Assassin’s Creed Ragnarokis rumored to be the next entry in the franchise, likely to be revealed sometime in the middle of this year and released this fall. Of course, because it is still a rumor, it should be taken with a grain of salt, as some have claimed thatAssassin’s Creed Ragnarokisn’t even the official title. Between the sheer amount of rumors and the high-profile corroborations that it will indeed be set in the Viking Era, though, it means that there could be elements of truth in there somewhere.
For example, rumors have indicated that theAssassin’s Creed Ragnarokprotagonist will be named Jora, regardless of whether players choose a male or female version of the character. This insinuates that, unlike Alexios or Kassandra, there’s no difference, and they won’t both appear in the game to some capacity. Notably, this would be the first time that fans of the franchise would actually be able to choose the gender of their character (and it still be that character), so it would seem that the franchise is making sure to add some variety with this latest game in terms of character. That said, Jora—regardless of gender or if that is indeed their true name—has some big shoes to fill.
RELATED:Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok Has Big Advantage Over Origins, Odyssey
The Original Assassins: Altair and Ezio
In truth, it’s practically impossible to compare any of the recent Assassins to the original pair: Altair and Ezio. The latter would go on to become the face of the franchise, being the only character to span his own trilogy, and the former’s lore is so heavy on his influence of the Brotherhood that living up to these Assassins is nigh-impossible for anyone. On top of that, the franchise’s lore would suggest thatAssassin’s Creed Ragnarok’s treatment of Assassinswould be completely different, as they would be Hidden Ones near the end of Bayek’s founding, well before the establishment and reinvention of the Brotherhood just before and after Altair’s time.
Assassin’s Creed Origins' Bayek
Who Jora can genuinely be compared to are the protagonists of games they will be directly connected with:Assassin’s Creed OriginsandOdyssey. These two games not only brought the series out of its franchise fatigue, introduced RPG mechanics, and revived the modern day storyline, they introduced protagonists that are simply lovable. Bayek, for example, is so much more than just the Father of the Hidden Ones and the Creed.
Bayek’s journeyis one of revenge against the Order of Ancients, as he and his wife Aya reel from the loss of their son. Bayek’s pain is transformed by the Creed he follows and later establishes, relentlessly pursuing the Order of the Ancients, even so far as pledging himself to Cleopatra (who would later turn to the Order of Ancients). As he realizes how big the Order actually is, he forms the Hidden Ones in resistance, with his wife Aya spreading theAssassin’s Creedorganization to Rome later on.
The founding of the Hidden Ones, through the eyes of Bayek, is all too human. He and his wife split up as a direct result of their son’s death, finding themselves losing everything to the Order and swearing vengeance upon it. This vengeance, however, transforms into the pursuit of justice—a strong story to set forth the time-crawling organization.
RELATED:Predicting Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok’s Reveal
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Alexios or Kassandra
Alexios and Kassandra are, in so many ways, equal to Bayek. Their story may have less to do with the Assassin-Templar conflict, but it hits really well on another element on the franchise: the Isu. The way that the world reacts to player involvement and themultipleAssassin’s Creed Odysseymain endingsgo so far to shape this relationship between the Tainted Ones, Alexios, and Kassandra.
After all, this is a story of two powerful Tainted Ones drawn to opposite sides of a conflict that eventually escalates inOriginsto theAssassin-Templar conflict. How the players choose to deal with their adopted father, their reactions to their mother, the reactions to the truth of their parentage, and their reaction to their sibling all go so far to humanize and shape this great conflict around family, not so differently than Bayek’s own even.
Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok Jora
Jora, in following up the painful loss and vengeance-turned-justice story of Jora and the family conflict of Alexios and Kassandra, has some big shoes to fill. If there’s one thing that the two share in common that could perhaps be expected in Assassin’s Creed Ragnarok, it’s the theme of family. It’ll be interesting to see how Jora presumably falls in line with this or even doesn’t; what’s made clear though that Bayek, Alexios, and Kassandra set forth a strong precedent of protagonists in the most recentAssassin’s Creedgames.
After all, the franchise has had its fair share of fantastic and less-than-ideal Assassins during its run.Jacob Frye, Connor Kenway, and Arno Dorian, for one reason or another, often find themselves at the bottom of any list ranking the various Assassins, and it could potentially do a lot of harm to the franchise’s forward momentum if Jora were to find themself cast there. If there is a choice between male and female protagonist, this is hopefully more of an aesthetic choice. It could, in a similar vein, do more harm than good if one gender was generally better than the other, or if story and character development was stunted due to giving player’s this choice.
All things considered, Ubisoft deserves credit for what it has done with the past couple of protagonists, and if it is going to keep the franchise as strong as possible in this new golden era for it, Jora needs to hit these benchmarks at the very least. If Jora could even exceed them inAssassin’s Creed Ragnarok, that certainly would be something, but Ezio is a protagonist that can’t really be beat. In other words, that would be an uphill battle, but if Jora can just find their place among Bayek, Alexios, and Kassandra, it would push the new game to even further heights.
