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This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all.

This template should be removed from the article 6 May 2024.

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The title of this article is conjecture. Although the subject of this article is canon, no official name for it has been given.

The Japanese Rite of the Templar Order is the Rite of the Templar Order based in Japan, in operation since the Sengoku period.

History[]

Sengoku period[]

"These converts are our foothold in this country."
―Alessandro Valignano[src]-[m]

During the first half of the 16th century, the Templars had suffered numerous defeats at the hands of the Assassins in Europe. Around 1549, the Spanish Templar Francis Xavier set his sights on Japan, seeing an opportunity to spread both Christianity and Templar influence on the island.[1]

Another Templar, the Portuguese Jesuit missionary Gaspar Vilela, would later continue Xavier's mission of spreading the Templar ideology through the Christian mission. In 1558, Vilela's right-hand man, João Machado, departed from Owari Province with a Piece of Eden as well as a supply of arquebuses sought after by Owari's daimyo, Oda Nobunaga,[2] who had formed an alliance with the newly-established Japanese Assassins.[1] The Brotherhood sent Mochizuki Chiyome and Akira to retrieve Machado's cargo, resulting in the Templar's death and the loss of their Piece of Eden.[2]

The Templars' attempts to find new recruits were frequently hindered by the constant wars between clans, as well as their hostility toward outsiders. The Templars were also heavily opposed by the Japanese Assassins, who worked to prevent the spread of their influence in Japan and recruited individuals from the ranks of the ninja and samurai, such as Hattori Hanzō and Yamauchi Taka. The Assassins supported Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the many warlords of the period, who similarly opposed the Templars' influence and, as such, tasked his former squire Chaya Shirōjirō Kiyonobu with reporting any Templar activity in the land.[1]

Despite the opposition they faced, the Templars eventually managed to recruit, among others, Uesugi Kenshin, head of the Uesugi clan. Kenshin fought various battles with his rival Takeda Shingen, the owner of a Sword of Eden. Their rivalry ended when Shingen was assassinated in 1573 by the Tokugawa and the Assassins, and Kenshin himself was killed by the Assassin Hattori Hanzō in 1578.[1]

ACM Alessandro Valignano

Alessandro Valignano

Meanwhile, Alessandro Valignano, an Italian Jesuit missionary and a member of the Roman Rite, was sent to aid fellow missionary Francisco Cabral, who was already doing missionary work in Japan. However, the two men despised one another almost instantly. Valignano used his Jesuit connections to scour Japan for Templar recruits, and upon Francisco Cabral confronting Valignano regarding this, Alessandro used his influence to force Cabral to resign from his post as Superior of the Jesuit Mission.[1]

By the 1590s, the Templars had managed to recruit the kunoichi Mochizuki Chiyome,[1] a noblewoman and former Assassin[2] who had created an all-female group of ninja agents in her service as the spymaster of her uncle-in-law, Takeda Shingen. Through Chiyome, the Templars gained a vast information network that helped spread their philosophy throughout Japan. However, Chiyome was eventually assassinated by Hanzō after he tracked her down to her residence in Shinano,[3] shortly before his own death in 1596 at the hand of Fūma Kotarō.[1]

Edo period[]

After the land was united under the rule of Tokugawa Ieyasu, an ally of the Assassins, in 1600, the Japanese Templars would subsequently fade into obscurity.[4] However, some Templars continued to operate in secrecy as part of the wealthy Shimazu clan under Tokugawa rule.[5]

Search for Angkor[]

ACFT - Shimazu Clan

Shimazu Saito with her ninja followers

In the early 18th century, Shimazu Saito, an illegitimate daughter of the Shimazu clan's leader, was brought to Japan following her father's death to be trained in the clan's ways. After becoming an efficient assassin for the clan, Saito was inducted into the Templar Order and was sent, alongside her subordinates, to search for the lost Khmer city of Angkor, believed by the Templars to be an Isu site. In exchange for retrieving the lost city's treasure, Saito was promised that she and her men, all of whom were of mixed heritage and thus looked down upon by the clan's Japanese members, would become full-fledged members of the clan.[6]

In February 1725, Saito and her followers, including a faction of Japanese ninja led by Fuma Sukuna, arrived in the Portuguese colony of Macau to search for clues to Angkor's location. While attempting to silence those who knew about the lost city's existence in order to maintain its secrecy, Saito and her men clashed several times with the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who was also on Angkor's trail.[7][8][9]

Around this time, the Templars began influencing the power struggle in Macau between its various merchants and trade companies, aiding the businessmen Sun of the Hualien Trading Company, Alan Jacob of the Far East Company, and Jan van Aert of the Dutch East India Company with their plans to sabotage their mutual rival, Lee Huiyin.[10] However, most of these schemes were thwarted by Kenway.[11][12] Saito later ended up striking an alliance with Sun, who offered his protection to the Templar and her subordinates in exchange for a sea log she had stolen from Kenway, which contained informaton on Angkor's location.[13]

ACFT - Edward and Saito fighting ninja

Shimazu Saito and Edward Kenway working together to fight Fuma Sukuna's ninja

In time, tensions between Saito's mixed blood followers and the Japanese ninja in her service grew, eventually resulting in the latter abandoning Saito and branding her a traitor to the Shimazu clan.[14] During the subsequent civil war between the two ninja factions, Fuma Sukuna enlisted Kenway's help to assassiante Saito aboard Sun's floating gambling hall.[15] However, the Assassin ended up striking an alliance with Saito instead, and together they attempted to recover the sea log from Sun, fighting against both Sukuna's ninja and members of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins, who also sought the log.[13]

Ultimately, Saito and Kenway lost the log to the Chinese Assassins, who killed Sun[16] and later joined forces with Lee Huiyin and Sukuna to find Angkor. The conflict also resulted in the deaths of all of Saito's remaining followers, prompting Kenway to recruit Saito into his organization, the Zhang Wei Union, whereupon she worked alongside them to search for Angkor and its treasure.[17]

Boshin War[]

By 1868, the Japanese Templars had fallen into oblivion after more than two centuries of Tokugawa rule under the watchful eye of the Assassins. The British Templars tasked their agent William Lloyd, to use his position and influence as right-hand man to Harry Parkes, the British consul to Japan, to bring an end to the Tokugawa shogunate. The Templars believed that with the restoration of a strong Imperial power in Japan, their ideology would once again spread on the island.[4]

Eventually, Lloyd's mission was successful, as the political landscape was so deteriorated that the young Emperor Meiji and his allies took up arms against Tokugawa Yoshinobu and the shogunate of Edo. Despite his failure to recover the Musashi Masamune and his death during the Battle of Aizu, Lloyd's mission was a success as the Tokugawa shogunate was ended and the Assassins were defeated. Furthermore, the Imperial Court became the undisputed rulers of Japan and this allowed the Templars to spread their influence across the country.[4]

Modern times[]

By 2012, Abstergo Industries, the primary public front of the modern-day Templar Order, had facilities located in Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama and Kobe.[18] In September of that year, Abstergo agents pursued an Assassin cell located in Osaka, forcing the Assassins to cut contact with the other cells in order to lose them.[19]

In December 2013, the Abstergo facility in Osaka was infiltrated by the Assassins, who, by then, had taken over a yakuza faction known as the Onmoraki-Gumi. The Assassins managed to steal a new type of Animus headset, which they later gave to the Assassin team led by Gavin Banks.[20]

Search for the Precursor box[]

ACBoSJ Yokohama Facility 2

Kaori Kagami and an Abstergo colleague

By 2019, the Templar Kaori Kagami was employed in the Abstergo facility in Yokohama, where the doctor worked to unlock the secrets of Shao Jun's genetic memories by using her descendant, a teenager named Kō Risa, as an Animus test subject.[21] At first, she manipulated the young lady by reassuring her that these sessions would help her control her outbursts and mental health but gave no concern of the Animus' effects on her patient.[22] With correspondence and a warning from Ellen Kaye, Kagami continued her treatment despite any precautions.[23]

While Kagami continued the sessions,[24] she took little notice when Risa had been forgoing longer time for their sessions.[25] After one of their sessions ended, Kagami was confronted by Risa about the Animus' effects on her psyche but the doctor retorted that she was close to Shao Jun's secrets. Locking the door and holding Risa at gunpoint,[26] Kagami ordered guards to force Risa back into the Animus.[27]

During the forced sessions, Kagami informed her assistant that they would dispose of Risa after gaining the information they wanted. However, it led to a dead end of the Precursor box remaining lost from Shao Jun's hands and Kagami throwing a fit of rage until she noticed Risa awake from the Animus.[28] While Risa confronted the doctor on her mistreatment, the Assassin Kiyoshi Takakura and Risa's cousin Mari infiltrated the facility to rescue her. Risa, however, disarmed Kagami and knocked out her guards. With Kiyoshi and Mari arriving on the scene, Kagami was met with defeat as Risa thanked her for helping her unlock her own secret memories before shooting and destroying the Animus. After Kiyoshi and the cousins left, Kagami was left in complete disarray.[29]

Shimazu Sei's mission[]

By 2023, relations between the Shimazu clan and the rest of the Templar Order had soured.[30] In order to prove her family's loyalty and worth to the Templars, Shimazu Sei, a descendant of Shimazu Saito,[14] was tasked with leading the search for a Piece of Eden found by Edward Kenway in Indochina. Operating out of the Exitus research vessel in Macau, China,[30] Sei abducted one of Kenway's descendants, the Korean-American student Noa Kim, and placed him in the Animus to relive Kenway's memories.[31]

ACFT - Noa in the Animus

Shimazu Sei and her team observing Noa Kim in the Animus

After Noa caused several synchronization errors, Sei had him removed from the Animus and explained the nature of her mission to him in the hopes of getting him to become more cooperative.[32] Noa ultimately agreed to help Sei in exchange for his freedom and the two began to bond over the course of their Animus sessions.[33]

At one point, Noa and Sei had to travel together to the A-Ma Cultural Village to follow up on a lead that would allow them to continue exploring Kenway's memories.[34] While there, Sei and her Abstergo guards were attacked by Doom Eagle thugs employed by the Zhawang Corporation, who sought to rescue Noa. Wishing to uncover his family roots through Kenway's memories, however, Noa refused the Corporation agents' help and went to protect Sei from the thugs before returning with her to the Exitus.[35]

After more Animus sessions, Sei and Noa had to relocate to the Philippines in order to physically trace Kenway's footsteps.[30] Sailing to Cebu, the two were joined by the former's bodyguard Yuki, but during their investigation, they were again attacked by Doom Eagle[36] and forced to head to a shopping mall. After Yuki was injured, Sei and Noa fled into the mall,[37] where the latter protected Sei from the Doom Eagle thugs pursuing them. Noa then engaged in a fight Doom Eagle's leader, the Assassin Nathan Zhang,[38] who ultimately retreated when Abstego's Sigma Team arrived on the scene.[39]

Members[]

Sengoku period
Edo period
Modern times

Allies and puppets[]

Edo period
Modern times

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Assassin's Creed: Memories
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game
  3. Assassin's Creed: MemoriesMochizuki Chiyome
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Assassin's Creed: Fragments – The Blade of Aizu [citation needed]
  5. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
  6. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 37
  7. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 4
  8. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 8
  9. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 11
  10. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 13
  11. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 15
  12. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 17
  13. 13.0 13.1 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 34
  14. 14.0 14.1 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 20
  15. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 31
  16. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 38
  17. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 40
  18. Abstergo.com
  19. Assassin's Creed: BrotherhoodShaun Hastings' email – Subject header: "Status"
  20. Assassin's Creed: InitiatesSurveillance: "A New Kind of War"
  21. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunHomecoming
  22. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunThe Assassin Brotherhood and The Templar Order
  23. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunConsequences
  24. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunShao Jun and Qixie
  25. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunEagle Vision
  26. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunTo Each Her Own Arena
  27. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunThe Great Wall
  28. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunCulmination
  29. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao JunCreed
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 42
  31. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 1
  32. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 6
  33. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 7
  34. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 22
  35. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 23
  36. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 43
  37. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 44
  38. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 45
  39. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple - Episode 46

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