Warlock

For other meanings of the term, see warlock (disambiguation).

Warlocks are, among historic Christian traditions, said to be the male equivalent of witches (usually in the pejorative sense of Europe's Middle Ages), and were said to ride pitchforks instead of broomsticks which normally witches would ride. In traditional Scottish witchcraft, "warlock" was and is simply the term used for a wizard, or male witch. A synonym is sorcerer.

Etymology

The commonly accepted etymology derives warlock from the Old English wǣrloga meaning deceiver, or "oathbreaker". A derivation from the Old Norse varð-lokkur, "caller of spirits" has also been suggested, however the Oxford English Dictionary considers this etymology inadmissible.

The Oxford English Dictionary also provides the following meanings of the word: Warlock v¹ Obs. (ex. dial.) rare, also warloke: To secure (a horse) as with a fetterlock. Warlock v²: To bar against hostile invasion.

Modern witchcraft

Although some modern practitioners of witchcraft identify as "warlocks", many avoid this term and/or find it offensive. Wiccans in particular consider it to be a pejorative term, meaning "oath-breaker". Wiccans use the term "warlock" to mean one who has been banished from a coven, either for revealing secrets, or for breaking Coven laws; occasionally the word has a quite different usage as a verb meaning "to bind", as with cords during an initiation ceremony, or prior to a ritual scourging.

Warlocks in books and comics

In The Alefin Warlock (Book One of The War of Wills, by Drew J. Cormack), William O'Shetlaen is a fallen Warlock veteran who fought in the Holy War against the Yuglovian Empire, the powerful race of goblins that dwell in Nifelheim.

Warlocks became the name for the male witches in Andre Norton's Witch World series. Witches ruled Estcarp and male witches were uncommon until Simon Tregarth appeared in the book titled Witch World.

In the Sword of Shannara books by Terry Brooks, the Warlock Lord was Brona, a druid who delved too deeply and quickly into forbidden knowledge and was corrupted by it.

Christopher Stasheff wrote a series of science fiction/fantasy novels about a technological warlock, beginning with The Warlock in Spite of Himself.

Warlocks are an alien race in the comic book series Nemesis the Warlock, which was adapted into a Commodore 64 video game. There, a warlock possesses the ability to alter his body to become different objects, and he finds sustenance by absorbing the energy from organic materials, leaving a lifeless husk in its wake.

Warlock is Monster in My Pocket #51. In the comic book series, he led the evil monsters and his portrayal hinted at Magneto. In the video game, he was immediately established as the villain and was the final boss, who attacks in a completely different way after being defeated once. In the second attack, he produces Windigos from his eyes. In the 2003 animated series, Warlock became the hero, and his evil brother Morlock became the villain.

In JK Rowling's Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore is Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. As Dumbledore is one of the chief protagonists of the series, the term seems to have no negative connotation here.

In Mollie Hunter's Thomas and the Warlock, Hugo Gifford is a wicked and fearsome warlock with red-flecked black eyes who casts no shadow due to a trick he played on the devil.

In the book "Warlock" by Wilbur Smith, the Egyptian slave Taita becomes "The Warlock", after spending years in the desert, studying and praying.

Adam Warlock is a popular character in the Marvel Comic Universe.

The Warlock is a powerful magician in "The Magic Goes Away" by Larry Niven

The webcomic Looking for Group features an undead warlock named Richard. He has a habit of mass-murder and often talks of eating babies.

Warlocks in Jim Butcher's fantasy detective series, The Dresden Files, are wizards who have violated one or more of the Seven Laws of Magic. Warlocks are summarily tried and executed upon discovery of their crime.

Warlocks in film and television

• Warlock is a 1959 film based on a novel by Oakley Hall.
• The movie Warlock (1989), from director Steve Miner, shows a warlock as being the son of Satan.
• In the fantasy television series Charmed, Warlocks are manifested as the primary antagonists for the first two seasons of the series. Warlocks, regardless of gender, are depicted as evil counterparts of witches whose ultimate goal is to kill and, subsequently, steal the powers of, good witches. Typically, warlocks appear with normal human forms, making them hard to distinguish as being supernatural beings; however, some warlocks are then able to morph into monstrous forms at will. As established in the pilot episode, a good witch can be either male or female and is one who must follow the wiccan rede, "An it harm none, do what ye will", in order to do good, without harming others for personal gain. If a witch violates this oath, they become warlocks. In some cases, the result of a relationship between two warlocks is the birth of an inately evil, warlock child. However, if a child is born out of a union between a warlock and a human, the half-warlock would have the ability to rid themselves of their warlock half by becoming ordained and sacrificing their life to being good and serving God. Most warlocks have the power to "blink", where they are able to spontaneously disappear, then reappear, in a separate (and sometimes distant) place, as quickly as the "blink of an eye". However, in the very first season of series, the spirit of Melinda Warren (upon being summoned by the Charmed Ones) revealed that the warlock who had her killed during the Salem Witch Trials had the ability to "blink" due to having "copied it from another witch". Some Warlocks also possess abilities such as shape-shifting, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, freezing time, memory absorption, energy projection and astral projection. They are also able to chant magical spells, as do good witches. The main ability possessed by all warlocks is the power to absorb or copy the powers from witches they have killed. It should be noted that all male witches in Charmed (including Wyatt and Chris Halliwell) are simply called "witches".
• The television series Dark Shadows had several warlocks make their presence known. In the 1840 storyline, the decapitated head of warlock Judah Zachary unleashed terror upon the Collins family. The 1897 storyline featured a great deal of witchcraft and black magic rituals on the parts of Evan Hanley, Quentin Collins, and Count Petofi. In 1968, the evil warlock Nicholas Blair appeared, claiming to be the brother of Cassandra Collins aka the powerful witch Angelique. Most warlocks on the show received their powers from a diabolic source, although it was left unexplained where the vast supernatural powers of the Hand of Count Petofi originated.
• The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a number of warlocks, which were depicted as being the male analog to witches. A notable example includes the warlock Rack.
• The movie The Covenant featured warlocks as the central characters.
• The television series Bewitched uses the terms 'witch' and 'warlock' to refer to female and male practitioners of magic, respectively.
• The movie Jesus Camp refers to Harry Potter as a warlock.
• Kevin Smith played the W4rl0ck in the movie Live Free or Die Hard. He is a computer whiz from whom every hacker gets information and advice. He lives in his "command center" in Baltimore, MD.
• In Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, the central protagonist Rick Dagless M.D. was formerly a warlock before going into the medical profession and joining Darkplace.
• In the 1982-1984 BBC television series The Young Ones, there was a character named Warlock (Paul Bradley) who was into a lot of drugs.
• In The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Vincent Van Ghoul (Vincent Price) is a warlock who graduated from Terror Tech.

Music

The Warlocks are an L.A. band signed to Tee Pee Records.

In music, the guitar company B.C. Rich, has an electric guitar body design called the Warlock. Warlocks are commonly seen with the widow headstock, but occasionally have a standard electric guitar headstock.

The Warlocks was also the original name of the San Francisco-based 1960's rock band that came to be known as the Grateful Dead. The band's original core members included Jerry Garcia (lead guitar), Bob Weir (rhythm and lead guitar), Phil Lesh (bassist), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (organ and harmonica), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums).

One of The Velvet Underground's original names was The Warlocks.

Warlock (band) is the name of a classic heavy metal band from Düsseldorf, Germany, whose lead singer was Doro Pesch.

Warlocks is the name of a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, off their album Stadium Arcadium, featuring a guest appearance by Billy Preston.

Worlock is the name of a song by Skinny Puppy from their 1989 album, Rabies. Besides being a top fan favorite, the song is somewhat 'infamous' for several reasons; primarily the gruesome x-rated music video which is a collage of hundreds of violent clips from horror films (Making it essentially banned due to complete copyright infringement) and also in regards to an incident involving a group of young boys beating and torturing another to death while forcing him to listen to the song on repeat. Due to the abstract nature of singer Ogre's lyrics, it would not be unreasonable to assume the theme of the song compares his 'betrayal' of his girlfriend due to substance abuse to that of the betrayal undertaken by a Warlock.

Warlock Records released Colonel Abrams "Music is the Answer" as well as several other seminal house music classics.

There is a secret track at the end of Probot's self titled album which is widely known as "I am the Warlock." Which contains lyrics related to a warlock releasing mass destruction on the world and controlling demons. Along with Probot, in this song, Jack Black does the voice of the "Warlock." Warlock (band)

Warlocks in games

The majority of games share a fundamental contradiction in that they allow players to create their Warlock character as a female, contradicting common folklore and mythology which predominantly elaborate the Warlock as a male witch.

In the Shadowgate series, the Warlock Lord, Talimar, betrayed the Circle of Twelve and summoned the Behemoth, but was unable to control it.

In the Warcraft series, warlocks are sorcerers who chose to follow a path of darkness, drawing much of their power from the souls of defeated enemies contained in soul shards. In World of Warcraft, a warlock is a caster character class that can use shadow and fire-based magic to do damage and is also able to summon a variety of demons to play the game for them.

There was a game called Warlock for the Sega Genesis that involved a powerful warlock attempting to gain a series of rune stones that the player (a Druid) is pressed to seek out first. The game is known for its extreme difficulty and unique yet solid control scheme.

In the PC game series Heroes of Might and Magic, The Warlock is one series long standing faction types. Appearing in Heroes of Might and Magic 1, 2, 3 and 5, the Warlock faction has changed and morphed over the years, but several philosophies and components have remained similar throughout all their HoMM game appearance;

Warlocks are powerful, greedy and maligned spellcasters, preferring the use of overwhelming spellpower and employing the service of various ferocious, arcane creatures. Castles and towns under their dominion are dark, foreboding dungeons, where weaker creatures (such as Centaurs and Troglodytes, Heroes II and III respectively) hold meager, down-trodded homes, in contrast to the more lavish and sprawling higher class dwellings (home to the Warlock's more potent creatures, such as Minotaur Kings and the infamous Black Dragon).

Warlocks are contrasted against the more benevolent "magic" class in the series, the Wizards. Whereas the Wizards are an altruistic, though enigmatic society of spellcasters, applying their magical skills to better their quality of life and learn the secrets of the cosmos, the Warlocks apply their magics for almost purely destructive means.

Creatures within the Warlock faction generally reflect the Warlock class himself: Greedy and generally weak underling creatures, such as Centaurs, Troglodytes, Harpies and Gargoyles, followed by a villainous, prideful ruling caste, including Minotaurs, Medusae, Griffins and Dragons.

In the Shadowbane MMORPG, warlocks are psychokinetic telepaths that attack and defend themselves using only the will of their minds, utilizing self-awareness and intense focus where other classes would rely on magic, armor, or physical strength and dexterity. In Shadowbane, Warlocks can be mage or fighter-based, and are known somewhat for their rare damage type, (mental), and for their ability to take on a wide variety of foes without the help of others.

In Dark Age of Camelot, the warlock is a spellcasting character class in the realm of Midgard. Norse, Frostalf, and Kobold are the races capable of becoming a warlock. Warlocks in DAoC are unique casters in their ability to cast and land two spells at once, although they trade longer casting times for this ability. Their other defining trait is the ablitity to "chamber" spells: they can cast and hold spells to trigger for instant effect.

In the RTS Battle Realms, the warlock is the third-tier unit of the Lotus Clan. Warlocks are powerful sorcerers, striking with bolts of destructive magic at their enemies. They are feared for their Battle Gear "Soul Chill", which is a stackable Area of Effect piercing attack. Warlocks are also unaffected by speed reduction from terrain and are often the fastest when moving up slopes. However, they have a disadvantage when fighting at units on cliffs, as their attacks often strike the cliff face instead of their intended tragets. Massing warlocks is a tactic often used by beginners, and they are effective even at few numbers. Warlocks can further be trained into Master Warlocks, who are spiritual beings of arcane might.

In the strategy game Dungeon Keeper and its sequel, Warlocks are powerful magical beings who are excellent at research. Like all "creatures" which can enter a players service through a portal, they are inherently evil. They like to spend most of their time in the library, researching new spells for the player or whomever happens to be controlling them. With enough training they can learn some very powerful spells of their own. They also have a deep hatred towards vampires.

In Tactics Ogre, a Warlock was a scholarly type of magician who researched ancient languages. They could boost the power of nearby golems and help troops out with support magic, slow down enemies with status-inducing magic, or use Dragon Magic to attack all enemies at once. They were very fragile and easily killed, however. In Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, Warlocks were changed from a pure spellcaster to a hybrid of an attacker and a spellcaster. Their preferred weapon was a sword and they could use their ability, Barren Soul, to attack an enemy with a sword of the opposite element. (It did not work on enemies of the Virtue or Bane elements, however.) If they weren't aiding the front lines, they were in the back slowing down the enemy with status-inducing spells or aiding allies with spells.

In Dungeons & Dragons, Warlocks are an alternative arcane spell-casting Core Class introduced in the Complete Arcane sourcebook. Warlocks do not learn or gain spells like other mages. Instead through sheer will and determination they invoke the power of the font of magic and power burning in their souls. they have access to a medium pool of Invocations, special Spell-Like Abilities that suffer some of the drawbacks of conventional spells, such as the ability to be interrupted. They also have other special abilities, such as their primary weapon, the Eldritch Blast and can beguile the weak minded. What makes them a match for other mages is that their Invocations can be used an unlimited amount of times per day, so they do not run the risk of running out of spells. Warlocks gain their power through ties or heritage, forged intentionally or unintentionally, with alien, chaotic forces, primarily fiends and celestials.

In Rifts, Warlocks are spellcasters who join into a pact with Elementals, and bind themselves to their power. Warlocks have a kind of brotherhood with both Elementals and other Warlocks, and will treat each other cordially and with respect, even if they're about to battle each other.

There is an online game server, Warlocks, which is based on the game Spellbinder by Richard Bartle.

In Eternal Champions and its follow-up, Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side, the character Xavier Pendragon's backstory shows him to be a warlock.

In the Myth series, mainly in Myth II: Soulblighter and Myth III: The Wolf Age, there are the Warlocks of Scholomance, they cast powerful fireballs as their main attack.

In Lineage II, its one of the three advanced jobs that can be chosen by a player who has taken the Human Wizard path, after completing the quest "Mark of the Summoner". Warlocks are mages specialized in summoning magic, using the "arcana" (the path to other realms) to make a vow with extradimentional beings, which become their "servitors", and to call for magical spirits known as "cubics". Warlocks can summon player controlled servitors, as well as non-controlled spirits that assist the player.

In role-playing game Mage: The Awakening, Mages walking the Mastigos path are often referred to as Warlocks. These Mages are connected to the Watchtower of the Iron Gauntlet in the Realm of Pandemonium, and use magic as a means to gain personal power. The Arcana they're assosiated with are Mind and Space, subtle Arcana used to gain control over others.

In the MMORPG TIBIA, Warlocks are among the most powerful magicians of Tibia, but they do their research not for the benefit of mankind but only for their own interests. Nobody, however, knows what their plans are, hiding deep in the dungeons of Tibia and attacking and killing every intruder of their sphere, so that hardly any information about them can permeate.

Of course, Warlocks know a lot of fighting spells. They can shoot fire and energy in various forms, summon stone golems as vassals, paralyze their victims and drain mana off them. Moreover, they know how to heal themselves and how to make themselves invisible.

In the WitchCraft RPG warlocks are a slang term used by the Wicce to describe the Rosicrucians.

In the new Korean (also English closed betas) MMORPG Granado Espada, a warlock is one of the few classes you can be. Warlocks are designed to be the Nuke class of the game.

Another Korean Online Game, called Grand Chase, uses Warlock word contradicting the common folklore, because in this game Warlock is the third class of the sorceress Arme, and her weapon is a magic lamp with geniuses inside.

• In a custom map of Warcraft III The Frozen Throne called DOTA, Warlock is a powerful hero of the Scourge that can heal allies, slow enemies in a wide radius, spread damage and can summon a golem which stuns the enemies in an "Area of Effect".

In Titan Quest a warlock is a class where spirit and rogue mastery combine.

See also

• Magician (paranormal)

External links

• What is a Warlock?