A marvelous word. avatar. Consider these different takes on its essence:
Avatar Wikipedia
...a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means 'descent'. It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth.
Avatar (computing) Wikipedia
In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user, the user's character, or persona... adopted by early computer games and science fiction novelists. Richard Garriott extended the term to an on-screen user representation in 1985, and the term gained wider adoption in Internet forums and MUDs... They can take the form of an image of one's real-life self, as often seen on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, or a virtual character that diverges from the real world... Users can employ avatars with fictional characteristics to gain social acceptance or ease social interaction. However, studies have found that the majority of users choose avatars that resemble their real-world selves....The use of avatar to mean online virtual bodies was popularised by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 cyberpunk novel Snow Crash. In Snow Crash, the term avatar was used to describe the virtual simulation of the human form in the Metaverse, a fictional virtual-reality application on the Internet.
...An avatar can refer to a two-dimensional picture akin to an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. This is also known as a profile picture or userpic, or in early Internet parlance, a 'picon' (personal icon).
...Avatars can be used as virtual embodiments of embodied agents, which are driven more or less by artificial intelligence rather than real people. Automated online assistants are examples of avatars used in this way.
Online dictionaries:
Merriam-Webster: ...an electronic image (as in a video game) that represents and may be manipulated by a computer user...Oxford Languages: (1)...a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth; an incarnate divine teacher. (2) an icon or figure representing a particular person in video games, internet forums, etc... (3) an incarnation, embodiment, or manifestation of a person or idea
Britannica: ...someone who represents a type of person, an idea, or view of life...
Collins: ...any incarnation or embodiment, as of a quality or concept in a person
Google AI overview: ...multiple meanings, including a person who represents an idea or quality, or a cartoon character that represents a person in digital space
vocabulary.com: ...something that embodies something else
dictionary.com: ...an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life; ...Digital Technology. a static or moving image or other graphic representation that acts as a proxy for a person or is associated with a specific digital account or identity, as on the internet; ...(in science fiction) a hybrid creature, composed of human and alien DNA and remotely controlled by the mind of a genetically matched human being.
...Today, when people use the term "avatar," they generally mean a direct divine incarnation—a being who does not take birth out of any personal karma, but who is the Divine itself, manifesting to take care of the needs of humanity......The extent to which the word "avatar" has been devalued is best revealed by an organization in the United States that trains people to become "avatars," giving them their own "avatar number" when they complete a course. This group has additional training to turn people into avatar masters, who are then certified to train other people to become avatars. Exactly what "avatar" means to them is best revealed by a third training course, which claims to turn avatar masters into wizards. Thus, an avatar is only an understudy for a wizard! While this can be dismissed as advertising hype, it does show how much confusion abounds around the concept of avatar.
...You might be wondering, "But how will my avatar help me make decisions if they're just a definition of a person, and not someone who I can actually call on the phone and talk to?"While your avatar might start out as written words on a page, once you've defined them, you can actually go out and find them — talk to them, ask them questions — and figure out whether or not they truly are your perfect customer.
Because they are absolutely real — you just have to go out and find them now.
Some of us have sought or created or embraced our own avatars, raising them to the status of alter egos. Mine (each with backstory) include