Within the series' alternate historical setting, Haytham was born in 1725 as the son of Edward Kenway, one of the leading members of the British Brotherhood of Assassins and the protagonist of the prequel game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013). Following his father's murder in 1735, he is manipulated into joining the Templar Order, the Assassins' arch-enemies, and eventually becomes one of the Order's leading members as the Grand Master of the North American colonial rite. Under Haytham's leadership, the Templars exterminate most of the Colonial Assassins, becoming the dominant force on the continent, and later attempt to build a new nation under their rule by influencing the American Revolution. During this time, Haytham sires a son, Ratonhnaké:ton / Connor, with a Native American woman, who in turn joins the Assassins and undoes most of his father's work. Though Haytham and Connor briefly become allies and consider unifying their orders, they both ultimately realise that peace between the Assassins and Templars is impossible, and their conflict culminates with Haytham's death at Connor's hands in 1781.
Prior to Assassin's Creed III's release, Haytham was not advertised as a playable character in order to surprise players. The twist that players were actually controlling a Templar during the first third of the game was praised for its cleverness and for being the first time in the series that players got to experience the Templars' point of view in the storyline, although some criticized the inclusion of Haytham's sequences for hurting the game's pacing. Unlike his son Connor, who had a divisive reception, Haytham was well-received for his charm and complexity, and is considered one of the best villains in the franchise.
Creation and conception
Haytham's inclusion as a playable character was kept secret from the press and was only known to the development team, with all advertisement solely focusing on Connor. Looking back on the game in 2019, Alex Hutchinson, the Creative Director of Assassin's Creed III, named the decision to make Haytham the surprise protagonist of the first third of the game as an effective idea to draw players into the narrative. It also offers a fresh perspective on the conflict between Assassins and Templars, as Haytham is the first playable Templar in the series. However, he noted that his character arc was far too long because there was no time for extensive product testing, which led to some backlash from players.[1] According to series writer Susan Patrick, in Assassin's Creed Rogue, the emphasis of his role was placed on him being a role model for Assassin-turned-Templar Shay Patrick Cormac, because they both had similar backgrounds,[2] while one of the main objectives of the game was to show the missing chapters in Haytham's life.[3] Adrian Hough, the actor who performed Haytham's voice and motion capture, noted that the writing was very good for the character, and acknowledged that the development team gave him artistic freedom to make the character his own, ultimately considering him a product of his performance as well as writing and animation.[4]
Darby McDevitt, the narrative director of the 2020 series installment Assassin's Creed Valhalla, found an opportunity to include a reference to Haytham in the game. Recalling that some fans had given feedback that Haytham sounded like an Arabic name, McDevitt suggested "Haytham or Hytham" for the name of a supporting character who brings the Hidden Ones back to England during the events of Valhalla, which serves as an in-universe basis for Edward Kenway's likely decision to name his son.[5]
Fictional character biography
This section may be too long and excessively detailed. Please consider summarizing the material.(August 2023)
Born in 1725 in London to former pirate-turned-Assassin Edward Kenway and his second wife Tessa, Haytham belonged to the British nobility and was raised secluded from other children, being trained to be an Assassin from an early age. However, this changed in 1735, when Edward was killed by mercenaries who broke into their home to steal a journal containing Edward's research of the First Civilization. During the attack, Haytham was forced to kill for the first time to save his mother, but was unable to rescue his half-sister Jennifer, who was kidnapped by the mercenaries.[6] Edward's acquaintance Reginald Birch, secretly a Templar and the one responsible for the attack, was appointed Haytham's legal guardian and took him on an unsuccessful quest throughout Europe to find Jennifer, during which Haytham was trained in the ways of the Templars, eventually joining the Order in 1744.[7]
In 1754, after retrieving the key to the Grand Temple, a First Civilization site, from the Assassins, Haytham was sent by Birch to the Thirteen Colonies to find and access the Temple, as well as establish a permanent presence for the Order in North America as the new Grand Master of the Colonial Rite.[8] Recruiting Charles Lee, William Johnson, Thomas Hickey, Benjamin Church, and John Pitcairn, Haytham was successful in establishing a new base for the Templars after killing his former associate Edward Braddock. However, his mission to locate the Grand Temple proved unsuccessful.[9] During this time, he had a brief relationship with a Native American woman, Kaniehtí꞉io, but was eventually forced to leave her to focus on his Templar affairs.[10]
Haytham returned to Europe in 1757 to resume his search for Jennifer, which eventually led him to the Ottoman Empire, where he recovered her from slavers.[11] After she informed him that Birch was behind their family's demise, the siblings led an attack on his estate, during which Birch was killed and Haytham was gravely injured.[12] While recovering, Haytham considered leaving the Templars due to Birch's actions, but ultimately concluded that the Order's goals were righteous, even if its methods were flawed.[13]
In 1758, Haytham returned to the colonies to extend the Templars' influence, and inducted former Assassin Shay Patrick Cormac into the Order.[14] After being informed by Shay about several First Civilization sites that could lead to devastating earthquakes, he worked with him to prevent the Assassins from accessing them, wiping out most of the Colonial Assassin Brotherhood in the process. In 1760, a final confrontation in the Arctic saw the last of the Colonial Assassins eliminated, although Shay convinced Haytham to spare their leader, Achilles Davenport.[15]
After making the Templars the dominant force in North America, Haytham's main goal over the next two decades was to remove British colonial rule and establish a new state where Templar ideals would become law. However, his attempts to influence the American Revolution to this end were thwarted by Connor, his son with Kaniehtí꞉io, who had been trained as an Assassin by Achilles to take vengeance on the Templars, whom Connor blamed for his mother's death.[10] Haytham was shocked to learn about Kaniehtí꞉io's death and the existence of his son, which had been hidden from him by his fellow Templars, and became torn between his loyalty to the Order and his newfound sense of paternal responsibility. When Connor was later framed by the Templars for a plot to assassinate George Washington, Haytham, not wanting to have his son's death on his conscience, secretly saved him from his execution.[16]
In 1778, Haytham and Connor formally met and formed an uneasy alliance to eliminate former Templar Benjamin Church and further the Revolution.[17] Realizing his son could become an important asset if converted to his cause, Haytham took this opportunity to try and convince him about the Templars' goals and motives. However, their alliance fell through after Connor discovered that Washington was responsible for Kaniehtí꞉io's death—a fact Haytham had deliberately kept hidden from him—and angrily cut ties with his father.[18] Eventually admitting that he would not be able to reconcile with his son and realizing the threat he posed, Haytham decided to personally deal with him. In 1781, correctly predicting that Connor would target Charles Lee, who was residing in Fort George, Haytham sent the latter away and stayed behind to confront his son, who ultimately killed him after a lengthy battle.[19] Sometime after Haytham's death, Connor recovered his journal, in which the former revealed that he did not expect to survive his final confrontation with Connor and that he wanted his son to have his journal, so that he would better understand his point of view and maybe forgive him, implying that Haytham let Connor kill him.[20]
Other appearances
Aside from Assassin's Creed III and Rogue, Haytham has made cameo appearances in several other games in the series. In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, which stars his father Edward, he appears as a young child in a post-credits scene,[21] while the fictional video games subsidiary of Abstergo Industries considers him suited as a video game protagonist advocating the Templars' ideals, due to him being regarded as one of the greatest Templars in history.[22] This idea has materialized in Assassin's Creed Unity, where the fictional video game The Lone Eagle, starring him, can be seen at the start.[23] Alongside multiple other Templar characters from the series, Haytham appears in the 2014 online role-playingcollectible card gameAssassin's Creed Memories.[24]
Reception
Haytham was well-received as a character and often contrasted with the divisiveness of his son, Connor. In a contemporary review of Assassin's Creed III for PC Gamer, Chris Thursten called Haytham a good villain but also observed that "the writers seem to like [Haytham] more than they do their ostensible lead [Connor]."[25] However, a lot of contemporary reviewers refused to give a detailed account on Haytham, in order to not spoil the plot twist that he, a Templar, is the game's first protagonist.[26][27][28] Alex Hutchinson, Creative Director of Assassin's Creed noted that the character faced some backlash as a surprise protagonist due to his arc being too long, but pointed out that he remains a fan favorite, making his way into other installments and selling a lot of action figures,[1] whereas GamesRadar+ lauded this move as "bold" in a list of gaming's most satisfying character switches.[29]
IGN described Haytham among the best new video game characters of 2012, claiming that "no man is as cunning, conniving, and sassy as Haytham Kenway".[30] In 2020, IGN Brasil ranked Haytham as the second best villain in the franchise.[31] In a ranking of all Assassin's Creed characters by PC Gamer, Haytham was ranked much higher than Connor (who finished last) and also eclipsed his father Edward, with the reviewer comparing him favorably to James Bond, noting that "his ruthlessness make him a joy to play as", in contrast to Connor.[32] Frank Martin of DualShockers described Haythem as one of the best villain in Assassin's Creed and said that its "a very peculiar character given how likable he is. "His story is such a unique one that it should definitely be explored more in the Assassin's Creed universe."[33] He was also described as one of the greatest protagonist in the franchises by German outlet GamePro, who noted that his moral ambiguity and complexity made players reflect on the nature of the Templar Order for the first time in the series' history.[34] Likewise, GameRevolution featured Haytham in a list of "video game villains who were actually right", especially in regards to his vision of an ideal state.[35]
Adrian Hough, the voice actor who portrayed Haytham, was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award in the "Performer" category at the 9th British Academy Games Awards ceremony for his portrayal.[36] In an interview, the actor noted the positive fan response his character had received, especially in regards to cosplay.[4]
While discussing which characters should be included in a future Netflix series based on the video games, Matthew Aguilar of Comicbook.com opted for Haytham, noting his charm and backstory, calling him one of the most interesting villains in the series.[37]
Analysis
Writing for Heavy, Paul Meekin observed that the Templar Order seeks control of governments, finances, and the day-to-day lives of individuals they view as "too dangerous to themselves to be trusted" because they believe that this is the best solution for humanity's supposedly self-destructive nature; he highlighted a quote by Haytham from Assassin's Creed III where the character posits that it is within humanity's nature to be told what to believe and how to believe it.[38] Nick Dinicola from PopMatters noted that while the Templars can produce good leaders, in truth their true goal is to consolidate power for personal gain: Haytham himself is "sympathetic to the plights of those beneath him, but he’s among terrible company: two tyrants and a slave trader". With regards to his position and legacy within his Order, Dinicola drew attention to in-game Templar propaganda presented in Rogue which contends that Haytham was “slain by the ungrateful [Assassin] son who could not appreciate the wisdom of his pragmatic, race-blind approach to politics and personal life” as an example of how the Templars use their position of power to rewrite history and promote themselves in a more favorable light.[39]
Related Research Articles
Ubisoft Anvil is a game engine created by Ubisoft Montreal and used in the Assassin's Creed video game series as well as other Ubisoft games. The engine is used on Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia. Ubisoft Anvil is one of the primary game engines used by Ubisoft along with Disrupt, Dunia, and Snowdrop.
Desmond Miles is a fictional character from Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game franchise. Introduced as the protagonist of the modern-day sections of the first Assassin's Creed game, he maintained this role for the next four installments, with his journey and development making up the frame story that unites the first five Assassin's Creed titles. Desmond has also been referenced or featured in a smaller capacity in subsequent games in the series, as well as various spin-off media. He is voiced by actor Nolan North, and modeled after Canadian fashion model Francisco Randez. According to several video game journalists and authors, Desmond's character is meant to represent a form of transcendence symbolically from the necessity of the human body.
Assassin's Creed II is a 2009 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montréal and published by Ubisoft. It is the second major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the sequel to 2007's Assassin's Creed. The game was first released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2009, and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in March 2010 and OS X in October 2010. Remastered versions of the game and its two sequels, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, were released as part of The Ezio Collection compilation for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch on February 17, 2022.
Assassin's Creed is a historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice Désilets, Jade Raymond, and Corey May, the Assassin's Creed video game series depicts a fictional millennia-old struggle between the Order of Assassins, who fight for peace and free will, and the Knights Templar, who desire peace through order and control. The series features historical fiction, science fiction, and fictional characters intertwined with real-world historical events and historical figures. In most games, players control a historical Assassin while also playing as an Assassin Initiate or someone caught in the Assassin–Templar conflict in the present-day framing story. Considered a spiritual successor to the Prince of Persia series, Assassin's Creed took inspiration from the novel Alamut by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol, based on the historical Hashashin sect of the medieval Middle East.
Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a character in the video game series Assassin's Creed, an Italian Master Assassin who serves as the protagonist of the series' games set during the Italian Renaissance. His life and career as an Assassin are chronicled in Assassin's Creed II, II: Discovery, Brotherhood (2010), and Revelations (2011), as well as the short films Assassin's Creed: Lineage (2009), Ascendance (2010), and Embers (2011) and various spin-off media of the franchise. In 2016, all three major games featuring Ezio, as well as Lineage and Embers, were re-released as an enhanced bundle titled Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection. Throughout most of his appearances, the character has been voiced by American actor Roger Craig Smith, while Canadian actor Devon Bostick portrayed him in live-action in Lineage.
Assassin's Creed III is a 2012 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the fifth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and a direct sequel to 2011's Assassin's Creed: Revelations. The game was released worldwide for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, beginning in North America on October 30, 2012, with a Wii U and Microsoft Windows release in November 2012. A remastered version of the game was released in 2019 for Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, and in 2021 for Google Stadia.
Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad is a fictional character in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game series. He first appears as the main playable character in the original Assassin's Creed game, which takes place during the Third Crusade. His later appearances include the spin-offs Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles and Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, which also feature him as the protagonist, and the sequels Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, in which he is playable only during certain sequences. Philip Shahbaz voiced Altaïr in the original game, while Owen Thomas took over the role in Bloodlines and Cas Anvar voiced him in Revelations.
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is a 2012 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Sofia and published by Ubisoft Entertainment. Part of the Assassin's Creed series, it is a spin-off to Assassin's Creed III, and was originally released for the PlayStation Vita on October 30, 2012, in North America, with a worldwide launch the following day.
The Assassin's Creed series is a collection of novels by various authors, set within the fictional universe of the Assassin's Creed video game franchise created by Ubisoft. The books are set across various time periods and, like the games, revolve around the secret war fought for centuries between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order. The series includes both direct novelizations of several Assassin's Creed games, and books that function as standalone narratives, although some of these tie-in with one or more of the games in the franchise. British publishing house Penguin Books was responsible for the publication of most of the novels in the series, as well as their respective audiobook versions, until 2020, when Aconyte Books took over as the main publisher of the series.
Ratonhnhaké:ton, commonly known by his adopted name Connor, is a fictional character in the video game series Assassin's Creed. A half-British, half-Mohawk Master Assassin who serves as a central character in the games set around the American Revolution, he first appears as the main protagonist of Assassin's Creed III (2012), in which he is portrayed by Native American actor Noah Watts through performance capture, and voiced by Jamie Mayers as a young child. He also makes a minor appearance in the tie-in game Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, and is the narrator of the novel Assassin's Creed: Forsaken (2012). The character has made further appearances in various spin-off media of the franchise.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a 2013 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the sixth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series. Its historical timeframe precedes that of Assassin's Creed III (2012), but its modern-day sequences succeed III's own. Black Flag was originally released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in October 2013 and a month later for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. It was later ported to the Nintendo Switch as part of The Rebel Collection alongside Assassin's Creed Rogue in December 2019. The game was released for Google Stadia in September 2021.
Aveline de Grandpré is a fictional character in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game franchise. She first appears as the protagonist of Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, a spin-off installment originally released for the PlayStation Vita in October 2012. She has also featured in a titular expansion pack for the 2013 title Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, as well as other spin-off media of the franchise. In both of her video game appearances, she is portrayed by actress Amber Goldfarb through performance capture.
Edward James Kenway is a fictional character in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game franchise. He was introduced as a supporting character in Assassin's Creed: Forsaken, a companion novel to the 2012 video game Assassin's Creed III. He subsequently appeared as the protagonist of the 2013 video game, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and its novelization, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. In the former, he is portrayed by Welsh actor Matt Ryan through performance capture. Since Black Flag's release, the character has made further appearances in several other works within the franchise.
Assassin's Creed Unity is an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released in November 2014 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and in December 2020 for Stadia. It is the eighth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the successor to 2013's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. It also has ties to Assassin's Creed Rogue, which was released for the previous generation consoles on the same day as Unity.
Assassin's Creed Rogue is a 2014 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Sofia and published by Ubisoft. It is the seventh major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and is set between 2013's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and 2012's Assassin's Creed III. It also has ties to Assassin's Creed Unity, which was released on the same day as Rogue. It is the last Assassin's Creed game to be developed for the seventh generation of consoles, being released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2014, and for Windows in March 2015. A remastered version of the game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in March 2018. It was also released on the Nintendo Switch as part of The Rebel Collection alongside Black Flag in December 2019, and for Google Stadia in October 2021.
Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry is an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. Set in the French colony of Saint-Domingue between 1735 and 1737, Freedom Cry follows Adéwalé, a prominent supporting character from the 2013 title Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. While attempting to disrupt Templar activities in the Caribbean Sea on behalf of their rival organization, the Brotherhood of Assassins, Adéwalé finds himself shipwrecked in Saint-Domingue, where he comes face-to-face with some of the most brutal slavery practices in the West Indies.
Assassin's Creed III: The Tyranny of King Washington is a downloadable content (DLC) expansion pack developed and published by Ubisoft for the 2012 action-adventure video game Assassin's Creed III. Set after the events of the base game, it follows its main playable character, Ratonhnhaké:ton / Connor, as he awakens in what appears to be an alternate reality where the game's events involving him have never happened. He is tasked to find and defeat a fictionalized version of George Washington, who is empowered but mentally corrupted by an otherworldly artifact. After crowning himself King of the newly-founded United States of America, Washington began to enslave the population of the American frontier and massacre those who resist his tyranny. Connor gains new mystical abilities over the course of the pack's narrative as he attempts to stop Washington and return to his original timeline.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
