History Literature / AssassinsCreedForsaken

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: The novelization of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' is from the perspective of Connor Kenway's father and the game's BigBad.

''Assassin's Creed: Forsaken'' is part of the series of novelizations of the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series of video games by Oliver Bowden. Unlike other books in the series which tend to hew to the timeline and narration of the events of the respective games it adapts, ''Forsaken'' covers the events of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' but also serves as a {{Prequel}}, covering the timeline before the first missions of the game proper. Specifically, it's AnotherSideAnotherStory to the game, from the viewpoint of Haytham Kenway, the father of the main PlayerCharacter, Connor Kenway of ''III''[[note]]Haytham was the DecoyProtagonist for the first three memory sequences which detailed the circumstances that led to his romance with Connor's mother Kaniéh:tiio.[[/note]]. The book is presented in the form of a journal Haytham kept since childhood and which he irregularly updated throughout his life. The final part of the book has Connor completing the story with his own reflections on discovering his father's story.

''Assassin's Creed: Forsaken'' is part of the series of novelizations of the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series of video games by Oliver Bowden. Unlike other books in the series which tend to hew to the timeline and narration of the events of the respective games it adapts, ''Forsaken'' covers the events of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' but also serves as a {{Prequel}}, covering the timeline before the first missions of the game proper. Specifically, it's AnotherSideAnotherStory to the game, from the viewpoint of Haytham Kenway, the father of the main PlayerCharacter, Ratonhnhaké:ton or Connor of ''III''[[note]]Haytham was the DecoyProtagonist for the first three memory sequences which detailed the circumstances that led to his romance with Connor's mother Kaniéh:tiio.[[/note]]. The book is presented in the form of a journal Haytham kept since childhood and which he irregularly updated throughout his life. The final part of the book has Connor completing the story with his own reflections on discovering his father's story.

** The book serves as a milder form of this for Connor, who realizes his father actually was an honorable and decent man rather than the ManipulativeBastard he thought he was. He also learns that they were NotSoDifferent from each other in terms of ideals, but were just too tragically separated by their own life experiences.

*** When a thief attacks the Kenways on a night out, Edward insists on compassion with Reginald Birch wanting to go VigilanteMan and kill him. Edward later asks Haytham if he felt that thief deserved to die and is pleased when Haytham says no. This gains [[NotSoDifferent resonance]] after the announcement and release of the game, since Edward is a [[RetiredOutlaw former pirate]] who [[RagsToRiches made his early fortune]] from plunder and high seas robbery, suggesting why he felt sympathy for the thug, and perhaps wanted to know if his son would forgive his former life if and when he discovered it.

* NotSoDifferent:
** Haytham and Connor more or less. The former going through a similar TraumaCongaLine and having a similar inquisitive spirit about life and people.
** [[spoiler:Haytham becomes NotSoDifferent from Reginald Birch, trying to manipulate and indoctrinate Connor into the Templar cause, much like he had been]].
** On a darker note, [[spoiler:Jenny Kenway insists that Edward handing her off in marriage to Birch without taking her own feelings and desires into account isn't better from her own experience as a concubine in the Ottoman Court. She even says she was better treated in Istanbul]].

*** When a thief attacks the Kenways on a night out, Edward insists on compassion with Reginald Birch wanting to go VigilanteMan and kill him. Edward later asks Haytham if he felt that thief deserved to die and is pleased when Haytham says no. This gains [[NotSoDifferent resonance]] after the announcement and release of the game, since Edward is a [[RetiredOutlaw former pirate]] who [[RagsToRiches made his early fortune]] from plunder and high seas robbery, suggesting why he felt sympathy for the thug, and perhaps wanted to know if his son would forgive his former life if and when he discovered it.[[note]]Haytham never seems to have found out, he never mentions it in the book or in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' though his sister seems to know and in the game's DLC Connor knows too, affectionately ascribing his sailing skills to his pirate grandfather.[[/note]]

* BigBadEnsemble: [[spoilers:Reginald Birch]] and Edward Braddock are British Templars that have important roles in the life of Haytham Kenway from murdering his father [[spoiler:Edward]] to training him to become a Templar and leading a massacre of Native Americans, French soldiers and even British Redcoats.

''Assassin's Creed: Forsaken'' is part of the series of novelizations of the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series of video games by Oliver Bowden. Unlike other books in the series which tend to hew to the timeline and narration of the events of the respective games it adapts, ''Forsaken'' covers the events of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' but also serves as a {{Prequel}}, covering the timeline before the first missions of the game proper. Specifically it's AnotherSideAnotherStory to the game, from the viewpoint of Haytham Kenway, the father of the main PlayerCharacter, Ratonhnhaké:ton or Connor of ''III''[[note]]Haytham was the DecoyProtagonist for the first three memory sequences which detailed the circumstances that led to his romance with Connor's mother Kaniéh:tiio.[[/note]]. The book is presented in the form of a journal Haytham kept since childhood and which he irregularly updated throughout his life. The final part of the book has Connor completing the story with his own reflections on discovering his father's story.

* AlasPoorVillain : One can't help but feel this way for [[spoiler:Haytham after reading this book. Connor, his own son, feels this and regrets killing him]].

* BlackSheep: Haytham gradually realizes that he has become one for his family. He's a Templar Grandmaster while his father and his son are Assassins.

** Likewise, [[spoiler:Reginald]]'s personal [[TheDragon Dragon]] [[spoiler:Edward Braddock]] helped cover up the raid on the Kenway family home and led a massacre that killed Native Americans, French soldiers and even his own men which led to Haytham eventually killing him after he was restrained by his future wife Kaniehtí:io. Additionally, [[spoiler:Edward]] was also the superior officer to George Washington [[spoiler:which was what led him to carry out a raid against Connor's home village alongside Charles Lee and his men]].

After the release of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'', ''Forsaken'' along with ''Assassin's Creed III'' covers the MythArc of the Kenway Family Saga, described by [[WordOfGod writer Darby McDevitt]] as, "the story of a family… a migration, a mixing of cultures, and a dashing of ideals…".

** Likewise, [[spoiler:Reginald]]'s personal [[TheDragon Dragon]] [[spoiler:Edward Braddock]] helped cover up the raid on the Kenway family home and led a massacre that killed Native Americans, French soldiers and even his own men which led to Haytham eventually killing him after he was restrained by his future wife Kaniehtí:io. Additionally,[[spoiler:Edward]] was also the superior officer to George Washington [[spoiler:which was what led him to carry out a raid against Connor's home village alongside Charles Lee and his men]].

** Likewise, [[spoiler:Reginald]]'s personal [[TheDragon Dragon]] [[spoiler:Edward Braddock]] helped cover up the raid on the Kenway family home and led a massacre that killed Native Americans, French soldiers and even his own men which led to Haytham eventually killing him after he was restrained by his future wife Kaniehtí:io.

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Reginald Birch]] is revealed to have significantly influenced the events of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' such as murdering [[spoiler:Edward Kenway]] and turning Haytham into a loyal Templar which stifled any attempts at rebuilding the Colonial Brotherhood until Connor comes along and rejuvenates what's left of the group in the Revolutionary War.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Connor gives a deeply moving one at the end of ''Forsaken'' and this was originally part of the game itself and exists in deleted audio:
-->[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6d79JHh3cU ''"Compromise. That is what everyone has insisted upon. And so I have learned it. But differently than most, I think…I realize now that it will take time; that the road ahead is long, and shrouded in darkness. It is a road that will not always take me where I wish to go, and I doubt I will live to see its end. But I will travel down it nonetheless. For at my side walks hope. In the face of all that insists I turn back, I carry on. This…This is my compromise."'']]

* {{RetCon}} : The book alters some of the circumstances in the events of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', while in turn ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' retcons some elements of ''Forsaken''. The biggest change is that ''Forsaken'' describes Haytham's father has having dark hair when ''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' makes him blonde. Also at the end of that game, Jenny was stated to be Jennifer Scott, after her mother's maiden name, while in this book she is referred to as Jenny Kenway.

** Haytham's equation with his family echoes and contrasts to Ezio with his mother and sister. Maria, Ezio's mother suffers severe trauma after the attack on her family [[note]]which led to her husband and sons being arrested and later executed[[/note]] but she recovers from the attack because of Ezio's [[ThePowerOfLove devotion]] to her. [[spoiler:For Tessa it's a DespairEventHorizon]]. Likewise he and his half-sister Jenny, were never close and they become permanently estranged [[spoiler:even after Haytham pulls a belated BigDamnHeroes to save her]].

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Little Haytham knew nothing about his father's past which seems to have provoked many rumors among his neighbours. He doesn't know that his father was an Assassin or a pirate which his sister clearly knows. This leads him to misunderstand several details that he observes and records in his journal as a young man.
* LighterAndSofter: In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', Haytham is responsible for the Boston Massacre and numerous other ruthless actions in order to bring about American independence (which would "coincidentally" drastically increase his personal power as Grand Master of the Americas), but Haytham's portrayal here is closer to TheHero. Of course, these are ''his'' journals that, in the end, he's having delivered to Connor expressly to tell his side of the story...

* TheCorrupter: [[spoiler:Reginald Birch was the man responsible for training Haytham Kenway into a loyal and devout member of the Colonial Templars]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Reginald Birch]] is revealed to be the main instigator for some of the key events in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' such as murdering [[spoiler:Edward Kenway]] and turning Haytham into a loyal Templar which stifled any attempts at rebuilding the Colonial Brotherhood until Connor comes along and rejuvenates what's left of the group in the Revolutionary War.

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Reginald Birch]] is revealed to be the main instigator for some of the key events in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' such as murdering [[spoiler:Edward Kenway]] and turning Haytham into a loyal Templar thus sabotaging any attempts at rebuilding the Colonial Brotherhood until Connor comes along and rejuvenates what's left of the group in the Revolutionary War.

* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:Reginald Birch]] is revealed to be the main instigator for some of the key events in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' such as murdering [[spoiler:Edward Kenway]] and turning Haytham into a loyal Templar thus sabotaging any attempts at rebuilding the American Brotherhood of Assassins until Connor comes along and rejuvenate what's left of the group in the Revolutionary War.

* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:Reginald Birch orchestrates the death of Edward Kenway and the indoctrination of his son into the Templar order]].
* HistoryRepeats: Edward's second wife Tessa married him in protest over her father's wishes and caused a brief scandal, much the same happened with his first wife Caroline as Literature/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag reveals. She also [[spoiler:dies alone of a disease, much like Caroline, though Edward is dead this time]].

* AlasPoorVillain : One can't help but feel this way for [[spoiler: Haytham after reading this book. Connor, his own son, feels this and regrets killing him]].

* AwfulTruth: [[spoiler: Haytham rescues his sister Jenny and then discovers that CoolOldGuy Reginald Birch who was his ParentalSubstitute had not only orchestrated his father's death but also sold Jenny into slavery and that their entire relationship was a lie]].

* BadassFamily[=/=]BigScrewedUpFamily: The Kenways, natch. ''Black Flag'' covers Edward's story, while this novelization depicts the two succeeding generations, Haytham and Connor.
* [[spoiler: TheBadGuyWins: Reginald Birch does meet his KarmicDeath but he succeeds in his goal of destroying the Kenways, and converting Haytham into a Templar]].
** Played with as [[spoiler: Reginald Birch]] had no interest in harming the Kenways. He was actually after the First Civilization and their relics. [[spoiler: Haytham thus gets his revenge on Birch more thoroughly through denying he's found the First Civilization site than he ever does by killing him. He could have even made it worse by saying that the amulet was useless without an Apple of Eden to actually open the door]].
* BadBoss: Braddock murders his subordinates at the slightest infraction.
** [[spoiler: Birch sells out all of his confederates to throw Kenway off the trail]].

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Reginald Birch in the first half. Since the second is basically ''Assassin's Creed III'' in Haytham's perspective, he would take the role as VillainProtagonist]].
* BigDamnHeroes: Haytham pulls this off several times but alas NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished. Specifically, [[spoiler: his killing of an attacker who was threatening his mother made her horrified and treat Haytham very coldly. When he finally rescues Jenny, its several years later after she's been a concubine into her middle-age and she is horrified that he has become a Templar, the very people who murdered their father and sold her into slavery.]]
** In a RetCon to ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', Haytham claims to have [[spoiler: done this for Connor. He initially backs Charles Lee's gambit to make Connor their fall guy for Hickey's assassination attempt on Washington but goes disguised to the hanging and frees his son from the noose]]. In the game, we see this sequence through Connor's eyes which is covered by a bag, so it's justified, but this never comes up in any of their in-game interactions.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Reginald Birch]] is a quiet, nerdy, and somewhat dorky guy. [[spoiler: He is also one of the most repulsive villains in the series]].

* BrokenPedestal: Haytham towards [[spoiler: Reginald Birch]]. Averted with Edward, who even after discovering he was an Assassin, Haytham has nothing but respect and admiration for, believing that FromACertainPointOfView, he is honoring his father's wishes by thinking for himself.

* CoolOldGuy: Haytham thinks this of Reginald Birch who is more than willing to play it up. [[spoiler: He's not, of course]].

* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Haytham's mother, Tessa Kenway, undergoes this on the night Edward is killed by home intruders and Jenny is kidnapped by the same and that Haytham had to kill one of her attackers. This TraumaCongaLine proved too much for her, and she becomes a shell of her former self, turning over Haytham's parenting duties to Reginald Birch, who she doesn't know is a Templar and the man who orchestrated the attack on her family]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: For the Kenways as a whole. Edward Kenway, who loses everything he ever built and achieved in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag''. His wife goes mad from grief, his daughter is MadeASlave and becomes a spinster, and Haytham ends up becoming ArchnemesisDad for his own son and dies at the latter's hand, leaving him with a great deal of issues in addition to his tragedy as a Native American in Post-Revolutionary America]].

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Combines with DeathByOriginStory for [[spoiler: Edward]].
* GoodParents: Edward and Tessa Kenway. [[spoiler: Subverted as Jenny hates Edward and Haytham learns to think ill of his mother]].
* FalseFriend: [[spoiler: Reginald Birch for Edward Kenway, who he engaged to be married to his daughter Jenny only to discover that he was a Templar. Haytham realizes the same much later, but its far too late for him to make a meaningful change in his life]].

* FollowInMyFootsteps: Edward raises Haytham to follow in his path [[spoiler: as an assassin. Haytham initially believes being a Templar is making his father proud, and even when he realizes his father was on the other side, he entertains the idea of uniting both the Assassins and the Templars, much as his own son Connor entertained]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' wasn't announced at the time the book was released, so several details in the book foreshadow the fact that Edward Kenway was a Pirate.
** The Kenways are social pariahs despite their great wealth and status with a poor family next door not wanting them to show up at their child's funeral. This is understandable if Edward's status as a pirate is public knowledge.
** When a thief attacks the Kenways on a night out, Edward insists on compassion with Reginald Birch wanting to go VigilanteMan and kill him. Edward later asks Haytham if he felt that thief deserved to die and is pleased when Haytham says no. This gains [[NotSoDifferent resonance]] after the announcement and release of the game, since Edward is a [[RetiredOutlaw former pirate]] who [[RagsToRiches made his early fortune]] from plunder and high seas robbery, suggesting why he felt sympathy for the thug, and perhaps wanted to know if his son would forgive his former life if and when he discovered it.[[note]] Haytham never seems to have found out, he never mentions it in the book or in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' though his sister seems to know and in the game's DLC Connor knows too, affectionately ascribing his sailing skills to his Pirate grandfather.[[/note]]
** There's also the nice fact that the Kenways family dog is called Thatch, which foreshadows his own friendship with Edward "Blackbeard" Thatch.
** In a quiet moment when Haytham is playing with his soldier set, Reginald Birch sneaks in and uses the toys to teach him the importance of leaders and men being in charge, a prime indication that he is a [[spoiler: Templar]].

* HappyEndingOverride: Forsaken serves as a retroactive one for ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag''.
* HeroKiller: [[spoiler: Reginald Birch orchestrates the death of Edward Kenway and the indoctrination of his son into the Templar order]].

* [[IHateYouVampireDad I Hate You Templar Dad]]: How Haytham views Connor's resentment against him. He doesn't quite grock Connor is an adult man capable of making adult decisions... nor does he realize that [[spoiler:Connor knows he's responsible for the Boston Massacre, the Purge of the American Assassins, and other activities that were inclining him to view Haytham as a monster]].

** Haytham's equation with his family echoes and contrasts to Ezio with his mother and sister. Maria, Ezio's mother suffers severe trauma after the attack on her family [[note]]which led to her husband and sons being arrested and later executed[[/note]] but she recovers from the attack because of Ezio's [[ThePowerOfLove devotion]] to her. [[spoiler: For Tessa it's a DespairEventHorizon]]. Likewise he and his half-sister Jenny, were never close and they become permanently estranged [[spoiler: even after Haytham pulls a belated BigDamnHeroes to save her]].
** Reginald Birch likewise plays a role in Haytham's life much like Mario Auditore, only with a different ideology [[spoiler: and a HiddenAgenda]].
** Haytham like Ezio is driven initially by revenge but seems to put it aside and aspires for wisdom and a more meaningful purpose. He also meets the love of his life in a new land and culture [[note]] Like Ezio meeting Sofia Sartor in Istanbul in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations''[[/note]] but what for Ezio is a belated, unexpected EarnYourHappyEnding becomes for Haytham a source for personal anguish when he meets his son Connor, an Assassin, on the other side of the conflict.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Little Haytham knew nothing about his father's past which seems to have provoked many rumors among his neighbours. He doesn't know that his father was an Assassin or [[spoiler: a pirate]] which his sister clearly knows. This leads him to misunderstand several details that he observes and records in his journal as a young man.

* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler: Reginald Birch. And sadly, Haytham becomes one himself vis-a-vis Connor]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Edward Kenway's secretive nature but public profile attracted too much attention to the valuable artifacts in his possession, namely [[spoiler: a journal with information on the First Civilization]].

* NotSoDifferent: Haytham and Connor more or less. The former going through a similar TraumaCongaLine and having a similar inquisitive spirit about life and people.
** [[spoiler: Haytham becomes NotSoDifferent from Reginald Birch, trying to manipulate and indoctrinate Connor into the Templar cause, much like he had been]].
** On a darker note, [[spoiler: Jenny Kenway insists that Edward handing her off in marriage to Birch without taking her own feelings and desires into account isn't better from her own experience as a concubine in the Ottoman Court. She even says she was better treated in Istanbul]].

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Unusual variation in that Haytham believes he's becoming TheHero and is on a quest with Birch as TheMentor and he will eventually restore his family honor and reunite his family. [[spoiler: The revelation of the AwfulTruth marks a CynicismCatalyst for him which explains his colder behaviour in the latter part of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'']]
* RapeAsDrama: A low key example. [[spoiler: Jenny spends decades as a SexSlave to the Sultanate]].
* TheResenter: Jenny Kenway [[spoiler: at the end of ''Forsaken'' becomes a bitter spinster who admits to hating her father for not training her as an Assassin and not giving her the same affection as he did for Haytham. A real TearJerker in retrospect]], if you know the end of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag''.

* RevengeBeforeReason: Haytham has ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' style ambitions to defeat his family's killers. [[spoiler: Reginald Birch acts as a BadBoss by throwing all of his confederates to the wolves]].

* ShaggyDogStory[=/=]ShootTheShaggyDog: Haytham joins the Templars in search of emotional support after the attack on his house, and also in the belief that the Templars will help him find revenge and rescue his sister. [[spoiler: However the investigation goes nowhere with key witnesses dying before Haytham has a chance to interrogate them. He later discovers the AwfulTruth of Birch's betrayal. Haytham's quest to avenge his father's death and rescue his sister proves futile in the end. It doesn't repair his family, it in fact makes him and his sister estranged permanently, his best friend Jim Holden commits suicide and his ParentalSubstitute was a fraud with Haytham having nothing left but the Colonial Templars, only for that to be sabotaged by his son]].
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: Jenny Kenway discovered [[spoiler: Birch's true allegiance and told her father. Birch who seems to have set upon indoctrinating Haytham has her kidnapped and sold into slavery so as to manipulating her brother better]].

* SpottingTheThread: Haytham's investigations into the attack on his family is helped when he rereads his journal entries as a boy and notices something that he had later put out of his mind. [[spoiler: A pair of boots in the maid's room, which belonged to TheMole that helped bring the Templar mercenaries to their home]].

-->'''Haytham:''' These men - not one of them was a tenth of the man [[spoiler: Holden had been]]. I was sick of them, I realized, heartily sick of them. And my feelings were about to intensify.
* UndyingLoyalty: Haytham towards the Templars and Charles Lee. Even after finding out [[spoiler: that he became a Templar by being manipulated by Reginald Birch, the ideals had such an impact in shaping Haytham and he discovered the AwfulTruth so late in his life, that he was unwilling and unable to let go of the cause even if his own father and his son are Assassins]].
** Haytham's best friend, Jim Holden has this for him. The only truly good person Haytham knew in his middle years and who puts the rescue of Jenny on high priority. [[spoiler: His eventual fate is a major TearJerker]].
* UnreliableNarrator: Haytham has one of these cases with himself, as his earlier entries have him failing to realize a bunch of things going on behind the scenes at the time. Likewise, he's definitely prone to painting himself in the nicest light possible given he ends up killing numerous associates. [[spoiler: They had it coming, though]].

* YouKilledMyFather: Jenny and Haytham towards [[spoiler: Reginald Birch. It's Jenny who lands the killing blow]].

* MotiveDecay: Haytham's journal entries is very introspective and deals with his own confusion of the kind of person he has become, his belief in the Templars in conflict with his own loyalty to his family. Without this novelization putting his actions in context, the game depicts him as incorrigible and thoroughly unsympathetic to Connor.

!! Provides Examples of:

''Forsaken'' was very well received on its release and is the first of the series to receive ApprovalOfGod as being canonical to the Franchise.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Reginald Birch]] is a quiet, nerdy, and somewhat dorky guy. [[spoiler: He is alsoone of the most repulsive villains in the series]].