Abstract: The term avatar is frequently deployed in both casual and scholarly discussions of video games, but its ubiquity belies the avatar’s potential complexity. Focusing on Grand Theft Auto V, Harrison Gish examines the range of aesthetic and functional customizations possible in this controversial crime epic, arguing that avatars embody a self-determined, dynamic incorporation of the player within the game world, existing in tension with the game’s narrative, spatiality, rules, and design limitations.