Avatar

An avatar is the visual representation of an artificial intelligence or "AI," used as a way to better interact with humans.
While not used by all AIs, every smart artificial intelligence uses an avatar, 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. Although 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.Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 28Halo: Contact Harvest, page 30 Without exception, AI systems identify themselves as male or female based on the gender of their brain donor.Halo Encyclopedia, page 220
When an AI creates its avatar, it will often opt to appear very attractive, basing its characteristics from the emotive responses at the base of Human behavior. 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 cannot alter its appearance after its initial creation, and attempts to do so have resulted in catastrophic AI system crashes.
==List of Known UNSC AIs and their Avatars==
*Araquiel: An elongated skull with long, demon-like horns, fire filled eyes and jagged teeth.Halo: First Strike, page 127
*Auntie Dot: A series of glowing blue grid patterns.
*Beowulf: A man wearing a hooded cloak that obscures its facial features and most of its body.Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 95
*Cortana: Tall and slender woman, appearing to be nude, albeit censored by symbols across her body, with short-cut hair in Halo: Combat Evolved, then long hair in Halo 2, Halo 3 , Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. She is often described to have calculations faintly scrolling across her body, and resembles her brain donor, Dr. Catherine Halsey.
*Deep Winter: An old man with a snowy cape, often accompanied by holographic ice and snow.Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 106
*Déjà: The appearance of a Greek goddess: barefoot, wrapped in the toga, motes of light dancing about her luminous white hair and holds a clay tablet in her left hand.
*Endless Summer: A tall, red Cherokee Indian chief, bare-chested, wearing buckskins, and with a feathered spear in hand.Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 178
*FitzGibbon: An elderly 18th century British Army officer with a teal glow.Halo Wars: Genesis
*Iona: One of the two known AIs 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.Halo: Blood Line - Issue 1
*Jerrod: A tiny spark of light with a formal butler voice.Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 147
*Lysithea: A sweet feminine voice with a laugh that sounds like "fine bone china clinking together."Halo: First Strike, page 100
*Lorelei: A woman wearing a toga, a sickle in her belt, and a wreath of wheat crowning her head.Halo: Evolutions, The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole, page 422
*Mack: An American cowboy from the 20th century.Halo: Contact Harvest, pages 28-29
*Melissa: Tall and slender with long hair, Marathon symbol on her left shoulder. Yellow or black or brown, depending on the image.
*Mo Ye: An elderly Asian woman in a pink gown.Halo: Evolutions, Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian, page 83
*Rebecca: She is one of the few known A.I.s to have two appearances. Her first appearance is described as "half-Athena, half-Ares" with a feathered Greek headdress and ancient armor. She then changed her appearance to a flabby, middle-aged Mediterranean woman in a flower dress.Halo: Evolutions, The Mona Lisa, pages 231 and 233
*Roland: Tall and rough, with the appearance of a World War II pilot. Yellow avatar.Halo 4, Spartan Ops
*Sekmet: Lion-headed woman dressed in Egyptian robes.Halo: Evolutions, The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole, pages 463-465
*Serina: A tall and slender woman with long brown hair, wearing black boots, tight pants or leggings and a white shirt.Halo Wars
*Sif: A slender woman with a long neck and elevated chin, wearing an ankle-length, sleeveless gown of "interwoven sunset hues" and has long, golden hair, which falls "in waves to the middle of her back."Halo: Contact Harvest, page 68
*Superintendent: A series of emotion icons.Halo 3: ODST
*Watchmaker: An old man holding a large pocket watch with a dozen dials.Halo: Evolutions, The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole, pages 448-252
*Wellsley: Stern-looking man with mildly long hair, prominent nose, and a collared coat; supposed to look like an 18th-century British officer.Halo: The Flood, page 209 Is said to resemble his namesake, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.
==Trivia==
*There were also at least three AIs at the Damascus Testing Facility on Chi Ceti IV, with the avatars of a samurai, a mermaid, and one made entirely of bright light with comets trailing in her wake.
==Gallery==
File:Cortana-H3.png|Cortana's avatar.
File:FitzGibbon.png|FitzGibbon's avatar.
File:Bloodline AI.png|One of Iona's two avatars.
File:MelissaAI.jpg|Melissa's avatar.
File:Mo Ye.png|Mo Ye's avatar.
File:Serina.jpg|Serina's avatar.
File:Serina color.png|A full color render of Serina's avatar.
File:Superintendent emotions.jpg|The icons used to express the Superintendent.
==Sources==
Category:Human A.I.