David Collins
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David Collins (born 2003) is an Afro-American teenager, the younger brother of Grace Collins, and a descendant of the 19th-century slave Abraham and his daughter Eliza, the Wangaran gold trader Masireh, and the Swedish farmer and soldier Östen Jorundsson. In 2016, he was part of a group of teenagers who, through the use of an Animus, discovered clues leading to one of the Pieces of Eden, the Trident, attracting the attention of both the Assassins and Templars.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Search for the Faith prong[edit | edit source]
In 2016, David and his sister were recruited by Sebastian Monroe to go into a shared simulation along with other teens: Owen Meyers, Javier Mondragón, Sean Molloy, and Natalya Aliyev.[1] After Monroe explained the secret war between the Assassins and Templars, he asked the teenagers to aid him in finding the prongs of the Trident of Eden so he could hide them from both factions. Within the Animus, David began to relive the memories of the elderly servant Abraham, while Grace relived the memories of Abraham's daughter Eliza.[2] During the simulation, David experienced racism[3] and his ancestor being beaten to death.[4] Fortunately, Monroe was able to ascertain that the Trident's Faith prong was last seen with President Ulysses S. Grant.[5]
After the Animus experience, the group was ambushed by the Templars.[6] While Monroe, Owen, and Javier escaped,[7] David was tased and taken along with Grace, Sean, and Natalya. The Templars relocated David and the others to an Abstergo facility known as the Aerie, where they met the Templars Isaiah and Dr. Victoria Bibeau. After the Templars introduced themselves and told them of the Trident's history, they asked the teenagers to aid their efforts to acquire the artifact before Monroe or the Assassins. Soon, David and the others agreed to their terms.[6]
Spying on the Templars[edit | edit source]
During their stay at the Aerie, David and Grace knew that they had to play the long game with Abstergo and Isaiah. While they followed their orders, they kept watch on their movements without arousing suspicions. Upon hearing about Sean's critical condition after an abrupt end to his Animus session, David and Grace went to check up on him and were relieved to see that their friend had recovered.[8]
Moments later, Natalya barged in, spoke with Sean, and accused Isaiah of over-subjecting him to the Animus. After Isaiah offered to end their work, the Collins and Sean insisted on continuing while Natalya walked out. The siblings later talked with Natalya and assured her that they understood her frustrations, but admitted that they had to wait until Isaiah no longer needed Sean. Thus, they would be there to pick Sean back up again.[8]
Upon seeing Sean be dismissed by Isaiah after his last session ended with his ancestor Tommy Greyling losing the Templar agent Alice, the Collins and Natalya talked it over with Sean, concluding that it made no sense for Greyling to give up. After they spoke with Isaiah about Alice's possible escape methods, the Templar was convinced and placed Sean back into the Animus. Ultimately, he learned that Alice had killed herself and destroyed the manuscript she had been tasked to retrieve, preventing it from being recovered by Greyling. Apologizing for his actions, Isaiah let the teenagers take some time off to rest and enjoy themselves before their next Animus sessions.[9]
Search for the Fear prong[edit | edit source]
David stayed at the Aerie for the next few weeks and relived the memories of an ancestor who was a Tuskegee airman.[10] However, despite having fun with his work, he wondered about the other parts of the facility.[11] One night, his curiosity led him to sneak around the unknown parts of the Aerie, and he found himself in the garage. There, he hid while he heard a discussion between Isaiah and the Aerie's head of security, Cole, about failing to capture Owen, Javier, and their Assassin guardian, Griffin. Isaiah soon stated that they could not take any more risks and ordered for Owen and Javier to be killed if the Templars found them again, shocking David.[12]
Making his way back, David was spotted by a guard but feigned sleepwalking and was escorted to his room.[12] After some time, David and Grace met their father, who made his regular visits and congratulated them on working to relive their ancestors' achievements. However, they and their friends were soon convened by Victoria and Isaiah, who revealed their knowledge of David's incursion last night. Placing a curfew and warning the teenagers against going behind their backs again, the Templars left them to return to their rooms. Sean and Grace subsequently scolded David for his behavior getting them into trouble.[13]
One night, the Aerie was placed on high alert and the doors to the teenagers' rooms opened. While they reconvened with each other, the Collins and Natalya decided to investigate, but Sean ignored them and went back to sleep. They were soon found by Monroe, who had disguised himself as a guard to rescue them. David and Natalya agreed to go with him but Grace was reluctant to leave. Now separated, David took his leave while Grace remained at the Aerie.[14]
Coincidentally, Griffin, Owen, and Javier had launched their own rescue mission, which ultimately led to Javier stealing a car and driving Natalya and David away while Monroe and Owen stayed behind to cover their escape.[15] Fleeing the Aerie, David later met Griffin, whom Javier picked up on the road. After the teens caught up with each other, they arrived at the Assassins' base. There, Griffin asked Natalya to help them find the Trident's Fear prong, which she agreed to do on the condition that they all go to Mongolia. The Assassins accepted, and Natalya entered the Animus to continue reliving her ancestor Bayan's memories in search of the prong.[16]
However, Natalya purposefully desynchronized to keep the prong's location to herself due to not trusting the Assassins. Griffin angrily confronted her for not keeping her end of the promise, but David and Javier came to her defense. Ultimately, Natalya agreed to lead the Assassins to the prong once they all arrived in Mongolia.[17] After packing for the journey, David, Natalya, Javier, and Griffin traveled to China, where they met another Assassin, Yanmei, who escorted them to Burkhan Khaldun to find Möngke Khan's tomb. As they reached Mongolia, their plane was shot down by Isaiah's men,[18] though fortunately they all survived.[19]
While traveling to the tomb, David saw a light sequence from afar that matched his Tuskegee ancestor's memories. Leaving the group, he found the Templars' camp and tried to sneak in but was captured.[20] Upon being brought to Isaiah, he saw Grace, Owen, and Monroe and hugged his sister. He was then interrogated by Isaiah about the tomb's location, and complied after Grace pleaded with him. After Isaiah and most of his men left, Grace and Owen took down the remaining guards, and David revealed that he had given Isaiah a false lead before offering to take his friends to the real location of the tomb.[19]
Arriving at the tomb, David, Grace, Owen, and Monroe were reunited with Natalya and Javier, the former of whom had knocked out Griffin and Yanmei with some sedative darts. The group then began digging for the entrance to the tomb, though just as they uncovered it, Isaiah and his men arrived and held everyone at gunpoint.[21] Fortunately, Griffin and Yanmei regained consciousness and attacked the Templars, taking most of them down. However, Isaiah managed to acquire the Fear prong amidst the confusion and used it on his enemies. Although Yanmei tried to stop him, Isaiah fatally stabbed her and announced his defection from the Templars before leaving with his men.[22]
Making their way back to the Abstergo camp, David, Grace, and the other teenagers met with Victoria, who had also arrived after learning about Isaiah's betrayal. Victoria and Griffin then agreed to a ceasefire until they stopped Isaiah and recovered the final Trident prong, which the Templars believed to be located in Scandinavia.[22]
Search for the Devotion prong[edit | edit source]
Traveling back to the Aerie, David and the others found out that Sean had been taken by Isaiah. Agreeing to stay and fight Isaiah,[23] David, Grace, and Javier were told that they all had ancestors present during the time when the Trident's Devotion prong had last been seen. Thus, David and Javier entered the Animus to uncover any information about the artifact they could.[24]
David found himself reliving the memories of the Swedish farmer and warrior Östen Jorundsson, but began to feel conflicted after learning about his ancestor's slave Arne. Although he tried to integrate with the memories, he soon lost control and desynchronized. While he recollected himself,[24] David admitted to Grace that he could not accept the memories. Thus, Grace offered to go into the Animus in his place and was able to accept the memories.[25]
After some time alone, David realized that Grace must have accepted the past but not their ancestor wholly. Checking up on his sister, he was able to talk with her through the Animus and convince her and Victoria to try again. Within the Animus, he began to relive his ancestor's memories successfully.[26] After Victoria and David discovered that Östen was the last person to hold the prong and had been told to hide it on behalf of Javier's ancestor Thorvald Hjaltason, they ended the simulation to make plans to secure the artifact before Isaiah.[27]
Concluding that the prong had been buried in Västerås, Sweden, Victoria and Griffin agreed to have Owen, Grace, and Natalya accompany the Assassin due to their successful experience in the "collective unconscious." Meanwhile, David and Javier stayed at the Aerie and followed Monroe to experience the same "collective" memory and receive a "shield" from Minerva to protect them from the Trident.[28]
When Owen, Grace, and Natalya later returned accompanied by Sean, they revealed that Isaiah had killed Griffin and seized the prong. Thus, the group began preparing for Isaiah's inevitable arrival.[29]
Defeating Isaiah[edit | edit source]
After placing traps around the Aerie, David and the others waited until they heard Isaiah's helicopters. Readying themselves, David and Grace stuck beside each other and faced off against Isaiah's men. Yet, the opposition proved stronger as David and his team were pushed further back into the garage. As Isaiah arrived and ordered his men to kill everyone, he was challenged by Sean to a duel. Although Isaiah rebuffed him, Sean stated that he knew his fears. Isaiah then used the Trident to inflict nightmares on the teenagers. However, when Owen snapped out of the illusion, David and the others followed his lead by accepting their nightmares.[30]
Isaiah tried using the other prongs against the group, but David and his friends pressed on and broke through the illusions. When Owen engaged Isaiah in combat, David and the rest joined him and started to attack Isaiah. After disarming and weakening him, Javier delivered the final blow with Griffin's Hidden Blade. The teens then grabbed the Trident together and felt a surge of power transfer from them to the artifact, seemingly depowering it.[30]
In the aftermath, all the teenagers returned to their families after Victoria promised them that they would be left unbothered by the Templars. Upon arriving at their home, David and Grace agreed to keep what had transpired between themselves. Entering their house, they smelled their mother's banana bread and finally felt at home.[31]
Ancestry[edit | edit source]
David and his sister's lineage traced back to Östen Jorundsson, a 10th-century farmer from Sweden who fought in the Battle of Fýrisvellir and was married to Hilla, with whom he fathered three children: Tørgils, Agnes, and Greta.[24][25] The siblings were also descendants of Masireh, a 14th-century Wangaran gold trader from Timbuktu.[10]
During the 19th century, David and Grace's ancestors included Abraham, an Afro-American servant employed by William M. Tweed, and his daughter Eliza, who went on to join the Assassins during the American Civil War.[5] The siblings also had at least one ancestor who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during the 1940s.[10]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
References[edit | edit source]