Comparing Assassin's Creed Odyssey's Siblings to AC Syndicate's Frye Twins
In the Assassin’s Creed franchise, it was typically unlikely that players encountered protagonists with siblings that play crucial roles in the events of the game. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate changed this, though, with the introduction of Jacob and Evie Frye. The twins are dual protagonists throughout the game, though their screen time amounts have been questioned by fans. Evie and Jacob pretty much embody the idea of a sibling partnership, and work together more often than not. Evie and Jacob aren’t the only siblings in the Assassin’s Creed franchise that fans can play, though.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey introduced more RPG aspects into the game, including the choice between playing as Kassandra or Alexios. These siblings have more of an age difference than the twins, and also grow up under very different circumstances - far beyond the differing time periods between the two sibling pairs. Though players had the choice between Alexios or Kassandra in-game, it was later revealed through the novelization of Odyssey that Kassandra is the canon protagonist, meaning she is the eldest and main character of the game. While these duos may have some things in common, it’s pretty fair to say that they differ more than they’re alike.
It has been pointed out that Syndicate was the last traditional Assassin’s Creed game, which also means that Jacob and Evie are the last characters to act like traditional Assassins. The twins’ mother died during childbirth, so they were raised by their grandmother until their father taught them the ways of the Assassin Brotherhood. Their father died of natural causes, leaving the siblings to follow a fellow Assassin to London to help break the Templar hold on the city.
Personality wise, the twins couldn’t be more different from each other. Evie revered her father and listened to pretty much everything he said, his voice living in her head long after his death. Jacob, on the other hand, was none too keen on learning about the Assassins in the first place, preferring instead to explore factories and gambling dens rather than train with his father. He also didn’t believe in the Creed the way Evie did, and was definitely a man of action rather than contemplation.
Where Jacob was brash and impulsive, Evie was cunning and quiet. She believed in the Creed and focused her efforts on finding the Pieces of Eden, which Jacob disagreed with. Evie carefully planned in advance, almost to a fault, which could sometimes be her downfall as well. Jacob may have acted too quickly, but sometimes Evie almost didn’t act at all.
These differences help them work together as a pair, though. Their personalities clashed just as much as they meshed, and ultimately the twins worked better as a team than they ever did solo. Plus, even though they believed differently in the Creed, they both defied orders from the Assassin Council to venture to London and start the events of Syndicate, which is rebellious sibling teamwork at its finest.
Compared to Evie and Jacob, Kassandra and Alexios are different in quite a few ways. The Greek siblings are not twins, with Kassandra canonically being quite a few years older than Alexios, who is her half-brother. Instead of working together as the twins do, Alexios and Cassandra are pretty much always at odds throughout the course of Odyssey, but it wasn’t always that way.
Odyssey reveals early on in the game that Alexios is sentenced to death from being pushed from the top of Mount Taygetos, as a prophecy foretold of him bringing ruin to Sparta. Trying to save Alexios, Kassandra accidentally pushes both her brother and the priest from the mountaintop and is thought of as a traitor, with her step-father dropping her off the same mountain. Though the priest dies, Alexios and Kassandra both survive the fall, though Kassandra did have noticeable scarring on her arm and right upper lip.
Alexios and Kassandra were raised very differently, and definitely without influence from the Creed. Alexios is unfortunately captured and has a harsh, traumatizing upbringing in the Cult of Kosmos. His defenses sufficiently down, the Cult convinced him that he was their weapon, Deimos, when in reality Alexios was nothing more than a pawn for the Cult. It then decides to go after Alexios’ remaining family (meaning his father, mother, and sister), but Kassandra picks off the cultists one by one in an attempt to redeem Alexios.
In typical Greek fashion, Odyssey ends with a showdown between the siblings. Player choices can decide what happens during the fight, but more often than not Kassandra unfortunately ends up killing her brother. It's much harder to save him, but it's not impossible. In the canon ending, Deimos is mortified by his actions and demands Kassandra kill him on the same mountaintop that they fell from as children.
Where the twins work together as a team to reduce Templar influence, Kassandra and Alexios are almost always going to be on opposite sides of the conflict. Evie and Jacob were lucky enough to be raised together; meanwhile, Alexios and Kassandra were separated at a young age and raised far from each other. The twins also balance each other out and work together, but Kassandra and Alexios never reach that point in their relationship. Another glaring difference between the two sibling pairs is the fact that Odyssey’s siblings are descendants of the Isu, making them “Tainted Ones” to the Order of Ancients, but “demigods” to others.
Honestly, the two sets of familial relatives don’t have a lot in common. However, Kassandra and Jacob seem to have equally feisty tempers, instilling fear in those who angered them. Both tended to be impatient, though it seems Kassandra wasn’t nearly as reckless as Jacob.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey introduced players to two different sets of siblings with their own unique personalities and stories. Though they may be more different than they are similar, both games are still great ways of getting to know a team that works well together or a sibling conflict between an older sister and her younger brother.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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