The Problem with Canon Kassandra in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

This isn’t a review of Odyssey, but instead I’m going to talk about one aspect - the choice of if you want to play as Alexios or Kassandra.
Information Sources:
www.forbes.com/sites/paultass... (PLEASE don’t harass the author, they just stated their opinion - and we are all allowed to have one)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eivor
olympics.com/ioc/ancient-olym...
www.worldhistory.org/article/...
Music Used (All Tracks from Odyssey):
• Markos | Assassin's Cr...
• Barnabas | Assassin's ...
• Korinth | Assassin's C...
• Guards of the Cult | A...
• Kydonia | Assassin's C...
• A Spartan Fight | Assa...
Background Footage Used (besides my own gameplay):
• Assassin’s Creed Valha...
• ASSASSIN'S CREED ODYSS...
• YAKUZA 0 - Majima danc...
• Assassin's Creed: Odys...
www.youtube.com/watch?v%20OE5...
• Assassin's Creed Odyss...
• Assassin's Creed Odyss...
• Kallipateira - Side Qu...
• Assassin's Creed Odyss...

[@supasolobolo8208]

I can’t lie I cannot imagine origins without Bayek as the main character he was honestly one of the best video game protagonists

[@Walshyyy420]

Yeah Aya was great and all but Bayek was the most captivating Assassin since Ezio.

[@hestiashearth478]

yeah, Bayek was a pretty strong-willed "hero" character. Basically, the simple "protect the weak from the abuse by the strong" and "respect the kill/hunt but carry the anger". I guess if I was a horny male teenager, I would be playing as Kassandra. but as an adult male, I'd rather play what I can project myself on and enjoy the game.

[@jmbs9586]

But imagine playing with Anya…it make sense from a Lore point of view (we saw Anya statue in AC II)

[@NothingAt_All_]

I actually thought that Bayek was the canon character until now. It just felt natural (for lack of a better word).

[@shrikantbhattacharya3094]

@@jmbs9586 in origins i guess bayek wanted the hidden ones to be actually hidden from the world while aya wanted the world to know about them so i believe that's the reason why we don't see/hear about bayek anywhere before origins cuz he and his followers remained hidden to the end

[@goodhoonter9882]

I love playing alexios,he reminds me of bayek, really expressive and charismatic and they way he react and interacts with the world feels so real. Cassandra for me fives that feels only anger and menacing really well,gives some kratos vibes

[@MrBossFML]

Kassandra makes a much better Deimos and Alexios feels more natural as the mc

[@ShepardVI2185]

While I think it is stupid that Ubisoft doesn’t think that a female only lead would sell, I actually prefer that they put a male and female character option in RPG and RPG style games. The whole point is to see yourself in the characters you’re playing. I am currently playing threw Odyssey again and as Alexios for the first time and I’m honestly having more fun playing as him for the most part then as Kassandra. Like you said both voice actors bring a different energy and his performance is more humorous to my ear then Kassandra is and I like that! Both voice actors did a fantastic job!

[@JamesSmith-ny2gb]

Not really, tomb raider, horizon games, Metroid are all examples of successful games with good female leads, thing is Ubisoft can’t write female characters

[@senister14]

Which is your favorite, origins Odessy or vahalla?

[@dycast8561]

I don’t think AC is the right series for gender options at all. In other games where it’s about you, sure it’s cool..but these games are about reliving the *actual* history. I just think it’s really weird that you can be Alexios in what is Kassandra’s canon story..it would be like if in AC2 you could choose Claudia even though canonically it’s Ezio’s story. I liked how Syndicate did dual protagonists both of them can coexist all throughout

[@senister14]

@@dycast8561 yes, or origins where you got to play as the guy with the girl having a decent side part.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@dycast8561 Many of syndicates development team are really angry that evie was forced as a duel protagonist for 2 reasons. Reason number 1 is because evie was the games main villain, and because they were so far into development when they were told to add her as a playable character, they had to make the story worse by splitting some of Jacobs own storyline and memories, and giving them to his sister. They also had to rewrite Pearl and Roth, in order to give then some of the levels from when Evie originally was revealed to be a villain. And they had to cut out laods of ISU story aswell... Reason number 2, Jacob was and indeed still is the first lgbt male protagonist in Assassin's creed, and one of the only lgbt male leads in AAA gaming. Many devs see the hypocrisy in that having a minority groups representation damaged simply to add a female, isn't progress. It's ignorant at best, and selfish and hypocritical at worst. This and the fact that the lead writer was a gay man, its not surprising many ubisoft devs have quit instead of working on this overly feminist double standards period of ubisofts history...

[@spencertaylor-mrliltay]

I’m new to AC. Just started playing Odyssey and have been researching the two characters and man it’s nice to finally see a balanced argument supporting Alexios. A large majority or the stuff I’ve seen have been articles like the one you showed claiming Kassandra is leagues better but from all the clips I’ve seen online and play the start with both characters myself I feel they’re both fun and have things the actors did better at in different areas. I’m okay with there being a canon answer but like you said I feel like it would’ve been cool if with Valhalla they could’ve made both canon by letting either one appear based off what you did in Odyssey.

[@bs3202]

You'll have a way better gameplay as kassandra. Alexios grunts the whole game and his commentary is dumb with his extra low deep voice. Glad I picked her to platinum this fun game

[@spencertaylor-mrliltay]

@@bs3202 yeah actually I’m basically at the end of the game now. I did end up going with Kassandra and I’m glad I did.

[@nightmaremaster7731]

i usually plays Kassandra I think it makes the dialogue and story better. There ain’t really no difference between playing between the two really except for a few things from the dialogue change.

[@ac_nerd9794]

I played both and prefer Alexios 100%. Makes more sense in the game, him being the older brother is something I can resonate with, and I felt like his sorrow was more like he didn't fully show all of his emotions because he had lost so much. Both are fine options but I would take Alexios any day even if he isn't canonical.

[@Gamer_Wolf.]

@@bs3202 Alexios doesn't grunt the whole game. He only grunts when you jump from high areas or when he gets hit actually Kassandra does the same thing. Their commentary is exactly the same and his low deep voice well low and deep are the same thing when it comes to the voice. And every man has a deeper voice. It was very common for spartan men to have deeper voices actually.

[@raspberryjam3724]

I wish they didn't canonize either choice. In Skyrim, there isn't really a "canon" hero. You can be male, female, Nord, Argonian, Khajiit, Dunmer. You can become the Arch-Mage of the mage's college, or the harbinger of the Companions. You can be the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, and a Thane in every hold. None of that changes the fact that your character is the Dragonborn. And there is no canon choice for any of those things. All of them could be true, or none, and you are still the canon hero of Skyrim. I wish it didn't matter if you picked Alexios or Kassandra, that no matter who you pick, your choice is technically canon.

[@Twilight24682]

The male nord in skyrim is technically the canon choice in the trailer for the games the dragonborn is depicted as a male nord

[@erifenesorek5056]

@@Twilight24682 they did the same thing with the nerevar and whatever you became in oblivion, you just "disappear" in the next entry and nothing else is mentioned on it. how you made those characters isn't relevant at all. in tes6 they'll just go "oh the dragonborn went on a journey across the sea!" and never bring it up again.

[@channel45853]

​@@Twilight24682trailers don't count as canon

[@user-2137]

The main difference between AC Odyssey and Skyrim is that Odyssey is a fun game

[@deepflare1028]

@@user-2137No, The main difference is Skyrim is much more replayable than Odyssey, with or without mods like Combat overhauls.

[@LeoDeStino]

I tried Odyssey some years ago and I picked Kassandra because everyone was saying that she is the best. I dropped the game, just didn't click to me even though I'm Greek and I was super excited. A few days ago I decided to start again, this time with Alexios. He just makes sense, I love his personality and I'm super invested.

[@NiteF0X]

He’s the best choice, he brings tons of humor and fun to the game.

[@Master-Mirror]

Had the same experience, only I restarted the next day. I like Kassandra's voice actress, but Alexios just felt far more accurate for this story and the world it takes place in.

[@Twilight24682]

@NiteF0X No kassandra is and she is canon

[@Master-Mirror]

@@Twilight24682 Who cares about what's canon? Women couldn't participate in the Ancient Olympics, so Kassandra being canon makes no sense historically.

[@jackiesimplejake]

My favorite part of the game is murdering the fuck out that spoiled brat alexios

[@TheTolister]

I'm playing as a Kassandra, and it's spread throughout the entire game, that everybody speaks to Kassandra as to a male. It doesn't really matter in character behavior if you choose male or female, it's just cosmethics. In both cases with odyssey and valhalla it feels as the gender choice didn't really matter. It's stupid. The olympics example is one thing, to me it was really on the nose when that director casted Kassandra in playing as Leonidas in the play.

[@cat_and_cabbage4662]

Gender swapping in theater is not uncommon, and definitely not unknown to classical Greeks

[@TheTolister]

@@cat_and_cabbage4662 I think that in Antic Greek it was the other way around - the female roles played males.

[@cat_and_cabbage4662]

@@TheTolister definitely an interesting topic, one I need more info on

[@BenChurchill76]

@@cat_and_cabbage4662 Yes, in ancient Greece, men played all female roles; women were not actors. There might be anecdotal stories about women dressing as men to perform, but in general actors were male. Kassandra would likely not been asked to play a male role on stage, or be on stage at all.

[@Master-Mirror]

Also a misthios exclusively refers to a male mercenary. A female mercenary would be a misthia, but Kassandra still gets called misthios throughout the game.

[@doomeddoughnut]

The same with Valhalla, but it's worse. I played as male eivor. And during gameplay plenty of noc's call you mam or lady. So they couldn't even be bothered to fix that. If I'm meant to play as a character or gender then make that default, I don't care about having choices of character, just make 1 good one.

[@ryana.c1379]

They didn't fix it bc the devs r probably angry that they can't make a female. Solo character nd they r forcing them to put a male character it there

[@AlexandruMihailescu]

In Oddyssey you have a choice, in Valhalla it's the same story being told: the character is a man in a woman's body and while you might choose to see the man, every NPC sees the woman body.

[@noone5454]

Btw, the female problem has happened with other titles before: apparently, in AC Unity, there were supposed to be memories were you played with Elise, and Evie in AC Syndicate is clearly the main character in the story, being the one that advances the main plot, while Jacob's plot seemed to be running in circles. It even affects Evie's part on the story, having less missions to her, and most of them being about fixing Jacob's mess.

[@doltBmB]

yeah syndicate is insanely misandrist always portraying jacob as an incompetent idiot

[@TheVintress]

@@doltBmB how is that misandrist, its just typical male behavior

[@doltBmB]

@@TheVintress look who won't get banned for being a piece of shit

[@mrbeard798]

@@TheVintress I don’t know if you’re being ironic on purpose or not 😂

[@TheVintress]

im not@@mrbeard798

[@tony___3077]

This was what I kept trying to explain to people when Odyssey first came out as to what Kassandra being Deimos was just more believable and sounded better, but I never could find the words to explain it until now. I appreciate and support this.

[@BenChurchill76]

Yes, I found Kassandra as Deimos more threatening and scary. Alexios is also good in that role, but Kassandra seems much more rage-under-the-surface, and she will snap any second. Whereas Alexios as Deimos is always angry. Both are good, but I like Kassandra in that role more.

[@Twilight24682]

No alexios makes a more believable deimos he fits the part better and deimos is a male name so it's stupid to call a female deimos

[@tony___3077]

Alexios did well in both roles, Kassandra seemed only good as Deimos. And most people cannot tell whether Deimos is masculine or feminine, so I stand by my opinion. Kassandra is unfortunately cannon, but not in my head cannon.@@Twilight24682

[@ScottiePotato]

I really like playing with Alexios but I think they force you to play as Kassandra because when you choose Alexios, the animation will still be for female especially the walking animation which is why Alexios walks like gay

[@stephordless8876]

@@ScottiePotatoThat’s subjective because he doesn’t walk gay especially when he runs.

[@KillswitchSaint]

I don’t mind Kassandra being the canon choice however in the legacy of the first blade dlc really made me feel like alexios should have been the canon choice. The pain of losing the love of his life and his child being kidnapped. Really hit me emotionally especially the ending of that arc. I’m also a father could never imagine the pain he went through, but not only did he find his son but he (alexios) sent his son away for his (child) safety. That to me felt like that was the perfect scenario for alexios to be the canon choice. I don’t hate kassandra it’s just I felt like alexios was the better character choice between the two. Also Kassandra felt more intimidating as Demios than alexios. Now with the franchise as a whole. I feel like having a choice between male or female ruins the story. The past games only had one protagonist like Altair or Ezio, could you imagine having a character choice with Ezio’s trilogy? It wouldn’t be the same. They should stick with one main character either male or female it doesn’t matter which just pick one. Don’t give us a choice to cater to one audience or another. Follow the history of the time periods like they have done in the past. They took away the crossbow in ac1 cause it wasn’t accurate. Bring us back to that time Ubisoft. Just give us one *insert swear word here* character. That’s all I want at least.

[@a0000a1234]

Cassandra was way better and Deimos makes more sense and and just plays the part better as a man.

[@Eyes-Scream0213]

I played all AC games and started on AC1 the first time it was released. And I will still proudly say thay it's still one of the solid AC game and my favorite because Altair was wellmade character but was not fleshed out too much. But his character on AC Revelations really hits me hard. Ezio is 2nd to me but that's because he have 3 games on his caliber. Connor is also a good one but it really feels like Haytham is the main character of ACIII. But I lost interest when AC4 came out. Why? Because Desmons is not around anymore and the game is not anymore being an assassin but rather being a pirate. AC4 is a good game and super fan but as a AC standard it's not for me. And after AC4 the AC series become so bland until AC Origin came out. But I'm really dissapointed on AC Odyssey and AC Valhalla. I really don't like choosing to be a male or female when it comes to AC came so I would say AC Syndicate did better compared to AC Odyssey and Vallhalla. At least Evie and Jacob have their own personality which is very interesting compared to Alexios and Kassandra. So now I'm really hoping for AC Mirage to be as good as AC1. The feeling of social stealh that the game introduce ahould return.

[@emiliodelvalle4093]

Its pretty dumb that Kassandra gives birth a child and then goes away… With Alexios its more realistic that the mother is the one keeping the child while he is out working as misthios… Im not bing sexist is just more accurate

[@strangebrew1746]

​@@Eyes-Scream0213 Altair was a terrible character in AC1, with that annoying America accent, and acted arrogant and narcissistic the entire time before having a complete 180 at the end when he finally understands it all. Ezio acted like an arrogant skirt chaser for 20 years of in game time in AC2, then backtracks for plot reasons at the end, then in the next game finally understands it all. Desmond was an annoying, whiny, unlikeable character that was arrogant and difficult for the first 4 games, and finally understood it all in AC3. None of them are very well made characters.

[@postcardsandroses]

I agree on the legacy of the first blade. It felt VERY weird seeing Kassandra lose her husband and her son only to have her father in law get angry with her. Like cut her some slack, that's a mother who lost her child, the one that your son died trying to protect? That whole deal was definitely written with Alexios in mind and it infuriates me to no end. Ubisoft say Kassandra is canon but they barely commit to her

[@umapessoaqualquer3688]

I really enjoyed the game as Alexios, I really didn't get the "he's the worst protagonist" Also, I agree with the point of the historical stuff that people say (it really threw me off, since I'm a big history nerd) And I thought that they would make a choose your mystios for the valhalla tie-in mission and got really disapointed when it didn't

[@hughjaenus2235]

His voice acting was horrible compared to Cassandra

[@umapessoaqualquer3688]

@@hughjaenus2235 I played it in portuguese, so his VA was actually pretty good But, I've seen some clips of the english VA, and he was ok, I still didn't understand the "worst protagonist"

[@hughjaenus2235]

@@umapessoaqualquer3688 His english VA always sounded very rough and exaggerated, like he's always angry imo Kassandra sounded more natural and realistic, and no it's not because she's a female and Alexios is a buff alpha male. Because the same goes for Valhalla, male Eivor sounds natural and calm, meanwhile female Eivor sounds pissed off 24/7 and like she smokes 20 packs of cigarettes per day

[@umapessoaqualquer3688]

@@hughjaenus2235 damn, that's a shame the portuguese VA for Alexios did such a great job, his voice was both smooth and deep, it really fitted the character. I only saw Kassandra on the Valhalla DLC and her VA was pretty good And yeah, I agree with the Valhalla one, female Eivor sounded like she was trying to hard to be the "rough viking", meanwhile male Eivor sounded like Ragnar from the Vikings series

[@hughjaenus2235]

@@umapessoaqualquer3688 Yeah same, male Eivor sounded like a charasmatic Ragnar, meanwhile female Eivor sounded like a generic female Viking NPC number 43521

[@elmaswapo3220]

The fear of ubisoft to put a female as the only protagonist is dumb, I think games like syndicate and odyssey would have been better to tell the story with only evie and kassandra. In odyssey I think Kassandra fits better as a protagonist but its true that the game feels like was wade for Alexios. Good video bro, keep the good work!

[@chrismoore5333]

Syndicate wouldnt have a story. Jacob is the concept for the game. Gangs, and dealing with the oppression of the soical outsiders, and underclass is jacobs thing. Evie was actually originally the games main bad guy. She was using jacob to get the shroud, until she revealed her true intentions. The idea was reused for watch dogs legions Sabine. Also when it comes to representation, jacob is still one of AAA gamings only gay male protagonists, whereas evie is one of many many women. Fun fact, the higher ups at ubisoft forced evie to become a good guy and "twin protagonist" due to criticism of unity not having a female option for co-op. Thats literally the only reason. The same higher ups tild the lead writer of syndicate, who himself is a gay man, to make jacobs bi-sexuality more "subtle" so homophobic buyers won't be upset, potentially negatively affecting sales.

[@hommofroggy5727]

If they wanted to make a story for Kassandra they should have changed the entire style of the game and story, if they wanted to keep nearly any sort of historical accuracy.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@hommofroggy5727 your right. Kassandra was the catalyst that killed assassin's creed. Because of kassandra, ubisoft felt they could pull the same bait and switch nonsense that made no narrative sense at all in valhalla. And they'll do it again most likely in AC japan...

[@hommofroggy5727]

@@chrismoore5333 as i said in another comment, Kassandra was very badass as Dimos, why not make it a playable path?! I would love to have played that way. She doesn't fit the mercenary situation in that time period. But as a indoctrinated demi god?! Sign me in. The Dimos side of the story is based on mythology and fantasy. The Mercenary side of the story should be a mix of mostly historical accuracy and fantasy.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@hommofroggy5727 I agree with you entirely.

[@CavemanBearPig]

I started out with Alexios and I certainly felt more connected with him due to his higher spirits and enthusiasm. What I also really admired was that Michael Antonakos, his VA, drew inspiration from Ezio when voicing for Alexios, hence an even better connection with our lad over Kassie (no hate toward her neither, her VA did amazingly as well). But when I saw that Kassandra was the one and only canon option... It was such a huge bummer. It was almost like seeing the Warden or Hawke you made in Dragon Age Origins (or 2) not be described/present in Dragon Age Inquisition. At the very least they could've let us choose on whether we wanted Alexios or Kassandra to be encountered in Valhalla. But I guess that would've complicated things for future ACs.

[@Twilight24682]

Kassandra is canon why have alexios show up in valhalla when she has already been confirmed as such alexios is dead and was deimos

[@johanneskaiser8188]

@@Twilight24682 Because they first let you choose and then tell you it did not matter. If your choice happens to be the one the devs picked for the canon, alright, but if you did not all you did in the last game was (in the scope of the greater continuity) untrue. I'd rather not have a choice than have one and then being told it did not matter and I chose incorrectly anyway.

[@sakaiclips]

“That’s what bothers me,the complete disregard for your choice because you didn’t pick the right character” Damn, he has a point, I always played Kassandra and enjoyed my experience with her but I can imagine people committing to Alexios and would be pissed for not having this character in Valhalla.

[@BenChurchill76]

Me. I'm one of those. I also just didn't love the non-character development in the Valhalla crossover story. Eivor and Kassandra meet, but are antagonistic most of the time, but make friends in the end only to just leave with nothing really to show for it. Sure, it would have been more work for Ubisoft to have Alexios as well, but it would have been are really welcome touch. Especially since the Odyssey crossover story allowed you to play as the character you had already chosen, so with that game they did the double work. Oh well...

[@Twilight24682]

@BenChurchill76 Alexios isn't the canon eagle bearer why would they add the non canon character to valhalla that would make no sense Alexios never became the eagle bearer he became deimos

[@ReluctantWarrior]

A good way to have approached canon in regards to this would have been to leave it ambiguous. Granted, that would have made Valhalla's crossover quest more difficult to pull off. But a good way to work around it could have been to include a way to import your Odyssey saves, and that would determine who shows up. You could argue that would take more effort than is necessary, and personally I could have done without the crossover quest entirely, but whatever.

[@Curreeuss]

I came to the game late, I've owned a copy for 2 years and only just started playing, so I only have 15 hours, but I knew all along I wanted to play as Kassandra. I was so excited to play as Kassandra! Now, 15 hours in, I want to restart the game as Alexios because this world is so clearly not built for Kassandra to be the mercenary - and yet somehow she's the canon choice? That doesn't feel right at all. Kassandra is written as a man wearing a woman's face, the way she interacts with other characters and walks through the world betrays that, and I can't look past it. I said to a friend, who 100% the game as Alexios, "it feels like they built the game around Alexios being the player character, and then added the "diversity" option at the end rather than actually making her make sense in the world". Except apparently she was the canon choice the whole time? So I was wrong - the man behind her face isn't Alexios, it's the writers apparently.

[@K.C-2049]

I have serious questions about the whole "Kassandra was canon all along!" narrative. the game is clearly made for Alexios. he fits the setting better, his facial animations are stronger/more nuanced, he's on the cover art etc. etc., and that's coming from someone who adores a great female protagonist, and not a knock on Kassandra at all as she's also a great character. I feel like this whole hubbub about being canon was a retcon that Ubi tried to throw out to fans when they discovered how much players were vibing with Kassandra. I played as Alexios and personally I had a great time, the voice actor understood the assignment and went along with the sometimes goofy and not serious vibe of the game, which was something I really enjoyed after how ridiculously self serious Origins was.

[@Eco-pu2zs]

Odessey and Valhalla both give the player the illusion of choice but in the end, they are just humoring you. I wish I could have seen Alexios's battle Evior, who as it turns out is a woman at the end of the game even if you pick a man. It also sucks because it means that Alexios being killed by Cassandra is the official way the story plays out. Mass Effect and Dragon Age let you be the Author of the story, Assassins creed does not.

[@papaspongetv2352]

Just googled a video to see what character I should choose for the new game I just bought. You're a dick.

[@Unnatural09]

I've always had an issue that if you always wanted cassandra as the main canon then why provide a choice or provide an a reason why.

[@Twilight24682]

Kassandra was originally going to be the only character in odyssey the head of ubisoft made them add alexios because he didn't think the game would sell with kassandra ( which is bs as a lot of games with female only characters have sold very well) so alexios was added and the head lost his job

[@senister14]

​@Twilight24682 actually it makes sense, people like female characters, but oy if they're done right. People just want to play, not be preached too.

[@ORIGINALFBI]

​@@Twilight24682Okay but that's not true for Assassin's Creed

[@Twilight24682]

@ORIGINALFBI It is for odyssey

[@Twilight24682]

@senister14 Nobody is preaching to anyone adding female characters that female gamers enjoy is not preaching

[@st.paddymad7085]

I got AC Odyysey (I no longer care how it's spelt at this point) Ultimate Edition last year when it was bout €30 during Black Friday on the PS4 and only just played it this summer (I also upgraded to the PS5 this summer thankfully) and thought it was good, despite some of its issues and quirks. I played as Alexios and managed to save his entire family, even making sure Kassandra, my version of Deimos, was saved and reunited with Myrrine (who is also gilf material) and everyone lives happily ever after, apart from Alexios coz of the Staff of Hermes and other future DLC that was on the horizon at the time. So, to play that cross-over update where it's Kassandra instead of Alexios meeting Eivor (my verison of Eivor is male, but Ubisoft still makes Eivor female) and I didn't know how to feel bout it. I thought I was going somewhere when making this comment, but I guess I lost track and now I dunno how to end it, but I'll try to clutch it by saying this: Although, I have nothing against Kassandra and female Eivor, I just find it odd that they're considered the canon heroes, whereas Alexios is Deimos and gets iced and Myrrine is somehow ok with it and male Eivor is just Odin within Eivor's mind, like how Johnny Silverhand is in V's head to an extent. And male Eivor was part of most of the promotional art and whatnot for Valhalla. And what's most puzzling to me is how is Kassandra and female Eivor protagonists, if Ubisoft has some shady stuff happening on their end? Anyway, hopefully this comment makes sense to an extent, but yeah, I thinknI said what I wanted to say.

[@rafaelorona1395]

I feel the same way about AC odyssey. The male character fits better in the world, with the characters and side missions because of his humor and theatrical performance. I also felt very odd playing the Olympics with Kassandra, in my opinion they should’ve avoided that part because the game showcases a false historical equality of the sexes from the very beginning and it works and it helps if you choose to play as Kassandra to see other women mercenaries, soldiers, sailors and captains. This is after all a historical fantasy game, but when they included that small Olympic story that doesn’t fit with the overall world of the game, it just makes you question why Kassandra is allowed to compete and why aren’t men and women against you doing so.

[@ReluctantWarrior]

Likewise, the Daughters of Artemis quests should probably have been exclusive to Kassandra, since it doesn't make as much historical sense for Alexios to be able to join them.

[@rafaelorona1395]

@@ReluctantWarrior yes! While doing the quest I also felt that Alexios wasn’t supposed to be allowed to be the leader of that faction.

[@QuintonBrooks-ze9cp]

Yes cause the priest almost threw a lady off a cliff just for trying to attempt to watch the games

[@mickeymeade86]

I need to finish my playthrough with Kassandra, but I must admit after watching the opening sequence with Phoibe I think Kassandra has the better voice acting with a child character.

[@Comissar_Carolus]

I played as Kassandra, loved it and Alexios as Deimos was, for me, perfect in his role. Like you I felt very weird during the Olympic quest because I have a huge passion for antic greece and I knew that women weren't allowed in the Games. They could have easily modify this by giving you the task to get a new champion.

[@gandalainsley6467]

I kind of have feeling that the story about Ubisoft wanting a male character is true but that they turned it little around and Alexios was supposed to be main character and Kassandra was added later on. That could explain why Alexious fits more than Kassandra. Other ac games did not have that much inaccuracies with their main characters. Closest thing to this is when ac 2 just left Rodrigo alive for no reason because originally Ezio was supposed to have only one game but then they had to change it for brotherhood.

[@Twilight24682]

Not true its actually the other way around kassandra was originally the only main character alexios was added later on a developer actually confirmed this

[@gandalainsley6467]

@@Twilight24682 They said that but how its written does not make it seem that way and it is a common promotion way that the big corporation did not let me do that so we had to change stuff.(basically "look at us people from the left.(they are the audience for that type of promotion.) We were not allowed to create only female character by big bad corporation because patriarchy and sexism(even though Aveline exists and she is the only character with 2 dlcs) so play our game and see how it was originally meant to be because we are one of you and we understand the struggle") With Valhalla they did the same thing because the last name has daughter in it but its very obvious there.

[@Spider-Khal]

I like playing as Alexios, and it feels bad when some consider my choice as wrong and bad. I find the humor and emotions in Alexios' voice and so on - where other people claim he has bad acting and is "brain-dead" which I find horrible and disrespectful. Not just in-game, the actor and actress seemed to have a lot of personality. Spartan wouldn't train women, regardless of what people these days would try to come up with to alter known history. Even if the cliff toss wasn't because of some prophecy, Kassandra could've been targeted to be killed for learning the ways she wouldn't have learned by their society's customs and traditions at the time within the era. I love the choice, regardless of "canon" the game franchise is unrealistic as all hell - so whoever wants to play as whatever doesn't matter as long as it fits the creator's vision - in saying that if the creator's of Odyssey really did intend for Kassandra to be the only option, so be it. Though in the end there's a choice, and I don't need people talking down to me for it. A youtuber I loved watching for ages for this game showed utter disrespect to the choice of Alexios and anyone that would play him - I will not support such ill manner. 😁😞

[@ctorresct902]

Wow very well said.

[@Twilight24682]

Oh boo hoo kassandra is canon get over it also a developer said kassandra was originally the only character in odyssey until the head of ubisoft made them add alexios so it was obvious kassandra was canon

[@Spider-Khal]

@@Twilight24682 Whatever floats your boat - I have no problems with either. You would know if you actually read my comment I have absolutely no problem with either Kassandra or Alexios - yet you ignore that because I happen to have a preference. Also this is a very old outdated comment I made, so I don't see why either the comment or your reply is relevant. Here's some snippets from my orginal comment - "Not just in-game, the actor and actress seemed to have a lot of personality" which it shows I like both performances, regardless of gender. This one you probably thought I meant what I think about what the reality should be for the game "Spartan wouldn't train women, regardless of what people these days would try to come up with to alter known history. Even if the cliff toss wasn't because of some prophecy, Kassandra could've been targeted to be killed for learning the ways she wouldn't have learned by their society's customs and traditions at the time within the era." it is merely me reflecting on the sad truths of history and how it might've been if it was like it was back then. I would honestly hope Kassandra would not face such treatment, people were bastards back then. And finally, "so whoever wants to play as whatever doesn't matter as long as it fits the creator's vision - in saying that if the creator's of Odyssey really did intend for Kassandra to be the only option, so be it. Though in the end there's a choice, and I don't need people talking down to me for it." states yet again, I care not for gender despite my preference for Alexios. And if the creator deems Kassandra "canon" "so be it". Heck if they felt like going and erasing Alexios as a playable choice, I wouldn't care - makes it an easier time to get into game.

[@crazylizard1889]

The reason people don't think female protagonists help sales is because of how poorly written they have been past and present (not just in games). They get hung up on her being a woman in all the wrong ways. Also, I can't blame Ubisoft for getting a little scared about Kassandra after Aya did her best to ruin Origins.

[@BenChurchill76]

I guess I'm in the Alexios camp. Look, I really do like Melissanthi Mahut's performance as Kassandra, but just personally, I find Alexios to have more range. I also really like games with female protagonists, but in this specific game, I feel like Kassandra as the canon character is too anachronistic and pulls me out of the historical fantasy. The Olympics example that you mentioned is just one major example. I am currently in my 5th play-through of the game and noticed that there are also some clues that Alexios is more default. Like when you get the Cult of Cosmos robes and mask off the dead Elpinor; it turns out that it's the male version, of course. So, when you play as Kassandra, your'e wearing the male mask; despite the fact that female cultists have a female mask; and none of them seem to notice or care that you're wearing the wrong robes as Kassandra. There are other small examples like that too, but I do wish Ubisoft hadn't confirmed that Kassandra was canon. Now, in all future appearances; Alexios just gets wiped out. Kassandra was the only one in Valhalla, as you mentioned, and she's also the only one to appear in AC Jade. Now, I will say that Aya in AC Origins is great, and I really like her character, and wish there was more time with her in the game, and there are not (at least as far as I remember) any anachronistic issues with her.

[@Twilight24682]

Aya was originally the main character in origins until the former head of ubisoft ( now fired) decided to add beyek as the main instead also kassandra was originally going to be the only main character in odyssey but that same head ( who clearly hates females) said the game wouldnt sell with kassandra and forced them to add alexios

[@LeverstGems]

About the whole mask thing it’s because she killed Elpenor where else would she get the female mask? Plus their identities are hidden so it wouldn’t matter

[@ComicGaurdian95]

Look, I love Role Playing Games like the next person, but, you are right, it sucks how Ubisoft gives us a choice to play as either Alexios or Kassandra in Assassins Creed: Odyssey and then just basically says "We don't care, Kassandra is actual character that you needed to pick" and the same even for Eivor, it shouldn't matter whether it was male or female Eivor you pick because IT'S YOUR CHOICE!!!!! It shouldn't matter which one you choose because you are the one playing and it should have had an update that let us import our save data (like a majority of role playing games) from game to the other and just continue to enjoy the story we started.

[@crazylizard1889]

I think the main source of criticism for Kassandra comes from how much one-sided credit she got. I think the voice acting was better for Alexios. Whether you disagree or not, it cannot be argued that Kassandra's voice actor was leagues ahead, which is what loads of people did. One major mistake with Kassandra, which Ubi learned from with Eivor, is that they made the female character all pretty and pristine (which many construed as sexist). Alexios had scars all about him, which made him more detailed, realistic, and just more interesting by showing the harshness of his life. Also, despite Ancient Greece being more egalitarian gender wise than most historical societies, she always seemed out of place in the patriarchy. This could've presented opportunities to add layers to her character, but, in their efforts to create near identical characters, Ubisoft just left it. This showed through hugely in the DLCs. It didn't help that Natakas seemed really mopey. But Kassandra being among male gods and their sons just looked odd above all else. I have no problem with Ubisoft creating a female protagonist, so long as they put the effort into finding the right setting and backstory, and, most of all, not giving gender options so they can focus on tailoring the story to a woman in history instead of writing a story of a male character, and then just giving the option of the character having boobs. Kassandra seemed slightly lazy but understandable. Eivor, however, was a disaster and embarrassment. When we think Vikings, we think bearded men the size of fridges with deep, booming battle cries. Also, male Eivor's voice acting was world class. The woman just sounded constipated. The best way to create a story with a female protagonist is to mould some of the plot, interactions, and motivations around her gender. It also leaves the opportunity to create more layered villains, and more greatly contrast their motivations. The more convicted villains will be less sexist (obviously spending millions on a game, the writers will do a bit more). Also, an easy way to help her gain momentum would be to finally return to a focus on the brotherhood, which is a lot less sexist than other historical groups. If you think about it, there hasn't been a proper focus on the Assassins as a whole since Unity.

[@cinnamontoastcrunch5665]

I completely agree 100% with everything you said there I think UBI underestimated their audience instantly assuming that players would be toxic and sexist if forced to play as a woman when in reality the majority would've been absolutely fine with an only female protagonist aslong as said protagonist was a round well written character with a realistic story to suit the time period the game was set in .

[@alinclaudiu4754]

I respect your opinion and mostly agree with it (although I'm a guy but I played as Kassandra and totally loved it). I see the flaws that Ubi made, BUT I disagree with your opinion saying that they got Kassandra wrong with making her this pretty. I think in a SJW/woke AAA dominated industry, it's impressive that they got the balls to create an attractive character. Also, nothing sexist could be said -- she's just beautiful (I know that brainwashed SJWs argue against attractive characters) but she has many scars, and there's nothing sexualized about her body (in fact, her boobs are really small). The real PROBLEM is with Valhalla, when they slit through your throat an uninteresting 'canon' female character, bad voice actress and completely ugly.. and this applied to all women in the game. Odyssey was good in this aspect, Valhalla felt really bad -- true SJW propaganda.

[@cinnamontoastcrunch5665]

@alinclaudiu4754 Good valid point there, mate

[@helgenlane]

​@@alinclaudiu4754I kinda agree with you, but come on, female Eivor is pretty much the most perfect looking Scandinavian woman. It's not like Horizon Forbidden West, she is actually objectively beautiful. I don't see how anyone can think she is ugly.

[@TheSignGuy1234]

I agree, I would've preferred if the game scanned for Odyssey save date or if they added someone before leaving for/arriving on the isle of Skye ask Elvor "Have you heard of someone known as the Eagle Bearer?" And give us the choices "Yes, I've heard of her" or "Yes, I've heard of him" the answer would've given you either Kassandra or Alexios.

[@HaliaStone]

I'd've loved that. I've only played as Kassandra once so putting all my hours into Alexios just for him not to be the canon choice felt a bit like a waste.

[@K.C-2049]

exactly! Mass Effect had the tech to maintain continuity a decade ago, I feel like for a major studio AAA it shouldn't be hard.

[@Farhan-rk1mt]

Really good video here. As you mentioned, while Spartan society was as a whole more gender equal when compared to other Greek states(Spartan women were encouraged to exercise, be educated and could fight to defend their homes and families), women were still not allowed to fight on the front lines or join the military. Whether there were women mercenaries is subject to debate. There were still social norms that separated men and women in Spartan society. On the topic of Eivor, I actually preferred the way she was put together in the game compared to Kassandra. There are however, a couple of issues with how her story and conflict are written, mainly in her conflict with Sigurd, and especially her relationship with Randvi. The issue with Ubisoft isn't merely that they can't use female protagonists, it's that they can't seem to write them well. They're essentially just using the same plot and storyline interchangeably for two characters, with no regard as to how the characters' genders would have caused their story to play out a lot differently as compared to the counterpart character. Ask any woman soldier if they feel or are treated differently from their male peers. Tldr: writing for different genders leads to very different stories, and shallow, lazy writing for the sake of surface level equality doesn't do justice for the characters.

[@chrismoore5333]

I mean it's obvious that the storylines were written for men and later they just lied and said it was meant for the female leads... if valhalla was written for a woman, then she would be the sage of a female goddess. Not Odin the all "father." Ridiculous company.

[@Farhan-rk1mt]

@@chrismoore5333 you bring up some valid points, but I think you're leaning too much into bashing ubi here. The writing does come off as lazy and shallow, yes, but writing Eivor as being the reincarnation of Odin isn't as bad of a deal breaker as you say. None of us have any control over the circumstances of our births. We can't control whether we are born rich or poor, healthy or sickly, boy or girl, and in this case, as the reincarnation of a deified ancient species or not. It would have made for an interesting story if the male Odin was reincarnated as a Norse woman, and could have explored this deeper, giving far greater insight into both characters.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@Farhan-rk1mt that sounds anti-male and sexist to me. Imagine it the other way around. Female god gets reborn as a man, and learns to be better... not really ok is it.

[@Farhan-rk1mt]

@@chrismoore5333 how so? You're saying that as though a female doesn't need to learn to be better any more than a male does, and doesn't need to grow or develop as a character. Whether it's Eivor learning to be better than Odin, or hypothetically speaking, Einar learning to be better than Frigg, gender here should be secondary to how the story and plot is written. This is what I mean when I said the writing needs to work, and cannot be shallow. Simply swapping the genders out between the two, while using the same storyline for both tends to not work well in this case, because the gender will change how the interactions would work. The difference here would be how Frigg would see the world differently from Odin, and how this would realistically affect Einar differently from Eivor.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@Farhan-rk1mt my point is simple. To insinuate that the experience of a woman is somehow more valid then that of a man, and to then suggest that a man becoming a woman, would help them become a better person, suggests men are less then women. To me that message is sexist and wrong. I know that isn't your intention, but it dose seem to be ubisofts. And that alone is enough for valhalla to be hated. Let alone all the other problems.

[@stefantherainbowphoenix]

Kassandra is NOT the canon protagonist. Evidence: - When the protagonist was a child, their father implied that they could become a soldier. This was impossible even for Spartan women (some people really overestimate Spartan women's freedoms). - Everybody treats the protagonist like a man. - While infiltrating the cult, the protagonist is forced to wear a *male* cultist mask and speak to other cultists. This would surely raise suspicion if the protagonist was a woman but none of the cultists even remotely suspect the protagonist. - No women were allowed to participate in the sporting events of the Olympics. They could only participate as the owners of stables. Note: Women could also participate in the Heraean games (which were exclusive to women) but this was a separate event. Ubisoft are a bunch of liars! PS: Most of the ability preview clips show Alexios, so it's clear that Ubisoft mainly tested the game with him. Why would they mainly test the game with a non-canon character?

[@gamingwithmndandlnd4952]

Bro it’s AC. Nothing is true all is permitted. 😂😂

[@sutnack7537]

@@gamingwithmndandlnd4952he just likes to look at men instead of women totally his preference.

[@gamingwithmndandlnd4952]

@@sutnack7537 Yeah.

[@jmyers52995]

​@@sutnack7537this is an rpg, i dont want to pretend to be a woman

[@rayortiz3060]

@@jmyers52995EXACTLY

[@thebatmanofneo-gotham5667]

I'll admit, in the three times I've played through AC Odyssey, I always picked Kassandra, simply because in my opinion, Melissanthi Mahut did a better job voicing her than Michael Antonokos did voicing Alexios. But that's just me. That being said, yes, I agree. It is most definitely stupid that she's the main character, despite the fact that it's neither historically nor contextually accurate to Spartan culture. It's like, why bother having Alexios be on the front of Odyssey's case cover if he isn't the canon protagonist?

[@tristinjudd2595]

Not to mention he was in all the commercials. Freaking Amazon Echo had an Alexios voice changer when the game came out

[@Twilight24682]

Kassandra is on the cover of the physical copies of the game the cover is reversible and on the book alexios isn't in everything

[@Zoidberryable]

Like you were saying in the beginning of the video, I was iffy about watching but I'm glad I did. This is a nuanced take on this topic so props to you for that.

[@bernardmacdonagh9517]

Honestly I wouldn't have a problem with the cannon choices being Kassandra and Female Eivor if it wasn't for the fact that ubisoft used there male counterparts in the majority of their ads, their even on the covers.

[@hommofroggy5727]

In such games where historical recreation is important to slightly important, creating the game around historical accracy is important to tell a good non misinforming story. Nobody would have had a problem if the story was tailor made based on the rules of that historical period of time and after knowing the rules you work around them to fit a female character. I would have loved to follow Kassandras path as Demos for example, like a Templars pov to the story line and as a demi god nurtured by templars as this mysterious larger than life character.

[@hughjaenus2235]

Better idea 1. option one - Kassandra, play her Story just as it is 2. option two - Alexios, play his story as Deimos Kinda how in Resident Evil 2 you can play as Leon or Claire and have different stories, yet meet each other and make the story tied

[@jonchh956]

Here's my take: Based on the lore, the Kassandra/Alexios choice is there because of the 2 DNA samples on the spear when the modern-day assassins found it and they weren't sure who's who. They will however know who became Deimos in the future when Layla (or Basim) meets Kassandra in Valhalla. And one more thing: If you're playing the crossover as Layla (not Basim) there should some dialogue or whatever when Eivor meets Kassandra. I mean c'mon, Layla lived through Kassandra and meeting her as Eivor should be an exciting experience.

[@Kolbeck64]

the only problem was that in odyssey you meet kassandra or Alexios in the present depending on who you choose to play at the beginning

[@DigitalArctic]

@@Kolbeck64 It could be written off as the bleeding effect causing Layla to see Alexios in the modern day I suppose. Though it's clear that whoever you choose to play is treated as the "right" choice in game regardless of Kassandra being canon.

[@spartan8561]

Only two dna? seems unreal to me! how many people did he kill with that spear? animal, mercenary, civilian, soldiers ! come on, it's not possible that there are only two dna, and how such a technological machine of 2018 as the animus, has failed to know precisely the sex of the eagle bearer? if you go to Layla's files you will find a lot of information, you will see how many things Abstergo can do with an adn, it seems impossible to me that they have not been able to find out the sex of the protagonist, even historically, it is a fact that mercenaries, soldiers were only males, both Layla and the animus are so ignorant.

[@trevorthedragon2413]

That’s not how the animus works

[@spartan8561]

@@trevorthedragon2413 the animus chooses the character's gender based on what?

[@irishman2770]

I think it's great you can choose one character over the other, but why bother giving us a choice if only one of them canonically appears in valhalla? May as well not have a choice. Being someone who played only as Alexios it's very weird seeing Kassandra in valhalla.

[@arthurmarston7496]

Keep it up to the player.

[@stanisawzokiewski3308]

there were female sports competitions for the goddess Hera. So they coul've just made it a female competition instead of male olympics

[@JamesSmith-ny2gb]

I hate odyssey as an AC entry but as an Ancient Greek game it’s pretty good, that is if you play as alexios, it’s not just the Olympics (as for Spartan women, yes women were trained as reserve soldiers, still not as vigorously as the men though) but also the fact that a literate female mercenary would have dealt with a lot of shit, the fact your even allowed into Athens as kassandra is historically inaccurate With Valhalla sure, eivor is a female name and it makes sense for eivor to be female due to the Odin stuff but it doesn’t make sense for kassandra to be canon. Would be cool that depending on your choice you would get different outcomes but like the modern AC games that takes far to much work and as for canon it shows a full on RPG game doesn’t work, the point of an RPG is that it’s your choice and choosing a character shouldn’t restrict you. That’s why origins isn’t the only truly good game out of the 3, it has no dialogue or gender options and that’s one of the elements of what makes it more of a true AC game And no origins was not meant to be female lead, the protagonist bayek was meant to die and then you take over as his wife Aya, which I’m kind of glad they changed because bayek was an awesome character but at the same time Aya felt underdeveloped. They should have scrapped odyssey and made an Aya game set after the events of origins in Rome. Odyssey shouldn’t exist as an AC title

[@Twilight24682]

I disagree odyssey was a great AC game

[@joeramsay6269]

I chose kassandra for odyssey and female Eivor for Valhalla

[@edithbauer6676]

Same! They are just Canon and I loved both female voices in German (Kassandra’s voice is the same as Katara from Avatar and Eivor has the same voice as Katniss Everdeen) The German voice of Alexios was fine as well but male eivors voice is just horrible for him, it does not fit at all

[@keithbroadfoot3655]

So if this is true, why is alexios on the cover and the character they show in the launch trailer? It's bullshit he's the main protagonist and they changed it plain and simple. All because everything now has to be all inclusive for everyone, we can't seem to have one or the other nowadays. Sad really!

[@Bio_Bean]

Really? I thought female eivor just didn't fit the part even though they tried to push her by slightly neglecting male eivor (dottir instead of son and such).

[@spartastic4]

I remember hearing that the choice to make Eivor female kinda late game. Like all the marketing had Eivor as male amd decided to focus on female Eivor later.

[@doltBmB]

It's not "the devs" who want a solo female lead, it's a small clique of misandrist who push very loudly for it by going against what everyone else wants, this is why these incongruities exist, they were always going to be there even if kassandra was the only character. The "it's just a game" excuse doesn't work either, it's ignoring the difference between the clearly fictionalized elements of the game from the clearly historical elements of the game. The central conceit of assassin's creed is that this conspiracy exists in history, where the conspiracy is fictional but the history is real. Therefore to live up to this, the historical elements have to be realistic for you to be able to believe the fictional elements. This is the same as the "it's just fantasy" excuse, it doesn't make any sense, there has to be some logic and consistency to the world and setting, and here that logic and consistency is rooted in history, and that must dictate how the fictional elements fit into that.

[@edithbauer6676]

WTF are you Talking about😂

[@LeverstGems]

Literally the company wanted a female lead and the boss of the company who’s fired didn’t like it and whined so much so they had to add a male character….how would misandrists have a say when the game wasn’t released before the change,

[@dunjam1194]

Completely agree about the crossover episode, even though I played as Kassandra. I was looking for videos on youtube trying to see what it would look like when Alexios & Eivor met, but I was utterly disappointed. The same thing happened in Valhalla with The last chapter (it came out a few days ago), where female Eivor is clearly canon - Odin appears next to her and gives her advice and the cutscene completely disregards male Eivor (which I happened to be playing with). I don't mind having to choose between a female and male character - but please then, Ubisoft, adapt all the possible scenarios of the user's choice so that they make sense. Even though I preferred Kassandra's voice actress, I am sooo excited to replay the whole Odyssey as Alexios, I have a feeling it would be like a whole new game!

[@Twilight24682]

Alexios isn't canon it makes no sense to add him to future games ubisoft have said kassandra is canon and Alexios is deimos

[@matheussanz1952]

​@@Twilight24682wtf

[@mrbeard798]

@@Twilight24682then why make the option to choose alexios in the first place??? You keep talking about what’s canon and what’s not but who gives a SHIT about what’s canon? If the canon is so important then why did they deliberately put alexios as a choice? See, your argument about that it’s “canon” is very damn weak

[@Twilight24682]

@mrbeard798 Alexios wasn't originally a playable character the developers were originally making kassandra an only character until the head of ubisoft ( now fired) made them add alexios later on a developer later confirmed this kassandra was supposed to be the only eagle bearer

[@matheussanz1952]

@@Twilight24682 it was only considered canon because of woke culture, everything in the game indicates that it would be Alexios, I won't even mention the Olympics part of the game

[@mangaas]

I think having player choice is fine. If you played through the entire game, and then found out they developed the entire game with you being able to play as either sibling, with voice lines all recorded for Alexios, and then they simply removed that choice just before release, most would see that as a massive downgrade.

[@Twilight24682]

Kassandra was originally going to be the only character in odyssey alexios was added later on so it was obvious who was canon

[@mangaas]

@@Twilight24682 I don't think you understand what you're replying to. Go back to school.

[@Twilight24682]

@mangaas No get over the fact kassandra is canon and not alexios

[@chrismoore5333]

Something related to this videos topic, I wanted to highlight. A matter in regards to a company called "sweet baby" that personally upsets me on multiple levels, and I believe the fans should know the truth and hypocrisy behind ubisoft's worst character, evie. This is a lesser known situation that bothers me as a huge assassin's creed fan. Essentially, assassin's creed syndicate was largely finished before the inclusion of evie as a playable character. As in, the game only featured Jacob frye. Here's where things get hypocritical. The games lead writer is a gay man called Jeffery Yohalem, and he lead AC brotherhood, and worked on many other AC games as well. He had always written about various demographics, but this time with syndicate, Jacob frye was a bisexual man, similar to how Jeffery is a gay man. Now, you'd think that this was "inclusive" enough for Kim belair, who herself got a writing role on the project "late into development" by her own words. But spoiler, it wasn't enough for her and her buddies. You see, syndicate was right before Kim belair left to head her own company "sweet baby." It didn't matter that a man of a minority group wanted to write atleast one game about his own minority demographic. To Belair, anything white and male is "privileged" and therefore, she and others such as Melissa, were behind undermining Jacob as a character, shoehorning evie into the game as a "twin protagonist" despite that not being the original plan at all. Kim belair got what she wanted, but of course it wasn't enough, and so she then joined the "AC sisterhood" where she voiced that she felt annoyed that people were telling her the games main character is Jacob, and she said "we can change what people think, and if people think evie was supposed to be the main character, then she'll become the main character." This is highly hypocritical as she talks about inclusion, yet she fights to remove and undermine a minority group simply because they are white and male as well. We see this trend continue as all of the gay/bisexual male playable characters are now "none canon" or in Jacob's case, forced to share their game with evie as she is constantly pushed to replace him as a soul protagonist. But this is also interesting, as all the claims that literally every single female character was "the original intended protagonist" have no evidence to back them up at all, and it fits right into Kim belair's claim that telling people evie was planned would make her popular, and to some level she was right, unfortunately. It appears the same tactics have been used for Aya, Kassandra and Eivor as well. Eivor is even a unisex name, and yet these people have everyone thinking it is a woman's name only. Kim belair also went on to admit she worked on the home base and certain notes in the game AC valhalla. This is significant because the only times Kassandra and female were "canon" at the games launch were due to in game notes, and an obvious head swap of a hidden optional cinimatic where Odin as an old man was supposed to appear, but in the final game he has female eivor's head. (Yes I'm serious, crazy right?) I don't want game devs to feel they have to force into their storylines lgbtq men, women, or ethnic minorities or anything. That said, as a gay man myself, I feel frustrated that my minority group has been victim of real gatekeeping by the very group sweet baby and their associates, while they tell the world that they are fighting for diversity!? They are hypocritical and they lie. I think the truth about the hypocrisy that created the 2D terrible character that is evie frye, should be exposed. And I think that it's time games just went back to being just that. Games, that are made to be fun and none political. I hope you took the time to read this all, and if you did, I'm thankful. I've been bullied and abused, and I even have an online stalker who has been gaslighting me for around 3 years now! All because I said it was wrong to remove the only representation a minority group has, in favour of the ever growing list of female representation.

[@CloudyWolf713]

Hey. You doing ok?

[@ashleejones586]

It’s always seemed to me that they fully intended to make Alexios the sole protagonist. All of the promo art and marketing featured him.

[@alexwinchester157]

I’d be interested is seeing the data they have about who people chose more. Because they definitely have that data.

[@BayekofSiwaAC]

Personally Alexios was better as a villain but then again he was also a good protagonist as well

[@AngellGaby]

I feel sad for who played Alexios. He has no continuation like Kassandra has in Valhala.

[@GugaAnd2001]

I mean, Ubisoft aready had a female protagonist in Assassin's Creed Liberation. I don't know why they would bother to make you choose between the 2 brothers if only 1 of them is canon. For a RPG thats quite a weird decision, because in RPGs you can make your character the only thing that will change is the dialogue.

[@pond9875]

When they had the chance to make a game with Shao Jun which would be cool to see because of the passing torch from Altair to Ezio to Shao Jun but they shafted her into a side game that many people don't know it exists.

[@RPRJack21]

It’s funny that people fawn over Kassandra as if Aveline, Shao Jun, and Evie don’t exist… It was interesting seeing a previous character meet a present character, but I did miss seeing Alexios. Back to basics with Basim

[@XXXTENTAClON227]

I disagree with the “obviousness” of Valhalla. I was completely confused to find it out, considering you are meant to be ODIN. The Odin, Basim, Sigurd storyline makes no sense as a female character.

[@Cr1ms0nRav3n]

One thing I don’t like about the idea of female Eivor being the default choice Ubisoft planned for is the fact that her character model isn’t animated to be feminine. Most of the outfits in the game are extremely unflattering for female version and suit male version WAY better. Everything is bulky and oversized for female, yet other female characters in Valhalla and NPCs were designed with femininity in mind like Soma or Randvi or even the shopkeeper npc and are dressed with more fittable clothes that compliment them. I can’t tell you how many times I met other female characters through out the game and asked myself, “why isn’t that hairstyle available for female Eivor? Or why can’t female Eivor have an outfit like hers?” Some of her own female Clansmen like Randvi have outfits on that are more suitable for a female Norse character, but female Eivor is like this weird amalgamation of female/male stuck in limbo. Her body if you undress it in the menu, is totally flat, like they were afraid to give her any semblance of female curves, yet Randvi is totally fine and was designed like a real woman. It’s so off putting how random and all over the place Ubisoft’s design philosophy was with this game. Eivor walks and presents herself way too masculine for the female version to be canon in a game where all the animations and equipment and fighting style given to her suit the male version a thousand times better and more natural. When I switched to make version to try a play through with him for the time, it was like night and day. The role felt much better and his voice is calmer. Like a quiet confidence. While female voice actress has to strain her vocal cords to come off badass and too show-offy. Her walking animations are very butch and are exactly the same as Male version, where as in Odyssey Kassandra and Alexios are animated differently all the way down to the way the character walks and talks and express themselves in cutscenes. Female Eivor has exactly the same problems you mentioned as Deimos Alexios. Everything feels forced about them and unsuited.

[@goofyahhmcburb]

alexios>kassandra male evior>female evior it just feels more historically accurate the boys shouldve been cannon honestly

[@shadowanderson2004]

I completely totally agree about Cassandra and Alexios being around equal. Sadly for Valhalla I feel like Male Eivor had a better actor. Female Eivor sounds like she has laryngitis while male Eivor sounds like he is a kind Viking.

[@shax1114]

It was so frustrating when I saw kassandra in Valhalla, because Eivor vs Alexios would’ve been a legendary scene

[@Bingolotto69420]

true. even tho they lived atleast 1200 years apart. thats what i wouldve said if i hadnt gotten the staff of hermes trimegistususksksiuwhwbsbsk

[@drakon9958]

In my honest opinion, Kassandra has great voice acting as both the hero and the villain. Alexios has great voice acting as a hero, but as a villain it honestly sounds like the VA is trying to hard and he ends up with this awkward forced deep tone that no one really uses, which is why I prefer Alexios because the voice acting is great for both.

[@louisewilson2044]

It's not just the choice of protagonists that makes canon annoying it's the fact it disregards your choice in whether to save Demios or not. I spent hours as Alexios reuniting his family only to be told it wasn't canon. There are hundreds of games out there that don't give you choice regarding storylines so why give us the option if the developers had no intention committing to the choices the player makes. Maybe I was spoiled playing Mass Effect where my choices meant something from game to game.

[@helgenlane]

The story line in Odyssey is completely screwed. When you play legacy of the first blade the game completely ignores the fact that you finished the story and you saved every single member of your family. But you can also play it before finishing the game and it's even more stupid to pretend like you didn't have a child in the meantime. Then there is the story about sealing the Atlantis which you can do before everything else, which is the actual ending of the game - Layla gets the staff.

[@fahrenheit5064]

Yh I completely agree with everything you said. I still hope someone can make a mod that replaces kassandra with alexios. Well maybe..

[@ChunLisThighGap]

I disagree I think Alexios works better as Deimos and Kassandra as the mercenary. Deimos feels like he's supposed to be unstable with a back story like his no one gets thrown off a cliff and brainwashed and ends up calm and calculated and as for Kassandra I feel like to be a mercenary you do have to stay calm and think things out and stay nonchalant about things

[@Twilight24682]

I agree alexios is way better as deimos also deimos is a male name it would be stupid to call a woman deimos

[@Ollie_G]

I kinda get what you're saying, like if we put it in baseball terms, Kassandra would be good at 2nd base (MC) or shortstop (Deimos), but Alexios is only good at 2nd base, so makes more sense to play him there....but for me that's only as far as the main story....once you get past the MC vs Deimos story and into DLC etc, then Kassandra just feels like the better option

[@jrsuarez1423]

Does no one else get scared when Alexios yells?

[@MK-ov5cc]

The dialogue you talk about for AC Valhalla were they call "She" to Evoir even do you choose to be a male, is in a Mystery secondary quest on the North of England, were there are kids olaying a game of chairs, they call Evoir the "Tall one" and then they say "maybe SHE can decide who won this one"

[@JoshuaBeneze]

Just a thought, as I've never played all the way through with Kassandra, but in the Legacy of the First Blade DLC, (playing as Alexios) my character had a son with Neema who it showed went on to be an ancestor of Aya. That would've have worked with Kassandra. Just sayin'.

[@SSJKDotsSanctum]

My issue with Odyssey and Valhalla is that the canon lead characters are the female versions. Initially if I play as a man I'm damn near wasting my time playing it a a manner that isn't canon. Ubisoft should've fully committed to just doing a female lead character if they wanted to do one. The Animus isn't a place where you take control of the past and choose how time plays out you view it. Valhalla and Odyssey kill the canon of these animuses by doing the "pick your gender" and "dialogue options" stuff.

[@jynx6785]

i have to recognize that at first i didn't like Kass that much because she sounded so damn loud and angry the first couple hours of gameplay BUT i imagine that's because the VA was still trying to find her "voice" . i think it was during the second act that i realized Kass tone and inflections changed and sounded less exaggerated and whenever she spoke i could truly see "her". with Alex i hadd a different issue. the VA made a great job in making me want to cut Ale'x tongue every time he spoke the first time i completed the game that when i tried to play him as the Misthios i ended up hating him every time he opened his cheeky mouth. xD

[@RG-xl7ql]

I just played as whoever I thought sounded better - Kassandra and Male Eivor. Alexios sounded like a cartoon character and female Eivor's voice was nails on a chalkboard.

[@Pp-we3tb]

I personally likes Kassandra more- I felt like her voice actor played the role of a an unbothered cool mercenary but I totally think Alexios’ funny personality can interest people. Love the game and I’ve spent to many hours on it, can’t wait for mirage!

[@zicuvalentin2251]

Mirage is not good as ODYSSEY believe...

[@Vloakanio]

@@zicuvalentin2251 why?

[@gamingwithmndandlnd4952]

@@zicuvalentin2251Bro. They are going back to the roots of stealth. Back to the hidden blade. Odyssey has been the least favorite I’ve played because I’ve had to spend money to finish it cause of that large level gap. Underrated game but I think mirage will be better because they aiming for a balance between RPG and Assassin type gameplay.

[@zicuvalentin2251]

@@gamingwithmndandlnd4952 no game will be better than ODYSSEY not even MIRAGE

[@gamingwithmndandlnd4952]

@@zicuvalentin2251 Odyssey isn’t a true AC game I don’t wanna here it. As much as I enjoy odyssey it isn’t a true AC game.

[@christonchev9762]

everyone got an opinion but most of the AC fans would say that Kasandra is far far better than Alexios

[@Twilight24682]

I agree better voice actor and majority of the armours in the game look better on kassandra

[@Twilight24682]

@@itachi2816 So joining a female only group makes sense as Alexios to you the daughters of artemis only take woman so having alexios join them makes no sense also alexios would have been send straight to become a soldier at the age of 7 so having kassandra canon makes more sense as woman were not made soldiers in the spartan army something that would have happened to alexios

[@itachi2816]

Honestly, at this point anyone saying things like "Kassandra is far far better than Alexios" just sounds like a normie to me. I'm finally doing my second gameplay on AC Odyssey with Alexios. I still don't want to get into any "who's the better protagonist?" merits just yet, but I'll say that at first I was like "Hmm Alexios isn't as bad as people said, maybe they were kind of overreacting on it" and then I started going "Ok, Alexios is actually being nice and fun to play". And now I totally think Alexios is a good protagonist, and I agree with what the video says about many things in the narrative and world of AC Odyssey making more sense when you plays as Alexios.

[@Mythical.History]

Need an Aya game set in Ancient Rome... would be great of it picks up right when she starts settling in Rome, developing the hdiden ones influence in the Empire. It'd also be great if we get to see full aftermath of Caesar's death, war between Antony and Augustus, Antony and Cleopatra's death and finally Augustus becoming the first emperor of Rome

[@jmbs9586]

This video expresses everything I’ve though since the first day they announced a canonical misthios

[@grayearly3116]

What's crazy is fans had been asking for a female protag for years at that point. This proves my point that the executives don't care at all what the people buying their product think of it.

[@Ma1q444]

Best opportunity for female is shao jun for Japan game. Inserting a female character as a spartan and Viking is probably the worst thing they could of done because it’s historically in accurate and not immersive

[@stevenyarnell8422]

What REALLY pisses me off is how the devs didn't adapt to how the protagonist was called as a ''mercenary'' in the Greek tongue depending on choice of gender! They got it correct with Alexios. Not so, though, for Kassandra. Yes, it is absolutely TRUE! Like all known languages around the world, the Greek language also has both masculine and feminine nouns. ''Misthios'' is singular male. ''Misthia'' is singular female. I also agree 100% that the devs screwed up AC: Valhalla! Sure, it was a fun game, if indeed a tad too long, but was ruined with the misgendering. If I was ''male Eivor'', I'd go into hiding for the rest of my natural born life! Seriously, the name of character ''male Eivor'' should have been ''Erik Varinson''.

[@K.C-2049]

I have a lot of questions about the whole "Aya, Kassandra, and Eivor were meant to be canon but Ubisoft said no" narrative tbh. the detail in Alexios's facial animations in Odyssey alone make me think he was probably the original default character, and I agree with you that his humorous and machismo vibe fits the not serious tones of the game better. which isn't a knock to Kassandra, they obviously both did a great job and are great characters in different ways. however, I do have to wonder if the whole "Kassandra is canon" thing is a cookie Ubi decided to throw to fans when they discovered how much people liked her 🤔 I don't really care what the "official" statement is, trusting these game studios to not lie is like trusting a crocodile to not eat you if it's hungry lol

[@rileynortwood2336]

If I remember correctly it doesn’t make sense for kassandra to be the main character cause in Ancient Greek women weren’t allowed to be mercenaries

[@Hexenkind1]

Well the next game will have no choice because you only can play as basim. And he is without a doubt male only.

[@dreadedworld8864]

Kassandra is just a better character than Alexios

[@nixad4248]

you are just average NPC simp that knows nothing about alexios

[@3Hg594]

I don't know about you guys but for a second just mute and compare the animations of deimos and player characters. Kassandra Deimos animations seem more realistic to me because females usually have a more dynamic body language than males who are in contrary calm while talking most of the times. 1:36 seems so unrealistic and theatrical to me.

[@Mythical.History]

I have finished the game once with Alexios. Now when I want to replay it again, should I select Kassandra?

[@Bingolotto69420]

yeah

[@seanosborn3272]

Kassandra's voice acting was widely acclaimed as great, Alexios was almost comically bad. Guess it is a matter of opinion. I restarted to play as Kassandra after an hour of Alexios no cap.

[@gerstein03]

I agree. I've never liked that there were canon choices in Odyssey or Valhalla (which I actually think works better with Eivor as a man but that's just me). You gave me the choice. Let me make my choice. It's absolutely stupid that they can't just have a female protagonist. It's also stupid that my game experience is being disregarded

[@jordanjolley]

They made her cannon simply because the fans wanted it everyone agreed the best character protagonist was Kassandra her voice lines were perfect where as alexios played deimos much better alexios as main character doesn’t fit imo his voice lines were hit and miss where as kassandras S tier

[@lwandilengubane9638]

imo the Olympics thing or Spartan thing didn’t really bother me at all because my suspension of disbelief for a video game about humans going into a console and experiencing their ancestors memories- this one in particular being a demigod that’s immortal until meeting you in the present, was already pretty high. For me it didn’t matter what real world customs Greece and Sparta actually had because we’re playing a fictional character in a fictional world that just kind of looks like Greece, I’m not trying to take anything away from alexios, I actually enjoyed playing as him (partly because Kassandra is really great as deimos) but to me there’s just something about Kassandra’s v/a’s line delivery that puts it just above alexio’s as both the mc and deimos. Idk it’s almost like they meant for her to be the main character the whole time 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@matheussanz1952]

the voice has nothing to do with it, for example in the fight against the man with the nickname Cyclops, Alexios is much more animated and jesticulates more than the female character

[@ciphernine7824]

Ubisoft has made it clear that Kassandra is the actual canon protagonist, not Alexios.

[@rayortiz3060]

I always said this. Alexios should def be canon. Kassandra was wayyyy better as Deimos and Im glad somebody else agrees w me

[@thathelmgirlddfff]

AC Hexe should only have a female protagonist.other than that? I don't care.

[@bestboi2945]

Great video. I have one question though. In the video you say in Valhalla eivor is supposed to be female. I played most of Valhalla and also heard the pronouns being female sometimes. But it also sounded like you had more to say in regards to the story. I don't care if I'm spoiled but i would like to hear those reasons.

[@FactFace]

In the script for this video I had written about how it actually makes more sense for Eivor to be female (ignoring the historical inaccuracies, which I can look past when it's not brought up in game, like the Olympic questline in Odyssey). While editing I decided not to include any of it because that wasn't really the point of the video. But the main reason I feel female Eivor works more, feminine name aside, is that it makes more sense as to why Basim had so much trouble realizing Eivor was Odin if Eivor is female. But even then it's not like it's a hugely better reason or anything. I still don't like that there is a canon choice to begin with, though.

[@moiseshernandez5211]

Other problem on odyssey that makes Alexios as a protagonist more coherent is the fact that Elpenor, first member of the cult to be killed is always male and we must remember that male and female cult members have different masks, so it would have risen suspiccion on the cult during the meeting in Delfos if they heard a female voice behind a male mask, lets remember Deimos enters with the head of Elpennor on hand, making it obvious that one male member was being replaced.

[@Twilight24682]

Kassandra kills a male cultist that is why the robes are male if she killed a female the robes would ne female

[@Hooberoplannero]

I'd still choose alexios, every time.

[@thathelmgirlddfff]

I'd choose female Dani in Far Cry 6

[@Ren31802]

They have the same personalities it's a very simple but very cool role swap mechanic

[@lowtiershadowyt9008]

I'll give you this this is a great video it was a really brilliantly done essay on the characters from Odyssey. However I do need to say this the reason that Cassandra is the Canon one is probably not going to persuade you in any way but here it is but I do believe there was a tie in novel that show that she is the main heroine and if I remember correctly he said she's being shown here even regardless of the fact if you played as alexios they're still pulling from the novel and the fact that if I'm being honest only reason that we don't see alexios is the fact that well he's probably long dead and if that's the case that shows that Cassandra has the staff of Hermes. I mean I have a theory and it is that alexio is still Canon and you could have very well played as him but something might have happened between in the events of Odyssey and the events of Valhalla where Cassandra ends up inheriting the staff and that's why we end up seeing her in Valhalla as eivor . Alexios could have fallen in battle Cassandra was handed the staff by him and bada bing bada boom. At the end of the day I don't really know. And in relation to Valhalla since I've played it myself for these last two years I'd say that the aspect of calling eivor by the female moniker of varins daughter makes more sense than playing his male A4 but also if you're indecisive on what gender depict as I was they did put a feature in the game that allows the Animus to decide the choice for you and I like how during all the sickness in Norway and England Ireland frankia the avor you play as is female because again the title of varins daughter. Whereas meleevoort is exclusive to the e as guardian and newtenheim sequences of the game as well as the dawn of Ragnarok expansion and forgotten sagas and if I remember correctly the reason for that is that avor is the reincarnated Esu Odin . But other than my ramblings you did a great job in making this video it was more constructive relation to assassin's Creed Valhalla then any of the big assassin's Creed KZbinrs would have ever given it cuz the four pillars hate this game as well as Valhalla for some very strange stupid reasons that they're never able to actually you know genuinely explain why they hate it and I actually equate their hate of Odyssey and Valhalla to how the KZbinr under the Mayo hates the new God of war games all because you can't jump

[@Northwite]

I think we should disregard the argument of whether or not a female led game would sell more or less because we quite simply don't know. I think, instead, that we should focus on the fact that modern game design is afraid of humanity's past because humanity's present will cancel developers for telling it accurately. If the fact that the designers had to bend the rules to make Kassandra even a real choice is how they could get her in the game, then she didn't deserve to be in the game at all. Some may say that that ends up leading to games where all the protagonists are male, and to that I'd say "so what?" If the selling point of AC is to be historical settings, and you can't retell history, then you'll have to accept certain truths. The argument of "it's a game with aliens" in it isn't an argument because, again, the main selling point is the historical setting. Publishers need to understand than the Progressive Agenda doesn't purchase anything not absolutely catered to them, and the rest of the normal world doesn't find value in their entertainment requiring so much suspension of disbelief. So rather than be cowards and try making everyone happy, lean in one direction or the other fully so your product can have that integrity. Or, simply create a completely fictional world like TES.

[@bernardmacdonagh9517]

Its why I respect the creators of Mafia 3 Instead of trying to brush the racism of the time under the rug trying to hide it and pretending it never happened they actually used it to add to the story they were telling

[@channel45853]

Mafia 3 kinda proves that no one is looking to "cancel" devs for depicting times accurately. I feel people would only call devs out if they got things so ignorantly wrong that it border on revisionist history.

[@Northwite]

@@channel45853 Mafia 3 is the most niche of niche examples you could come up with. The Progressives aren't looking at it when compared with juggernauts like AC.

[@channel45853]

@@Northwite yes, they likey are, because they are progressives and care about that sorta thing.

[@Northwite]

@@channel45853 The Progressives care about changing what's mainstream, not what's niche. They've never heard of the Mafia series. Most haven't.

[@alejandroramirezgomez8966]

I played the game as Alexios and always have one question: in the Legacy of the First Blade, Alexios gets married and have a baby. How Ubisoft handled this with Kassandra. Does she get married with another woman a gets her pregnant? Does she get married to a man who gets her pregnant?

[@LeverstGems]

She gets married to a man actually

[@nickthelaststand]

I hate the way AC Valhalla went around this with "you can pick male but the dialogue will be all around the female and everyone calls you the female version". If i picked the male character at very least call me by one when you state "oh we have 2 strands" then call me by the one i chose not the one you wanted me to pick.

[@rko1095]

I played Odyssey as Alexios and had a fun time. In a few years I'll revisit this game as Kassandra so it will feel like I'm playing it again for the first time. I plan on playing Valhalla next and yes Eivor will be female.

[@treymykel]

I'm glad you said that because I always thought it was pretty stupid to give us choice and then say Oh technically the canon story is Cassandra and female Eivor like what the hell? What's the point of all that and it's not like Ubisoft haven't done female lead assassin Creed games before you know they had assassin's Creed China and they have assassin Creed on liberation. So it's kind of weird that they say oh it's because we haven't had females but you did you had two games with females, and no offense to anybody most of these games are played by men so it kind of really doesn't make the logical sense to have a lot of games featuring females as the main character especially in certain time periods. But I do hate that when games give you a choice and then if they do a sequel or follow up behind it it nullifies your choices so then what was the point of us picking you know if you already had a canon for the correct story especially when it comes to who you pick for our gender then that's the stuff you should have went with from the beginning. Instead of wasting our time.

[@PurpleBrand]

I just realised. during the Eivor V Kassandra fight, Kassandra sharpens the broken axe hilt into a replacement for the Spear of Leonidas

[@bradyngarrison]

the only AC game where i liked to play as the female character was syndicate, it just felt right, But in Odyssey Alexios definitely feels like the right character, another point that you didn't make was the screams. kassandra's just sounded like the average teenage girl that was just told that she couldn't go to the mall, while Alexios really sounded like a spartan. I rest my case.

[@Twilight24682]

Alexios sounded awful and even ubisoft agreed seeimg his voice actor hasn't been in a ubisoft game since and kassandras has