User:Miqademus/ultima-philosophy

Combine the pages Virtues of Ultima and Codex of Ultimate Wisdom into a Philosophy in Ultima aricle

=VIRTUES OF ULTIMA= The Ultima series of computer role-playing games featured a Virtue system that the player was required to follow in the game as the Avatar. These Virtues were inspired in part by the codes of chivalry and the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, and were created specifically for Ultima.

Strangely enough, The Wizard of Oz also played a part in the creation of the virtues, with designer Richard Garriott stating at one time that the three companions of Dorothy Gale could be linked to the three principles &mdash; Scarecrow (Truth), Tin Woodsman (Love) and Cowardly Lion (Courage). This is also alluded to in Ultima VI and Ultima VII, where one can find a copy of the book - the description blurb the game gives alludes to this relationship as well. Lord British claims it is his favourite book.

The Avatar Ethics
The canonical system of Ethics in Ultima is based on The Three Principles and the Eight Virtues. First introduced in Ultima IV, it marked a reinvention of the game focus from a traditional roll-playing model into an ethically framed one. In an in-game book in Ultima VI named "The Quest of the Avatar" (the same name as the game, Ultima IV, in which the Virtues were introduced) the virtues are described as

The Three Principles
The Eight Virtues explored in Ultima are based on Three Principles:

These Principles are themselves derived from the Axiom of Infinity, which is represented in Castle Britannia.

The Eight Virtues
The Principles are combined to form the following Eight Virtues:

thumb|227px|right|The Virtues Paperdoll interface Symbol in [[Ultima Online]]

Notes: The Embodiment of the Virtues in the game is the Avatar, the character who the player is roleplaying. He (or she) is commonly seen with an Ankh which represents life.
 * 1) Britain is the original town of Compassion, Cove is nearest the shrine, but, in Ultima IV, was dedicated to the One True Axiom and housed the Shrine of Virtue, dedicated to the Path of the Avatar.   Later, Cove became the towne of Love, due to the influence of the nearby Shrine of Compassion.
 * 2) Magincia was destroyed by demons for its Pride (Pride's mantra is Mul, the reverse of Humility's mantra).  New Magincia, built in its ruins, was founded on Humility.
 * 3) Pride has never had a Dungeon formally associated with it, but the Shrine of Humility was situated closest to the Stygian Abyss.
 * 4) The word 'Veramocor,' representing the One True Axiom that is the combination of the Three Principles, is needed for both the Stygian Abyss in Ultima IV and Doom in Ultima V.

thumb|right|[[Codex of Ultimate Wisdom#The Codex Symbol|The Codex Symbol]]

The relationship between the Principles and Virtues is often explained this way:


 * Honesty is respect for Truth
 * Compassion is Love of others
 * Valor is Courage to stand up against risks
 * Justice is Truth, tempered by Love
 * Sacrifice is Courage to give oneself in name of Love
 * Honor is Courage to seek and uphold the Truth
 * Spirituality is to seek Truth, Love and Courage from one's own self and the world around
 * Humility is the opposite of Pride - the absence of Truth, Love or Courage

Humility is the most difficult Virtue to describe, as it cannot really be understood without its Anti-Virtue, Pride. Pride merely has nothing to do with Truth, Love and Courage; Humility is similar, but rather than being a complete antithesis, it exists independently of the Principles and acts as their foundation.

The New Magincian ghosts also have a few things to say about Humility and pride, from which the following may be constructed:

Humility: The absence of Truth, Love, and Courage is Pride. Pride is the surest measure of goals never attained. Pride goeth before, Shame cometh after. This Shame leads to awareness of Humility, the root from which all Virtues grow. Humility is to strip oneself of all conceits.

See also The Codex Symbol, which explains the relationships between the virtues through colors.

For a similar additive conceptual model applied in contemporary psychology, see Robert Sternberg's triangular theory of love.

Perverting the Virtues
As all ethics, the set of three Principles and Eight Virtues can be twisted or perverted into something it was not intended for or outright its own antithesis, and this is a frequent theme in the Ultima games following Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. Ultima V: The Shadowlords saw Lord Blackthorn turn the virtue system into a rigid and draconian set of ruthless laws ultimately based on his arbitrary whims, a system actually nurturing the anti-virtues (discussed in the next section); Ultima VI: The False Prophet confronted the Avatar with that other belief systems can have as much validity as the Avatar Ethics; in Ultima VII, an order known as "The Brotherhood" displaced the Virtues with their own, strict belief system, casting Britannia into disarray; and in Ultima IX the Virtues had been inverted into their opposite anti-virtues.

Lord Blackthorn's Code of Virtues
In Ultima V, Lord Blackthorn, the tyrant who ruled in Lord British's absence, codified the Britannian Virtues into a set of draconian laws.

Blackthorn's Code is a good illustration of the fact that the Virtues always come from one's own self rather than the norms of society; codifying ethics into law does not automatically make evil people good. Further, unethical lawmakers can take the Virtues and turn them into something that is quite contrary to what Virtues actually stand for. Under the influence of the Shadowlords, the rigid system of Blackthorn in fact invites the polar opposites of the Virtues, f.i. the shame of losing ones honour necessitates taking ones life.

Anti-Principles and Anti-Virtues
In Ultima V the antitheses to the three Principles were introduced. Each of the Shadowlords opposed one of the three Principles, thus the anti-Principles are sometimes referred to as the Principles of the Shadowlords.

The anti-Virtues, also sometimes referred to as the Eight Vices or Eight Sins, are the logical extrapolation of the anti-Principles. Though never explicated in the canonical games they have been an implicit and logical aspect of the Virtue system since the anti-Principles were introduced. In Ultima IX the Virtues had been inverted by the Guardian, reversing the ideals and behaviour of the populace of the respective towns. Correspondingly the Runes of the Virtues needed to be retrieved by the Avatar to purify the Shrines and restore the proper Virtues. Just as the Virtues are formed as combinations of the Principles, the anti-Virtues are derived from the three anti-Principles. However, as they have only appeared as inversions of the true Virtues, and then in the guise of the actual Virtues, no official (canonical) names have been given to the anti-Virtues.

Other Ethical Systems in Ultima
Though the Three Principles and Eight Virtues of the Avatar is the underlying guiding principles of all the Ultima games from Ultima IV, alternative systems of ethics have been introduced, some jocular while other are as serious as the Avatar Ethics.

The Virtues of Mandrake
The joyful Mandrake the bard, in Ultima VI, has his own set of three Principles, which also form eight Virtues.

Eight of the virtues are derived from these three principles:

The relationships between the Virtues and Principles is not explained in the game, but the one presented in the table is the only logical deduction that has been made.

Presumably Happiness, just like Humility is to Pride, is the opposite of Sadness.

Somewhat related to this, in Ultima V it is explained that the mantra of eating is "yum".

The Gargoyle Virtues
The Virtues of the Gargoyles were first explored in detail in Ultima VI. Beyond dialogue, they are described in the in-game book "The Book of Circles", found in Ultima VI and Ultima VI as

Thus, the Gargoyles have three principles based on Order, and its opposite, Chaos.

The Gargoyles have eight virtues based on their three principles.

The Ophidian Virtues
The Virtue system of the Ophidians, in Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle, is formed around the following three Principles:

In the Ophidian symbology, the Great Earth Serpent is the keeper of Balance, and lies around "in a vertical plane"; the opposing serpents of Chaos and Order wrap themselves around the Great Earth Serpent, each spiralling in a different direction (a symbol inspired by Caduceus).

The Ophidian system comprises six Forces, three from Order and three from Chaos; the Forces of Order are Ethicality, Discipline and Logic, while the Forces of Chaos are Tolerance, Enthusiasm and Emotion. Their descriptions are as follow:

When combined by pairs, these Forces form the Three Principles of Balance (not to be confused with the three Principles of Order, Balance and Chaos above). The Principles of Balance, their descriptions and relations to the Forces of Order and Chaos are illustrated in the table below:

There also exists Anti-Forces associated to the Forces of Order and Balance. These Anti-Forces arise from Imbalance between the Forces, and are essentially perversions of their corresponding Forces. The Anti-Forces also manifest themselves as a kind of malevolent spiritual being, collectively called the Banes of Order and the Banes of Chaos.

The Anti-Forces (and Banes) are:

Triad of Inner Strength
The Fellowship, in Ultima VII, followed the Triad of Inner Strength, consisting of three rules:


 * 1) Strive For Unity
 * 2) Trust Thy Brother
 * 3) Worthiness Precedes Reward

Killorn Keep
In Ultima Underworld II, the inhabitants of Killorn Keep -- a parallel universe to Britannia -- observe the Guardian's eight virtues:
 * Sobriety
 * Punctuality
 * Obedience
 * Vigilance
 * Conformity
 * Efficiency
 * Silence
 * Diligence

In the games
The role of the Codex shifted through the series, from being a prize of enlightenment in Ultima IV, to a book of wisdom in Ultima V, to an object of conflict in Ultima VI.

The Codex was placed in the Ethereal Void at the end of Ultima VI. Though neither the Britannians nor the Gargoyles physically held the book, their leaders were each given a lens that could be used to read it.

The Codex went without appearing in Ultima VII and VIII, though the lenses were used to suck the Dark Core of Exodus into the void in Ultima VII's expansion pack.

In Ultima IX the Codex was mysteriously stolen from the void, and returned to the physical plane. Much of the game is spent chasing after the book and obtaining the lenses to read it.

The Codex Symbol
The symbol of the Codex in Ultima IV explains the relationship between Virtues and the Principles. Outside of the game, the symbol is typically shown in single color. The actual symbol is colored according to the following rules.

In the middle of the symbol, there are three circles, shown in blue, yellow and red; these symbolize the Principles of Truth, Love and Courage. The tangential lines are colors that are mixed from the colors that they touch, and each line touches the Principle circle the corresponding Virtue is based.

There are three lines that touch the Principle circles singly; these are Honesty (blue, based on Truth), Compassion (yellow, based on Love) and Valor (red, based on Courage).

There are three lines that touch two Principle circles; these are Justice (green = blue + yellow, Truth and Love), Honor (purple = red + blue; Truth and Courage), and Sacrifice (orange = red + yellow; Courage and Love).

In the middle of the symbol is a small white circle, the mix of all colors; this is the virtue of Spirituality, which is based on all three Principles.

Finally, surrounding everything is a black circle, absent of all colors; this is the virtue of Humility that exists independently of the Principles and is their foundation.

Game inconsistencies
Some have noted a continuity problem arising from the fact that players spend the entire game in Ultima IV following the virtues, meditating at shrines dedicated to them, and retrieving the Codex at the end. However, the events of Ultima VI imply the Codex's wisdom was used in the formation of both the Britannian and Gargish virtues.

In Ultima IX, the Codex was unreadable without the use of both the Britannian and Gargish lenses, and requires the Avatar to ask a question to the book. This seems to be contrary to its nature in previous games, where it was always readable without any special aid when the book was in Britannia. The lenses were supposedly only required to read the Codex while it remained in the void, and operated independently, not in tandem. The lenses were only used together previously when you wanted to throw something into the void. Ultima VII also seemed to imply that the Codex required both lenses to be read, but the facility to read the book was never implemented in the finished game, rendering the inconsistency moot.

These situations may be resolved however by understanding that the Codex was not created in Ultima IV, but merely allowed itself to be retrieved by the Avatar. Being an item of immense powers (magical and otherwise) it has its own history that spans many periods in time and many different worlds, and has continually adapted itself to fit its own needs towards shaping the universe towards its own goals.