William Dunbar

William Dunbar is one of the main characters from the Code Lyoko series.

A transfer student exiled to Kadic Academy in Season 2 for spamming love notes. His primary function during the first half of his tenure is to act as a romantic false lead for Yumi and lampshade Ulrich's inability to spit it out in the process. William's assistance in foiling several of XANA's schemes on the real-world side proves critical in Season 3, though, and after he confides to the Team that he is starting to dream about elements of his adventures that should have been erased with the return to the past, the Lyoko Warriors reluctantly (but unanimously) take him on as their newest member.

In the AWA fics, William is listed as a purchased prisoner from the Slave Fortress.

Appearance
William has a messy, bluish-black hair and has black-colored eyes.

Personality
William has a strong personality. Being a fighter, he doesn't hesitate to let things get messy with Ulrich when he provokes him in A Bad Turn. He says that love can drive him crazy, and it's true, because he jumps at the chance to go out at night, against the rules, to visit Yumi. He's a hopeless optimist; he continues to follow Yumi even when she seems to be fed up with him, but unfortunately for the group, he is also extremely curious.

He is sometimes childish; the best example of this is in Final Round. In these cases, his immature side is clearly seen, but this aspect of William is also obviously present in his provoking side.

But his strong point, which catches the group's attention, is that he is really brave. In Lyoko Minus One and The Secret, he fights against his entire possessed class and a construction worker who is also under X.A.N.A.'s possession, respectively. He manages to disarm a bomb with seven seconds to spare. William also has great mental strength. In the whole series, he is the only person who has managed to fight X.A.N.A.'s influence in The Lake. So, prowess is a word that can be attributed to William's character, but it's not the only one; he's also very frank and doesn't mince his words. He's also serious, but some of his actions are ridiculous. For instance, his puerile reaction during his first virtualization as wells as his repeated flirting attempts.

There is a universal trait among all the character's good and bad qualities: he is persevering. In the end, however, this is what makes him touching: when he became himself again, the heroes rejected him tactlessly in Fight to the Finish, and yet he still wanted to lend a hand if they needed it. That is why, although William can be blamed for many things, there are still some good parts to him.

Abilities
William wields a big sword called Zweihänder. Its name literally means "Two-Hander" in German. Traditionally, Zweihänders are wielded with two hands due to their great weight. Evidence of the sword's weight can be found in the episode Final Round, when William attempted to hold it with one hand and then dropped it. His sword also fires energy slashes when he swings it.

Current Power

 * Super Smoke: An ability much like Ulrich's Super Sprint, but instead of simply running at speed, William turns into smoke to pass away from people, monsters, or other things. The black smoke can suspend other people in a paralyzed state. He still has this power in Evolution. Since he has no vehicle, this is his only transportation.

Former Abilities

 * Second View: The ability to see much farther away in the same sector. This is was only available while under the control of X.A.N.A.
 * Levitation: An ability that allows him to levitate by holding his Zweihänder by both hands and pointing downward. Only available under the control of X.A.N.A.
 * Tower Control: Ability to activate a tower for X.A.N.A., from the inside or outside. This mimics Aelita's power and it is possible X.A.N.A. allowed him to use a version of the Annex Program. Only available under the control of X.A.N.A.

Vehicle

 * Black Manta (Formerly) - A unique Manta for William to ride on as a vehicle.
 * Rorkal (Formerly) - A virtual ship like a Nav Skid created for William, but he was given a black, independent one by X.A.N.A, who made it by using the data it had stolen from the Skidbladnir in The Lake.
 * Nav Skid - One of the Skidbladnir's minimum-sized fighting ships. In the original Skid, there was one more which was probably meant for William. After he rejoined the team, he got one for himself in the new Skid.

Trivia

 * In the French version of Code Lyoko, he is played by Mathieu Moreau. In European Portuguese, he was played by Quimbé.
 * William only makes a cameo in the Code Lyoko novels.
 * X.A.N.A. likely chose to possess William because it saw the most potential in him as a weapon out of all the other Lyoko Warriors due to his recklessness and inability to resist it.
 * While possessed by X.A.N.A. in Lyoko, William's sword's appearance changes, similar to the black and white parts of a tower on Lyoko.
 * On Lyoko, William's form is a Doppelsöldner. Doppelsöldners were specific types of mercenaries who volunteer to fight, which means to take on extra risks. In exchange, they earned double payment. Interestingly, they also used the Zweihänders.
 * William's sword is a specific type of Zweihänder called "schweren Schlag" (literally "heavy blow" in German). It is a type of Zweihänder that has a heavier bass blade, spanning the entire hilt. Normal Zweihänders weight around 15 kg, while the schweren Schlag is between 30 kg and 45 kg. This may be why William cannot wield his sword in one hand, as most fighting styles can utilize this.
 * William's original Lyoko avatar's design bears resemblance to Mister Pück's outfit.
 * He was the first character to receive a new, more modern/futuristic outfit in Jeremie's upgrade, although William's was given to him by X.A.N.A.
 * He was the only character to obtain a X.A.N.A. suit (unless one counts the polymorphic clone from Revelation who shape-shifted into an evil version of Ulrich).
 * Despite the possibility of X.A.N.A. using the Scyphozoa to possess Ulrich's temporarily uninhabited body in Nobody in Particular after his brain got separated from it, William is the only male member of the Lyoko Warriors who has been a victim of the Scyphozoa's attacks.
 * In A Bad Turn, William reveals that he participates in a go-kart club, and extends an invitation to Ulrich to join, which he accepts. This club is never mentioned again after this episode.
 * In Vertigo, it is revealed that William is afraid of spiders. Ironically, during his time as a slave of X.A.N.A., in episodes like Lab Rat and Dog Day Afternoon, he is shown riding on Tarantulas that resemble spiders.
 * There was an unused Nav Skid on the Skidbladnir when it was created. It was, most likely, intended to be used by William in case he was freed from X.A.N.A.'s control. Once freed, he is seen in his own Nav Skid in The Warrior Awakens.
 * He was the last person in the real world to be possessed by X.A.N.A., before Code Lyoko Evolution, though he still remains the last one as there haven't been any new human-possessions yet.
 * In Final Round, he began to glow purple under X.A.N.A.'s control when he ran extremely fast or levitated. Later in the series, he just uses his Super Smoke ability to accelerate.
 * Odd's laser arrows cannot hurt William while he using his Super Smoke, as seen in Bragging Rights.
 * In Double Trouble, William confesses to Yumi that he recalls the events from The Secret in a dream, despite those events never happening due to a return to the past. The reason for this has never been explored in the series.
 * However, a logical reason could be that the return to the past can cause Déjà Vu to those who haven't been scanned by the Supercomputer.
 * It is possible that William dislikes chemistry class; this is said in Ultimatum as he tells Odd, "Lucky you, we got chemistry."
 * In Season 3, it is strongly indicated that William likes to pull pranks on Jim.
 * So far, he is the only Lyoko Warrior with two battle themes.
 * When William was repossessed by X.A.N.A. in Fight to the Finish, it shows that he doesn't have resistance to X.A.N.A. like the others do.
 * X.A.N.A. easily repossessing him would make sense considering how he only went to Lyoko once and was possessed for the entire fourth season, as it was revealed in Mister Pück that spectres are useless to possess anyone who has been sent to Lyoko and back multiple times. Or that the Scyphozoa somehow took away whatever it is that made him immune to possession as it has been shown the Scyphozoa can do much more than just possess, it can take away digital DNA (as shown in Missing Link when it attacked Yumi), memories (as seen in Season 2), the Keys to Lyoko (as seen in The Key), or life energy (as shown in The Key when Aelita died after the Scyphozoa attacked her).
 * William was the only Lyoko Warrior in Code Lyoko Evolution who didn't have X.A.N.A.'s Source Codes, until Odd had all of his codes taken away in The Codeless.
 * Other than Aelita being shown to land on her feet when being virtualized in a flashback in Aelita, William was the only Lyoko Warrior to land on his feet when first being virtualized.
 * In Evolution, William no longer yells out "Super Smoke" when he uses it.
 * He is the only one to have immediately devirtualized the real Ulrich when Ulrich used his Triplicate ability, as shown in Double Take.
 * William and Laura are the only Lyoko Warriors who never made an appearance in Season 1.
 * Aside from Laura, since she was never virtualized, William is the only Lyoko Warrior who has never been to the Virtual Limbo.
 * In the Evolution episode Mutiny, it is revealed that he is afraid of being repossessed by X.A.N.A.. This can be seen when he frantically asks Laura to devirtualize him (and almost did it himself) as soon as he sees the Scyphozoa.
 * There are several real people named William Dunbar: A Scottish parliament member, a US representative from Louisiana, a scientist, a songwriter, a Cholera researcher, and a missionary.