Basim ibn Ishaq

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"But a man you trust with anything... can take everything."

―Basim recalling Odin's betrayal to Eivor Varinsdottir, c. 874 CE.

Basim Ibn Ishaq (born c. 844), also stylized Basim ibn Is'haq, is a human reincarnation of the Isu Loki who used Yggdrasil to permit his consciousness to survive the Great Catastrophe millennia ago.

Born in the Abbasid Caliphate during the 9th century, Basim was originally a street thief until being recruited to the Hidden Ones by the Master Roshan, who then became his mentor. Basim quickly rose through their ranks thanks to his skills and attained the position of Master Assassin himself through his efforts to destabilize the Order of the Ancients presence in Baghdad.

During this time, Basim also became aware of his true nature and realized that Loki's past trauma was the source of an increasingly vivid series of nightmares which plagued him as well as learning that his childhood friend Nehal was a mental projection of the Isu's personality. Although Basim found a way to accept who he was versus the man he had become, his inabilities to cut all ties with the First Civilization damaged his relationship with Roshan whose lessons dictated that a Hidden One should forget their life prior to joining the Brotherhood.

Going on to operate primarily in foreign nations on the Hidden Ones' behalf, Basim became the leader of the bureau of Constantinople. At some point, he took the fellow Hidden One Hytham as his apprentice, who would thereafter accompany him on his travels.

After suffering a tragedy, Basim remembered that his/Loki's lover Aletheia had her consciousness trapped in the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus and that the Isu Odin had both imprisoned their son Fenrir and banished his siblings Jörmungandr and Hel. Basim searched for a way to reunite his family while taking revenge on Odin, who had also used Yggdrasil to survive and be reborn.

In 870, Basim met and befriended the Viking Sigurd Styrbjornsson, the reincarnation of the Isu Týr, in Constantinople. Seeing a way to reach his plan, Basim accompanied the Viking to Norway while also tracking the Order of the Ancients in the region for the Hidden Ones. In Fornburg, Basim became acquainted with Sigurd's foster-sister Eivor Varinsdottir, the reincarnation of Odin, whom he eventually informed of the conflict between the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients.

When Sigurd and Eivor established the colony of Ravensthorpe in England, Basim and Hytham installed a bureau there to start a new chapter for the Hidden Ones. While his apprentice helped Eivor hunt the Order in England, Basim searched for the Saga Stone with Sigurd to awaken the consciousness of the latter's previous incarnation. After Sigurd was captured by the Ancient Fulke, who also sought to awaken Týr's memories inside him, Basim worked with Eivor and her allies to track down and kill Fulke, rescuing Sigurd.

In 877, Basim followed Eivor and Sigurd back to Norway, where he confronted them in Yggdrasil's chamber to take his revenge on Eivor for her previous incarnation's transgressions. However, the siblings defeated him and trapped him in Yggdrasil's simulations, where he would remain in suspended animation for the next several centuries, running countless calculations and plotting to escape in the future.

In 2020, Basim managed to contact the Assassin Layla Hassan, who was the wielder of the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, and guided her to Yggdrasil. After tricking Layla into freeing him, he used the power of the Staff to rejuvenate his body and was reunited with Aletheia. Upon meeting and offering his help to the Assassins, Basim used their Animus to explore Eivor's genetic memories, hoping to find proof of his children having survived the Great Catastrophe.

Biography

Early life

Basim was born in Samarra within the Abbasid Caliphate, as the son of the architect Ishaq who was responsible for constructing the Great Mosque of Samarra. His father was exiled and died in poverty after someone else took credit for his work, while his mother died when he was still young. Growing up an orphan in the streets of Baghdad, Basim was a frequent visitor of the city's House of Wisdom. During one such visit, he met the renowned astronomer Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, whom he described as kind and openhearted, and left him a lasting impression.

Basim was also the inheritor of the memories of Loki, an Isu who used Yggdrasil to seed his genetic code into humanity's gene pool to circumvent the Great Catastrophe that destroyed the First Civilization. His goal was to be reunited with his lover Aletheia, whose consciousness was preserved within the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus.

By 861, Basim made a living as a street thief in Anbar and struggled with nightmarish visions of a djinn. During a failed theft, Basim was rescued from guards by the Master Assassin Roshan, who recruited him into the Hidden Ones and acted as a mentor to him.

After completing his assassin training at Alamut, the Hidden Ones tasked Basim with eliminating the Order of the Ancients in the Baghdad region. While eliminating four of the highest ranking members, his manic episodes grew more intense after each assassination, though he ultimately reached the rank of Master Assassin while on the pursuit of the Order's leader Qabiha. When he encountered her, she told him she knew who he truly was, leading to Basim to agree to follow her. However right as he began to listen, Qabiha was abruptly assassinated by Roshan, who herself had been trying to keep Basim from learning of his origins.

Basim returned to Alamut with word that the temple was no longer under Muhammad's protection and was now overrun by guards. Ignoring Rayhan's advice and engaging in a duel with Roshan, Basim entered the temple and had an "intense but brief" struggle with his inner self, who in reality had taken on the form of his "childhood best friend" Nehal. Thanks to her help, Basim became fully aware of and reached a "mutual understanding" with his past life as Loki. This led to Basim to becoming fixated on finding other Æsir who had used Yggdrasil, resulting in him being described by his allies as a person of danger and intrigue.

Activities in Constantinople

In 867, Basim and his apprentice, the Hidden One acolyte Hytham, traveled to the Byzantine Empire capital of Constantinople to foil an assassination plot by the newly installed emperor Basil I, against his son Leo. Touring the city with Hytham, they ventured through the markets as Basim revealed that he made himself known to the Order of the Ancients in the city. Soon, they found Norse warriors led by a female warrior in the market but noticed other warriors waited for them. Engaging the other warriors, the Hidden Ones fought against them until the female Norse warrior killed the rest. When she introduced herself as Thyra of the Eagle Clan and leader of the Varangian guards, Basim was asked for help and a private location. Together, they made their way to Hidden Ones' ally Demetrios Hestiun's house.

At Hestiun's house, Basim discussed his intent with Thyra before meeting with Empress Eudocia Ingerina, who came in secret. Together, Basim and Hytham were informed by the Empress of the Emperor trying to kill his son. In their conversation, the Hidden Ones were asked to protect Leo. Basim agreed with Hytham becoming an undercover Varangian guard on the condition for an alliance between the Hidden Ones and the Eagle Clan. Both women agreed before leaving. Basim and Hytham discussed their plans while Basim remained hushed on his ulterior motives with allying with the Eagle Clan.

On Hytham's first day, Basim kept to the shadows on the palace's grounds while keeping an eye on Hytham. At the children's wing, Basim advised Hytham to make contact with one of the suspects, who was Leo's nurse Anna. After Leo survived the attempt with the vipers, Basim encouraged Hytham to use his hero status to gauge information from Basil. After Hytham's conversation with the emperor, Basim met with his acolyte and a sadden Leo, whom he gave a healing salve for his injury. After talking about Emperor Basil with Hytham, he showed a magic trick to Leo and vanished quickly from his presence.

Two weeks laters, Basim and Hytham tailed Anna to a fortune teller Ursina and eavesdropped on the conversation. They learned that Anna bribed Ursina to give a jeweled comb to her contact Isaac. After hiding again, they also discovered a relationship between Anna and Leo's tutor Theodore, who later came to the fortune teller. In a few days, back at the palace, they went back to the original duties. Basim later found Thyra and talked to her about Hytham's relationship to Leo as well as Anna and Theodore.

However, Hytham came and asked for help. While being shown the dead body of Varangian guard Steros, they all surmised that Basil secretly sent an order out to kill Hytham. To hide the murder, while Thyra cleaned the blood, Basim and Hytham dumped the body into the sea. Basim and Hytham talked about possible suspects being between Justin and Theodore as well as their new objectives to hunt and kill Isaac. Basim took a new position to guard Hytham for the night.

The next morning, both Basim and his acolyte trailed Justin, who left the palace to meet with an unknown man. They both noticed the conversation went sour when Justin killed the man and two more attackers showed up. Fortunately, the Hidden Ones killed the attackers, revealed themselves, and questioned Justin. When Justin told them of the Order's threats against his loved one, they believed Justin aided the Order due to apparently showing no care for Leo. However, when Justin responded that his animosity was a front to protect Leo from his abusive father, Basim realized they left the palace unprotected. Telling Justin to check on his friend, the Hidden Ones instantly left for the palace.

At nightfall, Basim and Hytham entered the palace's children wing, where they heard silence. Basim left Hytham to find Leo while he checked for any attackers. He soon found Thyra being attacked and assisted her. Taking down multiple Order assailants, he soon caught sight of Hytham and nodded him to go while struggling against his current attacker. Taking down all of their opponents, Basim made his way outside to the garden where he found Hytham worn out. Before an attacker could kill Hytham, he assassinated him and scared off the remaining attackers. When Hytham wanted to track, Basim stopped him and implored not to take it personal. Hytham retorted that he knows of Basim's own goals but Basim stated he knew Hytham was tasked to spy on him from Mentor Rayhan and how Hytham was less experienced than another potential Hidden One. Before Hytham could respond, he disappeared.

However, Basim learned that Hytham began to track the Order assailants alone and disappeared himself. Taking Thyra and Leo with him, they investigated his acolyte's trail and found an Order hideout in an abandoned building. Attacking the Order members, Basim left Thyra to fight the attackers while he went to the basement and found an injured Hytham. Together, they went to fight with Thyra and killed the Order members, but Isaac escaped. While Hytham left the building with Leo, Basim and Thyra cleaned up and investigated the premises. Afterwards, they began to leave for the palace. However, they went to another building where Hytham informed them of Theodore's involvement with the attack and find his parchment. Basim scouted the area to avoid any attackers while they all walked back to the palace.

Days later, Basim found himself at Philopation, where the emperor and his family were having a public picnic. He called for Hytham while being approached by a wolf, which were rare in the park. Basim explained that he needed to cool off but showcased anger towards Hytham for disobeying his orders. Immediately sparring, Basim overpowered Hytham and continued to reprimand Hytham but stated that he saved him for both the Hidden Ones and himself. Wanting to leave, Basim stated they must leave the city. However, when Hytham disagreed, Basim planned to root out Isaac by having Leo set as bait. Reluctant, Hytham agreed while Basim was promised his word.

Planning their ambush during Basil's Hippodrome event, Basim was soon caught off-guard by two Order members and managed to kill one. However, he was struck by a dagger and fled to medically aid himself. Leaving a trail of blood, Basim headed atop a tower near the Hippodrome to rest. He was soon found and aided by Hytham and then made their way back to the race, right at Basil's turn. Spreading out, Basim realized he needed the Order to strike and reveal themselves so he threw a spike at Basil's chariot, causing Basil to have an accident.

Instantly, the Order attacked and kidnapped Leo from the emperor's box. Basim tried to grab the woman captor but she used Leo as a shield. Managing to find another opening, Basim took a different route to stop the fleeing Order member while Hytham, Thyra, and Justin follow onward. Basim and his allies chased them out of the Hippodrome and into an alley nearby. There, they all saw a dead end while Isaac entered from the streets to aid his warriors.

Fighting, Basim and Hytham faced off against Isaac while Justin and Thyra fought off the other assailants. When Leo managed to break free, Thyra garnered the opportunity and killed both her attacker and the captor. Basim grabbed Leo while Hytham faced off against Isaac and told the boy to run to the streets. With the upper hand, Hytham pushed Isaac back from him while Basim came in with his blade and killed him. Although chased by the last Order player, Leo was saved by Justin, who killed the last man publically.

With Justin and Leo hailed as heroes, a meeting was held at Hestiun's house between Eudocia and Hytham. After Eudocia thanked them and let Leo say goodbye to Hytham, Basim waited for his acolyte to come. After they conferred about the alliance between the Order and Basil had disintergrated, they left the city to seek out more alliances with the Viking clans. With their trust renewed, both Hidden Ones left the city.

Dealing with the Snake-Eaters

By 870, Basim and Hytham were stationed back in Constantinople, where the former served as bureau leader. During his tenure, Basim traveled to Antioch with Hytham to fight the Snake-Eaters, a new faction of the Order of the Ancients taking control of the city. However, the Antioch Bureau was decimated by this conflict and Basim sent letters to his brothers asking for reinforcements.

His old friend Mahaut from Francia sent two of her acolytes, Matthias and Oisel, while the Alexandrian bureau sent four Hidden Ones led by Jessamyn. Eventually, Basim and the Hidden Ones successfully drove the Snake-Eaters away from Antioch. As he had matters to attend back in Constantinople, Basim left with his apprentice and sent the six other Hidden Ones after the Snake-Eaters' leadership on the Silk Road.

Journey to Norway

Basim learning of Ammon's failure

Also in 870, Basim dispatched the Hidden One Ammon to Bulgar to acquire a Shroud of Eden. During his mission, Ammon encountered the Viking Sigurd Styrbjornsson, who killed him in battle and took his Hidden Blade as a trophy. After being informed of Ammon's failure and death by a fellow Hidden One, Basim expressed his disappointment, but his interest was piqued when he was told Ammon's killer was a Norseman with a mark on his neck.

Basim and Hytham eventually met Sigurd in Constantinople and befriended him, teaching him many of their organization's customs. When Sigurd decided to return home to Norway in 872, the two Hidden Ones agreed to accompany him.

Basim and Hytham arrived in Fornburg with Sigurd in late 872, whereupon they were introduced to the rest of the Raven Clan, including Sigurd's wife Randvi and his adoptive sister Eivor Varinsdottir. When Sigurd presented Ammon's Hidden Blade to Eivor as a gift, Hytham objected, especially after the Viking opted to proudly wear the blade on her outer wrist rather than concealed, but Basim overruled his apprentice. He then taught Eivor how to use the blade by taking her to a training ground, where Eivor practiced various assassination techniques on straw dummies.

Basim and Hytham introduced to Sigurd's family, Eivor and Randvi

While in Norway, he was present to watch certain members of Raven Clan decide to move to England and escape the rule of Harald Fairhair under a unified Norway. In time, he indirectly told Eivor of a greater conspiracy by the Order of the Ancients to control the Norse as well as all of England.

Imprisonment

In 877, Eivor and Sigurd traveled to a fjord in the north of Hordafylke. There they found an ancient Isu ruin containing Yggdrasil, an Animus-like supercomputer. Consumed by Loki's memories, Basim attacked them. Eivor, herself the reincarnation of Odin, won the fight and Basim was trapped within the device.

Awakening

Basim meeting Layla within the simulation

By 2020, as the Earth's magnetic field began to strengthen beyond normal, Basim managed to send an audio message to the present-day Assassins, directing them to Eivor's remains in New England. Through use of the Animus, Layla Hassan synchronized with Eivor's memories and discovered the location of Yggdrasil. Venturing in with the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus for protection against the lethal radiation in the chamber, she discovered Basim's body still connected to the machine. She connected to the device and discovered that Basim's consciousness had been retained inside the shared simulation.

Layla sacrificed her corporeal form to enter the Grey with The Reader but Basim was freed and managed to grasp the Staff to rejuvenate his body. Communicating with Aletheia's consciousness within the Staff, he confirmed that Odin was long dead and that Layla had fulfilled her purpose.

Basim with Shaun and Rebecca

Traveling to Layla's safehouse, Basim met with Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings, members of Layla's Assassin cell in New England, where Eivor had been buried. After enduring the couple's anger at Layla's fate, he remarked how his brotherhood of the Hidden Ones had renamed themselves as the Assassins, and requested a face-to-face meeting with their Mentor, William Miles, to discuss action against the Templars, the successors to the Order of the Ancients. After the couple had departed the cabin, Basim visited Eivor's grave, remarking how he managed to outlive his adversary before accessing the Animus to take advantage of the Bleeding Effect in the hopes of finding his missing children.

Basim reading Viking Myths

After a prolonged time in the Animus, Eivor appeared to Basim sitting by the fire as a Bleeding Effect-induced apparition, where she smiled and nodded at him, a gesture he returned. While still waiting for Rebecca and Shaun to return with their Mentor, Basim took to reading the books Shaun had gathered in his research of Norse culture and mythology. One such title, Viking Myths, recounted the tale of Loki and Baldr's exploits and Loki's eventual betrayal of Odin's son. While the events and setting differed over centuries of retelling, certain details remained the same, which Basim reacted to with an ambiguous smile.

After a "face-to-face" meeting with William through the Animus, Basim agreed to help the Mentor understand how he survived for so long in suspended animation in return for providing the Assassins a blood sample to parse its genetic sequences through the Animus.

Personality and traits

Little is known about Basim prior to him fully transforming into a reincarnation of Loki. Even before he became a proper reincarnation of Loki, he still had all of Loki's inner desires. He shared in Loki's deep commitment to the pursuit of scholarly activities and hungered for uncovering more knowledge and wisdom. During his time being trapped inside Yggdrasil, he spent his time studying the calculations over and over again to determine the best paths to take for his next plots. By the time of the 21st century, his repeated studies of calculations and Loki's memories had made him capable of understanding how modern human societies functioned and how their equipment functioned, particularly the Animus. ^{[citation needed]}

Like his original predecessor, Basim valued loyalty and kindness towards his kin. He was loyal to Sigurd's clan, despite knowing his true status, and showed them his kindness and loyalty throughout their time together in England. He only became antagonistic towards the Raven Clan after realizing that Eivor is actually Odin's reincarnation. Basim even displayed a vengeful and determined side which he inherited from Loki. Upon discovering Eivor's true status, he goes into a manic state, rambling on about his family's pain caused by Eivor, much to Eivor's confusion. He fought with great ferocity, even resorting to trickery to gain the upper hand on her. ^{[citation needed]}

Skills and equipment

Basim wore the standard attire of the Hidden Ones in the Middle East of that time. His red sash signified his rank as a Master Assassin. His weaponry, combat stances and prowess as well as his personal sword were mirror images of the same equipment and combat skills possessed by Loki back in the Isu Era. To reinforce his ties to his past life, he later ensured his Hidden Ones cloak was fastened by a broach on the right side that featured a wolf, a snake, and a skull, representing Loki's children Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel.

Upon emerging from Yggdrasil in the 21st century, Basim wore a grey hoodie, a black t-shirt with a wolf and moon design on the front, brown cargo pants and brown shoes with red laces.

Behind the scenes

Basim Ibn Ishaq is a character who was first introduced in the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, where he is voiced by the Canadian actor Carlo Rota. He also makes an appearance in the third issue of the comic mini-series Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Song of Glory. He will return as a younger playable character in the upcoming 2023 game Assassin's Creed: Mirage, where he will be voiced by the Lebanese-Canadian actor Lee Majdoub.

Basim's robes can be obtained for for free from Ubisoft Connect as an outfit for Eivor to wear in-game. While wearing the outfit, Eivor's Hidden Blade is repositioned under her forearm as opposed to on top of it. As a result of this, she will have her left hand open as opposed to clenching it into a fist when assassinating enemies with the Hidden Blade. The repositioned Hidden Blade however, can result in some animation errors in which the blade would clip through Eivor's hand while extended during certain attack animations and cutscenes.

Etymology

Basim is an Arabic name meaning "one who smiles", derived from بَسَمَ (basama) meaning "to smile". His nasab (نسب) ibn Ishaq means "son of Ishaq" with Ishaq, the Arabic form of Isaac, meaning "laughing".

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
  • The Last Chapter
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Song of Glory
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
• Assassin's Creed: The Silk Road
• Discovery Tour: Viking Age (avatar only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Where's the Assassin? (non-canonical appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths
• Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: The Golden City
• Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game
• The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage

An image gallery is available for Basim Ibn Ishaq

References

de:Basim Ibn Ishaq es:Basim Ibn Ishaq fr:Basim it:Basim pt-br:Basim Ibn Ishaq ru:Басим ибн Исхак zh:巴辛姆·伊本·伊沙克