Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny is the fifth game in the series and the second installment of the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy. It was published and released in 1988 by Origin initially for the Apple II, C64 and IBM-PC. Ports for the Amiga and Atari ST followed in 1989 and 1990, respectively, with a final port for the NES in 1993.

The game was a considerable leap forward from Ultima IV and marked the beginning of complex storytelling in the series. The land of Britannia grew larger in scope with the addition of many new locations, important items and a sprawling subterranean underworld in supplement to the already established dungeons. Also featured was a complete day/night cycle with all world inhabitants following a schedule to match, while dialogue reached new levels of depth to progress a grim, multi-faceted story. The soundtrack maintained the benchmark set by earlier titles while visuals advanced noticeably in color and complexity -- particularly dwellings, cities and castles were now more robustly detailed with furnishings and other incidental items, while dungeons became far more vivid in presentation.

The main theme of the game deals clearly with fundamentalism and moral absolutism (turning Virtue into law).

This game marks the first time the runic alphabet is extensively used, forcing the player to frequently self-translate signs, decrees, etc.