Assassin’s Creedhas been shaken up by the appearance of gods, particularly inAssassin’s Creed Valhallawhere the Isu - aliens older than human civilization - used technology to become reincarnated so that they could avoid the Great Catastrophe. It has become very complicated, but the main takeaway fromAssassin’s Creed Valhallais that in this universe, pantheons of gods were based on the Isu, meaning it’s possible they appear throughout human history.
With the announcement ofAssassin’s Creed Red, it’s unlikely that this trend is going toend withAssassin’s Creed Valhalla. TheAssassin’s Creedfranchise is going to a completely different part of the world that hasn’t been seen before in the series: feudal Japan between the 12th and 17th centuries. These years were a turbulent time including the Sengoku Jidai, or the Warring States Period, which was over a century of civil war that only ended at the beginning of the Edo period in 1603. It was also the height of the samurai and the shinobi, two roles players are rumored to be taking inAssassin’s Creed Red.However, human antagonists may not be the only group to contend with.
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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Opened the Door For Mythology
As an open-world game set in one of the most turbulenttimes in Japan’s history,Assassin’s Creed Redis already on track to showcase something unique from previous games. If its protagonists come from two different social classes, one possible link they could have is through the Isu reincarnation system that was introduced inAssassin’s Creed Valhalla, redefined through a Japanese mythological context.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallaopened the door for mythologyto play a bigger part in the stories of these games, and Japan’s mythological landscape is rich.Red’s setting and place in the franchise makes it a perfect opportunity to introduce more of the Isu toAssassin’s Creedlore. There are literally thousands of Shinto gods, so including all of them would be impossible, but having highlights would make sense.
Possible Deities That Could Play a Role in Assassin’s Creed: Red
There are a few key players that show up consistently in Japanese stories and retellings that could feature inAssassin’s Creed Red: Raijin, Fujin, Amaterasu, Izanami, Izanagi, Inari, and Susanoo among them. These gods play a large part in Shinto stories, particularly Izanagi and Izanami, the creators of the Japanese archipelago. Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and the most revered in Japanese mythology, could also potentiallyshape the events ofAssassin’s Creed Redin a big way.
Raijin and Fujin are perhaps two of the most well-known gods outside of Japan. They feature in Japanese art and culture, and arereferenced in anime likeNarutoandPokemon, with the opposing elements of lightning and wind. Raijin is the god of lightning, and is depicted holding hammers that he beats on drums to create the sound of lightning. His brother, Fujin, carries a bag of air known as the kamikaze, or the “divine wind.” The two gods are often depicted in conflict with each other.
Raijin and Fujin’s traditional roles in stories as conflicting forces could be used as an interesting element inAssassin’s Creed Red, either as the two protagonist player characters, or to provide external conflict in the story.With the reported two player characters inAssassin’s Creed Redbeing an African refugee shinobi and a female samurai, the integration of the Isu reincarnation with Fujin and Raijin could fit seamlessly into the game.
Assassin’s Creed Redis in development.
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