Lich Arklow

Lich Arklow was an underling of the Demon of Gluttony and a former forest spirit of Held. Chased out of the forest, Lich began serving the new Demon of Gluttony and was incarnated as a death god. Becoming the manager of the Graveyard restaurant, Lich operated the establishment before it was shut down by Judge Gallerian Marlon.

Early Life
In the Second Period, Lich Arklow was the older brother of Michael, and childhood friends with Eater Sabella. A prominent professor who instructed Behemo Barisol, Lich was also an authority on the study of artificial life. As the Second Period began to collapse due to HERs contaminating the world, Lich and 71 other scientists boarded one of several spaceships intended to travel to inhabitable planets and repopulate them, theirs under the name Climb One. As they lost contact with all their fellow spaceships, the crew of the Climb One realized they were the last inhabitants of Earth and decided to create a new species in the image of earthlings.

After finding a new planet to inhabit, they set about constructing the new world and species. During this process Seth Twiright, an HER who had secretly boarded the Climb One, instigated the deaths of 62 of the crew members and contaminated the new species to have a possibility of developing HER Syndrome. The remaining crew, including Lich and Levia Barisol, proposed they reincarnate as gods into the world to guide the humans, unaware that Levia at least was an HER. When their colleagues Held Yggdra and Luna Hazuki disagreed with the plan, Lich joined the ensuing fight and was killed along with everyone else when it caused the Climb One to crash, leaving behind only his spirit data.

Forest Spirits
Sometime after, Lich escaped; unable to become a god or a demon, he was allowed by Held to instead become a forest spirit, being one of the only spirits allowed to keep their memories of the Second Period. There they lived in Held's Forest along with the others made from the earthlings that had been killed due to Seth Twiright. As a spirit, they again befriended Eater.

During the EC 470's, Lich in their black rollam bird form encountered the soul of Arth Lucifen d'Autriche, having wandered into the Millennium Tree Forest following the death of himself and the rest of his family. Thinking of a prank, Lich promised to "revive" him and transferred his soul into a mud doll made in his likeness. Because this, they were banished from the forest by Held, with Eater following them.

The two eventually began living in Marlon's Column Forest, still retaining their animal forms. Around EC 505, Lich visited Held again, bickering with him and criticizing him for wiping the other spirits' memories. When he later saw a sapling near Held and deduced it to be Michaela, Lich began pecking at it before being chased off by a young nun, eventually recognizing the girl as Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche.

Later on, Lich returned to Column Forest, discussing with Eater how they'd be living there. As they talked, Ney Marlon suddenly unleashed corpse soldiers on the forest, the offended Lich getting attacked by Ney. They then deduced that the corpse soldiers were Vlad's work, and, remembering that Eater was Vlad's relative, decided to have the two reunite so that Eater could regain their memories. They were then shocked to find out that the Demon of Gluttony was not in fact Vlad, but Banica Conchita.

Death Gods
Lich and Eater eventually became subservient to Banica, residing with her within her wine glass vessel as dormant spirits. Later on, they were incarnated as death gods and learned that she was searching for the Grave Yard. Lich eventually established the Graveyard restaurant with Eater in USE Levianta during the EC 900s, working as its manager and storing his master's vessel within the establishment.

Over the years, the Graveyard restaurant continuously committed tax evasion. At some point, Lich employed a waitress at the restaurant. After one of the customers revealed himself to be Dark Star Bureau Director Gallerian Marlon and had the restaurant shut down, Lich managed to avoid arrest. Later on during winter, Lich and Eater broke into the house of Gallerian with several undead soldiers in order to retrieve Banica and her vessel.

Breaking up the initial skirmish between the judge's butler and Eater, Lich introduced himself and Eater before asking Gallerian to return the Glass to them and release the restaurant's waitron. Chided for breaking up his house and manhandling his servant, Lich retorted he did the same thing when he has the Graveyard shut down, the two arguing about the ethics of Gallerian's collecting. After taking the glass, Lich was then sucked inside its world and told by Banica to serve Gallerian.

Once Lich was brought back to the outside world, displeased by Banica's whimsy, he declared that the glass was now owned by Gallerian and that he, Eater, and all of the undead soldiers were his servants, under two conditions: that Gallerian keep Ma from getting near the glass and that he search for the Grave Yard. When Gallerian expressed unhappiness with the undead soldiers in light of the USE's fight with them, Lich denied that the undead soldiers fought by the USE had any connection to them, and suggested Gallerian dismiss the soldiers and just have Lich and Eater serve him.

After explaining their true nature to Gallerian, and admitting that the Waiter didn't need to be pardoned quickly now that they were working for them, Lich and Eater were admitted as members into PN. After the completion of Evil's Theater in EC 982, Lich transferred there to continue guarding the glass. On one occasion when Ma visited the director's office, Lich had a tense conversation with her and rejected her suggestion that he go out and visit his former acquaintances in the forest. Lich later perished along with the other inhabitants of Evil's Theater when it was destroyed by Punishment in EC 999.

World's End
Lich later accompanied Banica at her illusory mansion in Beelzenia, making a new body for Eater. When members of the Tasan Party arrived with a Black Box, Lich had Eater destroy the device. After Allen Avadonia and Nemesis Sudou arrived at the mansion, Lich was summoned by Banica to the dining hall and spoke with Nemesis and Allen; during this, Nemesis questioned if he wanted to rebuild humanity and Lich denied it, answering that he intended to continue serving Banica.

Later on, Lich entered Evil's Theater along with Banica, Allen and Nemesis. When the irregular twins Adam and Eve initiated a Re_birthday, Lich fled the theater with the servants in tow. Watching the fight between Allen, Nemesis and Ma unfold, he heard Michaela sing the Clockwork Lullaby. Asked about it by Arte and Pollo, Lich explained his relationship with Michaela before beginning to join in, with the rest of the Third Period souls, in singing the spell song to subdue Ma. After Ma was defeated, Lich accompanied Banica to a parallel world along with the rest of her servants, continuing to serve her.

Personality and Traits
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Lich was a devious and mischievous spirit. After reincarnating as a forest spirit, Lich's prank with Arth led to him being kicked out of the Millennium Tree Forest and he was regarded with caution and concern by the others, indicating him as having a cruel nature befitting his actions during the creation of the Third Period. After becoming a death god, he similarly was loyal to the evil Banica Conchita, even if occasionally exasperated with her, and somewhat coldhearted towards his underlings like the waiter of the Graveyard Restaurant. Despite this, Lich held himself with a polite and elegant demeanor and spoke formally to most others.

Skills and Abilities
In the Second Period, Lich was an authority on artificial life and therefore renowned as a scientist, enough to be chosen to board the Climb One. Likewise as a spirit, he was adept enough at the creation of artificial life to construct a mud doll in the likeness of a human, one that lasted for some years before breaking down. Lich also knew the basics of Second Period technology, including the usage of a Black Box; as a forest spirit, he was able to similarly transfer souls into other vessels.

As a forest spirit, Lich was immortal, able to heal from any wound almost instantly while in Held's Forest. Similarly, he could freely transform into an animal, usually a black rollam bird. He was also, as mentioned, capable at performing magic. As a death god, Lich could pass as human, although giving off a cadaverous stench, and could communicate with other corpse soldiers. Aside from this, Lich was a capable manager, able to effectively run the Graveyard restaurant for years without a business permit and while committing tax evasion.

Character Connections
Banica Conchita: Lich's master. Fiercely loyal to her and interested in her methods of reanimation, Lich carried out Banica's will and was bent on protecting her and her vessel. Despite this loyalty, he sometimes complained about her whimsical personality.

Eater Sabella: Lich's friend and fellow spirit. Being close friends, Lich was accompanied by Eater wherever he went and the two began serving Banica together. After being incarnated as death gods, Lich continued to work closely with Eater during their operation of the Graveyard restaurant.

Held Yggdra: Lich's former teacher in the Second Period, and later benefactor as a forest spirit. Disagreeing with Held's passive and kindhearted nature, which shielded the other forest spirits from their painful pasts, Lich rarely got along with Held and regularly defied his orders. This only worsened after he was kicked out of the forest, and they continued to bicker in later encounters.

Gallerian Marlon: Lich's eventual superior. After he shut down the Graveyard restaurant, Lich broke into his home and used violent means to retrieve the Glass, although still maintaining his polite demeanor. After being ordered by Banica to serve him, Lich became Gallerian's subordinate as well, joining his police force.

Michaela: Lich's younger brother in the Second Period and later, fellow spirit. Knowing her as Michael, Lich had a poor relationship with her; this was even reflected in their relationship as spirits, with the two constantly bickering. Emblematic of this, Lich attempted to kill Michaela on two separate occasions under vague justifications, and showed no interest in visiting her once she'd become the Millennium Tree.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * In Western fantasy, a lich is a type of undead creature resulting from a wizard binding his soul to his body using phylactery to achieve immortal life.
 * Lich is inspired by the concept of shinigami, gods or spirits that invite humans toward death in Japanese religion.
 * His surname contains the characters for the word "crow", クロウ (kurou); his animal form as a spirit, the black rollam bird, is consistently depicted as a crow.
 * Arklow is also the name of a town in Ireland, which curiously features a crow on its Coat of Arms.

Gallery
Concept Art =

Appearances

 * That King was Born from Mud
 * Deadly Sins of Evil: Evil Food Eater Conchita (first indirect mention)
 * Deadly Sins of Evil: Judgment of Corruption (first appearance)
 * Deadly Sins of Evil: The Muzzle of Nemesis (mentioned only)
 * Deadly Sins of Evil: Master of the Heavenly Yard
 * Seven Crimes and Punishments (album) (mentioned only)
 * Master of the Heavenly Yard (album) (mentioned only)