John Young

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John Young was a navigator for the Dutch East India Company in the 1720s. In 1725, he assisted the British Assassin Edward Kenway in his search for the ruins of Angkor, the former capital city of the Khmer Empire and an alleged Precursor site.

Biography

Meeting Edward Kenway

By February 1725, John had made a lot of money, though lost it all gambling in Macau which made the poor man attempt to drown his sorrows by drinking heavily and boasting about discovering the ruins of the lost city of the Khmer Empire.

After arriving in Macau to search for the ruins, which the Assassins believed to house Pieces of Eden, Edward Kenway approached John in Burnt Brian's Pub and tried to question him about his alleged discovery of Angkor. Mistaking Edward for a debt collecter, John caused a brawl and fled the tavern, though he was eventually caught by the Assassin and revealed it had been his friend Hendrik who had discovered the city. The pair were then attacked by a group of ninja, who sought to silence John, but they were quickly killed by Edward.

John and Edward on the run from the former's company mates

John identified their attackers as pirates from Cipango and took Edward to the Dutch East India Company's dormitory in the city, where Hendrik was staying, so that the Assassin could protect him in case he was similarly attacked. John was told to wait outside and watched as Edward climbed up to his friend's room.

Minutes later, John was startled by Edward, who had jumped out the window and into a cart of hay below. After explaining to a shocked John that Hendrik had been murdered, Edward revealed that there had been a "little misunderstanding," as Hendrik's company colleagues had mistaken Edward for his killer and were now chasing him. While attempting to escape their pursuers, Edward told John that their time together had come to an end and pushed him into a nearby alley to get him out of danger.

After being abandoned by Edward, John "indefinitely borrowed" a company ship and headed to the port of Macau, where Edward was fighting another group of ninja. John fired a cannonball towards them, killing the ninja, while Edward dived into the water alongside a local man named Zhang whom he had saved from being murdered by the ninja.

Upon helping Edward and Zhang aboard his ship, John explained that he had decided to continue his adventure alongside the Assassin, feeling that it would be well worth it in the end, and that he could not return to the company, as he would be executed for the theft of the ship. Edward allowed John to accompany him and the two decided their next course of action would be to retrieve Hendrik's sea log, which could contain useful information to aid their search for Angkor.

Hiding out

John and Edward seeking shelter in Zhang's home

As the port was being patrolled by the navy following the earlier fight, Edward and John found it impossible to dock and were forced to wait and lay low for the time being. Zhang then offered to take them to a safe place where they could hide, as a sign of gratitude for Edward saving his life. Accepting his invite, they traveled to a village south of Macau, where the locals welcomed them and allowed them to stay as guests.

After settling in, Edward took John into the wilderness to hunt for food. There, John watched as Edward shot a deer and used its legs as bait to lure and kill two crocodiles, and was impressed by the Assassin's skills. The pair then returned to the village and shared their gains with the locals to repay their hospitality. However, the feast was interrupted by the worsening health of a local woman who was suffering from cholera.

After being informed by the villagers that many others were suffering from the same illness, John and Edward became determined to help them in any way they could. Believing that a solution of salt and sugar may ease the people's sickness, Edward decided to return to Macau alone to acquire the resources. John pointed him to a warehouse owned by Madam Lee, an affluential businesswoman, and watched as the Assassin departed the village and made his way back to the city.

Assisting Edward

Not long after Edward's departure, John, suspecting that the Assassin may get into trouble again, took his ship and sailed back to Macau as well, managing to dock into the port at night. There, he watched as Edward got chased on horseback by Dutch East India Company soldiers until eventually being cornered. Acting the same way he had done the last time Edward was in peril, John fired a cannonball at the soldiers, incapacitating them and allowing Edward to jump with his horse onto John's ship. The pair then sailed back to Zhang's village with the salt and sugar Edward had taken from Madam Lee's warehouse.

Edward explaining the Templars to John

Thanks to their remedy, many of the villagers were saved, although it was too late for Zhang's daughter, who was too sick and ended up passing away. Edward later expresseed his remorse to John, revealing that he also had a daughter. John tried to comfort him, saying that what had happened was fate, but Edward countered that people could change their fates, referencing his decision to leave his pirate days behind him and join the Assassins.

As John angrily called out Edward for never telling him he was married, their conversation was interrupted by Zhang and his wife who, alongside the rest of the villagers, wanted to thank them for their assistance and repay the favour. Edward initially wanted to decline, but after John told him it would be considered an insult in Chinese culture, he asked Zhang and his fellow labourers to become his informants in Macau, in the hopes of learning more about Madam Lee.

After the labourers learned that Madam Lee had come into possession of Hendrik's sea log, Edward volunteered to retrieve it alone. John directed him to Lee's private residence, the Mandarin's House, and took him back to Macau with his ship, waiting nearby while the Assassin infiltrated the Mandarin's House. Although Edward ultimately failed to retrieve the log, losing it to the Templars, he did manage to secure an alliance with Lee, who gifted him two chests of treasure and other goods.

Returning to Zhang's village, Edward and John gave the gifts to the locals before discussing their next move. The Assassin invited John to accompany him on his upcoming expedition to Angkor, to which the navigator enthusiastically accepted, and told him about his plan to acquire more information in Macau by having Zhang and his fellow labourers act as his informants within the various trading companies across the city.

When Madam Lee's fleet later came under attack by pirates employed by her business rivals, Edward went to meet with John so that they could use his ship to defend it. Once they got close enough to one of Lee's ships that was under attack, John fired a cannonball at its mast to immobilize it, before taking Edward closer to the ship. This allowed the Assassin to board it and dispatch half of the pirate crew while scaring the rest into fleeing and abandoning their captain, Rupiya.

After Edward took Rupiya hostage, he and John brought him back to Zhang's village and had him locked up. While walking through the village, the two discussed the sudden improvement the locals had seen in their way of life thanks to Edward. John then asked the Assassin about his next course of action, to which Edward told him that he was going to inform Madam Lee of who had ordered the attacks on her ships: Master Sun.

Not long after, Edward enlisted John's help in outing the Far East Company, who were trying to frame Madam Lee's company for opium trafficking. At night, while Edward sneaked aboard one of the company's ships transporting opium, John fired a cannonball at the docks, igniting several barrels of oil and setting a warehouse on fire. He then made his escape while Edward took advantage of the distraction to retrieve several opium packages oand expose the Far East Company's drug trafficking to the public.

Following his escape, John had a tied-up Rupiya lead him to the hideout of his former crew so that they could recruit them. John was able to find the place based on Rupiya's directions, whereupon he freed the pirate captain, allowing him to board his crew's ship and threaten them into returning to work for him.

Personality and traits

When Edward first met Johh, he thought very little of him, seeing him as nothing more than a drunkard and a gambler. This was not helped by John running away after mistaking Edward for a debt collector and admitting that he had stolen his story about Angkor from Hendrik, which made John appear to also be a coward and a liar seeking only recognition.

However, Edward's impression of John improved signficantly after the latter stole a company ship which he used to rescue him. Because John had demonstrated courage by risking both his job for the Dutch East India Company and his life, Edward came to see the navigator in a more positive light and allowed him to accompany him. John was excited by the prospect of wealth at the end of their adventure, and even after Edward told him that the only thing he would likely gain from it was "a story worth a drink," he still enthusiastically accompanied the Assassin, due to having a "good feeling" about him.

During their time together, John and Edward grew to become close friends. While the two enjoyed teasing each other from time to time, such as Edward calling John a drunkard and a gambler to annoy him (usually resulting in an over-the-top reaction from John), they still respected and fully trusted each other, to the point where John became Edward's main means of transportation during his time in Macau, due to Edward lacking a ship of his own.

Edward also trusted John enough to tell him details about his private life such as his Assassin affiliations and the existence of his daughter, and to invite him to accompany him on his expedition to Angkor, calling him the most skilled navigator for the job. In turn, John also cared about Edward's well-being, coming to his rescue several times and even trying to comfort him whenever Edward was feeling down.

Equipment and skills

John was a skilled navigator, being able to dock his ship into the port of Macau at night several times without anyone noticing. He also appeared to have some experience firing cannons, as he fired one to save Edward's life or to assist him on several occasions, although the first time he did so he almost hit Edward by accident.

John was also multilingual, being able to speak a variety of languages including Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin and Khmer. During one conversation with Edward, he claimed to have learned so many languages to be able to woo women from different parts of the world.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple

References

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