Easter eggs
Easter eggs were intentional hidden extras found within games that were usually jokes or references. The Assassin's Creed games had their own Easter eggs, and many other games contained Easter eggs related to the series.
Carl Jung
Psychologist Carl Jung was referenced throughout the Assassin's Creed series:
- The Animus was named for Jung's anima and animus.
- Women in the series such as Eve, Maria Thorpe, Maria Auditore da Firenze and Sofia Sartor (mostly wives of the male Assassins) shared their names with stages of anima development, a male's inner feminine personality.
- Furthermore, in the Abstergo Files, it was stated they believed their research would put an end to the debate over the existence of Jung's collective unconsciousness.
Assassin's Creed
Jamal
In Assassin's Creed, upon leaving Masyaf for the first time, one of the Assassins in the Kingdom, Jamal, could be silently assassinated with no consequences. However, openly attacking him would prompt the other Assassins to attack Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.
Jamal was the traitor inside the Order that, along with Masun, opened the gates for the Templar siege of Masyaf. He was originally featured as a mission target to be assassinated, but the mission was cut and he remained as a minor Easter egg.
Transformers
An arrangement of windows seen on certain buildings formed the torso of Optimus Prime, in his vehicle form (a truck) from the Transformers franchise.[1]
Assassin's Creed II
Batman
Occasionally in Assassin's Creed II, while freerunning or climbing a building, a male bystander could be heard saying "Another capering crusader." This was a reference to the DC Comics superhero Batman, who used stealth and had a tendency to run on rooftops. As well as this, Batman was sometimes referred to as the "Caped Crusader".
Dummy keys
In the missions "Knowledge Is Power" and "Hunting the Hunter", Ezio could loot any of the dummy targets and find keys. However, these keys had no effect at all.
Ghosts of the past
thumb|200px|Ghosts of the Past. By downloading the Bonfire of the Vanities downloadable content, Ezio Auditore was briefly able to see a vision of his entire family. After meeting up with Niccolò Machiavelli, Ezio could return to the Palazzo Auditore and step into the center of the courtyard, where he would enter into a state similar to his Eagle Vision and be able to see the figures of his parents and all of his siblings around the palazzo. However, the vision would disappear and would not be able to seen again if Ezio left.
Giant squid
A giant squid could be found within the Assassin Tomb beneath Santa Maria della Visitazione. To find the giant squid, Ezio must pull the lever that activated the swinging poles for progressing further into the tomb but look down into the water near to the lever for one minute instead.
Once a minute or so had passed, a cutscene played, which showed a large squid swimming by. A second cutscene could then be activated if the lever was pulled once more and Ezio looked down again. Following this, the cutscene showed Ezio narrowly dodging one of the squid's tentacles before it swam away.
Mario Auditore
200px|thumb|Mario greeting Ezio. When Ezio first met his uncle, Mario Auditore, he said the phrase "It's-a-me! Mario!," to the Assassin, which was a reference to the Super Mario Brothers franchise.
Motown
When throwing coins amongst the crowd, female bystanders would sometimes cry "Money! That's what I want!", which was a reference to the classic Motown song.
Palazzo Ducale
thumb|200px|Palazzo Ducale easter egg. After using the "Super jump" or "Fence glitch" to get into the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia, Ezio could access the Doge's quarters where Carlo Grimaldi assassinated the Doge. The candle that Carlo Grimaldi and Doge Mocenigo were playing under was unlit, but the chess pieces were in exactly the same position, though Ezio assassinated Grimaldi years ago.
After going into these quarters, the sky and the building turned a blood red. However, this might not have been intentional, but accidental, as scenery when entering other buildings such as the Villa Auditore lightened or darkened to match the interior of that building. In this case, the tone was changed to orange or red to match the interior of the specific room, and so the outside scenery and sky changed to orange and red respectively.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Red footprints
If Desmond went out to the front of the Villa Auditore and used Eagle Vision, there were a number of red footprints that could be seen which led up to the Assassins' insignia.
Various developers have stated that this was to lead the audience to where they needed to go, as some players weren't sure on what to do towards the start of the game. However, as red was supposed to signify something undesirable in Eagle Vision, it led to some confusion on the subject. As such, the developers have stated that the color of the footprints was an oversight, resolving the issue.
Castle Crashers
The first memory in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood near to the Castel Sant'Angelo was called "Castello Crasher." This was a reference to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 downloadable game, Castle Crashers.
Grand Theft Auto
The achievement "Grand Theft Dressage" was a clear reference to the Grand Theft Auto game series.
Machiavelli's works
Shortly after Ezio successfully enlisted the help of the three other faction guilds, Niccolò Machiavelli asked Ezio how he had managed it. Ezio simply answered that it was "Virtù", a concept about the spirit of leadership that Machiavelli was later known to have theorized. Also, at the end of Sequence 7, Machiavelli stated "I intend to write a book about you one day." to Ezio, who responded with "If you do, make it short." This was clearly a reference to Machiavelli's famous (and brief) book, "The Prince."
Finally, an achievement entitled "Il Principe" (which translated to "The Prince") could be unlocked by achieving 100% synchronization for all of the memories in Brotherhood, including the ones included within The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC.
Mario references
In the mission "Femme Fatale," after Ezio killed all of the guards and dragged Lucrezia Borgia towards Caterina Sforza's cell, she commented "Rescuing princesses from castles now?" This was a reference to the Super Mario Bros. games, where Mario rescued Princess Peach from Bowser's castle.
Accompanying this, one of the Brotherhood achievements was entitled "Principessa in Another Castello." This translated to "Princess in another castle," which was told to Mario in the original Mario games whenever he defeated Bowser's minions in their castles.
Another Mario reference was the achievement "Plumber", which showed the picture of a Mario world Warp Pipe.
Metal Gear Solid
Just before reuniting with Leonardo da Vinci, Ezio came across an anachronistic factory-made cardboard box, though he looked away when Leonardo came around the corner. This was a reference to the Metal Gear Solid series, as the signature stealth move of Solid Snake (the series' protagonist) was to hide in a box or crate.
A second tribute was the Raiden suit, available to those who had completed every challenge in the Animus Virtual Training Program with at least a bronze medal, a reference to how the character Raiden was trained in only virtual simulations.
Montreal
During the memory "Trojan Horse," while escorting Bartolomeo d'Alviano and his mercenaries disguised as French soldiers, a French guard asked Ezio Auditore as to which region of France he hailed from, to which he replied "Montréal." This was likely a reference to the location of Ubisoft Montreal, the main developers of the Assassin's Creed series.
Montreal was also the largest city in the French-speaking province of Quebec in Canada. Alternatively, it could be a reference to the birthplace of Francisco Randez – the model after whom Desmond Miles was designed.
Project Legacy
On Lucy Stillman's computer monitors in the Sanctuary, the Memories menu of Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy was displayed, set to the memories of Mario Auditore.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Lingering enemy
In the first memory of Altaïr in Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Jamal could be seen, again viewed in red when in Eagle Vision. This first occurred in the original game, Assassin's Creed.
Hello World
In the very first sequence, Subject 16 talked to Desmond Miles about the place in the Animus that he was currently in, Animus Island, stating that it was the test world first created by Rebecca Crane to gain a feeling for the confines of the machine.
Afterwards, he proclaimed "Hello World!", which was a reference to the common test program named a Hello World project. This project was often used to familiarize a programmer with the basics of a programming language.
Monty Python
In the mission The Brawler, after having been defeated three times in a row, the encountered citizen said "Ah... we will call it a draw, alright?" This was a reference to the movie Monty Python And The Holy Grail, in which the Black Knight challenged King Arthur to a fight and, after both his arms and legs were cut off, said "Alright. We'll call it a draw."
Muhammad Ali
Sometimes during fighting or after defeating guards, civilians yelled "Floats like a butterfly, stings like a scorpion!" This line also occurred when random civilians wanted to fistfight Ezio. This was a reference to the famous boxer, Muhammad Ali, who described his fighting style as "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
Spider-Man
There was an achievement entitled "Spider Assassin" in which the player had to climb the top of the Hagia Sophia in under 25 seconds. The title and achievement was a reference to the popular Marvel Comics' superhero Spider-Man and his ability to scale up and around buildings with incredible speed.
Superman
One title in the second stage of the Animi Training Program was "Man of Steel". This was an obvious reference to DC Comics' hero, Superman, as his nickname was known as the Man of Steel.
James Bond
Sequence 7 Memory 2 is titled "The Spy Who Shunned Me." This is a reference to the James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me."
Assassin's Creed III
Alice in Wonderland
As the Grand Temple opens Shaun says, "In another moment, down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again," which is a line from the chapter "Down the Rabbit Hole" from the book Alice In Wonderland.
Cool Hand Luke
Often, NPCs will utter the line "what we have here is a failure to communicate" the famous line from the film Cool Hand Luke. This line is appropriate in that it correctly expresses the major problem between loyalists and patriots, their inability to reason or offer quarter.
Assassin Turkey
Anytime after Sequence 6 starts, the player (as Ratonhnhaké:ton) can find a turkey if they go behind the right side of the Davenport Homestead, hide behind the corner and whistle. The turkey will appear behind Connor. After finding the turkey, the player can enter a set of button codes near it (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right and either B, A or O, X if the player is using an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, respectively) which will cause Connor to feed the animal.
As it feeds, a small Assassin hood will appear on the turkey's head. Afterward, nothing else can be done with the turkey, although it can still be fed and killed and will follow Connor around the Homestead, yet it cannot walk up stairs, climb any obstacle or travel to another area. If Connor treads too far from Achilles' manor, the turkey will leave Connor and return to the manor.
Flying Machine
After completing a series of Homestead missions retrieving stolen blueprints for the woodworker Lance, the player will be given the opportunity to engage in an interactive conversation with him outside the manor. Lance will reveal that the blueprints contained, among other things, designs for a flying machine invented by Leonardo da Vinci centuries before. In a clear reference to Assassin's Creed II, Connor will request to use it much as Ezio Auditore did; once Connor leaps off the cliff, he, along with the machine, will crash into the water.
Fainting Goats
If Connor or Haytham used their firearm near a goat, it will faint. A humourous reference to the fainting goats that are easily intimidated in real life .
Haytham meets Washington
During The Braddok Expedition when Haytham is disguised as a Redcoat he can find George Washington on a horse. Later Washington is the one who shoots haythams horse.
Assassin's Creed (French comic)
Prince of Persia
In the first tome of the novel, during Desmond's flashback, the Prince of Persia, the main protagonist of the famous Ubisoft series, appeared on the screen of the arcade game monitor at the "L'Horizon" bar.
Assassin's Creed in other media
The characters, gameplay elements, and plot of Assassin's Creed were also featured in various other media.
AdventureQuest
In AdventureQuest, the Assassin job class had a level 10 Guardian skill called "Finishing Blow." After clicking this, it had another button called "Assassin's Creed." Additionally, the armor "Whispering Raiment" had two small blades on the left arm. This all referenced the Assassins' Hidden Blade.
AdventureQuest Worlds
In AdventureQuest Worlds, there was two outfits available for purchase at the suggestion shop in Yulgar's inn, which were the "Hashashin Armor," priced at 500,000 gold for free players, and the "Armored Hashashin Armor," priced at 300,000 gold for upgraded members of the game. The armor included two "hidden blades," though they were located on top of the player's wrist, rather than on the bottom.
Dead Island
In Dead Island, there was a wieldable knife named "Assassin's Greed" (referencing the series' title). Accompanying this, there was also a modification for brass knuckles called the "Assassin's Poison Mod," which referenced how Assassins used Poison.
Dragon Age II
In Dragon Age II, the brothel in Hightown was called the "Blooming Rose," a direct translation of the Roman courtesan headquarters, the Rosa in Fiore.
Dungeon Defenders
In Dungeon Defenders, the character "The Archer", the male version of "The Huntress" for the PC, could obtain a Halloween costume that resembled a black Master Assassin robe set.
Gaia Online
During the 2011 Halloween event in Gaia Online, Edmund, the shop owner for H & R Wesley, was dressed as Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed II.
Grand Theft Auto IV
In Grand Theft Auto IV, after completing a set of assassination missions for a mysterious figure called the Fixer, the player received an achievement called "Assassin's Greed," which was a direct play on the Assassin's Creed name. Moreover, the requirement for the achievement was the completion of nine assassination missions, which paralleled the first Assassin's Creed game, in which Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad was tasked by Al Mualim to kill nine Templars in exchange for his reinstatement as a Master Assassin.
inFAMOUS 2
Located in the fictional city of New Marais, several cinemas and theaters in inFAMOUS 2 featured movie titles that were direct puns to popular video game names. Among the movie titles was "Assassin's Need (Love Too)", a parody on Assassin's Creed. These cinemas were located in the very first district of the city. Also, one of the negative karmic missions available in the game was named "Assassin's Greed", another play on the Assassin's Creed name.
Another Easter egg found in the game's downloadable content, inFamous 2: Festival of Blood, could be seen again on the cinemas' featured movie titles. The new parody title was "Assassin's Bleed", which was also a reference to the download content's central theme of vampires.
Invictus Games
In the iPhone games Froggy Jump and Froggy Launcher, a torso item called "Assassin armor" appeared identical to Ezio's armor in Assassin's Creed II, and could be bought for 2 Diamonds.
LittleBigPlanet
As a part of their promotion for Assassin's Creed II, Ubisoft released Ezio's Assassin costume as a downloadable outfit for the PlayStation 3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet on 8 December 2009.
On the day that Revelations was released, LittleBigPlanet released a new costume of Ezio, featuring Sackboy in the robes that Ezio started out with in the game.
Metal Gear Solid series
On April Fools' Day 2008, it was revealed that an Altaïr costume for Old Snake could be unlocked in the game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Hideo Kojima, one of the game's creators, later announced that it was not a joke, and that the costume could really be unlocked if the player did "something special." In order to unlock the costume, the player must have either acquired the "Assassin Emblem" (a nod to the games' emblem) or input a password in the "Extras" section. Specifically, the password was been revealed to be aottrykmyn.[2]
The costume could be used as an alternative disguise early in-game and worked exactly like the Middle East Militia costume. Unlike Altaïr's robes, the Militia costume was lost early in-game, prompting the player to find another set of the disguise, and could cause the Middle Eastern faction to be friendly to the player as opposed to having to work to gain their trust. When the costume was worn, Old Snake would bend his ring finger back into his palm, which was maintained as long as he wore the costume, a reference to Altaïr's missing ring finger.
- "Back in the time of the Crusades, members of the order of Assassins used what is called the Assassin's Straw Box to hide and get close to their enemies."
- ―Kazuhira Miller, commenting on the newly procured item.[src]
In one of the missions in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, namely Main Ops 16, a unique box made of straw dubbed the Assassin's Straw Box could be obtained. To do so, the player must ensure that there was a vacant slot in the equipment section, climb onto the roof of the shack above where the straw box was, and then perform a Leap of Faith into it. The Leap was accompanied by an eagle's screech, similar to its mechanism in the Assassin's Creed series.
Right after obtaining the straw box, one of the main protagonists, Kazuhira Miller, mentioned its use during the Third Crusade (the time period of Assassin's Creed), and how it was used by the Assassins. After the aforementioned mission was completed, the Assassin's Straw Box was available in the inventory.
The box could hold two people simultaneously and included a special function not found in other box items: knocking out guards while hiding in the box and recruiting the knocked-out soldier using Fulton Recovery (if another player was present). Continued use could damage the item, to the point where the box would be destroyed completely.
Prince of Persia series
In Prince of Persia (2008), Altaïr's costume was available as a free DLC for use by the Prince. Additionally, an achievement entitled "Assassin's View" could be unlocked by standing on a View Point upon the Martyr's Tower.
Similarly, in Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Ezio's costume could be purchased via Uplay for 30 points.
Altaïr's Costume could also be purchased in Prince of Persia: Prodigy, via Uplay.
RuneScape
In RuneScape, the quests Stolen Hearts and Diamond in the Rough contained many similarities to Assassin's Creed, such as stalking targets, free-running across rooftops and an "Eagle jump" into a cart of hay.
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Free-running. -
Climbing. -
An "Eagle jump".
Saints Row: The Third
In the sandbox game Saints Row: The Third, an achievement entitled "Everything is Permitted" was awarded when one eliminated all assassination targets, which referenced the Assassins' creed.
Soul Calibur V
In Soul Calibur V, the character Dampierre used a hidden blade called "Hidden Edge" as his ultimate weapon, which referenced the famous Assassin Hidden Blade.
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 featured two promotional items for the Spy class obtained through random crafting or from pre-ordering Assassin's Creed: Revelations from Steam called the "Dashin' Hashashin," which resembled Ezio's hood, and the Sharp Dresser (which resembled Ezio's Hookblade).
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
In the fifth Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim, the Dovahkiin may travel to a place called the "Bards Leap Summit;" a large cliff sporting a plank at the top, with a large drop to a pool below, resembling a View Point and a Leap of Faith. The entrance to the area also resembles the Assassin Insignia.
The Saboteur
In The Saboteur, the main protagonist Sean Devlin earned a racing car with white stripes, named Altaïr, which was nicknamed "The Flying Eagle."
The Simpsons
In the fifth episode of season 23 of The Simpsons, "The Food Wife," a poster could be seen in the back of the fictional games convention E4, featuring a hippie with two Hidden Blades and the title "Assassin's Creed - Summer of Love," besides some other game parodies.
The Witcher 2
During one mission in The Witcher 2, Geralt could walk up to some haystacks underneath a structure resembling a View Point and find the body of a white-robed man, who looked suspiciously like an Assassin, that appeared to have died when his Leap of Faith failed. The white-robed man also had a blade covering his arm that looked like an Assassin's Hidden Blade.
If the player examined the body, Geralt said, "Hmm... Guess they'll never learn." From there, he would be granted a hidden ability called "Assassin."
References