Assassin’s Creed — Fourteen Main Games

Assassin's Creed

In 2012, bartender Desmond Miles (Nolan North) is kidnapped by agents of Abstergo Industries, the world's largest pharmaceutical conglomerate, and is taken to their headquarters in Rome. Under the supervision of Dr. Warren Vidic (Philip Proctor) and his assistant Lucy Stillman (Kristen Bell), Desmond is forced to enter a machine called the Animus, which can translate his ancestors' genetic memories into a simulated reality. Vidic instructs Desmond to relive the early years of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (Philip Shahbaz), a senior member of the Assassin Brotherhood during the Third Crusade.
In 1191, Altaïr and two fellow Assassins—brothers Malik (Haaz Sleiman) and Kadar Al-Sayf (Jake Eberle)—are sent to Solomon's Temple to retrieve an artifact known as the Apple of Eden from the Brotherhood's sworn enemies, the Knights Templar. Blinded by arrogance, Altaïr botches the mission, resulting in Kadar's death; however, Malik is able to grab the Apple before escaping. Although Altaïr later partially redeems himself by fighting off a Templar attack on the Assassin home base of Masyaf, his mentor and superior, Al Mualim (Peter Renaday), demotes him and orders him to assassinate nine individuals in order to regain his previous position and honour:

Tamir (Ammar Daraiseh), an arms merchant in Damascus selling weapons to both the Crusaders and Saracens.
Garnier de Nablus (Hubert Fielden), the leader of the Knights Hospitalier, who conducts mind-altering experiments on patients at his hospital in Acre.
Talal (Jake Eberle), the leader of a gang of slavers in Jerusalem.
Abu'l Nuquod (Fred Tatasciore), a pompous trader and regent of Damascus stealing money intended to fund the war.
William V, Marquess of Montferrat (Harry Standjofski), Acre's cruel and abusive regent who is forcefully conscripting citizens and hoarding food.
Majd Addin (Richard Cansino; based on Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad), a tyrant who rules Jerusalem through fear by holding public executions.
Master Sibrand (Arthur Holden), the paranoid leader of the Knights Teutonic, who plans to betray the Crusaders by blocking the ports of Acre.
Jubair al Hakim (Fred Tatasciore), a scholar using his position to seize and destroy all written knowledge in Damascus.
Robert de Sablé (Louis-Philippe Dandenault), the Grand Master of the Templars who has been taking advantage of the Crusade to further his Order's ideological goals.
As Altaïr eliminates each target, he discovers all nine are Templars who had conspired to retrieve the Apple, revealed to be a relic of a long-forgotten civilization said to possess god-like powers. The Templars hoped to use the Apple to conquer the Holy Land in the name of peace, with each member being assigned a specific task to prepare the population for their eventual takeover. As he slowly learns more about the Templars' goals, Altaïr comes to question the nature of Al Mualim's orders while becoming more humble and wise and making amends with Malik. During his assassination attempt on Robert de Sablé, Altaïr is tricked with a decoy: a Templar named Maria Thorpe (Eleanor Noble). Maria reveals that Robert had anticipated the Assassins would come after him and went to negotiate an alliance between the Crusaders and Saracens against them.
Sparing Maria's life, Altaïr confronts Robert in the camp of King Richard I of England (Marcel Jeannin) and exposes his crimes. Unsure of whom to believe, Richard suggests a duel to determine the truth, remarking that God will decide the victor. After Altaïr mortally wounds him, Robert identifies Al Mualim as the final conspirator, revealing that the latter has betrayed both the Assassins and Templars to acquire the Apple. Altaïr returns to Masyaf, where Al Mualim has used the Apple to enthrall the population, as part of his plan to end the Crusade and all human conflict by eradicating free will. With the help of Malik and several Assassins brought for backup, Altaïr storms the citadel and confronts Al Mualim in the gardens, resisting the Apple's powers and killing his mentor. He then tries to destroy the artifact, but instead unlocks a map showing the locations of countless other Pieces of Eden around the world.
In the present, the Assassins launch an unsuccessful attack on the Abstergo facility to rescue Desmond, resulting in most of them being killed. After completing Altaïr's memories, Vidic reveals to Desmond that Abstergo is a front for the modern-day Templars, seeking to find the remaining Pieces of Eden. With Desmond having outlived his usefulness, Vidic's superiors order him killed, but Lucy, who is implied to be an Assassin mole, convinces them to keep him alive for further testing. Desmond is left alone in his room, where he discovers strange drawings written in blood describing an upcoming catastrophic event.

Assassin's Creed II

Following the events of Assassin's Creed, Desmond Miles (Nolan North) is rescued from Abstergo by undercover Assassin Lucy Stillman (Kristen Bell) and taken to a safehouse, where he meets her team, consisting of historian and analyst Shaun Hastings (Danny Wallace) and technician Rebecca Crane (Eliza Schneider). They have constructed their own Animus, which they intend to use to train Desmond as an Assassin through the "bleeding effect," which allows the user to learn their ancestor's skills at a rapid pace. Desmond is instructed to relive the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Roger Craig Smith), born into a wealthy Florentine family in 1459, during the Italian Renaissance.
By 1476, Ezio has grown into a charismatic but reckless young man. After his father Giovanni (Romano Orzari) and brothers Federico (Elias Toufexis) and Petruccio are framed for treason and executed by corrupt magistrate Uberto Alberti (Michel Perron), Ezio retrieves his father's Assassin equipment and murders Uberto in revenge. Ezio and his remaining family—his mother Maria (Ellen David) and sister Claudia (Angela Galuppo)—flee Florence and head to their ancestral home in Monteriggioni. There, Ezio's uncle Mario (Fred Tatasciore) explains their family's role as members of the Assassin Brotherhood, and reveals that Giovanni was killed because he had uncovered a conspiracy masterminded by the Templar Order, the Assassins' sworn enemies.

After being trained as an Assassin, Ezio pursues vengeance against the Templars, most of whom are members of noble families like the Pazzi and Barbarigos. His journey spans over a decade and leads Ezio to make several allies, including inventor Leonardo da Vinci (Carlos Ferro), who provides him with equipment based on information left by the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad; statesman Lorenzo de' Medici (Alex Ivanovici), whom he saves from the Pazzi's assassination plot; and Caterina Sforza (Cristina Rosato), the Countess of Forlì. Eventually, Ezio uncovers the identity of the Templar Grand Master, Rodrigo Borgia (Manuel Tadros), who plotted to secure control of Italy and obtain a powerful Apple of Eden. In 1488, Ezio intercepts the Apple in Venice and confronts Rodrigo, who reveals his intention to unlock "the Vault", which he believes will grant him god-like powers. Rodrigo almost overpowers Ezio, but is forced to flee and abandon the Apple when the latter's allies arrive to help. Believing Ezio to be "the Prophet" destined to open the Vault, Mario, along with other Assassins, formally induct him into the Brotherhood.
In the present, Desmond suffers side-effects from the bleeding effect, experiencing a memory of Altaïr. Inside the Animus, he finds glyphs similar to the drawings he found in his cell at Abstergo, which, when deciphered, reveal a video file of two human slaves stealing an Apple. The video ends with the ASCII codes for "EDEN". The team theorizes the two humans are Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.
With several memory sequences too corrupted to access (later made available as DLC), the team sends Desmond to the final memory in 1499. After discovering the Vault is located underneath the Papal Palace, Ezio infiltrates the Vatican and battles Rodrigo, now Pope Alexander VI, who is empowered by the Papal Staff—another Piece of Eden. Ezio defeats Rodrigo, but spares his life, having overcome his desire for revenge. He then unlocks the Vault using the Apple and the Staff, and is contacted by the hologram of Minerva (Margaret Easley). Aware that Desmond is listening, Minerva explains how her people, the First Civilization, created humanity to serve them, but were destroyed by a catastrophe. The survivors joined forces with humanity, building a network of vaults to preserve their technology and prevent a future disaster. Before vanishing, she tells Desmond that only he has the power to fulfill the "prophecy", leaving Desmond and Ezio confused.
In the present, Abstergo agents led by Warren Vidic (Philip Proctor) attack the hideout, forcing the team to evacuate. As they head to a new location, Lucy informs Desmond that the Assassins have detected strange occurrences in the Earth's magnetic field; a solar flare is scheduled to occur in a few months, which will likely trigger the same event that ended the First Civilization. Desmond prepares to reenter the Animus, leading into the events of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

The Battle of Forlì

In 1488, shortly after recovering the Apple of Eden from Rodrigo, Ezio meets with Mario, Leonardo, and the Assassin Niccolò Machiavelli (Shawn Baichoo) to discuss what to do in order to protect the artifact, ultimately deciding to send it to Caterina Sforza in Forlì. However, when Ezio and Machiavelli arrive in the city, they find it under siege by an army of mercenaries led by Checco and Ludovico Orsi, who have been hired by Rodrigo to obtain a map made by Caterina's late husband showing the locations of Altaïr's Codex pages, which in turn lead to the Vault. The Orsi brothers kidnap Caterina's children to force her to surrender the map, but Ezio is able to assassinate Ludovico and rescue the children. However, he learns that while he was away, Checco stole the Apple, which Ezio had left with Caterina. Although Ezio ultimately kills Checco and retrieves the Apple, he is stabbed and collapses as an unknown black-robed individual walks up and steals the Apple. After being nursed back to health by Caterina, Ezio obtains the map from her and sets out to recover the Apple. Suspecting that the thief is a friar, he travels to a nearby monastery and questions the local abbot, who reveals that the man who stole the Apple is Girolamo Savonarola.

Bonfire of the Vanities

In 1497, after searching for Savonarola and the Apple for nearly a decade, Ezio tracks them down to Florence, where Savonarola has used the Apple to remove the Medici from power and take over. After meeting with Machiavelli, Ezio devises a plan to bring Savonarola out of hiding by assassinating his nine lieutenants, who preach in the city during the bonfire of the vanities. After killing all the lieutenants, the people become furious and form a mob, prompting Savonarola to come out and preach to them. When this fails to dissuade the angry crowd, he tries to use the Apple on them, but Ezio disarms him with a throwing knife and recovers the artifact. Savonarola is then carried by the mob to the Piazza della Signoria, where he is set to be burnt at the stake. However, Ezio, believing no one deserves such a painful fate, quickly ends the friar's life by stabbing him in the neck with his hidden blade. He then stands before the confused crowd and declares that all should follow their own path, as he was taught by his mentors.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Following the events of Assassin's Creed II, Desmond Miles (Nolan North), Lucy Stillman (Kristen Bell), Rebecca Crane (Eliza Schneider), and Shaun Hastings (Danny Wallace) escape from the Templars who attacked their hideout and establish a new base in the ruins of the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni. After restoring the electricity in the tunnels under the villa, Desmond uses the Animus 2.0 to continue reliving the genetic memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore (Roger Craig Smith). His mission is to find the Apple of Eden, which could prevent an impending disaster coming that same year, believed to be perpetrated by the Templars.
Ezio's story continues in December 1499, as he exits the Vault and escapes Rome with his uncle, Mario (Fred Tatasciore). Returning to Monteriggioni, Ezio explains to his fellow Assassins what he saw inside the Vault and is comforted by the prospect that his personal vendetta is over; however, Niccolò Machiavelli (Shawn Baichoo) challenges Ezio's decision to leave Rodrigo Borgia (Manuel Tadros) alive. The following day, Monteriggioni is besieged by the Papal Army, commanded by Cesare Borgia (Andreas Apergis), Rodrigo's son. Cesare kills Mario and claims the Apple for the Templars. An injured Ezio escapes and travels to Rome, the center of Templar power in Italy, seeking vengeance against the Borgias. There, he discovers that the Assassin Order has lost much of its manpower and strength. Determined to rebuild the Guild, Ezio convinces Machiavelli that he can lead it, recruiting people to the Brotherhood and restoring it to its former strength.
Over the next three years, Ezio cripples the Borgias' hold in the capital, sabotaging Cesare's resources and assassinating key people close to him, while slowly restoring Rome to its former glory. After returning the Assassins to full strength, Ezio is given the rank of Il Mentore (Italian for "The Mentor") and made the de facto leader of the Assassins in Italy. During this time, Ezio's sister Claudia (Angela Galuppo) is also made an Assassin.
After learning of Ezio's actions, Cesare confronts his father to ask for more money and the Apple. Rodrigo refuses, cautious of provoking the Assassins, and attempts to kill his son with a poisoned apple, fearing Cesare's lust for power. Cesare, having only taken a bite, spits it out and forces the rest of the apple into his father's mouth, killing Rodrigo. After learning of the Apple's location, Ezio retrieves it from within St. Peter's Basilica, before using it to overwhelm Cesare's forces and withdraw the backing of his supporters. Cesare is arrested by Pope Julius II's Papal Army after Ezio and the Assassins confront him and kill his remaining followers.
A few years later, Ezio uses the Apple once more to check on Cesare, discovering he has broken out of prison. After hiding the Apple in a First Civilization Temple built underneath the Roman Colosseum, Ezio leaves Italy in pursuit of Cesare. In 1507, Cesare, with the support of his new patron, John III of Navarre, lays siege to the city of Viana in Spain. Ezio encounters Cesare on the battlements of a crumbling castle and fights him. Cesare claims that he cannot be killed by the hand of a mortal man, thus inciting Ezio to "leave [him] in the hands of fate" by dropping him off the battlements to his death.
Using the coordinates from Ezio's memories, Desmond, Lucy, Shaun, and Rebecca travel to the Temple where Ezio hid the Apple, intending to use it to locate other Temples and keep the Pieces of Eden they contain out of the Templars' reach. As Desmond enters the Temple, he is confronted with holographic apparitions of a woman called Juno (Nadia Verrucci), similar to Minerva. She comments on humanity's lack of knowledge, calling it "innocent and ignorant", before suddenly becoming angry and yelling, "We should have left you as you were!" As Desmond approaches the Apple and touches it, time freezes around him. Juno states that Desmond is descended from her race, and is their enemy; she also says there is a woman who would accompany him through "the gate," but must not be allowed to. She takes control of Desmond's body and forces him to stab Lucy. Both fall to the ground, with Lucy dead and Desmond entering a coma. As the credits roll, two men are heard discussing whether to put Desmond back in the Animus.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

=== Setting and characters ===
Assassin's Creed Revelations features all three of the series' major characters up until this point: Desmond Miles (Nolan North), Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (Cas Anvar), and Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Roger Craig Smith). The main part of the story takes Ezio to Constantinople, present-day Istanbul, in 1511 AD, during the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Four of the city's districts are available to explore: Constantine, Bayezid, Imperial, and Galata. Ezio also briefly travels to Cappadocia, part of which is a completely underground city populated solely by Templars, and Masyaf, where the old Assassins' stronghold is located (featured in the first Assassin's Creed game). He discovers that Altaïr has allegedly sealed the power to end the Assassin-Templar war forever within the fortress, and had the keys hidden in Constantinople.
The game also continues the storylines of both Desmond and Altaïr following the previous games in the series. After falling into a coma at the end of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Desmond has become trapped in the Animus 2.0, where he finds a safe mode known as "the Black Room". Helped by the preserved consciousness of Clay Kaczmarek / Subject 16 (Graham Cuthbertson), Abstergo Industries' previous Animus test subject, he must find a "synch nexus", a key memory that links him with Altaïr and Ezio, to reintegrate his splintered subconscious and awaken from his coma. Altaïr's part of the narrative is told in the form of flashbacks experienced by Ezio through the Masyaf keys he finds, which hold Altaïr's memories. It spans the years 1189–1257 AD and depicts several key moments in Altaïr's life, primarily his struggle to lead the Assassins into a new era after becoming their Mentor.
During the game, Ezio meets a variety of historical figures, including Prince Suleiman (Haaz Sleiman), the man who will one day become one of the Ottoman Empire's greatest Sultans; Suleiman's father, Selim I (Mark Ivanir), and uncle, Ahmet (Tamer Hassan); and Byzantine Templars lurking in the shadows of Constantinople, such as Manuel Palaiologos (Vlasta Vrana), an heir to the now-lost Byzantine Empire, and Shahkulu (Alex Ivanovici), leader of the rebellion of the same name directed against the Ottoman Empire. Ezio's love interest, Sofia Sartor (Anna Tuveri), is based on Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman by Albrecht Dürer. Other in-game characters include Yusuf Tazim (Chris Parson), Piri Reis (Alex Ivanovici), Tarik Barleti (JB Blanc), Ishak Pasha, Sultan Bayezid II, Al Mualim (Peter Renaday), and Niccolò and Maffeo Polo.

Plot

==== Single-player ====
Following the events of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Shaun Hastings stays in Rome to attend Lucy Stillman's funeral, while Rebecca Crane takes the comatose Desmond to his father, William Miles, in New York. To save Desmond's mind, they place him in the Animus's safe mode, the "Black Room". Awakening on Animus Island, a testing program within the Black Room, Desmond meets the consciousness of Clay Kaczmarek, Abstergo's previous Animus test subject, who explains that Desmond must repair his mind by fully reliving his ancestors' memories, at which point the Animus can separate Desmond from his ancestors and awaken him.
Desmond returns to the perspective of Ezio, who, in 1511, travels to the Assassins' former fortress in Masyaf after learning of a library built there by Altaïr. Ezio finds Masyaf occupied by the Templars, who try to execute him, but he escapes and discovers Altaïr has sealed his library using five keys. Ezio travels to Constantinople, where the Templars have already found one key, to search for the rest. While in the city, Ezio meets and befriends Yusuf Tazim, leader of the Ottoman Assassins, and a young student named Suleiman. He also meets Sofia Sartor, an Italian traveler and bookshop owner, and the two fall in love as they work together to find the keys, which were hidden by Niccolò Polo.
Meanwhile, the Ottoman Princes Ahmet and Selim are quarreling over who will inherit the Sultanate. Revealing himself as Selim's son, Suleiman asks Ezio to investigate the Byzantine Templars, who are taking advantage of the feud to further their own goals. Ezio discovers that Manuel Palaiologos, with Templar support, is raising an army to overthrow the Ottomans and re-establish the Byzantine Empire. He travels to the Templars' hideout in Cappadocia, where he assassinates Manuel and recovers the final key. However, Ezio discovers Ahmet to be the true Templar leader, who seeks to open Altaïr's library in the belief it will allow him to further the Templar cause by "erasing the superstitions that keep men divided".
During these events, Ezio uses the keys to witness various moments in Altaïr's life. He learns that Altaïr, after killing his traitorous mentor, Al Mualim, took over and tried to reform the Assassins, but was challenged by a former friend, Abbas Sofian. While Altaïr, his wife Maria, and eldest son Darim were away fighting the Mongol invasion, Abbas staged a coup and seized control of the Assassins after executing Altaïr's youngest son, Sef, and best friend, Malik. Altaïr sought revenge, but Maria tried to stop him, leading to her also being killed. Altaïr was subsequently forced into a self-imposed exile but eventually returned to kill Abbas and reclaim leadership of the Assassins. Years later, Altaïr imprinted his memories on the keys before entrusting them to Niccolò.
Returning to Constantinople, Ezio discovers that Ahmet has killed Yusuf and kidnapped Sofia. After trading the keys to rescue Sofia, Ezio pursues Ahmet with her help, and ultimately recovers the keys. Selim, now the Sultan, arrives and kills Ahmet while sparing Ezio due to Suleiman's endorsement, though he banishes him from Constantinople. After completing this memory, the Animus begins to delete excess data. Clay sacrifices himself to save Desmond from being deleted.
Ezio and Sofia return to Masyaf, where Ezio unlocks Altaïr's library, finding it empty except for Altaïr's skeleton holding a sixth key. Through it, Ezio discovers the library was a vault meant to house Altaïr's Apple of Eden and that Altaïr had sealed himself to protect it. Understanding how much Altaïr had lost because of his obsession with seeking knowledge, Ezio chooses to leave the Apple there, having "seen enough for one life". He then speaks directly to Desmond, knowing he is watching, and acknowledges his own role as a conduit for a message. Hoping that Desmond will find the answers he could not and will make both his and Altaïr's suffering be worth it in the end, Ezio activates the Apple before retiring from the Assassins to start a normal life with Sofia.
The Apple displays a message from Jupiter, a member of the First Civilization, who explains that his race had studied methods to save the Earth from destruction and transmitted all the collected data to a central vault: the Grand Temple. Jupiter tells Desmond that he must find the Temple before an impending solar flare wipes out humanity. Awakening from the coma, Desmond finds Rebecca, Shaun, and William next to him, and tells them that he knows what they must do, just as they arrive at the Grand Temple.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer aspect has its own plot from the Templar perspective. After impressing Warren Vidic in the first stage of Abstergo's Animus Training Program, the player is selected to participate in the second stage of the program for further training. Upon being promoted to the rank of Master Templar, the player is allowed into the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order and is implanted with a tracker to ensure their trustworthiness. After reaching level 50, the player is dubbed an active agent and assigned the task of finding and capturing the leader of the Assassin Order: William Miles.

The Lost Archive

During his time in the Black Room, Desmond involuntarily experiences Clay Kaczmarek's memories, learning more about his life. Clay recalls his father's disregard for his career goals, demanding that Clay should become an engineer to provide for his family, and how he believed that his father's focus on wealth pushed his mother away from the family. Eventually, Clay was approached by William Miles, who invited him to join the Assassins. In 2010, he was tasked with infiltrating Abstergo Industries' Animus Project laboratory in Rome to uncover what Warren Vidic hoped to achieve by exploring the genetic memories of various Assassins. Lucy Stillman, an Assassin herself, had also been placed within the facility to extract Clay once his mission was complete.
Becoming Subject 16 of the Animus Project, Clay was forced to relive his ancestors' memories to the point of being driven insane, but eventually learned that Vidic was searching for the locations of various Pieces of Eden. In particular, Vidic focused on finding an Apple of Eden, which was meant to be launched aboard a satellite to mentally enslave the human race. Clay also secretly witnessed conversations between Lucy and Vidic, and discovered that Lucy had betrayed the Assassins and joined the Templars due to her distrust of William Miles and feeling abandoned by the Brotherhood. To obtain the Apple, Vidic masterminded "Project Siren", which would see Lucy remove Desmond from the Abstergo facility and transport him to a more comfortable environment, where she could use the Assassins' resources to locate the Apple before delivering it to the Templars. When Lucy eventually found out that Clay had learned about this plan, she got rid of the evidence proving he knew the truth and imprisoned him inside the facility, both to protect him and to keep her true allegiances secret.
These memories continue in a loop until Desmond collects all the fragments scattered throughout them, which allow him to access a final memory. In it, Clay emails his father to tell him not to worry about his disappearance, because he has found a greater purpose to serve, foreshadowing his suicide.

Assassin's Creed III

=== Setting ===
Following the conclusion of the "Ezio Trilogy" with Assassin's Creed Revelations, Assassin's Creed III shifts focus towards a new historical time period: 18th-century Colonial America. The game follows two new protagonists: Haytham Kenway, a British nobleman and high-ranking member of the Templar Order, who is sent to America to establish a strong Templar presence on the continent and find an ancient temple built by the First Civilization; and Ratonhnhaké:ton, also known as Connor, Haytham's half-Mohawk son, who joins the Assassins to avenge the burning of his village and his mother's death and stop the Templars from gaining control of the colonies.
Haytham's story serves as a prologue to the main narrative, and takes place from 1754 to 1755, at the onset of the French and Indian War, which paved the way for the American Revolution. Connor's story spans two decades of his life, from his childhood in 1760 to 1783, and involves major events from the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War seen from Connor's perspective. Boston and New York City are cities that can be explored, alongside the American Colonial Frontier, spanning forest, cliffs, rivers, Connor's village, and the settlements of Lexington and Concord. The player can hunt small and large animals, and approximately one-third of the story takes place in the Frontier. The city of Philadelphia can also be visited at one point during the game, as can The Caribbean during several naval missions. The Eastern seaboard is explorable via Connor's captaining of his warship, the Aquila.
Like previous games in the series, the story includes segments set during the modern day, in 2012, which again follow Desmond Miles and his efforts to save humanity from an impending disaster. These segments have been expanded significantly, and involve short missions that the player must complete to advance the narrative. Locations visited during the modern-day missions include a skyscraper in Manhattan, New York; a stadium in São Paulo, Brazil; and Abstergo's facility in Rome, Italy.
The game setting has been described as one of the very few depictions of historical French Louisiana in video games.

Characters

Assassin's Creed III features a large cast of characters. The modern-day sections feature many returning characters from the previous four games in the series, including protagonist Desmond Miles (Nolan North), his estranged father William (John de Lancie), and friends Shaun Hastings (Danny Wallace) and Rebecca Crane (Eliza Schneider). During the missions he carries out, Desmond is hunted by the Templar Daniel Cross (Danny Blanco-Hall), who was dispatched by Warren Vidic (Phil Proctor), the head scientist of Abstergo Industries—a corporate conglomerate used as a front by the modern-day Templar Order. Desmond crosses paths with Minerva (Margaret Easley) and Juno (Nadia Verrucci), members of a precursor race known as the First Civilization (or "Those Who Came Before"), who try to help him save humanity from the same catastrophic event that wiped out their race.
The main protagonist of the game is Ratonhnhaké:ton (Noah Watts), also known as Connor, a half-English, half-Mohawk Assassin born in 18th-century Colonial America. Connor's supporting cast includes Achilles Davenport (Roger Aaron Brown), Connor's mentor and a retired Assassin; his mother Kaniehtí:io (Kaniehtiio Horn); his first mate aboard the Aquila, Robert Faulkner (Kevin McNally); and French taverner Stephane Chapheau (Shawn Baichoo), Connor's first Assassin recruit. During the game, Connor battles the Colonial Templars, led by his father, Haytham Kenway (Adrian Hough), who is playable in the first three sequences of the game. Haytham is aided by several historical figures portrayed here as members of the Templar Order, including Charles Lee (Neil Napier), William Johnson (Julian Casey), John Pitcairn (Robert Lawrenson), Thomas Hickey (Allen Leech), Benjamin Church (Harry Standjofski), and Nicholas Biddle (Fred Tatasciore). The era also features several other historical figures such as George Washington (Robin Atkin Downes), Samuel Adams (Mark Lindsay Chapman), Israel Putnam (Andreas Apergis), Thomas Jefferson (John Emmet Tracy), Benjamin Franklin (Jim Ward), Edward Braddock (Carlo Mestroni), Mason Weems (Tod Fennell), Paul Revere (Bruce Dinsmore), and the Marquis de Lafayette (Vince Corazza).

Plot

Following the events of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Desmond, William, Shaun, and Rebecca find the Grand Temple in a cave in New York and access it using their Apple of Eden. As Juno begins to communicate with him, Desmond enters the Animus to deal with his dissociative fugue, where Juno's influence causes him to experience the memories of his ancestor, Haytham Kenway. In 1754, Haytham assassinates a patron at the Royal Opera House to steal a key. Instructed by his Order to find the Temple they believe it opens, Haytham travels to the American Colonies and recruits several allies to aid his expedition. In the process, he meets and falls in love with a Mohawk woman, Kaniehti:io, who enlists his help to eliminate Edward Braddock, one of Haytham's former comrades who has been leading attacks against the Mohawk people. After killing Braddock, Kaniehti:io takes Haytham to the Grand Temple, but the key proves useless. Haytham officially inducts Charles Lee into his Order, which is revealed to be the Templar Order.
Deducing the key is meant to open the Temple's inner chambers, Desmond relives the memories of Ratonhnhaké:ton, Haytham and Kaniehti:io's son, to find it. In 1760, Kaniehti:io dies during an attack on their village, which Ratonhnhaké:ton assumes was ordered by Charles Lee. In 1769, the village elder informs Ratonhnhaké:ton of their tribe's duty to protect the Temple, and gives him a Crystal Ball which allows Juno to communicate with him. Juno leads Ratonhnhaké:ton to retired Assassin Achilles Davenport, whose Brotherhood collapsed years earlier, and he reluctantly agrees to train him. At Achilles' suggestion, Ratonhnhaké:ton renames himself Connor to move more freely throughout the colonies.
Over the following years, Connor is drawn into the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War as he attempts to protect his people and keep the Revolution free of the Templars' influence. After assassinating most of Haytham's allies, Connor meets his father and works with him to eliminate a rogue Templar. Later, Haytham discovers George Washington's plan to displace indigenous populations suspected of supporting the Loyalists, including Connor's tribe. Haytham reveals that Washington ordered the attack that killed Kaniehti:io, causing Connor to angrily break ties with both of them. Returning to his village, he learns Lee recruited Mohawk warriors to turn back the Patriots sent to eradicate them, and is forced to kill his childhood friend Kanen'tó:kon to avert conflict.
In the present, Desmond retrieves batteries from Manhattan and Brazil to activate the Temple, while being hunted by the Templar Daniel Cross. After William is captured while trying to recover the final battery, Desmond storms Abstergo's headquarters in Rome, kills Cross and Warren Vidic, and rescues his father, reconciling with him.
Connor becomes conflicted about eliminating the Templars and hopes to work with Haytham toward peace and freedom. However, Haytham remains convinced of the necessity to control the nation by replacing Washington with Lee. Lee is disgraced by Washington for attempting to sabotage the outcome of the Battle of Monmouth and takes refuge in Fort George. Connor infiltrates the fort, but is confronted by Haytham and reluctantly kills him. Connor eventually tracks down and assassinates Lee, retrieving the key given to him by Haytham. Returning to his village, Connor finds it abandoned and the Crystal Ball left behind. Instructed by Juno to conceal the key, Connor buries it in the grave of Achilles' son, Connor Davenport.
Desmond retrieves the key and accesses the Temple's inner chambers, where Juno reveals that he can save the world at the cost of his own life. Minerva appears, opposing the plan as it will free Juno, who was sealed in the Temple to prevent her from conquering humanity. Juno explains that if the solar flare occurs, Desmond will become a messiah-like figure to other survivors and will be revered as a god after his death, but will have his legacy manipulated to control future generations. Desmond chooses to sacrifice himself to save humanity and give them the opportunity to fight Juno.
An epilogue scene set in 1783 details the end of Connor's journey. Despite eliminating the Colonial Templars and ensuring the Revolution's success, Connor feels that he failed to protect his people, who are still being oppressed. Nevertheless, he resolves to continue fighting for a better future. In the present, a voiceover directs the player to locate several 'pivot points' across the virtual representation of Colonial America. Once collected, the voiceover informs them that they have connected to the cloud.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

=== Characters ===
The main character of the game is Edward Kenway (Matt Ryan), a Welsh privateer-turned-pirate and eventual member of the Brotherhood of Assassins. Edward is the father of the Colonial Templars Grand Master Haytham Kenway and grandfather of the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton, the two of whom are playable characters of Assassin's Creed III. During the game, Edward meets and interacts with several real-life historical figures, including notorious pirates Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch (Mark Bonnar), Benjamin Hornigold (Ed Stoppard), Mary Read (Olivia Morgan), Stede Bonnet (James Bachman), Anne Bonny (Sarah Greene), John Rackham (O-T Fagbenle), and Charles Vane (Ralph Ineson).

Setting

As is the case in previous Assassin's Creed games, the story is divided into two intertwined halves. One is set in the time of the game's release and the other in a historical setting. Although the modern-day story had previously established that an Animus was required to view ancestor memories, the ending of Assassin's Creed III reveals that Abstergo can now view a host's genetic memories simply by sequencing the host's DNA. As such, the unseen player character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment to investigate a pivotal character in Desmond Miles's ancestry, Edward Kenway; this occurs in 2013. A notorious pirate and privateer operating during the Golden Age of Piracy, Kenway's story is set in the Caribbean and mixes open-ended ship-based exploration with combat and land-based adventures in Cuba, Jamaica, various Caribbean islands, southern Florida, and eastern Mexico, as well as Principe and Charlestown, South Carolina.

Plot

In 2013, months after Desmond Miles's death in Assassin's Creed III, samples taken from his body allow Abstergo Industries to continue exploring his genetic memories with the Animus's newfound cloud computing abilities. The unnamed player character is hired by Abstergo Entertainment, a subsidiary of Abstergo Industries, to examine the memories of Desmond's ancestor, Edward Kenway, an eighteenth-century pirate. Ostensibly, this is to gather material for an Animus-powered interactive feature film. In reality, Abstergo—the Templars of the modern day—are searching for a First Civilization structure known as the Observatory which Edward interacted with.
Edward's story begins in 1715 when he stumbles into a conspiracy involving high-ranking Templars within the British and Spanish Empires. Under the guise of cleaning up piracy in the Caribbean, they have used their positions to locate the Sage—later identified as Bartholomew Roberts (Oliver Milburn)—the only man who can lead them to the Observatory. This device can monitor anyone anywhere in the world when provided a blood sample, which they intend to use to spy on and blackmail world leaders. Edward inadvertently becomes involved when he kills a rogue Assassin, Duncan Walpole. Seeing an opportunity for profit, Edward takes Walpole's place at a meeting of Templars in Havana, and meets Woodes Rogers (Shaun Dingwall) and Cuban Governor and Templar Grand Master Laureano Torres (Conrad Pla). His recklessness endangers the Assassin Brotherhood, prompting him to pursue the Sage and the conspirators from the Yucatán Peninsula to Jamaica, eventually catching Roberts on the island of Príncipe off of the Central African coast.
Meanwhile, a band of notorious pirates—including Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch, Benjamin Hornigold, and Mary Read (operating under the alias "James Kidd")—dream of a pirate utopia where people are free to live beyond the reach of kings and clergy. Thatch and Hornigold had previously seized control of Nassau and establish a pirate republic, but poor governance, lack of an economy, and disease threaten to collapse the republic. Edward attempts to resolve the dispute but is too late to stop the Templars from exploiting the situation, resulting in Blackbeard being killed by the British, Hornigold joining the Templars, and Mary devoting more time to the Assassin Brotherhood in Tulum. Edward, Rackham, and Charles Vane attempt to locate Roberts, but Rackham betrays the others and leaves them marooned.
Eventually, Edward finds and joins his crew with Roberts' men and uncovers the location of the Observatory. However, Roberts' betrayal leads to Edward's arrest. He is imprisoned in Port Royal, but escapes when Ah Tabai (Octavio Solorio), the Assassin Mentor, infiltrates the prison to rescue Mary Read and Anne Bonny. There, he learns that Rackham and Bonnet have already been hanged while Vane is in prison awaiting execution. Mary dies from complications in her recent childbirth and a disheartened Edward joins the Brotherhood. Chasing down and eliminating Rogers, Roberts, and Torres, Edward seals away the Observatory. He receives a letter informing him of the passing of his wife, Caroline, and the imminent arrival of the daughter he didn't know he had, Jennifer Scott. Edward moves to London, promising Ah Tabai that he will continue fighting the Templars. Years later, Edward attends The Beggar's Opera at the Royal Opera House with Jennifer and Haytham.
In 2013, John Standish, Abstergo Entertainment's information technology manager, persuades the player to investigate supposed Abstergo secrets. Under John's guidance, they hack several Animus terminals and deliver the information to Shaun Hastings (Danny Wallace) and Rebecca Crane (Eliza Schneider), who they know to only be courriers. When the hacks are discovered and the facility is locked down, John instructs the player to access the Animus's core. Juno (Nadia Verrucci) materializes into an incorporeal form but reveals the world is not yet ready for her and that she is unable to possess the player as John intended.
John is then revealed to be a reincarnation of Roberts, and therefore a Sage, and attempts to murder the player to cover up Juno's failed resurrection; he is killed by Abstergo's security and discovered to be the one behind the hacks. It is further revealed that all Sages are reincarnations of Juno's husband Aita. The player is contacted by Rebecca, who reveals herself to be an Assassin.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue

In the modern-day, the player is an unnamed Abstergo Entertainment employee tasked with researching the memories of Shay Patrick Cormac (Steven Piovesan), an Assassin who was active in the Thirteen Colonies during the French and Indian War. During their investigation, the player inadvertently trips a hidden memory file that infects the Animus servers. Abstergo is placed in lockdown, and the player must clean the Animus servers by living out Shay's memories.
In 1752, Shay is a new recruit to the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins, whose potential is offset by his insubordination. While Shay trains with the North Atlantic chapter under the Assassin Mentor Achilles Davenport (Roger Aaron Brown), the Assassin Adéwalé (Tristan D. Lalla) arrives with news that Port-au-Prince was devastated by an earthquake during the search for a Precursor temple. Due to his experience captaining ships, Shay is tasked to retrieve a Precursor box and manuscript from the Templars. However, Shay begins to question the Assassins' motives after they refuse to engage in dialogue with the Templars, instead ordering Shay to assassinate them regardless of circumstance.
In 1754, after recovering the box and manuscript, Shay delivers them to Benjamin Franklin (Rick Jones), whose experiments on the box generate a map showing the locations of more Precursor temples around the world. Ordered to investigate a temple in Lisbon, Shay inadvertently triggers a devastating earthquake when he tries removing the artifact at its center, leaving him guilt-ridden and remorseful for of all the innocent lives he accidentally killed. Deducing that Port-au-Prince was destroyed similarly, Shay confronts Achilles, and is horrified to learn that Achilles intends to continue the search for Precursor artifacts, thereby endangering even more lives. Shay steals the manuscript and attempts to escape with it, but is cornered by the Brotherhood. Shay is shot and left for dead before he can destroy the manuscript.
Cast adrift, Shay is found by Colonel George Monro (Graham J. Cuthbertson), who saves him and leaves him in the care of Templar sympathizers in New York. After recovering in 1756, Shay cleans out Assassin-allied gangs that are extorting the citizenry, catching Monro's attention, who convinces Shay that he can improve the lives of others. Upon retaking his ship, the Morrigan, from the Assassins, and recruiting Christopher Gist (Richard M. Dumont) as his quartermaster, Shay agrees to assist his newfound Templar allies. After the Assassins kill Monro to steal back the manuscript, Shay realizes the Brotherhood has not given up the search for Precursor temples, and begins hunting down its members, becoming a high-ranking Templar in the process.
Over the following three years, Shay kills the Assassins Kesegowaase (Danny Blanco-Hall), Adéwalé, Hope Jensen (Patricia Summersett), and Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye (Marcel Jeannin), leaving only two prominent members of the Colonial Brotherhood: Achilles and his second-in-command, Liam O'Brien (Julian Casey), once Shay's best friend. In 1760, Shay and the Templar Grand Master Haytham Kenway (Adrian Hough) pursue the Assassins to the Arctic, where another Precursor temple has been located. After eliminating the Assassin expedition, Shay and Haytham enter the temple to find Liam and Achilles, who have realized that the artifacts are a means to stabilize the world, not a weapon to control it. During the confrontation, the artifact is accidentally destroyed, triggering another earthquake. As the four escape, Shay fatally injures Liam in a duel while Haytham overpowers Achilles. Shay persuades Haytham to spare Achilles, to ensure knowledge of the Temples is not lost, so the Assassins will not pursue them again. Haytham agrees, but cripples Achilles.
Tasked by Haytham to recover the Precursor box from the Assassins, Shay spends the next sixteen years tracking it down. In 1776, with Benjamin Franklin's help, Shay infiltrates the Palace of Versailles in France and kills the Assassin Charles Dorian to obtain the box. He reaffirms his commitment to the Templar cause, and suggests that the Templars should soon start their own revolution in response to the Assassins' recent actions in America.
In the present, Juhani Otso Berg (Andreas Apergis), a senior Templar, orders the player to upload Shay's memories to the Assassin servers, to weaken their resolve. The Brotherhood responds by cutting off communications. In a mid-credits scene, Berg thanks the player for their help, and gives them a choice: join the Templars, or die. The player's decision is not revealed.

Assassin's Creed: Unity

=== Characters ===

The main character of the game is Arno Dorian (Dan Jeannotte), a native Frenchman who was born in Versailles to an Assassin father. After his father is killed by Shay Patrick Cormac at the end of Assassin's Creed Rogue, Arno is adopted, unaware that his new family holds a senior position within the Templar Order, with his new father figure being the Templar Grandmaster. Arno blames himself when his adoptive father is murdered, and so sets out on a quest of redemption that brings him into the Brotherhood of Assassins, where he slowly rises through the ranks, much like Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze as seen in previous games. Arno's love interest is Élise de la Serre (Catherine Bérubé), the daughter of the Templar Grandmaster who adopted Arno, who also sets out to investigate more about her father's death and its role in a growing ideological change within the Templar Order that threatens its core values. The era also features appearances from several historical figures, such as the Marquis de Sade (Alex Ivanovici), Maximilien Robespierre (Bruce Dinsmore), and a young Napoleon Bonaparte (Brent Skagford).

Setting

Arno's story starts in Versailles as a child, but for most of the story he is in Paris. His adventure in Paris starts on the eve of the French Revolution in 1789, and extends up to the Thermidorian Reaction in 1794. The modern day setting focuses on the Assassins contacting the player and requesting their help to explore Arno in the past, as well as helping in the present. Co-operative multiplayer missions follow the development of the Brotherhood of Assassins during the French Revolution. In addition, "time anomalies" are introduced during the story. Accessing them takes Arno to various points of Parisian history, such as Paris' Belle Époque, or its occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Plot

In 2014, Abstergo releases their Helix software, which allows access to genetic memories, to the general public as a gaming device. While playing through a memory of Jacques de Molay (Mario Desmarais), in which he orders a fellow Templar to hide his codex and sword during the sacking of the Paris Temple in 1307, the player is contacted by the Assassin Brotherhood through their agent, codenamed "Bishop" (Kate Todd). Bishop invites the player to join the Assassins as an initiate, and presents an Abstergo video memo describing the capture of a Sage who contains precursor DNA. Abstergo hopes to use the Sage to compile a precursor genome. Bishop directs the Initiate to locate another Sage, whose corpse they hope to recover.
The Initiate relives the memories of Arno Dorian, a French-Austrian nobleman. Orphaned in 1776 after his father Charles was assassinated, Arno was taken in by François de la Serre, Grand Master of the French Templars. In 1789, Arno is given a message to deliver to de la Serre, but leaves it in his office and goes to meet with his childhood friend Élise, de la Serre's daughter, following her initiation into the Templar Order. Arno later finds de la Serre murdered, and is framed as the killer. He is imprisoned in the Bastille, where he befriends a fellow prisoner, Pierre Bellec (Anthony Lemke), who knew his father. Bellec invites Arno into the Brotherhood after they escape during the prison's capitulation.
Returning home, Arno is turned away by Élise, who reveals that the message he failed to deliver was a warning of her father's impending murder. Arno joins the Brotherhood to eliminate the Templars behind de la Serre's death. During his investigation, Arno rescues François-Thomas Germain (Julian Casey), a silversmith held hostage by the acting-Templar Grand Master Lafreniere (Noel Burton). Arno assassinates Lafreniere, only to discover that he was the one trying to warn de la Serre and that Germain is actually a Templar extremist who staged a coup after being banished from the Order by de la Serre. When Germain begins murdering Élise's faction of Templars, Arno persuades her to parley with the Brotherhood. The Assassin Mentor Mirabeau (Harry Standjofski) agrees to help, hoping to broker peace between the Orders, but is later murdered by Bellec, who sought to prevent the alliance and purge the Assassin leadership he saw as weak to allow the Brotherhood to be reborn. Arno is forced to kill Bellec when he tries to defend his actions as a necessary evil and convince Arno to join him.
While searching the Tuileries Palace for potentially damning letters from Mirabeau to King Louis during an insurrection, Arno encounters Napoleon Bonaparte, who helps him escape. Arno realizes that Germain plots to spark a mass revolt against the King, and assassinates the Templars aiding him with Napoleon and Élise's help, rekindling his relationship with the latter in the process. With the Revolution in full swing, Arno tracks Germain to Louis' execution, but chooses to protect Élise rather than pursue him. Élise rejects him for this, and Arno is exiled from the Brotherhood for his rash actions. Falling into a drunken depression, Arno languishes for months before he is found in Versailles by Élise, who convinces him to return as Paris is tearing itself apart during the Reign of Terror. With Élise's help, Arno discredits Maximilien Robespierre, whom Germain had placed in charge of maintaining chaos. After Arno and Élise find Robespierre, Élise shoots him in the jaw and makes him write down Germain's location.
Arno confronts Germain, who is empowered by de Molay's sword—a Sword of Eden—and pursues him to the Templar crypt underneath the Paris Temple, where Élise soon arrives to help. After Arno is temporarily incapacitated, Élise tries to take on Germain by herself, but the Sword explodes, killing Élise and mortally wounding Germain. Arno kills Germain, who confirms he is the Sage and that he wanted to purge the Templars who had forgotten de Molay's teachings. The game ends with Arno explaining how his understanding of the Creed has changed, and promising to watch over Paris and keep Élise's memory alive, having now rejoined the Brotherhood and risen to the rank of Master Assassin. Years later, Arno and Napoleon recover Germain's skeleton and they place it in the catacombs. Bishop is relieved, confident that Abstergo will not be able to find it, and tells the initiate they will be in touch.

Dead Kings

One month after Élise's death, a devastated Arno finds refuge in Franciade. He is contacted by the Marquis de Sade, who requests his help in finding the manuscript of Nicolas de Condorcet, hidden in the tomb beneath the city, in exchange for a ship to take Arno to Egypt. During his search, Arno encounters tomb raiders led by Captain Philippe Rose (Taylor Price), a subordinate of Napoleon, who wishes to retrieve an artifact—an Apple of Eden—from a Precursor temple under the city's church. Arno finds that the manuscript has been stolen by a child thief, Léon (Eamon Stocks), who was captured by the raiders. Arno rescues Léon and retrieves the manuscript, but declines to help him stop the raiders. After a vision of Élise and hearing Léon's pleas, however, he changes his mind.
After discovering the temple's location and retrieving the key from one of Napoleon's officers, Arno opens the door to the temple, but is ambushed by Rose, who has betrayed Napoleon and wishes to take the Apple for himself. Arno survives the ambush, kills Rose, and retrieves the Apple, using it to repel the remaining raiders and escape. He later meets de Sade and gives him the manuscript. Arno decides to stay in France, and contacts the Brotherhood to deliver the Apple to Egypt, far from the reach of Napoleon, who is arrested for desertion and treason.

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

=== Setting and characters ===
In 1868, at the tail end of the Industrial Revolution, with the Assassin Brotherhood all but eradicated in Victorian London, twins Jacob (Paul Amos) and Evie Frye (Victoria Atkin) leave Crawley for London and arrive to find a city controlled by the Templars, with both the Church and the Monarchy losing their power. Raised as Assassins to follow the Creed, Jacob and Evie aim to take back the city from Templar control by infiltrating and uniting London's criminal underworld, aided by notable figures of the era such as novelist Charles Dickens (Des McAleer); biologist Charles Darwin (Julian Richings); inventor Alexander Graham Bell (Mark Rowley); political theorist Karl Marx (Matthew Marsh); nurse Florence Nightingale (Helen Johns); Maharaja Duleep Singh (Avin Shah), the last maharajah of the Sikh Empire; Sergeant Frederick Abberline (Sam Crane) of the Metropolitan Police Service (known for his investigation of Jack the Ripper); and Queen Victoria (Ellen David). Additionally, Jacob's granddaughter, Lydia Frye (Lisa Norton), appears in a separate World War I segment, where she aids Winston Churchill (Rick Miller) in defending London against a new enemy espionage faction.

Plot

In 2015, the Helix player, now an Assassin Initiate, is again contacted by Bishop (Kate Todd) to help the Brotherhood find a Piece of Eden in London. While Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings infiltrate Abstergo's facility in London, the Initiate relives the memories of Jacob and Evie Frye, twin Assassins from the Victorian era.
In 1868, Evie infiltrates a lab run by David Brewster and Templar occultist Lucy Thorne (Emerald O'Hanrahan), and finds them experimenting on an Apple of Eden. Evie assassinates Brewster, learning that the Templars seek another artifact in London, and escapes from the lab after the Apple explodes. The Frye twins head to London to stop the Templars from finding this Piece of Eden, and meet fellow Assassin Henry Green (Jaz Deol). Henry informs them that the London Brotherhood has fallen, and the city is controlled by the Templars, led by Crawford Starrick (Kris Holden-Ried), a powerful figure in the city's industry and criminal underworld. Although Evie wishes to search for the Piece of Eden, Jacob convinces her to help liberate London's boroughs from Templar-run gangs. In the process, they build up their own gang, the Rooks, and make allies such as Clara O'Dea, Frederick Abberline, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Ned Wynert, and Edward Hodson Bayley.
During this time, Jacob, seeking to undermine Starrick's control over London society, assassinates Starrick's allies, including Dr. John Elliotson, who oversaw the production of an addictive tonic; Malcolm Milner, the owner of Starrick's omnibus company; Pearl Attaway, Starrick's cousin and owner of a rival omnibus company; Philip Twopenny, the Governor of the Bank of England who was secretly robbing it; James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, who planned to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli; and gang leader Maxwell Roth, who initially supports Jacob, but later reveals himself to be a dangerous sadist.
Meanwhile, Evie looks for the Piece of Eden with Henry's help. Following clues underneath Edward Kenway's mansion, they find the key to the Shroud's vault at St Paul's Cathedral, but Thorne steals it and flees to the Tower of London. Evie infiltrates the Tower and kills Thorne, who reveals the Shroud is not there. Henry believes the vault is hidden in Buckingham Palace, and enlists Maharajah Duleep Singh's help to obtain the building's schematics; however, the Templars seize them first. Evie also corrects consequences of Jacob's assassinations, such as medicine shortages and currency inflation.
With his lieutenants dead, Starrick moves to retrieve the Shroud and eliminate Britain's heads of church and state. Jacob and Evie argue over his recklessness and her inaction, but agree to work together to stop Starrick before going their separate ways. They infiltrate a ball held at Buckingham Palace, but Starrick beats them to the vault and obtains the Shroud. With Henry's help, the Frye twins kill Starrick, before reconciling and returning the Shroud to the vault. For their deeds, Queen Victoria knights the Frye twins and Henry.
In the present, Rebecca and Shaun spy on a meeting between senior Templars Isabelle Ardant and Álvaro Gramática, who are also searching for the Shroud. They attempt to capture Ardant, but are forced to flee after being attacked by Otso Berg and Violet da Costa. After the Initiate locates the Shroud, Shaun, Rebecca and fellow Assassin Galina Voronina head to the vault, but discover that Ardant, Berg, and da Costa beat them to it. A fight ensues, in which Ardant is killed and da Costa escapes with the Shroud. Hacking Ardant's computer, the Assassins learn the Templars plan to use the Shroud to construct a living Precursor. They also discover that Juno is manipulating employees within Abstergo to sabotage the company, and has her own plans for the Shroud.

Time Anomaly

While exploring Jacob and Evie's memories, the Initiate encounters a "time anomaly" in the Animus, which causes them to relive the memories of Jacob's granddaughter, Lydia Frye. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, the Brotherhood removes Jacob and Evie to the countryside while Lydia's husband, a fellow Assassin, is enrolled in the British Army, leaving Lydia to defend London from German spies. In 1916, at the behest of Winston Churchill, Lydia eliminates a German spy facility in Tower Bridge. In the process, she discovers the Templars have infiltrated the Germans' spy network, and hunts them down. In exchange for her services, Churchill promises Lydia that he will ensure the enfranchisement of women after the war. Lydia eventually conquers every Templar-infested area in London, and flushes out the leader of the Templars, revealed to be a Sage, the reincarnation of Juno's husband Aita.
For every objective completed, Juno, the one causing the anomaly, appears and tells the Initiate of her past and rise to power. After Lydia kills the Sage, Juno thanks the Initiate for discovering his fate, and suggests that she and the Assassins could work together in the future.

Story expansions

==== The Dreadful Crimes ====
At some point following their arrival in London, the Frye twins are approached by Henry Raymond, a penny dreadful writer, and his follower Archie, and the four team up to solve a series of mysterious murders across London. The twins are eventually summoned to Buckingham Palace by Frederick Abberline, to solve the apparent murder of a Queen's Guard. Archie, who has been conducting his own investigation, discovers the culprit to be none other than Raymond, who plots to steal the Queen's Sceptre of the Dove. Raymond posed as the murdered guard to learn the combination to the safe where the Sceptre is kept by watching Queen Victoria open it, and has also faked a bomb threat to cover his escape. While Jacob and Evie evacuate the palace after learning of the bomb threat, Archie tries to stop Raymond, only to end up captured. With Raymond holding Archie hostage, one of the Frye twins distracts Raymond while the other kills him, saving Archie and recovering the Sceptre. In the aftermath, Jacob and Evie encourage Archie to try writing writing detective fiction himself and he is revealed to be Arthur Conan Doyle.

Jack the Ripper

Set in 1888, twenty years after the events of the main campaign, this expansion follows Evie as she investigates the murders of female Assassins operating as prostitutes in the East End of London, which were carried out by the titular serial killer. The Ripper has rallied former members of the Rooks to his cause to help him carry out his killings, and has also kidnapped Jacob, now the head of the British Brotherhood, who has a personal connection to the killer.

The Last Maharaja

After confronting Duleep Singh about his lack of commitment to the people of India, Henry enlists the help of the Frye twins to persuade the Maharaja to reclaim his birthright. The twins recover Singh's letters to his mother, which were intercepted by the British Indies Company (B.I.C.). This convinces Singh, who asks the twins to recover Punjabi gold, before arranging for it to be shipped back to India. He then proposes to recover the Koh-i-Noor, an Indian diamond kept in the Tower of London. The twins accomplish this task; however, Henry reveals that the recovered diamond is a replica, and that the true Koh-i-Noor never left India, having been hidden years ago by Jacob and Evie's father Ethan, who was given the diamond by Henry's own father, Arbaaz Mir.
The twins later head to a B.I.C. factory and stop the company's production of chemical weapons. In the process, they discover that Brinley Ellsworth, a B.I.C. representative and childhood friend of Singh's, is a Templar and behind the recent plots against the Maharaja. Singh arranges a meeting where he confronts Ellsworth, who tries to murder him. Evie subdues Ellsworth, but Singh chooses to spare his former friend's life and allows him to leave, claiming that they would be no better than the B.I.C. if they killed him. Afterwards, Singh thanks the twins for their contribution and parts ways with them, vowing to continue his mission.

Assassin's Creed Origins

=== Setting ===
The player takes on the role of an Egyptian Medjay named Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya, as they work to protect the people of Ptolemaic Egypt during a time of widespread upheaval. The Pharaoh, Ptolemy XIII, struggles to maintain his rule while harboring ambitions of expanding his kingdom. His sister, the recently deposed Cleopatra, begins marshaling loyalist forces to launch a counter-coup against Ptolemy. Additionally, incursions into the Kingdom by the Roman Republic under the command of Julius Caesar lead to fears of an imminent invasion. Bayek's role as a Medjay brings him and Aya into contact with the secretive forces manipulating these events and into forming the Hidden Ones, the precursor organization to the Assassin Brotherhood. The story is followed in the modern day by Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher who covertly reads Bayek and Aya's memories to uncover the origins of the Assassins and secure a senior position in Abstergo's Animus project. In experiencing Bayek's memories, Layla may encounter a series of ancient structures built by the First Civilization. Each contains a message that alludes to Layla playing a pivotal role in an upcoming apocalyptic event.

Plot

In 2017, Layla Hassan, a researcher for Abstergo Industries, is tasked with retrieving an artifact in Egypt on their behalf. Instead, she finds a tomb containing the mummified body of Bayek of Siwa. Hoping to find information that would secure her a position in the company's Animus Project, Layla covertly obtains a DNA sample and reads Bayek's memories using a modified Animus device. In 49 BC, Bayek, a Medjay charged with protecting the Siwa Oasis, is abducted along with his son Khemu by a group of masked men and taken to an underground vault in the Temple of Amun. They give Bayek a dormant Apple of Eden and demand that he use it to open the vault. Khemu helps Bayek escape, but while struggling with one of the masked men, Bayek inadvertently kills Khemu.
One year later, Bayek has exiled himself to track down the five masked men and take his revenge. After eliminating two targets, Bayek heads for Alexandria to meet his wife Aya. Aya reveals that she has also killed two masked men, leaving only one target. Bayek identifies the Royal Scribe Eudoros as the last target and assassinates him, but is disturbed by Eudoros' last words, which imply there are more masked men. Realising Aya should be buried in the same tomb, Layla locates her mummy and inputs her DNA into the Animus, which synchronises her memories with Bayek's. Aya directs Bayek to her friend Apollodorus for more information. Apollodorus introduces him to Cleopatra, who confirms that the masked men are members of the Order of the Ancients, which ousted her from the throne and seeks to control Egypt using Ptolemy as their puppet.
Cleopatra gives Bayek four new targets which he tracks them down and assassinates, while Aya commands a fleet to negotiate an alliance with the Roman general Pompey. Bayek receives a letter from Aya explaining there are more Order members at large, including members of Ptolemy's royal guard, and assumes that Cleopatra is using him to eliminate her rivals. Having failed to report in, Abstergo sends a team to kill Layla, but she kills them first and returns to the Animus. Aya joins Bayek to meet Pompey, but they find him assassinated by Order member Lucius Septimius. Cleopatra decides to try with Pompey's rival Julius Caesar, who is in negotiation with Ptolemy, and sneaks into the palace rolled in a carpet to meet him.
Bayek and Aya break into the tomb of Alexander the Great so Cleopatra can show Caesar, impressing him and securing his support in the war against Ptolemy. In the midst of the fighting, Bayek kills Ptolemy's regent Pothinus, an Order member, but is restrained from killing Septimius by Caesar on the ground that he's Roman. Meanwhile, Aya draws her bow to kill Ptolemy, but holds back and watches as his boat is attacked by crocodiles, causing him to fall into the Nile and drown. Cleopatra takes the throne as Pharaoh and cuts ties with Bayek and Aya, while Septimius becomes an advisor to Caesar. Bayek realizes that Cleopatra and Caesar have now allied themselves with the Order, and gathers his allies to form a secret brotherhood to fight the Order and defend the people's free will.
Bayek and Aya return to investigate Alexander's tomb, where they find a mortally wounded Apollodorus who warns them that Caesar's lieutenant Flavius Metellus is the leader of the Order and took the Apple and Alexander's Staff of Eden. Returning to Siwa, they find that Flavius and Septimius have used the Apple and Staff to open the Vault, which contains a map with the locations of more Pieces of Eden. Bayek tracks Flavius to Cyrene, where the latter has used the Apple to enthrall the population. He kills Flavius, avenging Khemu's death, and returns to Aya. Aya reveals that she is going to Rome to fight the Order's influence there and has joined the conspiracy of Brutus and Cassius to assassinate Caesar. The pair bid farewell and form the Hidden Ones, the foundation of the Assassin Brotherhood, swearing to protect the world from the shadows.
Layla is awoken by William Miles, who invites her to join the Assassins for her own protection. Although declining to join the Assassins, Layla agrees to go to Alexandria with him. Aya sails to Rome and confronts and kills Septimius before infiltrating the Roman Senate, where she takes the first hit on Caesar before other senators follow suit. Later, she meets Cleopatra and warns her to be a fair ruler, or she will return to assassinate her. Afterward, Bayek and Aya, now calling herself Amunet, begin recruiting and training other Hidden Ones as they build the Brotherhood in Egypt and Rome, respectively.

The Hidden Ones

In 38 BC, several years after the foundation of the Hidden Ones, Bayek receives a letter from Tahira, the leader of their bureau in the Sinai, who requests his help as the region is being invaded by Rome and the local Hidden Ones are struggling to handle the situation. Upon arrival, Bayek meets rebel leader Gamilat, whom the Hidden Ones have allied with to fight the Romans. Together with Tahira, they devise a plan to lure out General Rufio, the leader of the Roman invasion and a member of the Order of the Ancients, by assassinating his three lieutenants. Bayek does so, but upon returning to the Hidden One bureau, the hideout is attacked by the Romans, who capture Bayek and Tahira. The former is rescued by Amunet, who has also come to the Sinai to investigate the situation. The two then free Tahira and another captive Hidden One, but Tahira soon dies from injuries she has received.
Once Rufio arrives with his fleet, Bayek and Amunet help Gamilat's rebels to defend a village before Bayek infiltrates Rufio's ship and assassinates him. However, he is disturbed by Rufio's final words, which imply that the Order is an ideology, not a group, and therefore immortal. As Bayek returns to Amunet, she informs of Gamilat's actions of planting his men among innocent villagers, knowing that the Romans would kill indiscriminately, thus creating martyrs to motivate more people to join the rebellion. Bayek confronts Gamilat and kills him when he defends his actions as a necessary evil. Afterwards, realizing the importance of a Creed to serve as a moral guideline for the Hidden Ones and to ensure their survival over time, Bayek and Amunet address their apprentices and create their first tenet: the prohibition of harming innocent lives. Bayek is unsure if they have done good, but Amunet re-assures him and the two share one final moment together before Amunet returns to Rome.

The Curse of the Pharaohs

In 34 BC, Bayek receives a letter from Amunet informing him of a disturbance in Thebes, which she believes is a sign of another Piece of Eden. Deciding to investigate, Bayek travels to the city and discovers the disturbance to be a "curse" which has seemingly resurrected several past pharaohs as undead spirits to haunt the region. After defeating the spirit of Nefertiti, Bayek heads to Luxor to meet Amunet's contact Merti, who informs of stolen relics being sold on the black market and directs him to the High Priestess and God's Wife of Amun Isidora for more information.
Investigating the market, Bayek meets the historian Tahemet, who gives him an invitation for an auction of an artifact stolen from Nefertiti's tomb. Bayek discovers that the artifact has already been taken by the thief Sutekh, who intends to return it to the tomb, and convinces Sutekh to let him return it instead. Inside the tomb, Bayek finds a mysterious portal that seemingly transports him to Aaru, where he again encounters and defeats Nefertiti's spirit. Meeting with Isidora, she directs Bayek to investigate a cult worshipping the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten. In the process, Bayek learns that Akhenaten once held the Piece of Eden he seeks and finds another portal taking him to Aten, where he must overcome the pharaoh's spirit.
After further investigation, Bayek learns from Tahemet of a ritual where the Piece of Eden is used and how to put Ramesses II to rest. Upon venturing into the Heb Sed and defeating Ramesses' spirit, Bayek investigates the ritual and learns that the Piece of Eden has been passed into the care of the priests of Amun, meaning it was in Isidora's possession all along. Learning that she has used the artifact to unleash the "curse" as retribution for her mother's murder by tomb robbers, Bayek travels to the tomb of Tutankhamun to confront Isidora and recover the Piece of Eden. However, Isidora refuses to stand down and uses the artifact to "transport" Bayek to the Duat, where he is confronted by Tutankhamun's spirit. After defeating it, Bayek kills Isidora and gives the Piece of Eden to Sutekh, trusting him to hide it somewhere it will never be found.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey

=== Setting and characters ===
As with previous games in the series, Odyssey features a narrative set in the modern-day, which follows Layla Hassan, an Assassin and former Abstergo researcher who was introduced in Origins. Assisted by fellow Assassins Victoria Bibeau, Kiyoshi Takakura, and Alannah Ryan, Layla's goal is to find the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus and the lost city of Atlantis by using data processed by her portable Animus device. The device recounts a secret mythological history set during the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between the city-states of Greece. The game's historical plot is set in 431–422 BC, four centuries before the events of Assassin's Creed Origins and the creation of the Hidden Ones, the forerunners to the Brotherhood of Assassins.
The game's main storyline follows the player character, the elder of two siblings known as the Eagle Bearer, a legendary mercenary with Ikaros as a constant companion. As a child, the Eagle Bearer was exiled from Spartan society after they attempted to stop a Spartan elder from throwing their younger, infant sibling from Mount Taygetos at the urging of the Pythia, who determined that the child, if allowed to live, would be responsible for the potential glory or downfall of Sparta. As punishment for inadvertently sending the Spartan elder falling to his death, they were thrown off the mountain by their father Nikolaos, who was compelled to do so by the Spartan leadership. They survived the fall and ended up in the care of a con man named Markos, based in Kephallonia, where they work various odd jobs under his direction. As a wandering mercenary or misthios, the Eagle Bearer has opportunities to fight for both the Delian League, led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. In conjunction with the Eagle Bearer's attempts to reunite their fractured family, parallel quest lines deal with the destruction of the Cult of Kosmos (a secret organization spanning the Greek world) and the discovery of artifacts and monsters from Atlantean times.
The game features a number of historical personages players can encounter and interact with, including Alkibiades, Aristophanes, Euripides, Democritus, Sokrates and many others. It also includes historical and mythical Greek locations such as the Agora of Athens, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, Lesbos, and Macedonia. The game features several creatures from Greek mythology, such as Medusa, the Cyclops, the Sphinx, and the Minotaur, depicted here as experiments of the Isu, the same race that created humanity and most of the artifacts encountered throughout the series.

Plot

Odyssey's story begins in 480 BC, where King Leonidas leads the Spartan army against a Persian charge during the Battle of Thermopylae. The skirmish is won, but a captured enemy informs Leonidas that the Persian army has learned of the mountain path and will surround the Spartans by morning. Nevertheless, Leonidas resolves to hold off the Persian advance.
In 2018, Layla Hassan recovers Leonidas' spear. She extracts the DNA of his grandchildren, Alexios and Kassandra, from it to use in her Animus to find the location of the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus. Whichever sibling is selected by the player is designated as the Eagle Bearer.
In 431 BC, at the onset of the Peloponnesian War, the Eagle Bearer is hired by a mysterious merchant named Elpenor. The plot is to assassinate the "Wolf of Sparta" in the city of Megaris. After befriending a naval captain named Barnabas, the Eagle Bearer leaves Kephallonia having been given command of his ship, the Adrestia. In Megaris, the Eagle Bearer learns that Nikolaos is not their biological father and has another adopted son, Stentor. They also learn that their mother Myrinne left Nikolaos and Sparta shortly after the incident at Mount Taygetos. The Eagle Bearer travels to Phokis to confront Elpenor, who reveals himself to be a member of the Cult of Kosmos, who are aware of their lineage. Disguised in Elpenor's mask and robes after killing him, the Eagle Bearer infiltrates a secret Cult meeting in Delphi, where they discover that not only is the Cult targeting their family, but their younger sibling had survived the fall from Mount Taygetos and subsequently manipulated by the Cult into becoming their champion known as Deimos. Accompanied by Barnabas and Herodotos, the Eagle Bearer embarks on an extended journey across the Greek world. Eventually they reunite with Myrinne, who had assumed the alias of Phoenix, the oligarch of the polis of Naxos. Myrinne persuades her eldest child to convince the Spartan regime to reinstate their citizenship and ancestral estate, while they continue to undermine the Cult's activities in the Greek world together.
At the Battle of Pylos, The Eagle Bearer meets Deimos. The encounter leads to a fight which results in The Eagle Bearer's capture. They are taken to Athens, where the Cultist Kleon enjoys popularity as leader of the city-state following the death of his rival Perikles years prior. Thwarting Kleon's plans, The Eagle Bearer escapes captivity with the help of their Athenian allies. At the Battle of Amphipolis, The Eagle Bearer joins Brasidas' Spartan forces to confront Kleon's Athenian army. During the battle, the leaders of both armies die, ushering in the end of the first half of the Peloponnesian War. Afterwards, the Eagle Bearer returns with Myrinne to Mount Taygetos to confront Deimos. Depending on key decisions made by the player at predetermined points of the game's narrative, the Eagle Bearer either redeems or kills Deimos. Their actions have a direct bearing on the fates of their extended family members and determines whether they will have a successful family reunion for the main plotline's epilogue.
After eliminating the Cult, the Eagle Bearer returns to the sanctuary in Delphi, where they find the Cult's pyramid-shaped artifact and Aspasia, who reveals herself to be the Cult's original leader. Disgusted by what the Cult had become as a result of Deimos' influence, Aspasia secretly helps the Eagle Bearer dismantle it, with hope that its original ideals of peace through order may survive. The Eagle Bearer touches the artifact and receives visions of future conflicts. They then destroy it and decides Aspasia's fate. At some point during their lifetime, the Eagle Bearer also meets their biological father Pythagoras, who is revealed to be a descendant of the Isu like Myrinne and Leonidas, and inherits the Staff of Hermes from Pythagoras to safeguard the secrets of Atlantis, gaining biological immortality in the process.
In the present, Layla encounters the Eagle Bearer in Atlantis, who warns her that the world needs balance between the Assassins' and Templars' ideals; either side prevailing over the other will result in the world's doom. Layla also learns that she is the prophesied one who will bring balance between the concepts of chaos and order. The Eagle Bearer gives Layla the Staff before dying.

Legacy of the First Blade

Set during the events of the main campaign, this expansion focuses on the Eagle Bearer's conflict with the Order of the Ancients, the precursor organization to the Templar Order introduced in Assassin's Creed Origins. The Order is hunting the Eagle Bearer in an attempt to end their bloodline, which they believe is too powerful and a threat to their vision of peace. In fighting against the Order, the Eagle Bearer receives aid from Darius, a character first mentioned in Assassin's Creed II, who is also being pursued by the Order due to his history with them. A major plot element in the expansion concerns the Eagle Bearer's desire to settle down and start a family.

The Fate of Atlantis

In 422 BC, after inheriting the Staff of Hermes from Pythagoras, the Eagle Bearer meets the Isu Aletheia, whose consciousness is stored inside the Staff. Aletheia explains that their duty as the Keeper of the Staff is to help the "Heir of Memories" unlock the gate to Atlantis by finding three tombs with symbols required to open the gate. The Eagle Bearer locates the tombs, allowing Layla to find the symbols in the present. She then relives a memory of Deimos to learn the correct order to activate them, allowing her to access Atlantis.
After being joined by Victoria, Layla is informed by Aletheia that she created simulations to help the Eagle Bearer master the Staff's powers. Layla enters the Animus to relive the Eagle Bearer's memories of the simulations and learn how to wield the Staff.
In the simulation of Elysium, the Eagle Bearer meets Persephone, the strict ruler of Elysium, and learns of a human rebellion led by Adonis against her regime. The Eagle Bearer helps both sides of the conflict while also meeting and assisting Hermes Trismegistus, who offers to teach them about the Staff, and Hekate, who secretly seeks to undermine Persephone's rule and take over Elysium. The Eagle Bearer eventually helps Adonis and his rebels to attack Persephone's palace, where they defeat Hermes in combat and confront the ruler. Depending on choices made by the player, Persephone either allows Adonis to leave Elysium or blinds him, before banishing the Eagle Bearer to the Underworld.
In the Underworld simulation, the Eagle Bearer is forced to defeat Cerberus before being confronted by Hades. He explains that Cerberus' death has opened numerous rifts between Tartaros and the Underworld, releasing souls confined to Tartaros back into the Underworld. To contain the chaos, Hades instructs the Eagle Bearer to find new guardians for each of the Underworld's gates, promising to teach them about the Staff in return. The Eagle Bearer does so, and in the process is reunited with several of their deceased friends and adversaries, including Phoibe, Brasidas and Elpenor. After finding all the guardians, Hades betrays the Eagle Bearer and reveals his intention to turn them into a guardian as well, forcing the Eagle Bearer to fight him.
Following Hades' defeat, Poseidon arrives to take the Eagle Bearer to Atlantis, where he appoints them as Dikastes, his second-in-command. The Eagle Bearer is then tasked with exploring Atlantis to enforce Poseidon's laws and to ultimately pass judgement on the city. During their journey, the Eagle Bearer discovers that many Isu regularly disobey Poseidon's laws and commit crimes against humanity; the most egregious of which is "Project Olympos", a genetic engineering program led by Juno and Aita that combines abducted human subjects with Isu artifacts to create hybrid beasts. After defeating Juno and Aita's latest creation, the Hecatoncheires, the Eagle Bearer deems Atlantis beyond saving and, alongside Poseidon, activates a mechanism to sink the city. With the trails complete, the Eagle Bearer is congratulated by Aletheia for proving themselves worthy of wielding the Staff and embraces their new role as the Keeper.
In the present, Abstergo agents led by the Templar Juhani Otso Berg track down the Assassins, but Layla uses the Staff to fight them off. Seeing the negative influence the Staff is having on Layla, a concerned Victoria tries to take it away from her, only to be accidentally killed by Layla in a fit of rage. Having witnessed this, Aletheia is unsure if Layla is fit to wield the Staff, but the Assassin convinces her to let her prove herself. After defeating and crippling Otso Berg, an exhausted Layla contacts her team to be picked up.

Those Who Are Treasured

In 421 BC, the Eagle Bearer, exhausted by their adventures and pressured by their new responsibility as the Keeper, decides to take a vacation on the island of Korfu. After six months, Barnabas and Herodotos find them and are concerned that the Eagle Bearer has become sedentary, inviting them to take part in a treasure hunt. During their search, the Eagle Bearer stumbles upon a group of pirates who are looking for an artifact hidden on Korfu, and finds the key to the chest in which the artifact is held. After being forced to surrender the key to the pirates, who captured Herodotos, the Eagle Bearer confronts and kills the pirate captain, who has found the artifact: an Apple of Eden. As the Eagle Bearer approaches the Apple, it interacts with their spear, de-powering it.
Speaking with Aletheia, she informs the Eagle Bearer of other Isu artifacts hidden across the globe and claims that, as the Keeper, it is their duty to find and destroy them. However, the Eagle Bearer refuses to abandon their friends and life in Greece, leaving to find Barnabas, who the Apple has corrupted. After fighting Barnabas and separating him from the artifact, the Eagle Bearer decides to inform him of their immortality, which Barnabas agrees to keep secret. Now aware of the dangers of Isu artifacts, the Eagle Bearer accepts Aletheia's mission and leaves Greece to begin their new journey alongside Barnabas after gifting their spear to Herodotos. Centuries later, the Eagle Bearer, left to continue their journey alone, travels to Egypt and places a scroll given to them by Herodotos in the Library of Alexandria.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

=== Setting ===

In 873 CE, political pressures in Norway prompt Eivor Varinsdottir and her adoptive older brother, Sigurd Styrbjornsson, to lead their clan of Vikings to settle new lands in Anglo-Saxon England, as part of the Viking expansion across Europe. The clan comes into conflict with the kingdoms of Wessex, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia over the next several years, as well as the warring sons of the legendary Viking warrior Ragnar Lothbrok, who made up the Great Heathen Army. Eivor's clan faces forces led by the rulers of these kingdoms, including Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex. It is during this time that Eivor meets the Hidden Ones—precursors to the Assassin Brotherhood—and aids them in their fight against the Order of the Ancients—precursors to the Templar Order. Explorable cities in the game include Winchester, London, and York. Parts of Norway and Vinland are also included, while dreamscapes of Asgard and Jotunheim also feature.
As with previous games in the series, Valhalla also features a narrative set in the modern day, which follows Layla Hassan, the modern-day protagonist previously featured in Origins and Odyssey. Valhalla also contains story elements related to the Isu, who, as part of the lore of the Assassin's Creed series, are an advanced civilization that pre-date humanity.

Plot

In 2020, the unexplained strengthening of Earth's magnetic field negatively affects the planet. Layla Hassan, Shaun Hastings, and Rebecca Crane receive a signal with coordinates in New England, where they exhume a Viking raider's remains. Layla, struggling with the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus' influence, enters the Animus to view the raider's memories.
In 855 AD in Norway, a young Eivor Varinsdottir witnesses warlord Kjotve the Cruel sacking her hometown and killing her parents before she is rescued by Sigurd, son of King Styrbjorn of the Raven Clan. Seventeen years later, Eivor has been adopted by Styrbjorn, and pursues vengeance against Kjotve. Her latest attempt fails, but she recovers her father's axe. Touching it, Eivor experiences a vision of Odin, leading her to consult the local seeress, Valka. Valka induces another vision of Sigurd losing an arm before being consumed by a giant wolf.
Sigurd returns from an expedition with foreigners Basim Ibn Ishaq and Hytham, members of the Hidden Ones, who came to Norway to eliminate Kjotve, a member of the opposing Order of the Ancients. Defying Styrbjorn's orders, Eivor and Sigurd enlist King Harald's help to kill Kjotve. Following their victory, Harald declares his intention to unite Norway under his rule. Styrbjorn pledges fealty to Harald, angering Sigurd, who expected to inherit the crown. He and Eivor take loyalists in the clan on an exodus to England, where they establish their own settlement named Ravensthorpe.
After setting up Ravensthorpe, Eivor focuses on securing alliances with neighboring Saxon kingdoms and Viking clans. She aids the jarlskona Soma in reclaiming the town of Grantebridge from the Order of the Ancients; befriends the Sons of Ragnar led by Ivar, Halfdan, and Ubba Ragnarsson; helps install Ceolwulf and Oswald as Kings of Mercia and East Anglia, respectively; and settles a conflict with King Rhodri of Wales, during which she is forced to kill an increasingly bloodthirsty Ivar. At Hytham's request, Eivor also tracks down and eliminates Order members operating in Lunden, Jorvik, and Wincestre, following tip-offs from a "Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ." Eivor's hunt for one Order member takes her to Vinland, where she recovers a strange artifact and gives it to the native Kanien'kehá:ka.
Eivor's visions continue. Valka gives her an elixir that makes her dream of Asgard from Odin's perspective. Hoping to avert his own fated death during Ragnarök, Odin imprisons Loki's son Fenrir, who is foretold to kill him, and retrieves a magical mead from Jotunheim that will allow him and the other Aesir to be reincarnated. Layla realizes these are actually visions of the Isu shortly before the Great Catastrophe, and that Loki, who was forbidden to reincarnate himself after betraying Odin, found another way to ensure his survival.
Sigurd and Basim discover an Isu relic, and Sigurd, with Basim's encouragement, comes to believe himself a god. Fulke, an Order agent and servant of King Alfred of Wessex, captures Sigurd, believing him to be an Isu or descendant thereof, and tortures him, removing his right arm. Eivor rallies her allies to kill Fulke and rescue Sigurd, who has also begun experiencing strange visions. Eivor later accompanies Sigurd back to Norway to investigate his visions, finding an Isu temple with a tree-shaped computer system. The siblings connect themselves to it and are seemingly transported to Valhalla, where they enjoy endless battles, until Eivor realizes it is just a simulation. Having become disillusioned with the pursuit of glory, Eivor persuades Sigurd to return to the real world, and escapes the simulation after resisting Odin.
Upon awakening, Eivor is confronted by Basim, who reveals himself, Eivor, and Sigurd to be reincarnations of Loki, Odin, and Tyr, respectively. Seeking revenge on Odin for Fenrir's imprisonment, Basim attacks Eivor, but is defeated and trapped in the simulation. Sigurd then abdicates leadership of the clan to Eivor, who returns to England. Later, Eivor and her allies join Guthrum's assault on Wessex, defeating Alfred's forces at the Battle of Chippenham. Eivor tracks down Alfred, who reveals himself as both the leader of the Order and the "Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ." Disgusted by the Order's heresy against Christianity, Alfred sought to replace it with a new God-fearing order. Eivor spares Alfred and returns to Ravensthorpe to a hero's welcome.
In the present, the Assassins deduce the strengthening magnetic field is a result of Desmond Miles' activation of the Isu towers in 2012. To stabilize the field, Layla travels to the Norway temple and enters the simulation. She meets Basim, who reveals that he led the Assassins to Eivor, and tells her how to stabilize the magnetic field. She does so, but this releases Basim and traps Layla in the simulation. Layla encounters a being called "the Reader," and decides to work with him to prevent future disasters, allowing her mortal body to die. Meanwhile, Basim escapes the temple with the Staff of Hermes—containing the consciousness of Loki's lover, Aletheia—and meets Shaun and Rebecca. After they leave to bring William Miles, Basim enters the Animus to track down Loki's children.

Wrath of the Druids

In 879 AD, Eivor receives a letter from her maternal cousin Bárid mac Ímair, now King of Dublin, requesting her assistance in Ireland. Eivor agrees to help Bárid secure an alliance with Flann Sinna, who is to be crowned High King of Ireland. After uncovering and foiling a plot to assassinate Flann ahead of his coronation, he requests Eivor's help to gather allies and strengthen his rule. Upon taking the castle of Cashelore, Eivor discovers that Flann's army has been poisoned and seeks an antidote with Flann's advisor, Ciara ingen Medba. Eivor learns that the Children of Danu, a cult of druids who seek to oust the Norse and Christian faiths from Ireland, are responsible, and begins hunting down their members. Eivor also discovers that Ciara is a former cult member, having left upon learning of their extremist ways.
In 881 AD, Eivor uncovers the identity of the cult's leader: Eogan mac Cartaigh, the Abbot of Armagh, who feigned Christian faith. While informing Flann and Bárid, Eogan has his forces besiege Clogher. Bárid is killed in the attack, prompting Eivor to exact revenge and kill Eogan. In the aftermath, the Kings of Ireland decide to eradicate the druidic faith entirely, and Flann reluctantly agrees to launch an inquisition against the druids. Enraged upon learning of this, Ciara goes to the Lia Fáil to use its power to prevent her culture from being eradicated. She tries to take control of Flann and his men, but Eivor defeats her and the Lia Fáil is destroyed. Flann reflects on his decision and promises to be a good king for all the people of Ireland, cancelling the inquisition. Meanwhile, Eivor meets with Sichfrith, Bárid's son, who succeeded him as King of Dublin. The two reflect on Bárid's dreams, and bond as family.

The Siege of Paris

In 885 AD, Eivor is recruited by Toka Sinricsdottir, a Viking raider from Francia, to partake in a planned raid on the city of Paris. In Melun, Eivor meets Sigfred, Toka's uncle and jarl, who seeks vengeance against the Franks for the death of his brother Sincric (Toka's father). After pushing back an attack by the Frankish bishop Engelwin—the man responsible for Sincric's death—Eivor and Sigfred follow him back to Paris, where the former assassinates Engelwin, discovering his affiliation with a secretive, zealous sect of the Church called the Bellatores Dei (God's Warriors). Afterwards, hoping to avert war, Eivor seeks an audience with the Frankish emperor Charles the Fat, who agrees in exchange for the return of his missing wife Richardis. Eivor finds her being held captive by another Bellatores Dei member, a nun known as "Little Mother," whom she kills before rescuing Richardis. The two then head to Lisieux, where Eivor meets Bernard, Charles' illegitimate but only male heir. Eivor realizes that Charles actually seeks Bernard, and that Richardis is protecting him, to prevent him from being corrupted by his father.
After meeting with and being betrayed by Charles, Eivor returns to Sigfred, just as the Viking army prepares for the siege of Paris. Still hoping for a peaceful resolution, Eivor seeks out Count Odo, Paris' military leader, but he rejects her offer of peace. As the Vikings raid the city, Eivor becomes dejected after witnessing Sigfred's bloodlust, and infiltrates Odo's palace to force him to surrender. Sigfred agrees to end the siege in exchange for a hefty sum of silver and is made protector of Normandy, abdicating leadership of the clan in favor of Toka. Later, Odo contacts Eivor, asking her to find Richardis and Bernard, who have gone missing. Eivor rescues Richardis from an ordeal by fire she was put through by an increasingly mad Charles, before confronting and potentially killing Charles. Regardless of the outcome, Odo steps in to fill the void left by Charles' absence, and Eivor returns to England knowing she has a new friend and ally in Toka.

A Fated Encounter

In 887 AD, Eivor travels to the Isle of Skye after being informed by Valka's seeress friend Edyt that the locals having been suffering from intense nightmares. While searching for the source of the nightmares, Eivor runs into Kassandra, who has come to retrieve an artifact that has been affecting the locals' minds, turning many of them insane and violent. Realizing they share a common goal, the two agree to work together to find the artifact, although Eivor becomes distrustful of Kassandra due to the latter's secretive nature, and eventually abandons her after it is revealed that Kassandra's presence on the island is what activated the artifact. Upon finding the artifact—an Apple of Eden—Eivor is attacked by deranged warriors, but is saved by Kassandra, who then helps her de-power the Apple, saving the island. Deciding to celebrate their victory, Eivor invites Kassandra to attend a wedding, where the latter reveals that she has been traveling alone for a long time and has trouble socializing. Nevertheless, after partying together, Kassandra learns to open up to people more and she and Eivor part on good terms, as the former resumes her journey across the globe.

Dawn of Ragnarök

After Odin and Frigg's son Baldr is kidnapped by the Muspelheim warlord Surtr, the two travel to Svartalfheim amid the Muspel's invasion to rescue him. Odin fights Surtr, but is defeated, and Frigg is killed by Surtr's wife Sinmara. Left for dead, Odin is saved by the dwarves who have taken shelter from the invasion. Seeking a way to defeat Surtr, Odin rescues the dwarf leader Ivaldi from Surtr's son Glod and kills the latter in combat. Odin later fights Surtr's daughter Eysa, hoping to use her to bargain for Baldr's life. Although she escapes, Odin learns of a powerful relic called Salakar that Surtr seeks for himself. Odin retrieves the Salakar before Surtr can and obtains Eysa's allegiance.
Sinmara agrees to trade Baldr for the Salakar. However, at the exchange, Baldr is revealed to be a jötunn in disguise. Odin pursues Sinmara and finds the real Baldr, already dead. Sinmara kills Eysa for her betrayal before being slain by a grieving Odin. Odin then goes after Surtr and manages to defeat him using the Salakar, avenging his son. He returns to Ivaldi to inform him of his victory, but is greeted by Hyrrokin, who warns him that Surtr's death has started the Ragnarök. Odin vows to survive it, even if not in his current body.

The Forgotten Saga

After Baldr's apparent death, Odin travels to Niflheim in order to demand its ruler Hel to resurrect him. Every time he is killed during his journey, he returns to the beginning. Eventually, Odin reaches Hel's fortress Helheim and defeats her in combat. Hel then transports Odin to Baldr, who reveals that he orchestrated his own death in order to survive Ragnarök. Odin is sent back to the beginning with no memory of their reunion and vows to keep trying to bring Baldr back.

The Last Chapter

After years of resisting Odin's influence, Eivor realizes she can not suppress him forever and, feeling she has done everything she could for the Raven Clan, decides to travel to far away lands to better understand her connection with Odin. She bids farewell to her friends and allies, kindly rejecting offers from Hytham and Alfred to join the Hidden Ones and the Templars, respectively, and sets off for Vinland. There, Eivor spends her final years conversing with Odin, who tells her about the Great Catastrophe that wiped out most of the Isu, and how he and his kind came to reincarnate themselves throughout the ages.
In the present, these memories are being viewed by Basim, who realizes Eivor's connection with Odin is different from his own connection with Loki. After completing Eivor's memories, Basim is met in the Animus by William Miles, who stipulates that if they are going to work together, he will first need a sample of Basim's genetic material, allowing the Assassins to access Basim's genetic memories.

Assassin's Creed Mirage

=== Setting ===
Assassin's Creed Mirage is set in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, primarily during the Anarchy at Samarra, which was a period of extreme internal instability during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate. Taking place a decade before the events of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, the game explores the backstory of Basim Ibn Ishaq (voiced by Lee Majdoub), depicting his transition from street thief to fully-fledged Hidden One, under the tutelage of his mentor, Roshan bint-La'Ahad (Shohreh Aghdashloo). Like previous Assassin's Creed games, Mirage also features a number of characters based on historical figures, including Ali ibn Muhammad, leader of the Zanj Rebellion against slavery in the Abbasid Caliphate; the Banū Mūsā brothers, a trio of scholars and inventors; Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Tahir, the last Tahirid governor of Khurasan and Baghdad; and the Caliph al-Mu'tazz (Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ja'far) and his mother Qabiha, in addition to al-Jahiz, al-Farghani, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Arib al-Ma'muniyya, and Wasif al-Turki.

Plot

Following the events of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: The Last Chapter, the modern-day Assassins use a blood sample provided by Basim Ibn Ishaq to relive his memories during the age of the Abbasid Caliphate.
In 861 CE, Basim is a young street thief living in Anbar with his childhood friend and companion, Nehal. For his entire life, Basim has been haunted by visions of a monstrous jinni, which Nehal has been helping him cope with. While just a simple thief, Basim has greater aspirations and seeks to join the Hidden Ones, but is flatly rejected by the senior Hidden One stationed in Anbar, Roshan. In an effort to prove himself, Basim sneaks into the Caliph's palace to steal a chest sought by both the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients. Basim retrieves a disk-shaped artifact from the chest, which displays a holographic message, before he is confronted by the Caliph, al-Mutawakkil. Nehal kills the Caliph to save Basim, and they both flee the palace.
In retaliation for the Caliph's murder, the guards begin slaughtering all thieves in Anbar, including many of Basim's friends, and he angrily blames Nehal before parting ways. Now on the run, Basim manages to escape the city with Roshan's help, and she takes him to the Hidden Ones' mountain fortress at Alamut. Over the following months, Basim trains under Roshan and is eventually initiated into the Hidden Ones. When their Mentor, Rayhan, learns of the Order's rapidly expanding influence in Baghdad, he decides to send a contingent of Hidden Ones to the city to investigate, with Basim and Roshan leading the way.
Upon arriving in Baghdad, Basim learns that five Order members have infiltrated the Caliphate's highest levels of power and are exploiting it to excavate or rebuild ancient Isu artifacts. He proceeds to hunt down four of the Order members, assassinating them and their subordinates and foiling their respective plots. During this time, Basim reunites with Nehal, who is distrustful of the Hidden Ones and encourages Basim to investigate the artifacts sought by the Order, believing they are both somehow linked to them. Eventually, Basim confronts the Order's leader, al-Mutawakkil's former concubine Qabiha, who claims that the answers he seeks lie in an Isu temple underneath Alamut. Qabiha then tries to convince Basim to accompany her to the temple, but Roshan kills her and warns Basim not to investigate any further.
Disobeying Roshan, Basim travels to Alamut with Nehal, only to find the fortress under siege by the Order's forces. Basim rescues many captured Hidden Ones and rallies them to fight off the attack while he heads to the temple after convincing Rayhan that the knowledge held within could be used to defeat the Order. However, he is confronted by Roshan, who reveals that she is aware of Basim's true nature and attempts to stop him from entering the temple, fearing what it may awaken within Basim. Basim defeats Roshan, but spares her life and enters the temple with Nehal. Inside, he finds more disk-shaped artifacts and discovers that the temple used to be a prison where the Isu Loki was once held. Basim also realizes that Nehal never existed; both she and the jinni were representations of his repressed memories as Loki. Deciding to embrace his nature as Loki's reincarnation, Basim "fuses" with Nehal and regains Loki's memories.
After leaving the temple, Basim is welcomed back into the Hidden Ones, while Roshan resigns in protest. Now fully aware of his past life as Loki, Basim muses that he has been reborn in a new world, and looks forward to a "reunion" with those who were responsible for his imprisonment.

Valley of Memory

Sometime before his confrontation with Qabiha, Basim is told by his friend Dervis of a painting made by the former's estranged father, Is'haq ibn Khalid, which suggests he is at the ancient city of al-Ula. Having not seen his father since he was mysteriously exiled from Samarra years prior, Basim and Dervis travel to al-Ula together to find answers. During his investigation, Basim learns of a gang of robbers terrorizing the local populace and is captured and imprisoned by their leader, 'Abis. After escaping and killing 'Abis, Basim discovers that the robbers have kidnapped Is'haq.
Following a trail of clues, Basim learns that Is'haq is being held hostage by the true leader of the robbers, a local merchant named Nimlot, who seeks revenge on Basim for killing his father—one of the Order members he assassinated in Baghdad. Basim infiltrates Nimlot's stronghold and kills him, saving Is'haq, though he is disheartened to learn his father is suffering from dementia and still believes himself to be in Samarra. As Is'haq recalls his past, Basim accompanies him to a nearby tomb, where Is'haq recounts his memories of Basim and Basim's late mother, revealing how much he loves them both. Unwilling to reveal his identity to Is'haq, Basim parts ways with him and returns to Dervis, glad to finally have a sense of closure so he can focus on his future endeavors.

Assassin's Creed Shadows

=== Setting ===

Assassin's Creed Shadows is set in feudal Japan, specifically starting in 1579 during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. This era marks the final stage of the Sengoku period, a time of intense civil war in Japan. The game features the historical figure Oda Nobunaga at the height of his power, following his victory over the Takeda clan using arquebus firearms. Key historical events include Nobunaga's assault on the Iga province in 1581, a significant battle involving the Iga ikki, known for their ninjutsu arts. Like previous Assassin's Creed titles, characters based on historical figures are present in the game, including the samurai Yasuke, one of the two playable characters, missionaries Luís Fróis and Alessandro Valignano, samurai Hattori Hanzo, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Ise Sadaoki, the sōhei Kyōnyo, merchants Imai Sōkun and Imai Sōkyū, and tea master Sen no Rikyū, among others.
The game world covers the Kansai region of central Japan, including locations like Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, and the Iga province, with historically-accurate castles such as Takeda and Fukuchiyama, along with detailed historical landmarks and strongholds designed as intricate dungeons. This setting reflects the urbanization of Japan at the time, featuring bustling ports, samurai districts, and ornate architecture, all significant for parkour and exploration in the game. The influence of Portuguese traders and Jesuit missionaries, who introduced Christianity and new technologies like cannons and long guns to Japan, also plays a role in shaping the game's environment and narrative.

Plot

In 1581, the African slave Diogo arrives in Kyoto alongside a delegation of Jesuit priests, who seek to negotiate with daimyo Oda Nobunaga for the safe passage of their missionaries throughout Japan. Nobunaga grants the request on the condition that Diogo be transferred into his service. Diogo, renamed Yasuke, begins training to become a samurai and, six months later, accompanies Nobunaga on his invasion of Iga Province to exterminate the shinobi of the Iga ikki. During the battle, the young shinobi Fujibayashi Naoe is tasked by her father Nagato to take his Hidden Blade and recover a box hidden in a nearby kofun, which she must protect at all costs. However, Naoe is ambushed by a masked samurai, who injures her and takes the box. Nagato rescues her and, after recovering, Naoe tracks down the masked samurai, assassinates him, and recovers the box. As she escapes, Naoe is shot and cornered by the masked samurai's comrades, who again seize the box. Nagato comes to her aid, but is mortally wounded by the masked men, who leave with the box; with his dying breath, Nagato instructs Naoe to "follow the blade."
After recovering from her wounds, Naoe, seeking revenge on her father's killers and aiming to recover the stolen box, visits Tomiko, an old family friend. Tomiko grants Naoe usage of her homestead as a base to gather supplies and allies, and directs her to Sakai. There, Naoe finds leads to the whereabouts of two of the masked killers, and assassinates them both. She is then approached by Akechi Mitsuhide, who identifies Oda Nobunaga as the leader of the group, called the Shinbakufu, and enlists Naoe's help to eliminate him. Naoe infiltrates the Honnō-ji Temple and confronts Nobunaga, who reveals that Mitsuhide lied to her and that he is not part of the Shinbakufu. With Mitsuhide's army closing in, Nobunaga elects to commit seppuku with Yasuke's help while Naoe escapes.
Now a rōnin, Yasuke, seeking a new purpose, approaches Naoe and asks to join her. He reveals that, during the invasion of Iga, he fought and killed the Iga ikki's leader, Momochi Sandayu, who also wielded a Hidden Blade and urged him to help Naoe if he found her. Naoe initially refuses to forgive Yasuke for partaking in Nobunaga's assault on Iga, but is told by her young ally Junjiro that the masked samurai she had killed was his father. With Junjiro having learned to forgive Naoe for her actions, Naoe agrees to give Yasuke a chance to make amends.
Working together, the pair track down and eliminate more of the Shinbakufu, and in the process meet Nobunaga's former retainer, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Hattori Hanzō, an erstwhile member of the Iga ikki. Hanzō warns Naoe to forget about the box, claiming that both her father and her mother, Tsuyu, died protecting it. However, seeing that Naoe will not back down, Hanzō instructs her to head to a kofun in Settsu to learn the truth about her parents. There, Naoe finds an Assassin hideout and journal, revealing that Emperor Go-Nara had tasked the Assassins to build a new Brotherhood in Japan, with Tsuyu being one of the Assassins given the task. Deciding to continue the Assassins' mission, Naoe, Yasuke, Tomiko, and Junjiro form the Kakushiba ikki (the "League of the Hidden Blade").
As Naoe and Yasuke build up their league with new recruits, they deal with the remaining Shinbakufu until only Mitsuhide and the group's mysterious leader remain. At the Battle of Yamazaki, Naoe and Yasuke join Hashiba Hideyoshi's army in besieging Shōryūji Castle, where Mitsuhide has taken refuge. After mortally wounding him, Mitsuhide identifies the leader of the Shinbakufu as former shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who sought to regain his power after being dethroned by Oda Nobunaga. With Mitsuhide dead, Hideyoshi claims victory and promises to reform Japan as Nobunaga's successor, to which Naoe warns him to keep his promise. Afterwards, she and Yasuke confront Yoshiaki, who offers to trade both the stolen box and information for his life. He reveals that the box is one of three, each containing one of the Imperial Regalia of Japan, and that an Assassin matching Tsuyu's description was spotted in Yamato. He also reveals that the Templar Order—which Yasuke has history with—supported the Shinbakufu, and that the Templar Kimura Kei is recruiting new members to the Order's cause in Kii.
Sparing Yoshiaki's life, Naoe and Yasuke split up to investigate their new leads. Naoe travels to Yamato, where she recalls the story Nagato had told her about Tsuyu. Many years prior, the Assassins, under Tsuyu's leadership, safeguarded the Imperial Regalia until they were massacred by the Shinbakufu. Tsuyu managed to protect one of the regalia and gave it to Nagato while she left to search for the rest, but never returned. Naoe finds the Assassins' intended hiding place for the regalia and returns her box, fulfilling her promise to her father. Hanzō then arrives and returns the second box, which Ieyasu recovered from the Templars. He admits that he had betrayed the Assassins out of jealousy at Tsuyu choosing Nagato over him, and sold the regalia's location to the Shinbakufu. Naoe ultimately forgives Hanzō and offers him a chance to correct his mistake by helping her find Tsuyu, who they both believe is still alive.
Meanwhile, Yasuke tracks down and eliminates both Kimura Kei and Duarte de Melo, the Portuguese Templar and slaver he had previously served. He then confronts Nuno Caro, the leader of the Templar Order in Japan, who had killed Yasuke's mother years prior after suspecting her of being a spy; Yasuke was nearly killed as well, but escaped thanks to a distraction from an Assassin. As Yasuke kills Caro, he proclaims his new identity as a member of the Kakushiba ikki, and declares war on the Templars.

Claws of Awaji

Hanzō contacts Naoe after finding a lead about Tsuyu's possible location on Awaji Island, which is firmly ruled by the Sanzoku Ippa, a group of outlaws affiliated with the Templars. Naoe locates and reunites with her mother, who has been held captive for years by Kimura Yukari, daughter of Kimura Kei, in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of the final Imperial Regalia, which Tsuyu had stolen and hidden from the Templars. However, Naoe is captured by Yukari, who reveals that she lured her to Awaji in the hopes that threatening her life would finally make Tsuyu reveal the regalia's location. Learning of Naoe's predicament, Yasuke mounts a rescue mission and frees both Naoe and Tsuyu, though the latter is wounded during their escape.
In no condition to fight, Tsuyu reluctantly tells Naoe and Yasuke of the regalia's hiding place so they can retrieve it. However, the Sanzoku Ippa ambush the pair and steal the regalia while Naoe and Yasuke are saved by a timely distraction from Hanzō. In order to reach Yukari and recover the regalia, Naoe and Yasuke then decide to weaken the Sanzoku Ippa's grip over Awaji by eliminating Yukari's three lieutenants: Imagawa Tomeji, Nowaki, and Yasuhira. This inspires the people of Awaji to revolt against the Sanzoku Ippa's oppression, allowing Naoe, Yasuke, and Hanzō to lead an assault on Yukari's stronghold at Iwaya Castle while Tsuyu recovers the regalia.
Yasuke confronts and duels Yukari, who reprimands Yasuke's former service to Oda Nobunaga and his newfound allegiance to the Kakushiba ikki, claiming that he is following the path imposed by others instead of forging his own destiny. Yasuke ultimately kills Yukari, while Naoe rescues Tsuyu after she is attacked by Yukari's soldiers during her escape with the regalia. As the two reconcile, Tsuyu accepts that her days as a warrior have passed and decides to instead become the mother Naoe never had. After being re-joined by Yasuke, the trio decide to return the Imperial Regalia to the Emperor, before Tsuyu leaves for Iga and encourages Naoe to spend time with Yasuke and Junjiro, her new family.

Story Drops

Sometime after forming the Kakushiba ikki, Naoe and Yasuke meet Rufino, a Portuguese translator and old friend of Tomiko's, who enlists their help to recover documents from a ship off Sakai's coast. The trio recovers the documents, revealed to be assassination contracts issued by the Templars, who seek to eliminate several local community leaders and replace them with their own allies. Naoe and Yasuke assassinate the Templar killers before they can eliminate their targets, but discover that Rufino used to work for the Templars and unknowingly helped them gather their information. While confronting Rufino and his friend Ermigo, the group is attacked by the Templar Gaspar and his men, who murder Ermigo when he attempts to defend Rufino. Naoe, Yasuke, and Rufino kill Gaspar, and the latter accepts to join the Kakushiba ikki to continue fighting against the Templars.
Later, Naoe and Yasuke come across a strange door in Wakasa and meet two wandering outlaws, Kane and Kinu. In exchange for allowing them to join the Kakushiba ikki, they provide Naoe and Yasuke with a trinket and a map to the locations of several glyphs across Japan. After interacting with all the glyphs, the pair use the trinket to open the door, revealing it was the entrance to an Isu vault found by Kassandra, who used it as a repository of weapons and artifacts. Naoe and Yasuke take several treasures from the vault and decide to leave it for the time being.
Eventually, in retaliation for Naoe and Yasuke's meddling with their plans, the Templars send their feared Black Cross inquisitor, Sir Eamon Hathaway, to eliminate the pair, as well as search for an Isu site known as the "Observatory", believed to be located somewhere in Japan. Naoe and Yasuke meet Hathaway, who reveals that he holds no grudge against them and promises to leave them alone so long as they do not interfere with his search. Refusing his offer, the pair track down Yang, a Chinese ship captain who brought Hathaway to Japan, and attempt to interrogate him, but Yang is killed by Hathaway's protégé and fellow Black Cross, Nirmala of Java. While Naoe goes to search the wreck of Yang's ship for more information on the Templars' mission, Yasuke is confronted by Hathaway and Nirmala, who overwhelm and mortally wound him. Overcoming his inner darkness by holding onto his cherished memories of his loved ones, Yasuke survives his wounds and is left to recover while Naoe and Rufino leave to stop the Templars after realizing they are searching for the vault in Wakasa.
Arriving at the vault, Naoe and Rufino witness Hathaway destroy a statue of Kassandra to reveal the true entrance to the Isu vault, which Kassandra had attempted to conceal from the Templars. The pair follow Hathaway and Nirmala inside, where Naoe fights Nirmala while Hathaway investigates the vault's contents, discovering it is not the Observatory as he had assumed. After Naoe is defeated, she is rescued by Rufino and a newly arrived Yasuke, allowing the group to gain the upper hand, kill Nirmala, and mortally wound Hathaway. With his dying breath, Hathaway explains that the vault contains one of the "pillars that hold up the world" and questions Yasuke's ability to recover from mortal wounds so quickly. Naoe retrieves a crystal cube dropped by Hathaway and, at Yasuke's urging, decides to leave the vault without discovering its functionality. As they depart, Yasuke breaks the vault's key to ensure its contents will remain hidden, and Naoe ponders contacting the Assassins to give them the crystal cube, ultimately deciding to do so when the time is right.