Isu

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Ezio: "You are... gods."

Minerva: "No. Not gods. We simply came... before."

—Ezio Auditore and Minerva, on the nature of the Isu, 1499.

Three representatives of the Isu: Juno, Minerva, and Jupiter

The Isu are an ancient and highly-advanced species of humanoid beings who were active on Earth during the eponymous era several millennia before the rise of even the most ancient human civilizations. The Isu were responsible for the creation of the Pieces of Eden, powerful artifacts and weapons that augmented their already-superhuman abilities, as well as forming the human race itself.

Their history shrouded in mystery, the Isu ruled over Earth roughly 77,000 years ago before they were largely wiped out, alongside many of their human creations, during the Great Catastrophe. By that point, the Isu had been in a decade-long war with a human rebellion led by two hybrids, Adam and Eve, who sought to free humanity from servitude to their "gods".

Following the Great Catastrophe, the Isu population rapidly declined to the point of near extinction within the century, but their legacy would live on for thousands of years through myth and legend, becoming the focal point of many human religions, whether polytheistic or monotheistic. Further still, those Pieces of Eden that survived the Great Catastrophe also influenced early man's development and eventually became a pivotal desire for both the Templar Order and the Assassin Brotherhood, who waged a war of their own for control of the Pieces, and by extension humanity's future.

Names

Due to their long and storied history, and the legacy that their existence left, the Isu, as a species, were known by various names to humanity. Classified Homo sapiens divinus by Abstergo Industries, they were also interchangeably referred to as Those Who Came Before, the First Civilization, or the Precursors. Pharaoh Smenkhkare, who founded the Order of the Ancients, called the Isu the Ancient Ones, hence the organization's namesake. The Northern European branch of the Order compared the Isu to the Archons in Gnostic religion or Nephilim from the Biblical mythos. Beyond this, certain groups of Isu, such as the Capitoline Triad, the Æsir, the Vanir, and the jötnar, were believed by most human religions to be part of different pantheons or various figures in their mythologies.

History

Early history

"The War of Unification raged. We created devasting Swords to end it, but then... killed. I created Shrouds, to heal."

―Consus, 2012.

Although the Isu were native to Earth and a product of thousands of years of evolution in their own right, their precise origins are unclear. Minerva, an Isu and member of the Capitoline Triad, simply stated that her kind "came before" humanity. Whether or not they maintained recognizable nation states is also unknown; however, Isu factions did cultivate large, technologically advanced spheres of influence across sections of the planet, inhabited cities, and in-fighting within the species led to a costly War of Unification.

The Isu marked periods of time with the Isu Era (IE), and an "Isu Singularity Age" has also been identified, but it's ambiguous on how they measured years, such as the planet's orbit of the Sun, as they could perceive time in a way that was beyond human capability.

Creation of humanity

"We built you in our own image. We built you to survive."

―Minerva, 1499.

A projection of Jupiter controlling humans with an Apple of Eden

The Isu were responsible for Project Anthropos, the creation of Homo sapiens as a capable and docile workforce, albeit one formed in their own image. Accompanying this, the Isu created Homo neanderthalensis—Neanderthals—whom they designed to be an expeditionary or military force.

While Minerva openly admitted that the Isu built humanity with the capacity to survive Earth's harsh environments, Juno made it clear that humans were not intended to be "wise", thereby ensuring they were to be obedient and resilient cattle to suit their creators' needs.

Extensive research done by Clay Kaczmarek suggests that the Isu had radically altered the genetic makeup of a pre-existing species of primates on the planet to create humanity; as a result, this left a large gap with transitional species between archaic hominids and modern humans. By 1997, the Templars had become aware of this gap in humanity's evolutionary development and believed that the best way to limit humanity's exposure to the possibility of the existence of the Isu was to arrange for fake skeletons to be planted in an expedition site in Ethiopia, merely to hold accountability for this evolutionary gap.

In order to enforce their control of humanity, various technologies were created by the Isu; the artifacts that mankind would later name "Pieces of Eden". It is believed that there were certain types of these Pieces that were able to tap simultaneously into a network of neurotransmitters located deep within the human brain, ensuring total obedience through means of remote mind control. However, there were some humans—the hybrids—who had been born without these neurotransmitters, which made them immune to the Pieces' mind control capabilities.

War and the Great Catastrophe

"When we were still flesh and our home still whole, your kind betrayed us. We who made you. We, who gave you life!"

―Minerva, 1499.

Humans rising up against the Isu

Having been instigated by the theft of an Apple of Eden by Adam and Eve, the human rebellion soon erupted into a full-scale war with the Isu. While the Isu were more technologically advanced and powerful, humanity possessed the advantage of numbers. The conflict lasted for a decade before abruptly ending when the Great Catastrophe–a coronal mass ejection from the Sun–occurred. The casualties on both sides were far greater than the Isu would ever have anticipated. The distraction of war had blinded them to all else, and their preoccupation with the conflict prevented them from seeing the signs of an impending danger from the "heavens" until it was too late.

A number of Isu scientists not devoted to the war effort had become aware of the imminent catastrophe, however, and endeavored to prevent it by thinking up various solutions so as to protect the Earth. The Capitoline Triad–consisting of Minerva, Juno, and Jupiter–decided to lock themselves away in the Grand Temple for years in order to test a variety potential solutions, following which they experimented with the most promising results in underground Temples spread across the globe.

Despite this concentrated effort, however, none of the solutions developed were sufficient to protect even a fraction of Earth's surface, or the populations thereon. Even the most promising solution would take tens-of-thousands of years to become viable.

Accepting that their fate was sealed, Minerva instead turned her sights to preventing the Catastrophe's inevitable reoccurrence by making use of the Eye to analyze the patterns and equations of existence in order to leave hidden messages for future humans throughout time, in the hope that they would find these messages and save the world. At the same time, Juno had also made plans for the world post-Catastrophe. Rather than save it, she sought to rule over it. When her plans were discovered, Minerva and Jupiter imprisoned her.

When it finally came time to use the Eye, Minerva discovered that Juno had tampered with it in such a manner that she would be freed from her imprisonment upon it being activated. Minerva made the decision to destroy the device rather than risk Juno's release, thus condemning the world to face a second solar flare, which would flip Earth's weakening magnetic field and reverse the polarity, thereby making the planet become geologically unstable.

In the affairs of humans

"For centuries Tinia and I walked the world, hoping to rekindle the spark of civilization. We shared what we knew as best we could."

―Minerva on rebuilding civilization, 2012.

Earth, following the catastrophe

While both races survived the Great Catastrophe, few of either species remained. Working together, they rebuilt their world, and while humanity continued to view their counterparts as gods, they no longer worked in servitude to them. Despite their survival, however, the Isu were unable to fully recover their numbers, and began an inevitable decline toward extinction.

Having now built a second Eye, Minerva recorded a number of holographic, yet interactive, messages to serve as a warning to those who entered the Vault under what would become the Vatican in Rome. In it, Minerva warned of the impending doom and spoke of how to prevent it. Concurrently, several other members of the Isu took independent steps to influence the thriving human race, attempting to put their knowledge to stone or parchment, though these did not withstand the test of time.

Due to the radical environmental changes caused by the cataclysm, a hundred years after the creation of the Temples, the Isu were extinct as a propagating species. Although firsthand account from Minerva indicates that both she and Jupiter "walked the world" for centuries, the exact nature of how this took place is unclear. Other individual Isu, such as Consus and Aletheia, survived the disaster when their consciousnesses were digitally preserved, while Odin and a select group of Æsir stored their memories within the human gene pool itself with the hope of eventually being incarnated a single time among the survivors.

Second Catastrophe

"You may not comprehend us. But you will comprehend our warning. [...] And as life returned to the world... We endeavored to ensure this tragedy would not be repeated."

―Minerva to Desmond Miles, through the memories of Ezio Auditore, 1499.

Minerva speaking with Ezio Auditore

In 2012, while viewing the genetic memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore, the Assassin Desmond Miles came upon the first of Minerva's recordings. Convinced that they would need Ezio's Apple of Eden to locate the Temples, Desmond continued to relive his ancestor's memories and eventually tracked the artifact to a Vault beneath the Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli in Rome.

By October 2012, Desmond and his Assassin team had located the Grand Temple, where they discovered that in order to find the key that unlocked its inner barrier, Desmond would be required to relive the memories of his ancestor Haytham Kenway and his son Ratonhnhaké:ton. After some time in the Temple, Shaun Hastings learned that it operated off power sources and that the team needed to locate more. This prompted Desmond to venture out from the Temple to recover them, and on doing so, Juno showed him visions of the solutions the Isu had attempted as he replaced them.

After he fully relived the relevant memories of his ancestor, Desmond went forth to unlock the Temple's inner gate, where he found Minerva's first Eye, which had been repaired by Juno while trapped within the Temple's walls. Juno herself then appeared to the group and told Desmond that by touching it, he would save humanity. She was interrupted by the appearance of Minerva, who had used the second Eye shortly before she died, allowing her a look into the future.

Desmond with Juno and Minerva in the Grand Temple

Minerva's projection warned Desmond that on touching it, the pedestal would indeed protect Earth from the solar flares, but would also release Juno into the world. She reasoned that it was better to let Earth burn than unleash Juno upon it.

Believing that the choosing to do nothing and let the world burn was worse than releasing Juno, Desmond denied Minerva's plea. He resolved that it was best to save the earth and hope that another might defeat Juno than to let countless lives be lost. Desmond then touched the pedestal and sacrificed himself, unleashing an aurora borealis-like shield around Earth that blocked the worst of the solar flares.

Aftermath

"Aita is a ghost in the wind. Your line ends here. I swear it."

―Elijah to Juno, after betraying her and helping the Assassins kill her, 2018.

Following Desmond's death, Juno uploaded her consciousness from the Grand Temple to the equipment that was brought by Abstergo Industries to inspect the scene and preserve Desmond's body, led by team leader Case Fisher. She then transferred herself to the Abstergo mainframe, while Abstergo worked on using Desmond's genetic material to create a new initiative dubbed the Sample 17 Project, run by Abstergo Entertainment, to further explore his lineage.

During her natural lifetime, despite one plan to preserve their race resulting in failure, Juno enacted a fail-safe procedure, which allowed her husband Aita to continuously reincarnate in human form. This was enabled through the insertion of 'junk code' in the human genome, which would take over a fetus during development, allowing Aita's return to life. Multiple reincarnations of Aita, colloquially referred to as Sages, were able to exist at the same time, as was the case with Thomas Kavanagh, Jr. and Bartholomew Roberts.

John Standish in the Bunker

By 2013, Aita had been reborn in the form of a Sage named John Standish, who worked as an IT technician at Abstergo Entertainment. Once a new research analyst came to work for the company to view the memories of Desmond's ancestor Edward Kenway, John sought to use their help in hacking Abstergo's information systems in return for advanced security clearance, while having the analyst pass on Abstergo's files and information to the Assassins Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings. It was also through Edward's memories that the analyst learned of the Sage Bartholomew Roberts and his connection to an Isu complex known as the Observatory.

Despite this façade however, Standish was manipulating the analyst into giving Juno a body to inhabit. When the opportunity finally presented itself, though, Juno stated that she was unable to take over the analyst due to the fact that she was scattered too thinly and that there were more artifacts to find and more samples to gather. Enraged by his failure, John poisoned the analyst with a low dosage in a vain attempt to allow Juno to inhabit their body successfully, though Abstergo security personnel interrupted and killed him, with the analyst eventually recovering from the attack.

Following Standish's death, Abstergo began examining his remains and discovered his identity as a Sage. Within his genes, they found a high quantity of Isu triple-helix DNA and began the Phoenix Project in the hope of sequencing the entire Isu genome in order to use the Animus technology and find out the race's scientific secrets, with an emphasis placed on the Pieces of Eden, throughout Isu history. They also planned to use a combination of existing human biotechnology and the remaining Pieces of Eden to bring the Isu back from extinction, whether it be biologically, through cloning, or by recreating them from scratch.

Juno speaking to Violet da Costa

However, by 2015, the Phoenix Project was infiltrated by Juno's followers, the Instruments of the First Will, who sought to use it to create a new body for their mistress and allow her to conquer humanity. After both Abstergo and the Assassins located a Shroud of Eden that could be used to boost the project's progress, Violet da Costa, a Templar and secret member of the Instruments, retrieved the artifact during a fight between the two groups and delivered it to Dr. Álvaro Gramática at his secret facility in Australia.

Gramática had previously researched another Shroud containing the preserved consciousness of Consus, who would speak with the scientist and tell him about his race's history. However, the artifact was destroyed in 2014, during an Assassin raid on Abstergo's facility in Paris, and Consus' consciousness with it.

Despite his death, Consus went on to play an important role in Juno's eventual downfall, as a series of messages he had left for Charlotte de la Cruz were discovered when the Assassin relived the memories of several of her ancestors, including Thomas Stoddard and Hiram Stoddard. These messages, though cryptic, urged Charlotte to retrieve the Koh-i-Noor, a Piece of Eden of immense power that was instrumental to Juno's plans.

Charlotte de la Cruz killing Juno

Thanks to a rare alliance between the Assassins and Templars, who had both become aware of Juno and the Instruments' schemes, Charlotte was able to find the Koh-i-Noor in Spain, but it was stolen by the Instruments shortly after. Meanwhile, Álvaro Gramática successfully constructed an Isu body from scratch, using somatic cells extracted from Elijah, Desmond Miles' illegitimate son and a Sage, and the Shroud of Eden.

As Juno's consciousness inhabited the new body, the Assassins and Templars attacked the Phoenix Project facility to eliminate her and the Instruments. They were ultimately successful when Charlotte assassinated the Isu with her Hidden Blade, after she had been betrayed by Elijah, who subsequently escaped with the Koh-i-Noor while Charlotte perished when the facility was destroyed in an explosion.

Juno's death marked the apparent extinction of the Isu as a species, though their legacy lives on through their human descendants, including Sages of Aita like Elijah and incarnated Æsir like Basim Ibn Ishaq, the human rebirth of Loki. Certain Isu also continue to exist in a non-corporeal form, such as Aletheia, whose consciousness is stored in the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, and Vejovis, who transferred his mind to the Grey, a digital afterlife, shortly before the Great Catastrophe.

Characteristics

"The rest is up to you, Desmond."

―Minerva to Desmond Miles, through the memories of Ezio Auditore, 1499.

As a species, the Isu are anatomically similar to their human creations, though unlike humanity, who were created with only five senses, the Isu possessed six, with this last one being referred to simply as "knowledge". This "knowledge" seemed to give the Isu a limited ability to "see", or at the very least understand the prerequisites for, potential futures. The Isu are a highly technologically advanced and powerful race who, through Minerva's Calculations, were able to utilize this precognitive ability so that a select few Isu could predict, and attempt to influence, possible futures. Any of the Isu's seemingly unnatural powers were typically from the use of Pieces of Eden or other artifacts and were not biological.

A glitched still from a Precursor memory

The Isu were also physically more imposing than humans, with some individuals standing a full 20 inches taller, which also gave them more base physical strength. Their eyes were paler in colour and seemed to come in a greater variety of shades than humans. Although the Isu had a naturally longer lifespan, they were not immortal. Moreover, a critical weakness of the Isu as a race was their slow reproduction rate; the natural ability of Isu couples to conceive was barely half that of humanity and Isu pregnancies took longer, lasting an entire year at minimum. This was compounded by the fact that Isu were not as inherently inclined towards reproduction as humans, most likely a by-product of their longer life-spans. ^{[citation needed]}

In another notable deviation from humans, Isu had naturally-occurring ^{[citation needed]} special runic and linear tattoos of various colours running up and down their arms, legs and head that often glowed brightly of their own accord, indicating a possible bioluminescent quality. These 'tattoos' also had a habit of flaring when an Isu was using their advanced powers which could indicate a biological function as a response to stimuli or strenuous activity.

Following the Great Catastrophe, a concerted effort was made by a number of Isu to pass on, or awaken, this sixth sense to humanity, their "final, faltering hope". Ultimately, however, they failed; though humanity could "see the blue shimmer [and] hear the words", they did not fully possess their creators' "knowledge". This consequently convinced some Isu, like Juno, that humanity should have simply been left as they were.

Legacy

"They're gifts, Mr. Miles. From those who came before."

―Warren Vidic on the Pieces of Eden, 2012.

Despite the mark they left behind on Earth, the Isu faded into obscurity rather rapidly after the Great Catastrophe. However, the inability of humans to comprehend their creators as anything but gods did allow for their names and characteristics to at least live on. The lack of evidence for their existence did not prevent select groups of humans throughout time from uncovering their true nature, however. By the 12th century, the Knights Templar had a limited understanding of the nature of the precursor species.

Various Pieces of Eden

The Templars also knew of the existence of the Pieces of Eden, and aimed to gather and exploit these devices to benefit their ideology, with Warren Vidic once referring to them as "gifts left behind". Indeed, the 20th century technology used to view the genetic memories of one's ancestor–the Animus–was based on technology utilized by the Isu to record genetic memories.

Minerva refuted this suggestion, however, simply stating that the Templars and Assassins had wasted time "squabbling over [the Isu's] refuse" rather than working together to protect against the Second Disaster. This situation was in significant contrast to that in the 15th century, where it had been the Assassins who knew explicitly of the Isu's existence whilst the Italian Templars' Grand Master Rodrigo Borgia erroneously believed the Vatican Vault to be the location of God himself. This changed again, however, and 500 years later, the Assassins knew next to nothing of the Isu's existence. ^{[citation needed]}

Though various religious belief structures seem to have been based on or taken influence from aspects and misinterpretations of the Isu, their existence was unknown to humanity at large. As early as the 12th century, the Knights Templar assumed that the focus of human religions, the gods, did not truly exist, and that miracles and other supernatural occurrences were simply manifestations of the powers of the Pieces of Eden. However, it is unclear if the Assassins and Templars understood the artifacts' origins at that time.

Human awareness

"Who were The Ones That Came Before? What brought them here? How long ago?"

―Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad writing about the Isu in his Codex.

The earliest known human to uncover the existence of the Isu after the Great Catastrophe was the Egyptian Pharaoh Smenkhkare, who referred to them as the "Ancient Ones". Around 1334 BCE, Smenkhkare founded the secret cabal known as the Order of the Ancients with the goal of locating and exploiting ancient Isu technologies, the Pieces of Eden. Over the centuries, however, the Order's goal shifted to using these relics to subjugate humanity in the name of peace and prosperity.

Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa giving a lecture about Those Who Came Before

The Order also became aware of the existence of both descendants of human-Isu hybrids, which they derisively called "Tainted Ones", and individuals who inherited the memories of deceased Isu, be they Sages or incarnations of the Æsir. While the Ancients saw the former as a threat to the peace they fought for and sought to eliminate them, they revered the latter as gods in human form; one member of the Order in particular, Fulke, sought to research these individuals and learn what made them special. Another Order member, Fazil Fahim al-Kemsa, went so far as to construct a machine he called the Alruh to view memories of the Isu and uncover their ancient knowledge.

Conversely, the Order's sworn enemies, the Hidden Ones, remained relatively oblivious to both the Isu's existence and the true origins of the Pieces of Eden. However, certain members knew more details, such as the Master Assassin Roshan, who was able to deduce that her apprentice, Basim Ibn Ishaq, was the reborn form of the Isu Loki. Basim himself would discover this fact while exploring the Alamut Temple and subsequently embrace his nature as Loki's rebirth. Basim's acolyte, Hytham, also knew about the Isu, including the true name of the species, and kept a document about them at his bureau in Ravensthorpe.

Kassandra meeting a projection of Aletheia

The Raven Clan's jarlskona Eivor Varinsdottir, her adoptive brother Sigurd Styrbjornsson, and King Harald Fairhair of Norway, who were the incarnations of Odin, Týr, and Freyr, respectively, also learned about the Isu through memories of their past lives. Meanwhile, the Spartan mercenary Kassandra, a descendant of human-Isu hybrids, learned about the species through her interactions with Aletheia, whose consciousness was preserved in the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, which had been passed down to Kassandra by her father Pythagoras.

By the 12th century, the Assassins and Templars, the successors to the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients, respectively, were unaware of the Isu's existence. Although some speculated that the Pieces of Eden had originated from an ancient precursor civilization, they were unable to confirm this. The first Assassin to explicitly learn about the Isu was Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, thanks to his study of an Apple of Eden. In his Codex, Altaïr referred to the ancient species as "Those Who Came Before" and pondered what could be the purpose of the artifacts they had left behind.

It would not be until the year 1499 that humanity would encounter the Isu again, when the Assassin Ezio Auditore encountered a hologram of Minerva in the Vatican Vault. Even though Ezio told his fellow Assassins of Minerva, they still did not understand her true nature, and Ezio himself showed great difficulty in understanding Minerva's explanation of her existence.

The Assassins inside the Observatory

By the 18th century, both the Assassins and Templars possessed a greater understanding of the true nature of the Isu. They knew about the existence of Sages and their connection to the Observatory, and were also fully aware of the Pieces of Eden's origins as artifacts left behind by Those Who Came Before.

In 1725, the Assassin Edward Kenway shared what he knew about the Isu and the Pieces' history with the samurai Shimazu Saito, including details previous generations of Assassins had been unaware of, such as Adam and Eve's theft of an Apple of Eden. Although Saito had formerly been a Japanese Templar, her short time with the Order meant that she never got to learn about the Pieces' true significance prior to encountering Edward.

For generations, the Kanien'kehá:ka safeguarded the area around the Grand Temple at the request of Juno, who communicated with them through a Crystal Ball. However, the Kanien'kehá:ka did not understand Juno's true nature and mistakenly perceived her as a goddess who watched over them. In 1769, the young Kanien'kehá:ka Ratonhnhaké:ton met and spoke with Juno through the Crystal Ball, being tasked to join the Assassins in order to prevent the Templars from accessing the Grand Temple and dooming his people.

Ratonhnhaké:ton meeting Juno

After meeting the Colonial Brotherhood's retired Mentor Achilles Davenport, Ratonhnhaké:ton learned more about the nature of the Isu. When Ratonhnhaké:ton told Achilles that he had been sent by a "spirit", the elderly Mentor immediately understood what he meant and claimed that these "spirits" had been harassing the Assassins ever since Ezio Auditore had "uncorked the bottle".

In the 21st century, both the Assassins and Templars knew most details about the Isu's history, including their creation of humanity and the Pieces of Eden. However, certain individuals on both sides were oblivious to these details, such as the Assassin Desmond Miles, who only learned about them while reliving his ancestor Ezio Auditore's memories. Later, Desmond got the chance to learn more about the Isu's failed efforts to prevent the Great Catastrophe from Jupiter, while inside the Nexus, and from Juno, while inside the Grand Temple.

Outside of the Assassins and Templars, few individuals know about the existence of the Isu, in part because of the Templars' efforts to conceal the true origins of humanity. Despite this, aspects of the Isu civilization have influenced Earth's religions, many of which developed as a direct result of ancient humans' misunderstanding of the Isu's true nature. In the case of polytheistic religions, their pantheons of gods share numerous similarities, which was later explained by Minerva as being the result of most Isu having more than just one name during their lifetimes.

Bloodline

"Why do we have these gifts, these abilities? Because it's in our blood! [...] The seeds were planted as two worlds became one. Behold the Assassins, the children of two worlds!"

―Clay Kaczmarek, 2012.

As part of their unique genetic makeup, the Isu possessed a triple-helix DNA structure and had six primary senses, as opposed to the double-helix DNA sequence and five primary senses of their human creations.

Desmond Miles and his ancestors were examples of descendants of human-Isu hybrids

Another trait that distinguished the Isu from humans is that they were highly intelligent; the Isu were responsible for the creation of humanity. It is believed that the Isu accomplished this task by genetically modifying several members of the Homo genus using the Pieces of Eden to make humans appear anatomically similar to the their creators, with the only differences being the height and the size of the skull. Through the hybrids, however, certain human bloodlines adopted some of the increased skills and abilities of their creators. These individuals possessed increased strength and dexterity, and a resistance to some of the Pieces of Eden's effects on others.

William Miles later stated that one person in ten million would have a high concentration of Isu DNA. Clay Kaczmarek at one point theorized that the true reason behind the abilities of some Assassins was genetic, suggesting a lineage including both human and Isu blood. Clay's own genetic memories indicated him to be a direct descendant of both Adam and Eve, suggesting that his bloodline, if not many more, would all have access to these abilities. According to Abstergo, the average part of Isu DNA in regular humans is comprised between 0.0002% and 0.0005%, but in some individuals it can be higher, like Desmond Miles – who had a count of 0.952% – and Sages, who had a count of between 5% and 6%.

Indeed, a number of Desmond Miles' ancestors including Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore, Edward Kenway, his son Haytham, and his grandson Ratonhnhaké:ton, all possessed Eagle Vision, while Altaïr, Ezio, and Edward all exhibited proven resistance to the Pieces of Eden's effects. Outside of Desmond's lineage, completely unrelated individuals like Giovanni Borgia, Aveline de Grandpré, Adéwalé, Shao Jun, Shay Cormac, Arno Dorian, Arbaaz Mir, and Jacob and Evie Frye, also possessed a natural affinity for Eagle Vision. In others, like Gavin Banks, it could be learned through great practice.

Additionally, Ezio's bloodline allowed him to properly use a Staff and Apple of Eden in conjunction to open the Vatican Vault, while Rodrigo Borgia could not. Altaïr had previously used his Apple to enlighten the people of Cyprus to Armand Bouchart's lies, and Desmond was able to make great use of the Pieces of Eden in order to enact his plan to rescue his father.

Known Isu

While the exact geographical distinctions in Isu society are not known in detail, many Isu later became revered as gods in different geographical areas around the world, comprising a variety of pantheons across the world mainly based on the groups in which the civilization was organized during the Isu Era. In the following list, known Isu are categorized by the faction of which they were part of and the pantheons they were posthumously remembered in or are most closely associated with.

Some Isu were given different names by other individuals from the remaining factions. As such, the original names are simply stated on the respective category while the names attributed by other Isu are listed on the category of the group that included it and are marked with an asterisk (*).

Moreover, several of the Isu undermentioned appeared in visions or simulations millennia after their death, leaving their true name, nature, or affiliation uncertain, with some of them possibly being AI, hybrids, or even something else entirely.

Greco-Roman and Etruscan influence

Aita

Aletheia

Aphrodite/Venus

Charon

Consus/Prometheus

Demeter

Eris

Hades

Hebe

Hekate

Hephaistos

Hermes Trismegistus/Mercury

Persephone

Iris

Juno/Hera/Uni

Jupiter/Zeus/Tinia

Minerva/Athena/Merva/Mera

Phanes

Saturn

Tunguska Entity

Vejovis

Related Atlanteans

Ampheres

Atlas

Autochthonos

Azaes

Diaprepes

Elasippos

Evaimon

The Foreman

Gadiros

The Harbormaster

Melitta

Mestor

Mneseas

Neokles

Poseidon/Neptune

Xarios

Norse influence

Andhrímnir

*Angrboða

Baldr

Búri

Eysa

Fenrir

Freyja

Freyr

Frigg

Glöð

Gunborg

*Gunnlöð/Vör

Heimdall

Hel

*Hyrrokin

Iðunn

Jörmungandr

Loki

Njörðr

Odin

Sif

Sigyn

Sinmara

Skulð

Surtr

*Suttungr

Thor

Týr

Ullr

Urðr

Vé

Verðandi

Vili

Völund/Weyland

Egyptian influence

Horus

Isis

Amun Amunet messenger

Khnum and Hequet messenger

Khufu messenger

Nomarch messenger

Seth Anath messenger

Sphinx messenger

Osiris

Seth

Celtic influence

Lug

Morrígan

Nodens

*Sulis

Others

Siddhārtha Gautama

Durga

Milad

Rah Cel'eze

Saklas

Samael

*Saraswati

Yaldabaoth

Behind the scenes

Though they played a greater part in the plot of Assassin's Creed II, the Isu were first mentioned briefly by Warren Vidic in Assassin's Creed. When talking to Desmond, Vidic claimed that the Templars were responsible for all major human technological advances in history, though he denied that they invented them, calling them "gifts... from those who came before".

Although Minerva stated she, Jupiter, and Juno were in charge of preventing the first coronal mass ejection, it has been also said that the Isu were too consumed by the war effort to notice the solar activity, making it seem like a majority of the Isu themselves were entirely unaware of the solar flare that was to come except very few scientists. It is unclear if the Isu scientists withheld information from the rest of their species, if they attempted to raise the alarm but were ignored, or if this is simply a writing error.

The word Isu is quite similar to the Egyptian word "jsw" which means 'Ancient(s)'.

Ancient Astronauts Theory

The story of the Isu, who created humanity as a docile workforce and were subsequently viewed as gods by their creations, bears striking similarity to the Ancient Astronaut Theory, which is the idea that extraterrestrials visited the Earth in ancient times and genetically altered an existing hominid species to create humanity in their own image. As a result, extraterrestrials were responsible for influencing early human civilizations, cultures, and religions; and perceived as gods by their human creations. The only difference that this theory has to the explanation of the Isu is that the Isu did not come from outer space, having resided on the Earth and evolved over time.

However, this theory can be supported by a hidden file in the audio of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, where John Standish gives a monologue sarcastically congratulating the listener for finding said file. In it, he remarks about how much potential outer space has, and how the listener should have become an astronaut. It is possible other Isu members may have shared this view of space.

Abstergo Industries classifies the Isu as Homo sapiens divinus, which leads to the understanding that, at least from Abstergo's perspective, they are not a separate species but a subspecies of the human species (Homo sapiens). As far as it is known, Abstergo believes that the Isu originated on Earth. According to modern science, 77,000 years ago in the Isu Era, there were five species of the Homo genus coexisting: Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonensis, and the mysterious Denisova hominins. ^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

An illustration of three Isu

Juno, Minerva, Jupiter, and Aita

The Æsir witnessing the Great Catastrophe

A set of Isu armor

An illustration of the Greek pantheon

A vision of Juno, Minerva, and an unknown Isu during the Tunguska explosion

See also

• Isu script

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed II (first appearance) (as projection)
• Assassin's Creed: Renaissance
• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations novel
• Assassin's Creed: The Fall
• Assassin's Creed III
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates
• Assassin's Creed (Les Deux Royaumes comics) (ambiguously canonical appearance)
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Brahman
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (first identified as "Isu")
• Assassin's Creed comic
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Fate of the Gods
• Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
  • The Fate of Atlantis
• Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
  • Dawn of Ragnarök
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Geirmund's Saga
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice (mentioned only)
  • Tokyo XXI (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Escape Room Puzzle Book
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Hidden Codex (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple