Avatar (Ultima)

The Avatar
Ultima character
The Avatar as seen in Ultima VI: The False Prophet
First game	Ultima I (as the Stranger) Ultima IV (as the Avatar)
Created by	Richard Garriott
Voiced by	J.C. Shakespeare (Ultima IX)

The Avatar is the main player character and protagonist in the Ultima series of video games by Origin Systems. The character was first introduced as "The Stranger" in the 1981 role-playing video game Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness.

The Avatar was first known as the Stranger (or Stranger from another world) in Ultima I, when he rid the world of the evil wizard Mondain, later returning to bring an end to the wicked sorceress Minax in Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress and to dispatch their legacy in Ultima III: Exodus. Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar included The History of Britannia, which did not state whether the heroes from the first three games or the current one were the same person or not, leaving it rather vague. Later games imply that the Stranger and the Avatar are the same person.

While in later games the player character follows a set of ethic guidelines called the Virtues, in the first three games the player is not bound by any moral guidelines, leaving the future Avatar free to steal and murder, with only the easily avoided town guards to stop them. The first three games were much easier if the player chose to steal food in order to survive, rather than purchase it. The fourth time the Stranger returns, his quest focuses on a different task. Instead of defeating an enemy, his goal is to follow the path of the Virtues, and retrieve the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom from the Great Stygian Abyss. In the fifth episode, the Avatar defeats a repressive regime in Britannia, and in the sixth, he brings peace between men and gargoyles. Beginning with Ultima VII, the Avatar battles the Guardian, finally destroying both himself and his foe in Ultima IX: Ascension.

In all of the Ultima games except for Ultima IX: Ascension, the player can choose the Avatar's name. Until Ultima VIII: Pagan, the gender could be chosen as well. In most later games, several different character portraits with different skin and hair colors are available. The Avatar sprite is determined by class in early games, and always the same in Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny and Ultima VI: The False Prophet. Ultima VII and Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams have two different sprites, one for each gender. In Ultima VIII: Pagan and IX, there is no choice in gender, portrait or sprite/3D model - the character is male with blond hair.