Rufino

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Rufino was a Portuguese traveler and translator who lived in Japan during the late 16th century. Briefly employed by the Portuguese Templars, he eventually abandoned them after learning of their plans to murder influential locals across the land and increase their influence.

Wishing to protect the innocent people targeted by the Templars, Rufino met and enlisted the help of the Kakushiba ikki members Fujibayashi Naoe and Yasuke to foil the Templars' plot. Although deceiving his newfound allies in an attempt to protect his friend Ermigo, who served the Order, Rufino ultimately assisted Naoe and Yasuke in eliminating the Templar Gaspar, and joined their league not long after.

Biography

Early life

Rufino was born in Portugal and arrived in Japan as a young child, where his parents abandoned him on the streets of Hakata. An outsider for most of his life, Rufino found himself following others in search of a quick rich living. However, he soon became penniless and found himself living on the streets. Fortunately, he found companionship among fellow strays Umi, Garrett, and Ryuichi, and together they became a group of traveling vigilantes.

At one point, the group traveled to Izumi Settsu, where they saved Tomiko and a young Heiji from an attack that had left Tomiko's family and friends dead. The brutality of the attack shook Rufino to his core, and from that point on he dedicated himself to ending all forms of conflict. Over time, Rufino's group became frequent visitors of Tomiko's homestead, but eventually lost contact with her after some years.

Working for the Templars

By 1582, Rufino had been left to survive on his own once again after all of his friends died at some point during their travels. Seeking new companionship, he befriended a fellow Portuguese named Ermigo, with whom he worked as a translator for other Portuguese businessmen. In addition to translating documents, his job also required him to reach out to local influential people across the land.

After giving a list of their names to Ermigo, Rufino soon learned of a contact's death and investigated it. He discovered that a mysterious group was targeting the people on his list, seeking to eliminate and replace them with their own allies to increase their influence. After learning that all the information he had gathered was kept on a ship off the coast of Sakai, Rufino knew he had to destroy it, and decided to visit the only true ally he had left: Tomiko. Meanwhile, the Portuguese Templar Gaspar learned of Rufino's betrayal and ordered Ermigo to kill him before he exposed their plans.

Joining the Kakushiba ikki

Arriving at Tomiko's homestead, Rufino explored the land, being surprised at how much it had changed since his last visit. While lurking around the homestead grounds, he was found by the Kakushiba ikki members Fujibayashi Naoe and Yasuke before Tomiko arrived. When Rufino hugged her, Tomiko explained their history before they convened at the main residence. There, Rufino detailed his findings and requested help destroying the documents from the ship near Sakai. Naoe and Yasuke agreed to help while Rufino promised to follow behind them.

After Naoe and Yasuke found and climbed aboard the ship, they destroyed all the documents. As promised, Rufino arrived not long after, but was caught by one of the killers hired by the Templars. Naoe and Yasuke saved him and eliminated the hired killer. Among the man's personal effects, they found a note revealing that several contracts had already been sent out, meaning innocent people were still in danger. With this new information, Naoe and Yasuke promised to eliminate the killers before they could fulfill their contracts, much to Rufino's gratitude.

After Naoe and Yasuke assassinated all the hired killers, they returned to the homestead and met with Rufino. Given three encoded messages recovered from the killers, Rufino deciphered them and discovered that Ermigo was part of the conspiracy, had betrayed him, and had orders to kill him. Still feeling loyal to his friend and wanting answers, Rufino lied to Naoe and Yasuke, giving them a false location while he secretly went to confront Ermigo himself.

Traveling to the Kashiwabara Fortress in Ōmi, Rufino met with Ermigo and confronted him about his betrayal. While Ermigo tried to explain that it was all part of the Templars' wider plan, they were interrupted by the arrival of Naoe and Yasuke. As Yasuke marched towards them and accused Rufino of betraying him and Naoe, Rufino responded that he only sought to protect Ermigo, who had been there for him when he had no one. Rufino then unholstered his pistol while Yasuke halted Naoe, putting them at a standoff.

At that moment, however, Gaspar emerged from the fortress' tower with his guards, whom he ordered to kill everyone, beginning with Rufino. Ermigo pleaded for leniency but Gaspar gave the final command. When the shot was fired, Rufino saw Ermigo step in front of him and take the bullet. Wounded, Ermigo fell to the ground as Rufino held him. Naoe then dropped a smoke bomb while Rufino pointed out that they both had a common enemy. In agreement, they all fought against Gaspar and his men together, ultimately killing them.

Following the Templars' defeat, Rufino returned to Ermigo's side, comforting his friend during his final moments. Ermigo apologized for misleading Rufino and claimed that he only sought to protect him, as he knew Rufino was too soft to serve the Templar cause, but he hoped that in time his friend could be made to see the Templars' vision. After Ermigo succumbed to his wounds, Naoe and Yasuke offered their condolences to Rufino and forgave him for his misleading them. As Rufino stated that he was a hopeful fool and once again had lost everyone, Naoe and Yasuke offered him a place in their league. After several moments of consideration, Rufino accepted their invitation, pledging to aid their fight against the Templars.

Behind the scenes

Rufino is a fictional character created for the 2025 video game Assassin's Creed: Shadows. His first appearance was in a one-shot made as a collaboration with Critical Role Productions, which was released on 16 January 2025. While the one-shot is non-canon, several elements of its story were reused when Rufino was added to Shadows as a recruitable ally on 26 June 2025. In both Shadows and the Critical Role one-shot, he is voiced by Robbie Daymond.

Gallery

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  Rufino

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Shadows – Story Drops