The Assassin’s Creed series has featured appearances by many historical figures. Their roles may vary depending on the story, from overthrowing the Borgia family in Brotherhood to a surprise cameo by a young Napoleon in Unity, but it is usually expected that the player will run into someone big at some point. Historical figures who have appeared in the games come from a wide variety of backgrounds and include such varied careers from politicians to explorers. In each main game of the series, it is usually expected that players are going to encounter someone of note sooner or later.
But while many historical figures have found their way into the intricate stories of the games, there are still some that have only been mentioned. Usually, this happens due to the game’s setting. Either the game has the right location but happens sometime after the person died, or it has the right era but takes place in a different part of the world. As a result, there are several historical figures who have only mentioned in the games that really deserve to make an appearance.
5 Alexander The Great
Alexander the Great famously built an empire and conquered most of the known world over the course of a short-lived but devastatingly effective military campaign. He would have lived right in between Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed: Origins, both of which just miss him. Origins takes place 274 years after Alexander’s death, while Odyssey is set 66 years before he was born. The player actually gets access to his homeland of Macedonia in Odyssey, though it is way too early to see anything even foreshadowing Alexander’s rise to power. Origins depicts his tomb in Alexandria, which is explored by Bayek and Aya.
Of course, this means Alexander himself is not seen in either game, yet by the time Origins takes place his impact can still be felt. After all, he was the one that put the Ptolemy line on the Egyptian throne, indirectly making it possible for Cleopatra to become Pharoah. He also was a huge inspiration for Julius Caesar, who himself would lay the groundwork for the more successful Roman Empire. There would certainly be good material for a game set during his conquests, with Alexander himself being a good contender for the Order of the Ancients or a similar secret society.
4 Captain William Kidd
Captain William Kidd is one of the most notorious pirates in history, though also one with a very tragic story. He was a sailor who never really wanted to be a pirate, but got mixed up in piracy due to circumstances beyond his control and then was executed when he tried to stop. He is referenced in two Assassin’s Creed games, both set after his death. Assassin’s Creed III has a sidequest where the player can look for his treasure. In Black Flag, Mary Reed claims her alter-ego to be Captain Kidd’s illegitimate son.
The available information in III and Black Flag seems to indicate that Captain Kidd was not a member of the Assassins or Templars, though it is likely he had run-ins with them at some point. It may even have been the Templars who had a hand in his execution.
3 Marcus Antonius
The Roman senator Marcus Antonius (better known as “Mark Antony” thanks to Shakespeare‘s Julius Caesar) was an extremely powerful politician and a supporter of Julius Caesar during his final years, but Assassin’s Creed: Origins ends before he really comes into play. The game ended with a depiction of the assassination of Julius Caesar– Antony would have been present, but only gets mentioned once in the game.
What the game does not show is Antony’s part in the fallout from the assassination, made famous by Shakespeare’s dramatization. The goal of the assassination was to prevent Caesar from gaining absolute power and becoming a dictator, but those goals were hindered when Antonius reminded the Roman people of what Caesar had done for them, and turned the public against the conspirators in his murder. The result was a brutal war that ended with Brutus and Cassius falling on their swords, and the Roman Republic turned into the Roman Empire.
Interestingly, Antonius also has further connections to the events of Assassin’s Creed: Origins. When he was caught in a bloody civil war with Julius Caesar’s son Augustus, Antonius traveled to Egypt, where he married and allied himself with Cleopatra, which would leave more room to tie back into Bayek and Aya’s story.
Seeing as Mark Antony was a close ally and outspoken supporter of Julius Caesar, it would logically make sense that he was part of, or at least had ties to, the Order of the Ancients.
2 Boudica
Boudica was a queen who led an uprising against the Roman Empire when they tried to steal her lands, which turned into a brutal campaign to stamp the Romans out of Britain. Despite ultimately being defeated, Boudica became well-remembered as a warrior who stood for what she believed. This is prime Assassin’s Creed material.
The Brotherhood already has grounds for disliking the Romans, so someone who could stand up to them would be a natural ally. Yet Boudica herself has not actually appeared in any Assassin’s Creed material. So far she has only been referenced twice- a cosmetic item in Syndicate labeled “Boudicca’s Torque” and a document in Valhalla which records the Hidden Ones’ reaction to her defeat.
1 Henry VIII
An extremely influential figure in the renaissance, the notorious King Henry VIII would have lived around the same time as Ezio Auditore but, as a British monarch, he did not appear in games set in Italy and Constantinople. His appearances are limited to a glyph puzzle in Assassin’s Creed II, being mentioned in some of the contract missions in Brotherhood, and being mentioned in a database entry in Syndicate. There is still some really good material that could come from revisiting the Renaissance, including an appearance by Henry VIII and exploration of his reign in England.
The contracts in Brotherhood seem to indicate that he is on the Assassins’ side, but logically there may still be room for internal conflicts and moral dilemmas among the Assassins. This was after all the guy who had six wives, two of whom he beheaded (one for not having a son, the other for having too much of a social life), and two of whom he divorced for petty reasons (one for giving birth to a girl, the other for being too ugly). Certainly, he is the sort of person the Assassins would distrust and only work with as long as they have common interests.
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