This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
It’s been quite a while since the centuries-old war between the Assassins and Templars was front and center of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey takes place over a thousand years before the Assassin Brotherhood and Templar Order were formed, Assassin’s Creed Origins shows the two secret organizations in their infancy as the Hidden Ones and Order of the Ancients, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla alludes to the formation of the Templars. But for the first time in years, Assassin’s Creed Shadows brings back the Assassin-Templar war, though it still doesn’t take center stage.
The vast majority of Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ main story focuses on the Shinbakufu, a mysterious organization that’s responsible for killing Naoe’s father and leaving her for dead at the start of the game. But after wiping out every last Shinbakufu member in Japan, the Templars suddenly rear their head, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows isn’t afraid to show just how despicable the order can be.
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Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Templars Are Truly Evil
Duarte de Melo – A Sadistic Slaver
Towards the end of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, players will finally unlock Yasuke’s personal missions. These missions see him hunting down a handful of Templars who have a close connection to his past, a connection that players aren’t fully aware of until much later.
The first Templar on Yasuke’s list is Duarte de Melo, a man Assassin’s Creed Shadows wastes no time showing is a truly heinous individual. As Yasuke approaches his ship, Duarte de Melo is shown torturing someone aboard, uttering the words “What did I say about crying? I hate crying,” before slitting the man’s throat.
Yasuke confronts Duarte and a small piece of the puzzle is revealed. Duarte de Melo is the slaver responsible for capturing Yasuke and his mother several years ago. The two engage in a brutal and aggressive fight, with Duarte showing his complete disdain for Yasuke throughout, much of which is based purely on the color of his skin. Duarte’s dying words are “Filth like you does not deserve a name.”
Kimura Kei – Training a New Generation of Templars
While he’s far from the highest rung on the Templar Order’s ladder, Kimura Kei has become something of a Templar leader in Japan. Yasuke finds Kimura hard at work training a new batch of Templar initiates. During their duel, Yasuke gives Kumura several chances to renounce his Templar ideals and surrender, but he refuses, believing that the Templars are the only ones who can bring peace to Japan and end its ongoing civil wars.
Nuno Caro – The Author of Yasuke’s Pain
The big bad of Yasuke’s personal missions, and potentially the final boss in Assassin’s Creed Shadows depending on the order of missions players choose, Nuno Caro was the captain of the ship Yasuke and his mother were bound to. It’s revealed that Duarte de Melo found Yasuke’s mother rifling through documents in Nuno Caro’s cabin, and Caro shoots her in front of Yasuke, using her death as a warning to the rest of the ship’s crew and unwilling passengers.
Nuno Caro tried to execute Yasuke too, but he was saved at the last minute by an unknown member of the Assassin Brotherhood. Yasuke manages to jump overboard in the chaos, where he’s eventually picked up by the Jesuits Luis Frois and Alessandro Valignano. In the years since, Nuno Caro has been slowly corrupting Japan, spreading the Templar infestation across the island.
The Beginning of the End
As Nuno Caro lies on the ground following his duel with Yasuke, he says that his death will be the “beginning of the end” for Yasuke and his allies, as it marks the start of an outright war between the Templars and the League of the Hidden Blade.
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language