Cipher

Desmond Miles, a cipher

The term cipher is a form of address used by certain Isu to identify human individuals integral to their plans. The term was first used by Jupiter to address Desmond Miles while he was in the Nexus, and later by Juno to address both the Abstergo Entertainment employee "Numbskull" and a Helix Initiate. The Isu typically contacted ciphers through the genetic memories of deceased individuals they viewed, such as those of Ezio Auditore and Lydia Frye.

Other notable ciphers included Clay Kaczmarek, who came into contact with Juno during his imprisonment at the Abstergo Industries laboratory in Rome; Charlotte de la Cruz, who was contacted on two separate occasions by Consus to deliver warnings about Juno's plans for world domination and how to stop them; the teenagers Owen Meyers, Natalya Aliyev, and Grace Collins, who spoke to a projection of Minerva after accessing the Ascendance Event; and Joey, an unknowing Sage of Vejovis who was manipulated by him into furthering his plans for resurrection.

Behind the scenes

'Cipher' is derived from the Arabic word صفر (ṣafar), or "zero", and has a number of self-conflicting meanings including the aforementioned zero or a non-valued entity, but also any numerical or textual character as well as a system of encrypting text by transposition or substitution of letters. However, the meaning most similar to the context used by the Isu is "a person or group of people without power, but used by others for their own purposes".

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (first appearance)
  • The Lost Archive
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
• Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics)
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
• Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book