Best Historical Figures In Assassins Creed Games
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VOICE OVER: Aaron Brown
WRITTEN BY: Caitlin Johnson
With so many historical figures, "Assassin's Creed" proves you CAN learn something by playing video games. For this list, we'll be looking at the most interesting adaptations of notable figures thoughout history seen in Ubisoft's series. Our countdown of the best historical figures in "Assassin's Creed" games includes Winston Churchill in “Assassin's Creed Syndicate” (2015), Leonidas I of Sparta in “Assassin's Creed Odyssey” (2018), Caesar & Cleopatra in “Assassin's Creed Origins” (2017), Paul Revere in “Assassin's Creed III” (2012), and more!
Script written by Caitlin Johnson
Welcome to MojoPlays! Today, we’re looking at the 20 Best Historical Figures in Assassin’s Creed Games. Who says you don’t learn anything by playing video games?
The Ancient Greek is generally referred to as the “Father of History”, as throughout his lifetime he wrote many historical works that form the basis of how the field of history has been conducted for thousands of years since. However, he isn’t really known for his reliability, often including fantastical stories and myths in his historical accounts. But he appears as one of Kassandra’s closest allies in “Odyssey”, joining her on the Adrestia. So, Ubisoft is perhaps taking the line that all those impossible things Herodotus wrote about could have really happened, especially in the world of “Assassin’s Creed”.
This genius inventor developed and eventually patented the first telephone back in the 1870s. But we catch up with a younger version of him in “Syndicate”, years before he eventually left Britain for North America. He’s essentially Evie and Jacob’s Q, building various tools and gadgets that they can use against the Templars. He repairs and creates the grappling hook, voltaic bombs, and smoke bombs they use throughout the game. He also enlists their help in freeing London’s newspapers, which were previously printing only news and stories that benefited Crawford Starrick and the Templars. He disappears after the first hour or two but is a fun presence when he’s around.
He was famously the man who warned the Continental Army that “the British are coming” – though, in real life, Revere never actually said those words during his Midnight Ride. In the game, we find out that he didn’t even ride the horse, either; Connor was given that duty, having to ride through the Frontier following Revere’s frustratingly vague directions to warn the militiamen. Despite his reputation as a hero of the American War of Independence, Ubisoft portrayed Revere as an irritating presence that Connor doesn’t even particularly want to help. Though, the mission would have been more fun if the horse galloping wasn’t so slow.
At the end of “Syndicate”, we find out that the Shroud of Eden is being held in a secret vault underneath Buckingham Palace, built to contain it by Prince Albert. During this final mission, the Fryes infiltrate the palace, and Evie makes the acquaintance of Her Majesty. There are a handful of Queen Victoria missions in the post-game, where you help her in all sorts of ways, including by thwarting a Templar plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The game ends with the Queen asking the Fryes to serve the Crown, and Evie telling her to abandon the ruthless imperialism of the British Empire. She doesn’t listen, but at least Evie tries.
Pericles may be the leader of Athens, but Aspasia is the woman behind the man, and is one of the most interesting characters in the game. Early on, she helps Kassandra find her mother, but all isn’t as it seems. After purging the Greek world of the Cult of Kosmos we learn that, all along, Aspasia has been its shadowy leader, the Ghost. She explains that the Cult had different objectives originally, only for it to be corrupted by Deimos. Aspasia helped Kassandra, allowing her to wipe out the Cult, because she disagreed with what they were doing. In real life, very little is known about Aspasia – though, it’s unlikely she was in charge of a clandestine organization like this.
He wasn’t born until 1874, a few years after most of “Syndicate” takes place – but you’ll remember him if you played the World War I missions. By traveling through an anomaly in the most eastern part of the River Thames, you’ll go to 1915 and take control of Lydia Frye. Lydia is enlisted by Churchill himself to help eradicate German spies from London – and, of course, they’re all also Templar agents. Churchill’s also one of the associates whose loyalty you need to gain for various achievements. If you didn’t play the World War I level, you were missing out on a great diversion that again proves that a twentieth-century mainline “Assassin’s Creed” WOULD work – if Ubisoft would only greenlight it!
Rodrigo, Cesare, and Lucrezia Borgia feature prominently in “Assassin’s Creed II” and “Brotherhood”. They’re some of the best, and most detestable villains in gaming – but their video game portrayal may not be true to life. There ARE plenty of stories and rumors about the Borgias’ depravity and sinful lives, but there’s a growing consensus among modern historians that a lot of the tales of their debauchery may have been slander, levied toward them by other Italian noble families at the time. But that would have made for a less interesting story, and it was certainly a satisfying conclusion to hunt down Cesare and finally assassinate him after what he did to Ezio’s family.
You probably know him better as Black Bart, but the infamous pirate was never called this during his lifetime. When he arrives in the game, we find out he’s the first Sage we ever encounter in the series, a reincarnation of the Isu Aita who wants to reclaim the Crystal Skull. He also betrays Edward and becomes a major villain. In real life, Roberts was a classic pirate, known for flying a Jolly Roger above his ship and devising a “Pirate Code” for his crew to follow, with an array of strict, pirate rules. He was also a very successful pirate up until his defeat in 1722, capturing hundreds of ships and freeing many slaves.
Upon Ezio’s arrival in Rome, Machiavelli helps him get the lay of the land. He was in “Assassin’s Creed II” but becomes a more important ally in “Brotherhood”, showing Ezio how the Borgias control the city and how the people can be freed. He’s also briefly suspected by La Volpe of being a traitor to the Assassins, in a dramatic mission set. In real life, Machiavelli was a renowned statesman and political philosopher, working primarily for the Medicis in Florence – who are always allies to the Assassins in the games. In fact, he spent most of his time in Florence in reality, only visiting Rome occasionally on diplomatic missions.
The game opens with a dramatic recreation of the Battle of Thermopylae, Sparta’s last stand against the Persians. Leonidas is the most famous king Sparta ever had, and it turns out he’s the grandfather of Kassandra, which is how she gets his legendary spear – itself an Isu artifact – to use as a stand-in for the hidden blade. Throughout the course of the story, we get other flashbacks, as Kassandra is briefly able to relive Leonidas’s memories. She witnesses his death and humiliation at the hands of Xerxes, the Persian king, while visiting a monument to Leonidas with Herodotus.
One of the most famous English kings, Alfred the Great is so named because of his efforts fending off many Viking invasions, encouraging widespread literacy, and unifying the country’s warring kingdoms; he became the first monarch of all of England. In typical Ubisoft form though, Alfred takes on a more villainous role than history generally affords him; now, he’s the sinister enemy of the Raven Clan and the most important Templar in England. In fact, it eventually comes out that Alfred is the father of the Templar Order as it exists by the time of the Crusades. So much for being “great”.
The Tyrant himself, it wouldn’t be a game about the French Revolution without him. A hugely influential figure in French history, it was under Robespierre’s leadership that the First French Republic’s Reign of Terror began, and King Louis XVI was executed. Arno and Élise finally make Robespierre’s acquaintance at the height of the Thermidorian Reaction. Famously, as Robespierre was violently ousted, he was shot non-lethally in the face; in “Unity”, it’s Élise herself who does this while trying to find the location of the game’s main villain. And Robespierre wasn’t the only leader of France to be encountered during “Unity”; Arno also bumps into a young Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Ottoman Empire’s longest-reigning Sultan, Ezio encounters a young, idealistic Suleiman during his time in medieval Turkey. The highly educated prince gets involved with the Assassins many years before he’d eventually become Suleiman the Magnificent, given that name because of his widespread reforms and military victories. He and Ezio’s interests briefly align, and it is even Suleiman who helps Ezio finally make it across the Black Sea to Cappadocia and saves his life more than once. Of all the royals and monarchs you brush shoulders with during these games, Suleiman is one of the few who’s actually likable and remains a key ally throughout.
These two legendary female pirates sailed together on the high seas in the company of Calico Jack, who’s much less memorable though he does also appear in “Black Flag”. Bonny and Read famously dressed up as men during their time at sea, and in keeping with this, when you first encounter Read she’s in disguise. Of all the pirates Kenway befriends, these two are some of the most colorful, though he also ends up running into Blackbeard – perhaps the most famous pirate of all time. Read, Blackbeard, and Kenway are all masterminds behind freeing Nassau from the Royal Navy. Wining and dining the most notorious pirates in history is definitely a fun way to spend your time.
Of course, the Victorian era’s most famous author showed up in “Syndicate” and almost immediately met the Frye twins. He enlists their help in some of the whole series’ best side missions, where you join him as an investigator for the Ghost Club. At Dickens’ behest, you’ll debunk a haunted house, a ghostly carriage, and even unravel the mystery behind the monstrous Spring-Heeled Jack. The best part is that this is historically accurate; Charles Dickens really did join the Ghost Club and spent time proving paranormal occurrences were hoaxes. But if that Charles isn’t to your liking, you can also help Charles Darwin out a few times when he’s the victim of some unflattering caricatures.
“AC” fans will know him as Al Mualim, while historians better recognize this figure as Rashid ad-Din Sinan. There are plenty of key differences between the Al Mualim in the game and in reality - like how the real guy never found an ancient artifact capable of bending people to his will - but also some similarities. Sinan was the leader of the Order of Assassins that really did operate out of Masyaf during the Crusades. He’s a major character in the first game, initially being Altaïr’s teacher and leader, and eventually becoming the main villain when his machinations on the Apple of Eden were made clear.
There are many famous, Roman Emperors, but Julius Caesar remains the most recognizable. His long-running affair with Cleopatra VII, herself one of Egypt’s most notorious rulers, is played out in its entirety during “Assassin’s Creed Origins”, as Aya works directly under Cleopatra to oust her brother from Egypt’s throne. And “Origins’s” story goes on for so long that we get to play through Caesar’s death on the Ides of March when he was stabbed in broad daylight by his closest allies. The game goes deep into the political intrigue behind the end of Caesar’s life and how Rome came to control Egypt, spending lots of time with these major historical figures.
You’ll meet a lot of bizarre people in your odyssey across the Greek world, but the Athenian politician Alkibiades is a cut above the rest. You first encounter him at a party Pericles is hosting, getting up to no good with half a dozen people in a back room. But he keeps returning and gets funnier every time, asking for your help with a series of unusual side missions that turn out to be elaborate schemes to help his friends. And where Alkibiades goes, it seems Socrates is never far behind, always with another riddle to get on your nerves.
You run into all the founding fathers in “Assassin’s Creed III” sooner or later, helping George Washington and other key revolutionary figures in their war against the British. But the most fun character to spend a few missions helping is, by far, Benjamin Franklin, who spends the game inventing useful devices and giving Haytham some choice advice where it comes to “older women”. He’s back again in the tyrannical, “King Washington” timeline, and even shows his face in both “Rogue” and “Unity”, encountering Shay and Arno and accidentally helping Shay to kill Arno’s father.
Quite possibly the greatest inventor in human history, Leonardo da Vinci is one of the best characters to ever appear in “Assassin’s Creed”. Ezio first meets Leonardo before he leaves Florence and gives him a few new tools – he even loans Ezio the use of his flying machine at one point. By the time “Brotherhood” rolls around, Leonardo has been forced to design war machines for Cesare Borgia – including an early tank and a machine gun; he asks Ezio to sneak into the top-secret compounds and destroy both the machines and the blueprints. He’s a great character and his friendship with Ezio is great each time Leonardo returns.
Welcome to MojoPlays! Today, we’re looking at the 20 Best Historical Figures in Assassin’s Creed Games. Who says you don’t learn anything by playing video games?
Herodotus
“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)The Ancient Greek is generally referred to as the “Father of History”, as throughout his lifetime he wrote many historical works that form the basis of how the field of history has been conducted for thousands of years since. However, he isn’t really known for his reliability, often including fantastical stories and myths in his historical accounts. But he appears as one of Kassandra’s closest allies in “Odyssey”, joining her on the Adrestia. So, Ubisoft is perhaps taking the line that all those impossible things Herodotus wrote about could have really happened, especially in the world of “Assassin’s Creed”.
Alexander Graham Bell
“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)This genius inventor developed and eventually patented the first telephone back in the 1870s. But we catch up with a younger version of him in “Syndicate”, years before he eventually left Britain for North America. He’s essentially Evie and Jacob’s Q, building various tools and gadgets that they can use against the Templars. He repairs and creates the grappling hook, voltaic bombs, and smoke bombs they use throughout the game. He also enlists their help in freeing London’s newspapers, which were previously printing only news and stories that benefited Crawford Starrick and the Templars. He disappears after the first hour or two but is a fun presence when he’s around.
Paul Revere
“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)He was famously the man who warned the Continental Army that “the British are coming” – though, in real life, Revere never actually said those words during his Midnight Ride. In the game, we find out that he didn’t even ride the horse, either; Connor was given that duty, having to ride through the Frontier following Revere’s frustratingly vague directions to warn the militiamen. Despite his reputation as a hero of the American War of Independence, Ubisoft portrayed Revere as an irritating presence that Connor doesn’t even particularly want to help. Though, the mission would have been more fun if the horse galloping wasn’t so slow.
Queen Victoria
“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)At the end of “Syndicate”, we find out that the Shroud of Eden is being held in a secret vault underneath Buckingham Palace, built to contain it by Prince Albert. During this final mission, the Fryes infiltrate the palace, and Evie makes the acquaintance of Her Majesty. There are a handful of Queen Victoria missions in the post-game, where you help her in all sorts of ways, including by thwarting a Templar plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The game ends with the Queen asking the Fryes to serve the Crown, and Evie telling her to abandon the ruthless imperialism of the British Empire. She doesn’t listen, but at least Evie tries.
Aspasia
“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)Pericles may be the leader of Athens, but Aspasia is the woman behind the man, and is one of the most interesting characters in the game. Early on, she helps Kassandra find her mother, but all isn’t as it seems. After purging the Greek world of the Cult of Kosmos we learn that, all along, Aspasia has been its shadowy leader, the Ghost. She explains that the Cult had different objectives originally, only for it to be corrupted by Deimos. Aspasia helped Kassandra, allowing her to wipe out the Cult, because she disagreed with what they were doing. In real life, very little is known about Aspasia – though, it’s unlikely she was in charge of a clandestine organization like this.
Winston Churchill
“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)He wasn’t born until 1874, a few years after most of “Syndicate” takes place – but you’ll remember him if you played the World War I missions. By traveling through an anomaly in the most eastern part of the River Thames, you’ll go to 1915 and take control of Lydia Frye. Lydia is enlisted by Churchill himself to help eradicate German spies from London – and, of course, they’re all also Templar agents. Churchill’s also one of the associates whose loyalty you need to gain for various achievements. If you didn’t play the World War I level, you were missing out on a great diversion that again proves that a twentieth-century mainline “Assassin’s Creed” WOULD work – if Ubisoft would only greenlight it!
The Borgias
“Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” (2010)Rodrigo, Cesare, and Lucrezia Borgia feature prominently in “Assassin’s Creed II” and “Brotherhood”. They’re some of the best, and most detestable villains in gaming – but their video game portrayal may not be true to life. There ARE plenty of stories and rumors about the Borgias’ depravity and sinful lives, but there’s a growing consensus among modern historians that a lot of the tales of their debauchery may have been slander, levied toward them by other Italian noble families at the time. But that would have made for a less interesting story, and it was certainly a satisfying conclusion to hunt down Cesare and finally assassinate him after what he did to Ezio’s family.
Bartholomew Roberts
“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (2013)You probably know him better as Black Bart, but the infamous pirate was never called this during his lifetime. When he arrives in the game, we find out he’s the first Sage we ever encounter in the series, a reincarnation of the Isu Aita who wants to reclaim the Crystal Skull. He also betrays Edward and becomes a major villain. In real life, Roberts was a classic pirate, known for flying a Jolly Roger above his ship and devising a “Pirate Code” for his crew to follow, with an array of strict, pirate rules. He was also a very successful pirate up until his defeat in 1722, capturing hundreds of ships and freeing many slaves.
Niccolò Machiavelli
“Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” (2010)Upon Ezio’s arrival in Rome, Machiavelli helps him get the lay of the land. He was in “Assassin’s Creed II” but becomes a more important ally in “Brotherhood”, showing Ezio how the Borgias control the city and how the people can be freed. He’s also briefly suspected by La Volpe of being a traitor to the Assassins, in a dramatic mission set. In real life, Machiavelli was a renowned statesman and political philosopher, working primarily for the Medicis in Florence – who are always allies to the Assassins in the games. In fact, he spent most of his time in Florence in reality, only visiting Rome occasionally on diplomatic missions.
Leonidas I of Sparta
“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)The game opens with a dramatic recreation of the Battle of Thermopylae, Sparta’s last stand against the Persians. Leonidas is the most famous king Sparta ever had, and it turns out he’s the grandfather of Kassandra, which is how she gets his legendary spear – itself an Isu artifact – to use as a stand-in for the hidden blade. Throughout the course of the story, we get other flashbacks, as Kassandra is briefly able to relive Leonidas’s memories. She witnesses his death and humiliation at the hands of Xerxes, the Persian king, while visiting a monument to Leonidas with Herodotus.
Alfred the Great
“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)One of the most famous English kings, Alfred the Great is so named because of his efforts fending off many Viking invasions, encouraging widespread literacy, and unifying the country’s warring kingdoms; he became the first monarch of all of England. In typical Ubisoft form though, Alfred takes on a more villainous role than history generally affords him; now, he’s the sinister enemy of the Raven Clan and the most important Templar in England. In fact, it eventually comes out that Alfred is the father of the Templar Order as it exists by the time of the Crusades. So much for being “great”.
Robespierre
“Assassin’s Creed Unity” (2014)The Tyrant himself, it wouldn’t be a game about the French Revolution without him. A hugely influential figure in French history, it was under Robespierre’s leadership that the First French Republic’s Reign of Terror began, and King Louis XVI was executed. Arno and Élise finally make Robespierre’s acquaintance at the height of the Thermidorian Reaction. Famously, as Robespierre was violently ousted, he was shot non-lethally in the face; in “Unity”, it’s Élise herself who does this while trying to find the location of the game’s main villain. And Robespierre wasn’t the only leader of France to be encountered during “Unity”; Arno also bumps into a young Napoleon Bonaparte.
Suleiman I
“Assassin’s Creed Revelations” (2011)The Ottoman Empire’s longest-reigning Sultan, Ezio encounters a young, idealistic Suleiman during his time in medieval Turkey. The highly educated prince gets involved with the Assassins many years before he’d eventually become Suleiman the Magnificent, given that name because of his widespread reforms and military victories. He and Ezio’s interests briefly align, and it is even Suleiman who helps Ezio finally make it across the Black Sea to Cappadocia and saves his life more than once. Of all the royals and monarchs you brush shoulders with during these games, Suleiman is one of the few who’s actually likable and remains a key ally throughout.
Anne Bonny & Mary Read
“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (2013)These two legendary female pirates sailed together on the high seas in the company of Calico Jack, who’s much less memorable though he does also appear in “Black Flag”. Bonny and Read famously dressed up as men during their time at sea, and in keeping with this, when you first encounter Read she’s in disguise. Of all the pirates Kenway befriends, these two are some of the most colorful, though he also ends up running into Blackbeard – perhaps the most famous pirate of all time. Read, Blackbeard, and Kenway are all masterminds behind freeing Nassau from the Royal Navy. Wining and dining the most notorious pirates in history is definitely a fun way to spend your time.
Charles Dickens
“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)Of course, the Victorian era’s most famous author showed up in “Syndicate” and almost immediately met the Frye twins. He enlists their help in some of the whole series’ best side missions, where you join him as an investigator for the Ghost Club. At Dickens’ behest, you’ll debunk a haunted house, a ghostly carriage, and even unravel the mystery behind the monstrous Spring-Heeled Jack. The best part is that this is historically accurate; Charles Dickens really did join the Ghost Club and spent time proving paranormal occurrences were hoaxes. But if that Charles isn’t to your liking, you can also help Charles Darwin out a few times when he’s the victim of some unflattering caricatures.
Al Mualim
“Assassin’s Creed” (2007)“AC” fans will know him as Al Mualim, while historians better recognize this figure as Rashid ad-Din Sinan. There are plenty of key differences between the Al Mualim in the game and in reality - like how the real guy never found an ancient artifact capable of bending people to his will - but also some similarities. Sinan was the leader of the Order of Assassins that really did operate out of Masyaf during the Crusades. He’s a major character in the first game, initially being Altaïr’s teacher and leader, and eventually becoming the main villain when his machinations on the Apple of Eden were made clear.
Caesar & Cleopatra
“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)There are many famous, Roman Emperors, but Julius Caesar remains the most recognizable. His long-running affair with Cleopatra VII, herself one of Egypt’s most notorious rulers, is played out in its entirety during “Assassin’s Creed Origins”, as Aya works directly under Cleopatra to oust her brother from Egypt’s throne. And “Origins’s” story goes on for so long that we get to play through Caesar’s death on the Ides of March when he was stabbed in broad daylight by his closest allies. The game goes deep into the political intrigue behind the end of Caesar’s life and how Rome came to control Egypt, spending lots of time with these major historical figures.
Alkibiades
“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)You’ll meet a lot of bizarre people in your odyssey across the Greek world, but the Athenian politician Alkibiades is a cut above the rest. You first encounter him at a party Pericles is hosting, getting up to no good with half a dozen people in a back room. But he keeps returning and gets funnier every time, asking for your help with a series of unusual side missions that turn out to be elaborate schemes to help his friends. And where Alkibiades goes, it seems Socrates is never far behind, always with another riddle to get on your nerves.
Benjamin Franklin
“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012) & “Assassin’s Creed Rogue” (2014)You run into all the founding fathers in “Assassin’s Creed III” sooner or later, helping George Washington and other key revolutionary figures in their war against the British. But the most fun character to spend a few missions helping is, by far, Benjamin Franklin, who spends the game inventing useful devices and giving Haytham some choice advice where it comes to “older women”. He’s back again in the tyrannical, “King Washington” timeline, and even shows his face in both “Rogue” and “Unity”, encountering Shay and Arno and accidentally helping Shay to kill Arno’s father.
Leonardo da Vinci
“Assassin’s Creed II” (2009) & “Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood” (2010)Quite possibly the greatest inventor in human history, Leonardo da Vinci is one of the best characters to ever appear in “Assassin’s Creed”. Ezio first meets Leonardo before he leaves Florence and gives him a few new tools – he even loans Ezio the use of his flying machine at one point. By the time “Brotherhood” rolls around, Leonardo has been forced to design war machines for Cesare Borgia – including an early tank and a machine gun; he asks Ezio to sneak into the top-secret compounds and destroy both the machines and the blueprints. He’s a great character and his friendship with Ezio is great each time Leonardo returns.
