Ao Andon

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Shadows. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. This template should be removed from the article 20 June 2025.

Chitose, also called "Rescued Poet" or by their real name : Ao Andon (r 青行燈, blue lamp) was a supposedly human woman, threatened by a man that was mistaken for a yokai called Taka Nyudo (高入道, たかにゅうどうTall priest).

In reality, she apparently was a yokai, born of Mankind's collective terror. The only true yokai seen in the game (besides a bakeneko that her defeat gifted to her "killer") , she was traveling to kill the monk Mamushi, an act she was able to accomplish before been defeated by Naoe or Yasuke. Though before exploding in smoke, she warned them that she would continue to exist as long as Mankind felt fear for anything.

Personality and traits

In her human disguise, Chitose looked like a shy, but cryptic woman. Apparently terrified by the "taka nyudo" attempt on her life, she was soft spoken, but did mention that she was seeking Mamushi to "tell him a story". During that encounter, barely anything could be seen as a foreshadowing of her true nature, besides her attacker's screams of "having to avenge his family" wich indicated that said family was possibly her last victims.

In her true form, Ao Andon was a callous, angry and revengeful beast. Coldly murdering Mamushi for daring to doubt of her kind's existence, she was agressive and merciless, seeing even the tiniest form or doubts as a direct insult. She was also proud of her nature and her power : when Naoe or Yasuke mentions saving her, she laughingly says that she "wasn't in danger" before attacking them. She also spoke with a warped and echoing voice.

She seems to hate Mankind, Mamushi in particular, coldly explaining : "I have chilled the hearts of your kind for centuries... but you didn't believe !"

Skills and equipment

Ao Andon fought with two daggers and was a very agile fighter, using the "shinobi achetype".

While she didn't use them in battle, her powers apparently allowed her to bring terror to her targets. Naoe or Yasuke starts to show unease before even seeing her face and are petrified in fear after seeing her real form for the first time. She apparently killed Mamushi just by "telling him a tale, helping him believe", wich allowed "fear to claim his soul". Said monk hairs and baird arebleached white when his remains are seen and while a tanto is left nearby, there is no blood or any mark on his body wich could means that Chitose scared him to death, litteraly.

She also seemed to be able to use telekinesis, closing the temple's doors behind Naoe or Yasuke. When defeated, her body vanished in a puff of smoke.

Behind the scenes

• The Ao Endon is a yokai that supposedly appears at the very end of a yakumonogatari Kaidankai (百物語怪談会, lit. "A Gathering of One Hundred Supernatural Tales"). A "ritual" in wich peoples lit one hundred lanterns, told one hundred horrors stories and put out a lantern after each one. The Ao Andon is supposed to appear and attack the assembly once the last lantern is put out.
• It is impossible to say if the Ao Andon was real or if she was a disguised and crazed human like the others. While her powers could be attributed to prestidigitation and outside help, nobody else but her could be seen in the temple, even with eagle vision. Both Naoe and Yasuke acted like she was a real yokai and her echoing voices would have been difficult to create during that time period.
• If she is a real yokai, Chitose would be the very first true supernatural being of the entire series. The Egyptian Gods in origins being due to animus glitches, Apep and Fenrir being drug fueled hallucinations and others beasts being bioweapons of the Olympos Project or (in the case of the Daughters or Artemis questline), freaks of nature. Chitose is able to pass as a real human, to speak clearly and to think rationally, something that none others supernatural monsters, especially Olympos project abominations can do.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Shadows (first appearance)