20 Biggest WTF Moments In Assassin's Creed History

Remember that time Ubisoft made the weirdest Super Mario reference ever?

assassin's creed II 2 mario
Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed may offer a plethora of exotic locations for players to explore, alongside plenty of action, but there's also an endless stream of tailing missions, hundreds of generic, uninspired side-quests and an unfathomable, utterly nonsensical plot.

It’s fair to say: AC has always been a bit of a mixed bag, both critically and in terms of tone. It often feels like the developers want the series to be taken seriously, and yet every instalment is positively packed with absurdity, to the point that it’s become almost laughable.

I mean, do you remember the final boss in Assassin’s Creed 2? It was the Pope, and you had to fist-fight him inside the Vatican, right before you were contacted by extra-terrestrials and the game's final line was literally a character saying "What the f**k?!" so... yeah.

Assassin’s Creed has gone off the deep end more times than any rational person would believe. The premise is inherently fascinating, but the execution has always lacked a certain degree of narrative maturity, meaning most entries in the series have been questionable, to say the least.

With that said, here are the 19 biggest WTF moments in the history of Assassin’s Creed, from the original in 2007, right the way up to the likes of AC Chronicles and the much revered Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate.

Note: Spoilers for the entire series within.

20. "How D'ya Like Them Apples?" (Assassin's Creed 3)

assassin's creed II 2 mario
Ubisoft

After the close of AC 2 and all the Pope-bashing madness therein, Ubisoft must have had a long, hard think on how they were going to top such a thing.

The answer? Have a stupidly long 'prologue' that went on for a good few hours, introduce and flesh out a new assassin-type character (Haytham Kenway) and upend all expectations about who you thought you'd be controlling.

Then everything really goes off the rails, as no sooner has Haytham welcomed a new recruit to the Templar Order (quite the WTF reaction), than an achievement pops and literally states "How D'ya Like Them Apples?"

It turns out you'd been playing as a Templar the entire time. Both brilliant and ridiculous, it remains one of the original trilogy's most absurd moments - yet one that somehow resonated positively overall.

Contributor
Contributor

Formerly an assistant editor, Richard's interests include detective fiction and Japanese horror movies.