Topic: The Who or What Is Your Avatar And Or The Reasoning Behind It Thread

So basically just share who or what your avatar is and what was your inspiration behind making it your avatar here? I'll comment on my avatar and it's actually got an interesting story, well both the avatar and myself. I'm 100% a guy physically "on paper" however I have 2 X chromosomes and 1 Y chromosome meaning "technically" I was born as both genders genetically. That brings us to this avatar. I tried to use AI to make an anime style version of myself, but alas...because of my body structure and my body type is decidedly pear shaped no matter what I do AI thinks I'm a girl so it keeps changing my likeness to that of what is quite literally a female anime girl version of myself. So I just decided to laugh it off and roll with it.

It has to be one of the more unique reasons behind why someone chose a specific avatar to use in online communities and it inspired me to open this thread! Do any of you have cool stories to share regarding your avatar, or is it a bit obscure or is a reference to something? Please share it in this thread!

Cheers! 😎

Currently mine is Makima from Chainsaw Man.

Went down a Metal Gear Solid V rabbit-hole while banging my head against a brick wall trying to get the Foxiest of Hounds trophy on Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Basically, the YouTuber PythonSelkan posted a video about Gray Fox (the foxiest of foxhound) being Venom Snake in MGSV. When I finally got the trophy after 4 complete playthroughs (all of which were clean and the trophy should’ve popped each time 😅) I felt I’d commemorate it with an avatar (& username) change.

Mine is the kind with no interesting backstory whatsoever: It's simply a photo of me.

The picture is the New York City skyline, specifically the Empire State Building.
Very vague memory being of being there, once. At the end of May, 1981. I would have been seven years old, at the time.

1. I'm not even going to pretend i'm competing with that level of depth 🙃 but also, fair play for starting a discussion, and telling that little human tale. Appreciate it.

2. My own avatars vary. But there is some method behind the madness. I usually have a screenshot or .gif i've taken from the game i'm currently playing, or have most enjoyed over that time period. And in this case it is an animated gif taken from KCD2 assets of the Searching Hare, simply because they are delightful 😁 and also, because sometimes i'm on the lookout for silly b***ers in comment sections (tee hee) and the danger warning hare was much too flashy.

And my username would just be the name Geralt used to hide his identity in 'A Question of Price' which is probably the most significant short story in the Witcher Universe and thus what led to The Witcher becoming a global powerhouse IP. So I use it to lure in any follow Witcher book appreciators, and give them something to smile at, as it is obscure ebough that people probably don't remember it being used in the TW3, but if you read the books and are a Witcher nerd you will definitely recognise it and appreciate it 🤷‍♂️

I might use your thread to post some of my avatars over the years, i'm sure they are on my phone somewhere as I had to crop them to 1:1 to fit the site at some point. Sometimes there is a slight hidden meaning to them, as well as them being from games i'm playing, it depends on my mood at the time, I guess

@FuriousMachine is it not a parody of a Phil Collins album cover? 😁 I always imagined it as having some kind of significance, as it is very album cover-y. The Phil Collins bit is the jokey element I thought up just now, as he mostly just had various shots of his head as his covers. But I had honestly assumed it was some Norwegian band i'd not heard of before 😅 like, genuinely haha.

I’m one of those who changes my profile pic fairly often, maybe every few months. I just like being able to change it to fit my mood. Usually it has something to do with the game I’m currently obsessed with, but not always. Sometimes it’s just something funny, cool, dramatic, or unique. Often it’s a character that I find inspiring or entertaining.

Currently though, it’s an AI generated character I created, one that I was just messing around with and wanted to have a heroic looking character that melded different genres of gaming and so it’s supposed to be a mage/wizard/knight-warrior who is also carrying a modern automatic military style gun, something one would probably never see in an actual game, but something we could all relate to — sort of an ‘Uncharted meets Baldur’s Gate’ fusion character. Not sure it really translates into what I was attempting, but I thought it was unique enough so I’ve been using it. I’ve had it for a couple months now so I’ll be swapping it out before too long. Probably whenever I finally finish BG3 then I’ll change it to symbolize my next gaming obsession. Or not, we’ll see.

@Ravix I see what you mean, but no, it was not intended that way. Though I, myself, may very well be a parody of Phil Collins, but I don't think so. He doesn't have my Viking beard (not pictured), for one, though we have similar hairstyles (pictured)

Mine is the cover of the album Masterpiece by Big Thief. It's the album that got me into them as a band, and its lyrics circle around human connections, memories and the passing of time. I somehow felt that was appropriate for this site. It's a community which I have been engaging with on and off for the past 12 years, and where I made connections and lost some too.

@FuriousMachine haha, it has more of a metal album vibe, with the cool shadowing so that is what I genuinely assumed it might have been... some unknown norse metal band... but seriously (pun intended) Phil Collins sprung to mind today for the composition of it now you've revealed it is just a photo. I may have to go down a 'metal covers of Phil Collins songs' rabbit hole, at some point, though.

Currently my avatar is my Chibi Boxer creations since I like Boxing but in cute way.
The handsome nerd Chibi Boxer you see from my avatar is actually myself in cartoonish looking. Not literally my actual looking in real world (I don't wear glasses lol, neither my real eyes color is blue), but he is my fictional looking character that represent myself with my real name DAVID.
I added with underground so it spelled DAVID underground.
I used the naming like that based on DDR songs with artist name NAOKI underground so I used the underground as additional my fictional name not just only as my fictional Chibi Boxer, but also as fictional musician for rhythm video games.
The Pencil guy and the Book dude are my fictional character I added to match with the title above BOXING EDUCATION as in real world, you need to educate yourself before getting into Boxing sport.
My David is also wearing neck collar and blue tie like Donkey Kong style to give extraordinary looking of Boxer outfits.

@Ravix I can't unsee that.

@GirlVersusGame what, Phil Collins' head? 😂

@Ravix Yeah lol

I checked to see where your rabbit was from and then saw that.

When I joined the site I thought I'd use a Suikoden character, followed by the number 108, which has a significance in the game, as those who've played it will know. I wanted to use one of my favourite characters, so I tried Viktor108 (makes me sound like an old man), Tai Ho108 (Ho108 looks like a bad personalised registration plate) and Flik108 (bit kinky).

Eventually I settled on Gremio108, it just looked right. I replayed the game recently and realised it works pretty well, as he's a slightly annoying character who means well lol.

Every year after the christmas avatar comes off, I use a different pic of Gremio. I'd dearly love to have a pic of Arthur Morgan or something, but it's a tradition that I've been doing for years now and can't bring myself to stop.

@Herculean Big Thief are quality

It’s a video game from The Simpsons which is where my username also comes from.

Sorry it’s not as deep or meaningful as your own story.

It's a character from an anime called Angel Beats playing the piano. I like to play the piano and I like the shows score, that's about it really.

This is the original female V from the 2018 gameplay demo of Cyberpunk 2077. She's one of my favourite protagonists of all time in a game which is definitely my all time favourite.

@graymamba I've tried so many times to get that trophy in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Even when I know that I've definitely stayed unseen, it still hasn't popped. So frustrating.