"Avatar" is a Sanskrit word that usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes. It is often translated into English as "incarnation", meaning the physical incarnation of a divine or higher power. In the modern world the term has picked up a number of other meanings, and is the namesake for many fictional works. Its broadest definition is "some sort of remotely controlled entity which is present in the role of its controller"note . Naturally, that all means there are a lot of different works that use "Avatar" in their names:
- American franchise Avatar: The Last Airbender
- The original series.
- Sequel series Avatar: The Legend of Korra, in international markets. The American title is just The Legend of Korra to avoid conflicting with...
- James Cameron's Avatar, another American franchise.
- Avatar, the 2009 feature film.
- Avatar, the pinball table based on the feature film.
- Avatar: The Way of Water, the 2022 sequel to the 2009 film.
- James Camerons Avatar The Game
- Ultima IV: The Quest of the Avatar, where the player seeks to become "the Avatar," basically their version of Crystal Dragon Jesus. The Player Character is known as the Avatar throughout the series because of it.
- The Avatar, a book by Poul Anderson, which involves a group of explorers commandeering a space freighter. The best-known cover has three characters on the cover—two humans (presumably viewpoint characters Daniel Brodersen and Caitlín Mulryan) and a four-armed alien vaguely resembling a humanoid sea lion (Fidelio).
- Avatar (PLATO), an old Role-Playing Game on a multi-university computer network back in The '70s.
- Avatar, the first book in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Relaunch.
On top of that, there are tropes:
- Author Avatar: The higher being is the author and they have a character in their work that represents him/herself.
- Digital Avatar: The sort you find in games as the Player Character, by way of Cyberpunk (specifically Snow Crash) influence.
- Fighting a Shadow: In general, using an avatar means that if something kills it, what had the avatar doesn't completely die.
- God in Human Form: One of the ways it happens is through an avatar projection. See also A Form You Are Comfortable With. As mentioned above, examples from certain mythologies are the Trope Namer.
