Avatars

I tend to change my avatar to reflect my favourite things at any given time. I began with a simple but powerful scene from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, and then… Started to change it.

1. 
   I always loved this scene in Link’s Awakening — it’s the romance sub-plot the game didn’t quite have. Before this, I didn’t use anything noteworthy as an avatar.
2. 
   Of course, the original scene was a little bit too… hopeful… for the late-teen RDZ. Marin had to be removed.
3. 
   I actually rather enjoyed the first Michael Bay Transformers film, but I much prefer the original blocky Transformer designs. Around this time I really got into the avatar bandwagons, where everyone on WC3C would change their avatar to a particular theme — the big one being, naturally, crimbo time.
4. 
   I got into Sonic in a big way when I bought the Sonic Mega Collection Plus and discovered Sonic 3 & Knuckles. We never owned any consoles when I was young, so I only got into Sonic by merchandise and cartoons. When I finally got the games as a young adult, I was much enthused.
5. 
   When crimbo passed by, Link finally left the scene and relinquished it to the Sonic Team. He would never return, and in time even his beach would begin to fade.
6. 
   Transformers II was a bit of a car crash. Didn’t stop me bringing Prime back, in his upgraded form, for another round.
7. 
   And then I discovered Quake II, and brought in this awkward rendering of the game’s final boss — the Makron. This one didn’t last long because, well, it sucks.
8. 
   I went all out for the crimbo after Quake II. The basic scene is really starting to fall apart by this point, with numerous characters and decorations popping in and out.
9. 
   “Check me out, I’m dancing, I’m dancing!” I am one of the few people in existence that really enjoyed Borderlands‘ Claptrap.
10. 
    After decades of hype, I finally managed to buy Planescape: Torment. Morte and the Nameless One join Tails on the beach… Well, Sigil’s portals do connect to everywhere in the multiverse.
11. 
    “Respawners… On a battlefield.” I am also one of the few people in existence that really likes Unreal Tournament 3. Style-wise it’s not very Unreal at all, but it plays brilliantly and the daft plot works for me. Reaper, Othello, Jester and Bishop carry their signature weapons.
12. 
    “You must construct additional pylons!” Starcraft 2 promised much but ultimately failed to deliver. Even so, it’s got its good points. I don’t think the Adjudicator will ever be satisfied that Nova has enough Pylons. What do you mean, she’s a Terran and he’s a Protoss?
13. 
    “My vision is augmented.” Deus Ex remains my favourite game of all time.
14. 
    “Why walk when you can ride?” Morrowind is one of the most strange and compelling open-world games. Previous and subsequent Elder Scrolls games cannot match up to its brilliance. My Nerevarine is a Dunmer with a heroic mohawk — here, he is wearing glass armour and carrying an Ebony Shield and a Silver Longsword.
15. 
    “Endure. In enduring, grow strong.” So many brilliant quotes, so much wonder… Torment might not be a favourite game of all time, but it’s a very special thing nonetheless.
16. 
    Borderlands 2 was pretty damn good, much improving on its predecessor in all the right ways.
17. 
    Everybody loves the original Unreal Tournament, so here’s Xan with a shock rifle trying to secure a control point. What do you mean, DM-Morpheus is not a Domination map? I hacked my own DOM conversion together, of course!
18. 
    I replayed the two Borderlands games and ended up inverting my favour from the sequel back to the original. Aren’t I a contrary soul!
19. 
    Unreal II: The Awakening still has the power to make me cry. I still remember that first play-through and I went through all the stages of grief in that finale — denial, anger, all of it. It’s tragic and it’s beautiful and it’s a thoroughly underrated game.

There are a few missing that have been lost through the ages, but this is most of them. The gallery will, naturally, continue to grow as I come upon new favourite things and rediscover old favourite things. And if you’re really nice, I’ll dig out that X-rated Duke Nukem avatar for you some day.