Lord British

Lord British is a major character in the Ultima series. He is based on designer Richard Garriott himself. Lord British is the ruler of Britannia, and extremely powerful in magic. Also, he has amazing longevity.

History
Lord British came from Earth, and his real name is Cantabrigian British. But disappointed with his world, he one day found the Serpent Amulet, which opened a Moongate to Sosaria. Shamino was the first man he met, and he named him British. After that, British rose fast in the political hierarchy, becoming king of one half of the kingdom of Akalabeth.

In Akalabeth, Mondain attacked the kingdom. Lord British's forces however, managed to defeat Mondain's army, causing him to swear revenge on Lord British. In Ultima I, Lord British was found in his castle, being the ruler over The Lands of Lord British, where he gave the Stranger advice and quests. Mondain was defeated by the Stranger.

In the time-warped Earth of Ultima II, Lord British was found as well, this time in a castle located in England on Earth.

By Ultima III, Lord British had unified Sosaria under his rule, when Exodus attacked the land. The Stranger with three companions helped in the crisis, and Lord British gave them strength, whenever they visited his castle. In the end, Exodus was defeated.

After Exodus' defeat, Lord British managed, to rebuild the unified kingdom, renaming it Britannia. Also, by this time he used the Orb of the Moons, to bring many of his friends to Britannia. Under his rule, Britannia began to flourish, and he decided to set out a new spiritual path, declaring the Quest of the Avatar. Some others hated him for that, and left for the Serpent Isle, declaring him to be the twisted Beast British. In Ultima IV, Lord British gave the Stranger much good advice for the quest in his castle, and healed the party without charge. Yes, he even brought them back from death. And the Stranger became the Avatar.

After this time, Lord British tried to democratize Britannia, by calling the Great Council to life. The Council rose the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. But when exploring the Underworld, Lord British was imprisoned by the Shadowlords in dungeon Doom. In Ultima V, he could only help the Avatar remotely, but still saved the party from death. Thankfully, he was rescued in the end, and allowed Blackthorn to go into exile.

He gave his usual services in Ultima VI, while directing the war effort in the castle, and in the end, met Lord Draxinusom to end the war. By Ultima VII, he was unaware of the threat of the Fellowship, but was still aware that something was wrong in Britannia. However, he did send the Avatar to the Isle of Fire, after it had risen out of the sea, to exile Exodus. After the Avatar stopped the Guardian, he outlawed the Fellowship.

In Ultima Underworld II, he was totally helpless, since the Blackrock Dome negated his magic. However, after the servants of the castle made clear their position, he decided that the society of Britannia had to change. In Ultima VII Part Two, he sent the Avatar to the Serpent Isle. During the game he is seen in the Dream World, wandering the ruins of Castle Britannia, and speaks to the Avatar about the devastation unleashed on the world because of the Teleport Storms.

By the time of Ultima IX, Lord British had aged greatly and felt helpless to save the peoples from the Columns, thus relying on the Avatar to solve this crysis. As such he still spent most of the time in his Castle, but when Lord Blackthorn sent a letter to challenge the Avatar to one last duel in the Abyss... Lord British didn't wait for his old friend and took upon himself to face him. He killed Blackthorn during one final showdown in the Abyss, reclaiming the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom for the Avatar. He then explained to the Avatar that he and Britannia had relied too much on the Avatar, and that he should have acted before rather than always relying upon him. He also opened the Moongate to the Shrine of Spirituality for the Avatar by changing the orbit of the moons and later bid farewell to him when he went to face the Guardian for a final battle.

As of the end of Ascension, Lord British still remained King of Britannia, though nobody knows what happened to him after that.

Origin of the Name
In the real world, Richard Garriott (born in Britain but raised in the United States) acquired the nickname "Lord British" as a teenager from friends at computer camp who claimed his first greeting to them, 'Hello', was distinct from the USA 'Hi'. Garriott released early games, such as Akalabeth, under the name and occasionally appeared in Ultima Online playing as Lord British. He is still known as Lord British even after his departure from Ultima maker Origin Systems: Garriott retained the trademark rights to the name Lord British with its associated symbols, and the character later appeared in the Korean MMO Lineage. Another alter-ego of Richard Garriott called General British later appeared in his latest game, Tabula Rasa.

Trivia

 * Lord British is invincible in all games, unless the player finds the special ways to kill him... Killing Lord British has become a challenge in itself.
 * Apart from Ultima V, Ultima VI and Ultima IX, he is always found in his castle.
 * From Ultima IV to VI, should the party die, they are all transported to Castle Britannia by Lord British and resurrected.
 * The aged appearance of Lord British in Ultima IX was originally meant to be caused by the decaying land and the numerous nightmares sent to him by the Guardian. While the plot of the game was changed, the elder appearance of Lord British was retained for the final game although no explanation was given to this sudden aging.
 * The special ways to kill British in Ultima VII reveals rather interesting easter egg, apparently he had an affair with the maid Nell, resulting in a child.