The Actual “Assassins” Were Not What You Think

Thanks to Bespoke Post for sponsoring this video! New subscribers get 20% off their first box - go to bspk.me/brainf... and enter code BRAINFOOD20 at checkout.
Love content? Check out Simon's other KZbin Channels:
Biographics: / @biographics
Geographics: / @geographicstravel
MegaProjects: / @megaprojects9649
SideProjects: / @sideprojects
Casual Criminalist: / @thecasualcriminalist
TopTenz: / toptenznet
Highlight History: / @highlighthistory
XPLRD: / @xplrd
Business Blaze: / @brainblaze6526
→Some of our favorites: • Featured
→Subscribe for new videos every day!
www.youtube.co...
This video is #sponsored by Bespoke Post.
Sources:
Daftary, Farhad. The Ismailis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Daftary, Farhad. Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies: London: IB Taurus, 2005 (Can be downloaded at: www.iis.ac.uk/...)
Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shi’I Islam: New Haven, Yale University Press, 1985.

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Thanks to Bespoke Post for sponsoring this video! New subscribers get 20% off their first box - go to bspk.me/brainfood20 and enter code BRAINFOOD20 at checkout.

[@brett4264]

Video starts at 1:23

[@TheHardys01]

This seems like a video you would've made in like 2017.

[@LateSleeper]

I'd love to believe you, Simon; but nothing is true, everything is permitted.

[@semi.g]

huh ?

[@jeycee32]

Well played

[@jameslewis3793]

@@semi.g It's the Assassin's creed from the video game. Obviously it's non-sense, but it sounds cool in a video game I guess.

[@semi.g]

@@jameslewis3793 oh, that's a line from one of the games ?

[@semi.g]

@@jameslewis3793 yea, true

[@jessetorres8738]

I actually bought the Ezio Trilogy for PS4 last month and am currently about halfway through Brotherhood. Sure the games aren't historically accurate, but they are still fun to play over a decade later.

[@ajd2393]

Assassin's Creed is the only series I've played where i had to space the games out pretty far from each other because they really did all feel the same.

[@afz3003]

AHH Brotherhood the best ac game imo

[@yugitrump435]

@@ajd2393 depends on which ones you're talking about tbh lol

[@bluebirdonmyshoulder5633]

I'm currently replaying Origins because I'm just in a lull after replaying Witcher 2 & 3 so it was either Tomb Raider or Origins. I have newer games but just haven't felt like going there right now.

[@theghosthero6173]

A funny thing about the game is that hoods aren't really used outside of the Maghreb and Europe so having a hood in middle east as an hashashin to disguise yourself would have been very dumb ahah

[@kholofelolekgoathi2757]

I honestly heard "Kardashians" the first few times he said "Karnashian".🤣

[@valiroime]

Same thing

[@Daithai96]

Yep, me too. I was waiting for him to say "Keeping up with the Karmashians"

[@joeclaridy]

They did kill the careers of a few high profile men so...........

[@kholofelolekgoathi2757]

@@joeclaridy assassins 🤣

[@Daithai96]

@@joeclaridy 😂🤣😂

[@SomasAcademy]

There are a few questionable things in this video. For one, the word "Assassin" MAY come from "Hashashin", but another proposed etymology is "Asasiyun", meaning "One who is Faithful to the Foundation". Additionally, the founder of the Assassin's was named Hasan-i Sabbah, not just Hasan Sabbah, and he was never called "The Old Man of the Mountain" - that was a name for Rashid Al-Din Sinan, who led the Syrian Nizari Ismaili state a century after Hasan-i Sabbah founded the Iranian one. Marco Polo gave a mixed up legendary account that referred to the leader of the Assassins at Alamut as "The Old Man of the Mountain," but gave his actual name as "Aloadin" (also note that the Assassin order had been destroyed in Marco Polo's time, which was another century after Rashid Ad-Din Sinan died).

[@TheSeanC]

I never knew the word Assassin came from a group of people with that name, but I did hear that Shakespeare coined the verb 'assassinate' in English from presumably the word Assassin, which was floating around at the time. It's interesting to see the drift in meaning to something more generic.

[@Dominicankareem]

You should watch John wick 3 haha

[@cameronwilson1378]

As a huge fan of the Assassin's creed series this was deeply interesting. Thanks for bringing this up

[@reggiestafford4549]

It's a weird origin because 'hashashin' (pronounced 'hashshasheen) either means 'weed eater' or 'reaper'. Both come from the root verb 'hashsha'.☺

[@otherfanboy]

Beer in made from grain(mash) hops are added during the boil

[@DishonoredAce13]

Video games have never lied to me. Mr Simon, I'm calling your bluff. You're an assassin just trying to make people think they arent real

[@robertopretara8945]

This is the video I was waiting for

[@redbarchetta8782]

Nope, not enough Hashish.

[@MitchellBrown535]

Corn is no place for a mighty warrior.

[@GeraldBlack1]

People are sooo basic. My 🐫 is prettier than yours! Unhh uhh.

[@SynicalBeats]

Welcome the to video here's a fucking ad

[@Infidelx]

They got their asses kicked by sallahuadeen 🤣 And they had an alliance with the crusaders against Muslims. Iran secrets with the west

[@jackbrownio3]

requiescat in pace

[@LyaksandraB]

"Drugged up fanatics." As always, that's more on you than me, as is often the case with these assumptions that we think such things. Time to check those biases, guys. I always thought they were some kind of ninjas who used hashish to expand their consciousness through meditation. Which is also probably not true, considering even actual ninjas weren't like we got told.

[@sullivangoings4670]

I mean, the 3 things that Simon chose are a fairly poor representation of the wider literature tbh. 2/3 actually don't involve "drugged up fanaticism". Assassins creed doesn't that I can remember, and angels and demons has one assassin of unclear "middle eastern" decent (though it is unclear if he is associated with /THE/ assassins, it is fairly clear that whether or not he is using drugs, he is a sociopath...so we can't really make the "drugged up fanatics" link here either). The 3rd I have no experience with, so I will leave that one alone. However, in literature and myth on the subject, they have been portrayed as "drugged up" and have a fanatical devotion to their leader and their cause. Specifically, there is discussion of use of hash for spiritual purposes and opium, stimulants, etc. while performing a job they have been given in order to make them fear and pain free and pretty much single minded...making them essentially "unkillable" and insure that the assignment gets completed and the assassin gets away.

[@paulalancaster1]

Atrocious repetitive background music ruins an otherwise informative video essay. Disliked.

[@Miss-Anne-Thrope]

Assassin's Creed isn't historically accurate? So sitting on a bench between two strangers never actually made anyone invisible?? Nor has one jumped head first from a tall building into a cart full of hay and survived?? I am shocked! 😲 An yway, though not historically accurate these games did spark interests for me which inspired research into who the real assassin's were and also the Knights Templar. Not that I play games for history lessons, I play them for fun!

[@theenzoferrari458]

It's inspired me to do research into the assassin's. The templars are wrong. I've taken the creed of assassin's and am a believer in Hassan-i Sabbāh or the Nizari Ismaili state. *everything is permitted*

[@goatmansasquatch1485]

Who haven’t jumped of tall shit with your buddies filming

[@otgenesis7410]

Imagine if Altair met the actual Assassins. *They'll definitely think he's crazy*

[@matthewhull5876]

I imagine it would be similar to the mandalorian meeting Bo-katan.

[@swampfox984]

This made me realize that I would love to learn more about what real ninjas and samurai where compared to pop culture.

[@limecat7996]

Can't say much about ninjas, but i think i seen something that samurai in simplistic terms were a elite class of soldiers, who had mastered sword and bow techniques and they just worked for the people in power cause back then i think the country was split up between say 7 different leaders who would always war with one another. And then you have the ronin which was basically a "wandering soldier" samurai whos masters either died or if they lost favour they would be cast out and few other ways and would often end up working in organized crime rings. EDIT: i feel like Simon has covered something about that time period on one of his 100 channels 😂

[@MakosMusicBox]

If I remember correctly.. Ninja would be trained under a ninja clan. They would end up being spies. They were not what you probably think of when you hear the word 'ninja.' No black uniform, all covered, martial arts and all that. They were trained, but the goal was to avoid any of that. They would be sent off to try to be recruited at enemy compounds etc. They looked like normal people. Infiltrate the enemies, cause havoc silently, allow openings for your home clan/allies. If a battle broke out, you were not to fight, but to hide and survive or if it was chaotic enough that you could get a stealthy kill and escape, then you get that. There's a channel called Samurai and Ninja History on here (youtube) that you might wanna check out. This is where I got these things, or the basis of my misremembering if I got them wrong.

[@rustomkanishka]

You should check out the channels Metatron and Shogunate. Both are very very informative about the factual history of Japanese warrior caste.

[@effigytormented]

Well John, watch Gaijian Goomba, he does great historical work about Ninjitsu.

[@MemeNChill]

For ninjas listen to what shadiversity has to say in the relevant video.

[@jacobklunder8552]

TIFO: “The actual ‘Assassins’ Were Not What You Think” Me, an absolute Medieval history nerd: “Oh, I think they were.”

[@MakosMusicBox]

talkabowdit

[@firstlast-fr1le]

Are you under them impression that he was speaking to you personally? Are you under the impression that those who learn from movies and video games are fully aware of actual history?

[@jacobklunder8552]

@@firstlast-fr1le “Are you under them impression that he was speaking to you personally.” Yes

[@Username456-b4p]

@@jacobklunder8552 Power move

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I keep having an urge to get a magnet and move some of the hair from Simon's chin to his head. If you get the reference, you're probably old, too.

[@LaurieAnnCurry]

😹😹😹😹😹

[@zemorph42]

It was pretty obvious to me that the game wasn't representing the factions accurately and I never expected them to.

[@pr0xZen]

_That's what a secret order assassin would say_

[@itachi-wg3gu]

First they say “ Don’t believe everything you see on TV.” Now your telling me don’t believe everything on a video game…. When will it stop!

[@Silverado138]

Don't believe everything on KZbin 🤣😂

[@komm6668]

Yeah the free falling into hay piles kinda tells you it's a work of fiction.

[@valiroime]

And bushes, which would actually be mostly air.

[@JohnDoe-415]

But did they wear hoods though? Come on Simon, you forgot to answer one of the most important questions.

[@Legion_Victrix]

Starting the video as I write this but I'm excited to hear it since I'm working at Ubisoft Montréal ;)

[@michaelgonzalez3523]

The concept of an assassin or has existed LONG before any particular group of “assassins”

[@ColinUrBuddy]

I haven't stopped by the channels for a few months, I come back, and Simon's beard has taken over it's host. That is a glorious statement of manliness

[@Onora619]

That’s where he stores all his knowledge.

[@sukhoi102]

Hahaha 🤣

[@itswilbur3747]

There is no Simon... There is only The Beard

[@MashMonster69]

And he'll be happy to sell you beard blaze oil so yours can be as glorious.

[@ColinUrBuddy]

@@Onora619 So that's why all wise men have beards!

[@poliwhirl555]

Wait, so you’re saying that the assassins in Assassin’s Creed actually have some sort of historical basis? Whoa! But, in all seriousness, this is the first time I learned that the Assassin part of those games had some sort of historical basis.

[@trancelove1234]

Myths - Adding mystical power to those who are otherwise mere mortals since the dawn of time.

[@TigerXGame]

Huh, all the later AC games not withstanding, based on this video it seems the first game at least was pretty accurate in its depiction of the Assassins in their fortress. Never knew that was based on actual history.

[@kyidyl]

Yep! Masayaf is a real place, and there really was a siege of the assassins that happened there irl. The later games (the new ones I mean. Basically origins, odyssey, and valhalla) actually return to that way of storytelling where the locations are pretty accurate and the stories probably aren't true, but blend with enough history to make them fun and not mess with suspension of disbelief. Origins, especially, was excellent. It has quite a few supernatural elements in the expansions, but whether or not you like that kind of thing is personal preference. But you can go through all the new ones in like...learning mode, where they guide you through the places and tell you what they are and show you all the research they did to make it accurate.

[@0ldFrittenfett]

And if someone tells you he has legitimacy from someone who lived 1400 years ago- concider that just one of his many ancestors could have been lying. Could have been someone from 1000 years ago or 80 .

[@dudepool7530]

Altair: "But... My finger..." Ezio: "Tough break mate."

[@arx3516]

Wearing the ceremonial robes traditionally associated with your order is the best way to blend in!

[@SgtSupaman]

It's cool, though, because the monks wear something...sort of..similar.. Oh, and everyone knows there's always that one monk that carries an armory's worth of weaponry. Nothing suspicious there.

[@0Quiwi0]

I haven't really played Assassin's Creed much after they introduced the level system, but for the early games they didn't mention anything about drugs as far as I know. No I'm not saying they are historically accurate or anything. Just mentioning that they didn't make assasins drug fueled

[@StormCrownSr]

No, but it would explain the leap of faith and eagle vision. Strong shrooms.

[@coldmoonlight6361]

@@StormCrownSr .... You got any?

[@cyborgchicken3502]

I think the drug use thing came from the fact that many people in the middle East sometimes smoke Hashish and hookah, so it was probably propaganda pushed by the crusaders at the time, that these assassin's or Hashashin were nothing but murderous junkies

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

So what you're saying is that the Minotaur in Ass Creed Odyssey is not historically accurate.

[@martinvannostrand8488]

Ass Creed

[@ileGL]

I would love to play the Ass Creed games hahahH

[@Rob17Cotton]

@@ileGL I bet you would 😂🤣

[@PhreakinPhilip]

We don’t speak on odyssey. Got back into the series after quitting since syndicate. Origins was rough on the edges but it was fun & the story was actually interesting. Odyssey just seems like a game without any purpose but to grind endlessly. I still haven’t finished valhalla, but it brings back a lot of vibes that were lost long ago. Valhalla still has “levels” and skill points, but to me they really don’t matter much unless you’re playing on the hardest difficulty.

[@IKEMENOsakaman]

I want you to do videos on Ninjas!

[@Tommy1977777]

Dr Stephen Turnbull is generally the best source of research on the ninja.

[@briangarrow448]

And the Mongols wiped them off the face of the earth. Lesson- Don’t screw with Ghengis or his successors. Ever.

[@WaddedBliss]

That mountain fortress didn't stand a chance once real soldiers turned up. :)

[@andrewsuryali8540]

​@@WaddedBliss Not really. Alamut survived multiple sieges by the same kind of forces that handed the Mongols their asses at Ain Jalut. The mountain fortress didn't stand a chance once Chinese engineers showed up and started lobbing stones uphill. No amount of soldiery will ever beat a nerd and his missile.

[@giantred]

Ay, thank you for this interesting video. I enjoy the Assassin's Creed games but yeah, not history lol

[@Cifer77]

I mean, I love the old Assassin's Creed games, and actual history of assassinations, but this is a really strange topic lol. I've personally never heard of anyone taking AC franchise as legit history lol.

[@hirobeez]

I once heard a kid say that they thought people spoke Portuguese everywhere in India because of a soap opera. Never underestimate what people think of as legit. Especially these days.

[@schemage2210]

I mean, I never considered that the order of Assassins from Assassin's Creed was remotely factual, apparently it's still not. Go figure! :) Great video.

[@TMAC_burninator]

Wait, you mean video games aren't always perfectly accurate to history? Amazing! XD

[@Tricksterboom]

Probably the Sponsor should specify they aren't servicing more than Canada and US

[@nozecone]

I know you've got to get a lot of videos done today but - fer gawd's sake, slow down! Enunciate, young man!

[@furthausen]

Ha...fact boi doesn't know all assassins' dress in black "Am I right Peter"

[@Cavemanner]

Learning about the actual assassins and the actual Templar after playing Brotherhood and Revelations EXTENSIVELY was an entertaining journey in itself, especially after I found out most of what I had been reading up til that point had been Black Legends and that I now got to learn about the REALLY real assassins! Ubisoft may not have kept the history accurate, but they did a great job getting you pulled into the history.

[@theenzoferrari458]

*everything is permitted* My brother are you nizari state? Are you a follower of Hassan-i Sabbāh? Have you taken the oath?

[@mattalford3932]

The amount of historical accuracy in assassin's creed games is amazing though.

[@mattyladd]

Really good content! Any chance you can drop the background music? Very annoying.

[@olivierdk2]

To say that nothing is true is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile and that we must be the shepherds of our civilization. To say that everything is permitted is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious of tragic.

[@stackflow343]

"more a product of myth and propaganda than historical truth" like breakfast lol

[@michaelpipkin9942]

Can you cover the history of The Thunderbirds? It's a long, tragic and beautiful history.

[@valiroime]

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!!

[@coldmoonlight6361]

I agree, Zapdos is pretty awesome. There's a blue one in my driveway as I type this.

[@endervatta9907]

I can't bring that like count over 777, sorry.

[@saltyroo524]

Quite perfect timing, I started playing the Original Assassin’s Creed a few days ago. Want to play all of them (save for the last one at the moment)

[@MetalManiac1911]

So what you’re saying is that they have been a pain in the ass for thousands of years?

[@user-pd6ci6fk1i]

This guy is by far the hardest solo-working youtuber ever

[@daanvanboven2428]

I would love to see a video about the 15-e that made an air to air kill with a 2000 lbs bomb.

[@JXZ2]

The original was epic, at least back when it was released.

[@jasongrundy1717]

Your early Islamic history is irrelevant to the story and is at best fanciful creations to begin with.

[@TheCheeseman1983]

It’s explaining the origins and beliefs that lead to the creation of the sect that the video is about, and what identifies and separates them from other sects. This is especially important, given the conflation of two sects being a core issue with their legacy. As for fanciful creations, I don’t claim to be an historian, but what he recounted here doesn’t conflict with other accounts of the founding of Islam that I am familiar with. What is your complaint, exactly?

[@TheGhostOfFredZeppelin]

Actually, they were exactly what I think. I knew about this prior to watching the video..

[@Disgruntled_Fork]

You really had to come for one of my favorite franchises, didn't you, fact boi?? 😭🤣

[@lrx001]

as a person who is getting their Phd in medieval Islamic and Byzantine studies - you do a really good job explaining all of this! The sects of Islam can get super confusing especially when the leaders clashed with different leaders. Keep up the good work!

[@deansheets]

Is Simon the person or the beard?

[@ksteak27]

The closed captioning gets it quite humorously wrong at 5:13.... 🤣🤣

[@jackadoni]

This is why I can't follow this channel. Nietszche popularized that phrase, not Alamut "Vladimir Bartol began his elementary and secondary schooling in Trieste and concluded it in Ljubljana, where he enrolled at the University of Ljubljana[1] to study biology and philosophy. In Ljubljana, he met the young Slovene philosopher Klement Jug who introduced him to the works of Friedrich Nietzsche."

[@zch7491]

If we can't count on video games to educate our children society will crumble 😭

[@abdirahmanbadal781]

Hello, Simon .Hope your having a great day .

[@milesduggan4996]

I get my info from the old man of the internet... That's you Simon. No more murder contracts and hash unless you say so👀👀👀👀👀👀👀🙏🙏🙏🤑🥳🥳🥳🙏🙏🥳

[@IDKman555]

Today I found out, they think I believe a video game about jumping into hay bales wasn't historicaly accurate. Cazy!

[@joshuamazzuto1558]

Anybody else watch these videos and find themselves wondering why they sample "Chop Suey" by System of a Down for the background music?

[@jamielonsdale3018]

Oh cool, your sponsor is selling a weekend bag I wont be able to use for probably the next two years while SARS-CoV-2 runs its course.

[@ARIXANDRE]

This video was designed, developed and produced by a multicultural team of various religious faiths and beliefs.".

[@biocybernaught3512]

Comercial ends at 1:20

[@elliotkamper]

Hey, it was actually from one of your videos that I learned Hassan would capture or kidnap people drag them with opioids, then tell them he brought them into heaven and would order than kill to go back to heaven. I can’t remember which video of yours you shared that it? Do you happen to remember?

[@nodiggity9472]

The leader of today's Ishmaelis is the Aga Khan, and him and Queen Elizabeth own the bloodlines of all Thoroughbred Horses.

[@batticusmanacleas510]

Wow, did they have it wrong. Seven? Nah. Everybody knows 3 is the magic number.

[@aggese]

You forgot Dame Freya Stark's the valleys of the assassins Though that is a 1934 travle journal

[@DerFoerderator]

Me, german, looking the advertisment in the beginning. Me in thoughts: "But do not make beer over 200l in the year because they is a tax for that!!

[@walterscogginsakathesilver6246]

Assassins are you and me.They have a job that pays bills. (Just getting by) Hopefully you do as well.

[@SlackActionBumble]

"Nothing is real, everything is permitted" I think I finally found something worthy of getting a tattoo

[@tektrixter]

Here's the meaning behind that phrase: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKPVemOCf7Vqj80

[@Anthony-bv5zi]

I have it on me along with the AC logo. Been a big fan of them since the first one came out

[@SlackActionBumble]

@@Anthony-bv5zi I don't think I've ever played one of those games to full completion. But I just like the phrase and the feeling from it

[@trelard]

Assassin's Creed isn't accurate, but it's a goldmine of historical rabbit holes if you look the more famous people up yourself.

[@robjohnson3095]

So the real assassins had big bushy beards like a certain SOMEONE who is trying to convince me that assassins no longer exist...

[@Shamrogue99]

What is CE? I am used to hearing BC and AD, have never heard CE before now, or have and wasn't paying attention.

[@sierraward4791]

Assassin's Creed is a fun game that isn't historically accurate but an absolute blast to play. I did love the history of their legend though, thank you

[@hilariousname6826]

What's with that noise - "music"? - in the background? It's just annoying - I'm outta here.

[@gordonwallin2368]

The Islam secret sect equivalent to the Christian Knight Templar. Cool stuff.

[@N1lav]

When you think about it, all religions are just viral tiktoks, only very very slow, but very large and fanati followers.

[@stephanc6138]

if Assassins have particular uniforms... 😆 wasn't expecting any accuracy except they kill people, part.

[@RealSaintB]

Started out more similar to The Taliban or ISIS than they are to the video games and then they were a more or less typical Islamic caliphate until the Mongols arrived.

[@milesdamascus9400]

Oh! I actually know this one! Anyone even slightly interested should read alamut

[@twiceborn_by_grace]

I only watch your videos every so often and haven’t seen your beard that big. It looks fantastic!

[@jacobswafford1151]

One reference said the leader killed his sons for drinking alcohol. The name was used to keep people away from them and to give them a bad reputation.

[@fredred8371]

Video starts at 1:22

[@guyeswanson7958]

The life of Brian has a terrific example of fractured sects and the hostility exchanged between groups with slight variations in belief.

[@ogreboo]

Canvas bag, at least they deliver on theirs promises 🙂🙃not like some other Companies

[@beautyandintrigue]

"Beer is made from hops and tubes"- my brain is satisfied that I have learned enough for today.

[@rexxer2792]

Just a humble suggestion the number 7 and its significance 7th son of a 7th son 777 7 as mentioned in this video 7up lol Thanks

[@TurboWulfe]

Dude you are rocking that beard! Well done. Great vid 😎 🤘 🍻