Virtues



Virtue.... the way of life to find inner fulfillment and give the best to the people around you. At least, this is, when the virtues are well-meaning. Virtue can also be twisted into something different, to tighten the grip of tyranny. The systems of virtue, in good as in bad encountered throughout the ages, are shown on this page of the Codex, giving insight into the basics of a society.

General
The Ultima series 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 &mdash; Scarecrow (Truth), Tin Woodsman (Love) and Cowardly Lion (Courage). This is also alluded to in Ultima VI and Ultima VII, where one can find a copy of the book - the description blurb the game gives alludes to this relationship as well. Lord British claims it is his favourite book.

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

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:

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, the reverse of Humility's mantra).  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.

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 opposite of Pride - the absence of Truth, Love or Courage

Humility is the most difficult Virtue to describe, as it cannot really be understood without its Anti-Virtue, Pride. Pride merely has nothing to do with Truth, Love and Courage; Humility is similar, but rather than being a complete antithesis, it exists independently of the Principles and acts as their foundation.

The ghosts of New Magincia also have a few things to say about Humility and pride, from which the following may be constructed:

Humility: The absence of Truth, Love, and Courage is Pride. Pride is the surest measure of goals never attained. Pride goeth before, Shame cometh after. This Shame leads to awareness of Humility, the root from which all Virtues grow. Humility is to strip oneself of all conceits.

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

For a similar additive conceptual model applied in contemporary psychology, see Robert Sternberg's triangular theory of love.

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.

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 does not 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.

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

Eight of the virtues are derived from these three principles:

The relationships between the Virtues and Principles is not 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 is to Pride, is the opposite of Sadness.

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.

The Gargoyles have eight virtues based on their three principles.

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

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 (a symbol inspired by Caduceus).

The Ophidian system comprises 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:

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:

There also exists Anti-Forces associated to the Forces of Order and Balance. These Anti-Forces arise from Imbalance between the Forces, and are essentially perversions of their corresponding Forces. The Anti-Forces also manifest themselves as a kind of malevolent spiritual being, collectively called the Banes of Order and the Banes of Chaos.

The Anti-Forces (and Banes) are:

Triad of Inner Strength
The Fellowship, in Ultima VII, followed the Triad of Inner Strength, consisting of three rules:


 * 1) Strive For Unity
 * 2) Trust Thy Brother
 * 3) Worthiness Precedes Reward

However, if someone looks a little further behind these words, the true meaning of them become obvious, as Alagner in Ultima VII discovered. In his notes about these three rules, he writes this:

''The first `value' is Strive For Unity. This implies that that we should all work together in harmony and towards one goal in life. However, careful examination of this tenet reveals that members of The Fellowship consider themselves an elite group, and a prejudicial one at that. They tend to believe that if one is not for them, then they are indeed against them! And if one is against them, then may fortune be with that person, for he/she may very well come to a bad end!''

''The second `value' is Trust Thy Brother. This implies that each member trusts implicitly other Fellowship members, and that each will do favors or deeds for another without question. On the other hand, this might mean that a member should do what another says REGARDLESS of the implications of the act. In other words, `do as I say and do not question it!' seems to be the underlying subtext of this tenet.''

''The third `value' is Worthiness Precedes Reward. If one does good deeds for The Fellowship, then one will be rewarded. The other side of the coin, of course, is that if one does NOT do good deeds for The Fellowship, then one will get his JUST reward! In The Fellowship, a `reward' can be either `good' or `bad'!''

This reveals the Triad of Inner Strength as extremist rules, that reflect the true purpose of the Fellowship. A tool of the Guardian to undermine Britannia's society before he would grab the power.

Killorn Keep
In Ultima Underworld II, the inhabitants of Killorn Keep -- a parallel universe to Britannia -- observe the Guardian's eight virtues. These are created by the Guardian to hold maximum control over his subjects and prevent any kind of doubt against his rule over his already conquered worlds.

Trivia

 * Amusingly, a real life Correctional Facility called Guardians of the Threshold have adapted the Guardian's virtues for their own use. We can only wonder if they realise the Guardian was an evil megalomaniac. Scroll down to the bottom of the page through the link to see...