Assassin's Creed games usually feature a completely fictional protagonist, but in the next game, AC Shadows, they will base one of the two playable characters on an actual historic figure. Allow us to introduce Yasuke, a legendary African Samurai.
In Assassin's Creed Shadows, 2024's AC game, we will switch between two main protagonists throughout the story. They actually did this before with AC Syndicate, the one set in London. And the idea worked well at the time; you got a male assassin who relied on brawn and a female assassin who specialized more in stealth.
It looks like Shadows will follow a similar formula. The game will let you play as Naoe, a skilled Shinobi whose gameplay will be focused on Stealth action, sneaking through shadows (pun fully intended) and silently eliminating your targets. Players will also be able to play Yasuke, a Samurai of African decent and the first playable Assassin's Creed character based on a historical person.
Who Is Assassin's Creed Shadows Protagonist Yasuke?
Yasuke was the first African to appear in Japanese historical records, and stayed in the country between 1579 and 1582. According to Jean Crasset's Histoire de l'eglise du Japon,Yasuke was either a slave or follower of Italian Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano, who met Yasuke in modern day Mozambique and travelled with him to Japan.
Alessandro Valignano was in charge of missionaries being sent to the region, and he went to Kyoto in 1581 to meet the powerful lord Oda Nobunaga. He brought Yasuke with him, but by all accounts Nobunaga was more interested in Yasuke. He was so amazed by Yasuke that he asked Valignano to give him over. Oda Nobunaga gave Yasuke a retainer and placed him by his side, he is also the one who apparently gave him the name Yasuke.
In 1582, Oda Nobunaga was betrayed and attacked by his senior vassal Akechi Mitsuhide. Yasuke went to the residence of Nobunaga's heir and fought Akechi's men, but it seems he was subdued. And this is where the story gets very hazy.
It's believed that Yasuke survived, and in reports from the Battle of Okitanawate in 1584 a black man is mentioned as operating canons. Some believe this is Yasuke, but it has never been clearly established.
What Assassin's Creed Shadows Takes From Yasuke's History
In typical Assassin's Creed fashion, players should expect a strongly fictionalized version of events. While Ubisoft always did a good job in incorporating history in their games and getting a lot of details right, they ain't ones to let reality get in the way of whatever story they want to tell.
Assassin's Creed Shadows starts in 1579 during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. It is not clear, what timeframe we will see depicted in the game. But we assume that Ubisoft will take the liberty to tell Yasuke's story even beyond 1584.
Shadows is set some years before the events of this year's hit series Shogun, which starts in 1600. If you finished the fantastic show and are in the mood for more stories from Japan around that time, which saw an increasing presence of the West and Christianity in Japan, then Shadows sounds like it could be perfect for you.
One of the central figures in the game will be the legendary historical figure Oda Nobunaga, who has been depicted in countless games, anime, films and other media. Yasuke fights alongside Nobunaga, but the game's cinematic reveal trailer suggests that Yasuke might change allegiances at some point. In the beginning, him and Naoe are enemies and first have to overcome this adversary relationship to then go and fight the templars, which seems to include Nobunaga, together.
The game is expected to include some historically significant events. The great IGN story overview suggests that the trailer depicts Nobunaga's assault on the Iga province in 1581. It will be interesting to see, which other events in Yasuke's life we will see depicted.
If you want to see a cool show surrounding this character, I can recommend the Netflix anime simply titled "Yasuke". It takes his grounded story into a more supernatural direction, features LaKeith Stanfield as the titular hero and has a soundtrack by Flying Lotus, so what's not to love?