Shimazu clan
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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. |
The Shimazu clan (島津氏) is a Japanese noble house which originated during the Kamakura period in the 12th century. Since at least the time of the Tokugawa shogunate, the clan has been working alongside the Templar Order for generations, enabling it to accumulate a large amount of wealth and remain prosperous.
History
Sengoku period
The Shimazu clan was the first Japanese clan to welcome Francis Xavier's Jesuit mission following its arrival in the country in 1549.[3] The clan's leader at the time, Shimazu Takahisa, granted the missionaries permission to preach Christianity in his domains, hoping this would lead to more trade with the Portuguese. After a year had passed and no Portuguese ships had arrived, however, Takahisa,[4] under pressure from local Buddhists,[3] prohibited Christianity and expelled Xavier.[4]
Despite this, some clan members continued to support Xavier, secretly a Templar,[5] and helped him spread both Christianity and the Templar ideology in Japan. Even after Xavier's death, the clan continued to work alongside the Templars for generations, due to sharing their goal of finding Isu artifacts and using them to restore peace and order to the world.[1]
Edo period
In the early 18th century, the head of the clan passed away without leaving a legitimate heir. The closest claimant to his legacy was an illegitimate daughter born overseas, who had grown up unaware of her true heritage. The young girl was subsequently brought to Japan, where she was given a new name, Shimazu Saito, and a new purpose: to bring honor to her family.[1]
After years of training alongside her friends, who had accompanied her to Japan, Saito became an efficient assassin for the clan and was inducted into the Templar Order before being tasked to search for the lost Khmer city of Angkor, an alleged Isu site, and retrieve its treasure.[1]
Saito was accompanied on her mission by her friends and subordinates, all of whom were of mixed heritage and, thus, looked down upon by the clan's Japanese members. Believing this mission to be an opportunity to finally prove their worth to the clan and be recognized as full-fledged members, Saito and her companions embarked on a journey to Portuguese Macau to search for leads to Angkor's location.[1]
Search for Angkor
Following their arrival in Macau in February 1725, Saito and her men attempted to eliminate everyone connected to Angkor to keep the lost city's existence secret, including the Dutch East India Company navigator John Young, who had bragged about finding it;[6] the Dutch explorer Hendrik, who had actually discovered it; the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who was also on the city's trail and had defended Young;[7] and the merchant Madam Lee, who had acquired Hendrik's sea log containing information on Angkor's location.[8]
While the ninja in Saito's service only managed to kill Hendrik, Saito herself successfully stole his sea log from Edward during a confrontation at the Mandarin's House.[9] However, she was later forced to give it to the businessman Sun in exchange for his protection of Saito's subordinates.[10]
This, combined with Saito's preferential treatment of her fellow mixed-blood subordinates over the Japanese ninja in her employ, eventually led the latter to desert and form their own faction, branding Saito and her men as traitors to the Shimazu clan.[11]
Civil war
- Main article: Shimazu clan civil war
In time, the conflict between the Japanese ninja, led by Fuma Sukuna, and Saito's faction escalated into a civil war, with members from both groups frequently clashing with each other on the streets of Macau.[12] After Sukuna managed to secure an alliance with Madam Lee,[13] he enlisted the help of Edward Kenway to eliminate Saito, who was serving as Sun's bodyguard aboard his floating gambling hall.[14] Sukuna and his men also infiltrated the ship, having been tasked by Lee to assassinate Sun and recover Hendrik's sea log, and in the process killed all of Saito's subordinates.[15]
However, Edward ultimately went back on his deal with Sukuna and rather than kill Saito, he formed an alliance with her, believing he needed her skills to find Angkor.[10] Edward and Saito subsequently fought against both Sukuna's ninja and members of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins in order to secure Hendrik's sea log.[1] The Chinese Brotherhood's Mentor Xiao Han was the one to ultimately claim victory, obtaining the sea log after killing Sun,[16] though he later decided to seek an alliance with Madam Lee, who agreed to work together to find Angkor.[17]
Meanwhile, with all of her subordinates dead, Saito sought revenge on Sukuna and the Japanese members of the clan and joined Edward's organization, the Zhang Wei Union.[17] She helped them in their search for Angkor and traveled alongside them to the Philippines to follow up on a lead they had found.[18] Sukuna and his men, accompanied by the Chinese Assassins and Admiral Jeong, also journeyed to the Philippines, recruiting several Japanese mercenaries who had settled in the region to strengthen their ranks.[19]
Modern times
- "I'm sure it comes as no surprise that many of our brethren are skeptical of your family's value to the Order. Make no mistake. This is a test of your clan's loyalty and worth to the Templars. You will not be granted another like it, Supervisor Shimazu."
- ―A Templar higher-up cautioning Shimazu Sei, c. 2023.[src]-[m]
The Shimazu clan remained a prominent noble family well into the 20th century, when Saito's descendant Shimazu Sei was born.[11] As a member of both the clan and the Templar Order, Sei enjoyed a wealthy upbringing, though she was always encouraged to focus on her education and later her career, as to not bring dishonor to her family. Eventually, Sei graduated from Harvard Medical School and became a respected doctor for the Templars' front company, Abstergo Industries.[20]
However, by the early 21st century, relations between the clan and the Order had severely soured. Because numerous clan members had clashed with the Templars' vision in the past, the Order began to doubt the clan's loyalty and value to their cause. To salvage her family's reputation in the Templars' eyes, Sei was tasked with leading the search for a Piece of Eden that Edward Kenway had found in Southeast Asia.[21]
Operating out of the Exitus research vessel, Sei had one of Edward's descendants, the Korean-American student Noa Kim, abducted and placed in the Animus in order to relive Edward's genetic memories.[22] In time, Sei started to bond with Noa and even struck a deal with him, promising him his freedom in exchange for his cooperation.[23]
After Edward's memories revealed the whereabouts of a Piece of Eden – a crescent amulet – in the Strait of Malacca, Sei contacted her superiors to update them on her mission's progress. However, she was taken aback when the Templar higher-ups ordered Noa's termination, believing the test subject had outlived his usefulness. Although the Templars assured Sei that she had done a great service to her family and the Order and informed her that she would be re-assigned to another project, Sei refused to let things end there, believing Noa still had his uses.[24]
Members
- Sengoku period
- Edo period
- Modern times
Behind the scenes
While never mentioned in the 2021 novel Assassin's Creed: Fragments – The Blade of Aizu written by Olivier Gay, the Shimazu clan historically ruled the Satsuma domain, which sided with Emperor Meiji in the Boshin War. In the novel, the Templars also sided with the Emperor.
Historically, the Shimazu clan was one of the few Japanese clans to initially welcome Francis Xavier's Jesuit mission, although the clan's leader, Shimazu Takahisa, soon ended his support of the Jesuits due to pressure from local Buddhists and forbade the conversion of his subjects to Christianity under penalty of death.[3] In the Assassin's Creed universe, it would appear that several clan members disobeyed Takahisa and secretly continued supporting the Templars, resulting in the clan's longtime affiliation with the Order.
Gallery
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Shimazu Saito and her men mourning one of their own after a battle -
Saito and her ninja followers -
The two opposing factions of the clan in Macau -
A confrontation between the two factions -
Fuma Sukuna with his ninja followers
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple (first appearance)
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
References
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