A holographic avatar is a digital representation of a person in the virtual world of the holoband.
Playable Avatars[edit]
Avatars are created by scanning devices upon purchasing a holoband headset, although avatars can be altered so that they don't represent the user's physical appearance. Such is the case with Emmanuelle, an avatar used by Evelyn (CAP: "End of Line"), as well as Tad Thorean who steals Chiron's avatar code with a V-world stealing device for the purposes of pilfering Chiron's New Cap City in-world currency (CAP: "There is Another Sky").
Non-Playable Avatars[edit]
Non-playable avatars, those of pure code but otherwise automated, can also take on the appearance of real-life persons. Users who buy a holoband are greeted by a virtual Daniel Graystone in a tutorial program, thus allowing users to get acclimated (CAP: "Pilot"). Odin Sinclair virtually fornicates with a non-playable avatar Lacy Rand (CAP: "The Heavens Will Rise").
Sentient Avatars[edit]
While a majority of avatars are controlled by a user in the real world, Zoe Graystone, who inherited her father Daniel Graystone's brilliant computer skills, found a way to create a fully sentient online holographic avatar of herself, Zoe-A, with all of her memories and experiences―essentially a twin who existed only in cyberspace and could interact with Zoe's separate representation there (CAP: "Pilot", "Rebirth" and "Things We Lock Away"). After her death in a suicide bombing caused by her boyfriend, Ben Stark, Zoe-A is uploaded by Daniel Graystone into a robot body, the first Cylon, known as Zoe-R. Zoe's program is also used by Daniel Graystone to create Tamara-A, an avatar of Tamara Adama, who died in the same bombing, due to Daniel Graystone's collaboration with Tamara's father Joseph Adama (CAP: "Pilot").
Clarice Willow, in concert with her two husbands Nestor and Olaf, are inspired by this, prompting Clarice to advance her plan of Apotheosis via Zoe's program (CAP: "Unvanquished", "Blowback" and "Apotheosis"). This digital afterlife fails as Zoe-A destroys the construct during the events of the Battle of Atlas Arena (CAP: "Apotheosis").
Derezzing and V-Death[edit]
When a person leaves the virtual world their avatar will "derez," removing that person's presence in the virtual world. Avatars can also derez due to a number of other factors such as timing out from inactivity, or due to extreme pain from various causes, such as being shot or knifed. Two types of derezzing exist: one voluntary, and one counting as a "kill." For those playing New Cap City, the death of their avatar in V-world permanently bans them from the game, effectively making them dead in a digital sense.
The only known exceptions to this are Tamara-A and Zoe-A, who will heal over time when shot, but do appear to "bleed" and experience pain when shot. Additionally, any wounds that they acquire appear to display the images from the datastream in place of flesh, further emphasizing their virtual nature. Tamara discovers this after being shot by Chiron while examining herself in a New Cap City apartment (CAP: "There is Another Sky" and "Things We Lock Away").