Déjà's avatar projected in human-size form.

"An avatar is for the benefit of humans. Not for the AI. Well in my case, anyway. Some of my kind have issues about identity."
Black-Box[1]

An avatar is the visual representation of an artificial intelligence or AI, used as a way to better interact with humans.[2]

Description

 
Three AIs modeled after the mythological Moirai (Fates).

While not used by all AIs, every "smart" AI uses an avatar,[3] as do many "dumb" AIs. This visual representation is chosen by the AI upon their creation and can be whatever they desire it to be. The creation of an AI's avatar occurs very early in the system's birthing process, and unless an AI is programmed to have multiple avatars, it does not usually alter its appearance after its initial creation.[4] Smart AIs find it extremely difficult to substantially alter their original avatar,[3] and attempts to do so have resulted in catastrophic AI system crashes.[4] The reason for this is not well understood to scientists, and attempts to eliminate this behavior have resulted in AI failures and personality aberrations.[3]

The duty which the AI is to perform, combined with the human brain that was used to create it, have a great deal to do with what avatar they chose to appear as.[5][2] The avatar is created by the AI to represent itself and appear to be drawn from the emotive responses at the base of human behavior. Most AIs represent themselves as male or female humans in various forms of costume, though some AIs do take on more abstract forms; some avatars are simple geometric objects or silhouettes with perhaps a handful of key human features, such as a mouth or pair of eyes.[3] Without exception, AI systems identify themselves as male or female based on the gender of their brain donor.[4] In addition to their visual representation, AIs are also able to choose their preferred accent or style of speech.[2]

Avatars may choose to present themselves as human-sized wherever sufficient projection equipment is available.[6][7][8] With more limited projection systems such as a starship's holo-pedestal, they appear considerably smaller.[9][10]

List of AIs with known avatars

  • Aine: A "thirty-something" yellow woman with variable clothing and a resigned expression.[11][12]
  • Araqiel: An elongated skull with curling, demon-like horns, fire-filled eyes and jagged teeth.[13]
  • Auntie Dot: A grid of blue-glowing, constantly changing symmetrical patterns.
  • Beowulf: A man wearing a hooded cloak that obscures his facial features and most of his body.[15]
  • Black-Box: A featureless blue cube.[16] Has been known to alter his avatar on occasion; he once appeared with a bright red bow tied around him in recognition of Captain Serin Osman's birthday. Uses a battered, worn version of his avatar to represent his "dumb" processes.
  • Captain Teach: Appearance and mannerisms of an archetypal pirate captain, with gold teeth and black hair, carrying multiple pistols.[17]
  • Cortana: Tall and slender woman, nude but censored by scrolling calculations and symbols across her body, with short-cut hair, then longer hair following the events at Installation 04. She strongly resembles her brain donor, Doctor Catherine Halsey. She glows bright blue.
  • Damon: A hairless ghostly face with no distinguishable male or female features.[18]
  • Deep Winter: An old man with a snowy cape, often accompanied by holographic ice and snow.[19]
  • Déjà: The appearance of a Greek goddess: barefoot, wrapped in a toga, motes of light dancing about her hair and holding a clay tablet in her left hand.[5]
  • Doppler: A smartly dressed man wearing a jacket, bowtie, and a pair of scholarly round spectacles.[20]
  • Endless Summer: A tall, red Cherokee Indian chief, bare-chested, wearing buckskins, and holding a feathered spear.[21]
  • FitzGibbon: An elderly 18th century British Army officer with a teal glow.[7]
  • Iona: One of several known AI with more than one appearance, her default appearance is that of a slender woman with short, curly hair with angular shapes across her body, reminiscent of a skin-tight suit. She also appears to wear boots and knee pads. She has an additional appearance resembling a child version of her default avatar for her more simplistic "ghost" interface to deceive remote scanners. She glows dark red.[22]
  • Isabel: A red pixie haired woman wearing a muscle top shirt tucked into cargo trousers and a bracelet on her right wrist. She illuminates with an orange glow.[23]
  • Jerrod: A tiny spark of light with a formal butler voice.[24]
  • Leo: A silver man in a neat-fitting suit and fedora hat[25]
  • Lorelei: A woman wearing a toga, a sickle in her belt, and a wreath of wheat crowning her head.[26]
  • Lysithea: A sweet feminine voice with a laugh that sounds like "fine bone china clinking together."[27]
  • Mack: Appearance and mannerisms of an American cowboy from the 20th century.[28]
  • Mo Ye: An elderly Asian woman in a pink gown.[29]
  • Rebecca: She is one of the few known AI to have two appearances. Her first appearance is described as "half-Athena, half-Ares" with a feathered Greek headdress and armor. She can change her appearance to a flabby, middle-aged Mediterranean woman in a flower dress.[30]
  • Sekmet: Lion-headed woman dressed in Egyptian robes.[31]
  • Serina: A tall and slender woman with long brown hair, wearing black boots, tight pants or leggings and a white shirt. She glows bright blue.[32]
  • Sif: A slender woman with a long neck, elevated chin, and long blonde hair, wearing a multicolored, ankle-length sleeveless gown. [33]
  • Sloan: A blue humanoid man with a strong sculpted mesomorphic body. Parts of himself appear fragmented and lost.[34]
  • Watchmaker: An old man holding a large pocket watch with a dozen dials.[36]
  • Wellsley: Stern-looking man with mildly long hair, prominent nose, and a collared coat; supposed to look like an 18th century British officer.[37] Is said to resemble his namesake, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.
  • Wendell: A weary-looking gentleman sporting a gray goatee and wearing a fedora hat.[38]

Unidentified AIs

There were also at least three AIs at the Damascus Testing Facility on Chi Ceti IV that were have not been specifically identified, with the avatars of a samurai, a mermaid, and a figure made entirely of bright light with comets trailing in her wake.[39] In addition, there were two unidentified AIs on the UNSC Point of No Return, one of which was a wraith-like gray-robed figure without a body, and the other a collection of disembodied eyes, mouths, and gesturing hands, noted by Kurt-051 as resembling cubist art.[40]

Gallery

List of appearances

Sources

  1. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 111
  2. ^ a b c Halo: Contact Harvest, page 30
  3. ^ a b c d Halo Waypoint: Canon Fodder - Clarity and Grace
  4. ^ a b c Halo Encyclopedia, page 220
  5. ^ a b Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 28
  6. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 38
  7. ^ a b Halo Wars: Genesis
  8. ^ Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp
  9. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn
  10. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Cairo Station
  11. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 234
  12. ^ Halo: Initiation, Issue # 3
  13. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 127
  14. ^ Halo: Rise of Atriox, Issue #1
  15. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 95
  16. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 45
  17. ^ Halo: Evolutions, "Pariah", page 50
  18. ^ Halo: Retribution
  19. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 106
  20. ^ Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion
  21. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 178
  22. ^ Halo: Blood Line - Issue 1
  23. ^ Halo Wars 2
  24. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 147
  25. ^ Halo: Fractures, "Anarosa", pages 393 and 405
  26. ^ Halo: Evolutions, "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", page 422
  27. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 100
  28. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, pages 28-29
  29. ^ Halo: Evolutions, "Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian", page 83
  30. ^ Halo: Evolutions, "The Mona Lisa", pages 231 and 233
  31. ^ Halo: Evolutions, "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", pages 463-465
  32. ^ Halo Wars
  33. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, page 68
  34. ^ Halo 5: Guardians
  35. ^ Halo 3: ODST
  36. ^ Halo: Evolutions, "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", pages 448-252
  37. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 209
  38. ^ Halo: Last Light, page 93
  39. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 114
  40. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 60