Assassin's Creed Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Assassin's Creed Wiki
This article is about eagle companion of Kassandra. For other uses, see Ikaros.

Ikaros (died 5th century BCE) was a male golden eagle who served as a companion to the Spartan misthios Kassandra before and during the Peloponnesian War.

Biography[]

Life as Kassandra's companion[]

ACOD Debt Collector 11

Ikaros meeting the young Kassandra

Ikaros was the oldest and dearest friend of Pythagoras, who sent him watch over his daughter Kassandra.[1] In 451 BCE, after the girl was cast down from the top of Mount Taygetos by her adopted father Nikolaos, Ikaros landed beside her at the mountain's base amidst piles of human bones. He remained by her side when she fled from Sparta by boat and washed ashore on Kephallonia.[2]

Forming a close bond, Ikaros often operated alongside Kassandra during her career as a famed misthios to the extent that her epithet was "the Eagle Bearer".[3] Due to their connection, many considered Ikaros to be the "eagle of Zeus", as eagles were the sacred animals of the Greek god.[4][5][6] When Kassandra decided to leave Greece in 420 BCE to fulfill her duty as the Keeper of the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, Ikaros accompanied her on her new journey[7] until his eventual death from natural causes.[8]

Legacy[]

In 405 BCE, when Kassandra traveled to Delos to help the Spartan forces in removing the region's two Athenian commanders Phaidos and Straton, she fondly remarked that she missed Ikaros flying around overhead.[8] Centuries later, in the late 9th century CE, when Kassandra met Eivor Varinsdottir on the Isle of Skye, she noticed that the Viking also had an animal companion: a raven named Sýnin. She then brought up Ikaros, only for Eivor to remark that she preferred ravens to eagles, believing the latter to be too "gaudy".[9]

In 2018, when Kassandra met Layla Hassan at the Gateway to the Lost City, she again mentioned Ikaros, saying that she had once been known as "the Eagle Bearer" but Ikaros was long gone.[10]

Skills[]

ACOd-IkaroshuntIbex

Ikaros swooping down on an ibex

Ikaros' reconnaissance ability was of great help to Kassandra during her travels. By using her Eagle Vision, Kassandra could see the world through Ikaros' eyes, aiding her in scouting enemy camps. In addition to this, Ikaros could help Kassandra by attacking those targeting her or by distracting her human enemies at her bidding. If Kassandra was hunting, Ikaros would occasionally sweep down to get a kill of his own.[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Ikaros is a companion animal for the player character in the 2018 video game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. He functions almost exactly the same as Senu in the 2017 game Assassin's Creed: Origins, with the sole exception being that he can hurt and even kill humans on his own,[3] unlike Senu.[11]

Ikaros shares his name with Ikaros, a figure in Greek mythology who flew too close to the sun against his father Daidalos' advice and fell to his death.[12]

Although Kassandra could summon Ikaros during her time in Aletheia's simulations of Elysium,[13] the Underworld,[14] and Atlantis,[15] no explanation has been offered for how this is possible given that Aletheia is not known to have owned a bird with whom she shared senses.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Notes[]

  1. The longest-known life span of a wild golden eagle is around 30 years. As Ikaros is first shown in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey meeting Kassandra in 451 BCE and is implied to have been Pythagoras' companion for at least a few years before that, this would mean that when Kassandra had last seen him alive in Assassin's Creed Crossover Stories set in 420 BCE, Ikaros was nearing the end of his life. Kassandra's comment in Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR set in 405 BCE about how she misses him implies that he died sometime in the past 15 years, as a 50-year-old eagle is unheard of in modern history.

References[]

Advertisement