Set in the Assassin's Creed universe, Assassin's Creed: Rising Sun is the tale of Japanese Assassin Washio Tsume who fought in the Boshin War. It is set in mid-19th century Japan but told from the perspective of Gabriel Marshall, who is discovering that his ancestry holds secrets that his employers at Abstergo find disturbingly interesting.
As of this writing, the story is still in its early stages.You can read it here.
This fic provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Asuka, Azusa, and Rangiku have been seen kicking ass. In fact, Asuka has something of a reputation for her badassery.
- Aerith and Bob: It's a little noticeable when you have names like Joseph and Charlton hanging around with Asuka, Nariko, and Tsume.
- All Asians Wear Conical Straw Hats: Subverted. Thus far, the only character to wear such a hat has been Commodore Matthew Perry.
- All Myths Are True: In Mt Fuji, Azusa concludes that The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a beloved Japanese story, may have been a true account.
- Ancient Conspiracy: It's Assassin's Creed, so naturally the Templars are working behind the scenes in the Boshin War to spread their ideology to Japan through westernization.
- Asian Airhead: Tsume isn't the brightest kid around. Then again, he didn't exactly have much of an education.
- Asian and Nerdy: Azusa can recite old stories off the top of her head and is great for thinking on the spot.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Joseph is prone to this, but it's not exaggerated.
- Barefoot Poverty: Tsume doesn't even own a pair of sandals at the beginning.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: Three out of four fights during the book burning take place near a bonfire. Not to mention the vault scene.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted since Rangiku was quite beautiful until she fell into the fire.
- However, played straight when Azusa runs though the burning vault in Mt Fuji and only breaks her ribs.
- Berserk Button: Asuka does not appreciate being called Oba-san.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Joseph is generally pretty goofy and amiable, unless you get him fighting.
- Big Damn Heroes: Tsume, Kennosuke, and Azusa plan on saving Charlton, who is bound at the foot of Mt Fuji.
- Bob from Accounting: Gabriel refers to the disembodied voice as Steve from Accounting, whom he is certain is not a real person.
- Book Burning: But not done for censorship. Egawa Hidetatsu is trying to get rid of books that he feels are holding Japan back from catching up with the rest of the world. Naturally, the Assassins aren't terribly happy with this, making it the setting of an assassination.
- Born into Slavery: Jack. He even calls Daniel "Master Daniel" out of habit.
- Celebrity Resemblance: Gabriel keeps comparing Daniel Cross to Layne Staley, formerly of Alice in Chains.
- Children Are Innocent: Tsume doesn't like discussing sex in front of Hitsu.
- Clothing Damage: NOT used for fanservice. Instead, it's done to show how rough a shape Kennosuke is in.
- Used again when Rangiku was pulled from the bonfire. Still NOT used for fanservice, but to show the severity of the situation.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Tsume may not have accepted Arkwright's offer had his parents not died two weeks before.
- Combat Pragmatist: As is to be expected from the Assassins. Tsume excels at it.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Every time Asuka gets into a fight, she wins handily.
- Dead Fic: Unfortunately, not updated since 2015.
- Dead Person Conversation: It's a staple of Assassin's Creed to do this, so it appears.
- Defector from Decadence: The shinobi may have once been Assassins, but have since switched sides.
- Determinator: Burning vault? Won't stop Azusa. Broken ribs? Won't stop Azusa. Ninja trying to kill her? She will congratulate the guy who kills the ninja.
- Diabolus ex Machina: When the shinobi appear.
- Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Joseph smokes him some pipe.
- Dirty Cop: Tsume has a less than positive opinion of samurai.
- Disability Superpower: While she hasn't appeared in-person, Tsume says that his teacher has no eyes. She compensates for it by using Eagle Vision to get around and. . . read.
- Disposable Vagrant: Tsume's parents.
- Eagle Land: Joseph Kent, Garen Arkwright, Daniel Kent, and Jack Freeman are American Assassins who have come to Japan to restore the Assassin Brotherhood there. Perry is there to do the same for the Templars and plans on westernizing Japan as a means to do it.
- Elsewhere Fic: Vidic and Cross are the only canon characters to have appeared so far. Rising Sun is more like a new entry into the series.
- Mitsuko Nakamura has appeared as well. The only way you'll recognize her name is either through the secret files in Revelations or if you spend a lot of time digging around the Wiki.
- Feigning Intelligence: Tsume tries to convince Mitsuko that he's Chinese so she'll think he's smart and kiss him. The problem is that Tsume has never met anyone from China, knows nothing about politics, and can't even read.
- First-Person Peripheral Narrator: Gabriel is the deuteragonist and the narrator, but it's really Tsume's story.
- Five-Finger Discount: Tsume and Daniel both prefer theft over payment.
- Framing Device: The whole story is seen through the eyes of Abstergo employee Gabriel Marshall who is reliving the memories of Washio Tsume through the Animus.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Tsume has a large scar that runs across his cheek. Sounds a bit like another Japanese assassin who lived at the same time.
- Government Conspiracy: Shogunate officials working with Commodore Matthew Perry to overthrow Japanese society? This can only end well.
- Gratuitous Japanese: It isn't always very accurate, but the Animus probably did it.
- Gabriel greets Dr Nakamura in Japanese. She said his greeting was almost correct. He didn't even know he was using it.
- Groin Attack: Tsume seems to be fond of these.
- Gunboat Diplomacy: Matthew Perry (not that one) appears to be the Big Bad, so of course this comes up.
- Gut Feeling: Gabriel knew he didn't trust Vidic from the moment they met.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Tsume and the Assassins use this to their full advantage when available by hiding in the crowd.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Perry wants something in the temple in Mt Fuji. Until he gets it, he will hold Charlton at gunpoint.
- In the Hood: A staple of the Assassins' attire.
- Initiation Ceremony: Tsume's initiation into the Assassin Brotherhood is of the solemn and dignified variety preceded shortly by all of the Assassin recruits beating each other down with wooden weapons.
- Interrupted Intimacy: When Charlton walks in on Tsume and Rangiku.
- Jidaigeki: Coming of the tail end of feudal Japan? Check. Samurai? Check.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Subverted. Tsume prefers the Chinese jian over his native katana.
- Kill It with Fire: Despite her hands being tied, Rangiku decides to help Tsume kill Egawa by throwing him into the burning pile of books. Unfortunately for her. . .
- Major Injury Underreaction: Azusa and Kennosuke try to shrug off their wounds.
- Malcolm Xerox: In a rare non-black example, Egawa Hidetatsu preaches about the evils of the Americans in Japan.
- McNinja: It's suggested that the shinobi are actually the McNinjas since their founder was an Assassin who turned Templar.
- Meaningful Name: Tsume means "claw" and Washio means "eagle tail" in Japanese.
- Jack was born a slave but has since been freed. So what's his last name? Why Freeman of course.
- Meaningful Rename: Played straight and defied. Tsume is given an opportunity to choose a new name and give himself a surname. He only chooses to add Washio as his surname.
- Mistaken Nationality: Tsume apparently can't tell the difference between Canadian, British, and American, so he just assumes they're all American.
- Mood-Swinger: Tsume believes Garen to be one.
- Moral Myopia: Immediately before the brawl in the gambling den, Asuka bets money that she can beat up more guys than Tsume. Immediately afterward, she talks to Sanzo about quitting gambling.
- Mugged for Disguise: Tsume and Kennosuke kill two samurai and steal their outfits.
- Murder by Cremation: Kennosuke decides that Osamu is going to kill the Assassins, so he throws him down the fiery pit in the temple.
- Tsume leaves Egawa's body in the fire where he was assassinated.
- New Meat: Fumito
- Ninja Brat: Azusa was inspired to join the Assassins by stories of ninjas, specifically, Ishikawa Goemon.
- Ninja Looting: Tsume is not above robbing a corpse for weapons. His other teammates seem to take issue with that.
- Ninja: Tiago Lopes' leads an entire team of ninja Assassins.
- Ninja School: Arkwright's trainees all undergo Assassin training.
- Non-Action Guy: Sanzo is a textile merchant and designer. He happens to be married to one of, if not the, most badass characters in the story.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. We already have two Daniels and two Mitsukos.
- Pirate: That's how Tsume got his scar.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: Considering the fact that Gabriel's sections are loaded with Crichtonisms and the fact that Abstergo is testing his reaction to the bleeding effect, Gabriel is shaping up to become one of these.
- Power Trio: Azusa is The Kirk, Tsume is The Spock, and Kennosuke is The McCoy.
- Pregnant Badass: Despite being eight months pregnant, Asuka still manages to kick more ass than anyone else. She even goes into labor mid-assassination!
- Quirky Neighbour Country: Tsume thinks that everyone in China is peaceful and intelligent. He never heard about that whole Taiping Rebellion that was going on at the time.
- Real Men Love Jesus: Kennosuke is easily the most badass of Arkwright's recruits. He's also a devout Catholic.
- Asuka indicates that she's at least a little bit Christian.
- Really Gets Around: Rangiku. She's had sex with every Japanese recruit with the exceptions of Azusa, Kennosuke, and Takanori.
- Rite of Passage: Tsume's initiation doubles as his genpuku, a Japanese ceremony where a boy chooses his adult name.
- Possibly Kennosuke, since he has undergone samurai training, but is not a samurai.
- Tsume and Asuka hire ronin who function exactly like the Mercenaries from the Ezio games.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Tsume expresses his concern to Charlton that Kennosuke would not make an efficient Assassin because he's a Christian. He's mistaken.
- Token Minority: Overlaps with Token White. Tiago Lopes' team consists mostly of famous Sengoku-era ninja, but his own name is obviously of European origin.
- Jack was the only black guy among the American Assassins.
- Token Evil Teammate: Osamu was a Templar who was sent into Mt Fuji with Tsume, Azusa, and Kennosuke. Kennosuke ends up killing him anyway.
- Twofer Token Minority: Virginia is the only woman and Brit to have come with the American Assassins.
- The Voice: Or as Gabriel likes to call it, Steve from Accounting.
- Useless Boyfriend: Asuka is a badass ronin who talks a big game and has the scars and skills to back it up. Her husband Sanzo? Less so.
- Welcome to the Big City: Used oddly. After the small town doctor says that he will not treat foreigners, he quips "Welcome to Fujiyoshida" to Tsume and Charlton.
- Would Hit a Girl: Azusa and Asuka tend to find themselves on the receiving end of this.
