Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812 – 1870) was an English novelist and social critic, regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England, as the second of eight children. His peaceful childhood changed in the summer of 1824 when his father John Dickens was arrested, forcing Charles to stop his education to work in Warren's Blacking Warehouse. After paying off his father's debt, his mother suggested he continue his work.[1]
He eventually finished his education and started to work at the law office of Ellis and Blackmore. Inspired by the theater plays in the city, he began his writing career by creating Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, and Great Expectations. His work became successful and brought him fame, and even Queen Victoria was pleased with his literature. Dickens was also interested in the supernatural and joined the Cambridge's Ghost Club.[1]
Working with the Assassins[]
- "Here we are in the world's most advanced city, yet its citizens are so in thrall to the supernatural they leave themselves vulnerable to charlatans! Which is why I joined 'The Ghost Club', the first society in the world to look systematically at the phenomenon. Because truth, like a spirit, must be cajoled, before it will reveal itself!"
- ―Charles Dickens explaining his interest in the supernatural to the Frye twins, 1868.[src]-[m]
Dickens meeting the Assassins
At some point in 1868, he bumped into the Assassins Jacob Frye, Evie Frye, and Henry Green in Whitechapel.[2] Later, Dickens welcomed the Frye twins as members of the "Ghost Club", and together they investigated local mysteries with supposed paranormal causes.[3]
For their first official Ghost Club investigation, the twins were tasked by Dickens to uncover the truth behind the terrorizing demon Spring-Heeled Jack. The demon, however, as the twins discovered, was merely a violent cultist in disguise. They tracked down the impersonator through their workshop and eliminated the cult.[3]
They later resolved a robbing mystery wherein the townsfolk suspected as a demon's work. The Frye twins tried to track down the man responsible as Enzio Capelli, a man skilled in hypnotism.[4] However, they were hypnotized themselves and were ordered to perform theft, until Charles Dickens re-hypnotized them.[5]
Their investigation continued on 50 Berkeley Square as Dickens retold the horror tales of a weeping small girl's specter, a spirit of a screaming young woman, and the owners James Jasper and his nephew Edward's sudden disappearance. The pair was greeted with running children whom they chased and questioned. The children revealed a secret passage leading to a treasure in the house, giving Evie a key. There, they discovered levers for scaring people and killed James Jasper, now a madman and the one responsible for the scaring. Dickens found the truth interesting and decided to adapt it for a novel.[6]
One such investigation involved examining a broken carriage in the junkyard, in which he spoke of haunted stories regarding the object. The Frye twin suspiciously got drowsy and slept beside the carriage, only to dream of love letters and a woman named Elizabeth. Though Dickens was curious of what happened, the Assassin did not speak of it.[7]
Their last case involved the resurgence of Spring-Heeled Jack. The twins pursued Jack, but he managed to evade them, performing a Leap of Faith while doing so. Later, the Ghost Club met in a pub to toast to their success in debunking superstition, though Evie acknowledged the possibility of something supernatural in their world.[8]
Later life and death[]
By 1868 to 1869, Charles Dickens wrote farewell readings in England, Scotland, and Ireland and worked with his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. However, in June 1870, Dickens suffered a stroke and died the following day, leaving the novel unfinished. He was buried in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.[1]
Trivia[]
- During the memory "Recollection", Dickens mistook Enzio Capelli's name as Ezio, alluding to Ezio Auditore da Firenze's name.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Database: Charles Dickens
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Somewhere That's Green
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Spring-Heeled Jack
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Hell's Bells
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Recollection
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – 50 Berkeley Square
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Dead Letters
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – The Terror of London