Comic Book / Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics)

Assassin's Creed is a comic series set in the Assassin's Creed universe. Published by Titan Comics, the first issue was released in October 2015. It ended after fourteen issues, when it was replaced by Assassin's Creed: Uprising, which continued its storyline and themes.

The series follows Charlotte de la Cruz, a young woman living in San Diego who discovers the ongoing war between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templars. After being recruited by the Assassins, she is tasked with exploring the memories of her ancestor Tom Stoddard, a ruthless Assassin who specializes in hunting Pieces of Eden and was present the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. There, she must discover whether or not a Piece of Eden was present, which will provide evidence of the trustworthiness of Joseph, a modern day Assassin thought dead who in now in Templar custody but is claiming to be luring a top Templar into a trap.

The second arc continues Charlotte's story as she explores the memories of a ancestor in the Inca Empire, while she and her fellow Assassins try simply surviving on the run in Mexico.

The third and final arc has Charlotte delve into the memories of Tom's ancestor, Hiram, in the mid- Renaissance, as she contends with family issues and the Templars closing in.

This series provides examples of:

Modern Day Storyline:

• Action Girl: Galina Voronina is one of the top Assassins in the modern day Brotherhood. She is quite skilled with throwing knives, getting a perfect headshot on one Templar agent with one and killing another with a knife to the heart.
• Agony of the Feet: During issue 9, Charlotte gets shot in the foot by Viere, the cartel leader.
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: In Issue 14, an Abstergo mook on a gunboat is too busy playing Pokémon GO until he sees one of Joseph's axes in the reflection of his tablet, ending up dead.
• Backstory Horror: Galina's vehement opposition to Charlotte's use of the Animus becomes clearer (and more horrifying) if you are familiar with her backstory.
  • In issue 3, Xavier berates Galina for ripping Charlotte out of the Animus after hearing that she made contact with the Precursor entity Consus, citing the potential. She responds by saying that "she won't go down that path again." Galina's mother forced her entire cell, including her daughters, into prolonged Animus sessions, believing she'd contacted Eve. This drove them all insane.
  • In issue 6, Charlotte angrily asks her "what kind of pod she hatched out of" after Galina forbids her to contact her family and implies that they can't be trusted. Later, when Charlotte and Kody try to follow a lead from Consus, Galina criticizes them for "taking orders from ghosts," which her mother did to horrifying results.
  • In the next issue, Charlotte resists moving forward with the mission, instead proposing to stay in the Animus and follow Consus' lead. When Galina rejects this, Charlotte asks her if she's jealous that Consus picked Charlotte to communicate with him. Galina finally snaps, grabbing her by the throat and pinning her against the side of the truck, though she doesn't explain the true reason for her rage. Her mother's vision of "Eve," was in all likelihood Juno, the Big Bad for the entire series, whose communication psychologically tortured everyone in Galina's cell (including her mother and twin sister, Avdotya) into insanity and forced Galina to put them down after the other Assassins received her SOS call too late
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • The first arc ends with Xavier dead, and Joseph apparently having escaped from Abstergo.
  • The final arc ends with Kody and Joseph dead, but the Assassins having gained new allies from the Initiates.
• Book Ends: Issue 1 had Charlotte jumping from her apartment to another roof and nearly failing. Issue 14 has her jump into a helicopter successfully.
• Bullying a Dragon: Viere, the cartel leader, tries picking a fight with the Assassins, along with ignoring the Templars when they politely ask him to back the hell off.
• Call-Forward: In issue 11, Charlotte suggests Galina should try focusing on Abstergo's Phoenix Project.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Charlotte frequently visits conspiracy boards and exchanges theories on the Assassins and Templars.
• Continuity Nod:
  • On meeting Galina and Xavier, Char mentions that she has heard of them, but most of the conspiracy boards say Assassins are missing a finger.
  • The Animus the Salton Sea Assassin cell is using is the model from III.
  • Galina notes that a traitor once nearly destroyed the Brotherhood and that she will not let Joseph get the same opportunity, referencing the brainwashing and betrayal of Daniel Cross.
  • In issue 6, she notes family cannot always be trusted. Galina's mother, the horrific things she did and the fact that Galina was the only survivor, are the reason for her detached and icy personality.
  • In issue 11, Galina mentions the time she and Gavin Banks torched Phoenix Project.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Charlotte illegally wires some money to cover an old lady's insurance, so Abstergo send a gun squad after her.
  • Viere wants to kill Galina, Kody and Charlotte in as violent a fashion possible because Galina knocked his girlfriend out.
• Epic Fail: During the attempted rescue of Kody from the cartel, Charlotte somehow winds up face-planting down a flight of stadium steps.
• Establishing Character Moment: Char is introduced playing on one of Abstergo Entertainment's Animii, as an Assassin, and is noted to be exceptionally good at it, as well as expressing a desire to join them.
• Faux Affably Evil: Ortega Sanchez, the head Templar man in Mexico, talks friendly, and does save Galina and Charlotte from a cartel attack, but also admits he wants to show Galina's head to his superiors, and threatens to kill all of Charlotte's friends and family if she doesn't keep her word.
• Finger in the Mail: In issue 8, an apparent cartel takes Kody hostage and leaves his severed ear behind with a message.
• Gunship Rescue: Issue 9 has the Templars do this for Galina and Charlotte.
  • Happens again in Issue 14 when Charlotte is saved by Florencia.
• Innocently Insensitive: A little subverted with Charlotte's jabs at Galina. While she definitely intended to get under her skin when she asked Galina if she's jealous that Consus "picked" Charlotte to communicate with him, she would have no way of knowing how distasteful that is to Galina, who watched her mother and her twin sister psychologically tortured into insanity after a Precursor far more dangerous than Consus "picked" Galina and her family to communicate with, or that Galina was forced to put them down like rabid animals after the other Assassins received her SOS call too late. (See Continuity Nod above).
• Jumped at the Call: Charlotte's response to Xavier and Galina showing up in her apartment and telling her they are Assassins is to exclaim yes and accept their offer to join immediately.
• Living MacGuffin: Charlotte is sought after by both the Assassins and Templars due to her Assassin bloodline. The Assassins nicely offer her to join, while the Templars try to kidnap her.
• The Mole: Joseph claims to be one in the modern storyline, pretending to be a defector whose ancestor knows the location of a Piece of Eden while in reality he has no idea and is simply trying to lure a Templar into a trap. Charlotte's job is to see if Joseph's ancestor, Jennifer Querry, really does not know where the Piece of Eden is, which will prove Joseph is telling the truth. Querry does not know, and is killed before the Piece of Eden (Dorothy) is buried, but her son David, who is also Joseph's ancestor, did witness where she was buried, meaning Joseph tricked the Assassins and has really defected to lure Xavier's team into a trap... except he's also doing it to get at the Templars. He does want Xavier dead, but the Templars killed his boyfriend.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Charlotte has this reaction when Brad, the guy she stuffed and taped into the closet, died cause he was asthmatic and was unable to get his puffer.
• My Way or the Highway: Xavier has very little patience for anyone questioning his orders, and refuses to even consider the possibility that Joseph could be a traitor. After getting tired of Galina's protests, he tells her to either follow his orders or leave.
• Nice Guy: Kody is the nicest member of his Assassin cell, and his main priority is making sure that Charlotte is okay after her Animus sessions.
• Non-Action Guy: Kody is a technician, not a fighter. Galina also accuses Xavier of being one, noting that he barely goes into the field and criticizing him for not recognizing the name of Didier Hawking, a high-ranking Templar.
• Obviously Evil: It takes about five seconds of explanation from Galina for Charlotte to acknowledge that Abstergo's evil.
  Charlotte: Abstergo? You mean you're telling me that the world's largest conglomerate is a front for an evil organisation that wants to control us all. Actually, that kinda makes perfect sense.
• Oh, Crap!: Charlotte has this reaction when she realizes that David is also Joseph's ancestor, meaning he told the truth to the Templars about knowing where a Piece of Eden is buried and is actually a traitor, meaning that she just sent Xavier and Galina into a trap after telling them Joseph was on their side.
• Shout-Out: Kody compares himself and Charlotte to R2-D2 and C-3PO waiting in the comm room.
• Talking in Your Sleep: In Issue 6 when Charlotte tries to wake up Kody, he mumbles Natalie Dormer's name.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Charlotte throws up after her first desychronization in the Animus.
• We ARE Struggling Together: Xavier and Galina are constantly arguing about Joseph's trustworthiness, with Xavier convinced that he is completely loyal while Galina believes he is a traitor and that waiting to prove it will get them all killed and another Piece of Eden into Templar hands. They come to blows in the third issue, with Xavier pulling a gun on her, but Kody manages to calm them down.
  • Charlotte and Galina in the second arc.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Xavier does not tell Charlotte about the risks that come with using the Animus in case they would lose her cooperation and the chance to discover if Joseph is a traitor.
• Wretched Hive: Charlotte has to navigate the DarkNet trying to find information on Erudito, having to dig through conspiracy theories, illegal pharmacies and "gross sex stuff."

Salem Witch Trials:

• Action Girl: Jennifer Querry is a fully trained Assassin, but is inexperienced and nowhere near the skill level of Tom Stoddard.
• Big Bad: The Templar William Stoughton, who is one of the judges of the witch trials, which he instigated in order to imprison women and test to see if they are the Piece of Eden.
• Big "NO!": Tom shouts this when Dorothy burns herself alive to keep the Templars from using her as an oracle.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Issue 4 has Tom hung upside down and poked with hot irons by Stoughton trying to learn what Dorothy said to him.
• Continuity Nod: Tom notes that Dorothy is not the first person who is a "Piece of Eden", a reference to Adha from Altaïr's Chronicles. Dorothy, while possessed by Consus, also speaks to Charlotte the same way Minerva did to Desmond through Ezio at the end of AC 2.
• Continuity Snarl: Stoughton and Parris get mixed up in names in issue 4.
• Driven to Suicide: Rather than be exploited by the Templars and let William Stoughton torture other women in an effort to duplicate her powers, Dorothy throws herself into a fire.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite being a Templar, Samuel Parris is disgusted by William Stoughton's complete disregard for the lives of Salem's people, and tires of falsely accusing innocent men and women of witchcraft and executing them. After they discovery Dorothy's power, Parris is horrified by Stoughton's intention of discovering what powers her so that he can copy it in other women while resolving to butcher as many of them as necessary in order to do so. Once Dorothy commits suicide, Parris shoots Stoughton twice non-lethally, declaring their mission in Salem over, and allows Tom to take the bodies of Jennifer and Dorothy while freeing the rest of the prisoners. Both Stoughton and Tom are stunned by his actions, with both questioning what manner of Templar he is.
• Good is Not Nice: Tom is probably the most ruthless and least compassionate Assassin so far. He comes very close to violating the Creed several times, threatening innocents for information even though he actually has no intention of hurting them (too badly). Galina even notes that this is a serious problem, since Charlotte will have a hard time synchronizing with Tom due to their polar-opposite personalities.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tom is usually a complete asshole who focuses entirely on the mission while being very condescending of Querry. Charlotte is often disgusted by his actions, which makes it difficult for her to easily synchronize with him. However, he does have a few moments of showing sympathy for others, and takes care of David following the mission in Salem, having realized that Querry was his mother and that he has no one else to look after him following her death. Charlotte even comments that she guesses Tom does have a heart after all.
• MacGuffin Super-Person: Dorothy Osborne is somehow possessed by Consus, a First Civilization entity. The Templars want to capture and exploit her, while the Assassins are trying to get her to safety.
• New Meat: Jennifer Querry's assignment in Salem is her first one for the Assassins. Tom is not happy about being saddled with an untested Assassin on a very dangerous mission. She doesn't survive it.
• Series Continuity Error: Tom and Jenny are Assassins in colonial America, long before John de la Tour, who Achilles stated was the first Assassin in America in III.
• Torches and Pitchforks: Stoughton stirs up an angry mob against Tom and Jennifer by taking advantage of Salem's paranoia, calling them the devils responsible.
• Trust Password: On arrival in Salem, Tom tries finding his contact via one, and then brutally kills the two men he asks when they give an incorrect answer. Jennifer Querry gives the right one, but Tom still chews her out for it.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Parris is the rare Templar who is not corrupted by the desire for power and avoids unnecessary bloodshed at all costs.
  Parris: We are not the devils you think we are.
  Tom: We are not always what we appear to be. Just misguided at times.
• Witch Hunt: The Templars instigated the Salem witch trials in order to locate a human who is really a Piece of Eden hidden in the community. Parris is not very happy about it though, believing that the bloodshed goes against Templar ideals.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Dorothy burns herself alive, he takes it out on Tom and threatens to have every woman in Salem and the colonies tried as a witch just to find another oracle.

Incan Empire:

• The Alcoholic: Pardo, as a result of the guilt he feels over preventing Francisco Pizarro from killing Emperor Atahualpa.
• Amicable Exes: Quila and her ex-husband, Ayar, are still on good terms with each other. So much so that he saves her from execution.
• Big Bad: Tuti Cusi, Ayar's father who plans to have Emperor Manco killed so the Spanish can take over.
• Cassandra Truth: No one believes Quila's claim that the Emperor's life is in danger because the quipu that contained the message was destroyed. The fact that she's a woman and traveling in the company of an alcoholic Spaniard probably didn't help.
• Fat and Skinny: Quila and Pardo make this.
• In Vino Veritas: How Don Pardo found out about the Templar plot, from an old friend in the Pizarro camp. However, this doesn't improve his standing in Quila's eyes.
• My Greatest Failure: Pardo considers him failing to save Emperor Atahualpa this.
• Running Gag: Anytime Pardo is about to fight, he trips on something and falls on his face.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Even though Quila is the fastest chasqui (messenger) in the Empire, she gets overlooked and told to go be a good wife.
• Stout Strength: Pardo appears to be morbidly obese but he is strong enough to break down a door.

Italian Renaissance

• Ambiguous Situation: Did Hiram sleep with that maid or didn't he? We only get his word versus an extremely jealous Giovanni's.
• Fake Memories: Hiram has one of his and Giovanni's fight in 1515. Charlotte breaks through to find that Consus possessing Giovanni led to Hiram's girlfriend Elena falling to her death.
• The Mentor: A much older Ezio Auditore is this to Giovanni Borgia and Hiram Stoddard.

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