How Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Dual Heroes Could Rewrite Movement

Assassin’s Creed has always been as much about how you move as it is about where you go. From clambering over Renaissance rooftops to charging across open-world battlefields, movement defines the fantasy of being an Assassin. With Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft is pushing that idea further by designing two protagonists, Yasuke and Naoe, whose movements are radically different by design rather than just cosmetics. That shift doesn’t just impact this one game; it hints at how future Assassin’s Creed heroes might move, fight, and even stand in the world.

From One Hero to Many: The Evolution of Assassin’s Creed Protagonists

Earlier Assassin’s Creed entries relied heavily on a single hero whose animations and abilities were tuned around a broad fantasy: a nimble assassin who could climb almost anything, blend into crowds, and hold their own in a fight. Over the years, that template evolved from agile parkour specialists into more RPG-like warriors.

Players have seen several experiments along the way:

• Early titles emphasized parkour and social stealth, prioritizing acrobatics over heavy combat.
• Later RPG-style entries like those set in ancient Greece and England tilted toward large-scale combat, loot, and abilities, sometimes at the expense of precise movement.
• Dual-protagonist experiments appeared before, but often the characters felt similar in how they traversed the world.

Shadows builds on this history but moves in a more deliberate direction: the protagonists do not simply share a base rig and a handful of unique moves; instead, their physicality and archetypes are foundational to how they interact with the environment.

The Setting That Demands Distinct Movement

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set in late Sengoku-period Japan, a turbulent era of warlords, shifting alliances, and rapid political change. Ubisoft describes the game’s timeframe as the Azuchi–Momoyama era, when powerful leaders like Oda Nobunaga began consolidating power and transforming the country’s political landscape.¹This setting comes with a mix of densely built castle towns, sprawling rural estates, and fortified compounds, all of which invite different movement and combat styles.

Designing a world that must be navigable both by a heavily armored warrior and a highly mobile shinobi pushes the team to think beyond one-size-fits-all traversal. The geography—multi-level castles, tight alleyways, rice fields, forested slopes—supports multiple approaches, and the characters’ bodies and skills are tailored to those approaches.

Yasuke: Weight, Momentum, and Presence

Yasuke is a towering, heavily armed samurai, inspired by the real historical figure who served under Oda Nobunaga in the late 16th century.² From a design standpoint, that means he cannot and should not move like the series’ traditional lightweight Assassins.

How Yasuke’s Physicality Shapes His Movement

Yasuke’s body type and equipment influence every aspect of his physical performance:

• Stride and acceleration: He likely has a powerful, grounded run with slower initial acceleration but strong momentum once he’s moving.
• Jumping and climbing: His jumps are probably shorter and heavier, and his climbs more deliberate, reflecting armor weight and mass.
• Landing behavior: Drops from heights may integrate impactful landings, with visible weight shifts and slower recovery than a nimble assassin.

Instead of forcing him into the traditional parkour mold, his animation set can emphasize authority and impact. When he moves through streets, NPC reactions, camera framing, and animation timing can signal that a formidable samurai is passing through, not an unseen shadow.

Combat Built Around Power

In combat, Yasuke represents the fantasy of a frontline warrior:

• Weapon handling: Heavy swords, polearms, and other weighty weapons fit his frame, with wide arcs and strong follow-through.
• Defense and armor: He can more realistically absorb or deflect attacks, encouraging players to use blocks, parries, and counter-strikes.
• Environmental dominance: Narrow corridors, gates, and doorways become choke points where Yasuke can stand his ground.

These design choices send a clear message: Yasuke is not meant to slip unnoticed through a fortress; he is the storm that hits once the alarm sounds.

Naoe: The Return of the Agile Assassin

Naoe, by contrast, embodies the classic Assassin fantasy, reimagined through the lens of a Japanese shinobi. She is lightly equipped, stealth-oriented, and built for fluid traversal and silent kills.

Parkour as a Core Identity

Ubisoft developers have indicated that they want to push parkour back toward the center of the franchise’s identity going forward, positioning it as a core pillar alongside stealth and combat.³Naoe is the perfect vehicle for that renewed focus:

• Vertical freedom: She is likely optimized for rapid climbing, wall-running, and rooftop navigation.
• Precision movement: Narrow beams, rafters, and tight ledges become her natural terrain, rewarding timing and spatial awareness.
• Low-profile traversal: She can remain unseen while moving, using crouching, cover-to-cover transitions, and silent landings.

For players who miss the intricate rooftop chases and carefully timed jumps of earlier games, Naoe’s design hints at a deliberate attempt to restore that style in a modern format.

Stealth as a Movement Style, Not Just a Mode

Naoe’s movement is not just “faster” or “lighter” than Yasuke’s; it’s designed as stealth in motion:

• Noise-conscious navigation: She likely has contextual movement that reduces sound—slower crouch walks, soft landings, and careful surface transitions.
• Shadow usage: Her pathing through levels benefits from darker routes, overhangs, and back alleys that keep her out of sight.
• Acrobatic takedowns: Assassinations from above, through windows, or from tight ledges reinforce her aerial and positional advantage.

This creates a clear identity contrast: where Yasuke claims space by being visible and unstoppable, Naoe “does not exist” in the eyes of her enemies until it’s too late.

Side-by-Side: How Yasuke and Naoe Reshape Player Choice

The real design innovation in Shadows is not simply that there are two protagonists, but that their movement and combat philosophies are deeply intertwined with level design and mission structure. The following table summarizes their likely contrasts:

This duality encourages players to think not just about what mission they are tackling, but which body they want to be inhabiting when they do it. The choice is not a superficial reskin; it fundamentally changes the route, the pace, and the risk profile of each encounter.

Design Lessons That Could Shape Future Protagonists

Ubisoft has already suggested that dual protagonists could return in future games if they make sense for the story and setting, and that the lessons learned from Yasuke and Naoe are influencing how the team thinks about parkour and movement going forward.³Several key design principles emerge from Shadows that could guide the next generation of heroes.

1. Physicality as a First-Class Design Constraint

One of the most important shifts is treating a character’s physical characteristics—height, build, equipment—as constraints, not just cosmetic choices. That can lead to protagonists whose movement is more believable and whose differences feel meaningful rather than arbitrary. Future games might:

• Base animation sets on distinct body archetypes instead of stretching one template across all heroes.
• Use gear and armor not only to adjust stats but to visibly alter movement speed, jump reach, and climbing comfort.
• Design missions where a character’s physical limitations become part of the puzzle, not just a disadvantage.

2. Movement as Storytelling

The way a protagonist moves can communicate background, training, and personality without a single line of dialogue. For example:

• A disciplined warrior might move with rigid posture and efficient, minimal gestures.
• A rogue raised on the streets might climb with scrappy, improvised motions that look less polished but more opportunistic.
• A veteran assassin might display calm, economical motion, making even chaotic scenarios feel under control.

In Shadows, Yasuke’s movement can reinforce his role as an outsider-turned-samurai, while Naoe’s fluidity underscores her shinobi upbringing. Future games could continue this trend, using locomotion to enrich character development.

3. Parkour as a Design Pillar, Not an Optional Extra

Ubisoft’s renewed emphasis on parkour acknowledges something long-time fans already know: traversal is one of the most distinctive parts of Assassin’s Creed. Research into player preferences in open-world games suggests that navigation and environmental interaction are crucial to maintaining engagement over long playtimes, as they prevent activities from feeling repetitive and purely menu-driven.⁴

Building protagonists and worlds around movement could lead to:

• More intricate, multi-level cities designed with clear parkour lines for different archetypes.
• Traversal challenges that reward mastery of timing and route planning, rather than just fast travel.
• Distinct parkour “styles” across heroes, making each new game feel mechanically fresh even within the same franchise.

4. Multiple Playstyles Supported by Character Design

Instead of asking one character to cater to every playstyle, Shadows explores the idea of pairing specific playstyles with specific protagonists. Future games might:

• Feature multiple heroes whose abilities and movement cater to stealth, combat, exploration, or social infiltration respectively.
• Offer mission structures where certain objectives are best tackled by particular characters, without outright forcing one choice.
• Allow the narrative to emphasize the strengths and weaknesses of each hero through their mechanical design.

Even in games with a single protagonist, this philosophy could manifest as builds that meaningfully alter traversal—lightweight parkour builds vs. heavy armor builds that change how you navigate the world.

What This Means for the Future of Assassin’s Creed

If Assassin’s Creed Shadows succeeds in making Yasuke and Naoe feel dramatically different to control, it may set a new baseline expectation for the series. Future players could reasonably look for:

• Heroes whose body language and movement reflect their culture, training, and narrative arc.
• Worlds built around multiple traversal fantasies—parkour, mounted traversal, stealthy infiltration, and more.
• Stronger connections between movement, combat, and story, ensuring that each protagonist feels irreplaceable.

The broader industry trend already leans toward protagonists whose mechanics inform their characterization. Whether it’s the deliberate animations of survival horror heroes or the nimble movement of superhero game leads, movement has become a storytelling tool in its own right.⁵Assassin’s Creed, with its historical focus and sprawling worlds, is well positioned to push that idea even further.

FAQs

Is Assassin’s Creed Shadows the first game in the series with two protagonists?

No, previous Assassin’s Creed games have featured multiple playable characters. However, Shadows is notable for making the two heroes—Yasuke and Naoe—feel intentionally distinct in terms of movement, combat design, and role in the world, rather than just sharing a similar template with different cosmetics or abilities.

How will switching between Yasuke and Naoe affect gameplay?

Based on official gameplay breakdowns, players can switch between the two characters at various points while exploring or fast traveling, once both are unlocked. Some activities and quests are better suited to one hero than the other, and certain tasks may explicitly encourage or require a specific protagonist. Progress such as experience and mastery is shared, so players don’t have to worry about one character falling behind.

Will future Assassin’s Creed games also have multiple protagonists?

Developers have indicated that multiple protagonists are a possibility for future games if they make narrative and design sense.³The key takeaway from Shadows is not that every future title will have two heroes, but that when multiple protagonists exist, they will likely be designed to feel mechanically and physically distinct.

Is parkour really coming back as a major focus?

Ubisoft developers have publicly stated that they want to push parkour forward and make it matter more in upcoming titles, starting with post-launch support and continuing into future games.³Naoe’s design as a highly agile shinobi suggests that Shadows is meant to showcase this renewed commitment to traversal as a core pillar.

How historically accurate are Yasuke and Naoe?

Yasuke is based on a documented historical figure: an African man who served Oda Nobunaga as a retainer and warrior in the 16th century, recorded in contemporary sources from the period.²Naoe, on the other hand, appears to be a fictional character inspired by historical shinobi culture and the broader context of Sengoku-era Japan. The game takes creative liberties for storytelling purposes while grounding its characters in recognizable historical frameworks.