PRIDE 2021: My Complicated Relationship With The Queer Characters of Assassin's Creed

I don’t think there’s a video game franchise out there that I am more deeply passionate about than Assassin’s Creed. Though I’m relatively new to the fandom (only joining back in 2014) I have interacted and lived through the events within the games and the community around it ever since, all while going back and playing the previous games for myself. The series has had a huge impact on my life; from winning the chance to attend the film’s fan screening to the Assassin’s Creed Symphony in London to the series inspiring me to study archaeology in higher education. 

So its safe to say that AC means a lot to me. 

On top of this video games have always had queer characters, and, as a result, queer fans. 

Hell, Persona 5 Royal released one year ago and it is already embarrassing how P Studio “fixed” the gay scenes

That being said, it hasn’t always been a positive relationship between the two. The more years that pass the more hindsight we gain. Poison in Street Fighter evolved from the only trans character in gaming the community could look to and into a dark reminder of this industry's deeply ingrained bigotry and mishandling of queer people. 

Moreover, just dropping in a character’s reveal that they’re queer isn’t representation anymore. We praised Jacob’s reveal as the first bisexual protagonist playable in the series back with Syndicate’s 2015 release, but where was the payoff for it? A single non-consensual kiss with the man who just tried to kill him and innocent people. And after that point, its not even mentioned in-game afterwards. What should have been an an important step for LGBTQI+ representation in the AAA scene wound up being a punchline that stereotyped bi people as being aggressively sexual even with unwilling partners.

And the less said about the proverbial shitstorm on Tumblr posts relating to him at this time, the better. He is bisexual, the end. 

Is 2015 such a different time for video gaming that I find myself wondering could they - for lack of a better phrase - get away with a better portrayal? I would argue they could have. Some video game franchises were just doing that. The Last of US DLC Left Behind which confirmed Ellie was a lesbian released in 2014, and even fitness podcast app Zombies, Run had Radio Abel hosts Jack and Eugene confirmed as gay in 2012. Not to mention Gone Home in 2013, being *gestures at all of Gone Home*. 

A straight in a hoodie seen here on a night out with their way more fashionable gay best friend.

Even historical figure Leonardo da Vinci is featured in the franchise, and is depicted as gay with the line “women [are of] little distraction” to him. Da Vinci was a fan favourite for years and basically the deuteragonist of AC2. Making the series step backwards with the otherwise extremely likeable Jacob even more jarring. 

I wish we had seen a proper representation of Jacob’s bisexuality shown in-game. A single (non-consensual!) kiss and word of mouth in light of drama just doesn’t cut it. And it never should have. 

Later AC releases have shown (and arguably those released before Syndicate),  queer character information doesn’t have to just be slotted for the sake of displaying the representation, with no further development. No need for an obvious wink down the camera lens when you could just write sibling banter as he kisses his male partner goodbye one morning. 

When you google “Assassin’s Creed LGBTQ” most of the prominent links you’ll find are reporting on the backlash of Odyssey’s DLC, Legacy of the First Blade. Why? After a game which was highly praised for letting fans play Alexios or Kassandra as gay if they wished, the writers for that DLC essentially forced Alexios and Kassandra into straight relationships for the sake of plot.  

I—It’s just—I mean… I got nothing, what the hell were they thinking?

But I digress, Ubisoft is at least trying to include more representation for the queer communities in their latest titles. 

More characters, both playable and otherwise are now explicitly shown to be LGBTQAI+. Odyssey and Valhalla allow players to romance any of the available romantic interests regardless of gender.

However despite its attempts at progressiveness the series still stumbles. In an installment of startmenu’s own podcast over a year ago upon the reveal for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, I mentioned a possible theory (at the time unconfirmed) as to why both male and female versions of Eivor were canonical: they were genderfluid. And having played the game, all I can think is that would have been so much better than what we were given. 

[Spoiler warning for the next paragraph for Valhalla]

While Eivor is a badass character I do have to ask: have you seen that episode of Happy Days where Fonzie jumps a shark?

In reality, Eivor (canonically female, although you wouldn’t know from the advertising) is Odin. Yes, you read that correctly. This could have been such a fantastic piece of representation for an identity which is not displayed in AAA as frequently as other queer identities . But, instead, the writers decided that Eivor was the mortal embodiment of a god, that could be any gender. That feels like a cheap cop out. 

Editor’s note: Azar seems like a really, really cool Dub… As someone from Cork it physically pained me to say that.

Azar in the Wrath of the Druids DLC was confirmed as nonbinary and it’s displayed in their biographical codex entry far more respectfully than earlier installments. See Ned Wynet, in Syndicate’s, who is deadnamed in that game’s database.

Assassin’s Creed is a series that has had excellent queer characters and I love it deeply. And while I will likely continue to love AC, that love makes it all the more painful when they fumble characters that could mean so much to so many. It is a series that has given us many steps forward for queer representation in games but we should always call out when they make mistakes, otherwise were just settling for something we will look back on in years to come with disdain.