To date,Assassin’s Creedfans have met Roshan twice. Her first in-game appearance came inAssassin’s Creed Valhalla’s “Shared History” update, while a younger version of herself would appear inAssassin’s Creed Mirage, both played byShohreh Aghdashloo. This trend of moving backward from her days as Master Assassin continues with the upcoming novel,Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Daughter of No One. The novel explores two periods of Roshan’s life that come together in a tightly-knit conclusion, leading into her entry into the brotherhood.
Game Rant recently had a chance to read an advanced copy of the novel, as well as speak with author Maria Lewis about these periods ofRoshan’s life. The novel covers a lot of ground and shows a completely different side to Roshan than what fans have seen in the games, as she is an incredibly skilled and well-rounded character but obviously not refined into a Master Assassin just yet. Covering this much ground of her life, especially with it covering two years-long periods, presented a challenge, but it was important to Lewis that she capture this. “I didn’t know if Roshan would ever get this much real estate again!… There are a lot of balls to juggle so, hypothetically, if this was the only time Roshan got to be the lead character in her own story, I wanted to color in as much of that as possible,” Lewis said.
The result is a riveting novel that fills in a lot of details about Roshan, details about her fans may have wanted fromAssassin’s Creed Mirage. If someone hasn’t played the latest entry yet, thenDaughter of No Oneserves as ample and exciting prelude, adding context to a handful of Roshan’s interactions in the game. Part of this, as Lewis explained, is that players have met her, but they don’t really know her. The novel delves into her childhood, how she survived on the streets, how she grew into the person she is, and how complex and multifaceted she is. She may be a Master Assassin, but she has effectively lived inBasim’s shadow inAC MirageandAC Valhalla. That’s not the case here.
The intention of the novel, for me, was trying to flesh out this character as more than just a stoic badass, which I think is so often the box people want to shove Strong Female Characters into.
Ubisoft provided Lewis with a few “no benders,” which are events in Roshan’s life and certain details about her character that Lewis couldn’t break, but she was given the freedom to explore how those elements took place and how they impacted her character. One way this was done, something Roshan herself remarks in the novel, is living her life by Quid Pro Quo. To survive, she performs services for others. Sometimes this was an exchange of work for education, other times it was an exchange of skills for freedom. This allowed Roshan to survive in a time when the world was not friendly to women, and while it meant constantly moving from one place to another, it also meant Roshan was able to learn and pick up a lot of skills.
Roshan is perhaps more social inDaughter of No Onethan how fans meet her in the later years of her life, yet she still keeps up her guard. She establishes several relationships with men and women of the time who help her grow into the person she is, whether that’s Maryam, Bakhit, Advi, Azadeh, Nafanua, a certain character who also appears inAC Mirage, or many others. Because ofRoshan’s strong willand relationships with these characters, her female identity and association with other women in the novel is evident on every page. Part of this, Lewis says, was how she’s always looking for versions of herself in stories. “I know a lot of other female Assassin’s Creed fans feel the same,” she added, “so weave thsoe elements into the story was as much for them as it was for me.” Lewis also added,
Being a woman is to be at threat, both then and now, so there’s always an element of danger to your survival and everyday existence that needed to be represented in the story. Yet there’s also beauty in it too, which I wanted to show not just through Roshan but through the other types of women she meets in the novel like Azadeh and Nafanua. I didn’t want Roshan to be a woman alone, I wanted the story to be populated with women: young, old, heroic, villainous … you know, just like the real world.
This element of sisterhood rings throughout the novel too, with Roshan sometimes missing certain key characters to doing what she can to help others in her shoes, all the women who populate the story ofAssassin’s Creed Mirage: Daughter of No One. Roshan, in this novel, is very much a fighter just like her counterparts in the game, yet she’s also much more than that. This can be said of any of the female characters in the novel, beyond just theHouse of Wisdom which appears inAC Mirage: Daughter of No Onetoo. As Lewis said, there were female scholars and mathematicians, women who ran powerful and profitable business, and female rulers whose power could see global entities flinch.
“It was critical to color the novel with different types of women.”
At the end of the day, this novel shows Roshan as the stoic badass she is, the powerful female character she is, but it also makes it clear that this isn’t the end-all, be-all of her character. It shows the relationships she had with people and her feelings around trust, around her role in society, and her thoughts on the world at large. It shows how she leverages all of her skills for her survival, not just her blades. It shows everything that made her who she was before fans ever met her in the games. Ultimately,Assassin’s Creed Mirage: Daughter of No Oneis an absolute must-read for any fan of the franchise.
Assassin’s Creed: Mirage
WHERE TO PLAY
Play as a cunning young street thief seeking answers in this majestic Middle Eastern open world. Experience the home of the original Assassins in this exciting new narrative-driven, open world adventure. 15 years since the first Assassin’s Creed redefined adventure, experience the franchises' trademark parkour and stealth like never before - in Assasin’s Creed Mirage. In this smaller scale, back to basics Assassin’s caper, you play Basim, a young street thief seeking answers. Roam the richly-detailed, reactive and vibrant streets of 9th century Baghdad, uncovering the mysteries of the past as you fight to secure your future. Stalk the shadows. Become the ultimate assassin.
