Sir Jacob Frye (born 1847) was a Master Assassin of the British Brotherhood during the Victorian era, and the younger twin brother of Evie Frye. He later became a member of Queen Victoria's Order of the Sacred Garter, and the grandfather of Lydia Frye, an Assassin active during World War I.
Born in Crawley, Jacob and his sister were raised and trained in the Assassins' ways by their widowed father Ethan. Unlike the studious Evie, Jacob was more rebelious and dismissive of his father's teachings, prefering to rely on his own thoughts and beliefs. This put a strain in his relationship with his father, whom Jacob eventually came to resent. Due to his preference for combat over stealth, he also tended to approach situations head-on and without much forethought, which often put him at odds with Evie due to their conflicting methods.
Following his father's death in 1868, Jacob, wishing to prove himself to the Brotherhood, accompanied Evie to London, against their superiors' wishes. There, they sought to liberate the city from the Templars' control and help the poverty-stricken masses. To accomplish this, they founded the Rooks, a criminal syndicate that opposed the Templar-backed Blighters.
While Evie focused on pursuing a Shroud of Eden, Jacob assassinated various prominent Templars to reduce Grand Master Crawford Starrick's influence over the city. However, his actions often had unintended consequences that negatively affected London and its people, forcing his sister to fix them. Eventually, Jacob became aware of the chaos his reckless actions generated and the flaws in his idea of absolute personal freedom, and began adhering to the Creed's tenents more closely as a result.
After he and Evie assassinated Starrick, Jacob remained in London to rebuild the Brotherhood while his sister married fellow Assassin Henry Green and migrated with him to India. However, in 1888, Jacob sent a summons for his sister after one of his Assassin apprentices went rogue and seized control of the Rooks, using them to terrorize London as Jack the Ripper. Jacob was captured by Jack, who sought to usurp him as leader of the Brotherhood, but was eventually rescued by Evie after she had killed the Ripper, ending his reign of terror over the city.
Prior to the outbreak of World War I, Jacob and Evie tutored and trained the former's granddaughter Lydia in the absence of her parents. In 1914, as the war reached London, the elderly Fryes were relocated to the countryside by the Brotherhood while Lydia remained in the city to defend it from the returning Templars.
Biography
Early life
Jacob Frye was born in Crawley, England on 9 November 1847, four minutes after his sister Evie.[1] The twins' mother Cecily died during childbirth and their father Ethan, needing time to mourn and recover from the loss, traveled to India, leaving his children to be raised by their maternal grandmother until the age of six. In 1853, Ethan returned to Crawley and began to personally raise and train Jacob and Evie as Assassins.[2]
Despite lacking his sister's natural talent, Jacob loved his training and spent his days in their home's yard, practicing the moves taught by Ethan in the morning. At night, the twins would excitedly talk about the day when they would finally be introduced to the Assassins' fabled Hidden Blade, and Evie also relayed to Jacob the information she had gathered from eavesdropping on Ethan and George Westhouse's conversations about the Templars and the Pieces of Eden.[3]
Unlike his sister, Jacob was uninterested in the Pieces of Eden and Ethan's lessons about the Brotherhood's history, tactics and policy,[3] which he gradually came to resent. While Evie trained with their father late at night, Jacob took to exploring factories and gambling dens in Crawley and beyond.[2] On one occasion, he got into an altercation at the Oakbrook Tavern with a group of card players who beat him at whist, which ended with them falling into the nearby river.[4]
In 1862, Jacob was present when the Indian Assassin Ajay came to the Frye household to deliver a cryptic letter to Ethan. Sensing something was amiss, Ethan immediately decided to chase Ajay, bringing Jacob, Evie and George Westhouse along. After cornering the Indian Assassin, Ajay apologized to Ethan before committing suicide.[5] During this time, Jacob and Evie became acquainted with the Assassin Pierrette Arnaud, who regularly visited the Frye household until her departure to Cairo in 1867.[6]
Eventually, Jacob completed his training as an Assassin and both he and Evie were partnered with George Westhouse on several missions in and around Crawley.[7] As opposed to his sister, who specialized in stealth and thoughtful planning, Jacob preferred to approach situations head-on, relying on his skills as a brawler to get out of whatever trouble he may find himself in.[2]
Activities in Croydon
- "I know when we're ready better than any Council, and we are ready. Henry will provide. Jacob and Evie will act."
- ―A dying Ethan Frye to George Westhouse, 1868.[src]
In January 1868, Ethan passed away after a long battle with pleurisy, during which Jacob and Evie had been restricted from seeing their father too often, as he did not wish to be a burden on them. On the day of Ethan's death, George Westhouse was the first to discover his body and went to deliver the news to the twins, but to his surprise, he found them wearing their Assassin attires, as if they had already sensed what had happened and knew that the time had come to carry on their father's legacy.[8]
After staying in their home's kitchen in silence for several minutes, George left to notify the Brotherhood of Ethan's death while Jacob and Evie continued to console each other. The twins and George were subsequently the only Assassins to attend Ethan's funeral, which was quiet and inconspicuous in accordance to the Brotherhood's tradition.[8]
Jacob and Evie in Croydon
Despite the tragedy of losing his father, Jacob felt liberated of his obligations as a small-town Assassin and hoped to unleash his potential without Ethan holding him back.[2] On 10 February 1868, Jacob and Evie accompanied George to Croydon, where the twins were tasked to assassinate two Templar targets: Rupert Ferris, an industrialist and owner of Ferris Ironworks, and David Brewster, a scientist conducting experiments on an Apple of Eden.[9]
While Evie went after Brewster, Jacob infiltrated Ferris Ironworks and made his way to Ferris' office, assassinating his target with relative ease. However, as he died, the Templar mocked Jacob for accomplishing very little, claiming that his demise would not hinder the Templars in London. Jacob then escaped from the furious Blighters pursuing him by boarding a departing train, and narrowly survived the train's subsequent derailing and crash.[9]
The twins later returned to George to report their successes in their respective tasks. Impatient to journey to London and liberate the city from Templar control, Jacob and Evie were scolded by the older Assassin, who warned them it was not what Ethan would have wanted for them. After George left, however, the twins decided to disobey his orders and secretly hitched a train ride to London.[10]
Liberation of London
Establishing the Rooks
- "I've always thought of myself as a gang leader. Firm, but fair. We'll have uniforms. And I'll unite a mix of disenfranchised outsiders under one name. That's it, Evie! We can rally them to our side... I can see it now! We'll call ourselves the Rooks."
- ―Jacob voicing his plans to his sister, 1868.[src]-[m]
Jacob coming up with the name of his gang
After arriving in Whitechapel, the twins sought out the leader, and sole remaining Assassin in London, Henry Green. Informed of the Templars' vast control over the city, Jacob proposed to form a gang called the Rooks to challenge the Blighters' power in the area, disagreeing with Evie's plan to search for a Piece of Eden hidden in the city. While discussing this, the three Assassins bumped into Charles Dickens who invited them for a talk sometime. Jacob was easily dismissive of the author but Henry advised him to consider keeping a network of contacts, as Dickens knew every influential figure in the city.[4]
Following this, the trio were spotted by the Blighters, prompting Jacob and Evie to distract them while Henry fled back to his curiosity shop. After losing their pursuers, the twins joined Henry at his shop, where he explained his array of contacts within the city and suggested that the Fryes seek them out.[4]
In an alley, Jacob and Evie encountered a disguised Sergeant Frederick Abberline, one of Henry's contacts, who gave them a list of Blighters for them to kidnap and bring back to him in order to arrest them.[11] The twins also liberated abused children from the local factories, in order to satisfy their young contact, Clara O'Dea, in exchange for access to her network of child informants.[12] Together with the new recruits, the Fryes eventually eliminated the remaining Blighters in Whitechapel and their leader Rexford Kaylock, and took control of the borough, establishing the Rooks.[13]
Henry showing Jacob the assassination board
Following a street brawl with Kaylock's Blighters, from which they emerged victorious, the Assassins won the gang leader's personal train and decided to utilize it as their hideout, gaining Agnes MacBean's services as a financier in the process.[13] They subsequently traveled to Southwark to meet Henry's ally, the inventor Alexander Graham Bell, to fix the broken rope launcher they had acquired from Kaylock and attach it to their Hidden Blade gauntlet.[14]
After Bell returned from installing fuses with Evie, the inventor showed Jacob the first messages of his telegraph and gave him a second rope launcher he had built. The twins then headed to their hideout where they met Ned Wynert, an American transgender entrepreneur, who gave them his business card. The Assassins planned their next move, with Jacob determined to strengthen the Rooks and eliminate Grand Master Crawford Starrick's allies within London's infrastructure, whilst Evie and Henry searched for the Shroud of Eden.[14]
Starrick's Soothing Syrup
Jacob and Evie losing their Templar pursuers
Although in disagreement with Evie's hunt for the Shroud, Jacob aided his sister in recovering an artifact from the Templar occultist Lucy Thorne's shipments. He eliminated the guards as Evie searched the chests. However, he was caught and chased by Blighters as he returned to Evie, forcing the twins to flee in a carriage; Jacob took the reins while Evie acted on the defense. Ultimately, with their pursuers closing in, the twins were forced to abandon the carriage and its cargo, though Evie managed to keep hold of a journal belonging to the late Assassin Edward Kenway.[15]
Jacob later began his investigation into the source of Starrick's Soothing Syrup, which was stupefying London's poor districts. After chasing a merchant and locating the distributor to the factory, stealing his files in the process, Jacob managed to track down and kidnap the distribution boss in the Southwark Foundry, learning from him that Starrick's Soothing Syrup was produced in the distillation building.[16]
Arriving there, Jacob witnessed an elderly man attempting to break inside and hiding when the guards appeared. After eliminating the Blighters guarding the place, Jacob broke the lock to the factory and entered with the man. The pair investigated the tank and its ingredients, learning that the Syrup contained opium, turning it into an addictive and deadly substance.[17]
Jacob meeting Charles Darwin
While the elderly man hid near the entrance, Jacob turned the pressure valves, destroying the distillation tanks and setting fire to the building, which Jacob narrowly escaped by jumping through a window. The man who had helped him then introduced himself as Charles Darwin and gave Jacob a document that indicated batches of the Syrup were being sent to the Lambeth Asylum.[17]
Arriving at the asylum, Jacob found Darwin arguing with the owner, Richard Owen, whose carriage the Assassin subsequently chased and hijacked, damaging it to scare Owen into revealing the identity of the Syrup's creator: Dr. John Elliotson.[18]
Jacob and Evie later visited Bell, who upgraded their bracers with a dart mechanism capable of firing hallucinogenic darts. The twins then provided assistance to the inventor by recovering cable lines stolen by the Blighters at the College Wharf harbor. In the process, they discovered that the Blighters were smuggling poison for Starrick and informed Bell of their findings.[19]
Jacob observing Elliotson's experiments
After informing Darwin of his latest exploits regarding his hunt for the Syrup's creator, Jacob infiltrated the Lambeth Asylum, where he discovered the doctors brutally experimenting on patients for medical purposes. Taking the place of a corpse Elliotson was planning to use in one of his operations, Jacob got close to his target and assassinated him. With his dying breath, Elliotson mocked the Assassin, calling him childish for not thinking of the consequences of his actions. Jacob subsequently escaped the asylum,[20] and proudly informed Evie of his accomplishment.[21]
A business proposition
Continuing their fight against Starrick and his control of the press, Jacob and Evie returned to Bell's laboratory where the latter told them of Starrick's efforts of bribery to coax the inventor to his side. Aware of the Blighters' plans to attack him, he invented voltaic bombs which could stun assailants and offered them to the twins along with insulators to protect them from harm. At that moment, the infuriated Blighters arrived; the Assassins took this as an opportunity to test the bombs and incapacitate the Blighters while Bell distracted them.[22]
Bell thanking Jacob and Evie for their help
Jacob and Evie further aided the inventor by driving him to the telegraph station, where they sought to prevent Starrick from spreading false information throughout London and show people the truth about his operations. While the twins incapacitated the guards using their newly acquired weapon, Bell destroyed Starrick's transmitters. Afterwards, the trio returned to Bell's laboratory to celebrate their victory, and the inventor thanked the Assassins for their help and for inspiring in him the courage to protect himself against future threats.[22]
After the documents recovered by Evie from the Kenway Mansion revealed that a clue to the Shroud of Eden's location was hidden in the Monument to the Great Fire of London, Jacob accompanied his sister there and mocked her about her growing feelings for Henry and their father's lessons regarding personal emotions. He then took his leave, promising to be in touch if he found "any more wild geese" for Evie to chase.[23]
With the production of Starrick's Soothing Syrup halted, Jacob set his sights on undermining Starrick's control over the transport industry. As such, he introduced himself to Starrick's fierce competitor, Pearl Attaway, to discuss a business proposition. After striking a partnership with Attaway, Jacob killed an employee of her rival company, the Millner Company. The pair then traveled to Millner's storage yard where Jacob destroyed their enemy's omnibuses, making Malcolm Millner's profits quickly plummet.[24]
Later, Jacob met Attaway again and entered her carriage, obviously disregarding her request for an appointment. The businesswoman gave him a job to secure internal combustion engines being delivered to Millner, and Jacob decided to enlist Ned Wynert's help to transport the engines. After freeing Ned from his police convoy following his arrest, Jacob climbed aboard the moving Blighters train and detached the car carrying the engines, allowing Ned to take them.[25]
Jacob toasting with Attaway
Attaway next tasked Jacob with killing Millner, who was on the River Thames with his ferry, the only business he had left. Jacob sabotaged the contraband on the boat to lure Millner outside where he assassinated him. Believing Jacob had been sent by Starrick, Millner unknowingly revealed to the Assassin that the Grand Master and Attaway were family before passing away. Deciding to investigate, Jacob followed Attaway to a meeting with Starrick, where he discovered that the two were cousins and that Attaway had only used him to eliminate her competition.[26]
Dismayed, Jacob resolved to eliminate Attaway now that he was aware of her Templar affiliations, and tracked her to Waterloo station. Locating his target inside a heavily fortified wagon, Jacob infiltrated it and assassinated Attaway, officially dissolving their partnership, before recovering the engines and escaping with the train.[27] He subsequently informed Evie of Attaway's assassination and left abruptly, not answering any of his sister's questions.[21]
The Bank of England heist
Jacob next targeted the Templars' financial field, kidnapping a banker to gather intel; the man, however, turned out to be a disguised Frederick Abberline, who informed the Assassin of a planned robbery of the Bank of England. As the information was confidential, Jacob talked him into revealing the supplier: the Cockham Merchants.[28]
Jacob about to assassinate Twopenny
Jacob later met with Abberline again to continue their investigation and located the shipment of smuggled weapons. He then proceeded to tail the delivery to its recipient, a Templar known as "Plutus", who turned out to be the Bank of England's Governor Philip Twopenny.[29] After relaying this information to Abberline, the sergeant reluctantly allowed Jacob to act and told him of possible ways to infiltrate the bank so that he could stop the ongoing robbery.[30]
Making his way to the bank's vault, Jacob hid behind a painting and assassinated Twopenny when the Templar came to investigate it. In his final moments, Twopenny tried to defend his actions, claiming that only the Templars knew how to properly make investments and push civilization forward, but Jacob disregarded his words and gave the dead man a coin in mockery of his beliefs. He then escaped the bank as Abberline and his men arrived and arrested Twopenny's accomplices.[30]
Protecting the Prime Minister
Desperate to regain control after losing most of his lieutenants, Starrick entered England's politics, plotting against Queen Victoria. As Jacob's latest exploits were to now meddle with the Parliament, Evie warned her brother of the consequences of his latest actions: the increase of fraud medicine, transportation and production problems, and the near collapse of the British economy, problems she mostly fixed. However, Jacob largely disregarded her.[31]
Jacob meeting the Disraelis
The Assassin proceeded to spy on Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli during a Sinopean Club meeting, before following the spy Herbert who walked away from the meeting. He tackled the man, assuming he was the Templar associate "B", but the spy told him he had been paid to merely follow the Prime Minister. Before he could reveal his employer's identity, the spy was shot and killed by a sniper. Jacob then chased the sniper, threatening to throw her off the roof to reveal information. The scared woman admitted that she did not know her employer's name, only giving a description of his appearance, but revealed that her associates were planning to attack the Prime Minister's carriage.[31]
Infiltrating Disraeli's carriage, Jacob pretended to be the Prime Minister's bodyguard. While Disraeli was immediately suspicious of the Assassin, his wife Mary Anne allowed Jacob to speak. However, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of gunshots outside, coming from the police and the attacking Blighters. Jacob defended the Disraelis and chased their hijacked carriage, securing the couple's safety. The Assassin then questioned Mary Anne about the Templar behind the assassination attempt and the woman agreed to help in exchange for a tour of the Devil's Acre.[32]
The following night, Jacob arrived at their meeting place, but Mary Anne canceled the tour due to scandal-seeking journalists. The Assassin, unable to hurt the journalists, distracted them instead and returned to Mary Anne's carriage. Escaping more journalists, the pair eventually arrived in Devil's Acre and avoided the Blighter thugs on patrol.[33]
Jacob retrieving Mary Anne from the Devil's Acre
They later settled to a tavern where Mary Anne's purse, containing her dog Desmond, was stolen. After recovering the dog, Jacob, realizing he had left Mary Anne unprotected, rushed back to the tavern, only to find the woman engaged in a meaningful conversation with a group of Blighters. Leaving the Devil's Acre, Jacob drove Mary Anne back home, whereupon she revealed that the Templar he sought was the Earl of Cardigan, who was currently working within the Palace of Westminster.[33]
Infiltrating the Palace, Jacob found that Cardigan was waiting to meet with a government minister in a heavily guarded room. After acquiring the password required to enter the room, "Balaclava", Jacob assassinated Cardigan, who spent his final moments calling him a coward and dramatically announcing his death, much to the Assassin's irritation. Jacob then escaped from the Palace, though unbeknownst to him, the Earl's assassination caused major turmoil among the citizens of London; another problem Evie had to fix for her brother.[34]
A dangerous alliance
- Jacob: "Why did you do it? All of it?"
- Roth: "What? Snap a baby crow's neck between my thumb and forefinger? Slice to bits the ones you deem "innocent"? Keep the world in its divine manic state? For the same reason I do anything—why not?"
- —Jacob and Roth in the latter's final moments, 1868.[src]-[m]
Jacob sharing a drink with Roth
Moving to his next target, Jacob accepted an invitation to dinner from Maxwell Roth, London's biggest criminal mastermind and leader of the Blighters. Once the Assassin arrived, Roth expressed his admiration for his accomplishments and offered him a partnership, which Jacob readily accepted. The pair then rode to St. Pancras station, where Jacob destroyed shipments of explosives belonging to Starrick before delivering the train and its driver to Roth.[35]
The Assassin and crimes boss continued their mission to overthrow Starrick's control over London with theft in mind. Roth explained his plan to kidnap the Grand Master's three henchmen Hattie Cadwallader, Benjamin Raffles, and Chester Swinebourne, a task which Jacob accomplished, delivering the trio to Roth's carriage.[36]
However, while Jacob enjoyed Roth's company, he was unwilling to go the same lengths as him to achieve their goal. When Roth intended to destroy one of Starrick's workshops, Jacob initially helped him set up the explosives around the building, but stopped when he discovered there were child workers inside. Refusing to harm innocent children, Jacob dissolved his partnership with Roth, but the enraged crime boss detonated the explosives in response, forcing Jacob to go into the burning building and save the children. He was then given a package from Roth, which contained an invitation to a show and the corpse of Roth's pet crow.[37]
Jacob about to assassinate Roth
Arriving at the Alhambra Music Hall that night, Jacob found that Roth had organized a masquerade party in his honor. Infiltrating the party, the Assassin tried to locate his target, but Roth was one step ahead of him and had placed several decoys. After Jacob eliminated them, Roth revealed himself and promptly set the theatre ablaze, intending to murder everyone inside. While Roth was relishing in the chaos he had created, Jacob climbed to the rafter above the stage and cut the rope holding a counterweight, entangling Roth in one end of the rope and dragging him up near the rafter.[38]
With his target immobilized, Jacob pulled Roth close and stabbed him with his Hidden Blade. As the crime boss bled out, Jacob questioned his motives for killing innocents, to which Roth simply replied that he did it because he could. He then surprised Jacob with an abrupt kiss, leaving the Assassin stunned and confused as Roth finally passed away. Following this, Jacob narrowly escaped from the flaming theater.[38]
During this time, Jacob and Evie led the Rooks to victory in their gang war against the Blighters, taking control of all of London's boroughs after eliminating the Blighters' Templar leaders: Bloody Nora,[39] Lilla Graves,[40] Victor Lynch,[41] Octavia Plumb,[42] Cletus Strain,[43] and Edith Swinebourne.[44]
Assassinating Crawford Starrick
Jacob and Evie arguing about their methods
Following his assassination of Roth, Jacob returned to the train hideout, where Evie scolded him for his disinterest in the Shroud and reckless planning. She then brought up their father, a sore topic for Jacob, and the siblings argued. Henry calmed them down and told them about a ball to be held in Buckingham Palace, where Starrick was planning to steal the Shroud and eliminate Britain's heads of church and state.[45]
Finding this a good opportunity to assassinate Starrick, Jacob and Evie joined forces in spite of their grievances with one another, and invited the Disraelis to their hideout. There, they expressed their need to enter the ball and revealed their plan to steal the invitations of Catherine and William Gladstone, much to the Disraelis' glad approval. Jacob then headed to the Gladstones' house to retrieve the invitations and eventually tracked Mrs. Gladstone and hijacked her carriage.[45]
Jacob giving Abberline a Royal Guard uniform
Learning that weaponry was not allowed at the ball, Jacob asked Frederick Abberline for help and the latter told him to acquire a Royal Guard uniform. The Assassin headed to St. Martin's Church, where he incapacitated a guard and stole his uniform before delivering it to Abberline, allowing the sergeant to smuggle the twins' weapons into the ball.[46]
The twins successfully infiltrated the ball using the Gladstones' carriage and invitations, whereupon they split up. Jacob met with Abberline for their smuggled weapons, but was informed that Starrick had disguised his own men with Royal Guard uniforms and placed them on the Buckingham Palace's rooftop. Using his Eagle Vision to tell the impostors apart from the real guards, Jacob eliminated Starrick's men before sending his sister a signal.[47]
However, Evie had lost her Precursor necklace to Starrick and told her brother to locate the Shroud's crypt. Jacob made his way to the vault, finding Starrick wearing the Shroud. However, he failed to attack the Templar; instead, Starrick choked him. Evie came to his rescue moments later, but the vault's activated defense mechanism sent Jacob sprawling to the floor. Upon recovering, Jacob rushed to his sister's aid, who was now the one within Starrick's grasp. After exchanging more blows with Starrick, the two of them were trapped.[47]
Jacob and Evie assassinating Starrick
Fortunately, Henry arrived, throwing a knife at Starrick, though he was knocked off his feet by the Grand Master. Jacob and Evie continued the fight and eventually managed to separate Starrick from the Shroud and assassinate him. With the Templar threat gone, the twins apologized for their respective mistakes; Jacob admitted that his reckless actions had brought chaos to London while Evie in turn apologized for treating him not too differently from their father, claiming that Ethan had underestimated Jacob's potential as an Assassin.[47]
As the siblings reconciled and decided to resume their partnership, Jacob returned the Shroud to its casing while Evie tended to the injured Henry and decided to embrace her feelings for him. Shortly thereafter, the three Assassins met with Queen Victoria, who was grateful to her saviors. She knighted them into her Order of the Sacred Garter and promised to call upon them for more work in the future. Jacob and Evie then raced off to their hideout, leaving Henry behind.[47]
Other activities in London
The Ghost Club
- Dickens: "[Londoners' superstitions] 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! Will you join us?"
- Jacob: "Sounds absolutely ridiculous! Why not."
- —Charles Dickens inviting Jacob and Evie to join the Ghost Club, 1868.[src]-[m]
At some point during their stay in London, Jacob and Evie met Charles Dickens in a tavern. After formally introducing themselves, Dickens asked the twins about their belief in the supernatural; while Jacob was skeptical, Evie responded in the affirmative, surprising her brother. Dickens then invited them to join his Ghost Club, which aimed to investigate supernatural occurrences around London and find logical explanations for them.[48]
Dickens inviting Jacob and Evie to join the Ghost Club
Despite finding the idea ridiculous, Jacob accepted at his sister's urging and the twins went to investigate their first case, that of Spring-heeled Jack. Searching around Lambeth, Jacob and Evie witnessed Jack attacking several civilians and chased him to his hideout, discovering that the supposed supernatural entity was just a deranged cultist. They then proceeded to kill him and his followers.[48]
The Frye twins later investigated a string of mysterious robberies, which they discovered were being committed by Enzio Capelli, a showman who hypnotized civilians into stealing for him. However, the siblings fell prey to Capelli's tricks themselves and were arrested for theft, but fortunately Dickens was able to pull a few strings to have them released.[49] Jacob and Evie eventually managed to track down Capelli again and captured him, delivering him to the police.[50]
The twins also investigated the supposed haunting of 50 Berkeley Square and learned that the house's owner, James Jasper, was to blame, having gone insane after murdering his nephew. As Jasper sought to keep people away from his home, he attacked Jacob and Evie, forcing them to kill him in self-defense.[51] In a junkyard, the siblings and Dickens investigated a broken carriage rumored to be haunted, but during the search, the Assassins suddenly began to feel tired and fell asleep. They then experienced a peculiar dream in which they prevented the kidnapping of a woman named Elizabeth, leaving them puzzled about the nature of the encounter.[52]
Jacob and Evie's final case involved the return of Spring-heeled Jack, whom they chased around Lambeth, but the demon was able to escape from them by seemingly teleporting and performing a Leap of Faith. Following this, the twins returned to Dickens, who thanked them for increasing the Ghost Club's reputation and proposed a toast to celebrate their success.[53]
Aiding Charles Darwin
Darwin requesting the twins' help
Sometime following his assassination of John Elliotson, Jacob introduced his sister to Charles Darwin, whereupon the scientist enlisted the Assassins' help with escorting his colleague Dr. Schwartz, who was to deliver an important fossil. Jacob and Evie went to pick up Schwartz from the Charing Cross station, only to discover that he was an impostor intent on killing Darwin. The Assassins subsequently eliminated the impostor and recovered the fossil, delivering it to Darwin.[54]
Later, Darwin informed the twins of a toxic plant in one of Westminster's parks that was making people delirious, and asked them to look into the matter. Their investigation revealed the source of the hallucinogenic pollen to be a flower carriage belonging to the Templars, which they proceeded to hijack. After cryptically telling Darwin about the nature of their conflict with the Templars, Jacob and Evie destroyed the carriage using explosives.[55]
When they met with Darwin again, the scientist asked Jacob and Evie to fetch him a newspaper, only for the Assassins to witness the vendor being attacked by a thug after refusing to display a leaflet criticizing Darwin's work. Following a lengthy chase, the twins caught up to the thug and saved him from an oncoming train. The man then informed them about a defamation campaign against Darwin,[56] prompting Jacob and Evie to tear down several caricature posters of the scientist hanged by the Blighters around the city.[57]
The twins with Darwin and Florence Nightingale
After the Assassins destroyed the printing shop behind the propaganda campaign,[57] the Templars retaliated by kidnapping Darwin. Informed by Florence Nightingale of the incident, Jacob and Evie captured the corrupt policeman who had "arrested" Darwin and brought him to Nightingale, who interrogated him for Darwin's whereabouts. The twins subsequently rescued the scientist from the Templar base where he was being held captive, whereupon Darwin thanked them for their help and left with Nightingale to recover from his injuries.[58]
Sometime later, Jacob and Evie helped Darwin recover a rare orchid stolen by the Blighters,[59] and agreed to act as the escorts to John Hammon, a mutual friend of Darwin and Charles Dickens. After protecting him from a group of Blighters who attempted to rob him, Hammon devised a plan to test the sincerity of his fiancée, Bella Wilton, and enlisted the Assassins' help to fake his death.[60]
After assessing Bella's character, Hammon decided that he wanted to marry her and again asked for Jacob and Evie's help, this time to play the role of ruffians who would kidnap Bella, allowing Hammon to "rescue" her. The plan was successful and, after Hammon defeated Jacob and Evie in a staged fight and departed with Bella, the twins went to report the entire ordeal to Darwin and Dickens, much to their amusement.[61]
Assisting Karl Marx
Jacob and Evie meeting Karl Marx
During their time in London, Jacob and Evie also made the acquaintance of Karl Marx. Aware of their efforts in aiding the city's populace, Marx congratulated them for their work but noted that they had not focused enough on the working class, whom he felt really needed their help. In response, Evie readily accepted to assist Marx in his endeavors while Jacob did so more hesitantly.[62]
Their first mission for Marx involved the twins taking out spies of the London police, to allow Marx to discreetly contact his allies and give them the time and place of their next meeting. After discovering that one of his allies, Simon, had betrayed him, Marx asked the Assassins to deliver the traitor to him, whereupon he scolded him and let him go.[62]
Later, Marx requested that Jacob and Evie infiltrate a factory he suspected of abusing its workforce, in order to acquire evidence against it. After setting several bales of cotton on fire, the Assassins were able to slip into the factory's office in the resulting confusion and steal the documents Marx required.[63] Following this, Marx asked the twins to prevent his friend Frank Morris from blowing up the Palace of Westminster with explosives stolen from the Templars. Jacob and Evie were able to protect Morris from the vengeful Templars, but failed to prevent them from stealing back the explosives shipment.[64]
After Morris tracked down the shipment, the twins hid themselves inside the carriage, bringing them to the Templars' hideout. There, they detonated most of the explosives to prevent the Templars from using them, but Morris, who had followed the carriage, attempted to steal some for himself, resulting in his death when a Templar shot the explosives in his hands.[65]
Marx meeting with the twins again
During a rally where Marx gave a speech on reforms, Jacob and Evie sought to keep the event peaceful by removing suspicious individuals who would attempt to stir up violence. Despite their efforts, the rally nonetheless descended into violence when a group of Blighters appeared and tried to kill Marx, though they were foiled by the twins.[66]
In the aftermath, Marx, grateful for Jacob and Evie's services, asked them to join the Worker's Party. Both siblings declined, Jacob claiming he was not interested in politics and Evie referencing other responsibilities. The philosopher then suggested he give them honorary memberships instead, but the pair again refused, with Jacob pointing out that Marx did not give up easily. To this, Marx good-naturedly replied that they appeared to have that in common, following which he bid the twins goodbye.[66]
Foiling the Templar terrorists
- Jacob: "Your Majesty. We will always work to ensure the safety of the people."
- Evie: "But with the greatest respect, our philosophy forbids us from assisting with the expansion of the Empire. Perhaps, ma'am, you could consider putting an end to your imperialist desires?"
- —Jacob and Evie ending their association with Queen Victoria, 1868.[src]-[m]
The Templar ship smuggling explosives
After saving Queen Victoria from Starrick's assassination plot, Jacob and Evie met the Queen at Buckingham Palace, where she informed them of an upstart Templar faction plotting to seize control of London. The twins agreed to investigate this plot and met with Alfred Fleming, the head of the Queen's secret service, who told them about a Templar ship attempting to smuggle explosives into the city. With the help of the Rooks, Jacob and Evie organized an ambush at the harbor, eliminated the Templars and captured their leader while Fleming secured the explosives.[67]
When Fleming proved unsuccessful in interrogating the Templar leader, Queen Victoria sent Jacob and Evie to help. After beating the Templar, he confessed that his accomplices had rigged a train with explosives, which they planned to detonate and kill everyone aboard. Rushing to the train's location, the Assassins managed to board it and detach the locomotive from the rest of the train, allowing the bomb to detonate without harming any civilians.[68]
Later, the Templar leader managed to escape custody and went to meet with his remaining accomplices. Jacob and Evie followed him and hijacked a carriage containing explosives, but the Templars ignited the dynamite, forcing the twins to drive the carriage to a safe area before it exploded.[69] Shortly after, the Templars infiltrated the Palace of Westminster, placing explosives and taking Prime Minister Disraeli hostage. The Assassins intervened, saving Disraeli and disarming the bombs.[70]
Queen Victoria thanking the twins for their services
With the Templar threat foiled, Queen Victoria met Jacob and Evie to personally thank them for their services and expressed her hope that they would continue to assist her in strengthening the British Empire. However, the twins politely stated that their Creed forbade them from aiding in the Empire's expansion, with Evie suggesting that the Queen put an end to her imperialist beliefs. Victoria understood and respected their position, and provided them with rewards for their deeds before bidding them farewell.[70]
Train hideout hijinks
Following Evie's recruitment of Nigel Bumble to the Rooks,[71] the young man, wishing to show his gratitude, stole a gatling gun from the Blighters, which he subsequently installed on the train hideout. While showing it off to Jacob, the train came under attack by the vengeful Blighters, prompting the Assassin to use the newly-acquired weapon against them. Although Jacob and Nigel eventually managed to lose their assailants, the gatling gun overheated, forcing the pair to abandon it.[72]
Jacob asking around for Bob's whereabouts
Sometime later, Jacob was asked by the train's driver to look for his apprentice, Bob, who had gone missing after heading out to drink. After a long search, Jacob eventually found Bob in an alley, surrounded by a group of Blighters who planned to kill him. The Assassin protected him, but Bob's leg had been injured, requiring Jacob to carry him to safety while avoiding more Blighters, one of whom managed to stab Bob. After returning to the train hideout, the Assassin left the wounded Bob in the care of Agnes MacBean.[73]
New allies and discoveries
- Evie: "This is... my God, this is Michel Reuge's vault."
- Jacob: "Gasp! Michel Reuge's vault? It can't be!"
- Evie: "You have no idea who that is, do you?"
- —Jacob and Evie finding Michel Reuge's vault, 1868.[src]
At some point, Jacob and his sister encountered Robert Topping, a bookie whom Evie had first met while infiltrating David Brewster's laboratory in Croydon, though she pretended not to recognize him. Topping told the twins about his role in organizing underground prize-fighting and street racing rings and invited them to partake in some of the events. After the Assassins won a number of fights and races across London, Topping congratulated them and once again asked Evie if she did not remember him from "that night at the laboratory." Jacob proceeded to mock his sister about the implications, though she quickly assured him that it was not what he thought.[74]
Jacob and Evie meeting Ned at Waterloo station
The twins also met Ned Wynert at Waterloo station, where the businessman informed them of Blighter cargo shipments throughout London. Jacob and Evie proceeded to hijack a number of these shipments, sabotaging the Blighters' operations and benefitting Ned's in the process. As their ties strengthened, Ned gifted the Assassins various precious materials and schematics for weaponry to show his gratitude.[74]
While exploring the City of London, Jacob and Evie stumbled upon an underground vault built by Michel Reuge. While Evie instantly recognized the vault from her studies, Jacob had no idea who Michel Reuge was, prompting his sister to explain that Reuge was an Assassin who had allegedly found a treasure near Bath and hid it away after it drove him insane.[74]
The twins proceeded to search for the music boxes scattered by Reuge across London, which contained the keys to his vault. After finding all the keys, Jacob and Evie unlocked the vault, discovering Reuge's treasure to be the Aegis, a set of advanced armor supposedly worn by Minerva. Evie claimed the Aegis for herself while Jacob jokingly asked if there was a second suit hidden behind it, as the Aegis was too tight for him, to which Evie responded that he'd "look a right tit in it".[74]
The Dreadful Crimes
- Artie: "I'm glad I survived Mr. Raymond's insanity, but sadly he won't be here anymore to write more books! [...] Me and my friends waited every week to read the next number and find out what happened next!"
- Jacob: "Why don't you write some yourself."
- Artie: "A fellow would have to very clever indeed!"
- —Jacob encouraging Artie to try out writing, 1868.[src]-[m]
While exploring Whitechapel, Jacob and Evie happened upon a murder scene and met Henry Raymond, a penny dreadful journalist, and his follower, Arthur "Artie" Conan Doyle. At their suggestion, the Assassins decided to investigate the crime scene and were able to identify the killer: a worker by the name of Tom Coulton, who had murdered his foreman, John Wilkins, and attempted to frame a child worker named Dooley for the crime.[75]
Jacob and Artie at a crime scene
Following this successful investigation, the Frye twins agreed to investigate more murders around the city, allowing Raymond to adapt them into penny dreadfuls. Together, Jacob and Evie were able to solve the killing of a young woman by her lover with a split personality,[76] the shooting of a retired colonel,[77] the disappearance of a police detective,[78] the apparent double death of a renowned professor,[79] a music critic's asphyxiation,[80] the murder of a hated businessman,[81] the killing of a wealthy industrialist during a train ride,[82] and the murder of a spiritualist by a former client.[83]
As their reputation as detectives increased, Jacob and Evie were eventually summoned by Queen Victoria to Buckingham Palace to solve the apparent murder of one of her guards. At the same time, Artie conducted his own investigation, believing all the crimes solved by the Frye twins to be related. Following the clues left behind by Artie, Jacob and Evie discovered that Raymond was really a criminal mastermind plotting to bomb the Palace, and proceeded to have it evacuated.[84]
However, upon closer analysis of all the clues, the Assassins realized that the bomb threat was fake and a distraction for Raymond, who had posed as the murdered guard, to steal the Scepter of the Dove. As Raymond took Artie hostage on the Palace's rooftop, one of the Frye siblings confronted him while the other assassinated him from behind, saving Artie. Afterwards, Jacob suggested that Artie use everything he had learned to start writing crime novels, with Evie adding that he should use his full name.[84]
Aiding Duleep Singh
- "The Assassin way is not my way, as helpful as you have been. This Empire, this land, my people... The problem is so much bigger than death. I know I must devote my life to this cause, to put India, my home, back onto the map, return it to its people. It's a long and gruelling journey, but it is something I must do. Even if it takes me to my own death."
- ―Duleep Singh to Jacob and Evie prior to parting ways with them, 1868.[src]-[m]
Jacob and Evie meeting with Duleep Singh
During a visit to Buckingham Palace, Jacob and Evie witnessed a conversation between Henry and his great-uncle Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. As Henry was unable to convince Singh to try and reclaim his birthright as Maharaja, he turned to the twins for help. At Singh's request, Jacob and Evie engaged in a shooting competition against the Maharaja, but during the contest, an unknown shot was fired, nearly hitting Singh.[85]
After looking around for clues, the Assassins located and eliminated the shooter, finding a Templar ring in his pocket, as well as a clothing patch of the British Indies Company (B.I.C.). Concluding that the Templars and the Company were working together to try and eliminate Singh, the twins reported their findings to Henry, who told them to meet him back at his shop.[85] There, the Assassins decided that, in order to convince Singh to take action, they would intercept a Templar convoy carrying all of the Maharaja's correspondence to his mother, which the B.I.C. had intercepted.[86]
With Henry and the Rooks' help, Jacob and Evie ambushed the convoy and recovered part of the confiscated letters. The twins then headed to a train carrying the remaining letters and managed to retrieve them, before returning to Henry's shop, where they found the Assassin engaged in conversation with Singh. After presenting the letters to the Maharaja, he realized the B.I.C.'s deception and decided to fight back against the company with the Assassins' help.[86]
After Evie and Singh rescued a B.I.C. accountant from the Bank of England, he informed them of the location of stolen Punjabi gold.[87] The twins and Singh subsequently infiltrated the warehouse where the gold was being held and retrieved it, before boarding a carriage and escaping from the Templars pursuing them.[88] Following this, Singh decided to send the gold back to his homeland via ship, and Jacob and Evie protected the ship and its cargo as they came under attack from the Templars.[89]
Later, Henry came up with a plan to further sabotage the B.I.C. and asked the twins and Singh to meet him at the Southwark train station. However, just prior to their arrival, the Assassins' train hideout came under attack by the Templars, forcing the group to defend it. During the fight, the Templars managed to steal the train, but Jacob and Evie eventually reclaimed control of it.[90]
Jacob and Evie talking to Singh
Subsequently, Singh devised a plan to steal the Koh-i-Noor diamond and Jacob volunteered to "interrogate" Cornelius Toti-Button, a friend of the Royal Jeweller, for the location of the diamond. Knowing Cornelius to be frequenting a pub called The George, Jacob approached the man and challenged him to a drinking contest, after which the pair left the tavern and engaged in a shooting competition. After a visit to another tavern and an altercation with several Blighters, Jacob escorted Cornelius home before falling asleep in a haystack, where he woke up the next morning with no recollection of the night's events.[91]
Retracing his steps, Jacob eventually found Cornelius sleeping in a tree and, after giving him a rough awakening, learned that the Koh-i-Noor was kept at the Tower of London.[91] Jacob and Singh subsequently attended a gala held there, during which the former snuck away to search for the diamond. After learning that the Templars had already taken the Koh-i-Noor and secretly planted it on Singh, intending to frame him for theft, Jacob pickpocketed the diamond from the Maharaja and delivered it to Evie, who was waiting for him on the Tower's rooftop.[92]
Returning to Henry's shop, the Assassin examined the Koh-i-Noor and shattered it with a hammer, revealing that the diamond the Frye twins had stolen was a replica. He then explained that the real Koh-i-Noor had never left India,[92] his father Arbaaz having made sure of it,[93] and reconciled with Singh as the two decided to work together to secure India's future.[92] Following this, Henry left to investigate an abandoned foundry that had been recently taken over by the B.I.C. and reported his findings to Jacob and Evie.[94]
As the twins decided to investigate the foundry themselves, they found that it was being used by the B.I.C. and the Templars to produce sleeping gas, which they planned to ship to India. The Assassins subsequently destroyed the shipment and were confronted by Brinley Ellsworth, a B.I.C. official and childhood friend of Singh, who revealed that he was responsible for all the recent attacks against the Maharaja. As Ellsworth made his escape, Jacob and Evie returned to the train hideout to report their findings to Henry and Singh.[94]
Deciding to confront his former friend, Singh and Jacob attacked a group of Blighters and, upon their defeat, the Maharaja told them to send Ellsworth a message that he wanted to meet him in the Lambeth Cemetery that night. Afterwards, Jacob talked with Evie about Singh's intentions and the latter decided that she would protect the Maharaja during the meeting, allowing Jacob to take the night off and go for a drink.[95]
In the end, Evie was able to save Singh when Ellsworth attempted to kill him, but spared the Templar's life at the Maharaja's request. Meeting aboard the train hideout sometime later, Singh thanked both Jacob and Evie for their help and parted ways with them as he decided to continue his quest to reclaim his birthright alone.[95]
Rebuilding the London Brotherhood
- "I saw a brave girl today... She did not hesitate to defend one of her 'sisters' working Dorset Street, racing up, screaming like a madwoman, and grabbing away the cane of a brutal client ... I offered to buy them both a glass of gin, but Nellie refused. So I bought us all some dinner at the Frying Pan and Nellie and I have been friends ever since."
- ―Jacob writing about his meeting with Nellie, 1888.[src]-[m]
After liberating London from the Templars' control, Jacob and Evie would eventually go their separate ways, as Evie married Henry and moved with him to India while Jacob remained in London to continue leading the Rooks and reinforce the Brotherhood with new apprentices.[96] He also had at least one child, who was also initiated into the Assassin Order.[97] Under Jacob's leadership, the London Brotherhood and the city's citizens enjoyed a period of peace for nearly two decades.[96]
A photo of Jacob, Jack, Henry and Evie in India
One of Jacob's initiates was a young boy from the Lambeth Asylum nicknamed "Jack the Lad", whom the Assassin took a particular liking to, treating him as his own son. Around 1873, Jacob and his initiates, including Jack, traveled to India to learn the fear tactics of the Indian Assassins and Jacob was reunited with his sister and Henry in the process.[98]
In March 1888, Jacob became acquainted with a prostitute named Nellie when he witnessed her come to the defense of one of her 'sisters' on Dorset Street. Impressed, he offered to buy the two of them a drink, but Nellie refused, leading Jacob to get all three of them dinner at the Frying Pan pub instead. Since then, Jacob and Nellie became good friends.[99]
Autumn of Terror
In 1888, Jacob came to blows with his apprentice Jack, who had developed an extremist view of the Assassins' mission and his own warped variant of the Creed. He eventually lost control of the Rooks to Jack, who intended to use the gang to further his goals. In retaliation, Jacob sent a few of his female initiates after Jack, disguised as prostitutes. His efforts proved to be in vain, however, with Jack brutally eliminating all opposition sent his way. This marked the beginning of the Whitechapel murders, otherwise known as the Autumn of Terror.[96]
On the night of 30 September 1888, Jacob approached the journalist Arthur Weaversbrook, who had been publishing Jack's letters for the public to read. He demanded that Weaversbrook discontinue the publishing of the letters and berated him for turning Jack into a legend.[96]
Jacob defeated by Jack
After his conversation with Weaversbrook, Jacob caught wind of a peering Jack nearby and rushed to his Whitechapel lodgings. Midway, a fight broke out in a cemetery, where Jack injured Jacob and gained the upper hand. Jacob continued to flee and escaped to his lodgings via horse-drawn carriage. There, an injured Jacob was ambushed and overpowered in combat,[96] resulting in him being kidnapped by Jack and locked away in a cell beneath the Lambeth Asylum.[100]
Prior to his abduction, Jacob had requested the return of his sister. Honoring the request, Evie began searching for him and investigated the murder scenes of Jack's many victims. Jacob was eventually located by his sister, barely alive and in a semi-conscious state. After killing Jack and his accomplices, Evie went to help her brother and, with the aid of Inspector Frederick Abberline, obscured the Ripper's identity to prevent the Brotherhood potentially being compromised.[100]
Later life
In 1893, Jacob's granddaughter Lydia was born. With Lydia's parents often away on the continent performing missions for the Brotherhood, responsibility for Lydia's training fell to her grandfather and grand-aunt. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Jacob and Evie were removed to the safety of the countryside, while Lydia remained in London to protect the city from German spies and Templar agents.[97]
Legacy
Jacob's actions, alongside Evie's, led to the reconstruction of the British Assassins' presence in London after over a century of Templar control, as well as the severe weakening of the British Templars with the death of their Grand Master, Crawford Starrick.[74] Although this period of prosperity for the Brotherhood nearly came to an end two decades later when Jacob's apprentice Jack went rogue and started the Whitechapel murders, Evie was able to eliminate Jack before his actions compromised the Assassins.[100]
At some point prior to 2015, a sample of Jacob's DNA was retrieved by Abstergo Industries. The company had it analyzed to ascertain the location of the Shroud of Eden that Jacob had come in contact with, as they intended to use it in the Phoenix Project. Around the same time, the Templar Isabelle Ardant included Jacob's name on a list of known British Assassins. This list was later unveiled by the Assassins Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings when they infiltrated Ardant's office to plant a bug. After Rebecca and Shaun extracted Jacob and his sister's DNA from Abstergo's archives, Bishop tasked an Assassin initiate with reliving the twins' memories in the Helix to find the Shroud before Abstergo.[101]
By 2016, Abstergo had recovered Jacob's cane-sword and displayed it in their Madrid facility.[102] Two years later, the Assassin Layla Hassan made mention of Jacob and Evie while she was in London.[103]
Personality and traits
- "I'm no criminal. I just do as I please."
- ―Jacob Frye[104]
Jacob was an impulsive, reckless and rebellious individual with a quick wit and an aggressive demeanor. While he was brought up as an Assassin, Jacob grew up under a strict lifestyle that restricted his active behavior. As a result, he resented his father's teachings, and usually lost his composure when Evie brought their deceased father into their arguments. Jacob also appeared to struggle with feelings of inferiority as a result of Ethan's preferential treatment of Evie, and was eager to prove his potential as an Assassin.[74]
Jacob mocking Evie over their father's lessons
Unlike his sister, Jacob did not appear to be a fervent believer in the Creed's tenets, preferring action over philosophical thoughts and a good fight over discretion. As such, he was easily dismissive of the Pieces of Eden, preferring to focus on his targets. Coupled with his reckless behavior, Jacob remained oblivious to the chaos created by his actions. Assassinating Starrick's Templar associates created as much harm as good, and when these consequences were brought up by Evie, Jacob simply dismissed them. Instead, he justified his actions by claiming he was doing something proactive in toppling Starrick's empire, unlike Evie, who was obsessed with finding the Shroud of Eden.[74]
However, complementing his impulsive and reckless behavior, Jacob was very good at thinking on his feet, part of the reason he survived his own recklessness. As a gang leader, he proved to be a capable criminal strategist and organizer. He could also be persuasive with some people, such as appealing to Frederick Abberline's professional pride in exchange for information.[74]
While "having fun" was very important to Jacob, he was not above altruistic acts and fighting for the disenfranchised. Furthermore, he had no desire to harm innocent civilians, cutting off all ties with Maxwell Roth for doing so. Upon seeing how dangerous Roth's anarchism was, Jacob finally realized the flaws in his own idea of freedom. As such, he developed a better understanding of the Creed's tenets, and acknowledged that his father and sister had been right about his recklessness all along.[74]
Jacob possessed a sense of humor that ranged from lighthearted to morbid. After killing the stingy Philip Twopenny, he placed a coin in his target's hand "for the path of the dead." Similarly, after the Earl of Cardigan's assassination, Jacob was visibly annoyed by his target's long speech and called him a "prick". That being said, Jacob was not completely unserious and disliked having to kill people who had once been his close allies, as was the case with both Pearl Attaway and Maxwell Roth.[74]
Jacob confronted by Jack
By his early 40s, Jacob appeared to have matured greatly compared to his younger self, taking up responsibilities as the Mentor of several Assassin apprentices. When one of his pupils, Jack, went rogue, Jacob felt partially responsible and tried to stop him, but all his attempts ended with the brutal deaths of the Assassins sent after Jack, likely causing Jacob to feel even more guilty. When confronted by Jack, Jacob could not bring himself to kill his former apprentice and held back during their fight, leading to his defeat and capture.[96]
Skills and equipment
- "Leave the sneaking and spying to my sister. Toss me my brass knuckles and point me to a good brawl."
- ―Jacob Frye[104]
Having been trained in the Brotherhood's ways from a young age by his father Ethan, Jacob was a Master Assassin adept at both stealth and combat. Despite his preference for the latter, he proved efficient in the use of the Hidden Blade as he could eliminate his targets with great skill. He was also skilled in eavesdropping, pickpocketing, and lockpicking.[74]
Jacob was a talented freerunner, able to scale the tall buildings of London as well as climb natural elements – including trees – with relative ease. Quick and athletic, he was able to instantly transverse over and under several obstacles as well as moving terrains. Additionally, he proved to be a capable swimmer.[74]
Jacob fighting a group of Blighters on a moving train
An experienced brawler, Jacob was proficient in hand-to-hand combat, able to engage multiple opponents simultaneously with minimal effort,[74] and often used his favored weapon[104] of brass knuckles paired with firearms to employ more brutal take-downs. Due to the era's restriction on open weaponry, Jacob carried an arsenal of hidden tools including his dual Hidden Blades, one of which was equipped with a rope launcher; a versatile tool that he could utilize to access and scale areas quickly, as well as create ziplines.[74]
Accompanying this, Jacob's Hidden Blade was equipped with a mechanism that fired hallucinogenic darts; firing a dart into an open flame would result in a poisonous gas cloud, allowing Jacob to eliminate multiple enemies from a distance. Other weapons in his possession included a kukri blade, a cane-sword, a six-shot revolver and throwing knives.[74]
Additionally, Jacob possessed the rare ability of Eagle Vision. Like his sister, it allowed him to see through walls and tag enemies.[74]
Behind the scenes
Jacob Frye is a fictional character introduced as one of the two protagonists of the 2015 video game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, where he was portrayed by Welsh actor Paul Amos.
- Name
Jacob's name is of Biblical origin, with the meaning being either 'he who grasps the heel' or 'supplanter'. Frye is a derivative of the English word 'free'.
- Sexuality
Jeffrey Yohalem, the Lead Writer on Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, indicated that the team explicitly avoided giving Jacob a female love interest during the main storyline. He also hinted at the idea that Jacob needed to "figure himself out to some degree" after his partnership with Maxwell Roth.[105] This led to speculation regarding Jacob's sexuality, with the official Assassin's Creed Tumblr later confirming that the character was canonically bisexual.[106]
- Appearance
Jacob's height is somewhere in between 1.68m (5'6") and 1.70m (5'7") according to the Charing Cross Edition, which has a wanted poster of Jacob on it that lists several of his characteristics, though the information on it may be inaccurate. Another defining feature are his facial scars, including one over his right eyebrow and another on the left side of his jaw cutting through his beard. Jacob is also known to have a tattoo of a stylized Peregrine falcon over his left pectoral and another featuring a simple cross surrounded by diamonds on his left upper arm.
In his youth in 1868, Jacob wears a shilling around his neck and possesses additional headwear other than the traditional beaked Assassin hood, being able to wear a cap or top hat. Assassin's Creed: Underworld reveals that Jacob's top hat is collapsible, so he tucks it inside his robes when not in use. Twenty years later, in Jack the Ripper, Jacob lacks the hat as well as the shilling around his neck, and his robes seem to be a combination of his Master Assassin Outfit and the Maximum Dracula Outfit. At the beginning of the DLC, he is also seen wearing the Legendary Assassin Gauntlet.
- Other
Given that Jacob's granddaughter Lydia Frye shares his and Evie's last name, this could imply that Jacob had a son as patrilineality is a common practice in the United Kingdom.
Like their predecessors, the Levantine Assassins, Jacob and Evie dipped an object in their targets' blood following their death, though the twins used a handkerchief rather than a feather. This is suggested to be a common habit among the British Brotherhood of the time.
Jacob's Eagle Vision functions similarly to the Eagle Vision that the Assassins Edward Kenway, Adéwalé and Aveline de Grandpré and the Templar Shay Cormac possessed, enabling him to tag targets.
Like Evie, his name will be randomly generated in the video game Far Cry 5 as a "gun for hire".
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Underworld
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Locus (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: The Official Collection
- Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
- Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game
References
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