Edward Kenway

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"You're a good man, Edward, and if you learn to keep settled in one place for more than a week, you'll make a fine father too."

―Anne Bonny to Edward Kenway, who is expecting the arrival of his daughter, 1722.

Edward James Kenway (1693 – 1735) was a British privateer-turned-pirate and a member of the Assassin Order.

Edward joined the British Royal Navy early in his life and, once accepted, found himself stationed in the West Indies. However, a quick end to the war and the promise of gold, glory and fame eventually seduced him into a life of piracy; it was during this quest that Edward first encountered the Assassin Order, and became embroiled in their struggle.

Edward was the father of Haytham Kenway and the grandfather of Ratonhnhaké:ton; through this line, he is an ancestor of William Miles, and his son, Desmond.

Biography

Early life and first marriage

Edward was born in Swansea, Wales, to Bernard Kenway and Linette Hopkins; at the age of ten, his family relocated to a farm in Bristol, in south-west England. However, the pastoral life did not agree with Edward and he became a well-known troublemaker in his adolescence.

At the age of seventeen, Edward met Caroline Scott, a woman two years his senior, whom he would marry a year later and with whom he had a daughter, Jennifer Scott. Although a lively marriage by all accounts, Caroline soon grew tired of Edward's inability to find steady work or take his responsibilities as a husband seriously, though it was Edward's grandiose ideas about sailing as a privateer in the West Indies that ultimately led to their estrangement.

Rise to infamy

Determined to prove his worth, Edward pursued his dreams of being a privateer, promising his wife that he'd only take a two-year tour, and in late 1712, boarded a ship chartered for Jamaica, with the intention of sailing under the renowned privateer, Benjamin Hornigold. He remained in Jamaica for six months until the Treaty of Utrecht in early 1713, which effectively ended all conflict between the major empires, and as such, British privateers were no longer needed or tolerated in the West Indies, causing Edward to find himself out of work.

In 1715, Edward met an Assassin named Duncan Walpole, whose ship the pirates had attacked. After his captain was killed, Edward took the wheel, until an explosion threw him overboard, shipwrecking him in a remote part of Cuba.

Washing up next to Edward, Duncan offered to pay Edward to build him a ship to gain him passage to Havana, which Edward denied. Edward advanced toward Duncan, who threatened Edward with his pistol, but it failed to fire due to the gunpowder being wet. Edward then chased Duncan through the jungle, eventually duelling and killing him. Looting his body, Edward found a letter from Governor Laureano de Torres, detailing Duncan's intended defection to the Templar Order. Edward then donned Duncan's Assassin robes, though he discarded the Hidden Blade, and collected a crystalline rectangular prism, which was to be delivered to Torres.

Edward then encountered a group of English soldiers harassing a merchant named Stede Bonnet, whom they believed to have been one of the pirates involved in the earlier battle. After dispatching the soldiers, Edward introduced himself to Bonnet using Walpole's name and accompanied him to Havana.

Upon arriving, as they attempted to settle at a tavern, a few thugs recognized Edward and provoked him into a fight. After dispatching his attackers, Edward was forced to flee as Spanish soldiers entered the tavern and began to chase him. Having lost the package to the Spanish, Edward infiltrated their fort to recover it before going to the intended meeting with Laureano. Edward carefully maintained his charade as he conversed with Templars Woodes Rogers, whose wife had met Duncan, and Julien du Casse, who equipped Edward with a pair of Hidden Blades, which the former quickly adapted to the use of assassination techniques, as du Casse and Rogers had set up an assault course for Walpole, wishing to see the methods of the Assassins in practice.

When Torres arrived, Edward listened to his plans to locate a First Civilization site known as the Observatory, which the Templars believe would allow them to monitor every person in the world and learn all their secrets. They then went down to the docks to retrieve a man named Bartholomew Roberts, an alleged Sage who knew the Observatory's location. On the way back to the governor's house, they were ambushed by Assassins and Roberts fled during the fighting, though Edward managed to chase him down retrieve him. As Roberts was led away, Torres gave Edward Duncan's intended pay for a job well done - 1000 reales.

Later, meeting with Stede, Edward complained over the pay he had received, believing it was insufficient. He then thought to discover the Observatory's location and sell it to the highest bidder. Edward then attempted to infiltrate the prison where Roberts was being held, only to find the Sage gone and the Templars, having figured out he was an impostor, to be waiting for him.

Laureano exiled Edward to a prison convoy for robbing him of Duncan. However, Edward, with the help of a man named Adéwalé, managed to escape and recruited other prisoners, stealing one of the ships in the process. After fleeing the Spanish convoy, Edward decided to name his newly acquired ship the Jackdaw.

Heading to Nassau with his new ship, Edward met with Edward Thatch, James Kidd and Hornigold, the latter of whom instructed him on how to captain his ship properly.

Upon his return, he met with Thatch, who had begun to worry about protecting the new "Pirate Republic" in Nassau from British recapture, and proposed a plan to capture a particular Spanish man-of-war that he knew of, in order to better protect the nascent revolutionary state.

At his request, Edward located and tailed the man-of-war to Grand Inagua, only to learn that the ship was owned by none other than Julien du Casse. Reasoning that du Casse could not be allowed to live in case the other Templars learned of his escape, Edward entered the island through the jungle, and made his way to the village where du Casse's man-of-war was docked, infiltrated the ship, and assassinated du Casse from one of the masts.

With du Casse dead, James Kidd congratulated Edward on his victory, showed him the special armor he had found on a corpse in du Casse's manor near the village, and proposed that Edward keep the island as his base. He also requested that Edward follow him to Tulum, as he had more to show Edward there.

Although wary of the pirate, the Assassins saw good in the man and brought him into their fold.

Later life and death

Edward eventually retired from his life at sea and moved to London, where he met Tessa Stephenson-Oakley, the daughter of the wealthy landowner he rented his house from. Using her family connections, Tessa assisted Edward in purchasing a manor on Queen Anne's Square, London, and by 1725, the two married and had a son, Haytham. Jenny also came to live with them.

Edward trained Haytham to become an Assassin from an early age, through things such as swordsmanship tutelage, despite Haytham barely being six years old at the time. Edward would also encourage his son to think for himself, and dispute others' opinions. Despite this, Edward kept his past a secret from his young son, though his former career as a pirate forever distanced the family from their neighbors in London.

On 4 December 1733, on Haytham's eighth birthday, the Kenway family was walking home from a trip to White's Chocolate House on Chesterfield Street, when the group was attacked by a mugger. When the mugger attempted to steal Tessa's necklace, he was swiftly repulsed by Edward, before being pounced upon by Reginald Birch, one of his senior property managers. Edward adamantly refused to allow Birch to kill the attempted mugger, and was infuriated at Reginald's harsh vigilantism. When the family returned home that night, Edward asked his son whether he thought that the thief should have been allowed to go free. Haytham replied that he had initially held feelings to enact revenge, but would have offered the man clemency; Edward then presented Haytham with a steel short sword.

Over the next two years, Birch became a regular visitor while courting Jenny's hand in marriage. She eventually discovered he was a Templar, and after informing her father, the two men engaged in a loud argument, concluding with Birch storming out of the office. Regardless, he had what he was looking for: young Haytham had unintentionally revealed the location of Edward's journal, containing his research on the First Civilization, when he told Birch about his sword in a secret compartment in the games room.

On 3 December 1735, the Kenway household was infiltrated by masked men – under the orders of Reginald Birch – who kidnapped his daughter, Jenny, and killed several of the servants. After making sure that his wife and son were safe, Edward raced to the games room and was confronted by two of the intruders; after a prolonged fight, one of the men managed to impale Edward through the chest with their sword, killing him instantly.

Personality and characteristics

"In a world without gold, we might have been heroes!"

―Edward Thatch, on their life as pirates, 1718.

During his formative years, Edward was a reckless, albeit brave individual who was infatuated with the idea of fame and glory. Such was his obsession that he left his first wife to become a privateer in the British Navy, hoping to score his fortune in the Caribbean and prove his worth to his estranged wife. After the Treaty of Utrecht effectively made all privateers redundant, many turned to a life of piracy; Edward among them. He quickly became feared and respected for his skill at the helm of a ship and his combat prowess, with even the renowned Edward Thatch commenting upon his ability.

It was the promise of wealth, power and infamy that spurred Edward into joining the Order of Assassins; something the Assassins very clearly recognized. Although they knew him to be good at heart, and capable of change, the Assassins were cautious of their new brother, who cared only for access to the Brotherhood's weapons and techniques, and nothing for the Creed itself. Indeed, it was these very qualities that drew him to the attention of the Order's sworn enemies, the Templars.

Despite the vested interested of both the Assassins and the Templars in the veteran pirate, Edward remained steadfastly focused on his own goals; power, infamy and proof that he was better than he was born to be. Edward was also one to take any advantage afforded him; twisting the meaning of the Creed to suit his own ends, whilst realizing that it promised him the power to make himself better than he was.

As a father, Edward encouraged his son to think for himself instead of believing everything his home-school teachers said. He also expressed pride towards his eight-year old son when Haytham said that he would have offered the thief who tried to mug his mother clemency, instead of acting on the impulse to kill him like Birch had attempted to. Edward could be quite conservative in other respects however, such as his decision to marry off his daughter to Birch, as was the tradition of the day.

Skills and equipment

During his privateer years, Edward spent his time repeatedly climbing the vast rigging and masts of his warships, providing him with a deftness that equaled that of any Assassin. He was also known to wield at least four flintlock pistols, and for a proficiency in dual-swordsmanship, and would make full use of his armaments in battle.

One of Edward's most invaluable pieces of equipment was his ship, Jackdaw. She was equipped with a diving bell that Edward used to dive for treasure beneath the waves; during these maritime explorations, Edward proved to be a strong swimmer who was capable of fending off hostile sea creatures such as sharks if he was attacked.

Romantic life

Edward was driven to prove himself as a "man of quality" to his family, but he was also a serial adulterer. His relationships proved useful, as he would sleep with courtesans to convince them to draw out his targets. Between his two marriages, Edward had other close relationships, including one with the pirate Anne Bonny.

Trivia

• "Edward" means "rich guard", derived from the Old English elements ead "rich, blessed" and weard "guard."
• "Kenway" comes from an Old English name, either Cynewig or Cenwig, composed of the words cyne ("royal") or cen ("keen, bold") and wig ("war").
• Edward was the first member of the Kenway family to join the Assassins.
• Edward once took his son, Haytham, to The Beggar's Opera at the Theatre Royal in London.
• During his time trapped in an induced alternate reality, Ratonhnhaké:ton remarked that he seemed to have inherited his taste for maritime adventures from his grandfather, Edward.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

• Unlike many known Assassins, Edward's outfit did not possess a beaked hood.
• In Assassin's Creed: Forsaken, Edward is described as having dark hair, though he has been shown to have blonde hair in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
• Edward has been shown to bear multiple facial scars: one through his right eyebrow and the corner of his eye, another across the bridge of his nose, and a third from his right ear through his cheek.
• Edward's Hidden Blade possessed a small skull and Assassin insignia engraved on the mechanism, referencing the fact he was both a pirate and an Assassin.
• Voice actor/motion capture provider Matt Ryan initially chose to portray Edward with a Mancunian accent during casting call. However, after the developers heard Ryan's natural Welsh accent they asked him to voice Kenway instead with a South-Welsh English accent. They then chose to rewrite Kenway's backstory to fit Ryan's accent.

Gallery

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  Edward aboard the Jackdaw as a whale breaches the water ahead
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  Edward searching an underwater shipwreck for treasure
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  Edward wielding his dual cutlasses
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  Edward gazing at nearby Mayan ruins, occupied by enemies.
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  Edward freerunning through the jungle
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  Edward in combat, wielding dual pistols
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  Edward shooting a soldier through his knee
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  Edward boarding an enemy vessel
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  Edward taking a Leap of Faith
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  Edward alongside Blackbeard
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  Edward assassinating a British soldier in the jungle
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  Edward walking ashore from the Jackdaw, with a British soldier's corpse nearby
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  Edward conversing with Adéwalé while a party ensues nearby
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  Edward emerging from the jungle to assassinate a group of British soldiers
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  Edward firing his pistol from a close distance
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  Edward using a diving bell to descend underwater
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  Edward shooting a soldier after stabbing him with his cutlass
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  Concept art of Edward Kenway
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  Early concept art of Edward
• More concept art of Edward between two other pirates
  More concept art of Edward between two other pirates
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  Rendition of Edward, with his ship, the Jackdaw, behind him
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  Thatch, Kenway and Hornigold on a Nassau beach
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  Edward and other pirates
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  Edward attending a public hanging
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  Edward chasing a sea-shanty page
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  Edward poisoning a guard