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Encyclopedia > Lord British
Lord British
Game series Ultima
First game Ultima I
Creator(s) Richard Garriott
Voice actor(s) Richard Garriott (Serpent Isle), Ev Lunnings (Ultima IX)
A screenshot of Lord British in his castle from Ultima III.
A screenshot of Lord British in his castle from Ultima III.

Lord Cantabrigian British is the name of the ruler of Britannia, kingdom of the fictional world of Sosaria, created by Richard Garriott for his computer game series Ultima. Lord British is also a nickname for Garriott himself. Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from Origin Systems, Inc. ... Ultima I (1986 re-release) on the Commodore 64 Ultima, later known as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness or simply Ultima I, is the first game in the Ultima series of computer role-playing games and was published by California Pacific Computer Co. ... Richard Garriott in Lord British attire Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961; nickname Lord British) is a significant figure in the video game industry. ... Richard Garriott in Lord British attire Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961; nickname Lord British) is a significant figure in the video game industry. ... Ultima VII is the seventh part of the computer role-playing game series Ultima. ... Ultima IX: Ascension (1999) is the ninth and final part of the computer role-playing game series Ultima. ... Ultima 3 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Ultima 3 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Ultima III: Exodus, the third game in the Ultima series. ... Britannia is a fictitious land in the Ultima universe. ... Richard Garriott in Lord British attire Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961; nickname Lord British) is a significant figure in the video game industry. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from Origin Systems, Inc. ...

Contents


Origins

In the real world, Richard Garriott (born in Britain but raised in the United States) acquired the nickname "Lord British" as a teenager from older students in his school who claimed he spoke with a British accent. 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 he has suggested that the character will appear in his new game, Tabula Rasa. Richard Garriott in Lord British attire Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961; nickname Lord British) is a significant figure in the video game industry. ... Received Pronunciation (RP) is a form of pronunciation of the English language, sometimes defined as the educated spoken English of southeastern England. ... In the map view, the player (a +) could visit towns (five squares), dungeons (x), and Lord Britishs castle. ... Released on September 30, 1997, by Origin Systems, Ultima Online (UO) was a popular graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today. ... Origin Systems, Inc. ... Tabula Rasa is an MMORPG from some of the creators of Ultima Online, including Lord British, Richard Garriott. ...


There is some arguments saying that when Garriot attended a computer camp as a child, fellow campers entered his room and said, "Hey," to which he replied, "Hello," saying that only British people said hello, he was nick named "British", the Lord prefix being added during his reigns as Dungeon Master in his Dungeons and Dragons games. In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Dungeon Master (abbreviated as DM) is a selected player who describes the game to the other players. ... The original Dungeons & Dragons set Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) published by Gary Gygax and David Arneson in January 1974. ...


Origins of the Character

Neither the Avatar nor Lord British were born in Sosaria, but came from Earth via the moongates. The name Cantabrigian British is taken from his birthplace's name, Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The name was given to him by his friend Shamino, and later Cantabrigian British decided to leave his old name in favor of the new one. This article is about the Ultima magical device. ... Map of the Cambridgeshire area (1904) The city of Cambridge is an old English university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire. ... Shamino as he appears in Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle Shamino Sallé Dacil, generally referred to only by the first name name Shamino, is a fictional character from the Ultima series of computer role-playing games. ...


When British came to Sosaria, the evil wizard named Mondain was still young. They had an epic battle deep within the labyrinth of dungeons, where British, the "Champion of the White Light", came victorious, driving Mondain away from the kingdom, thus receiving the title of "Lord British, Protector of Akalabeth". Mondain was seeking revenge in Ultima I. The stranger (who would become the Avatar) dealt with Mondain this time, but three-fourths of the world mysteriously disappeared for causes unknown. It has been suggested that Mageborn be merged into this article or section. ... Spoiler warning: Mondain was a fictional evil wizard in the first Ultima game and one of its main villains. ...


Numerous plotlines and side-quests in the Ultima games revolve around one of Lord British's adventures or public works projects. He had a key role in founding the Museum, Conservatory and innumerable institutions of the Britannian society.


In the Ultima series

In the Ultima series, Lord British rules from his throne inside Castle Britannia, and continuously provides healing, resurrection and other miscellaneous help for the Avatar (the main character) and his adventuring party. In the first three Ultima games, British charged a significant sum of money for his services, but would provide them for free from Ultima IV onwards. Ultima is a series of fantasy computer role-playing games from Origin Systems, Inc. ... Healing is the process whereby the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area. ... This article concerns itself with Jewish, Christian , Islamic and other religious interpretations of the concept of the resurrection of the dead. ... The Avatar from Ultima IX: Ascension The Avatar is the main (player) character in the Ultima series of games. ...


Throughout the Ultima series, Lord British never leaves his castle, except for Ultima V, where his absence constitutes the main storyline, and at the end of Ultima VI, when he uses a red moongate to travel to the Isle of the Avatar. Instead, he relies on heroes like the Avatar to go forth and correct the various crises that crop up in Britannia. In Ultima IX, the Guardian comments on this behavior, accusing Lord British of always hiding in his castle while his land suffers. In the climax of the same game, Lord British finally ventures outside the confines of his castle to help the Avatar in a final showdown with Lord Blackthorn. The Guardian from Ultima VII intro The Guardian is the final villain of the Ultima series of computer role playing games. ... In the Ultima game series, Lord Blackthorn (also frequently spelled Blackthorne) is a recurring character that first appears in Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (1988). ...


Assassination of Lord British

The famous incident where Lord British is assassinated in Ultima Online
The famous incident where Lord British is assassinated in Ultima Online

One of the most famous characteristics of Lord British is that he is supposed to be indestructible. In every Ultima game that he has appeared in, he is designed to be unkillable by the player character. However, there are ways for a player "thinking outside the box" to assassinate him. Image File history File linksMetadata UO_LB_assasination. ... Image File history File linksMetadata UO_LB_assasination. ...

  • During an in-game appearance on Ultima Online's beta test on August 8, 1997, a player character known as Rainz cast a spell called "fire field" on Lord British that surprisingly killed him. Shortly afterwards, Rainz's account was banned from the beta test for previously exploiting bugs rather than reporting them (infamously used by his character Aquaman to kill many player characters). According to Origin, he was not banned for the assassination but rather for previous complaints against his account that were brought to light as a result of this attention.
  • In Ultima I and II, Lord British is not really invincible, he simply has a high number of hit points, making it unlikely the player will be able to kill him before he and his guards kill the player. However, if a player is powerful enough (such as towards the end of the game), they should be able to defeat British provided they have the patience to keep hitting him until he dies.
  • In Ultima III, Lord British was invincible in combat. However, he could still be killed by cannonfire from a ship. So, to kill him, all the player had to do was steal one of the Castle's ships, lure British to it (by killing some civilians), then blast him with the cannon until he disintegrated.
  • In Ultima IV, Lord British was more or less invincible. However, a player could cast a spell to create a lava field that damaged Lord British slightly. With enough patience and shuffling back and forth, Lord British could be killed. To expidite this process, have a character engage Lord British in combat so he won't move. Cast the lava field on top of Lord British, then cast lightning fields on the four squares immediately above, below, left and right of him (one lightning field will be cast on top of your engaged character - this is fine). Now move that character off the lightning field. Lord British can no longer move, and will take damage every round. Have all but one party member flee, then <SPACE> to pass turns until he dies (it will take a very long time). It was also possible to damage him enough with the 'Tremor' spell that he would flee, although this requires some luck (depending upon, among other things, what random number of hit points he is assigned when battle begins).
  • In Ultima VI, Lord British was again largely impervious to weapons and magic. However, there were at least three ways in which he could be killed: (a) If the player dragged a poison trap to British's throne, then detonated it, British was poisoned and slowly lost health until he eventually died. (b) While asleep, he could be killed with a glass sword, a powerful weapon that kills nearly everything in one blow and is destroyed in the process. (c) Finally, filling Lord British's throne room with powder kegs, igniting one, and standing clear of the blasts was sufficient to kill him.
  • In Ultima VII, an easter egg allows British to be killed. If the player double-clicks the gold plaque above the castle gate when British is standing directly underneath, the plaque will fall on his head. This was inspired by an incident at the Origin building; a metal bar, where the magnet on door attached to, fell on Garriott's head, warranting a visit to hospital. One of the characters says "Yancey-Hausman will pay!", which is a reference to the owner and landlord of the building. [1] British could also be killed by The Black Sword found in the game's expansion pack, Forge of Virtue.
  • Another easter egg enables the player to kill British in Ultima IX. When the game begins in the Avatar's house, it is possible for the player to cook a loaf of poison bread. If this bread is brought to Britannia and switched with Lord British's regular meal, Lord British will eventually eat it. The poison doesn't kill him, but it does take away his supernatural invincibility, allowing the player to stab him to death.

Also see: Lord Blackthorn Released on September 30, 1997, by Origin Systems, Ultima Online (UO) was a popular graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today. ... Software development stages Development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A player character or playable character (PC) is a fictional character in a game who is controlled or controllable by the player. ... Rainz is the online alias for Ali Shahrooz, a software developer from Indianapolis, Indiana. ... Origin Systems, Inc. ... Ultima I (1986 re-release) on the Commodore 64 Ultima, later known as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness or simply Ultima I, is the first game in the Ultima series of computer role-playing games and was published by California Pacific Computer Co. ... Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress (1982) is the second computer role-playing game in the Ultima series. ... In many wargames, role-playing games, and combat-oriented video games, hit points are an abstraction for the amount of damage an object or player in the game can take before becoming ineffective. ... Ultima III: Exodus, the third game in the Ultima series. ... Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, first released in 1985 (USCO# PA-317-504) for the Apple II, is the fourth in the series of Ultima computer role-playing games. ... Ultima VI: The False Prophet, released in 1990, is the sixth part in the computer role-playing game series of Ultima. ... Ultima VII is the seventh part of the computer role-playing game series Ultima. ... The Black Sword is the name of the sword first featured Ultima VII: The Black Gate, specifically the expansion disk Forge of Virtue. ... An expansion pack is an addition to an existing game. ... Ultima IX: Ascension (1999) is the ninth and final part of the computer role-playing game series Ultima. ... In the Ultima game series, Lord Blackthorn (also frequently spelled Blackthorne) is a recurring character that first appears in Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (1988). ...


  Results from FactBites:
 
Salon.com Technology | The return of Lord British (718 words)
Lord British, immortal sovereign of all Britannia, is sitting on a squeaky chair in my apartment, sipping a glass of water.
Lord British, typically residing on his throne in a jewel-encrusted castle, has been a ubiquitous presence throughout Garriott's line of Ultima fantasy role-playing games, as well as in Ultima Online, the groundbreaking, massively multiplayer role-playing game (or MMRPG) that still enjoys an active membership in the hundreds of thousands.
Lord British was a pseudonym Garriott chose for his own role-playing persona, way back in high school Dungeons & Dragons sessions (shortly before he began creating computer games in his parents' garage), as a nod to his English birth.
Lord British - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (1279 words)
Lord Cantabrigian British is the name of the ruler of Britannia, kingdom of the fictional world of Sosaria, created by Richard Garriott for his computer game series Ultima.
Neither the Avatar nor Lord British were born in Sosaria, but came from Earth via the moongates.
In Ultima III, Lord British was invincible in combat.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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