Yasuke was not a great samurai warrior, like some like to beleive.

[Zombie Enthusiast]

He was kept around by Oda Nobunaga as an oddity, since seeing a black person back then was just something else to him. Nobunaga was a man that had an interest in anything that was unique and foreign. Hell, he kept the skull of Azai Nagamasa, which he plated in gold, which he loved to show off to others, even though they thought it was tacky. When he was first introduced to Yasuke by Italian Jesuit Allesandro Valignano, the dude thought his skin was painted dark as some sort of trick by Jesuit. Nobunaga had Yasuke stripped down and bathed right there, and when he realized that was his actual skin color, he was enthralled by it. He couldn't help but be enthused by this revelation.

At some point in time, he went in service to Nobunaga as a sword bearer, but most sword bearers back then never really went into battle. There is no historical evidence that he fought in any battles. There is also no historical evidence that he learned to speak Japanese or become greatly respected. There is no evidence that Nobunaga trained Yasuke to be a great warrior, since the two only knew each other for a few months before Nobunaga died. But, there is evidence that his top generals hated Yasuke, with them thinking he was nothing more than a wild beast.

It's just a myth. There was no great black samurai. Yasuke was just kept around as some sort of pet for Nobunaga to show off to others during the little time that the two spent with each other.

[werwolfgaming]

Well since u got 1 think wrong i wont believe u there is evidence written letters litterally stating yasuke was seen talking to nobunaga on multiple occasions usally in japanese the only thing we dont know is how good he was at the language but we do know he did speak it to some extent

[Noxbi 🌈]

Yeah, congratulations! You just realized Assassin's Creed is inspired my myths and conspiracy theories. GG
It's like, you know...
- Assassins were more of an unorganized terrorist group, not an underground society of freedom fighters
- No one beat the ♥♥♥♥ out of Alexander VI inside the Raphael Room in Vatican
- Machiavelli was a cynical piece of ♥♥♥♥, and were friends with Cesare Borgia. He wrote "The Prince" about him, not Ezio
- Leonardo never built any of his machines
- Charles Lee was just salty he wasn't chosen for a commander instead of Washington, and instead of scheming some Templar ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ he was taking part of 7 years war and Russia-Turkey war
- Blackbeard persona was just a legend. He was a distinguished gentleman like any other British born person these days
- French Revolution is a joke in AC Unity
- oh, and it's doubtful Napoleon had any magical artifact on him during his campaigns
- Don't make me started on Karl Marx
- Cleopatra isn't as pale as the actual one, plus she dressed provocatively only in Julius Caesar's private chambers, not like all the time lol
- I don't think Leonidas ever had any magical weapons

Just to name a few...

[Gothicc Feeldoe]

I dont get why people are caring so much about yasuke if he really was a good samurai or even saw any battles. Hes basically a blank slate that can be up for different interpretations. All we should care about is if ubisoft's interpretation is well thought out, creative and fits in the narrative they are trying to tell us. Of course the most important aspect if he's fun to play as. Thats the point of games right?

[Ragnar Random]

for real, these games are historical fiction, emphasis on fiction.
every single entry has been rife with a combination of historical accuracy and historical inaccuracy.
alot of people are just mad because they need a "woke" bogeyman to rail against. if they didnt have the obvious target of a black samurai, it would be the fact that the other main character is a woman that they would be against, and saying she is ugly because her breasts arent large enough or some other silly asmongold-type manufactured outrage nonsense.

[𝔰𝔦𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔞 ✝]

There is evidence of him speaking Japanese. Please do not spread false information.

[fubuki]

Originally posted by Ragnar Random:

for real, these games are historical fiction, emphasis on fiction.
every single entry has been rife with a combination of historical accuracy and historical inaccuracy.
alot of people are just mad because they need a "woke" bogeyman to rail against. if they didnt have the obvious target of a black samurai, it would be the fact that the other main character is a woman that they would be against, and saying she is ugly because her breasts arent large enough or some other silly asmongold-type manufactured outrage nonsense.

Ubisoft was promoting Yasuke being samurai as stated fact not game fiction that's why people got angry. Because of lack informations about him he would make great character to use as a mentor, while Nobunaga liked him, having more freedom under him Yasuke would build Japanese branch of brotherhood.

But Ubisoft being Ubisoft did what they did

[sarahewarren]

Yeah...I think Ubisoft tends to abide by the "based on a true story" rule rather than making their games purely autobiographical like that, lol. That's ok with me though, if it makes for a better or more fluid story. I'm happy to take their creative licenses with a grain of salt and just enjoy the story for what it is...just a story. But I do understand if some might not like that.

[[TW] Shadow]

lv3 lol~~

[Mr. Malum]

They should remodel him to look like Johnny Somali at this point.

[Noxbi 🌈]

Originally posted by Tamamushiiro:

he had no significant achievements whatsoever.

And that makes him perfect Assassin's Creed character. Like, there are no sources indicating Ezio Auditore, Arno Dorian, Altair, Desmond Miles, Edward Kenway etc. even ever existed.

[rossi191]

Originally posted by Gothicc Feeldoe:

I dont get why people are caring so much about yasuke if he really was a good samurai or even saw any battles. Hes basically a blank slate that can be up for different interpretations. All we should care about is if ubisoft's interpretation is well thought out, creative and fits in the narrative they are trying to tell us. Of course the most important aspect if he's fun to play as. Thats the point of games right?

its simple really this is set in japan during a time when many Japanese warriors existed they could have picked anyone of them to create or use parts of there legendary stories but were all over looked so they could use a man who wasn't a samurai just to say we have a black protagonist to please political correctness if they really wanted a black character why didn't they make a game based on one of the great African warrior nations like the Zulus i for one would enjoy a game like that. what we have is something be created using one nations history and instead of focusing on them there making it about someone from another nation.

[i-dot]

Originally posted by rossi191:

if they really wanted a black character why didn't they make a game based on one of the great African warrior nations like the Zulus

Yasuke was a real person who lived in Japan and he was a favourite of lord Oda Nobunaga

[pope henry viii]

It's really odd to see people rolling out, in defence of this, the suggestion that it's in line with previous approaches in other titles. There's a difference between taking some historical licence for a clear 'what if?' fantasy, and proliferating malicious lies spread by an unethical, dishonest 'academic'.

In particular it's a problem because it gives air to conspiracy theories that have some currency and are genuinely harmful, without making clear that this stuff is batpoo and bullpoo (whereas it's plainly obvious that the Templars conspiracies are made up for fun).

There are racial theories believed by a lot of blacks in America (who are trying to compensate for their disconnection from their heritage in Africa and who deserve some sympathy), which seeks to insert black Africans into all sorts of places in history where they simply didn't appear and don't belong - saying Cleopatra was black, the blacks built the great Egyptian pyramids, the Tang Dynasty Chinese were black, William the Conqueror was black, Shakespeare was black, the Olmecs were black, samurai were black, the Israelites in the Bible were black, you name it, if there's some opportunity to suggest that anything significant in history should be attributed to how great and special black Africans are, these maniacs will propagate that lie.

People would be similarly disgusted by a work that portrayed ancient Indians as Nordic Whites on the basis of discredited 20th century Aryan racial theories. Why does this get a pass?

[Noxbi 🌈]

Originally posted by pope henry viii:

People would be similarly disgusted by a work that portrayed ancient Indians as Nordic Whites on the basis of discredited 20th century Aryan racial theories. Why does this get a pass?

How is that relevant? Race theory, or whatever, doesn't really apply to this game.
Yasuke is one character that has a basis in some historical sources, that's enough to play with the idea. Just like every game in the series does. Video games are supposed to serve entertainment, if they inspire someone to read some history it is for the better. They might learn something and realize "oh man, so Francesco de Pazzi was actually taken out of his bed and dragged through the streets of Florence by an angry mob and not mercifully killed by Ezio", "oh, so it wasn't Ezio that prevented assassination of Selim I", or "oh so Yasuke wasn't so significant in actual history", or "ooooh, so Al Mualim is not actually based on Rashid al-Din Sinan", etc.
It's not a "we wuz kangz" kind of BS. Assassin's Creed always played with myths and creative interpretations of historical characters. The one that annoys me to this day is choosing Borgias as onedimentional villains. Like, why? But I understand that it works for a narrative in a video game, and if they make Yasuke work equally well as a part of already not so historically accurate AC lore then it's alright really. There's absolutely no reason for any outrage.

[Voland]

Originally posted by Gothicc Feeldoe:

I dont get why people are caring so much about yasuke if he really was a good samurai or even saw any battles. Hes basically a blank slate that can be up for different interpretations.

your problem is that you trying to use logic, which woke warfare dont use, to begin with

basically everyone mad only cus he is playable character. if he would be just some NPC, no matter how "samuraish" he would be portrayed(btw we still dont know if Yasuke have official samurai title in AC Shadows yet. for now it looks like he is some personal warrior of Nobunaga, and thats it), no one would care. there was at least 2 black vikings NPC in valhalla and there wasnt much of drama about that. just like no one care about Yasuke before AC, even though he was portrayed as black samurai multiple times even by japanese. this is popular franchise, so this is become popular topic by default.