One of the biggest and most well-known video game companies in the world, Ubisoft, has many games and long-running franchises steeped in historical storytelling. Whether players want to delve into the manyAssassin’s Creedgames the company has created or explore the huge past library of smaller franchises and excellent one-off games, Ubisoft has something for everyone.
But a video game is only as good as the characters that a player takes control of. Trying to find the passion for the game by connecting with the protagonist is one of the most significant aspects of any game. Ubisoft’s storytelling style includes complex characters and some of the most iconic heroes in video game history.
Assassin’s Creed 3is remembered by fans as a phenomenal entry and major turning point in the series, and Connor remains one of the most interesting characters to step into the shoes of out of the many players have experienced throughout the historical conflicts between Assassins and Templars.
Connor is the son of Haytham Kenway, and must work both with and against him against the backdrop of 18th Century Colonial America. Connor ends up defeating his father and successfully protecting the temple his people were charged with saving,but he couldn’t protect his people. Connor was a protagonist who made excellent points about the limits of being a hero and the reality of the horrors committed to Native American tribes during that time. Even in theAssassin’s Creedseries, this made for a surprisingly dark message.
TheFar Cryfranchise is one of Ubisoft’s most beloved. It constantly mixes fascinating characters with high-octane action on a ludicrous level, but usually, the villains ofFar Cryare more well-remembered than the heroes. The major exception to that rule is Rex Colt, the hero of theFar Cry 3: Blood Dragonspin-off game, a rarity for the franchise.
An 80s-inspired open-world game,Blood Dragontells a traditionally ludicrous story about a cybernetically enhanced warrior looking to get the girl and save the world. This hilarious character idea turned into the best of allFar Cryprotagonists, and a personally favorite hero from throughout Ubisoft history for many fans.
One of the most belovedAssassin’s Creedentries of all,Odysseyputs a new spin on the huge worlds of past games, letting players boldly explore Ancient Greeceas either Alexios or Kassandra. It is the latter who remains canon as far as the larger series is concerned, and who is generally considered the better hero by most fans.
With the backdrop of a war between Sparta and Greece, Kassandra, as the Eagle Bearer, must fight for the Spartans while searching for her family and attempting to stop the Cult of Kosmos. A complicated, massive game, one of the longest in the franchise’s history,Odysseyand Kassandra were more deeply explored as a world and character than almost any in Ubisoft’s history.
Having appeared in many games throughout the franchise, the unnamed Prince that has led the games in thePrince of Persiaseries has mostly been a Ubisoft product, though it didn’t start that way. They bought the franchise in 2001 and rebooted it withSands of Time, which has gone on to become the best-known entry and starred the Prince as a young man fighting against a corrupt Vizier and his army of creatures to save the land.
The Prince of Persia is an iconic hero who managed to get a live-action film, and who uses not only his platforming skills but also the dagger of time to fight deadly beasts. He’s also appeared in more games than most iconic Ubisoft heroes, with five entries having been released since then, although he doesn’tstar in the recently addedPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown, helping make him a common favorite hero among Ubisoft fans.
TheTom Clancygames aren’t often about the characters inhabiting the various military worlds that players find themselves in, but Sam Fisher is a major exception, having led all seven of the games inTom Clancy’s Splinter Cellfranchise,including the upcoming remake. Designed initially from the image of a pair of night-vision goggles and a shadow, Sam Fisher is the epitome of a stealthy black ops warrior.
A grizzled older agent, Fisher has brutally taken out all sorts of threats, proving himself to be a truly terrifying modern war game hero. Facing threats across the globe, he has become an ideal for many video game heroes, the prototype of grizzled warriors everywhere with a dark sense of humor.
One of the faces of Ubisoft historically, Rayman hasn’t appeared as frequently of late but has a great history as one of the most recognizable and beloved Ubisoft creations. His games, though challenging, proved to be hugely successful, helping inspire other companies to engage in similar characters and stylized worlds.
Though Rayman never became the same level of a household name as Mario or Sonic, he is the closest Ubisoft has come to such a defining cartoonish character. His resurgence with games likeRayman OriginsandRayman Legendsin more modern times produced some of the most beloved recent 2D platformers, prompting many fans to ask when the next Rayman appearance will be.
One of the greatest early examples of a strong female gaming protagonist, Jade fromBeyond Good & Evil, was a curious character at a time when many women in video games weren’t taken seriously and were over-sexualized. Jade was an investigative reporter turned resistance fighter against a race of aliens engaged in a conspiracy.
With her martial arts and spy skills, Jade worked in a fantastic game as a great stealth hero, an action hero and a platforming hero. She was everything Ubisoft loves in a hero, while also being a great role model to young women, and the star of what’s now considered by many to beone of the best video games of all time.
TheAssassin’s Creedfranchise generally nowadays jumps around between different periods and settings quite violently. Apart from the modern story parts, there are very few characters who appear in more than one game. This was not the case early in the franchise when Ezio Auditore da Firenze helped the series become what it is today with a trilogy of games he led.
Ezio is a rare example of a video game character who fans have been able to see in every part of his life. Players controlled him from the moment of his birth in the prologue ofAssassin’s Creed 2and saw his death in an animated short that told the last years of his life. In between, he accomplished a lot, proved himself the eternal true protagonist of the franchise, and worked a true lifetime against the Templar forces, even bringing down one of the most corrupt families in history. Ezio proved himself, beyond all doubt,the best of Ubisoft’s protagonists to date.
