Hope Jensen

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Hope Jensen (1732 – 1759) was a member of the Assassin Order operating in North America during the Seven Years' War. Mentored by Achilles Davenport, she controlled much of New York's organized crime, providing her with an effective information network.

Biography

Early life

Born in New York to a modest family, Hope was placed in an orphanage after the death of her parents. She was subsequently adopted by a German couple, who hoped to build a new life for themselves in the colonies. They symbolized this desire by naming their newly-adopted daughter Hope. Although it took several years, the Jensens eventually grew wealthy, the business endeavors of Hope's father turning great profits, and began to mix with New York's finer circles. However, despite their best efforts to fit in, they were never truly accepted by the city's elite.

Growing up, Hope was taught by private tutors and gradually realized the injustice rampant in the world. In 1742, her father disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was never found again, following which her father's former business partners took control of the family business. Left with nothing, Hope and her mother were forced to live on the streets.

Eventually, Hope's mother fell ill, her health slowly deteriorating, despite her daughter's best efforts at stealing food and medicines. With the passing of her mother, Hope hardened, vowing never to depend on anyone again.

Assassin training

"Remember what I taught you. Be patient. Be silent. Never let them see you coming."

―Hope offering advice to Shay after one of her lessons, 1752.

In 1746, Hope met Achilles Davenport, who was impressed by her survival instincts, pickpocketing skills and strength of will. She was officially inducted into the Assassin Brotherhood a year later. Tasked with setting up a network in New York, Hope soon controlled most of the city's organized crime, with her gangs taking control of each district. She also possessed her own mansion, which served as her base of operations.

Due to her experience, she also served as one of Shay Cormac's instructors, but found him to be a troublesome student. This was largely due to his frequent tardiness and lack of discipline, which she felt prevented him from achieving his full potential.

Precursor artifacts

Hope: "Shay, a person cannot start an earthquake."

Shay: "A person meddling with these Precursor machines could. You saw the Box, Hope. The Temple was filled to bursting with that kind of power."

—Shay arguing with Hope upon his return from Lisbon.

In March 1752, news reached the Colonial Brotherhood that the Templars had stolen two valuable Pieces of Eden during an earthquake in Haiti. Like her compatriots, Hope focused her efforts on locating these lost relics. While she discovered that the Templars had consulted many learned people in New York, in an attempt to understand the purpose of the First Civilization artifacts, she was unable to find out where they were.

After Shay eliminated high-ranking Templar Lawrence Washington in July, Hope and the others turned their attention to Samuel Smith and James Wardrop, who respectively had the Precursor box and Manuscript in their possession. Following the assassination of Smith in May 1754, Hope learned that Wardrop would be at a congress in Albany. There, she met up with Shay and Liam, agreeing to serve as back-up with the latter while the former pursued Wardrop.

With the Precursor box and Manuscript retrieved, Hope and Shay sought to secure Benjamin Franklin's assistance, hoping that he could activate the artifact. Pretending to be associates of the Templar William Johnson, the pair learned that Franklin was unable to carry out his experiment, as his lightning rods had been confiscated. While Shay went to retrieve the rods, Hope stayed with Franklin to help prepare.

Following Shay's return, Franklin conducted his experiment, using the lightning rods to direct electricity into the Precursor box. Upon a third lightning strike, the artifact activated, briefly projecting a map that revealed the locations of several Precursor sites. Shay recognized one of the places shown, before fleeing the scene, while Hope masqueraded as Franklin's housekeeper to avoid suspicion from the soon-to-arrive guards.

Later, Hope and Shay reunited at the Assassin bureau in Two Bends to discuss the information learned with Achilles. Due to his knowledge of the site, which was located in Lisbon, Shay was tasked with the retrieval of the Piece of Eden. As the Morrigan was unfit for crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Hope kept the ship safe in New York while her student was away.

However, Shay's efforts to acquire the Piece of Eden ended up triggering a massive earthquake that nearly levelled the entire city, causing thousands of people to lose their lives. Guilt-ridden and blaming Achilles, he lashed out at his Mentor, with whom Hope sided, upon his return. She defended her Mentor against her student's accusations and, together with Liam, forced him out of the room. Their refusal to hear him out only fueled Shay's belief that the Assassins could not find any more Precursor sites, leading him to steal the Manuscript.

Achilles discovered Shay and ordered his Assassins, Hope among them, to catch the deserter and retrieve the stolen artifact. She subsequently attempted to halt Shay's escape by throwing smoke bombs in his path, all the while questioning his reasoning, but did not succeed in deterring him. She and her fellow Assassins eventually cornered Shay at a cliff overlooking the bay, where Hope once more tried to convince her former student to return the Manuscript. However, Shay refused to listen, claiming he could not allow such a disaster again, and prepared to walk off the edge. Chevalier de la Vérendrye then shot Shay in an attempt to stop him, but failed, with Shay plunging into the bay and subsequently being carried out by the tide; the Assassins assumed him dead and the Manuscript lost.

Death

In 1759, Hope managed to replicate Franklin's experiment and find the location of another Temple. Meanwhile, the Templars, along with Shay who had survived the fall and had been inducted into the Templar Order since, worked to weaken the presence of Hope's gangs in the city. During an attack on her mansion, she managed to incapacitate Shay with a poison. Taking the antidote with her, Hope fled, leaving Shay in a chamber filling with toxic gasses. However, Shay eventually caught and assassinated her after a lengthy chase across New York, and expressed remorse at having to kill her. With her dying breath, Hope stated that she bought Chevalier time to reach the Precursor site and lamented that Shay had so much potential.

Personality and characteristics

Hope appeared to be responsible and extremely powerful for her young age. Although she was an Assassin trainer and practically above her students, her behavior was friendly and welcoming towards her pupils. She also had good humor which added a bright side to her personality.

However, she could also be cunning, shrewd, and calculating, able to formulate an efficient plan in a brief period of time and apply it with efficiency. Hope was a very skilled assassin armed with duel hidden blades these blades seemed to posses a poison dart mechanism

Trivia

• Jensen is a patronymic surname of Scandinavian origins meaning "son of Jens".

Gallery

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  Concept art of Hope

Reference

• Assassin's Creed: Rogue