Varangian

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A Varangian

The Varangians (Old Norse: Væringjar, Greek: Varangoi) were a class of moderately-armored soldiers employed by the Templars during their attempt to revive the Byzantine Empire in the Ottoman Empire in 1511 and 1512.

History

Even after the Fall of Constantinople and the subsequent dissolution of the Byzantine Empire, Varangians continued to serve remnants of the empire, who operated under the Byzantine Templars.

Characteristics and skills

Varangians were Byzantine soldiers who were more armored than the typical soldier, wearing lamellar armor that is standard issue for many soldiers in the Byzantine army, making them more resilient in a battle, albeit less so than their Almogavar compatriots. Being more wary compared to other soldiers, they would briefly stop patrols they lead to probe hiding spots for any adversaries that may be lurking in them.

In terms of weaponry, Varangians would fight with a halberd as their primary weapon, giving them an edge over their opponents in terms of effective melee range. Varangians also carried pistols on their person, which they would resort to using in the event that they lose access to a melee weapon or if their opponent fled to a location they cannot reach. Varangians would also carry smoke screen or smoke decoy bombs with them, though they never employ them in a fight; however, individuals may loot or steal the bombs for themselves if they carried no other tactical or diversionary-type bombs.

Varangians can perform a technique where they gather sand from the ground and throw them at opponents, briefly stunning them and leaving them open to attack from their allies.

Due to his old age in spite of his decades of experience against the more youthful Varangians, Ezio struggled to lethally counter them with weapons. However, by using the Hookblade provided to him by the Ottoman Assassins, he can use it to non-lethally subdue Varangians by intercepting their attacks and latching the Hookblade onto their armor and throwing them to the ground.

Behind the scenes

General

Varangians are an enemy archetype featured in the 2011 video game Assassin's Creed: Revelations. They serve as an equivalent to Seekers from Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, whom are also moderately armored spear wielders. They are only encountered within Byzantine-affiliated guard patrols, with the Ottoman army lacking an equivalent "Seeker-like" archetype within their ranks.

Varangians that are found accompanying other Byzantine soldiers harassing recruitable civilians do not carry pistols.

Unlike other firearm-wielding enemies, namely Janissaries and Arquebusiers, Varangians do not shout insults to Ezio whenever they fired at him.

In Den Defense, the character model of Varangians are used for the enemy units called "Militia".

Historically, the Varangians hailed from Scandinavia, parts of Kievan Rus', and England, and consisted primarily of Norse and Anglo-Saxon recruits. From the 9th to 14th century, they served as the personal guard of the Byzantine Emperor, functioning similarly to the personal guard of the Ottoman Sultan, the Janissaries.

In the artbook of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, concept art of the Varangians showed that they were supposed to wield one-handed swords.

In-game appearance inaccuracies

Historically, the equipment of Varangians would likely have been along the lines of their Scandinavian heritage - large round shields, axes, swords and the famous Daneaxe, with axes being the weapon they were most well known for wielding; despite this, the in-game appearances of Varangians in Revelations does not portray them with any of the aforementioned traits of the real life Varangians. Ironically, the in-game Almogavars more closely resemble the historical Varangians than the in-game Varangians do.

Varangians wear szyszak style helmets, however, this is historically inappropriate as this type of helmet was used by the Polish winged hussars in the 17th century.

Etymology

The name of the Varangians comes from Old Norse compound væringi, from vár "pledge" and gengi "companion", i.e. "a sworn person" or "a foreigner who has taken service with a new lord by a treaty of fealty to him, or protégé."

Gallery

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  Concept art of a Varangian
• 
  Developmental artwork of a Varangian guard character model

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: The Golden City