The History Of Yasuke And His Role In AC Shadows, Explained

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home March 24, 2025 7 Views 10 Min Read
The History Of Yasuke And His Role In AC Shadows, Explained
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From Africa to Japan. From slave to warrior. During the Sengoku period, when Japan was torn by war, Jesuits went to Japan, and with them, the man who would eventually be known as Yasuke. Known as the Black Samurai in media nowadays, his story has been told in shows and games, and we have another version of his tale in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Yasuke stands in the rain on the left, Nagato plays music on the right, and Naoe looks past us in the center, all in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

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That said, Yasuke’s actual history is extremely mysterious, as we know very little about the man himself. We know he actually existed, so the tale itself is not completely made up, but from his origin to his death, there are many gaps in our knowledge of him.

Where Was Yasuke From Before Japan?

Yasuke while he was still with the Jesuits, in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Starting with a mystery right off the bat, we don’t know where Yasuke is from. Obviously, the answer would be Africa, but the country itself is an enigma. As was common during the colonization period, slavers just didn’t care about documenting the place of birth of each person they enslaved, so we can’t say for sure where he was from.

Still, most historians believe Yasuke was from Mozambique, though some also believed he may have been from South Sudan.

Because of specific slurs used by Jesuits when referring to Yasuke, there’s also the theory that Yasuke could’ve been Muslim, but whether these insults were based on his background or merely generalizing is a mystery, too.

As a slave, Yasuke served under Jesuit Alessandro Valignano. They traveled together throughout the Indies, where it’s believed Yasuke served as a sort of bodyguard. Yasuke was known for being tall and strong even at an early age, and because of his role as bodyguard, he knew how to fight even before reaching Japan.

Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga looking past the camera in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

It’s hard to talk about Yasuke without involving Oda Nobunaga in the mix. During this period, he was one of the most influential men in Japan, fighting in a war to unify the territory. That’s when Jesuit Valignano visited him, accompanied by Yasuke, who historians believe was in his early twenties at this point.

Yasuke accompanying the Jesuits drew attention to the point that Oda Nobunaga specifically asked the Jesuits to bring Yasuke for their conversations. The Jesuits traded Yasuke with Oda Nobunaga in exchange for freedom to continue their mission of spreading Christianity in Japan.

Naoe in a room in Assassin's Creed Shadows

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Nobunaga gave him the name Yasuke. Under Nobunaga, Yasuke was no longer a slave and received his own weapon and land, being formally seen and treated as a warrior. He was also Nobunaga’s weapon retainer and personal bodyguard, which was a huge honor.

Yasuke and Nobunaga’s relationship is also a bit of a mystery, but it’s not a stretch to assume they had a genuine friendship. Nobunaga was fascinated by how Yasuke looked, and because Nobunaga freed him from being a slave, the respect and admiration Yasuke had for him were also stated to be genuine.

They also spent a lot of time together, considering that Yasuke was his weapon retainer and bodyguard.

Was Yasuke A Samurai?

Yasuke wearing his armor at night in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

Most of the discussions about Yasuke debate to this point: Was he or was he not a samurai? Well, we’re sad to inform you that the answer is not a fun one: we don’t know. There’s evidence on both sides, but they both lack ground to stand on.

Many people claim he wasn’t a samurai because it isn’t documented. However, during the time period this would have happened, people didn’t use the term samurai with such formality that it required documentation to begin with.

Regardless, there’s no physical evidence that he was ever called anything of the sort outside of Bushi, which is just a generic word for warrior. There are many other terms for a warrior depending on what specific job he had, and we don’t know which of these Yasuke was.

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Another evidence people use for Yasuke not being a samurai is the fact he didn’t commit seppuku (a ritualistic suicide) after Nobunaga’s death. Many counter this argument that, either out of compassion or xenophobia, he was excused from doing so. Still, there is no real evidence to support these arguments, as mentioned.

Most of the evidence supporting the idea of him being a samurai is that he had most of the perks of being one.

He had weapons and land, and his position in Nobunaga’s hierarchy placed him above many samurai who served under Nobunaga. Still, we don’t know the reasons behind these; he could’ve received land purely because he was a foreigner and, therefore, homeless to begin with.

In the end, we can’t say he was a samurai, but we can’t dismiss it either, purely due to lack of evidence on both sides.

Yasuke’s Death

Yasuke standing in the rain in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

His death is as mysterious as his life because history has pretty much forgotten about him since the death of his lord. When Nobunaga died, committing seppuku after being betrayed by his vassal, Akechi Mitsuhide, Yasuke joined and served Oda Nobutada, Nobunaga’s eldest son.

Yasuke was later captured when Nobutada was also defeated by Mitsuhide, who committed seppuku as well. Yasuke was spared having to commit seppuku, as mentioned above, for reasons we still don’t know for sure.

Historians theorized it could’ve been xenophobia, as Mitsuhide didn’t want a foreigner to do their ritualistic suicide, compassion, as for being an outsider, he didn’t need to suffer such a fate, or even politics, as killing him could’ve affected the relationship between them and the Jesuits.

Regardless of the reason, we know he survived the fall of Oda Nobutada, as there are Jesuit documents from after this event that mention Yasuke being alive. There’s nothing more about him afterward, though, so the rest of his life and cause of death is unknown.

Yasuke’s Role In Assassin’s Creed Shadows

naoe and yasuke in assassin's creed shadows
via Ubisoft

As one of the playable characters in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Yasuke has an extensive story in the game. Still, the story is mostly Ubisoft’s creative liberties over the man’s life.

We won’t focus on the obvious (he wasn’t helping out an ancient order of assassins, guys). However, his personality, behavior, and choices made in the game are still works of writers rather than evidence, as we have very little of him documented. Even how he got his Japanese name is a creative liberty.

Even the fact he appears in full samurai armor and fights using samurai techniques is something we have no proof of because even if he was deemed samurai, he didn’t have a lot of time to perfect this training, and that’s assuming he received such training in the first place.

In other words, don’t presume that what you see in the game is historically accurate. Still, his moments with Nobunaga, the way he draws attention to himself, and the fact he is respectful of Japanese tradition are accurate to descriptions of him.

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