Necromancy

This article is about the subject. For the necromantic spellbook, see Arceuus spells.

A player reanimating a creature through the Arceuus spellbook.

Necromancy is a branch of Magic involving communing and resurrecting the dead. Necromancy is considered a very dark and abhorred art and practising it is considered a dangerous activity as numerous individuals have turned insane while attempting to raise the dead. Necromancers are usually followers of Zamorak, as the practice of necromancy is considered "evil" by most societies; however, a handful of non-Zamorakian necromancers have been accepted within society at various times.

The animation of undead such as skeletons and zombies are the usual fare for necromancers, and have often been used as disposable troops, as seen during the God Wars. Although on the surface appearing similar to Summoning, necromancy and summoning have nothing to do with each other. According to Irwin Feaselbaum, necromancers are capable of bringing themselves back from the dead.

The people of Arceuus have practiced necromancy for generations utilising the powers of the Dark Altar to reanimate creatures. Players themselves can practise the Arceuus way of necromancy through the Arceuus Spellbook. This type of necromancy does not seem to have any negative consequences, and the player only uses it on creatures whose spirits are still trapped in order to lay them properly to rest. After completing A Kingdom Divided, the player gains access to additional necromantic spells from Xamphur's library, but only those deemed safe by Lord Trobin Arceuus.

Known necromancers

Humans

• Invrigar the Necromancer - A necromancer residing in the Necromancer Tower near East Ardougne.
• Irwin Feaselbaum - The assistant of Invrigar.
• Kardia - A witch residing in the Underground Pass responsible for the resurrection of Kinshra officer Iban.
• Malignius Mortifer - A wandering necromancer practising his art north of Port Sarim along with his students. Occasionally resurrects undead and sometimes by accident fungi.
• Melzar the Mad - One of the few survivors of Crandor residing in the basement of Melzar's Maze, he was driven mad after repeatedly failing to resurrect his fellow Crandorians that were slain by Elvarg.
• Necromancer - An unnamed necromancer found in the Necromancer Tower.
• Necromancer (Great Kourend) - Practisers of the dark art, found across Great Kourend.
• Neilan Redmark - An inexperienced necromancer who travelled to Great Kourend and reanimated the Headless Beast which ended up killing him.
• Rabid Jack - The most feared pirate of the Eastern Ocean, who has an expanding crew of zombie pirates.
• Sithik Ints - A wizard and H.A.M. sympathizer, responsible for the desecration of Jiggig and the resurrection of the Skogres and Zogres found there.
• Tarn Razorlor - A powerful and mad necromancer, found in the Lair of Tarn Razorlor deep within the Abandoned Mine.
• Wizard Frumscone - A wizard of the Wizards' Guild, who has resurrected zombies for combat practice, although he doesn't claim to be a necromancer.
• Wizard Grayzag - A necromancer who now summons demons, or more specifically imps.
• Xeric - A malevolent warlock and former king of Great Kourend, greatly utilising the Dark Altar for his own purposes.

Mahjarrat

• Lucien - A Zamorakian Mahjarrat responsible for the infamous siege on Varrock in 154 of the Fifth Age leading a horde of undead, that was surprisingly quickly defeated.
• Sliske - A devious Zarosian Mahjarrat responsible for the empowering, death and later resurrection of the Barrows Brothers along with several other unfortunate people.
• Zamorak - The God of Chaos, who played a major role in Gielinor's history, most notably the God Wars.
• Zemouregal - The infamous villain of Varrock, who tried to lay siege on the city during the Fourth Age with his undead legions. He was stopped by the hero Arrav, who Zemouregal resurrected as his own minion after his death.

Undead

• Necrovarus - An undead priest from the Eastern Lands, who gave protection to the people of Port Phasmatys, but trapped their spirits within the city forever.
• Rashiliyia - An ancient Karamjan queen, sending hordes of Undead ones to attack Shilo Village.
• Vet'ion - A skeletal Zamorakian warrior wandering the Wilderness, who summons skeletal hellhounds to aid him.
• Eve - A long dead witch, who brings herself and some of her dead friends back to the world of the living for one night of partying every year.

Others

• Amascut - The former goddess of rebirth, now known as the Devourer, used her magic to reanimate Ba-Ba and her vast troop of baboons. She also used her powers to keep Akkha in a state between life and death, though this might not be necromancy, but merely her divine powers and affinity with rebirth.
• Citizens of Arceuus - The people of Arceuus have an extensive knowledge and practice of necromancy by utilising the power of the Dark Altar.
• Santa Claus - His employees of his pub, The Nutcracker, are dead people who have willingly chosen to stay around in the Land of Snow. Santa sustains their mortal bodies with his magic so they appear normal.
• Skotizo - A former demon general of Zamorak, who uses power from the Dark Altar and summons Dark ankous.

Trivia

• In RuneScape Classic, players had the ability to choose a class, which conferred benefits to new accounts – Necromancers started with level 7 EvilMagic along with a staff and black wizardshat. The Necromancer class was removed along with the Magic skill's introduction, replacing EvilMagic and its counterpart GoodMagic. A year later, classes were removed altogether.
• In RuneScape 3, Necromancy was added as the game's 29th skill. It is a combat skill that sits outside of the combat triangle.