William Dunbar
William at Kadic.
First appearance	"New Order"
Portrayed by	David Gasman (English)
Information
Age	14
Occupation	Junior high school student, Lyoko Warrior, Xana's Servant
Family	James Dunbar (father)

William Dunbar (voiced by David Gasman in the English version) is a character in the animated television series Code Lyoko.

Character outline

William is first introduced in the second season as a new student at Kadic Junior High School, having been kicked out from his previous school for plastering love letters everywhere. William serves as a foil for Ulrich Stern, both in his attraction to Yumi Ishiyama who appears to return his affections early on, much to Ulrich's chagrin, and his later appearance as one of the warriors on Lyoko. Unlike Ulrich, he is more outspoken, especially to Jim, and exhibits his love of Yumi unlike the quieter and closely guarded Ulrich. As another parallel to Ulrich, William has exhibited common sense and ability to take charge in dangerous situations, like in the episode "Attack of the Zombies".

Synopsis

Throughout the second season, William's attention is mainly focused on Yumi, as he is attracted to her just as much as Ulrich is and isn't afraid to show it. However, he also realizes that mutual attraction Ulrich and Yumi hold for each other, and attempts to convince Ulrich to act on it at one point, the motivation being that he'll do so if Ulrich does not. This continues into the third season, at which point Yumi is simply tired of his advances.

William eventually becomes the fifth Lyoko warrior, having proving himself helpful in "The Secret" by disarming a bomb. However, William was not made part of the group in that episode due to Yumi's distrust of him. It is only when they realize that they need more help fighting Xana that she relents, as Xana's systematic destruction of Lyoko's sectors has been completed by this point. However, William's experience on Lyoko is short-lived. During the first attack with him as part of the group, he and Aelita are forced to go to Lyoko on their own. Xana takes advantage of this and has the Scyphozoa possess William, since William doesn't consider it a threat despite Jeremie's urging. Xana then uses him to destroy Carthage. In doing so, William is transformed into an avatar of sorts for Xana, becoming completely possessed and even more dangerous. From the fourth season on, William seems to take the place of the Scyphozoa, arriving to force Aelita into the digital sea.

Like anything else possessed by Xana, William speaks with a distorted secondary voice carried behind his regular one. Despite his current situation, it is made clear in "The Lake" that William's personality is still somewhere within his evil self, as Yumi is able to remind him, however temporarily, of his promise to fight against Xana (this was only hinted in previous episodes).

To keep the school from noticing William's absence, Jeremie Belpois creates a digital clone of him to take his place at Kadic. Unlike the real William, the clone is rather dense, confusing "democracy" for a person and making other nonsensical statements. Since his existence is maintained by a tower, the clone is also vulnerable to being taken over by Xana, though Jeremie has taken steps to prevent this from happening. Like any clone created by the supercomputer, the William clone possesses enhanced strength and speed. Though his intelligence is low, he begins learning in "A Lack of Goodwill" from an upgrade installed by Jeremie. Though Jeremie removes the program by episode's end, he notes that the personality programs governing the clone are those that were originally developed by Franz Hopper, and may have created Xana's personality.

Powers and abilities

William in Lyoko.

William after Lyoko's destruction.

In his short normal appearance in "Final Round", William's Lyoko attire consists of a white and blue form-fitting body suit. After becoming fully possessed by Xana, William's color scheme is changed to an all-black outfit with red outlines and the eye of Xana on his forehead and chest, as opposed to his eyes. He also gains a spiked gauntlet on his left arm capable of blocking attacks.

William's primary weapon on Lyoko is a large white blade as tall as he is, resembling an oversized cleaver. Like Ulrich's sword, it can absorb and deflect lasers. The sword is apparently heavy enough that it can't be wielded one-handed, at least not easily, and can damage the terrain through sheer force. In comparison to the more subtle attack styles of the other Lyoko warriors, William merely uses brute force to destroy everything in his path. Under Xana's control, William demonstrates the ability to fire energy blasts from the sword by charging and swinging it. He has also demonstrated the ability to absorb and fire back Aelita's energy field attacks. William's Xana-themed sword features the eye of Xana on either side and black vines creeping up the blade from the sword's hilt. William forms the sword out of smoke and can reduce it to such at will, and can also call it back to himself if they are separated. The eye glows when struck or if William calls the sword. William can also wield the sword with greater ease than he previously demonstrated.

William initially displays no unique powers on his own, but when first possessed by Xana he displays ability similar to Ulrich's Super Sprint, and can also hover, the latter of which his new form retains. However, it is unclear if these were his own powers or if they were granted by Xana. Once fully possessed, William has several new powers with a predominant smoke theme to them (reflecting Xana's use of smoke-like ghosts in the real world), in addition to retaining those powers he exhibits in his original form. William can fire balls of smoke for a variety of purposes, such as restraining a target or tripping them. He can reduce himself to smoke, which he calls "Super Smoke", and travel at speeds rivaling Ulrich's Super Sprint ability, though he needs to stop and reform to attack. William also has the ability to see great distances on Lyoko in a manner similar to the effect used for Odd's Future Flash (without actually seeing into the future).

William has an unusual resistance to damage on Lyoko, being able to survive multiple attacks that would devirtualize any regular monster or warrior. He can survive hits from Odd and Aelita's projectile weapons, as well as indirect impacts from Ulrich and Yumi's slicing fans. Only direct attacks are capable of successfully dispatching him. In addition, he doesn't devirtualize in such situations. Instead, he explodes into a cloud of glowing red-black smoke. Also, unlike normal enemies, William is capable of phasing through Xana's towers. When he enters them, the ripples glow red instead of white. He can also enter "Code Xana" into the Replika towers, allowing Xana to take them over.

As William is working under Xana's command, William can also order Xana's monsters to do his bidding. He even has his own personal Manta, which is colored black instead of the standard blue and has intricate markings along its wings. Though it doesn't seem to be any more durable than a normal monster, William can control it through his smoke abilities (creating makeshift reins) and use it as a vehicle. For travel in the digital sea, William has his own version of a NavSkid, called a Rorkal. His version is less hydrodynamic but otherwise the same.

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