Layla Hassan
Layla Hassan (born 1984) is a former employee of Abstergo Industries turned affiliate of the Assassin Brotherhood.
Biography
Early life
Born in Cairo to parents Ashraf and Zeniab Hassan, Layla and her family emigrated to the United States at some point prior to 1989, before finally settling in Queens, New York. It was there that Layla grew up alongside her two younger brothers, Rami and Kaden. She was granted American citizenship through a process known as naturalization.[1]
Abstergo Employee
A college dropout from UC Berkeley, Layla was discovered in 2006 through Abstergo Industries' Young Innovators Program by Sofia Rikkin, who helped her land a career at Abstergo. Over the years, Abstergo used several of her ideas to make adjustments to the Animus, though she was never made aware of the company's Templar affiliations. Although Layla worked for Abstergo for eleven years, the one thing she wanted more than anything else was a promotion to work on the Animus Project. However, she was denied this offer due to her numerous transgressions of Abstergo protocols.[1]
Target of Abstergo
In 2017, as part of a Historical Tactical Team, Layla and her co-worker and best friend, Deanna Geary, were assigned by Simon Hathaway to find and retrieve an important historical artifact from the Qattara Depression in Egypt. During this expiditon, Layla found the mummies of the ancient Assassins Bayek and Aya. Without informing her superiors, she used her own portable Animus to relive their memories in order to prove her worth to the Animus Project.[1]
Layla's refusal to check in with Abstergo led to the company deploying the Sigma Team to find her and Deanna. While Deanna was captured and presumably killed, Layla used the skills she obtained through the Bleeding Effect to dispatch her attackers.[1]
She was later found by William Miles, Mentor of the Assassins, after he had caught wind of her situation and offered her a position with the Brotherhood. Faced with no other option, Layla agreed to work with the him, but refused to actually join as a member.[1]
Book of Herodotus
In the midst of her quest for Isu artifacts, Layla discovered a lost book of Herodotus, the earliest known Greek historian. Within it, she learned of a Spartan mercenary who wielded an Isu weapon, the Spear of Leonidas.[2]
Personality and traits
During her early years, Layla Hassan was noted by her colleagues for her strict adherence to policy and protocol. On those occassion wherein she was forced to act outside of these boundaries, she often took on an apologetic tone; this was shown on at least one occassion when she emailed Juhani Otso Berg regarding his use of her allocated parking space at Abstergo's offices. Eventually, however, Layla's frustration at the perceived lack of respect from her colleagues convinced her to act outside of company protocol and attempt to "prove herself" by undertaking the mission to sequence Bayek's genetic memories herself.
Gallery
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Layla riding her bike in Queens, New York City, 1989 -
Layla in New York City, 1994 -
Layla backstage at the Rha Victoria Concert in Madison Square Garden, 2000 -
Layla in Berkeley, California, 2004 -
Layla preparing to leave Philadelphia in 2011 -
Philadelphia, 2017 -
Philadelphia, 2017 -
Concept Art of Layla
Trivia
- "Layla" is a feminine Arabic name meaning "night", while "Hassan" is a common Arabic surname meaning "strong" and "good".
- Layla's father, Ashraf Hassan, shares his birthname with Ashraf Ismail, the game director for Assassin's Creed: Origins.
- If one looks around Layla's equipment, they will discover she owns a Moogle doll, a Cactuar statuette, and a Chocobo sticker. All are Easter eggs towards the Final Fantasy series, particularly Final Fantasy XV.
Appearances
References
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