Ultima VIII: Pagan

Ultima VIII: Pagan
The game's box cover art by Denis R. Loubet
Developer(s)	Origin Systems
Publisher(s)	Origin Systems
Director(s)	Mike McShaffry
Producer(s)	Richard Garriott
Designer(s)	Andrew P. Morris, John Watson
Programmer(s)	Tony Zurovec (lead) Rob Corell, Jason Ely, Mike McShaffry, Herman Miller, Zachary Booth Simpson, Jeff Wilson
Artist(s)	Bob Cook, Beverly Garland, Denis R. Loubet, Dicko Mather, Brent Poer, Steve Powers, Jonathan Price, Micael Priest, Matt Sheffield
Composer(s)	Nenad Vugrinec, Randy Buck, John Tipton, Kirk Winterrowd
Series	Ultima
Engine	Ultima VIII Engine
Platform(s)	DOS
Release	March 15, 1994
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single player

Ultima VIII: Pagan is a video game, the eighth part of the role-playing video game series Ultima. It was not as well-received as its predecessors, Ultima VII and Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle. Developed in 1994, it is a DOS-only title and is also the first game in the series to be rated M in North America.

Following the defeat of the charismatic religious leader Batlin on Serpent Isle, the Guardian banishes the Avatar to a world that he has already conquered: Pagan. Ultima VIII has a much darker tone and a very different premise, in comparison to most of the Ultima games. The world of Pagan is entirely different from that of Britannia: the Virtues were not part of Pagan's culture, and the magic systems and monsters were entirely different.

The world of Pagan is in eternal twilight as the result of an ancient battle between the Elemental Titans and the evil "Destroyer", which resulted in the victory of the Titans. However, the people of Pagan had to pay a high price: the Titans had to henceforth be worshiped as gods. The Titans bestow powers on their most ardent followers, but they are otherwise cruel and unloving rulers, and their followers terrorize the general population.

Ultima VIII sets off where Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle ended: The Guardian has grasped the Avatar from the Void, and now drops him into the sea of the world Pagan through a pentagram-shaped portal. In the introduction, the Guardian reveals his plot: "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long, Avatar. Your two worlds will be crushed. Britannia first, then Earth. I shall parade you before their conquered peoples as the fallen idol of a pathetic ideal. I banish you to the world of Pagan. No one here knows of the Avatar!"