Monkey Island

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.

This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. 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 25 September 2024.

Monkey Island, as it was called by its inhabitants in the 18th century, is an island in the Philippines, situated northwest of Cebu.

History

In the early 18th century, the natives of Monkey Island frequently engaged in trade with their neighbors from the surrounding islands. However, this changed in 1725, when the island became the subject of several unsettling tales after a number of Spanish ships went missing near its shores. Some of these legends included a strange noise that drew sailors to the island, and vampires who fed on any man and animal that set foot on its shores.^[1]

In reality, the source of the island's anomalies was the Visayan chief Rajah and his resistance fighters, who occupied the island's fort as a starting point for their campaign to liberate the Philippines from Spanish occupation. Armed with a crescent amulet – a Piece of Eden – Rajah used it to mind-control his men and sent them to eliminate any foreign "trespassers" while dressed as beasts of Filipino mythology.^[2]

While en route to Cebu, the members of the Zhang Wei Union passed by Monkey Island and their ship, the Fenghuang, was bombarded with mortar fire by Rajah's men, using their fort's cannons. After taking cover behind some rocks, Xialun Qing told her fellow crew members about a hot air balloon, the Celestial Chariot, that she had built alongside Yun Pyeong-Gyu, which would allow them to survey the island and determine the locations of enemy encampments.^[2] Qing subsequently volunteered to pilot the balloon, though the Celestial Chariot soon suffered a malfunction and caught fire.^[3]

After Qing parachuted to safety and landed on Monkey Island, her fellow Union members went looking for her. As they approached the island's fort, the Fenghuang engaged it as a distraction to allow Edward Kenway, John Young and several other crew members to reach the island via rowboat. Afterwards, the Fenghuang retreated and went back into hiding while Edward and the others explored the island in search of Qing.^[4] They eventually found her in a village, where she treated the natives after they had found and rescued her from the island's jungles.^[5]

At the same time, Rajah's warriors found the Fenghuang hiding in a swamp and took advantage of a downpour of rain to board the ship. Despite their Manananggal disguises, which scared some of the crew members, the native warriors were ultimately defeated when the crew used multi-barrel muskets built by Yun against them.^[5]

Behind the scenes

Although never identified by any name other than Monkey Island in Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple, there is a real-life island situated near the Philippines called Angaur, which is also known by this nickname. However, the island only gained this nickname in the 20th century, making it unlikely that it would be called that in 1725.^[6]

Judging by its shape and positioning on the map, the Monkey Island featured in Forgotten Temple appears to correspond to the real-life Sibuyan Island instead.