diff --git a/sc2/build/msvc6/UrQuanMasters.dsp b/sc2/build/msvc6/UrQuanMasters.dsp
index d2f77d285..fa7d0bba0 100644
--- a/sc2/build/msvc6/UrQuanMasters.dsp
+++ b/sc2/build/msvc6/UrQuanMasters.dsp
@@ -1568,6 +1568,10 @@ SOURCE=..\..\src\libs\uio.h
 # End Source File
 # Begin Source File
 
+SOURCE=..\..\src\libs\unicode.h
+# End Source File
+# Begin Source File
+
 SOURCE=..\..\src\libs\vidlib.h
 # End Source File
 # End Group
diff --git a/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.c b/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.c
index 0d1bc2c80..2d263e20b 100644
--- a/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.c
+++ b/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.c
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include "libs/log.h"
 
 extern void FixContextFontEffect (void);
-static inline TFB_Char *getCharFrame (FONT_DESC *fontPtr, wchar_t ch);
+static inline TFB_Char *getCharFrame (FONT_DESC *fontPtr, UniChar ch);
 
 
 FONT
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ TextRect (TEXT *lpText, RECT *pRect, BYTE *pdelta)
 	{
 		COORD top_y, bot_y;
 		SIZE width;
-		wchar_t next_ch;
+		UniChar next_ch;
 		const unsigned char *pStr;
 		COUNT num_chars;
 	
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ TextRect (TEXT *lpText, RECT *pRect, BYTE *pdelta)
 		}
 		while (num_chars--)
 		{
-			wchar_t ch;
+			UniChar ch;
 			SIZE last_width;
 			TFB_Char *charFrame;
 
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ _text_blt (RECT *pClipRect, PRIMITIVE *PrimPtr)
 	FONT FontPtr;
 
 	COUNT num_chars;
-	wchar_t next_ch;
+	UniChar next_ch;
 	const unsigned char *pStr;
 	TEXT *TextPtr;
 	POINT origin;
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ _text_blt (RECT *pClipRect, PRIMITIVE *PrimPtr)
 		num_chars = 0;
 	while (num_chars--)
 	{
-		wchar_t ch;
+		UniChar ch;
 		TFB_Char* fontChar;
 
 		ch = next_ch;
@@ -295,9 +295,9 @@ _text_blt (RECT *pClipRect, PRIMITIVE *PrimPtr)
 }
 
 static inline TFB_Char *
-getCharFrame (FONT_DESC *fontPtr, wchar_t ch)
+getCharFrame (FONT_DESC *fontPtr, UniChar ch)
 {
-	wchar_t pageStart = ch & CHARACTER_PAGE_MASK;
+	UniChar pageStart = ch & CHARACTER_PAGE_MASK;
 	size_t charIndex;
 
 	FONT_PAGE *page = fontPtr->fontPages;
diff --git a/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.h b/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.h
index e1152beae..9adddc6c4 100644
--- a/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.h
+++ b/sc2/src/libs/graphics/font.h
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@
 typedef struct FontPage
 {
 	struct FontPage *next;
-	wchar_t pageStart;
+	UniChar pageStart;
 #define CHARACTER_PAGE_MASK 0xff800
-	wchar_t firstChar;
+	UniChar firstChar;
 	size_t numChars;
 	TFB_Char *charDesc;
 } FONT_PAGE;
diff --git a/sc2/src/libs/graphics/sdl/3do_getbody.c b/sc2/src/libs/graphics/sdl/3do_getbody.c
index 41455a8ff..22f8a3bff 100644
--- a/sc2/src/libs/graphics/sdl/3do_getbody.c
+++ b/sc2/src/libs/graphics/sdl/3do_getbody.c
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ _ReleaseCelData (void *handle)
 
 typedef struct BuildCharDesc {
 	SDL_Surface *surface;
-	wchar_t index;
+	UniChar index;
 } BuildCharDesc;
 
 int
diff --git a/sc2/src/libs/inplib.h b/sc2/src/libs/inplib.h
index 5669281b7..08bb0d1a2 100644
--- a/sc2/src/libs/inplib.h
+++ b/sc2/src/libs/inplib.h
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include "libs/compiler.h"
 #include "libs/uio.h"
+#include "libs/unicode.h"
 
 
 extern BOOLEAN AnyButtonPress (BOOLEAN DetectSpecial);
@@ -43,8 +44,8 @@ extern volatile int GameActive;
 
 void EnterCharacterMode (void);
 void ExitCharacterMode (void);
-wchar_t GetNextCharacter (void);
-wchar_t GetLastCharacter (void);
+UniChar GetNextCharacter (void);
+UniChar GetLastCharacter (void);
 
 /* Interrogating the current key configuration */
 
diff --git a/sc2/src/libs/input/sdl/input.c b/sc2/src/libs/input/sdl/input.c
index 2df4f84ba..809419a91 100644
--- a/sc2/src/libs/input/sdl/input.c
+++ b/sc2/src/libs/input/sdl/input.c
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@
 
 #define KBDBUFSIZE (1 << 8)
 static int kbdhead=0, kbdtail=0;
-static wchar_t kbdbuf[KBDBUFSIZE];
-static wchar_t lastchar;
+static UniChar kbdbuf[KBDBUFSIZE];
+static UniChar lastchar;
 static int num_keys = 0;
 static int *kbdstate = NULL;
 		// Holds all SDL keys +1 for holding invalid values
@@ -291,10 +291,10 @@ ExitCharacterMode (void)
 	lastchar = 0;
 }
 
-wchar_t
+UniChar
 GetNextCharacter (void)
 {
-	wchar_t result;
+	UniChar result;
 	if (kbdhead == kbdtail)
 		return 0;
 	result = kbdbuf[kbdhead];
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ GetNextCharacter (void)
 	return result;
 }	
 
-wchar_t
+UniChar
 GetLastCharacter (void)
 {
 	return lastchar;
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ ProcessInputEvent (const SDL_Event *Event)
 	if (Event->type == SDL_KEYDOWN || Event->type == SDL_KEYUP)
 	{	// process character input event, if any
 		SDLKey k = Event->key.keysym.sym;
-		wchar_t map_key = Event->key.keysym.unicode;
+		UniChar map_key = Event->key.keysym.unicode;
 
 		if (k < 0 || k > num_keys)
 			k = num_keys; // for unknown keys
diff --git a/sc2/src/libs/strings/unicode.c b/sc2/src/libs/strings/unicode.c
index b82430668..bf754b972 100644
--- a/sc2/src/libs/strings/unicode.c
+++ b/sc2/src/libs/strings/unicode.c
@@ -36,9 +36,9 @@ resyncUTF8(const unsigned char **ptr) {
 // Returns 0 if the encoding is bad. This can be distinguished from the
 // '\0' character by checking whether **ptr == '\0' before calling this
 // function.
-wchar_t
+UniChar
 getCharFromString(const unsigned char **ptr) {
-	wchar_t result;
+	UniChar result;
 
 	if (**ptr < 0x80) {
 		// 0xxxxxxx, regular ASCII
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ err:
 	return 0;
 }
 
-wchar_t
+UniChar
 getCharFromStringN(const unsigned char **ptr, const unsigned char *end) {
 	size_t numBytes;
 
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ getLineFromString(const unsigned char *start, const unsigned char **end,
 		const unsigned char **startNext) {
 	const unsigned char *ptr = start;
 	const unsigned char *lastPtr;
-	wchar_t ch;
+	UniChar ch;
 
 	// Search for the first newline.
 	for (;;) {
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ getLineFromString(const unsigned char *start, const unsigned char **end,
 size_t
 utf8StringCount(const unsigned char *start) {
 	size_t count = 0;
-	wchar_t ch;
+	UniChar ch;
 
 	for (;;) {
 		ch = getCharFromString(&start);
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ utf8StringCount(const unsigned char *start) {
 size_t
 utf8StringCountN(const unsigned char *start, const unsigned char *end) {
 	size_t count = 0;
-	wchar_t ch;
+	UniChar ch;
 
 	for (;;) {
 		ch = getCharFromStringN(&start, end);
@@ -238,11 +238,11 @@ utf8StringCountN(const unsigned char *start, const unsigned char *end) {
 	}
 }
 
-// Locates a wide char (ch) in a UTF-8 string (pStr)
+// Locates a unicode character (ch) in a UTF-8 string (pStr)
 // returns the char positions when found
 //  -1 when not found
 int
-utf8StringPos (const unsigned char *pStr, wchar_t ch)
+utf8StringPos (const unsigned char *pStr, UniChar ch)
 {
 	int pos;
  
@@ -278,9 +278,9 @@ int
 utf8StringCompare (const unsigned char *str1, const unsigned char *str2)
 {
 #if 0
-	// wchar_t comparing version
-	wchar_t ch1;
-	wchar_t ch2;
+	// UniChar comparing version
+	UniChar ch1;
+	UniChar ch2;
 
 	for (;;)
 	{
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ utf8StringCompare (const unsigned char *str1, const unsigned char *str2)
 
 unsigned char *
 skipUTF8Chars(const unsigned char *ptr, size_t num) {
-	wchar_t ch;
+	UniChar ch;
 	const unsigned char *oldPtr;
 
 	while (num--) {
@@ -333,16 +333,16 @@ skipUTF8Chars(const unsigned char *ptr, size_t num) {
 	return (unsigned char *) ptr;
 }
 
-// Decodes a UTF-8 string (start) into a wide char string (wstr)
+// Decodes a UTF-8 string (start) into a unicode character string (wstr)
 // returns number of chars decoded and stored, not counting 0-term
 // any chars that do not fit are truncated
 // wide string term 0 is always appended, unless the destination
 // buffer is 0 chars long
 size_t
-getWideFromStringN(wchar_t *wstr, size_t maxcount,
+getUniCharFromStringN(UniChar *wstr, size_t maxcount,
 		const unsigned char *start, const unsigned char *end)
 {
-	wchar_t *next;
+	UniChar *next;
 
 	if (maxcount == 0)
 		return 0;
@@ -366,9 +366,10 @@ getWideFromStringN(wchar_t *wstr, size_t maxcount,
 //  the only difference is that the source string (start) length is
 //  calculated by searching for 0-term
 size_t
-getWideFromString(wchar_t *wstr, size_t maxcount, const unsigned char *start)
+getUniCharFromString(UniChar *wstr, size_t maxcount,
+		const unsigned char *start)
 {
-	wchar_t *next;
+	UniChar *next;
 
 	if (maxcount == 0)
 		return 0;
@@ -394,12 +395,12 @@ getWideFromString(wchar_t *wstr, size_t maxcount, const unsigned char *start)
 //  <0 : negative of bytes needed if buffer too small
 // string term '\0' is *not* appended or counted
 int
-getStringFromChar(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, wchar_t ch)
+getStringFromChar(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, UniChar ch)
 {
 	int i;
 	static const struct range_def
 	{
-		wchar_t lim;
+		UniChar lim;
 		int marker;
 		int mask;
 	}
@@ -420,8 +421,8 @@ getStringFromChar(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, wchar_t ch)
 		;
 	if (def->mask == 0)
 	{	// invalid or unsupported char
-		log_add(log_Warning, "Warning: Invalid or unsupported wide char (%lu)",
-				(unsigned long)ch);
+		log_add(log_Warning, "Warning: Invalid or unsupported unicode "
+				"char (%lu)", (unsigned long) ch);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -454,7 +455,7 @@ getStringFromChar(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, wchar_t ch)
 // buffer is 0 bytes long
 size_t
 getStringFromWideN(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size,
-		const wchar_t *wstr, size_t count)
+		const UniChar *wstr, size_t count)
 {
 	unsigned char *next;
 	int used;
@@ -487,9 +488,9 @@ getStringFromWideN(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size,
 //  the only difference is that the source string (wstr) length is
 //  calculated by searching for 0-term
 size_t
-getStringFromWide(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, const wchar_t *wstr)
+getStringFromWide(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, const UniChar *wstr)
 {
-	const wchar_t *end;
+	const UniChar *end;
 
 	for (end = wstr; *end != 0; ++end)
 		;
@@ -498,7 +499,7 @@ getStringFromWide(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, const wchar_t *wstr)
 }
 
 int
-isWideGraphChar(wchar_t ch)
+UniChar_isGraph(UniChar ch)
 {	// this is not technically sufficient, but close enough for us
 	// we'll consider all non-control (CO and C1) chars in 'graph' class
 	// except for the "Private Use Area" (0xE000 - 0xF8FF)
@@ -512,23 +513,24 @@ isWideGraphChar(wchar_t ch)
 }
 
 int
-isWidePrintChar(wchar_t ch)
+UniChar_isPrint(UniChar ch)
 {	// this is not technically sufficient, but close enough for us
 	// chars in 'print' class are 'graph' + 'space' classes
 	// the only space we currently have defined is 0x20
-	return (ch == 0x20) || isWideGraphChar(ch);
+	return (ch == 0x20) || UniChar_isGraph(ch);
 }
 
-wchar_t
-toWideUpper(wchar_t ch)
+UniChar
+UniChar_toUpper(UniChar ch)
 {	// this is a very basic Latin-1 implementation
 	// just to get things going
-	return (ch < 0x100) ? toupper(ch) : ch;
+	return (ch < 0x100) ? (UniChar) toupper((int) ch) : ch;
 }
 
-wchar_t
-toWideLower(wchar_t ch)
+UniChar
+UniChar_toLower(UniChar ch)
 {	// this is a very basic Latin-1 implementation
 	// just to get things going
-	return (ch < 0x100) ? tolower(ch) : ch;
+	return (ch < 0x100) ? (UniChar) tolower((int) ch) : ch;
 }
+
diff --git a/sc2/src/libs/strlib.h b/sc2/src/libs/strlib.h
index a43e76325..c0e242b36 100644
--- a/sc2/src/libs/strlib.h
+++ b/sc2/src/libs/strlib.h
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "libs/compiler.h"
 #include "port.h"
 #include "libs/uio.h"
+#include "libs/unicode.h"
 
 #include <stddef.h>
 
@@ -57,42 +58,15 @@ extern STRINGPTR GetStringTimeStamp (STRING String);
 extern BOOLEAN GetStringContents (STRING String, STRINGPTR StringBuf,
 		BOOLEAN AppendSpace);
 
-wchar_t getCharFromString(const unsigned char **ptr);
-wchar_t getCharFromStringN(const unsigned char **ptr,
-		const unsigned char *end);
-unsigned char *getLineFromString(const unsigned char *start,
-		const unsigned char **end, const unsigned char **startNext);
-size_t utf8StringCount(const unsigned char *start);
-size_t utf8StringCountN(const unsigned char *start,
-		const unsigned char *end);
-int utf8StringPos (const unsigned char *pStr, wchar_t ch);
-unsigned char *utf8StringCopy (unsigned char *dst, size_t size,
-		const unsigned char *src);
-int utf8StringCompare (const unsigned char *str1, const unsigned char *str2);
-unsigned char *skipUTF8Chars(const unsigned char *ptr, size_t num);
-size_t getWideFromString(wchar_t *wstr, size_t maxcount,
-		const unsigned char *start);
-size_t getWideFromStringN(wchar_t *wstr, size_t maxcount,
-		const unsigned char *start, const unsigned char *end);
-int getStringFromChar(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size, wchar_t ch);
-size_t getStringFromWideN(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size,
-		const wchar_t *wstr, size_t count);
-size_t getStringFromWide(unsigned char *ptr, size_t size,
-		const wchar_t *wstr);
-int isWideGraphChar(wchar_t ch);
-int isWidePrintChar(wchar_t ch);
-wchar_t toWideUpper(wchar_t ch);
-wchar_t toWideLower(wchar_t ch);
-
-#define WCHAR_DEGREE_SIGN   0x00b0
+#define UNICHAR_DEGREE_SIGN   0x00b0
 #define STR_DEGREE_SIGN     "\xC2\xB0"
-#define WCHAR_INFINITY_SIGN 0x221e
+#define UNICHAR_INFINITY_SIGN 0x221e
 #define STR_INFINITY_SIGN   "\xE2\x88\x9E"
-#define WCHAR_EARTH_SIGN    0x2641
+#define UNICHAR_EARTH_SIGN    0x2641
 #define STR_EARTH_SIGN      "\xE2\x99\x81"
-#define WCHAR_MIDDLE_DOT    0x00b7
+#define UNICHAR_MIDDLE_DOT    0x00b7
 #define STR_MIDDLE_DOT      "\xC2\xB7"
-#define WCHAR_BULLET        0x2022
+#define UNICHAR_BULLET        0x2022
 #define STR_BULLET          "\xE2\x80\xA2"
 
 #endif /* _STRLIB_H */
diff --git a/sc2/src/uqm/comm.c b/sc2/src/uqm/comm.c
index 385880179..79ecb29b8 100644
--- a/sc2/src/uqm/comm.c
+++ b/sc2/src/uqm/comm.c
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ getLineWithinWidth(TEXT *pText, const unsigned char **startNext,
 	COUNT oldCount;
 	const unsigned char *ptr;
 	const unsigned char *wordStart;
-	wchar_t ch;
+	UniChar ch;
 	COUNT charCount;
 
 	//GetContextClipRect (&rect);
diff --git a/sc2/src/uqm/getchar.c b/sc2/src/uqm/getchar.c
index 467e39222..5c8795b9c 100644
--- a/sc2/src/uqm/getchar.c
+++ b/sc2/src/uqm/getchar.c
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ JoyCharToLower (joy_char_t *outch, const joy_char_t *ch,
 BOOLEAN
 DoTextEntry (TEXTENTRY_STATE *pTES)
 {
-	wchar_t ch;
+	UniChar ch;
 	UNICODE *pStr;
 	UNICODE *CacheInsPt;
 	int CacheCursorPos;
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ DoTextEntry (TEXTENTRY_STATE *pTES)
 		pTES->JoystickMode = FALSE;
 
 		chsize = getStringFromChar (chbuf, sizeof (chbuf), ch);
-		if (isWidePrintChar (ch) && chsize > 0)
+		if (UniChar_isPrint (ch) && chsize > 0)
 		{
 			if (pStr + len - pTES->BaseStr + chsize < pTES->MaxSize)
 			{	// insert character, when fits
diff --git a/sc2/src/uqm/planets/pstarmap.c b/sc2/src/uqm/planets/pstarmap.c
index 42364f3c5..398898d7d 100644
--- a/sc2/src/uqm/planets/pstarmap.c
+++ b/sc2/src/uqm/planets/pstarmap.c
@@ -968,10 +968,10 @@ FindNextStarIndex (STAR_SEARCH_STATE *pSS, int from, BOOLEAN WithinClust)
 		for (c = 0, sptr = pSS->Cluster, dptr = ClusterName;
 				c < pSS->ClusterLen; ++c)
 		{
-			wchar_t sc = getCharFromString (&sptr);
-			wchar_t dc = getCharFromString (&dptr);
+			UniChar sc = getCharFromString (&sptr);
+			UniChar dc = getCharFromString (&dptr);
 
-			if (toWideUpper (sc) != toWideUpper (dc))
+			if (UniChar_toUpper (sc) != UniChar_toUpper (dc))
 				break;
 		}
 
@@ -1010,10 +1010,10 @@ FindNextStarIndex (STAR_SEARCH_STATE *pSS, int from, BOOLEAN WithinClust)
 		for (c = 0, sptr = pSS->Prefix, dptr = FullName;
 				c < pSS->PrefixLen; ++c)
 		{
-			wchar_t sc = getCharFromString (&sptr);
-			wchar_t dc = getCharFromString (&dptr);
+			UniChar sc = getCharFromString (&sptr);
+			UniChar dc = getCharFromString (&dptr);
 
-			if (toWideUpper (sc) != toWideUpper (dc))
+			if (UniChar_toUpper (sc) != UniChar_toUpper (dc))
 				break;
 		}
 
diff --git a/sc2/src/uqm/planets/report.c b/sc2/src/uqm/planets/report.c
index da5e7d17d..b8aef7e89 100644
--- a/sc2/src/uqm/planets/report.c
+++ b/sc2/src/uqm/planets/report.c
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ MakeReport (SOUND ReadOutSounds, UNICODE *pStr, COUNT StrLen)
 	BYTE ButtonState;
 	int end_page_len;
 	UNICODE end_page_buf[200];
-	wchar_t last_c;
+	UniChar last_c;
 	COUNT row_cells;
 	BOOLEAN Sleepy;
 	RECT r;
@@ -142,11 +142,11 @@ MakeReport (SOUND ReadOutSounds, UNICODE *pStr, COUNT StrLen)
 		{
 			COUNT word_chars;
 			const UNICODE *pStr;
-			wchar_t c;
+			UniChar c;
  
 			pStr = t.pStr;
 			pNextStr = t.pStr;
-			while (isWideGraphChar (getCharFromString (&pNextStr)))
+			while (UniChar_isGraph (getCharFromString (&pNextStr)))
 				pStr = pNextStr;
 
 			word_chars = utf8StringCountN (t.pStr, pStr);