TheAssassin’s Creedseries makes use of real-life historical places, people, and events. Yet, you can’t really call the games historically accurate. After all, Ubisoft needs to alter history a bit to make room for people in fancy hooded cloaks stabbing folks.
So, history is played with a bit in these games to make the stories and, sometimes, gameplay work. However, Ubisoft still does its research, and this has been demonstrated on several occasions over the years when developers have included some historically accurate elements. These range from the way major events unfold to small gameplay details. Here are several examples.
8Queen Victoria Wears Black
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
One of themore memorable moments in the seriesoccurs in Syndicate when you meet Queen Victoria. There are only a few scenes with her, but in all of them, she’s wearing black.
After her husband, Prince Albert, passed away, she always wore black as a way to mourn him, which was a Victorian tradition. He died in 1861, and Syndicate takes place in 1868, so it’s right for her to wear black in this game.
7Vikings Don’t Have Horns On Their Helmets
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
When you see Vikings in cartoons, they’re usually wearing horned helmets. However, it has never been proven that they actually did that. In fact, historical sources say that they most likely wore ordinary helmets.
With most other bits of media depicting Vikings with horns on their head, you may have thought Ubisoft would go the same route for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. But no, if you look through your headgear options in the game, you will notice a lack of horned helmets. The same goes for what your Viking allies wear on their heads.
6Charles Dickens Being Part Of A Ghost Club
Your missions with Charles Dickens in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate revolve around investigating the paranormal. This is because the writer is part of a Ghost Club that investigates anything related to spirits in an effort to determine their legitimacy.
All of this is accurate to what Dickens did in real life. He was part of a Ghost Club in the 1860s, and while he never really believed in the paranormal, he was fascinated by the concept. The in-game version of Dickens also shares this view on ghosts.
5Maximilien Robespierre Is Shot In The Jaw
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Maximilien Robespierre was an influential and often divisive figure during the French Revolution. It was also during this period in history that the man died. However, before he perished, he was shot in the jaw. The shooter is still debated to this day, with plenty of people believing it was himself in a failed suicide attempt.
In Assassin’s Creed Unity, there is no mystery, as he is shot by one ofthe best women in the series, Elise. Since she is a fictional character, that part of the game isn’t accurate. However, the fact that he gets a bullet to the jaw is accurate and a nice detail for the developers to include.
4The Ceiling Of The Sistine Chapel Is Blank In 1499
Assassin’s Creed 2
The one thing everyone knows about the Sistine Chapel is the beautiful artwork on the ceiling. It’s one of the most famous works of art ever. However, when you visit the Sistine Chapel in Assassin’s Creed 2, the painting is not there.
This isn’t a case of developer laziness or technical constraints. The artwork isn’t there because the game is set in 1499, which is several years before Michelangelo started working on it. Therefore, the developers were right not to include it.
3Giuliano De' Medici’s Death
The deaths of famous historical figures are where Assassin’s Creed tends to drift from the truth the most. This is because, in real life, people aren’tkilled by assassins in really cool ways. Yet, the death of Giuliano de' Medici in the game is a fairly accurate version of events.
In both real life and the game, he and his brother, Lorenzo, were attacked. Lorenzo lived, but Giuliano died due to being stabbed many times by Francesco de' Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli. A few elements of the assassination were altered for the game, including the location where it occurred and Ezio’s involvement. However, the main things are accurate.
2Not Using The Name Black Bart
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
Black Bart is a well-known pirate who was around during the Golden Age of Piracy. He was known for being one of the most successful pirates ever. The guy also features in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. During the game, though, he’s simply known as Bartholomew Roberts, which was the guy’s real name.
Black Bart serves as a nickname, and it’s as well-known as his real name by this point. That is despite him never being referred to as Black Bart when he was alive. Other people gave him that nickname long after he died. So, to keep things accurate, Ubisoft made sure that nobody called him that during the game.
1Benjamin Franklin Recommending Older Women
Assassin’s Creed 3
One of the oddest things that Ubisoft kept historically accurate was Benjamin Franklin’s opinion on dating older women. In one scene in Assassin’s Creed 3, the famous man gives Haytham Kenway eight reasons as to why it’s better to have an older woman as a mistress.
The reasons given are the same as those the real Benjamin Franklin provided in a famous letter he wrote in 1745. The explanation he gives for each entry in the list has been reworded a bit, except for number five, which is word-for-word what Benjamin Franklin wrote in the letter.
