Set in a fictional world occupied by terrifying creatures, the story of Resident Evil Village centers in the struggle of its protagonist, Ethan Winters, to find his missing baby daughter Rosemary while at the same time facing and surviving all kinds of dangers and threats. The village of the title is occupied by some of the most fearsome enemies in the whole Resident Evil world, but interestingly enough those are not the most intimidating and frightening when it comes to face-to-face encounters. Those creatures, at least, the Lycans, as well as their variations, are mindless entities that, like the zombies, attack because it is the only thing that they can do. They may have some degree of intelligence, but it is still limited; and although sometimes their reactions show signs of a cunning mind, in reality they are just "programmed" that way as a result of the bad outcome of the experiments to which they had been subjected when they were still humans. The most frightful and, subsequently, most dangerous enemies are those that have a human appearance or behave as humans, because they combine exaggerated physical strength with human intelligence, of course using both features for evil purposes. What is even more interesting in these cases, is that said characters have historical or cultural references, something that is obvious in the way they are depicted and, sometimes, their powers as well.

Miranda in the 1920's with her real daughter Eva

Mother Miranda is the arch-villain of the story, and the one to have caused all the mess and chaos that Ethan encounters. Once a brilliant scientist, she lost her dear daughter during the 1920 pandemic in Spain and from that point and on she became obsessed with bringing her back to life somehow. Subjecting herself to numerous experiments, she managed to maintain her youth and achieve immortality, so as to be able to go on with her research while following the developments in medicine and technology. Naturally all this could not end well, and gradually she became a monster, but she still succeeded in keeping her activities underground, without raising suspicion. A few years before the events in Village, she discovered a strange giant fungus in the caves of a mountainous area in Eastern Europe, which had the ability to store people's memories and could also regenerate itself; Miranda decided this was exactly what she needed so as to finally bring her daughter back to life. Of course this could not happen without further research, processing and experimenting, so she set her new lab close to the source of the fungus, the Megamycete, to be able to carry out her experiments. 

Miranda (third from right) with her team, including Eveline, Alan and Mia

In her "human" appearance which is close to how she once looked, Miranda can be seen wearing an embroidered robe where the black color is prominent, with several golden and silver details. Her hair is combed back, and she has a strange object on her head that looks like a heavily decorated makeshift halo. Although the ornaments on her outfit are in fact symbols directly connected to her and her experiments, her look from a distance deliberately brings to mind a certain depiction of Virgin Mary, where she is shown with an impressive halo around her head. In her attempt to further subdue and intimidate the surviving residents of the village, Miranda would show up in this outfit so as to make them believe she was in fact a saint or, even worse, an incarnation of Virgin Mary herself. It is not random that she has the word "Mother" in her name, clearly identifying herself with the holy figure. This depiction of Virgin Mary is called "Our Lady of the Sorrows"; she mainly represents the stage in Virgin Mary's life when she was grieving for her son and, in extension, symbolizes the sorrows that humans have to endure in their life. It is clear that Miranda not only sees herself as pretty close to the holy figure because she is also in a similar situation, but she additionally believes she is equally holy. Several holy icons can be found in the abandoned village houses, which depict Miranda in her "saint" outfit, hinting that, in spite of the sacrilegious nature of her appearance, she had managed to persuade at least some of the villagers that she was not a simple human, but she had holy qualities and was a protector of their homes.

Miranda (left) and a depiction of Our Lady Of The Sorrows

The Megamycete fungus that Miranda uses in her experiments appears to be also "responsible" for the existence of the Mold back at the Baker residence, in Resident Evil 7. In Village, we are finally able to see the main source inside a cave, as Chris makes his way towards Miranda's secret lab. The fungus appears as a huge pinkish blob attached to the rocky walls of the cave, and what is interesting about it is that its shape resembles that of an embryo, clearly symbolizing both its regenerative power and Miranda's desire to have her daughter born again. The idea of a substance that records and stores human memories is not new; we have seen something similar in The Evil Within, although there the core element was a human brain. The fungus in Village brings to mind a similar idea from Mexican Gothic, a novel by Silvia Moreno Garcia that was published a year prior to Village's release, where members of a family living in an isolated mansion in the mountains are experimenting with achieving immortality after one of them discovered some strange fungi in the caves around the house. The fungi, aided by the existence of a human core, had the ability to multiply in the walls of the house, witnessing and recording the memories of the people that they would affect with their smell and mold, causing weird behaviors and sick hallucinations to them.

The Megamycete in the caves of the village

One of the most impressive villains in the Resident Evil world is undoubtedly Alcina Dimitrescu, the towering hostess of the ominous castle that looms at the outskirts of the village. Apart from being a vampiric creature as a result of Miranda's experiments, alluding to all the bloodthirsty characters of fiction before her, she also seems to have another, far less chilling reference: Mary Ellen Powers, declared in 1868 the tallest woman in the world. At 2,13 cm, Ellen, who was also the tallest among her male siblings, pursued a career in entertainment. She joined a famed circus and toured the world with it, being characterized a great sensation wherever she would appear. As part of her acts, and to make her look even more imposing, she would wear very high heels and top hats decorated with large feathers to further accentuate her impressive stature. She made a lot of money in this business and eventually got married. Her husband was an equally tall man and it was love at first sight for both of them when they crossed paths. A way happier and far less dramatic life than Alcina's, definitely.

Alcina Dimitrescu (left) and Mary Ellen Powers

I have analyzed Donna Beneviento's case in another article, but the character as an image alludes to several cultural and historical elements. An eccentric presence, looking as if she comes straight from Victorian times, Donna is always seen with her face almost entirely hidden by a veil, concealing her half-disfigured face, and being accompanied by a creepy marionette which she calls Angie and she only is able to animate and make her behave like a mischievous child, a power that she gained after taking part in Miranda's experiments. In a loading screen of the game, Angie appears sitting on Donna's lap, while Donna herself is nearly totally camouflaged in the darkness. This pose alludes to the infamous "hidden mother photography" trend of the Victorian era, which was a way to have little children and babies photographed supposedly on their own: the mother would sit completely covered on a chair holding the child in her lap to keep them still and calm, and the resulting photograph was supposed to focus on the child. The final picture however was most of the times marginally disturbing.

Donna and Angie (left) and an authentic "hidden mother photography" sample

Additionally, Donna's obsession with dolls and the way dozens of them can be found in every corner of her house, nods to the classic epic drama Raintree County by Edward Dmytryk where the mentally unstable Suzanna (unforgettably portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor) is a crazed doll collector, insisting on having many of them hanging above her bed.

Donna's dolls in the living room (left) and a scene from Raintree County

Angie herself is a direct reference to Emily, the ghost protagonist/antagonist of Tim Burton's stop motion film Corpse Bride, although the movie's bride was just a victim and in spite of the tricks she did to gain the gullible Victor, in the end she did the right thing and allowed him to live his life happily with his beloved Victoria. Of course Angie, being just a soulless marionette, is not to blame for anything in reality; the only one to blame is Donna and her insane obsessions.

Angie (left) and Emily, the original Corpse Bride

While trapped in Donna's mansion, Ethan is forced to play a sick hide-and-seek game with Angie. There's some discreet music playing in the background, which in fact is a dark nursery rhyme of french origin, titled Promenons-nous dans les bois (many thanks to Anthony Auzy for pointing this out). The lyrics of the song go like this: Promenons-nous dans les bois / Pendant que le loup n'y est pas / Si le loup y était / Il nous mangerait / Loup, y es-tu ? / M'entends-tu ? which means: "Let's take a walk in the woods while the wolf isn't there; if the wolf was there, he would eat us. Are you there, wolf? Can you hear me?" The nursery rhyme also has an english version, as well as a greek version, but the original comes from France. There is no mystery why a song with such theme plays during that specific scene; with her disturbed mind, Donna loves to create hallucinations made from elements of a rickety childhood. In the game that accompanies the nursery rhyme, the "wolf" is supposed to hunt the children. In Angie's version, Ethan takes the role of the wolf, and Angie plays the part of the innocent victim. Which is ironic, to say the least, since in reality Angie (and, eventually, Donna) is the malevolent spirit, while Ethan is not only the innocent one, but moreover the one who is actually being hunted.

Angie forces Ethan to stab her so as to bite him furiously afterwards

With his rather ridiculous mutation and his constant whining, Salvatore Moreau is easily the most deplorable enemy of Village. Although he is as dangerous as his "siblings", and his attacks are quite cunning, in the end you can only feel sorry for him. Once a member of a prominent family of the region, he lurks around the grounds of what once was a clinic, although it is not clear if he was actually a physician himself.

The sign pointing to Moreau's Clinic in the Reservoir

More likely, this must have been the profession of his parents or other close relatives, as among the few remaining human features of his pathetic existence are several tattoos, which may indicate that he might have been a sailor once. A specific one reads "Mother", something that ties well with his obsession with his "mother" Miranda and his desperate struggle to prove himself capable in her eyes. 

Salvatore Moreau's "Mother" tattoo is prominent on his arm

Moreau's mutation is particularly gruesome, alluding to a sea monster or a mutated giant fish. Not randomly, since his territory is a flooded area complete with a dam. He can be seen walking around hunched, as there is a mess of what looks like live tissue blobs on his back. Although his full name is a mix of Spanish and French, his surname is of French origin. Anthony Auzy (thanks again!) pointed out something very interesting about his surname, which I am quoting verbatim: "Moreau sounds a lot like "Morue", which is a French term that carries two meanings: it's the name of a fish species (Cod in English), and it's also a way to call ugly or vulgar people. Both of the meanings of the term "Morue" define Salvatore Moreau pretty well, which is why I'm pretty sure it was done on purpose."

Moreau in his private cabin

The most obvious reference for his name, however, is H.G. Wells' famous novel "The Island of Doctor Moreau". Published in 1896, it was quite innovative for its time, as all sci-fi novels by Wells actually were. The story of the book follows narrator Edward Prendick, a shipwreck survivor, who finds himself stranded on an isolated island where Doctor Moreau, once renowned physician whose reputation was ruined after his gruesome experiments became known, runs a makeshift clinic to keep on experimenting on creating humans from animals. The failed results of his experiments are several monstrous creatures, neither human nor animals, that reside on the island grounds in some sort of settlement that the Doctor has set up for them with his loyal assistants. The game's Moreau looks like such a monstrous creature, a combination of human and fish, who was also a victim of a crazed scientist and ended up a failed experiment himself. The creature from Wells' book named "The Limbless Thing" brings strongly Salvatore Moreau to mind and interestingly enough, certain "species" created by the novel's Moreau carry a vague resemblance to the game's Lycans.

The Limbless Thing (left) and one of the Beast Folk (illustrations by Lawrence Sterne Stevens, 1946)

The most human-looking enemy in the game is notably the most terrifying. Exactly because he looks like a normal human being, without any obvious defects and nothing abnormal in his features, Karl Heisneberg is the most intimidating among his "siblings" because you cannot know what to expect from him. His mutation is limited to a superhuman ability to control electric power and attract metallic objects with magnetism, also being able to project them to any distance at will. Although very specific, this ability allows him to have all sorts of machines, mechanisms, robots and mechanical men under his command, and he has created a factory in which he produces super-powerful machine-controlled soldier robots. The way he manages to use metallic objects around him resembles the power of Magneto, the hero of the Marvel comics, which is pretty similar.

Karl Heisenberg (left) with metallic objects around him, and Marvel's Magneto

Although not one of the bad guys in the game, The Duke is definitely a mysterious figure what with his imposing appearance and his enigmatic words. Showing up for the first time as Ethan makes his way towards the Dimitrescu territory, The Duke acts as Ethan's helper and consultant, providing him also with weapons, ammunition and resources of all kinds. His design is quite impressive: he appears as an obese man who can hardly fit in his armchair, shoeless, due to the swellings around his ankles, and dressed like he belongs to another time and place. His overall appearance resembles Daniel Lambert, a famously obese jail keeper who lived in England from the late 18th to the early 19th century. He was a very strong man whose extreme weight was rather unexplainable, as he did exercise and would not eat nor drink uncontrollably. In 1805, he was registered as the heaviest person in recorded history. Later in his life, driven by poverty, he decided to put himself on exhibition, so that people could come and see him as an attraction, at a fee. As he was very smart and pleasant, he became quite popular, so he managed to make good money from his business. When he died, he weighed 335 kg, and his coffin required 20 men to be carried.

The Duke (left) and real-life jail keeper Daniel Lambert

Unlike all previous characters, The Duke's fate remains a mystery. We can't even be sure if he is real, or just part of Ethan's hallucinations. In any event, the world of Resident Evil Village is a most interesting one, rich with elements that go beyond its gameplay qualities and call for further research and exploration.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.niagara2008.com/history144.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_mother_photography

https://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2013/12/17/the-island-of-doctor-moreau/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Lambert

Assassin Creed Odyssey's Eppie, A Tomb Raider In Ancient Greece

Among the numerous fascinating secondary characters that enrich the beautiful story of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the fearless history lover Epizelos is definitely one of the most memorable that our lead hero has the chance to meet along the way. Epizelos - Eppie for his close friends - is a young man from Boeotia whom Alexios comes across while visiting the region, either in the course of a main quest, or for exploration purposes. It turns out that he has a huge love for history, myths and ancestral treasures, something that quickly attracts our lead hero's interest and he agrees to help Eppie in his quests.

The first meeting between Alexios and Eppie is quite intense: Alexios finds Eppie lying wounded on the ground at the side of the road of a rather dangerous area, surrounded by hungry wolves that are about to tear him to pieces. Wolves, however, are not the only hazard in the area: not far from the spot where he is, is a small sanctuary occupied by fierce hunters; and sometimes Deianeira, the fearsome champion and Cultist, can be seen passing along the road with her equally fearsome cousin Astra. After being saved from a certain death by Alexios, and although he does look quite exhausted and weak because of his struggle to survive the wild animals' attack prior to Alexios finding him, Eppie quickly manages to pull himself together and make his aquaintance: although not a professional archaeologist or historian, he had always been fascinated by the past and had been studying ancient history and exploring sites of interest ever since he was able to go out in the world on his own. A slim and delicate young man with black hair and piercing dark eyes, Eppie doesn't have the appearance of someone who is into sports or training. Both activities could be rather useful in his risky quests, but his lack of such experience never stopped him from traveling around Greece, looking for hidden treasures in sites of worship, many of which definitely would have been riddled with all sorts of danger.

Being a mercenary by trade, Alexios gets immediately interested when Eppie asks him to help him recover precious treasures connected to the Mycenaean civilization. Eppie's deep faith that something important is about to be revealed is based on the fact that he has already found a piece of a stele which has some mysterious writings on it. He further establishes Alexios's aid by playfully indicating that their paths crossing was actually a work of the Fates. Regardless, Alexios and Eppie seem to have a connection from the start, although, on first look, they don't have much in common as far as their characters, temperaments and interests are concerned. It gradually becomes obvious however that, aside from his interest in finding precious treasures, Alexios gets genuinely moved by Eppie's love for history and his contagious enthusiasm everytime a discovery is about to be made.

Eppie leads Alexios to a nearby cave which turns out to be an important Oracle. Inside the cave, there is some kind of shrine, and there are several people praying, although Eppie claims that they can't possibly know about the Mycenaean connections to the site. Proving him right, Alexios finds a secret passage leading to the tomb of a Mycenaean warrior which is cleverly hidden behind uninteresting corridors and dusty anterooms, a section of the cave that apparently the worshippers outside and the local residents had no idea about. There is a sarcophagus in the tomb with a piece of an armor inside it, and Eppie's stele piece can be placed on a wall made with similar pieces, some of which are missing, with a strange and unreadable inscription on it.

Alexios then agrees to go on a series of quests to recover the missing stele pieces. Along with each piece, he finds another piece of the warrior's armor. With every new stele piece that is placed on the wall, the inscription becomes more and more readable, as Eppie, with his vast knowledge, is able to go through it and decipher it. In short intervals between the quests, Alexios has some quite interesting discussions with his new friend, in which it is revealed that Eppie has a hard time getting along with his peers because they can neither understand nor empathize with him. It becomes clear that, when it comes to his environment, he is completely alone in his quest for more knowledge of the ancients, and his passion for exploration and history is most probably frowned upon by his family and friends. 

There is a strange mystery surrounding Eppie's discovery, as it is unclear why the missing armor's pieces have been scattered around, and there is always a stele piece with each one of them. Eppie suspects that the message that the inscription conveys must be very important, which is why it was partly destroyed, so that it could not be easily discovered by explorers or random passers-by. As he slowly deciphers a new part of the inscription, he finds out that it speaks of a ritual which, once completed, will activate something. Little by little, Alexios follows the clues given by Eppie and manages to recover all the missing stele pieces and all the pieces of the warrior's armor, at which point the full inscription becomes readable. Eppie reads out the full message and all of a sudden the inscription wall becomes illuminated, with Isu-like symbols projecting from it. Alexios stands watching it in awe, but soon realizes that Eppie cannot see any of this impressive stuff. He can only see a plain version of the inscription, just a wall stele with writings on it. The reason why this happens is because the activation of the stele was to be seen only by the Isu and their kin, and since Alexios was half Isu, he was able to witness it. Eppie being a mortal, was deprived of this privilege, but the point is that it was his, a humble human's research, that led to the solution of this centuries-old riddle. 

Secretly acknowledging this, and seeing how disappointed Eppie is with this outcome, Alexios pretends that he sees nothing special either, which lifts his friend's spirits a bit. Alexios then encourages Eppie to never stop his studies and his research, and asks him to join him on his ship as a lieutenant. Although Eppie has his doubts, because like we said earlier, he is not the athletic type, accepts the offer because this will mean he will be able to widen both his knowledge and his exploration horizons by traveling. It is interesting to note that if Alexios makes the mistake to point out to Eppie that there is indeed something in front of his eyes and he simply cannot see it, he will leave in a fury, and unfortunately we won't be able to see him again. There is no reason to make such a bad choice, however, because after bonding with Eppie so much during the course of his quests, it's a shame to trash everything on a whim. Not to mention that Eppie, being a golden lieutanant, is one of the best high-ranked crew members that you can get in the whole game, and it is clear that he will be your second best buddy after Barnabas.

Although Eppie is an amateur researcher, he can be viewed as an early colleague of Lara Croft and a tomb raider of the ancient world. His story is one of the most fascinating secondary questlines in Odyssey, not only thanks to him being such a charming and likeable protagonist, but also because it is closely connected to the backdrop of Alexios's story. The discoveries that Eppie's clues bring to the light prove that, in the game's lore, the Mycenaeans were part of the Isu heritage, and obviously whoever scattered the armor and stele pieces around, did so to protect the untimely revelation of such a knowledge. Random explorers that would stumble upon the warrior's tomb in the depths of the Oracle would simply note it down as a great discovery and probably stop there. Eppie's desire for further enlightenment led him to keep searching, ignoring all dangers and surpassing all obstacles, and maybe it was indeed fatal for Alexios to come to his rescue at that specific point in time, because he was the one to be able to witness the activation of the stele, as he was among the very few people in position to actually see it happen. 

At some point during his quests, and as it becomes obvious that the full revelation is about to happen, Eppie has a moment of doubt, where he expresses his fear that he may not be worthy of this discovery. This may foreshadow the outcome of the story, since he is not able to witness the activation of the stele because he is mortal, but being worthy has nothing to do with it. He is more than worthy because it was his restless spirit and fascination with primordial history that led to this discovery. When he expresses his doubts, Alexios manages to raise his spirit by encouraging him to look forward to the full discovery no matter what. We could say that Eppie sort of represents all historians, professional or not, and all explorers who bring secrets of the past to the light; sometimes these secrets are treasures, other times they are relics or items of worship; they can also be lost texts or other kinds of knowledge that many times can be put to use in each era's contemporary world. Eppie might have been living in the ancient times, but there were already centuries of history before him, and a vast mythology which he longed to explore and delve deeper into.

»A Life's Dedication (Eppie's Story)

The Son of The Revolution

Just like the exquisite gem Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (an article about this one is also in the works), Assassin's Creed: Unity can also be considered a cultish treasure already, albeit for different  reasons. I know, because I initially had this impression myself, that Unity can feel confusing and infuriating when you start playing it for the first time, what with its exhaustingly frustrating map, its weirdly designed gameplay and its problematic combat system. But once you get to know it better, and believe me, it's all worth the while, it rewards you with a brilliant story and some of the most memorable characters that you will ever come across in video games of this kind.

Assassin's Creed: Unity takes place during the years that preceded and followed the French Revolution, focusing on Arno Dorian, a young man whose evolution as an Assassin is anything but conventional. Arno was born in a noble family but he was doomed to carry a heavy load from a very tender age, after witnessing his father's shocking murder. On the same day, he met Elise, a girl of his age, with whom he connected instantly and who was destined to become his childhood companion and his love interest later on, as her father, Francois de la Serre, took him under his protection and raised him alongside his daughter as his own son. What Arno didn't know was that Elise's father was the Grand Master of the Templar Order and since his own father had been an Assassin in life, theoretically they were enemies. De La Serre, however, was a fair and open-minded man, in spite of his status, and he even considered truce with the Assassin Brotherhood, something that was extremely frowned upon within the Templar Order. Although de la Serre knew who Arno's father was, this did not prevent him from taking the little boy under his wing and offering him protection and education without ever attempting to convert Arno into a Templar, instead encouraging the boy's freedom of will. 

At an important soirée in Versailles, de La Serre is killed by two mysterious men and Arno, who happens to witness the crime, gets unjustly accused of the murder. He is sent to the Bastille, a literal Hell on earth during those times, where he comes across Pierre Bellec, a fellow prisoner and Master Assassin, who used to be a close friend and mentor of Arno's father. Arno had not been aware of his own special traits until then (namely his eagle vision and high intelligence) and it is Bellec who, after an eventful first meeting, makes him realise the truth about himself.

Coming across Bellec looks like a blessing for Arno, as when the Revolution breaks and they manage to escape, he is accepted in the Paris Brotherhood thanks to his new friend who also becomes his mentor. As it turns out in due course, however, Bellec has a very specific view on how the Brotherhood should function, which comes to direct conflict with the late de La Serre's wish for truce. Fearing that Elise, being her father's successor in the Templar Order, would possibly follow along the same philosophy as him, and, most importantly, being horrified by the sentimental influence that she might have on Arno, he goes as far as to attempt to frame Elise for the murder of Mirabeau, the leader of the Brotherhood, whom Bellec himself poisoned because he shared de la Serre's radical views. This is a very crucial plot point, because after the events take this dramatic turn, Arno is forced to kill Bellec, essentially against his own wishes, and from that moment and on, he finds himself constantly facing the Brotherhood Masters who had always been sceptical about him, but Bellec's trust in the boy worked as a guarantee for Arno towards them. With Bellec gone, Arno becomes more responsible for his own actions and decisions, which, albeit not being always the right ones, nonetheless bring him each time closer to a higher level of emotional and spiritual maturity.

Such Bildungsroman elements are not uncommon in story-rich video games; and Arno seems to be a character who, by definition, would be an ideal protagonist in a tale like the one that Unity narrates. Arno's activity is set in an environment that originates in the epic novels of Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas, something that is evident not only in the most obvious aspect - the setting - but also in its story and, most importantly, its characters, both main and secondary. Le Roi des Thunes, Aloys La Touche, Marie Levesque, Frederic Rouille, carry this fascinating heritage of literary heroes who were born from the inspiration of those classic novelists and everything about their appearance, attitude and development is directly connected to it. 

 

 

Cunning criminals (the dreaded King of Beggars with the painted face) or individuals who were either deceived and were forced to abandon a decent life for the sake of a much more esteemed position in the underworld of Paris (ex tax assessor La Touche who became a cruel, pitiful  henchman), or who slyly threaded their way in high society so as to gain money and status (the cold and ruthless Marie Levesque), or who were disappointed by those whom they thought friends and resorted to extremities so as to establish themselves as saviours of the people (the murderous and bloodthirsty Rouille), these characters form a sensational background for the story that unfolds at the forefront. Historical figures like Maximilien Robespierre, Napoleon Bonaparte, Comte de Mirabeau, Louis Michel le Peletier, le Marquis de Sade, play important roles in the story, their real-life actions cleverly blended with fiction, as is always the case with the Assassin's Creed games.

There is something brilliantly twisted about the story of Unity and its development, and this is directly connected to its protagonist - it even seems to stem from him. Arno combines the charm of an unpretentious carelessness with a deep and conscious sense of altruism and a constant longing for happiness in life. He is also very adaptive, and can cleverly thread his way when needed, but at the same time his sentimentality can sometimes cost him a lot. This combination of opposite elements that shape him as a character somehow define and determine not only the development of the story but also the reactions of the people he deals with. We can see how Bellec is instantly attracted to Arno - on a metaphorical, symbolic level - the first time he sets eyes on him in the prison cell. Bellec is much older, far more experienced, has been through thick and thin in his life, but Arno's social innocence captivates him so much that he finds himself forced to progressively tone down his aggressive attitude for the sake of a more appropriate fatherly approach towards the boy. Arno's instinct assures him that Bellec's aggressiveness is nothing more than a not so well-covered expression of love and caring, which is why he never talks back to the man and just obeys him with respect. This lack of an equally aggressive response from Arno's part is subconsciously interpreted by Bellec as a weakness and a sign of a potential future sentimental and practical submission, leading to him softening his own manner towards the boy, but at the same time giving him too much self-confidence when the time comes to demand from Arno to choose sides. 

Arno is an open book; he never hides his feelings and is always sincere and honest. Him being a bit too emotional is quickly balanced by his thoughtfulness and sense of justice. With the bright red, dark blue and glorious white colors almost constantly on his outfits, he is essentially representing the free spirit of France which is always attractive and sensational. Superior forms of all kinds want to conquer it and suppress it, and Bellec, having a higher rank in the Brotherhood than Arno, is one of them. Arno is pure, honest and unaffected by the evil around him, something that captivates Bellec partly because it reminds him of his own younger self, but also because he sees in Arno someone whom he can shape and educate through a fascinating emotional growth. Arno's passion can never be tamed, but his insight guides him to employ it only to do good. Bellec, on the other hand, although equally passionate and devoted to his cause, seems to have been unable to resist a fair share of brainwashing and corruption that led to him to progressively see himself as the Brotherhood's saviour. In his mission to clean the Assassin ranks, he wants Arno to accompany him, essentially demanding that he renounces everything and everyone and join him without having second thoughts.

Although technically on the side of Good, Bellec is however the kind of person who will easily resort to violence and will not hesitate to put anyone whom he considers dangerous for the brotherhood's cause out of the picture, no matter the means. Killing Mirabeau is a great example of this, but framing Elise is the most characteristic and extreme. On a allegorical level, Bellec yearns for Arno and by extension for what he stands for: the ever-charming, free-spirited and proud people of France. There is a subtle hint of physical attraction from his part as well, if you notice certain nuances in his speech and his eyes on specific occasions while he is talking to Arno, something that works symbolically to further highlight Bellec's urge to have his way because he believes that it is the best for the Brotherhood and France. Both on a personal and a symbolic level, he longs to conquer Arno's free spirit and own control over it, by attempting to make him succumb. Bellec is a very interesting, multi-levelled character who may be essentially Arno's mentor and guardian, but at the same time he is trying to patronize him and make him reject whomever diverts him from his course, essentially Elise. In Bellec's eyes, Elise, being a Templar, is an enemy by default but mainly she is the only one capable of taking Arno away from him. And this is exactly where Bellec makes the biggest mistake, when he attempts to turn Arno against Elise and when this fails, he even goes as far as to threaten to kill her before Arno's eyes, not taking into consideration that Elise is a person not only very dear to Arno but she also grew up with him and they learned to love and care for each other with a very special bond which cannot be easily broken, and which essentially goes beyond the two of them belonging to opposite sides.

If Arno represents the spirit of France, Elise stands for France as a notion, nodding to Marianne, the symbol of the French democracy. Regardless, being a Templar, Elise is considered an enemy because France has many times sided with not so good forces for a purpose. As an individual, she is somewhat frivolous, and even got to the point when she consciously cheated on Arno. Arno, as the people, is always pure and faithful to her - and, by extension, to his homeland - and will choose to consciously forgive her unfaithfulness. Just like Kyra in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Elise is on the hunt for the man who harmed her family and she is driven by her desire for revenge. But unlike with Kyra's case, which is very personal, in Elise's case things are far more complex. In the end, Elise leaves Arno to die so as to kill Germain, the silversmith who was revealed to be the Grand Master of the Templars and also the man who had her father murdered, and Arno is saved only thanks to his will to rush and help her. Because people are always ready to die for their homeland, but the homeland does not always  appreciate this sacrifice. Being an allegory of France both as physical presence and spirit, Elise cannot exist without Arno, therefore the people of France; when during the dramatic finale of the story Elise decides to act alone, her fatal choice leads to her brutal and untimely death. While Arno - the people, therefore the spirit and soul of the nation - manages to survive and subsequently move on.

But Elise had shown signs of controlled cruelty before, when during hers and Arno's encounter with Robespierre she did not hesitate to heavily wound the latter by shooting him in the face, resulting in him being unable to defend himself and subsequently getting arrested. We know that this is something that Arno would never do, but this spot-on scene is exactly and essentially where we clearly see the line that is drawn between the Templars and the Assassins in the saga's lore. No matter how fair and just De La Serre was, no matter how well he raised Elise, both he and his daughter never ceased to be Templars. As an Assassin, Arno would have resorted to less violent means to extract the truth from Robespierre, more so since they needed him alive in order to be able to give them the information they were seeking.

Unity is very unique in its universe because it takes place during a particularly dark and grim period of history, and this is something that, although it had potential to have been explored even more thoroughly in the game, is still a well-depicted element that exists both in the story and the overall atmosphere, hovering like an ominous aura. The overcrowded streets of Paris look stressing and painful to navigate, especially when you are in a hurry, but at the same time this feature highlights the tension, anguish and excitement of the revolution, additionally giving off a constant feeling that things can very well shoot up to extremes at any given moment. There is an overwhelming uneasiness in the central streets, coming to contrast with individual scenes of leisure in high-class cafes and forgotten secluded suburb yards, all this accentuated by the constant presence of swarming crowds around crucial areas of political and social interest, with random scenes of high society citizens getting abruptly arrested by extreme patriots, civilians carrying heads on pikes and parading in the streets, soldiers in panic trying to restore a long-lost order the idea of which has already become too complex and vague, as Arno wanders around a Paris that never ceased to be battered by a succession of extremities - first an absolute, relentless and cruel monarchy, then the explosion of the Revolution and its unavoidable aftermath, followed by the bleak, gloomy years of Robespierre's Reign of Terror.

Philosophy In Assassin's Creed Odyssey

Philosophy is a recurring subject that is explored extensively in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, as well as its eclectic relations with science and religion, all three being essential parts of not only the intellectual circles, but also everyday citizens in Ancient Greece. The protagonist of the game has the chance to meet several real-life philosophers, artists and thinkers of that time, as well as imaginary characters who also belong, directly or indirectly, to such groups and discuss with them issues related to various aspects of social, political, religious and artistic life.

Sokrates naturally has the lion's share in the philosophical part of the game, providing his sometimes cryptical input in situations where decisions make a critical difference and they may even have unpleasant outcomes. The essence of Sokrates's philosophy lies in self-awareness and perception as individual traits that a person should have and cultivate as means to understand and interpret the world around them. Sokrates doesn't really have any doubts - or, at least, expressing them openly is not his priority. He uses doubt as a vehicle in order to make people consider things and reach conclusions based on their own way of thinking. The first time that Alexios meets Sokrates is in Athens, where our hero had previously been sent by Perikles to rig a vote in order to change its outcome. Surprisingly enough, this action proves to not be in favor of the man who was being judged, because Perikles wanted his friend to be exiled in order to keep him away from imminent danger. Sokrates arrives to watch the announcement of the vote's result and poses us a series of questions about the limits of responsibility between the perpetrator and the abettor of an action. The interesting thing about Sokrates's dialectic method is that he never seems to agree with what Alexios replies to him, or that at least he finds new subjects for discussion with every answer that he gets. What he does in fact is that he tries to plant ideas in his conversator's mind, because, for him, ideas and thoughts are essential for the development of the person overall.

Later on, during Perikles's symposium, Alexios meets Sokrates again. This time, the philosopher brings about the subjects of leadership and justice, and aptly so since the setting is the villa of the city's leader. Sokrates wonders if ruling is an art, making Alexios - and us - consider to what extend real rulers and leaders are just in their decisions and whether their actions are for the benefit of the common good or they simply serve their own ambitions and personal plans.

At the same symposium, Alexios has a brief chat with the existentialist Protagoras. The sophist answers every question by doubting the existence of everything, wondering constantly whether what we see with our own eyes is truly there. Although the conversation with him naturally does not bring any fruit, since he seems to doubt the existence of everything and everyone around him, it still brings a very interesting issue into matter: our perception of things may not necessarily correspond fully to how things truly are. Each person has a unique way of seeing and perceiving everything around them, and this perception is the result of a series of experiences, thoughts, conclusions, activities that, for every person, form what we call "life experience". So two people may be looking at the same thing and still see something different.

Alexios comes across Sokrates again later, during specific quests, where critical decisions are connected with questions of morality. At some point, Alkibiades sends Alexios on a series of tasks in order to forge the name of a friend of his on the Athens citizenship list and make sure a witness will testify that said friend is indeed an Athenian citizen. It turns out that person is a traitor, and the question that arises is whether he deserves to become an Athenian citizen, albeit illegally. Sokrates is there of course, to wonder whether we should only judge people based on their past actions or we could offer them a second chance, posing a moral dilemma that cannot be easily or straightforwardly answered. Usually people never fully change, this is a trait of all living beings after all. In some cases, people who have done bad things in the past, eventually come to a point where they have their regrets, and this may lead them to change path in their life. But the contrary can also happen: a good person may become bad due to factors like circumstance or misfortune. For this reason, each case should be considered separately, and there is not a universal rule or strategy that can be applied to everyone.

While Alexios is on the hunt for an Athenian Cultist, who also happens to be a writer, Sokrates intervenes with a series of questions concerning freedom of speech and its potential limits. He wonders whether it is fair to shut people up, in cases where said people have extreme or dangerous opinions; a situation that cannot always have an easy or straightforward solution. Living in a state of Democracy, naturally the person in question has every right to express their opinion, no matter how ugly or threatening it may be. On the other hand, people with such extreme or dangerous opinions are usually enemies of Democracy, so the regime should, in theory at least, be protected somehow. Then again, if said enemies of Democracy are given the freedom to express themselves, their dangerous opinions are being made known to the public, therefore it is easier to keep an eye on them and take action against them if and when it becomes necessary. It is a matter than cannot be easily answered, and its handling depends on several other factors.

A bit later, another issue shows up, as Sokrates seems to have been somehow involved in the theft of a horse from the farm of a wealthy man. Apparently the philosopher learned about this matter and, digging deeper into it, found out that it was not one of a typical theft. The person who stole the horse was a poor farmer who had no means to support his family. He took a desperate decision and stole the horse from the rich man, intending to work with it and provide for his people. Subsequently, he was arrested. Sokrates poses a moral question to Alexios, concerning the degree to which the motive behind an action that is considered bad or illegal should or should not be taken into account when deciding about the culprit's fate. With this case as a starting point, Sokrates moves on to express more universal questions. Should every crime have consequences? And what about cases when a "crime" is for the benefit of the common good?

These questions are also connected to the next situation where Sokrates gets involved while Alexios is just about to locate one more Cultist, a ruthless slave owner. The "Master", as they call him, has tricked one of his slaves into believing that he is going to give him his freedom which the poor man has managed to buy by saving money. However when the time comes, the Master refuses to set the man free. When Alexios offers to help the slave by talking to the Master, the latter agrees to offer the slave his freedom if Alexios accepts to kill someone for him. At this point, Sokrates intervenes, essentially stressing the weight of the moral dilemma that rises for our hero, as he is called to decide upon the fate of a man by sacrificing another person's life. Sokrates sees this case as the perfect chance to discuss with Alexios about equality between people and its potential limits. The clue in this case, however, is that the moral dilemma in question is a fake one. The Master may be a wealthy man, and he may be the "owner" of the slave, but in fact he has no real influence over anyone because he is no position to exert power that goes beyond his domain. So he may be the slave's master, but he cannot really decide about the fate of people that do not "belong" to him, therefore he is in no position to blackmail Alexios in order to make him kill someone who is a free person and is not under his command. Moreover, the slave has already bought back his freedom, which makes the Master's refusal to set him free blatantly illegal. 

On the idyllic island of Delos, Alexios bumps one more time onto Sokrates who again is found in the heart of a tumultuous case that seems to have caused a commotion among the locals. A rebel stole from the sanctuary, and while he was being arrested, he killed one of the guards. The man then was going to be executed but since death of any kind on Delos was forbidden, he had been imprisoned, waiting to be transported to Mykonos for his execution. Sokrates calls Alexios to decide whether the man should be saved from his fate, considering that his initial motive was for a good cause: he stole from the Delian sanctuary in order to help the rebellion against Podarkes, the cruel leader of the Silver Islands. When Alexios goes to talk to the man, however, he finds out that his mindset is rather extreme and in reality his actions, instead of helping the rebellion, could seriously harm it. In the long run, if Alexios frees the man by sending him on his way, it is a decision that may have tragic consequences. This is something that is impossible to know beforehand, so our hero is called to consider all possibilities and take a hard decision by killing the man himself in cold blood, something that, in the end, will prove to be for the best of all parties involved. This also goes to show that morality can sometimes be fluid, especially when important values are endangered.

In Achaia, Alexios meets Demokritos, whose philosophical questions are the most cryptic and complex, being also connected to physics and mathematics. Demokritos sends Alexios on a quest to find three theorems that, according to him, are essential for understanding how the universe works. The Golden Ratio, Zeno's paradox and the Pythagorean theorem may seem like they are much different on first look, but they all prove that everything around us is relative and that the universe is infinite. 

What Demokritos describes seems to nod to quantum physics and the Dirac equation. According to quantum physics, everything that exists in the universe acts and reacts both as a particle and as a set of waves. These two elements, however, are opposites: the waves can expand to many places around them, while the particles can only be limited to one place. Moreover, the way that the waves react with each other is very different from the way that particles react with each other. The Dirac equation is based on the claim that if two different systems keep reacting with each other for a set period of time and then are separated, from that point and on they can still be seen as two different systems, but at the same time they will have already been united in one new system with a new form of matter. Because of this, the initial two systems will still be in position to affect each other, no matter how much the distance between them is. Since they connected with each other at a certain point, they remain united forever even if they are miles apart now. Something like this happens when two people fall in love with each other and they get separated (although this applies not only to erotic love, but also to friendly love or whatever similar human connection). Love brings people together, and when they are separated, the same element of love is what keeps them connected, diminishing the distance between them on an unseen level. These connections resemble those between the planets and stars that exist in the universe thanks to the law of gravitation.

 

 

In a similar way, Philosophy and Poetry are connected with each other because they are parts of Life. In this context, Life is the force that brings and keeps them together because all three have a common axon: the human being. Between Philosophy and Poetry, there is a void filled by Love which, again, is the deepest of the human expressions. Demokritos then narrates a sad story about how he was in love with a poet in his youth, but never got to confess his feelings to her. Encouraged by Alexios, he decides to do it now, but in a tragic twist of fate he arrives at her home just seconds after she had been attacked and killed by bandits. Now this can be interpreted in both a realistic and an allegorical way: the realistic interpretation is that you should almost never leave for later something that you feel you need to do, because you may have only one chance to do it and once this chance passes by, there will be no other. The allegorical interpretation is that Philosophy (represented by Demokritos) and Poetry (represented by the poet) can never be fully united because they are notions that most of the times conflict each other. Philosophy, like Science, tends to research and analyze things according to theorems, observation and experiments, while Poetry interprets the world in a way that sometimes may even reverse and rebut the philosophical theories. On a different level, however, the Poet could also represent how Demokritos viewed Philosophy: as his ideal love which he admired and researched about but felt too intimidated to approach more. The fact that the woman died before he had the chance to express her feelings to her implies that no matter how much a philosopher searches and researches things, Philosophy as a notion, just like the mechanism of the Universe, will constantly be a step forward, always almost impossible to reach and fully comprehend.           

 

In Korinth, Alexios meets a strange woman who sends him on a series of quests, all of which have a fair share of philosophical extensions. The woman shows up in a busy park and seems to know very well who Alexios is and what his accomplishments are. There are several tasks that Alexios is called to take, which start with investigating two graves: the man buried in the first grave died at sea, while the other was killed by lions. After Alexios comes back from the graveyard, the woman asks him to decide which God is the most dangerous: Apollo or Poseidon. Depending on our choice, Alexios then will visit two different places and the stories of those involved will test his faith in humanity and how well he can judge people's characters and trust them. The questions that arise during these quests also have to do with how much people's actions affect each other and to what degree the so-called divine intervention can be blamed for the outcome of actions that, in fact, are human. Is revenge the right path for justice? Or humans in fact commit hubris when they take justice in their own hands?

On a less philosophical path, but still related is the story with the sculptor Polykleitos in Elis. Alexios comes across Polykleitos on his way to Olympia, and the sculptor invites him to a farm nearby where the residents have hired him to build for them a statue of the Eagle Bearer. Alexios becomes particularly curious since the matter is directly related to him and subsequently he gets acquainted with the people living in the farm, who all seem to have fallen in strange misfortunes. As it turns out, a cunning group of priestesses have taken advantage of Alexios's fame, and managed to convince this group of gullible farmers that the Eagle Bearer speaks through them. This way, they have made a small fortune by collecting valuable items and money from the people in the farm, supposedly to be offered as gifts to the Eagle Bearer. This story is connected to the previous one since it also explores the limits of faith, and additionally it goes beyond that, hinting at a case of mass manipulation. The farmers fell victims to their own faith, and let themselves be tricked by people who took advantage of this, which turned out to be their weak point. Lack of further and deeper thought was essentially what led these people to be so evilly manipulated, as they accepted the lies that the priestesses served them without questioning them. The exact opposite of Sokrates, that is, who questions and doubts everything.

And speaking of Sokrates, there is one more story with philosophical extensions where he not only makes an appearance, but he is also the protagonist. In Phokis, Alexios meets Sokrates's wife, Xanthippe, and the two of them find out that the philosopher had been arrested and imprisoned. Based on Sokrates's real story, this mission explores a series of themes that seem to have been of interest or related to him and his philosophical queries all along. Sokrates was imprisoned because he expressed an opinion that apparently was considered too radical. Meanwhile, the Pythia had told Socrates that he is the wisest man. This was done deliberately from her part, because, from the privileged position that she held, she wanted to open the people's eyes and stop them from being manipulated by the Cult. Since Sokrates, like all people, believed that she spoke the words of gods, she hoped that, because Sokrates did not think that he was indeed the wisest man, she would make him doubt her credibility and thus consider that maybe it was not the gods who directed her, and subsequently make the people realize that as well and stop blindly following her advice and, eventually, the words of the Cult. 

On his quest to set Sokrates free, Alexios goes to a symposium in Delphi where he succeeds in convincing a few other philosophers to support Sokrates's right to freely express his opinion, even if they themselves disagree with him. Therefore freedom of speech comes to the foreground again, as one of the most important values in social life, being also one of the first matters that Sokrates posed to Alexios during their initial meetings. In the conclusion of this story, Sokrates narrates a myth to Alexios which is an allegory for the freedom of speech and the need for people to speak for themselves and not through the words and quotes of others. Something that Philosophy, in its essence, values as equally important as well.