With twelve mainline entries into the series, and a whopping seventeen spinoffs, the Assassin's Creed franchise has remained one of gaming's most popular series since its debut in 2007. And as can be expected from any popular series, there are sure to be comic book adaptations.
Assassin's Creed has multiple comic book adaptations, with most of them featuring completely new characters, storylines, and historical settings that aren't present in any of the video games. However, there are a few Assassin's Creed comics that bridge some gaps between games and feature some cameos from fan-favorite characters.
Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics)
The first and most well-known Assassin's Creed comic line is Titan Comics' run simply titled Assassin's Creed. The first volume of the comic run is titled Assassin's Creed: Trial By Fire and centers around Charlotte de la Cruz, who uses the Animus to travel back to 1692 and the infamous Salem Witch Trials in an attempt to find a Piece of Eden. Using the memories of her ancestor, Tom Stoddard, a sinister plot is uncovered; it turns out Samuel Parris and William Stoughton (both real life magistrates in Salem) are Templars, and have used their power and influence to turn the village into their subordinates, using the fear of witches to subdue anyone who opposes them. After a brief and fiery adventure through the town, the Piece of Eden they were searching for is revealed to be a child, who sacrifices herself rather than be used as a pawn in the war between the Assassins and Templars.
The next volume of Titans' Assassin's Creed run, titled Setting Sun, continues Charlotte de la Cruz's story. In this volume, Charlotte, still coming to terms with her new place amongst the present day Brotherhood, discovers Erudito, a network of hackers that have acted against the Templars in the past. To access the network and get the help they need, Charlotte straps herself back in to the Animus and travels back to the Peru, 1536, during the time of the Incan Empire. After some real-world Cartel run-ins and a little more digging in the Animus, Charlotte finds the password and signs in to Erudito, only to find that her grandmother is the leader of the organization.
The third and final volume, titled Homecoming, opens with Charlotte learning about the First Civilization from her grandmother. It is explained to her that the Templars intend on releasing Juno, the god-like entity that talks to the player in Assassin's Creed II. To combat this, Erudito plans to find Consus, the creator of the Pieces of Eden and the only one who can stop the Templar's plans. To find Consus, Charlotte hops back into the Animus, this time using the memories of her ancestor Hiram Stoddard, who has seemingly turned away from the Brotherhood in an attempt to take the Piece of Eden for himself. After a failed attempt, Charlotte goes further back in time in an attempt to find Consus.
She arrives in 1515, where Giovanni Borgia and Harim Stoddard are training together under the watchful eye of fan-favorite character Ezio Auditore da Firenze. In classic Assassin's Creed fashion, the historical figure Michaelangelo sends word that he needs assistance in Florence. During the memory that plays out there, the Animus begins to glitch, and Charlotte manages to find Consus in the DNA code. The comic run ends with the Brotherhood and Erudito joining forces, taking out a Templar leader, and making a daring escape from their compromised hideout, with Charlotte saying that she's ready to take the fight to the Templars now.
Assassin's Creed: The Fall/ The Chain
Originally starting life as a comic expansion on Ezio's adventures after Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, the Wildstorm published comic run titled Assassin's Creed: The Fall pivoted, and became a story centered around a brand new character, Nikolai Orelov, a Russian Assassin living in the late 19th century- early 20th century.
This comic series focuses on some classic Assassin's Creed elements, predominantly the series' penchant for integrating historical characters and events, and tying them to the Assassin/Templar war. In the first issue, for instance, Nikolai fights Tsar Alexander III on top of a speeding train, which ends up resulting in the 1888 Borki Train Disaster. The second issue sees Nikolai investigating a Templar research station in Siberia, which results in a huge 12 megaton explosion, called the Tunguska Event in real life.
During the course of the comic and its sequel The Chain, the present-day protagonist, Daniel Cross, is determined to find the Mentor (the leader of the Assassin order.) Once he finds the Mentor, a dormant, subconscious trigger activates within his mind, causing him to murder the Mentor. It is revealed that Cross was actually a victim of Templar/Abstergo experiments when he was younger. Having killed the Mentor, Cross flees to Abstergo, quickly becoming one of their highest members within just a few short years. Fans of the games will know that he appears in Assassin's Creed III, acting as the present-day antagonist who attempts to kill player-character Desmond Miles. Cross is eventually killed by Miles, after the Bleeding Effect of the Animus (where the memories of the ancestors start to merge with the present-day person's) causes him to be stunned.
Assassin's Creed: Brahman
Written by the same writers of The Fall and The Chain (Karl Kerschl and Cameron Stewart,) Assassin's Creed: Brahman sees Jot Soora, a programmer for Abstergo, use his fiance's ancestor's memories to find a Piece of Eden. The ancestor in question is Arbaaz Mir, who is on the hunt for the Koh-i-Noor diamond which is believed to be a Piece of Eden. Once the Piece is found, an Indian goddess from the First Civilization named Durga speaks directly to Jot Soora, telling him that the Templars and Assassins need to unite to defeat Juno. This comic acts as a prequel to the Assassin's Creed Chronicles game.
While these comic runs are the most core to the franchise's main present day and past stories, there are a bunch of additional Assassin's Creed comic lines out there, ranging from the Templar-focused series titled Assassin's Creed Templars to the manga series Assassin's Creed Awakening, which focuses on Edward Kenway's further adventures. Assassin's Creed is a fairly complex narrative to follow, but these comic series do help to flesh out some of the more intricate and confusing aspects of the series' lore.