Who is Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows? Shinobi protagonist backstory explained

Naoe is a shinobi in Assassin's Creed Shadows. She is the deuteragonist of the upcoming title alongside the legendary Black Samurai Yasuke. Both figures display different aspects of the modern Assassin’s Creed games. While Naoe prefers to operate from the shadows like the protagonists from the old AC titles, Yasuke is more brawn and upfront, similar to later entries like Valhalla and Odyssey.

Assassin’s Creed is known for blending history with fiction, however, none of the previous titles were this upfront with this theme. We are getting an actual historical figure as a playable character in the franchise for the first time with Yasuke. But this doesn’t mean his counterpart, Naoe is any less intriguing in Assasin’s Creed Shadows.

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Who is Naoe in Assassin's Creed Shadows?

The daughter of shadows (Image via Ubisoft)

Unlike Yasuke, Naoe is not a historical figure. She is an original character introduced in the story. Just like her tactics, her backstory is also shrouded in shadows. In the AC Shadows Cinematic trailer, we see her say the iconic mantra of the Assassin’s brotherhood:

“We are the shadows that serve the light.”

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Is Naoe a real person in Assassin's Creed Shadows?

Naoe is not a real character from Japanese history, but there is real history in her background. In the trailer, we also see a male figure alongside Naoe. In it, both of them stand in front of a temple and pray as a massive invasion breaks out. We see the male figure instructing the young shinobi to go and help the victims. This is Naoe’s father. His name is Fujibayashi Nagato, he was an actual ninja leader of the Iga Clan during that period in Japanese history.

So far, we know that Naoe has been trained to be a shinobi since she was a child. At the start of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, she will be 17 years old. Her birthplace is the Iga province. There is not much information about her mother. But as far as the speculations go, many believe her mother was killed when she was young and her father had promised to her to keep their daughter safe.

Two sides of the same coin (Image via Ubisoft)

As revealed in the trailer, this shinobi is the reason why Yasuke joins the brotherhood. She convinces and then indoctrinates him into the Assassin order. Before joining the brotherhood, Yasuke was a warrior, with no purpose. He was pushed around by his masters. But the order gives him a mission, a purpose to serve.

Both warriors can be described as two sides of a single coin in Assassin's Creed Shadows. Both of them fight in the Igan resistance under the leadership of Fujibayashi Nagato. As the story of Assassin's Creed Shadows shows the struggle for Japanese unification, through these two polar opposite protagonists, the player gets two different perspectives of the same war.

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For more content on Assassin's Creed, check out the following:

• What is the controversy surrounding the Assassin's Creed Shadows protagonist?
• Who is Yasuke in Assassin's Creed Shadows?
• What's included in Assassin's Creed Shadows Collector's Edition?
• Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic trailer breakdown
• Is Assassin's Creed Shadows on Steam?
• How to pre-order Assassin's Creed Shadows? All editions, pre-order bonuses, and more explored