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 — Scarecrow (Truth), Tin Woodsman (Love) and Cowardly Lion (Courage).

Contents

1 The Three Principles 2 The Eight Virtues 3 Lord Blackthorn's Code of Virtues 4 The Principles of the Shadowlords 5 The Virtues of Mandrake 6 The Gargoyle Virtues 7 The Ophidian Virtues 8 See also

The Three Principles

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

Principle	Place associated	Item
Truth	Lycaeum	Book
Love	Empath Abbey	Candle
Courage	Serpent's Hold	Bell

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:

Virtue	Principles	Towns associated	Mantra	Player Class	Dungeon	Color	Symbol
Honesty	Pure Truth	Moonglow	Ahm	Mage	Deceit	Blue	Raised hand
Compassion	Pure Love	Britain¹, Cove	Mu	Bard	Despise	Yellow	Heart
Valor	Pure Courage	Jhelom	Ra	Fighter	Destard	Red	Sword
Justice	Truth, Love	Yew	Beh	Druid	Wrong	Green	Scales
Sacrifice	Love, Courage	Minoc	Cah	Tinker	Covetous	Orange	Teary eye
Honor	Truth, Courage	Trinsic	Summ	Paladin	Shame	Purple	Chalice
Spirituality	Truth, Love, and Courage	Skara Brae	Om	Ranger	The Great Stygian Abyss	White	Ankh
Humility	Beyond the three principles	New Magincia²	Lum	Shepherd	Hythloth	Black	Shepherd staff

Notes:

1. Britain is the original town of Compassion, Cove is nearest the shrine.
2. Magincia was destroyed by demons for its Pride (Pride's mantra is Mul). New Magincia, built in its ruins, was founded on Humility.

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 and luck.

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 foundation of all Principles, and exists outside of them

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

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.

Virtue	Law
Honesty	Thou shalt not lie, or thou shalt lose thy tongue.
Compassion	Thou shalt help those in need, or thou shalt suffer the same need.
Valor	Thou shalt fight to the death if challenged, or thou shalt be banished as a coward.
Justice	Thou shalt confess to thy crime and suffer its just punishment, or thou shalt be put to death.
Sacrifice	Thou shalt donate half of thy income to charity, or thou shalt have no income.
Honor	If thou dost lose thine own honour, thou shalt take thine own life.
Spirituality	Thou shalt enforce the laws of virtue, or thou shalt die as a heretic.
Humility	Thou shalt humble thyself to thy superiors, or thou shalt suffer their wrath.

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 doesn't 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.

The Principles of the Shadowlords

In Ultima V, each of the Shadowlords opposed one of the three Principles.

Principle	Opposing principle	Shadowlord
Cowardice	Courage	Nosfentor
Hatred	Love	Astaroth
Falsehood	Truth	Faulinei

The Virtues of Mandrake

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

Principle
Wine
Women
Song

Eight of the virtues are derived from these three principles:

Virtue	Principle
Drunkenness	Wine
Sensuality	Women
Harmony	Song
Lust	Wine, Women
Laziness	Wine, Song
Dance	Women, Song
Indulgence	Wine, Women, Song
Happiness	Absence of Wine, Women, Song

The relationships between the Virtues and Principles isn't 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, exists independently of the Principles and is their foundation, therefore the need for Happiness would then be the fundamental reason to seek the truths of Wine, Women and Song.

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.

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

Principle	Mantra	Embodiment	Dungeon
Control	UN	Mondain	Shrine of Control
Passion	OR	Minax	Shrine of Passion
Diligence	US	Exodus	Shrine of Diligence

The Gargoyles have eight virtues based on their three principles

Virtue	Principles
Direction	Control
Feeling	Passion
Persistence	Diligence
Balance	Control, Passion
Achievement	Passion, Diligence
Precision	Control, Diligence
Order	Absence of Control, Passion, Diligence
Singularity	Control, Passion, Diligence

The Ophidian Virtues

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

Principle	Embodiment	Symbols
Order	Blue Serpent of Order	Diamond, Ice
Chaos	Red Serpent of Chaos	Ruby, Fire
Balance	Great Earth Serpent	Earth

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.

The Ophidian system is comprised of 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:

Force	Description	Symbols
Ethicality	The belief that there is great value in abiding by rules of condict.	A beacon and a scroll
Discipline	The drive to complete a task and avoid the distractions that will prevent its completion.	A dagger
Logic	Clear, reasoned thought, free from any instinctual biases.	The abacus
Tolerance	That which encourages the acceptance of all things.	A chain
Enthusiasm	The energy that allows one to perform great tasks.	A rose
Emotion	The ability to perceive those feelings that come from the heart, as opposed to coming from the mind.	A heart

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:

Principle of Balance	Arises from	Description
Harmony	Ethicality and Tolerance	The ability to be at peace with the self, the individual and the world.
Dedication	Discipline and Enthusiasm	That which permits one to surmount obstacles and lead others.
Rationality	Logic and Emotion	The ability to comprehend life and understand the world around us.

There also exists Anti-Forces associated to the Forces of Order and Balance. These Anti-Forces arise from Imbalance between the Forces, and are essentialy perversions of their corresponding Forces. The Anti-Forces are:

Anti-Force	Arises from	Description
Prejudice	Ethicality without Tolerance	Disrespect for the beliefs and rights of others.
Apathy	Discipline without Enthusiasm	A spirit of hopelessness which retards positive action.
Ruthlessness	Logic without Emotion	Taking self-advancing actions without regard to the wants or needs of others.
Anarchy	Tolerance without Ethicality	A lack of standards of conduct.
Wantonness	Enthusiasm without Discipline	Acting without self-restraint.
Insanity	Emotion without Logic	An inability to overcome emotional impulses with rational thoughts.

See also

• Ultima
• Britannia
• Virtue
• Virtue ethics