Guardian (Ultima)

The Guardian is the final villain of the Ultima series of computer role playing games. He is also the series' most frequently recurring villain, being the only character to feature as the main villain in more than one game. In Ultima VII, VIII, IX and Ultima Underworld II he is voiced by the actor Bill Johnson.

Personality, Attributes, and Agenda

The Guardian is a powerful extradimensional being that moves across the multiverse, conquering or destroying the worlds in his path. His latest goal is the conquest of Britannia and the subjugation of its people. This brings him into conflict with the Avatar, the hero of Britannia.

The Guardian dwells within the Great Ethereal Void, where he holds nearly omnipotent power. However, despite his vast powers, he is unable to enter into a material dimension such as Britannia unassisted. In Ultima VII: the Black Gate, the Guardian attempts to influence the inhabitants of Britannia into constructing a Black Gate, through which he could physically enter their universe.

The Guardian sees himself as a monotheistic god, often subjugating the inhabitants of the worlds he conquers into worshipping him under the pretext of being their "guardian" (hence his name). Instead of bringing simple destruction, the Guardian seems to take perverse pleasure in transforming his conquests into corrupt parodies of their former selves, obedient to his will. This can be seen in the methods he uses to conquer Britannia as well as in how he rules the lands he has already conquered.

• During Ultima VII, the Guardian convinces 3 particularly easily corrupted inhabitants of Britannia to form the Fellowship, an apparently benevolent organization that is secretly a religion of Guardian-worship.
• During Ultima Underworld II, the Guardian sends dreams and visions to the imprisoned inhabitants of Castle Britain, promising them power and wealth if they serve him and destruction if they oppose him. The Mayor of Britain succumbs to his influence and proceeds to [...] several of the other castle inhabitants.
• In Killorn Keep, the inhabitants worship the Guardian and obey his Eight Virtues (Sobriety, Obedience, etc), parodies of the Eight Virtues of the Avatar designed to maximize the inhabitant's Guardian-worship.
• On Pagan, the inhabitants worship four elemental Titans, who are secretly the servants of the Guardian. The Titans maintain a social order of a sort, but also a cruel, survival-of-the-fittest mentality. The people of Pagan worship the Guardian as their "Protector", believing that he created the Titans to fight off a being known as the Destroyer who laid waste to their world (and ignorant of the fact that the "Destroyer" was actually the Guardian himself in his physical form).
• In Britannia, after the Guardian succeeds in conquering the land, the Eight Virtues are corrupted into the Eight Anti-Virtues, causing the inhabitants of Britannia to behave accordingly (for example, the City of Compassion becomes the City of Cruelty, and all the inhabitants become cold-hearted and cruel). The Guardian has also corrupted 5 of the 8 Companions of the Avatar, transforming them into evil servants known as Wyrmguards fanatically loyal to him. Notably in Ultima IX, when the Avatar returns to Britannia, the Guardian decides against [...] him immediately, instead wishing the Avatar to see how Britannia has fallen so that he will know despair.

At the same time, the Guardian has been known to destroy entire worlds that displease him, as can be seen in Ultima Underworld II.

Richard Garriott has described the Guardian as the personification of hedonism, concerned only about himself and furthering his own goals and pleasure at the expense of all other living things. This is in contrast to the Avatar, a being who personifies selflessness and putting the needs and concerns of others above his own.

Character History

Ultima VII: The Black Gate

The Guardian is first seen as a giant red face that appears on the Avatar's computer screen at the beginning of the game. He proclaims:

The Avatar is brought to Britannia by a Moongate soon afterwards. As he explores the land, it soon becomes apparent that his is journey is indeed being monitored by the Guardian, whose voice can periodically be heard commenting on the various Situations the Avatar encounters. At first an enigmatic character, the Guardian's commentary is often mocking, but at times appears to be almost helpful (on a couple occasions he warns the Avatar of approaching danger, and also admonishes the Avatar for stealing).

Ultimately, the Avatar learns from the Timelord that the Guardian is an evil extradimensional entity, a powerful being that enters into worlds and proceeds to conquer them with his god-like powers. The Guardian is also revealed as the source of the crises plaguing Britannia: 3 blackrock generators that focus his power into Britannia's dimension are causing magic-users to go insane, disrupting the moongates, and allowing him to speak into the minds of Britannia's people.

The Guardian is also revealed to be the true force behind The Fellowship, an aggressively proselytizing organization that has used its seeming benevolence to INFILTRATE every facet of Britannian society. While most members of the Fellowship believe the organization is merely a path to enlightenment, the high-ranking members know the truth: every member of the Fellowship is actually worshipping the Guardian as their god.

The Guardian has been using the Fellowship to construct a massive Black Gate on the Isle of the Avatar, which would allow the Guardian to physically enter Britannia from the Great Ethereal Void and conquer the land. The Avatar succeeds in foiling the Guardian's plot and destroying the Black Gate, but as a result he is unable to return home to Earth as the Black Gate was the last existing extradimensional doorway left in Britannia.

Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds

In Labyrinth of Worlds, which takes place a year after the destruction of the Black Gate, the Guardian seeks his revenge against the Avatar and Lord British by creating an impregnable dome of Blackrock around Castle British, trapping the Avatar, his companions, and Lord British inside.

In the sewers beneath the castle, the Avatar finds a Blackrock Sphere that acts as a dimensional gateway, transporting the Avatar to eight worlds controlled by the Guardian. The Avatar proceeds to free these worlds from the Guardian's grip, ultimately acquiring the means to destroy the Blackrock dome.

The worlds visited in Ultima Underworld II are:

• The "Prison Tower" - Situated on Fyrna, a world ruled by goblins.
• Killorn Keep - A fortress floating in the sky, situated on a parallel universe opposite to Britannia.
• The Ice Caves of Anodunos - A frozen world littered with the remnants of a civilization destroyed by the Guardian.
• The Scintillus Academy - A mage school, devastated by the Guardian.
• The Tomb of Praecor Loth - A hero from the same world as Killorn Keep, in the world of Rhiannon.
• The World of Talorus - An alien world populated by the enigmatic taloroids and the servile vorz.
• The Pits of Carnage - A prison and duelling arena where the Guardian deposits his foes.
• The Ethereal Void - The center of the multiverse, a strange dreamworld with floating glowing paths and teleports.

Ultima VII: Serpent Isle

In Serpent Isle, Lord British learns that the Guardian knew his plan to use the Black Gate to enter Britannia might fail, so he dispatched his servant Batlin (the founder of the Fellowship) to the long-lost land of Serpent Isle to open another portal for the Guardian to enter. The Avatar pursues Batlin to Serpent Isle, where he succeeds in closing The Ancient dimensional gateway the Guardian planned to use. However, in the process Dupre sacrifices his life, and the Avatar himself is sucked into the Great Ethereal Void where he is confronted by the god-like Guardian, a massive being able to fit the Avatar into the palm of his hand.

Ultima VIII: Pagan

Instead of destroying the Avatar, the Guardian banishes him to the world of Pagan, a post-apocalyptic world conquered by the Guardian centuries ago. The Avatar eventually defeats the 4 elemental "Titans", gods subservient to the Guardian who he had tricked the inhabitants into creating, but in the process ends up destroying most of their world.

The Avatar became the Titan of Ether and leaves Pagan. He (the character is now gender-specific) stands on a tall rock formation, dressed in formal clothing, before an enormous statue of the Guardian. Before Ultima IX was released the possibility was discussed that it would be set on the Guardian's homeworld, however it was finally decided that the Avatar went back to Britannia. This has raised eyebrows among Ultima fans regarding the consistency between the games, as the Avatar starts out on Earth in Ultima IX.

Ultima IX: Ascension

In the final game in the series, the Guardian has established himself in Britannia, having corrupted the Eight Virtues and through them the people of Britannia. He rules in secret from his fortress stronghold of Terfin, while his will is enforced by his servants Lord Blackthorn and his Wyrmguard knights (many of whom are corrupted former companions of the Avatar). In order to restore Virtue to Britannia, the Avatar must cleanse the shrines of Virtue and remove the Guardian's influence.

After restoring the Eight Virtues, the Avatar finally confronts the Guardian in battle, only to discover that attacking the Guardian only results in injuries to himself. Unable to continue striking at the Guardian, the Avatar is easily defeated. The Avatar then learns the Horrible truth: the Guardian is himself, or rather the evil inside himself that he expelled from his body when he became the Avatar.

With the aid of Lord British and the Eight Companions, the Avatar finally devises A Plan to rid the multiverse of the Guardian once and for all using the two most powerful magical spells in existence. Confronting the Guardian inside the Great Ethereal Void, the Avatar seals the two of them together within the impenetrable spell Barrier of Life. The Avatar then casts the world-destroying spell of Armageddon, contained by the Barrier of Life so that it only annihilates the Avatar and the Guardian. The two halves, good and evil, merge together to form the constellation of the Ankh in the skies above Britannia.

The Guardian's True Identity

In the final version of Ultima IX, it is learned that the Guardian and the Avatar are the literal opposites or negatives of each other, as the Guardian was created from the evil aspects of the Stranger/Avatar which he expelled from himself and cast into the Void when he became Avatar.

In the original abandoned version of the plot of Ultima IX (the so-called "Bob White plot"), the Guardian was described as the combination of the Shadowlords from Ultima V.

Many fans are unsatisfied with Either explanation of the Guardian's origin, because the Guardian strongly seems to be separate from the Avatar, and has demonstrably existed far before the Stranger ascended to Avatarhood in Ultima IV (for instance, a reference to the Guardian is made in Ultima VII part 2's expansion disk Silver Seed, which is set in ancient times).

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