Most Assassin's Creed protagonists are noble saviors, natural-born leaders, and heroic demigods. Then there's Edward Kenway from Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, absentee husband, and village drunkard. He's also a pirate and robbed his way into the Assassin Brotherhood, robes, and hidden blade included.
While his modus or reputation isn't exactly ideal among Assassin's Creed protagonists, Edward did turn his life around and sired a more virtuous lineage of future assassins. Arguably, and due to this background, he has more grounded, inspiring messages to impart compared to the other protagonists with their stuck-up assassin-ing and creed-ing.
8 "Everything is permitted? I like the sound of that."
Edward Kenway quickly sets himself apart as one of the first protagonists in Assassin's Creed that's actually a deplorable individual. Some of his friends consider him a bastard and his enemies more so. His dialog with Mary Read perfectly sums up his outlook and early personality in the game.
Kenway's pirate mentality was at its height when he found the Assassin Brotherhood's creed appealing after twisting it to justify his actions. To Kenway, doing something noble out of altruism or against oppression was foolish since he was so inundated with the idea of riches and individual freedom.
7 "If nothing is true, then why believe anything?"
Edward said it first. He was among the first few protagonists in the series to actually question and deconstruct the Brotherhood's flawed creed. This was at a time when he was still contemplating fully committing to the Brotherhood and its ideals and was still somewhat conflicted.
Edward harmfully misconstrued the creed when he first heard it, but over time and after some deaths of dear friends, he realized that he had nothing left to believe in and had to be a part of something bigger than himself and his greed to attain status and wealth. He finally understood that having that much power didn't mean abusing it for mundane personal gain.
6 "Might make a man feel like... he belongs to something."
Bartholomew Roberts was a poetic example of what Edward could have been had he not met the Brotherhood. Roberts was a lone wolf and an anarchist: a true pirate during a time when the Templar Order was leashing everything and everyone in the Caribbean. Yet, all his success accounted for nothing for he neither fought for anything nor built anything worth remembering.
As a result, when Edward killed him, Roberts questioned Edwards' allegiance to the Assassin Brotherhood. It was Edward finally realizing that the pirates' destructive existence was nothing more than an impulsive and aimless rebellion against the tyranny of the Templars and the governments they control.
5 "Best of luck to you, mate. I wish we'd parted as friends."
One of Edward's most memorable enemies since he was loyal and true to his word, especially when he helped Edward escape Nassau and even the sage. He had some issues, such as cruelty and abrasiveness, but it was clear that Edward somewhat respected Charles Vane.
When the two of them met again while Vane was imprisoned, Edward uttered those words to him. Because compared to all of Kenway's slimy and double-crossing enemies, Charles Vane was one of the few stalwart souls and it's a shame that the two of them met on opposite sides of the plank, figuratively speaking.
4 Don't save me a spot in hell, shanker. I ain't coming soon.
Further adding to the conflicted relationship between Kenway and Vane, the former also believed that the latter was capable of being a decent person and comrade. As always with pirates and thieves though, greed got in the way and Kenway ended up having to subdue Vane but also sparing him from assassination.
Kenway left Vane for dead on an island on which they were marooned. This was Kenway at his most distraught in an assassination dialogue since he rescued Vane's men out of the goodness of his heart and it was a rather important development in his character, further leading him down a path of greed and distrust before he eventually cooled down.
3 Here I am... with riches and a reputation, feeling no wiser than when I left home
When Kenway finally got what he wanted, it was bitter-sweet or perhaps even just bitter. This is because he did so at the cost of his friends, allegiances, and common decency. He had lost Adewale, Mary Read, and all of the remaining loyal or sane pirate friends he had just to pursue something mundane.
Thus, that line above was Kenway admitting that he was wrong, followed by a drive to correct his destructive mistakes and atone for his sins against his friends and the Brotherhood. It was his formal announcement of his allegiance to the Brotherhood, though it took him a while to correct his course.
2 I'm not an easy man to call a friend, am I?
Speaking of Edward's friends, Adewale was among Edward's most loyal and patient, often enduring his vaingloriousness and arrogant ambition. However, Adewale proved wiser and left Kenway to join the Brotherhood earlier, somewhat atoning for the trouble that Edward caused.
During their reunion in the Brotherhood's stronghold, Edward finally made peace with Adewale and saw past his noxious behavior before he was betrayed by Bartholomew Roberts. For Edward, those words and Adewale's acceptance were the brightest epiphanies he could have, along with Mary Read's death.
1 Shut your f***ing gob or I'll fill it with shot, you hear me?
Of course, not all of Edward Kenway's most powerful quotes are meditative ruminations of character development. Some are simply crass and firebrand methods of picking fights against bilge rats who stood in the way of his ambition, like that poor sod in the tavern near the start of the game.
In Edward's defense, the random man was close to turning him in to the authorities once again, and Edward had to protect his "innocent" partnership with good ol' Stede Bonnet. Even so, never has there been another memorable way of saying "I'll shoot your mouth" in the history of gaming.
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is available on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, and Wii U.