The big question is, how much does an avatar represent the real you, or how you would like to be seen online?
Some folks use an avatar to describe their interests. Other folks use an avatar to describe themselves. Still others use avatars to represent the whim of the moment. Folks come to think of the avatar when they think of the person, and the person when they think of or see the avatar. A lot of times, however, the picture in the avatar doesn't represent how folks think of the person. Oerwind would be an excpetion, since he's so thoroughly focused on... dammit... you know, the robot cartoon. Anyhow, he's an exception that proves the rule.