History Characters / AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlagTheAssassins

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: As expected of the Assassins.

* DropTheHammer: Wields a hammer in some ''Freedom Cry'' concept art.

* ActionGirl: Albeit only overt about it after being forced to reveal herself to Rackham]].

[[folder:James Kidd]]

A teenage boy, supposedly the bastard child of notorious pirate William Kidd, and one of the founders of the Nassau pirate republic, along with Kenway, Thatch, and Hornigold. He's also a close friend of Edward's and a member of the Assassins.

* ActionGirl: [[spoiler:Albeit only overt about it after being forced to reveal herself to Rackham]].
** PregnantBadass: [[spoiler:Was pregnant while trying to fend off the British that captured Rackham's crew. According to Anne Bonny, the father was a young man who was among the few sober enough to help fight, though he died during the battle]].
* AlwaysWithYou: [[spoiler:Her last words:]]
-->"''[[spoiler:I'll be with you, Kenway. I will.]]''"
* BadassesWearBandanas: Wears a bandana throughout the game and is a skilled warrior, [[spoiler:and takes it off when revealing she is a woman]].
* BattleCouple: [[spoiler:She and an unknown pirate fought with Anne Bonny in a heroic final stand. That soldier was her lover and father of her child and he died in battle]].
* {{Bifauxnen}}: [[spoiler:She proves to be Mary Read, not James Kidd]].
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: Perceptive players will notice that James is wearing a hidden blade before TheReveal that he is an Assassin.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: [[spoiler:James Kidd is only an alias. Her real name is Mary Read, one of the two most famous female pirates of all time]].
* TheConscience: Serves as this for Edward, always trying to get him to do the right thing and be more focused on helping others than helping himself. For much of the game Edward doesn't listen, meaning that the Assassins never let him join them. [[spoiler:Her death hits him the hardest by far and serves as the catalyst for Edward joining the Assassins and turning his life around in a way that would make her proud]].
* DeathByChildBirth: [[spoiler:Dies due to sickness brought about after giving birth to her child in a prison. It's unknown what happened to her baby]].
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Edward cradles her in a PietaPlagiarism as she passes away on account of post-pregnancy internal bleeding. Edward never fully recovers from this]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: There's a number of things that provide clues to the spoilered tropes: [[spoiler:voice veers a bit too feminine at times, rather distinctive hips, crossing arms a lot (especially when close to other people), and on the mission just before the reveal, shoving Edward away after being tackled (the tackle animation placing hands very near the torso) and exclaiming "[[HatesBeingTouched Keep your natty hands off me!]]"]]

** There's quite a few subtle hints in his body language about his sentiments well in advance of the reveal, such as his silent and contemplative reaction to a sketch of the Observatory instead of "Blackbeard" Thatch and Hornigold's mocking dismissals -- Edward notices this, and later calls out Kidd on knowing more than he'd let on about the Observatory -- and the multiple disapproving looks he gives Edward at times when he indulges his seedier tendencies [[spoiler:or when Edward inadvertently revealed that he'd given away the locations of Assassin hideouts to the Templars]].

* HistoricalCharactersFictionalRelative: Claims to be Captain Kidd's bastard son. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Mary Read has no relation to him.]]

** Anne Bonny remarks to Edward that [[spoiler:Mary did the actual captaining of the ship while Jack did most of the drinking]]. Given what we see in the game, there's no reason to think otherwise.

* TheNotLoveInterest: [[spoiler:There is considerable tension between Mary and Edward and several playful moments between them. Notably, the MushroomSamba sequence interchanges her with Edward's wife Caroline, signaling the level of importance she held for Edward in his life. Her death had a bigger impact on changing his life than his wife leaving him.]].
* PlatonicLifePartners: [[spoiler:With Edward, eventually. She makes it clear when she reveals her true gender that very few people know it.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Mary:''' Mary Read to me mum. ''*meaningful look*'' And me friends. ''*holds a knife to Edward's groin*'' Not a word of it to anyone, or I'll unman you as well. ''*wink*'']]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Is actually the famous female pirate, Mary Read, pulling a SweetPollyOliver]].

* TragicHero: [[spoiler:She spent all her life longing for freedom and respect in a patriarchal male-dominated society and be accepted as an equal. She has to resort to a rank incompetent like Calico Jack as a cover for her to be TheCaptain in all but name. Her child is taken from her and she dies painfully because the prison guards think she's a lowlife trash who deserves to die when she was the most heroic and decent person of the group, which moves Edward, an admitted JerkAss, greatly]].
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler:Was forced to reveal her gender when Rackham threatened to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill her]]. Inverted when she reveals her identity to Edward, when he sees her remove a bandanna and lets her hair down, he's amazed that she's BeautifulAllAlong and is very feminine]].

'''[[spoiler:Mary Read]]''': *chuckles* Not most Days. Come on.
* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Dies from complications from childbirth while in British custody towards the end of the game, while Anne Bonny lives on for several more decades. Of course this is TruthInTelevision, the real Mary Read did die in childbirth while Anne Bonny disappeared from the records]].
* WalkingSpoiler: See all the white-outs here? Take a hint.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: [[spoiler:A striking variation. She's very good looking as James Kidd, to the point of attracting Anne Bonny, and is quite pretty as Mary Read]].
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: James Kidd is perhaps the same age as Edward or slightly younger, [[spoiler: though really as Mary Read she's 8 years older then Edward]] but displays a maturity and acceptance of life that is worlds away from Edward's immature lusting after the "''easy life''".

* WorkingClassHero: An even more impressive version than Edward, since [[spoiler:as a woman she had to break the glass ceiling or take that into account to be where she is.]]
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Nurtures this hope for Edward, a key reason why Ah Tabai and the other Assassins spare his life and give him a second chance. [[spoiler:This ultimately has an effect on Edward and he resolves to fulfill her faith in him after she dies and officially joins the Assassins]].

* DoesNotLikeShoes: She has some wrappings around her ankles, but the soles of her feet are exposed to the ground.

* BladeOnAStick: Concept art has him wielding a spear.

* BladeBelowTheShoulder: He has two hidden blades, as befits his rank of Master Assassin.

* BadassBaritone: Bastienne lampshades it when he is asked to sing passcode.

* BadassBaritone: He has one of the deepest voices in the entire franchise and is no slouch in combat.

* BareYourMidriff: Her uniform is customized into a much more tribal design, complete with exposed midriff.