Due to the backdrop of the Assassin’s Creed series, fans generally wonder what is historically accurate and what isn’t. Ubisoft has done a pretty good job at making the crux of the matter faithful to the events of the past, although there have been many times they’ve taken liberties.

There are instances in the series that have ignored factual matters or presented characters and themes that fit the games’ narrative. All in all, these are moments where the series basically dusted its hands off the pages of history and steered control for itself. 

10 The Entire Presence Of The Templars And Assassins

The Templars and Assassin really did exist, but their active status was around only until the events shown in the first Assassin’s Creed. Also, the actual Assassins Order was known for its subterfuge policy, not for maintaining free will. They were also religious, not spiritual, as the games make them out to be.

The Templars’ full title was Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, and they were active from 1119 to 1312. The games depict them as existing quite openly until the present-day, while also establishing their creation much earlier. Let’s just put this inaccuracy among the many things that don’t make sense about the Templars.

9 The Trial Of Louix XVI

Maybe it was one of the glitches found in the Assassin’s Creed series because former King Louis XVI’s trial was misrepresented. Unity showed that his trial saw a nearly split vote of 361-360 in favor of execution when this far from the case.

According to historian David P. Jordan’s book The King’s Trial, the actual vote had resulted in a 394-321 in favor of execution. In fact, as many as 360 of the 394 wanted immediate execution. So, it turns out the king wasn’t as well-liked as the game tried to make him.

8 Female Warriors In The Peloponnesian War

Based on stuff seen in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, it would appear as if Ancient Greece was very progressive, what with the abundance of female warriors. However, this was far from the truth as women were actually not allowed to be part of the troops.

While women did enjoy considerable influence in the matters of finances and maintaining house affairs, they were not included as warriors. Kassandra’s exploits certainly would never have been possible according to those times. While the game tried to reference certain women’s rights issues, people back then just didn’t give weight to these problems, meaning women couldn’t qualify as warriors.

7 Circumstances Of Al-Mualim’s Death

When the matter of most evil Templars comes up, Al-Mualim is an easy inclusion. His real name was confirmed to be Rashid ad-Din Sinan, which was also confirmed that the circumstances of his actual death were something Ubisoft didn’t care to reflect.

In reality, Sinan died in 1193, not 1191 according to the game. While he did die at al-Kahf Castle in Masyaf, his body wasn’t burned like it was shown in Revelations. Historically, he was buried in Salamiyah, which is some distance away from Masyaf.

6 Accents Not Aligning With The Times Or Locations

Arno’s name is usually very low in the ranking of the protagonists of the series. One of the reasons could very well be how annoying it is to hear a French guy speak in an English accent. This is actually important for a point against historical accuracy since people in those times weren’t influenced by outsiders, meaning there was no chance of Arno or anyone else adopting this accent.

It can’t be attributed to the Animus either, as an inferior version of this machine had reflected Italian and Arab accents earlier. Speaking of which, it was also ridiculous how Altair spoke with an American accent in the first game while everyone else had the appropriate ones.

5 Sparse Presence Of French And Dutch Ships

When one considers which is the best map in the series, Black Flag ranks among the very best ones. However, don’t take it too literally, seeing as the seas were dominated by British ships, as opposed to being abundant by other nations’.

Historically speaking, the Dutch and French also had heavy influence at sea during those times. And yet, there are hardly any ships from those countries to be found across the entire map. It seems bringing this aspect into the game was just too much of a hassle for Ubisoft.

4 Niccolo Machiavelli’s Role Among The Assassins

Simple math will tell anyone that Niccolo Machiavelli was hilariously misplaced upon his introduction in Assassin’s Creed II. He was shown as a high-ranking member of the Order in 1488 – at a time when he was only supposed to be nineteen-years-old!

The real Machiavelli had no chance of being in Venice or Forli either, as he was just a student and early careerist in Florence at the time. The power and influence he was shown to have in the game would have only been believable had the events been set years later.

3 Cleopatra’s Attitude And Status

Assassin’s Creed Origins went for the stereotypical portrayal of Cleopatra as a promiscuous vamp-type figure who flaunted her sexuality and even flirted with Bayek. However, Cleopatra is largely accepted to have been a virgin when she met Julius Caesar, while Origins showed her already having embraced seductress characteristics.

The civil war with her brother Ptolemy XIII was also a little more complex than the game’s version, where it was only a split rivalry. Historically, the conflict also involved their sister Arsinoe, who was eventually taken prisoner and then killed by Mark Antony at the orders of Cleopatra.

2 Francesco Salviati’s Death

Francesco Salviati’s role in the Pazzi conspiracy – involving the assassination attempt at the Medici family – was severely downgraded in Assassin’s Creed II. Most notably, it was his death that the game chose to tone down in violence.

In reality, Salviati wasn’t chased down by one person but was caught within an hour of the assassination and battered by a lynch mob who then hanged him from the window of the Sala dei Duecento. It’s understandable why the developers didn’t want to be so graphic, but that doesn’t change the fact that his death was nothing like it truly was.

1 The Fall Of Masyaf

Altair’s attitude during any situation is so calm that many memes have been made poking fun at this mannerism. He was also pretty chill when the Mongols attacked in 1257 and forced Masyaf’s evacuation. That might be because none of that actually happened.

The Mongols did invade around that time, but they captured Alumet and Lambsar; Masyaf didn’t fall until 1260. Even then, the castle was taken back when Nizaris allied with the Mamluks to drive the Mongols out. So, Altair evacuated the castle for nothing, if one looks at things in the historical context.

NEXT: Assassin’s Creed: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Animus