Assassin's Creed Shadows Triggered The Internet.. Here's what I think. 

Desmond: Some of the stuff I'm seeing in the Animus... sometimes it seems... wrong. Untrue, like the history's off somehow. It doesn't- Warren interrupted Desmond. Warren: It doesn't what, Mr. Miles? Match up with what you read on an online encyclopedia? What your high-school history teacher taught you? Let me ask you something: do these supposed experts have access to secret knowledge, kept hidden from the rest of us? Desmond: There are books, letters, documents... all sorts of source material from back then. Some of it seems to contradict what the Animus is showing me. Warren: Anyone can write a book, and they can put whatever they want on its pages. Anything. Used to be that we thought the world was flat. Desmond: Some people still do. Warren: Yes, and they publish books about it. Or that the moon landing was a hoax. I believe there's also a book that claims the Earth was created in seven days. A best-seller, too! Desmond: Where's this going, Doc? Warren: The point, I suppose, is that you shouldn't trust everything you hear. Everything you read. What's that your ancestor said? "Nothing is true?" Desmond: "Everything is permitted." Warren: Yes, exactly. It's part of what makes the Animus so spectacular. There's no room for misinterpretation- -Assassin's Creed ONE

My thoughts exactly man, I love Assassin's Creed and have been ever since 2007 and I will always love it.

perfect take, Assassin's Creed has always been fictional/nonfictional hybrid for fun

Yasuke first crossed paths with Nobunaga in 1581, when Valignano requested permission from the warlord to leave the country-a customary practice in an era before passports, according to Lockley. Nobunaga was fascinated by the color of Yasuke’s skin, which he initially believed to be covered in black paint. As Lockley explains, the daimyo ordered Yasuke to be washed, but his skin color remained unchanged. Nobunaga threw a welcome party for his visitor, who officially entered his service soon after. The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga, a 17th-century book written by one of Nobunaga’s followers, describes Yasuke as “[appearing] to be 26 or 27 years old. … This man looked robust and had a good demeanor. What is more, his formidable strength surpassed that of ten men.” Other chronicles characterize the samurai as an intelligent, imposing figure who stood more than six feet tall. Though Yasuke was already a skilled warrior, he likely underwent additional martial arts training upon joining Nobunaga’s army. Circa 1605 panel painting possibly featuring Nobunaga and Yasuke The individual in green in the third panel from left is thought to be Nobunaga; the Black sumo wrestler in the fourth panel from left may be Yasuke. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons In 16th-century Japan, the title of samurai spoke to rank and was loosely defined as a warrior in the service of a lord or another warrior. By 1581, Nobunaga employed thousands of samurai-yet Yasuke was the first foreign-born warrior to enter their ranks. He belonged to “the very small entourage around Nobunaga, which [was] probably around 30 to 50 [warriors], mainly young men, many of [whom were Nobunaga’s] lovers as well,” Lockley says. Traditionally, older warriors like Nobunaga, then in his early 50s, mentored younger warriors and developed sexual relationships with them. No evidence indicates that Yasuke and Nobunaga were lovers. Though Yasuke was the only Black samurai in Nobunaga’s army, he was by no means the only African present in Japan at the time. “Several hundred African people lived in Japan during the 16th century,” says Doan. “[They] worked as interpreters, soldiers, entertainers” and more. She says that Kyoto’s Japanese residents would have been surprised by Yasuke’s “foreignness” but likely wouldn’t have exhibited prejudice based on his skin color. According to Lockley, Nobunaga was a powerful man whom few were willing to challenge, so his decision to employ Yasuke wasn’t controversial. In fact, the samurai proved to be quite popular among locals, who flocked to catch a glimpse of him. Yasuke’s final stand Yasuke joined Nobunaga during the last months of the feudal lord’s unification campaign. “His strategy was to impose peace by force of arms,” Lockley says. “He would quite happily wipe out 10,000 people if he thought it would forward the aims of peace.” Though Nobunaga was close to completing his goal of consolidating control of Japan, his efforts came to an abrupt close after one of his trusted generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, betrayed him. Depiction of Nobunaga fighting during the Honnoji Incident Depiction of Nobunaga fighting during the Honnoji Incident Public domain via Wikimedia Commons On June 21, 1582, Mitsuhide ambushed Nobunaga in Kyoto while they were en route to a battle. Mitsuhide had thousands of troops under his command; Nobunaga was accompanied by just 30 or so men from his inner circle, including Yasuke. “[Mitsuhide] brings 13,000 troops into Kyoto [and] surrounds the temple where [Nobunaga is] staying,” says Lockley. “[It’s] a foregone conclusion. It’s 13,000 against 30.” Mitsuhide’s men slaughtered many of the soldiers in Nobunaga’s entourage during the initial ambush. Eventually, Nobunaga, Yasuke and an attendant named Mori Ranmaru-the feudal lord’s lover at the time-retreated to one of the temple’s chambers. It was here that Nobunaga performed seppuku, using a sword to slice open his abdomen before Ranmaru beheaded him. Ranmaru then also performed seppuku, asking Yasuke, in turn, to decapitate him. “If you’re going to die anyway, you might as well die quicker, by your own hand, and retain some honor,” says Lockley. Once both Nobunaga and Ranmaru were dead, Yasuke escaped from the temple with his lord’s head in tow. By protecting Nobunaga’s remains, Yasuke denied Mitsuhide the chance to seize his enemy’s head and display it as a way of establishing legitimacy and power. “The reason behind Mitsuhide’s betrayal of Nobunaga is one of the great mysteries of Japanese history,” Doan says. “There are many stories-not all of them historically verifiable-of what could have led to the Honnoji Incident.” Utagawa Sadahide, War Council Before the Battle of Yamazaki​​​​​​​, 1863 Utagawa Sadahide, War Council Before the Battle of Yamazaki, 1863 Public domain via Wikimedia Commons Not much is known about Yasuke’s fate after the ambush. According to Lockley, he may have been badly wounded and captured as one of the last survivors of Nobunaga’s inner circle. The last known record of Yasuke describes him being escorted to a Jesuit mission by Mitsuhide’s warriors. “What we do know,” says Doan, “is that Mitsuhide did not execute Yasuke.” Lockley speculates that Mitsuhide spared Yasuke to gain the support of the Jesuit missionaries. The usurping general lacked allies and only survived Nobunaga by a few days. On July 2, one of Nobunaga’s retainers, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, defeated Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki. Hideyoshi went on to become Japan’s second “Great Unifier,” uniting the entire country by 1590. Yasuke in pop culture Yasuke (弥助 or 弥介) was a man, likely of African origin, who served as a servant and retainer to the Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga in 1581-1582, during the Sengoku period.[2] He was retained by the daimyō as a koshō (小姓, page) for a period of 15 months until Nobunaga's death in the Honnō-ji Incident.[3][4] What is a retainer in Japanese? Given to the Museum by Hereford Museum in 1942. This is a suit of retainer armour. A retainer refers to a vassal in feudal Japan, usually a samurai providing military services. Some fans accused Yasuke of not being a “real” samurai, calling him just a “retainer.” But a retainer is still a samurai-the term refers to a vassal in feudal Japan, usually a samurai offering military services.4 Retainers were basically freelance samurai from less powerful clans. They would be "retained" to a lord, and receive a stipend, housing, and resources in return for military service. Retainers were still samurai. Yasuke was favored by Nobunaga and was by his side until the Honnouji incident, where he ran to Nobunaga's son's residence and dueled the Akechi. Retainer" isnt just a word in samurai culture, and it means the same thing as it does in Western culture. A retainer is a person who "retains" the throne, keeping it safe while the lord is away. The closest thing to it, in a relevant pop culture example, is the Hand of The King in Game of Thrones. They basically serve the king without aspirations to kingship. In the context of samurai culture, retainers were often used to secure a clan's future in case the daimyo died, which was very likely in the war-torn times of the Sengoku Jidai. They usually protected the heirs until they came of age, which means they were also regents of a sort. They were often very loyal, to the point of preferring self-sacrifice over dishonor. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was Oda Nobunaga's retainer, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was Hideyoshi's retainer. They fought to preserve the clans of their lords, but eventually gained power themselves. To put it shortly, samurai retainers were subordinates of superior samurai. Samurai society was hierarchical, there were lower, poorer samurai and there were richer, powerful samurai that controlled other samurai. Such is the reason why Japan at this time is described as “feudal”, since that’s precisely how it works: samurai retainers were feudal subjects of other samurai. The only real samurai that was not a retainer would be the Shogun, though he would nominally be subordinate to the Emperor. But we all know that, with some exceptions, the Shogun was the real man in charge of the country. But yea, unless you’re some unfortunate Udon-slurping sop with less income than the local farmer, as a samurai you’re bound to have a retainer…as well as being a retainer yourself. It was a rank structure. In the samurai culture, a "retainer" refers to a loyal and trusted follower or subordinate of a samurai lord. Retainers were typically skilled warriors who served their lord in various capacities, such as bodyguards, administrators, or advisors. They were expected to demonstrate unwavering loyalty and dedication to their lord, often at the cost of their own lives. The relationship between a samurai lord and their retainers was based on mutual respect, honor, and a code of conduct known as bushido. Retainers played a crucial role in the social and military structure of feudal Japan. Also what was the role of a samurai, exactly? A simple google search will tell you that the samurai “were employed by feudal lords (daimyo) for their martial skills in order to defend the lord's territories against rivals, to fight enemies identified by the government, and battle with hostile tribes and bandits”. In other words: they were also servants. Yasuke is not well documented, but he was part of Nobunaga's personal bodyguard, which would normally be a Samurai of moderate to high rank.

You are absolutely correct about it not mattering at all if the game turns out to be good. However, I don’t think it really matters that he was actually there and is a real person. Japanese men are dying out and instead of honoring their history and empowering them with a male protag they might better relate to, society once again tells them they are inadequate. At the very least it could have been two male protags with Yasuke, I feel like that would not only have been more compelling storytelling but also less offensive to the Japanese men and boys it should be appealing to. When I first saw the trailer I was hyped and had already known about Yasuke so didnt really give it a second thought, but after seeing how much the Japanese trailer got disliked I thought about it again and can totally understand their frustration.

He was a slave and a novelty simple as that. If you’re going to make a samurai game at least make him a samurai. Pandering to black people once again “we wuz samurai an shiiii” And the woke brigade jumping straight to falsifying history to benefit their narrative

99% of people talking crap online aren't even fans of the franchise. They don't know anything about it, they just want to talk shit. I guarantee this will be the best selling AC game of all time. These people remind me of Hogwarts Legacy. Remember how many people tried to make that game fail because of the JK Rowling trans issue? It ended up being the best selling game of 2023. I love to hit these people with the "So you realize Assassins Creed is about time traveling aliens that created human beings as slaves right?" LMAO

Although personally if they r sticking with a historical figure as a MC then I would've like someone with more significance in Japan's feudal era like hanzo or w.e. But honestly, well played by ubi bc now it stands out from other games set in japan and it also spark controversy

This is of course complicated and there are two or even multiple sides to this story. Firstly, representation for Asian men in gaming is important and thankfully games like Sekiro, Ghosts of Tsushima, Yakuza series, Persona series, Sleeping dogs do have good Asian male protagonists. However, we already have enough Japanese samurai in gaming across a variety of games so Yasuke is not going to matter in the grand scheme of things. If anything, a Korean, Chinese or Okinawan indigenous merchant assassin is going to be more fun to explore and Japanese samurai can be seen as much a stereotype as a Chinese kungfu master like the master Pai Mei in Kill Bill which is seen by Chinese as kinda offensive. Many people arguing against Yasuke also seem to be arguing in bad faith. There didn't seem to be problems when white people use Katanas like Vergil or William Adams of Nioh series. However, Ubisoft is not off the hook completely because it feels awfully convienent and may very well be in bad faith that they chose to suddenly make a black samurai now if we narrow the scope to AC series. There was one Asian woman in Shao Jun, there were two black men protagonists in Adewale and Bayek, Asian men is the least represented race in AC and just as a perfect opportunity comes they suddenly say it's better to make a historic character rather than a fantasy one. Other than that there is the usual issue with Ubisoft greed ...

exactly, it is not like Altair really existed lol, it is a fictional story, also do not waste your time with that Odyssey game, it is not even an AC game, it is not part of the franchise.

Agreed! Good vid

Well even if it’s a bad game. At least we still have Mirage…😮‍💨

El jefe alninio based af🫡

Wanna know what I think is ACTUALLY terrible though? The price. Like are they serious!? As for the plot, we'll see about that eventually, but considering their track record as of late, it's either a giant hit or a giant miss.

The protagonists in each game are from the region it's set. Ubisoft and far-left/neo-Marxist protocol however seem to despise East Asia as it rarely ever follows neo-Marxist protocol. So they make a DEI token protagonist that disregards history whilst being disrespectful to both Japanese and POC. We can verify the above because neo-Marxists never use actual African history or it's continent, which if they cared about POC is rich and waiting to be explored. Could this samurai's story have been good? I think so as a different IP, but only if not told by a neo-Marxist writer's, it would then come from a place of originality and genuine intent.

can we just count this as a stalemate and focus on the possibility of this turns out to be overpriced ubislop? Both sides have valid points and does not make them racist. The ambiguity of Yasukes history lends itself to artistic freedom and thats okay. Hope both protagonists complement each other in strengths and weaknesses. Havent played Unity but if the can nail the duo protag concept(not the gameplay) of orcs and men that whould be cool. F politics worming its ways on both sides.

I will say this the game may be good. However I disagree with you alninio. This is the first AC game where the person you play is a historical character so that is already different from what they usually do. I know it’s part fiction and non-fiction but it does seem like pandering. Imo they chose yasuke simply just because his black as there are a bunch of actual samurais who won’t have a lot of them. On top of that the buildings and architecture in the game is Chinese not Japanese. There is a lot of things they are doing wrong. Also it’s the first ac game where the mc is not someone local to the area. There is a bunch of changes to make yasuke the mc that do not align with what usually happens and this points to the fact that it’s probably woke pandering and I’m speaking as a black man. I would rather just have our own story and culture told rather than just black facing things to be woke.

Just tell you want the sponsorship from Ubislop

I agree with you

Nationality integrity all the other AC franchise... Most of the Protagonist in every main AC follow the same nationality the region is base on. Yasuke is not a great representation of this nonsense. You all wanted just to validate and glorified yasuke existence as if his the moving factor that Unite Japan during the Sengoku Period. AC have already set the standards how all MC in every AC play as why does Japan region game have to have a African.....Been to Japan Museum and i don't see an Yasuke tribute to his existence beside a Missionary Diary from the handful of Portuguese. You all Yapping around as if gameplay only matters. 17 years been waiting for Japan Assassin game since Ninja and assassin is famous in that region but they give me this Joke.

In Nioh you play a white guy samurai and nobody says a thing, I feel like the Yasuke haters are really telling on themselves...

Wallahi your opinion is as the same as mine and you made it better bro we need people like you btw i am an old subscriber

Nah, THIS is the reverse Hogwarts Legacy situation. At least those kicking off about Legacy sometimes had the excuse of a personal stake (she's actually completely batshit now, to the point other people who agree with her are worried), people complaining about Shadows are just being whiny because 'black samurai'.