Assassin’s Creed Shadows- Who is Yasuke and why did the developers choose him? 

Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft’s upcoming entry to the historical action-adventure game series moves the action to 16th century feudal Japan, during the turbulent Azuchi-Momoyama period. The game will intertwine the stories of its two main characters- who seem to offer very different playstyles and experiences. Female protagonist Naoe is a deft and nimble Japanese assassin from Iga, an area of Japan that is strongly associated with ninja. The male protagonist is Yasuke, described as “a powerful African samurai of historical legend” in Ubisoft’s description of the game. The revelation that you will play as a black main character in a game set in historical Japan seems to have surprised many people. So, who is Yasuke? And why did the developers of Assassin’s Creed Shadows pick him as a protagonist? 

The Assassin’s Creed series features a lot of attention to historical detail, with many side characters being based on real historical figures. However, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the first game in the series to feature a real person as one of its main characters, in the form of non-Japanese samurai Yasuke. Speaking to Famitsu, Shadows’ creative director Jonathan Dumont explained that “We were looking for ‘our samurai’, someone who could be our non-Japanese eyes” adding that “The team liked the character of Yasuke and thought we could use him to discover Japan.” 

Although it may seem surprising to some people, a black warrior called Yasuke really did exist in 16^th century Japan. Originally arriving in Japan as the bodyguard of an Italian Jesuit missionary, Yasuke attracted the attention of Oda Nobunaga, a powerful warlord and one of Japan’s three unifiers. Nobunaga was impressed by Yasuke, and made him one of his bodyguards. A 1582 diary entry by Matsudaira Ietada observes Nobunaga in the company of a black man around 182cm tall by the name of Yasuke. Cited on Yasuke’s Japanese Wikipedia page, the diary clarifies that Yasuke was not a slave or servant but a samurai with a stipend. 

Yasuke would go on to play a recorded role in a pivotal moment in Japanese history- the Honno-ji incident. In 1582, Nobunaga was betrayed by his general, Akechi Mitsuhide. The warlord was enroute to battle accompanied by only 30 men when he was suddenly ambushed by Mitsuhide’s army. Taking refuge in Honno-ji temple, Oda Nobunaga was forced to admit defeat and committed suicide by cutting open his stomach (seppuku). Known to be present at the time of Nobunaga’s death were his attendant Mori Ranmaru and Yasuke. Ranmaru is thought to be the one who performed the role of cutting off Oda Nobunaga’s head. It’s believed that Yasuke then took the head and prevented it from falling into the hands of the enemy.  

After the warlord’s defeat, Yasuke pledged himself to Nobunaga’s son, Nobutada. However, Nobutada was soon beaten by Mitsuhide’s army. Despite being captured, Yasuke was spared execution by Mitsuhide and escorted to a Jesuit mission house. It is not known what happened to him after that. 

Although his existence and association with Nobunaga are well documented, sadly many details of Yasuke’s life have been lost to time. Like other entertainment media that has sought to fill in the gaps (such as Netflix’s anime series Yasuke), it will be interesting to see where Ubisoft takes Yasuke’s story. “He starts off as a character who is already rooted in history” Dupont explains. “It piques our curiosity because we want to find out what happened to him.” 

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is scheduled to be released on November 15 for PS5, Xbox Series S|X, PC and Mac. 

If you are interested in finding out more, African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan gives a good overview of what is known about his life.