Assassin’s Creed Has Explored 25 Historical Settings Across 445 Years

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The live-action Assassin’s Creed Netflix series is taking fans somewhere they’ve wanted games to go for a long time: Ancient Rome, 64 AD. In all likelihood, this means the new Assassin’s Creed story could explore the Great Fire of Rome, which saw the 2/3rd of the city consumed by the flames. Emperor Nero was, in turn, accused of starting it to make room for his new palace, and his scapegoat tactic led to the first major persecution of Christians. For many fans, it’s unfortunate that such events could be explored in a Netflix series as opposed to a game, but it’s not that surprising.

Assassin’s Creed, as a franchise, has one of the most expansive transmedia universes in the industry and beyond. Its use of historical settings for backdrops pretty much ensures a limitless source for games, novels, shows, and so forth, but as a life-long fan and history nerd, the mention of Ancient Rome brought up a question: how much history has Assassin’s Creed actually explored so far?

Assassins Creed Ancient Rome

What Would an Assassin’s Creed Game in Ancient Rome Look Like?

The Assassin’s Creed franchise has explored numerous historical eras and settings, but Ubisoft should strive to set one game in Ancient Rome.

In a word: a disgusting amount (said with love). I’ve tried to be as thorough as humanly possible in compiling every aspect of the Assassin’s Creed transmedia universe, but if I’ve missed something, let me know in the comments. I’ll add/adjust it. But that universe spans 14 mainline games, 12 spinoff games (not to mention individual DLCs), 5 TV shows/Movies (either in development or available now), 26 novels, ~24 comic series, 6 other media projects, and a handful of upcoming games and releases.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.




Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Assassin’s Creed’s Exploration of History

For clarity’s sake, the modern-day timelines have been ignored, as have duplicate time periods and settings where applicable.

The result, in short, is simple yet widespread: the Assassin’s Creed franchise has explored 445 years, not counting dupes, in which case a work took place within the same time period as another. Across those, 25 historical settings have been explored when considering locations like Italy, China, the United States, the Holy Land, and so forth, have been explored across multiple centuries.

Mainline AC Games

  • Assassin’s Creed

    • Physical Setting: The Third Crusade, The Holy Land
    • Time Period: 1191 AD during the Third Crusade
  • Assassin’s Creed 2

    • Physical Setting: Florence, Italy
    • Time Period: 1476-1499 AD during the Italian Renaissance
  • Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

    • Physical Setting: Rome, Italy
    • Time Period: 1499-1507 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

    • Physical Setting: Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire
    • Time Period: 1511 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed 3

    • Physical Setting: The American Colonial Frontier
    • Time Period: 1760-1783 AD during the American Revolution
  • Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

    • Physical Setting: The Caribbean
    • Time Period: 1715-1722 AD during the Golden Age of Piracy
  • Assassin’s Creed Rogue

    • Physical Setting: North Atlantic
    • Time Period: 1752-1760 AD during the Seven Years’ War
    • The epilogue takes place in 1776 in France
  • Assassin’s Creed Unity

    • Physical Setting: Paris, France
    • Time Period: 1789-1794 AD during the French Revolution
  • Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

    • Physical Setting: London, England
    • Time Period: 1868 AD during the Industrial Revolution
  • Assassin’s Creed Origins

    • Physical Setting: Ancient Egypt
    • Time Period: 49-47 BCE during the Ptolemaic Period
  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

    • Physical Setting: Ancient Greece
    • Time Period: 431-422 BCE during the Peloponnesian War
  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

    • Physical Setting: The British Isles, Norway
    • Time Period: 872-878 AD during the Viking Expansion in England
  • Assassin’s Creed Mirage

    • Physical Setting: Baghdad, Iraq
    • Time Period: 860-870 AD during the Anarchy at Samarra
  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

    • Physical Setting: Feudal Japan
    • Time Period: 1579-1582 AD during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period

AC Spin-Offs and Side Games

  • Assassin’s Creed Liberation

    • Physical Setting: New Orleans and the Louisiana Bayou
    • Time Period: 1765-1777 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry

    • Physical Setting: The Caribbean, specifically Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti)
    • Time Period: 1735-1737 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China

    • Physical Setting: Ming Dynasty, China
    • Time Period: 1526-1532 AD during the Ming Dynasty’s Decline
  • Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India

    • Physical Setting: Colonial India
    • Time Period: 841 AD during the Sikh Empire-East India Company Conflict
  • Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia

    • Physical Setting: Soviet Russia
    • Time Period: 1918 AD, after the October Revolution of 1917
  • Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR

    • Physical Setting: Renaissance Italy, American Frontier, and Ancient Greece
    • Time Period: 1509 AD, between Brotherhood and Revelations; 1775-1777; and 405-403 during the rule of the Thirty Tyrants in Athens
  • Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles

    • Physical Setting: The Holy Land
    • Time Period: 1190 AD (1 Year Before AC1)
  • Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines

    • Physical Setting: Island of Cyprus
    • Time Period: 1191-1193 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed 2: Discovery

    • Physical Setting: Spain
    • Time Period: 1491–1492 AD during the Spanish Inquisition
  • Assassin’s Creed Rebellion

    • Physical Setting: Spain
    • Time Period: 1470s–1490s AD during the Spanish Inquisition
  • Assassin’s Creed Identity

    • Physical Setting: Italy
    • Time Period: 1480–1550 AD during the Italian Renaissance
  • Assassin’s Creed Pirates

    • Physical Setting: The Caribbean
    • Time Period: Roughly Concurrent with Black Flag

Assassin’s Creed Film, TV, and Series

  • Assassin’s Creed (starring Michael Fassbender)

    • Physical Setting: Spain
    • Time Period: 1492 AD during the Spanish Inquisition
  • Assassin’s Creed (Netflix Series)

    • Physical Setting: Ancient Rome
    • Time Period: 64 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed Lineage

    • Physical Setting: Italy
    • Time Period: 1476 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed Ascendance

    • Physical Setting: Rome, Italy
    • Time Period: Roughly Concurrent with AC Brotherhood
  • Assassin’s Creed Embers

    • Physical Setting: Florence, Italy
    • Time Period: 1524 AD
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Assassin’s Creed Novels

  • Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance

    • Physical Setting: Italy
    • Time Period: 1476–1499 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

    • Physical Setting: Italy
    • Time Period: 1499-1500 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Secret Crusade

    • Physical Setting: The Holy Land
    • Time Period: 1090s-1250s AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

    • Physical Setting: Constantinople
    • Time Period: 1511-1512 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Forsaken

    • Physical Setting: 1750s AD
    • Time Period: Colonial America
  • Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag

    • Physical Setting: The Caribbean
    • Time Period: 1715-1722 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Unity

    • Physical Setting: Paris, France
    • Time Period: 1789-1794 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Underworld

    • Physical Setting: London
    • Time Period: 1862 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Desert Oath

    • Physical Setting: Egypt
    • Time Period: 70-56 BCE
  • Assassin’s Creed: Last Descendants

    • Physical Setting: New York City, specifically the New York Draft Riots
    • Time Period: 1863 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan

    • Physical Setting: China
    • Time Period: 1259 AD during the Mongol Conquest of China
  • Assassin’s Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods

    • Physical Setting: Scandinavia/Sweden
    • Time Period: 985 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Heresy

    • Physical Setting: France
    • Time Period: circa 1420s-1430s AD during the Hundred Years’ War
  • Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

    • Physical Setting: Ancient Greece
    • Time Period: 431-422 BCE
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Ming Storm

    • Physical Setting: China
    • Time Period: 1520s-1530s AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Desert Threat

    • Physical Setting: 16th-century Mongolia
    • Time Period: Set after Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Geirmund’s Saga

    • Physical Setting: Norway and England
    • Time Period: Circa 870s AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse

    • Physical Setting: Norway and England
    • Time Period: 878 AD
  • The Golden City

    • Physical Setting: Constantinople
    • Time Period: 867 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Fragments – The Blade of Aizu

    • Physical Setting: 19th Century Japan
    • Time Period: 1868-1869 AD during the Boshin Civil War
  • Assassin’s Creed: Fragments – The Highlands Children

    • Physical Setting: 13th Century Scotland
    • Time Period: 1296 AD during the invasion by King Edward I of England
  • Assassin’s Creed: Fragments – The Witches of the Moors

    • Physical Setting: 17th Century France
    • Time Period: 1609 AD during the Labourd Witch Hunt
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Silk Road

    • Physical Setting: Levant Region
    • Time Period: 870 CE
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy

    • Physical Setting: London, England
    • Time Period: 1851-1862 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot

    • Physical Setting: Europe, Africa
    • Time Period: 1869-1889 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One

    • Physical Setting: Egypt/Persia
    • Time Period: 824 AD

Assassin’s Creed Comics

  • Assassin’s Creed: The Ankh of Isis Trilogy

    • Physical Setting: Roman Empire/Lyon, France
    • Time Period: Late 200s AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Hawk Trilogy

    • Physical Setting: 13th Century Egypt
    • Time Period: 1257 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: The Fall and The Chain

    • Physical Setting: Russia
    • Time Period: 1888–1918 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Awakening

    • Physical Setting: The Caribbean
    • Time Period: 1715-1522 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Brahman

    • Physical Setting: India
    • Time Period: 1839 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Assassins

    • Physical Setting: Salem Witch Trials in Colonial Massachusetts; 16th Century Inca Empire and Spanish Conquest; and Florence, Italy
    • Time Period: 1692/1693 AD; 1532-1533 AD; and early 16th Century
  • Assassin’s Creed: Templars

    • Physical Setting: Shanghai, China; 19th Century Libya
    • Time Period: 1927 and 1805 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Last Descendants – Locus

    • Physical Setting: London, England
    • Time Period: 1872 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Conspiracies

    • Physical Setting: World War II-era Nazi Germany, Poland, and Norway
    • Time Period: 1940-1943 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Uprising

    • Physical Setting: Largely Modern-Day, Spanish Civil War
    • Time Period: 1937 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Reflections

    • Special Comic Focusing on the Stories of 4 Assassins, from the perspective of Otso Berg: Altair, Ezio, Connor, and Edward
  • Assassin’s Creed: Origins

    • Physical Setting: Egypt, Post-Game of the Same Name
    • Time Period: 30 BC, with flashbacks to 44 BC
  • Assassin’s Creed: Bloodstone

    • Physical Setting: Vietnam
    • Time Period: Circa 1960s AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun

    • Physical Setting: China
    • Time Period: 1526-1532 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Dynasty

    • Physical Setting: Tang Dynasty, China
    • Time Period: 755 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Song of Glory

    • Physical Setting: Norway
    • Time Period: 870 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla × Vinland Saga

  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Blood Brothers

    • Physical Setting: Norway, England
    • Time Period: Late 860s AD + 872-878 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths

    • Physical Setting: Mythical
    • Time Period: N/A
  • Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – The Hidden Codex

    • Physical Setting: Scotland, England
    • Time Period: 873-878 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Forgotten Temple

    • Physical Setting: Macau and the Philippines
    • Time Period: 1725 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Visionaries

    • Anthological Settings: Brazil, Dystopian Future, Feudal Japan, United States, Mecha Future, Prehistoric Era, and China
    • Respective Time Periods: 1971 AD during a Brazilian military dictatorship; 2042 AD/2119 AD; circa 1500s AD; 1865 AD; Far Beyond 21st Century; before recorded history; and 1840s–1860s AD.
  • Assassin’s Creed: Mirage – A Soar of Eagles

    • Physical Setting: Baghdad

  • Assassin’s Creed: Shadows – Tales of Iga

    • Physical Setting: Late Sengoku Period, Japan
    • Time Period: 1560 AD

Other Assassin’s Creed Media

  • Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice (Tabletop)

    • Physical Setting: Venice, Italy
    • Time Period: 1509
  • Assassin’s Creed: Arena (Tabletop)

    • Physical Setting: Constantinople
    • Time Period: Roughly Concurrent with AC Revelations
  • Assassin’s Creed: Gold (Audible Exclusive)

    • Physical Setting: 17th Century London
    • Time Period: 1696 AD during the Great Recoinage
  • Assassin’s Creed: Initiates (Community Project)

    • Time Period: 33 AD Onward
  • Assassin’s Creed: Escape the Lost Pyramid

    • Physical Setting: Egypt
    • Time Period: February 1928 AD
  • Assassin’s Creed: Beyond Medusa’s Gate

    • Physical Setting: Ancient Greece
    • Time Period: 445 BC

Future AC Games and Settings

While these are not counted in the grand total, it’s worth highlighting that Ubisoft obviously has plans for more AC games. It’s less certain than ever due to recent restructuring, but Codename Invictus, Assassin’s Creed Hexe, and Assassin’s Creed Jade are still seemingly coming in the next few years.

Nothing is known about the setting of Invictus, though as a multiplayer Assassin’s Creed game, it seems likely to feature multiple regions. AC Jade takes place in China, roughly around 215 BC, and AC Hexe is believed to take place in the Holy Roman Empire, specifically Germany, around the late 1500s or early 1600s.

The Complete Globe-Trotting Timeline of Assassin’s Creed

The final result is interesting, where each number seems smaller than it actually is, but that’s largely because of regions that are thoroughly explored. If anything, it shows how visiting regions at different times can create completely different Assassin’s Creed games (or novels, etc.). For those curious, here are the most visited locations in the ACTU when condensed:

Italy

11

United Kingdom (England and Scotland)

9

Spain

7

United States

6

Egypt

6

China

6

The Caribbean

5

France

5

The Holy Land

4

Turkey

4

Greece

4

Japan

2

Iraq

2

North Atlantic

1

Cyrpus

1

Europe (General)

1

Africa (General)

1

Iran (Persia)

1

Peru

1

Libya

1

Germany

1

Poland

1

Macau

1

Philippines

1

Brazil

1

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