Yasuke is a historical and important figure in Japan, and Assassin's Creed Shadows is giving the legendary samurai another adaptation in pop culture, this time as a playable character. 

The new Ubisoft game incorporates historical data and fiction in one. Yasuke joins Naoe, a female Japanese warrior, another lead to choose from. 

Who is Assassin's Creed Shadows Yasuke?

Ubisoft revealed that Yasuke was a real-life samurai, with its new character inspired by the historical figure who hailed from West Africa during the Edo period (also the Tokugawa period) in the 16th century.

According to the French gaming company, Yasuke's real story was open-ended, giving the team flexibility on how to write his character's story in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Like his real-life depiction, Yasuke is a renowned samurai in the game, and his massive figure made him a formidable warrior under Oda Nobunaga (also a real-life Japanese daimyo of this time). 

Here, he was also favored by the daimyo which led to his induction as a samurai in their ranks, with Shadows offering a unique perspective on the character. 

However, Ubisoft has not revealed any other intricate details, such as how Yasuke is connected to the game's lore. 

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The Real Black Samurai of Japan's History

As mentioned before, Yasuke is a real-life samurai.

According to IGN, the African native's origins and how he reached the eastern nation differ.

In various accounts and historical books, Yasuke came with an Italian Jesuit missionary, Alessandro Valignano, who hired Yasuke as a bodyguard because Japan was at the height of a civil war.

Other accounts claimed that he was trafficked and sold into slavery, which led him to the country, while Ubisoft said that he was enslaved by Portugal, which also brought him to the country. 

In 1581, on a trip to Kyoto, Yasuke met the real-life daimyo, Oda Nobunaga, who was very much fascinated by him, his figure, and his strength (with historians writing that he was as strong as ten men) that he was taught their ways and became a samurai. 

Nobunaga was later betrayed by Akechi Mitsuhide, one of his generals, which led to the daimyo committing seppuku (disembowelment). Yasuke was left to seek out Nobunaga's son, Oda Nobutada. Here, Yasuke joined Nobutada to fight against the general but was defeated.

Some believed that he was killed in battle, but others claimed that Matsuhide did not execute Yasuke and was escorted to a Jesuit mission house. 

Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed Codename Red is now officially Shadows, and its trailer premiered yesterday, showing the latest Ubisoft has to offer for the world.

The game is expected to arrive later this year, on November 15, and deliver the 16th-century Japanese story, a first for the franchise. 

Naoe and Yasuke will be the two characters to choose from, each offering a unique perspective in the game, also another first for Assassin's Creed, apart from the descendants and ancestors premise of the title.

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