10 Times Assassin's Creed MADE FUN Of Historical Figures

10 Times Assassins Creed Made Fun of Historical Figures

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re taking a look at 10 instances where “Assassin’s Creed” made fun of historical figures. Spoilers ahead for some of our entries, consider yourselves warned!

Manuel Palaiologos

“Assassin’s Creed Revelations” (2011)

“Assassin’s Creed Revelations” is an often overlooked game these days when it comes to the ‘Ezio trilogy.’ But it’s capturing a super interesting part of history, that of the Ottoman Empire. In the game we get to see a vastly downplayed Manuel Palaiologos, who in real life actually worked for Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the 5th Duke of Milan, who was the father of Caterina Sforza. Not only is the history inconsistent with the game, he should be on our side rather than the Templars’. Instead of a tragic historical figure, he’s reduced to little more than a bumbling fool of questionable intelligence, while in reality he was quite pragmatic.

Ptolemy XIII

“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)

King Ptolemy XIII was in real life a very young ruler, and came into power at the age of 11. He’s portrayed in historical accounts as being heavily influenced by his advisor Pothinus, and he’s not exactly known for having been a good strategist or politician. Even still, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ took this idea and ran with it in a way that portrayed him as a somehow even more incompetent puppet ruler than in real life, controlled by ‘The Order.’ They take it a step further and turn him into this cartoonishly evil caricature of his real life counterpart! He doesn’t really seem as powerful as he actually was, instead solely relying on the spoiled child part.

Ivar the Boneless

“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)

Heading to the Viking Age with “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla,” we’ve got ‘Ivarr’ the Boneless. While he’s faithfully depicted as a competent warrior, the game also makes him seem wildly impulsive, comically bloodthirsty, and prone to uncontrolled rage. While strength and battle prowess were highly valued in Viking society, Ivar was cunning and quite strategic. Instead, he’s portrayed a bit closer to that of a thoughtless brute in the game, acting out nonsensical brutality with comical glee and really feeling more like a joke rather than a nuanced leader. According to the sagas, Ivar was wise, cunning, and a master tactician.

Maximilien de Robespierre

“Assassin’s Creed Unity” (2014)

Maximilien Robespierre is one of the biggest players of the French Revolution and its ‘Reign of Terror.’ With that, you’d expect him to be a bit more intimidating, which he sort of is in a way. Unity however, exclusively portrays him as paranoid and completely detached from reality. For the sake of gameplay, the game itself features exaggerated events of the revolution with a generous dose of fiction sprinkled into it. Unity suggests that the ‘French Revolution’ is no more than its Reign of Terror which is a disservice to the real life event which unfolded over a decade. As for Robespierre, what could’ve been a really interesting and complex character is reduced to a mere one-note flat villain character in the game.

Charles Vane

“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (2013)

Next up we’ve got the infamous pirate, Charles Vane in “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag!” The real life Charles Vane was indeed notorious for his volatile nature, but true to Assassin’s Creed form, it’s greatly exaggerated. He’s shown as being really hot-headed, careless, even mistrustful at times. Of course, if you’ve played the game you’ll remember the way he went out by descending into total paranoia and madness while stranded on an island. It’s played up to a dramatic and even comical effect, basically turning him into a wild, raving mad caricature of a pirate!

The Borgias

“Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” (2010)

Now for a bit of a different entry, we actually have the entirety of the Borgia family as they were portrayed in “Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.” The ones we see; Rodrigo, Cesare, Lucrezia, they absolutely revel in their villainy in the game. It’s pretty hilarious when compared to real life. Rodrigo is a scheming, power-hungry and villainous Pope. Cesare is extremely violent, incestuous, and utterly ruthless as a warlord. Lucrezia is wicked and manipulative. If you don’t know, that’s pretty much taking all the unconfirmed rumors about them, making up their characters of mostly that, and then turning them up to 11. With that said, some of it is true, but a lot of these rumors were part of deliberate smear campaigns by their many political enemies.

Benjamin Franklin

“Assassin’s Creed III” (2012)

Now heading to colonial America, let’s talk about Benjamin Franklin in “Assassin’s Creed III.” Franklin was a genius, an inventor, and a statesman; AC3 acknowledges that. However, the game also makes him out to be a bit of a horny, maybe even slightly lecherous old man. He’s got the funniest conversation with Haytham where he’s basically giving him sex advice. This sort of happened in real life, but they make it out to be a main characteristic of his. It’s clear they chose to include him mostly for comic relief. It’s a charming and pretty funny take on a ‘Founding Father,’ giving more attention to portraying him as a charming rogue rather than an intellectual.

Charles Darwin

“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)

If you’ve played “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate,” you might’ve seen this one coming. It’s Charles Darwin! The man behind the evolutionary theory is portrayed in the game as a well-meaning but rather clumsy and naive person. He keeps getting into all sorts of problems that we need to bail him out of. He seems more flustered here, easily startled, and to be honest, a pretty far cry from the formidable intellectual we know him to be. The game takes a gentle, humorous jab at the enormous historical giant. Oh, and thanks to AC’s lore, his theory of evolution, at least concerning humans in-game, is just wrong. They wrote themselves into a corner with that one!

Karl Marx

“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)

Following Darwin we’re staying in “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” to talk about Karl Marx. The real life revolutionary philosopher is still portrayed as an eloquent public speaker, but he seems a bit frantic and sometimes exasperated. He’s a lot less radical in game than he actually was in real life. They dumbed him down a lot, and it’s curious that we don’t learn anything about his ideas or theories in the game. He’s also just out of place, if you go by his writings he should be ideally opposed to the Fryes. It’s a bit of a disservice to the man!

Julius Caesar

“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)

One of the funniest roasts of a historical character that ‘Assassin’s Creed’ has done, if you can call it that, is Julius Caesar’s portrayal in “Assassin’s Creed Origins.” The game takes one of the most iconic and powerful figures in history and presents him exclusively as an arrogant, self-serving dictator. The game makes him ruthless and manipulative, completely convinced of his own ‘divine right’ to rule. They totally swapped around the ideals of Brutus and Caesar too, just to make Caesar seem more evil. It just takes away from the final mission and is a pretty big waste of potential.

So what do you think? For all its historical accuracy and inaccuracies, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ seems to always have a strong sense of humor. Did we miss any of your favorites? Comment down below and let’s have a discussion!