Graizen
Smash Champion
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2012
- Messages
- 2,995
Who is he?
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.[2] 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.
The Avatar's clothing generally includes a chain mail hauberk, with a white, red, or orange tunic (with a golden Ankh symbol on the chest and back) over it, and a red cape. Typically, he or she is shown wielding a sword. His or her appearance varies from game to game and version to version, but usually follows this schema. In Ultima VIII, the Avatar's face is obscured by a large helmet.
In Ultima I to III, no speech by the Stranger was ever shown. In Ultima IV and onward, the player must choose keywords to engage in conversations. Thus, the other characters discuss things with the Avatar, but apart from the topic, the player never sees what the Avatar actually says. The dialogue choices available in conversation with every character are "name" (asking the character to introduce themselves), "job" (asking the character to describe their position in the community), and "bye" (ending the conversation). This is parodied in Ultima VII, where an actor playing the Avatar in a play boasts about how he has hundreds of lines to memorize, only to reveal that every line literally consists of "Name!", "Job!", or "Bye!". The first time the Avatar actually speaks directly is in Ultima VII, but full lines are very rare and only appear in one or two instances. Ultima Underworld broke this tradition by being the first Ultima to give the Avatar full dialogue throughout the game; Ultima IX would later follow this tradition, adding digitized speech to accompany the text.
Whats Ultima?
Ultima is a series of open world fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, Inc. Ultima was created by Richard Garriott. Several games of the series are considered seminal entries in their genre. Electronic Arts own the brand.
The main Ultima series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is further divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or "Ages": The Age of Darkness (Ultima I-III), The Age of Enlightenment (Ultima IV-VI), and The Age of Armageddon (Ultima VII-IX). The last is also sometimes referred to as "The Guardian Saga" after its chief antagonist. The first trilogy is set in a fantasy world named Sosaria, but during the cataclysmic events of The Age of Darkness, it is sundered and three quarters of it vanish. What is left becomes known as Britannia, a realm ruled by the benevolent Lord British, and is where the later games mostly take place. The protagonist in all the games is a canonically male resident of Earth who is called upon by Lord British to protect Sosaria and, later, Britannia from a number of dangers. Originally, the player character was referred to as "the Stranger", but by the end of Ultima IV he becomes universally known as the Avatar.
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.[2] 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.
The Avatar's clothing generally includes a chain mail hauberk, with a white, red, or orange tunic (with a golden Ankh symbol on the chest and back) over it, and a red cape. Typically, he or she is shown wielding a sword. His or her appearance varies from game to game and version to version, but usually follows this schema. In Ultima VIII, the Avatar's face is obscured by a large helmet.
In Ultima I to III, no speech by the Stranger was ever shown. In Ultima IV and onward, the player must choose keywords to engage in conversations. Thus, the other characters discuss things with the Avatar, but apart from the topic, the player never sees what the Avatar actually says. The dialogue choices available in conversation with every character are "name" (asking the character to introduce themselves), "job" (asking the character to describe their position in the community), and "bye" (ending the conversation). This is parodied in Ultima VII, where an actor playing the Avatar in a play boasts about how he has hundreds of lines to memorize, only to reveal that every line literally consists of "Name!", "Job!", or "Bye!". The first time the Avatar actually speaks directly is in Ultima VII, but full lines are very rare and only appear in one or two instances. Ultima Underworld broke this tradition by being the first Ultima to give the Avatar full dialogue throughout the game; Ultima IX would later follow this tradition, adding digitized speech to accompany the text.
Whats Ultima?
Ultima is a series of open world fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, Inc. Ultima was created by Richard Garriott. Several games of the series are considered seminal entries in their genre. Electronic Arts own the brand.
The main Ultima series consists of nine installments (the seventh title is further divided into two parts) grouped into three trilogies, or "Ages": The Age of Darkness (Ultima I-III), The Age of Enlightenment (Ultima IV-VI), and The Age of Armageddon (Ultima VII-IX). The last is also sometimes referred to as "The Guardian Saga" after its chief antagonist. The first trilogy is set in a fantasy world named Sosaria, but during the cataclysmic events of The Age of Darkness, it is sundered and three quarters of it vanish. What is left becomes known as Britannia, a realm ruled by the benevolent Lord British, and is where the later games mostly take place. The protagonist in all the games is a canonically male resident of Earth who is called upon by Lord British to protect Sosaria and, later, Britannia from a number of dangers. Originally, the player character was referred to as "the Stranger", but by the end of Ultima IV he becomes universally known as the Avatar.