The storyline of Assassin’s Creed hinges on the Animus as the tool used to gaze into the past. While the series has changed in protagonists and settings, the Animus aspect has remained largely the same. However, there are a number of mysteries and questions that arise which need explanations.
By now, fans generally accept anything that seems illogical as the Animus’ doing. It still doesn’t mean the many inconsistencies can be forgiven so easily, though. With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on the horizon, it’s worth revisiting the things that don’t make sense about the Animus. More importantly, let’s look into the many clashes in logic this machinery has brought.
10 The Purpose Of The Animus Memory Corridor
This remains as one of the biggest mysteries ever in the series, and the explanation for it still hasn’t been given. The Animus Corridor appeared in almost all games until the recent ones, where it changed appearances within each entry.
The problem is that it hasn’t been made clear exactly what an Animus Corridor is supposed to be. If it’s supposed to be the place before the user is sent into the simulation of the past, then what is the reason for the corridor to look different every time? Along with that, there’s also no consistency here since Layla doesn’t see the corridors despite also being plugged into the Animus.
9 Half Or Full Synchronization Makes No Difference
There can only be either no memory or all memory, seeing as the point of completing the life of the assassin is to uncover everything. And yet, the Kenway Saga games in particular had optional tasks to complete; if these weren’t done, then the screen flashed that only a percent of synchronization had been achieved.
This doesn’t add up, though, as progressing forward in the ancestor’s memory should logically require the actual history taking place rather than there being gaps in knowledge. There’s also no point to achieving full synchronization if only a percent of it is enough to complete the memory.
8 Skipping Certain Events With Large Timeline Gaps
In the case of Altair, the Animus only required a couple years at most for Desmond to see; in Ezio’s case, the guy went through the latter’s entire life, starting from birth. Not only is this inconsistent, there’s also the matter of large gaps being completely skipped.
The reason for this isn’t clear, with simple explanations stating that those parts weren’t important. However, if those several years could easily be skipped, then why didn’t the Animus completely jump to the relevant part? Subject 16 claimed Desmond had to live through Ezio’s life to escape the Animus, but Desmond actually only saw Ezio retire rather than die. So, here’s another area that isn’t well established.
7 “Changing” History In A Simulation
The ancestor’s memories are meant to play out exactly as it happened, and according to the narrative, doing something different means getting desynchronized. But this doesn’t align with how the player does influence a whole lot things on their own whim.
For instance, players create an economy based on personal decisions rather than being restricted by history. Then there’s all the free roaming, which, according to the series logic, shouldn’t be possible since the ancestor didn’t do all of that. In essence, the player actually is “changing” history, that the Animus should prevent them from doing so but isn’t for some reason.
6 How The Animus Presents Perfect Representations Of Past Figures
The people players interact with aren’t actually there, and are instead part of the Animus’ simulations. However, the computer somehow creates such perfect copies of these people that their features are exactly to the dot. A person’s memories can’t retain appearance so accurately, meaning it shouldn’t appear as such in the Animus either.
Along with that, the personalities of these past figures are unique as well. This is another area that shouldn’t be possible since the Animus should only play out memories of the ancestor, not portray the historical figures to their exact attritubes.
5 Desynchronization For Killing Pedestrians But Only On Occasion
Sometimes, the Animus completely desynchronizes the player based on one small error, arguing that it went against historical events. Yet, the player can quite easily kill off pedestrians without this happening.
While four and above pedestrian kills do trigger desynchronization, the fact of the matter is that the ancestor didn’t historically even kill one person, so the Animus should have instantly malfunctioned. To that end, it doesn’t make sense why the Animus takes liberties in this area and not in others.
4 How Can It Show A Bird’s Point Of View?
It’s pretty hard to believe how Bayek or Kassandra could even speak or see through the eyes of their birds, but the underlying assumption is that the Animus places Layla in the bird’s point of view. However, even that argument doesn’t make sense.
It’s because the Animus didn’t have access to the bird’s memories, meaning it should logically play out from the point of view of the human on the ground. As to how the player is able to fly as a bird is part of some unexplained logic.
3 Variations In The User’s Werewithawal
The user of the Animus goes through a lot of abuse in reliving these memories. However, it keeps varying over exactly how much they actually feel. For instance, Desmond was shown to feel the finger cutting off his ancestor’s finger, but the guy never reacted to getting impaled on several occasions and starting over.
Most of the time, Desmond was supposedly the ancestor himself while in the Animus, but on other occasions he was able to pause the events while they happened and speak as if he were a third-person there. Basically, the Animus has never firmly established the degree to which the person is actually inside the simulated world.
2 Inconsistencies In How Much The User Feels The Ancestor’s Sensations
It’s not made clear just how much of the ancestor’s actions are the user’s doing, or if it’s just a memory playing out. For instance, Altair was seen murdering his wife’s killer in a fit of rage, but since Desmond wouldn’t have felt strongly about it, he shouldn’t have reacted that way.
To go even weirder, there’s also the question of whether it is Desmond or Layla initiating the intimate moments with the ancestors’ lovers or if they’re forced to be a part of it. So, do the users of the Animus also feel the same emotions and sensations they are living through? If not, then there’s no reason for them to be so invested in these events.
1 The Irrepairable Bugs And Glitches In The Animus
Technology has seemingly reached the point where the Templars can search for Pieces of Eden on the moon, and people can relive memories of those dead for thousands of years. Yet, the Animus can’t be fixed of a few glitches?
The errors in translations are credited to the Animus’ inherent problems with performance, which are said to be only minor. However, considering this machine so advanced, fixing these simple problems shouldn’t even be an issue. In fact, it doesn’t make sense how an invention such as this has any glitches in the first place considering all the marvellous things it can do.
NEXT: Assassin’s Creed: 10 Funniest Ezio Memes
