Galina Voronina

"I went into it like everyone else and learned to fight from my ancestors. I just didn't go crazy."

―Galina on her use of the Animus, 2014.

Galina Voronina (born 1983) is a Russian member of the Assassin Order, as well as one of the daughters of an Assassin scientist who succeeded in constructing her own Animus inside an old Assassin laboratory, located in Protvino, Moscow.

After gaining the assistance of Gavin Banks and his allies in 2014, Galina assassinated her mother, sister and former Assassin comrades, who had been driven insane through the Bleeding Effect. In doing so, she became the last of the Russian Assassins, leading her to later accept Gavin's offer to become part of the Altair II's crew.

Biography

Early life

"What happened to us? What happened to our future? What kind of world am I leaving to my twin girls?"

―Galina's mother on the deteriorating Russian Brotherhood, 1991.

Galina and her twin sister were born to an Assassin scientist who worked in one of the Assassin Science Cities, facilities that belonged to the Russian Academy of Sciences, but were used by the Assassins for research since the early 20th century. The twins grew up in one such compound, located in Protvino, Moscow, which served as their home and hideout. By 1991, it was the only Assassin Science City left, with the others having been eradicated by the nation's increasingly powerful Templars.

Raised as Assassins, Galina and her sister bore witness to the Russian Brotherhood's further decline, which their mother desperately tried to reverse by using the Animus she had built. The experiments, however, proved to be a disaster; the subjects were driven insane and subsequently sealed off in another section of the compound. Not wanting to create even more victims, the twins' mother chose to be the machine's sole test subject, causing her sanity to be slowly frayed away by the Bleeding Effect.

In December 2012, a sudden power surge caused the twins' mother to experience a vision of Eve, which she took as a sign to redouble her efforts. While the Assassin scientist forced the remaining members of her cell into the Animus, Galina was told of an old Assassin meeting place, the footbridge that connected the old and new properties of the Moscow Zoo. On the instruction of her twin sister, who had learned of the location from their grandmother's journal, Galina began to visit the bridge every full moon, in the hopes that she could contact other Assassins.

Galina consoling her sister

On 28 June 2013, the Russian government announced its plans to put all of the Russian Academy of Sciences' remaining property and facilities under its control, putting the remaining Russian Assassins in danger. Both Galina and her twin sister, the last two sane individuals in the facility, were subsequently forced into the Animus. However, unlike the others, Galina was able to remain mentally stable and used the Bleeding Effect to learn the techniques of her ancestors.

Clearing the science city

"We have established contact with an Assassin in Moscow, Galina Voronina [...] She wants us to assassinate her mother, an Assassin scientist who went nuts."

―An excerpt from Emmett's report, 2014.

Escaping the laboratory, Galina continued visiting the footbridge and eventually made contact with Gavin Banks, Emmett Leary and Emmanuel Barraza, Assassins from the Altair II, on 16 March 2014 in Moscow. She informed them of the Russian Brotherhood's situation, before asking them to assassinate her mother. Reconvening with the trio of Assassins two days later to discuss plans, she managed to convince Gavin into aiding her. During their meeting, Emmett attempted to explain to her that her mother could not have been speaking to Eve, as experiences in the Animus were purely passive, though Galina did not seem convinced.

Accompanied by her new allies, Galina journeyed back to Protvino, which was crawling with deranged Assassins, and broke into the laboratory. Although she had requested the back-up of Gavin and his team, Galina hardly needed help, using her two Hidden Blades to put their attackers, among them her twin sister, out of their misery.

Galina mourning her mother's death

Eventually they found Galina's babbling mother strapped to the ancient Animus she had constructed, in a room filled with monitors. As Galina knelt down next to her mother, Emmett watched the screens, believing to see a face in them. When Galina ended her mother's life, the face cried out, before vanishing.

Following the assassination of her mother, Galina was convinced by Gavin to join him aboard the Altair II, as her Brotherhood had become practically non-existent. Traveling with him to St. Petersburg, she met the rest of the ship's crew on the 26th of March.

Life on the Altair II

On 24 April, Galina, along with the rest of the Altair II's crew, was tasked with deciphering the riddles in William Miles' codex, in an effort to determine William's whereabouts. Eventually, they located a hidden cove in Norway, where the Altair II docked on 1 May 2014.

When Rebecca Crane began upgrading the systems on the Altair II, she discovered that a spy on the ship was uploading reports to a database run by a group called the Initiates. Unlike the rest of the crew, Galina was above suspicion, since she had only been with them for roughly a month; too short a time to have planted the bugs used by the Initiates. While the others were confined to their quarters on the ship until they could be interrogated and cleared of suspicion, Galina stayed in the bunker.

Galina preparing to kill Stephanie

On 23 May, William finally gathered the crew members to announce the identity of the spy, naming Stephanie Chiu as the culprit. On William's command, Galina moved to kill Stephanie, but Eric Cooper intervened, revealing he was the spy instead. The two eventually confessed they worked together, with Eric writing the reports while Stephanie uploaded them to the Initiates database. William then revealed he had no intention of having them killed, as the Initiates appeared "fairly reasonable". Shaun then sent a video to the Initiates, offering them to join the Assassins.

Working with the Assassins

In October, an Assassin group led by Gavin Banks, Galina among them, attacked and destroyed the Abstergo facility in Paris, which was dedicated to the research and study of the Sage John Standish. After the attack, the Assassins were followed by Templar agent Juhani Otso Berg and his right hand, Sorkin. Galina faced Sorkin and overpowered him, stabbing Sorkin multiple times before the Assassins escaped with the ships that were waiting them.

By 2015, Voronina was assignated by Gavin to a new Assassin cell based in California and led by Xavier Chen to investigate on the reappearance of Joseph. Joseph was a respected and skilled Assassin who was previously thought to be dead until his reappearance, working with the Templars in order to find a Piece of Eden which he claimed had been hidden in Salem during the witch trials of 1692.

However, in September, Joseph contacted the Assassins, informing them that he was still loyal to the Brotherhood and was in fact trying to draw out a top Templar in San Diego. Due to his status of hero, Xavier believed him, but Galina was suspicious and was inclined to kill him, not wanting to take any chances after a traitor like Daniel Cross had nearly destroyed the Assassins fifteen years ealier. In order to ease Voronina's fears and to verify if there was a Piece of Eden in Salem, Kody, the technician of the cell, hacked the Helix databases of Abstergo and searched for someone with the necessary genetic memories and found Charlotte de la Cruz, an underemployed and bored banker from San Diego.

Voronina and Chen then went to San Diego an successfully recruited the enthusiast woman into the Brotherhood just as a group of men sent by the Templars arrived to her appartement and attacked them. The two Assassins eliminated the attackers and took their unconscious new recruit to their hideout located near the Salton Sea, where they put her into an Animus in order to relive the memories of her ancestor, Tom Stoddard, an Assassin active during the witch trials.

Trivia

• Galina is derived from the Ancient Greek galene, meaning "calm". It is also used as a Russian variant of Helen, a Greek name that means "shining brightly". The root voron from her surname means "raven". Another possible origin of her surname is the Russian word vorona, which means "crow".
• Galina wears a pendant in the shape of the Russian Assassins' insignia.
• Notably, she is one of the few modern Assassins known to wield dual Hidden Blades.
• Similar to the Assassin Desmond Miles, Galina used the Bleeding Effect to acquire her ancestor's skills.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Galina with her hood
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  Concept art of Galina without her hood
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  Galina discussing plans with Gavin and Emmanuel
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  Galina being welcomed by the Altair II's crew