves that end in pink points. Its tall, pointed headdress covers its head and long neck with a criss-crossing design ending in a flair at the shoulders that resembles white hair or feathers. Its glowing yellow eyes peer through a skull-shaped mask. A heart-shaped hole cuts through its chest, in which is stores the chained hearts it captures, bordered by a bright pink design on its robe. Three chains dangle from under its robe, ending in pink spikes that hang at alternate heights.

It bears a grey staff with a black headpiece, which also features a heart-shaped hole through it.

Its name is derived from the recurring enemy from the Final Fantasy series.