Next Assassin’s Creed in India

Signs point to Next Assassin’s Creed in India

Arbaaz Mir apparently will be the Assassin in Assassin’s Creed Brahman, an upcoming graphic novel in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The Ubisoft Graphic Novel is set in 19^th century India and has Arbaaz Mir fighting against oppression by the British. Developers have said before that Assassin’s Creed was about exploring areas that weren’t already boring or done to death. Assassin's Creed has already gone through the Middle East during medieval times, Italy in the Renassiance and now revolutionary America. Main characters have included: a Middle Eastern, Italian, and Aboriginal main character. Game Developer Alex Hutchinson has gone on the record previously with OXM pretty much outright saying settings of World War II, feudal Japan or Egypt are boring and done to death and practically guaranteeing that the next Assassin’s Creed will not be in those three setttings. At the same time, Hutchinson told OXM that Assassin’s Creed 3 writer Corey May really wanted to do India and that he (Hutchinson) would really love to do the Raj. Now given what we know about the interests of Assassin’s Creed’s creative director and writer, and the fact the graphic novel is set in India, there’s a strong possibility the next Assassin’s Creed will be set in India.

This is not Prince of Persia or Aladdin

Despite comments that an Indian Assassin’s creed would be too similar to Prince of Persia or well-ploughed territory in movies such as Aladdin, those two settings were actually set in the Middle East. Aladdin was allegedly set in the Middle East but the Disney cartoon movie imported a lot of ambiguously Indian elements – for example snake charmers on the streets. This might have been part of a trend in much of Western media to collapse the distinction between the Middle East and India, despite there being two separate worlds and peoples. Prince of Persia was not set in India, but in Persia and generally revolved around climbing mechanics rather than assassinations. Hence an Indian Assassin’s Creed would be a step in a new direction: clarifying where and what exactly India is, separating it from Middle Eastern imagery and showing us a different history and set of experiences.

Excellent: New setting, New Experiences, Unexplored Territory

Public ignorance of India as a unique setting distinct from the Middle East reveals why India would be a good direction for the series – it would explore a hithertho unexplored world. Exploring unique settings is pretty much at the core of the franchise, starting with Altair in the first Assassin’s Creed. Given Assassin’s Creed’s treatment of an Aboriginal main character, we can probably guess the next episode, if in India, will not just be a hodge podge of stereotypes or ambiguously Middle Eastern characters. One would expect confronting the East India Trading Company, the British Raj and possibly elements from neighboring China or Afghanistan. Additionally India has access to the Indian Ocean and so one could expect heavy ship and sea mechanics as well. This is also around the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and could result in the main character being embroiled in major anti-British conflicts. Given the diversity of India and tensions at that time, this could be an excellent setting.

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