As a loyal RPG fan, I’ve had countless digital avatars over the years. It’s crazy to think about how fast the trend of digital avatars has grown in the past decades. Now, it feels like every game has some kind of marketplace for character skins or outfits, and despite being nothing more than data, some of these skins sell for anywhere from ten to fifty bucks. If you told someone twenty years ago that they’d be spending $10 just to change how their character looks in a game, they’d probably laugh and think it was ridiculous. But here we are, and more and more people are willing to spend money to make their characters look unique or even stand out from the crowd.

This phenomenon isn’t just a trend—it’s become a major part of the gaming industry. The roots of this can be traced back to games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy, where people started to value not only their characters’ skills and abilities but also how they appeared in the game. Fast forward to today, and we have platforms like VRChat, where entire social interactions revolve around your avatar’s appearance. This surge in digital avatars has opened up whole new industries and business opportunities. Just like in the real world, things that people buy and use in the physical space can be sold again in the virtual world—whether it’s clothing, accessories, or even real estate in some metaverse-like platforms. It’s become a new frontier for people to express themselves, make connections, and even build virtual businesses. 

And I think one of the coolest things about this digital world is that it’s not limited by geography. In VRChat, for example, you can meet people from all over the world who speak all kinds of languages. It’s a space where people can come together without the usual physical boundaries, making it a powerful platform for global interaction, allowing people to break away from their real-world limitations. In these virtual spaces, you can become anything you want. You can choose to represent yourself however you see fit, which can be incredibly liberating for a lot of people. Whether it’s a reflection of your personality or an escape from your everyday life, digital avatars give you the freedom to create your ideal self.

As for my own digital avatars, I’ve spent plenty of time crafting them over the years. The screenshots below are my digital avatars in the fantasy RPGs I play. I tend to make my avatars as flashy as possible, but I won’t limit my digital gender. I’ve created both male and female avatars, but I find myself having female avatars more often. It feels more fitting for me and aligned with who I am in these worlds. It’s like a reflection of how I see myself in these digital spaces, where I can express a side of me that feels more authentic. But for other people, it might be completely opposite. They would like to make them look completely different from their real-world lives. This evolution of digital avatars has been fascinating to watch, and I’m excited to see where this trend goes next.