No, I don't mean the blue people.
Or the amazingly cheesy anime series involving Ang, the last airbender.
I don't mean your RPG characters or the icon on your yahoo page either.
I mean the root for these uses of the word; a hindu gods' phyisical form on earth.
Most often the term refers to manifestations of Vishnu, the supreme God, coming to restore the earth to it's natural order. With that in mind you can see how the blue people movie got its title. A story about restoring the earth to ballence. Characters manifest themselves in a new form in order to inhabit the planet.
The Last Airbender probably follows the root the closest. Ang is the Avator of his world, incarnated in the form of a boy to restore ballance to the world.
Even RPG characters have some remnant of the root left. When the god Ganesha manifests on earth he is said to destroy demons.
As for yahoo . . . well it's representing you in the world of the internet where you, like the hindu gods, can't exist in your current form, but I don't know if forwarding those cat pictures to everyong you know really counts as restoring ballence to the universe.
p.s. It is not April Fools. Do not be warned of the coming mayem the day will bring.
An avatar is an amazing idea. I loved both movies you mentioned too :)
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a really interesting month and if I'm not careful I might actually learn a thing or two. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat start!
ha! Can't wait to see what's next :)
ReplyDeleteWell, the term when used for RPG characters, as far as I know, is also in reference to the character being an avatar for the player. The manifestation of the player in the virtual world.
ReplyDeleteNow that's thought-provoking. When you think about what "avatar" really means, our use of the term as electronic representations of ourselves sounds just a teensy bit presumptuous!
ReplyDeleteI keep learning new things on almost every blog I click on. I am a new follower from the challenge. This was an interesting topic (and I thought you meant the movie)lol.
ReplyDeleteJudging by your bio, Day M is going to be terrifically breezy for you!
ReplyDeleteStopping by to check in on another A to Z'er. :) And I learned something during my stay! Thanks for a great blog, I'll be back to check on your B's. Hope you'll swing by my place for a visit, too!