Thanatos (Secret of Mana)

Thanatos is a powerful lich and the main antagonist of the video game Secret of Mana. He is a dark sorcerer serving as one of the four generals of the Vandole Empire who later usurps control of the Empire and plots to use the Mana Fortress to force the world to fall to his will.

Thanatos is actually a dark spiritual being which sustains itself by possessing mortals as vessels. At the end of the game Thanatos reveals his true form as the demonic warlock known as the Dark Lich.

History
Thanatos is first confronted by the heroes in the kingdom of Pandora, where he reveals himself as the one who was stealing the life-force of its citizens and turning them into zombies. Thanatos then states that he seeks to make Phanna and Dyluck his servants before summoning the Wall Face to battle the party.

Later, in the Northern Ruins, Thanatos uses a brainwashed Dyluck to capture Primm, but Dyluck resists the sorcerer's control for long enough to save her. A furious Thanatos orders Vampire to get rid of the party before exiting with Dyluck, leaving behind Phanna whom he no longer has a use for.

After Emperor Vandole raises the Lost Continent and breaks the seal of the eight Mana Seeds, Thanatos and Fanha kill the Emperor and Thantos seizes control of the Empire, plotting to use the Mana Fortress to take over Fa'Diel for themselves. After the party kills Fanha in her demonic form Hexas, Thanatos turns Geshtar into a Mech Rider and sends him to fight the party. After taking control of the Mana Fortress, Thanatos decides to waits for the party to reach the Mana Tree so he can destroy it before their very eyes.

After the Tree restores the Mana Seeds, the party invades the Fortress and reaches its inner sanctum, where they face off against Thanatos. Thanatos reveals to them that his current host is decaying and that he seeks to replace it with Dyluck, who he believes to be the perfect host he needs to become all-powerful and rule the world for eternity from the Mana Fortress. However, after Primm fatally wounds him, Dyluck sacrifices himself to prevent Thanatos from hijacking him, forcing Thanatos to manifest in his true form of the Dark Lich. The dark sorcerer makes a final attempt to claim the heroes' bodies, but in the final battle the heroes destroy him and end his reign of terror.

Though the Dark Lich was killed, the Mana Beast rose because of his actions and attempted to destroy the Mana Fortress. The heroes manage to defeat the Beast but this leaves the world without Mana until the Mana Tree is regrown.