Griffin (Assassin)
Griffin (died 2016) was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood active during the early 21st century. In 2016, he became involved in the search for the pieces of the Trident of Eden, allying with a group of teenagers to find the artifacts before the Templars. In particular, he became close to Javier Mondragón, acting as a mentor figure to the boy while teaching him about the Brotherhood's techniques and principles.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Search for the Trident of Eden[edit | edit source]
The First Prong[edit | edit source]
In October 2016,[1][2] after the Brotherhood discovered that Sebastian Monroe, a former employee of Abstergo Industries on the run, had come out of hiding, Griffin was sent to investigate. Discovering that Monroe had recruited a group of teenagers who discovered clues leading to a Piece of Eden while using a stolen Animus, the Assassin tried to learn what they knew and to prevent the Templars from reaching them first. Later, as an Abstergo agent accosted Owen Meyers on the street, Griffin intervened, neutralizing him, but the young teen managed to flee with the help of Monroe.[4]
Griffin's intervention did not prevent the Templars from eventually finding the warehouse where the teenagers were reliving the memories of their ancestors under Monroe's supervision, and they sent a strike team which captured four of them. While Monroe fled alone, the last two teenagers, Owen and Javier Mondragón, escaped thanks to the Bleeding Effect, and Griffin retrieved them thanks to a tracking device in their stolen Abstergo bike. Griffin convinced Owen to trust him, and the teenager in turn convinced his reluctant friend to work with the Assassins.[5]
The two boys revealed that during their time in the Animus, they discovered that a Dagger of Eden had been gifted to Ulysses S. Grant, who kept it until his death in his family cottage. Griffin prompted them to use Eagle Vision to see if he was truly trustworthy and promised to secure the Brotherhood's help in order to prove that Owen's father was innocent of the crime he had been arrested for. He then brought them to his safehouse.[6]
After equipping themselves and receiving a call from Gavin Banks, who revealed that the Dagger was in fact a prong of the Trident of Eden, they took a private plane to New York City and from there drove to Grant's house. However, someone else had arrived there first and had taken the artifact, leaving the stash empty. Before Griffin and the boys could depart, three helicopters filled with Templar agents arrived. Owen destroyed two of them with an EMP grenade, allowing the group to escape, although Griffin was furious that Owen had disobeyed his order not to engage and threatened to forgo his promise of exonerating his father if Owen went against his orders again.[6]
After reminding Owen and Javier that there were still three Pieces of Eden that Abstergo desired and that the Templars believed they and the other teenagers were the key to finding them, Griffin offered the boys a choice to carry on. Javier considered refusing while Owen was willing to accept the Assassin's offer.[6]
The Second Prong[edit | edit source]
Griffin spent the next few weeks training the two teenagers in basic combat and freerunning, though the latter had trouble understanding what it meant to hide in plain sight. Subsequently, Griffin was warned by Gavin that their Abstergo informant, Rothenburg, had tipped them that his storage unit safehouse was compromised, and ordered him to rendezvous with Rebecca Crane. Griffin scuttled the safehouse but was forced to abandon his car as the Templar strike team arrived earlier than expected.[7]
After dealing with the Templars, Griffin taught the boys how to blend in by taking a cab to their new safehouse, where they met Rebecca, who had set up an Animus for Owen. Rebecca explained to Owen that a Chinese ancestor of his had encountered the second prong in 1259. Soon afterwards, she was forced to leave on a different mission.[7]
While supervising Owen's Animus session, Griffin reluctantly let Javier leave the safehouse, but the young man stole his car to break into the police warehouse where Owen's father's case file was stored. Upon Javier's return, Griffin scolded him for risking their safehouse's location and informed him of the three tenets of the Creed, saying he was lucky he had not compromised the Brotherhood. Though Javier protested that he was not an Assassin, Griffin stated that sooner or later a side would have to be chosen.[8]
Once Owen was out of the Animus, having learned nothing about the second prong's location, Griffin informed him of his friend's reckless actions. Owen soon searched through the evidence, finding a spit sample that contained his father's DNA from after the robbery. Griffin stated they would first have to get access to a Helix and the Abstergo Cloud to view his father's genetic memories.[9]
Griffin then contacted Gavin for any intel from Rothenburg, only to learn that the informant had gone dark, leaving Griffin's only recourse to rescue the other teenagers from the Templars.[9] Owen and Javier insisted on coming with him, reasoning that the others would not trust the Assassin. After equipping themselves with pain grenades and laser arrays, Griffin drove them to the Aerie and taught them how to avoid the security systems. Unfortunately, Griffin later got separated from the boys.[10]
Deciding to clear Owen and Javier a path, Griffin made his presence known to the Templars as a diversion. He soon met up with Javier, who had rescued Natalya and David, who had chosen to flee the Templars, but Sean and Grace had chosen to stay, which Griffin found unsurprising. The Assassin then took the wheel of the high-tech car the teenagers had stolen, and was able to evade Abstergo helicopters thanks to the car's stealth functions. He later learned that Monroe had also staged a rescue attempt and that he and Owen had been left behind.[11]
Upon returning to the safehouse, Griffin desired to vacate the place immediately, believing Owen would be interrogated with drugs or have the Helix analyze his DNA. He then contacted Gavin, who informed him that Rothenburg was displeased with the raid and had nearly broken off contact before revealing that the Templar Isaiah was planning an expedition to Mongolia. With their safehouse secured for the time being and Isaiah not ready to leave for several days, Griffin asked Natalya if she would go back into the Animus to locate the second prong. Natalya agreed on the condition that he take them all to Mongolia.[11]
Griffin, Natalya, David and Javier traveled to China via cargo plane. While on the plane, Griffin asked Javier to join the Brotherhood. The teenager liked the idea, and Griffin told him that after they found the Trident of Eden, his introduction could be arranged. When they arrived in China, they met the Assassin Yanmei, who provided a private jet for the journey to Mongolia. On the way to the tomb, the jet was shot down by the Templars.[12] Surviving the crash, the Assassins confirmed the location of the Abstergo camp. As they made their way to the tomb on foot, David went towards the Abstergo camp, believing a series of lights were signalling to him that Grace was there, but this turned out to be a trap and he was captured by the Templars.[13]
Upon reaching the spot where Natalya had desynchronized, she still refused to give up the location of the tomb, refusing to trust the Assassins due to their absolute obedience to the Creed. However, Yanmei managed to convince Natalya to lead them to the tomb. As the Assassins started digging, Natalya tricked Javier into showing her how to operate his crossbow pistol before using sleep darts on the Assassins. Javier then assisted her in the excavation, and they were soon joined by Owen, Grace, David, and Monroe, who had just escaped the Templar camp.[14]
As Isaiah entered the tomb, the Assassins regained consciousness and attacked Isaiah, at which point Javier used a smoke bomb to vanish. Isaiah soon emerged from the tomb with the Fear Prong and used its powers against everyone present. He then killed Yanmei when she tried to attack him, and ordered the Templars to follow him, leaving the teenagers and the Assassins behind.[15]
Recovering from the prong's effects, Griffin carried Yanmei's body out of the tomb. Upon reaching the Abstergo camp, Natalya felt regret for not telling the Assassins the tomb's location earlier, but Griffin reminded her that people die in war and that Yanmei would have respected her principles. He then tried to find a way to communicate with Gavin Banks or Yanmei's cell, only to be interrupted by Victoria Bibeau's arrival. Grace and the other teenagers went to her while Griffin remained hidden.[15]
Having learned of Isaiah's betrayal of the Order, Victoria informed everyone that Isaiah had also acquired the first prong. The Templars then drew their weapons upon hearing that the Assassins were present, but Natalya reasoned that both sides needed to work together before Isaiah destroyed both Orders. Griffin and Victoria subsequently agreed to a ceasefire until they defeated Isaiah and recovered the third prong, which was in Scandinavia.[15]
The Third Prong[edit | edit source]
Having effectively broken the Brotherhood's code by working with the Templars, Griffin and Victoria oversaw the children's Animus sessions while also trying to track down Isaiah.[16] After determining the location of the last prong,[17] Griffin decided to travel with Owen, Natalya, and Grace to retrieve it, due to them experiencing and obtaining a "shield" from their collective unconscious session with Minerva. Before leaving, they all spent the night together and discussed the Templars' and Assassins' historical mishaps, causing some tensions within the group.[18]
The next day, Griffin and the teenagers left on a commercial flight to Västerås, Sweden, to avoid detection.[18] They arrived in Västerås and followed Grace's lead, due to her having relived memories of her ancestor Östen Jorundsson, who had last held the prong. Telling Owen and Natalya to wait, Griffin and Grace went to investigate a bottled spring water company called Dolkkälla.[19]
Within the building, they spotted the prong on full display but learned that another American woman had visited earlier. Leaving the building, Griffin and Grace reconvened with Owen and Natalya, and the Assassin volunteered to steal the prong alone at night, once all the employees had left. The teenagers reluctantly agreed to follow his plan and waited for his return.[19]
Death and legacy[edit | edit source]
However, during his infiltration, Griffin was caught by Isaiah and his men, who shot at him. Although managing to grab the Devotion Prong, the Assassin was wounded by the gunfire. Trying to escape, he was soon surrounded by Abstergo guards.[19] Fortunately, Owen and Grace came to his rescue, and Griffin gave Grace the prong to carry.[3]
Since he was too injured to walk, Griffin was carried to safety by the teenagers as they all fled from Isaiah's men. Hiding near a stream, Griffin handed his Hidden Blade to Owen and instructed him to give it to Javier, saying that he had earned it. After exchanging some final words, Griffin succumbed to his wounds and passed away.[3]
Reluctantly leaving his body behind,[3] Owen, Natalya, and Grace were saved by Sean, who had contacted Victoria to rescue them. Back at the Aerie, Owen gave Griffin's Hidden Blade to Javier as promised.[20] When Isaiah attacked, all six teenagers managed to combat the Trident's power and ultimately defeat Isaiah. With Griffin's blade, Javier struck the final blow, killing Isaiah and ending his plan for world domination.[21] Later, Javier, inspired by Griffin's lessons and sacrifice, considered accepting his invite to join the Assassins, but decided to wait until the time was right.[22]
Personality and traits[edit | edit source]
Having been born into the Brotherhood, Griffin strongly believed in the Assassins' cause and the Creed, willing to die to defend an individual's free will. An experienced veteran, Griffin possessed sharp cunning in deducing that Owen and Javier had Assassin and/or Templar ancestry.[5]
Griffin was dark-skinned with a shaved head and usually wore sunglasses. He also had a pair of black pants that resembled military fatigues, a hooded leather jacket, and a white t-shirt.[5]
Skills and equipment[edit | edit source]
As a member of the Assassins, it can be assumed that Griffin possessed all the skills that the Brotherhood trained him to have. He displayed skill with blades, was an expert acrobat and freerunner, and was also talented in the art of espionage, stealth, infiltration, disguise, thievery, and eavesdropping. Furthermore, he was a skilled marksman and had a load of gadgetry at his disposal.[6]
Griffin wielded a rechargeable Shock Blade that could extend to various lengths and also featured a grappling hook attachment, sensors, and an EMP function. He further carried various types of grenades and poison darts.[6]
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
Griffin is a character featured in the 2016–2017 Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants novel trilogy written by Matthew J. Kirby. Following the franchise's tradition of Assassins having avian-related names, a griffin is a mythological creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Concept art by Studio Lounak -
Concept art by Studio Lounak
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
References[edit | edit source]