- "I thought our whole purpose was to create a new and better world... where people would no longer need to live in fear of oppression! But holding an innocent doctor hostage and spilling her blood? Where in the world is the justice in such foul deeds?! Is this the noble cause of which you've spoken so much?!"
- ―Xue Yan to Xiao Han, 1725.[src]-[m]
Xue Yan (Chinese: 薛 嚴) was a Chinese Assassin who served under the Mentor Xiao Han alongside Liu Qing in the early 18th century. An orphan who was rescued by Xiao Han, she dedicated her life to the Assassins and their cause as a result.
Following the Chinese Brotherhood's purge by the Qing Empire, Xue Yan, Xiao Han, and Liu Qing, as the only surviving members of their Order, sought to overthrow the Qing and establish a new dynasty under which the Assassins and the Han Chinese people could thrive again. To this end, they searched for a Piece of Eden rumored to be hidden in the lost Khmer city of Angkor, which would allow them to succeed in their goal.
During their search, the three Assassins managed to acquire a Piece of Eden—a crescent amulet—despite facing opposition from their British brethren Edward Kenway, who disagreed with their plan to use the Pieces of Eden's power for personal gain. However, Xue Yan grew increasingly disillusioned with the tactics employed by Xiao Han, especially after her Mentor killed Edward's companion Xialun Qing, an innocent doctor.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Xue Yan watching Xiao Han come to her rescue
Xue Yan grew up an orphan on the streets until a chance encounter with Xiao Han. The Mentor saved the young Xue Yan from the life of an outcast and was the first person to ever show her kindess, leading her to dedicate her life to the Assassin cause.[1]
When the Chinese Assassins were later hunted down by the Qing Empire, Xue Yan, Xiao Han, and Liu Qing were the only members of the Brotherhood to escape with their lives.[2] The three Assassins subsequently embarked on a quest to find a Piece of Eden that they could use to overthrow the Qing dynasty, rebuild their Order, and restore peace and stability to China.[3]
Battle aboard Sun's ship[]
In 1725, Xue Yan and Liu Qing accompanied Xiao Han to a floating gambling hall in Macau owned by Xiao Han's uncle Sun to follow up on a lead on an Isu site in Indochina. When Sun revealed his intention to surrender the artifact located there to the Qing Emperor, Xue Yan and her fellow Assassins drew arms and prepared to attack Sun and his guards.[3]
Xue Yan fighting Edward
While Xiao Han chased after Sun, Xue Yan and Liu Qing fended off his guards and the Templar Shimazu Saito's ninja in his service.[4] As Liu Qing fought Saito, Xue Yan attempted to provide cover with her crossbow but was forced to dispatch more of Sun's men who arrived as reinforcements. The chaos eventually allowed Sun to recover the sea log in Xiao Han's possession and he soon fled with his reinforcements. Seeing this, Xue Yan and Liu Qing followed their Mentor to chase Sun and recover the sea log.[5]
During their pursuit of Sun, Xue Yan and Liu Qing were attacked by the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who was also attempting to retrieve the sea log. The two Chinese Assassins briefly fought Edward to buy Xiao Han enough time to catch up to Sun and kill him. After Xiao Han retrieved the log from Sun's body, it was stolen by Edward, who disagreed with the Mentor's plan to use the Piece of Eden from Angkor to overthrow the Qing dynasty.[6]
Seeing that the British Assassin could not be reasoned with, Xiao Han declared him an enemy of the Chinese Brotherhood as Xue Yan and Liu Qing arrived and surrounded Edward. Before anything could happen, however, they all witnessed the gambling ship being bombarded with cannon fire by Admiral Jeong.[6] Xiao Han used this distraction to snatch the sea log back from Edward and warned him to stay out of the Chinese Brotherhood's way before leaving alongside Xue Yan and Liu Qing.[7]
Alliance with Madam Lee[]
Xue Yan and her fellow Assassins meeting with Lee
The following morning, Xue Yan, Liu Qing, and Xiao Han approached Jeong as the admiral and her crew were investigating the wreckage of Sun's gambling ship to confirm his death. Jeong initially aimed her pistol at the Assassins, but after Xiao Han revealed that he had acquired the sea log sought by Jeong's patron Lee Huiyin, the admiral agreed to grant them an audience with her.[7]
Xue Yan and Liu Qing were both present for Xiao Han's meeting with Lee, where the Mentor proposed an alliance to find Angkor's treasure. Aware of Lee's past and the persecution she had faced under the Qing dynasty, Xiao Han was able to persuade her to agree to the partnership. However, rather than help the Assassins overthrow the Qing for the benefit of the Han Chinese people, Lee was only interested in acquiring more power and influence for herself.[8]
Pursuing the Fenghuang[]
After learning that Edward Kenway and the members of his Zhang Wei Union had left Macau to pursue a possible lead to Angkor's location, Xue Yan and her fellow Assassins joined Jeong and her fleet as the admiral pursued the Union's ship, the Fenghuang, eventually ambushing it near the Philippines.[9] After the Fenghuang sank most of Jeong's fleet, the admiral sailed Xue Yan, Liu Qing, and Xiao Han close to the ship, allowing them to board it using their gliders. They then used their Greek fire bombs to set the deck on fire and killed many of the ship's crew in the resulting commotion.[10]
Xue Yan fighting Saito
During the chaos, Liu Qing was surrounded by the navigator John Young and several crew members while attempting to aid Xiao Han, who was dueling Edward. Xue Yan tried to help her fellow Assassin and used her crossbow to take out one of the sailors holding Liu Qing at gunpoint. However, she was then attacked by Shimazu Saito, who sought revenge on the Assassin for the deaths of her men in Macau.[10] Xue Yan was soon overpowered by the samurai and was forced to retreat back to Jeong's ship using a parachute.[11]
After Xiao Han and Liu Qing were also defeated and returned to Jeong's ship, the admiral told the Assassins that she was unable to continue her pursuit of the Fenghuang due to the ship sailing into a storm. Xue Yan and Liu Qing proceeded to apologize to Xiao Han for their defeat, but the Mentor told them that it was not their fault, as their opponents were stronger than they had anticipated. He also claimed that, given their pursuit of the same prize, their paths were bound to cross again eventually.[11]
Search in the Philippines[]
Sometime later, Xue Yan and her fellow Assassins accompanied Jeong and Madam Lee to Manila, where a riot had occurred recently. While Lee met with the Lieutenant Governor-General to secure their passage to the Southern Seas, the Chinese Assassins investigated around the city to uncover details about the riot. They learned that a monk had used a Piece of Eden—a crescent amulet—to incite the riot, and that Edward had fought him, but ultimately lost the amulet to members of a native resistance against the Spanish colonists.[12]
Following this, Xue Yan and the others met with Lee and Jeong, where Xiao Han informed them of their findings. After the Mentor claimed that they would travel to Cebu to investigate their next lead to Angkor's location and that they would try to intercept the native warriors along the way to retrieve their stolen Piece of Eden, Lee gave the Chinese Assassins free reign to do as they pleased.[12]
Xue Yan and her fellow Assassins leaving Monkey Island
Thanks to Fuma Sukuna's informants, the Assassins learned that the native resistance had a stronghold on Monkey Island and went to investigate it. Along the way, Xue Yan and the others watched as Sukuna and his ninja followers laid waste to entire villages, but did nothing to try and stop them. Eventually arriving at the resistance's fort, the Assassins and Sukuna found it in ruins and concluded that the rebels had already left Monkey Island.[13]
Leaving Sukuna and his men to take care of the remaining matters on the island, Xue Yan and her fellow Assassins departed and went to rendezvous with Jeong and her fleet. Along the way, Xue Yan questioned Xiao Han about their mission's righteousness, as she was uncomfortable with having allowed Sukuna's ninja to slaughter innocent villagers. In response, the Mentor claimed that he took no enjoyment in the trail of blood they had to leave behind, but that their "great cause" required certain sacrifices to be made.[13]
Xue Yan tried to argue back, but was stopped by Liu Qing, who agreed with Xiao Han that they all had to make sacrifices for the greater good. The Assassins then met up with Jeong and boarded her ship, resuming their voyage to Cebu, where they hoped to find both the rebels and the next clue to Angkor's location.[13]
Confrontation in Cebu[]
- Xiao Han: "Wh-where is he? Where's Kenway?!"
- Xue Yan: "He's gone, sir. He escaped in that strange machine. But our search was far from fruitless! 'Recover Hendrik's sea log for clues as to the location of the second artifact.' That was our mission, and we succeeded."
- —Xue Yan revealing to Xiao Han that she retrieved Hendrik's sea log, 1725.[src]-[m]
In Cebu, the Chinese Assassins split up to search for the crescent amulet.[14] Xue Yan and Liu Qing later joined their Mentor at Fort San Pedro, where Xiao Han was fighting against Edward and Shimazu Saito, who were in possession of the Piece of Eden.[15] While Xiao Han and Liu Qing battled Edward, Xue Yan dueled Saito and managed to defeat her.[2]
Xue Yan witnessing Edward use the amulet against her fellow Assassins
After Edward used the amulet to subdue Xiao Han and Liu Qing and warned them to renounce their quest for the Pieces of Eden, Xue Yan abandoned Saito and rushed to her fellow Assassins' aid. This allowed Edward and Saito to escape in a strange flying contraption, moments before Xiao Han and Liu Qing recovered from the amulet's effects.[2]
When her Mentor asked for Edward's whereabouts, Xue Yan informed him of the British Assassin's escape. However, despite the loss of the amulet, the mission was not a complete failure, as Xue Yan had managed to steal a sea log from Saito during their fight, providing the Chinese Assassins with the locations of two other Pieces of Eden.[2]
Showdown in Sulu[]
- Xiao Han: "Do not think for a moment that it pleases me to take innocent lives! But if your faith in our calling can be shaken so easily... then I suggest you leave the Brotherhood and seek your fortune elsewhere!"
- Xue Yan: "So this is the hand of a man who killed an innocent doctor... the same hand that once rescued a poor young girl from the miserable life of an outcast. Tell me, master... does this hand still belong to the same man?"
- —Xue Yan and Xiao Han, during the voyage back from Sulu, 1725.[src]-[m]
Sometime later, after Fuma Sukuna and his ninja were killed in an ambush by the Zhang Wei Union, Jeong was notified of the ninja's defeat by a note delivered by a raven. After the admiral informed Xue Yan, Liu Qing, and Xiao Han that the Union had suffered heavy casualties during the battle, they decided to follow their enemies to the Sultanate of Sulu in order to eliminate them.[16]
Xue Yan confronting John and Qing
In Sulu, the Assassins were dropped off by Jeong near a warehouse where the crescent amulet was stored. While Xiao Han and Liu Qing battled the Suluese guards to clear the path ahead, Xue Yan attempted to infiltrate the warehouse and recover the Piece of Eden. However, she was stopped by Edward, who fired his pistol at her. After Xiao Han and Edward engaged in a duel, the warehouse was partially destroyed by Jeong's cannon fire, as the admiral had decided to hinder the Chinese Assassins' mission as payback for mistreating her.[17]
While John Young and Xialun Qing tried to locate an entrance into the warehouse, Xue Yan confronted them and ordered them to stand aside. The couple refused and Qing soon managed to find a small passage among the building's debris. While Qing went through the passage, Xue Yan spotted another entry point and jumped on John's back to reach it, moments before the warehouse's roof collapsed.[17]
Inside the warehouse, Xue Yan attacked Qing but stopped when the latter revealed that she was just a doctor. Not wishing to harm a non-combatant, she commended Qing's courage and warned her to stay out of her way, but while the Assassin had her back turned, Qing ran through an open door. Moments later, the path was blocked by falling debris, separating Xue Yan from the doctor.[18]
Xue Yan holding Qing hostage
After finding a way out of the warehouse, Xue Yan captured Qing, who had retrieved the chest containing the crescent amulet. Seizing the chest and holding a knife to the doctor's throat, Xue Yan warned her not to act heedlessly.[18]
With Qing as their hostage, the Chinese Assassins attempted to strike a deal with Edward, promising to release Qing if he allowed them to leave with the amulet. However, Xue Yan felt uncomfortable about using the doctor's life as leverage and exchanged unnerved looks with Xiao Han. The Mentor gave his word that, if Edward agreed to stop interfering with the Chinese Brotherhood's cause, they would release Qing unharmed.[18]
At that moment, however, the beach was struck by cannon fire coming from Jeong's ship, interrupting the negotiations. During the confusion, Xue Yan released Qing and dropped the amulet's chest, causing the artifact to fall out.[18] Edward subsequently seized the amulet and used it to defeat Xiao Han, though he hesitated to take his life. After breaking free from Edward's grasp, Xiao Han attempted to kill John, but Qing sacrificed herself to save him and took the blow instead.[19]
Xue Yan and Liu Qing looked on remorsefully as Qing died in John's arms, before spotting Suluese soldiers approaching their position. After alerting Xiao Han, the Mentor grabbed the amulet and all three Chinese Assassins escaped back to Jeong's ship.[19]
Xue Yan reprimanding Xiao Han for breaking the Creed
Aboard the vessel, Xiao Han placed the amulet in a chest to prevent its power from corrupting him while Jeong set a course out of Sulu to rendezvous with Madam Lee. Disturbed by Xiao Han's murder of Qing, Xue Yan lashed out at her Mentor, accusing him of killing an innocent doctor in cold blood and questioning if this was the "righteous cause" he had spoken of so much. Furious, Xiao Han grabbed Xue Yan by her collar and told her that she could leave the Brotherhood if her faith in their cause was shaken so easily.[1]
After Xue Yan reminded her Mentor of the day he had first met and rescued her and remarked that he was no longer that same kind man, an ashamed Xiao Han let her go. Liu Qing interjected, telling Xiao Han that, while both he and Xue Yan still believed in his cause, it was possible that their obsession with it had made them lose sight of what had brought them together in the first place. He then suggested discussing the matter on the voyage back home, not as apprentice and Mentor, but as friends.[1]
Personality and traits[]
Xue Yan and Liu Qing apologizing to Xiao Han
Having been saved from her life as an outcast by Xiao Han, Xue Yan was extremely dedicated to him and the Assassins.[1] She accompanied her Mentor in his quest to find a Piece of Eden they could use to overthrow the Qing dynasty and rebuild the fallen Chinese Brotherhood, believing that their cause was just and would restore peace and stability to China. While Xue Yan was normally quite stoic and did not talk very much, she would occasionally engage in banter with Liu Qing, at one point mocking her fellow Assassin's allegedly poor swimming skills.[20]
Like Liu Qing, Xue Yan was afraid of disappointing their Mentor, and the two Assassins were quick to apologize to Xiao Han following their defeat by the Fenghuang's crew.[11] However, this did not prevent Xue Yan from speaking up whenever she felt uncomfortable with the methods she and her fellow Assassins employed, such as allowing Fuma Sukuna's ninja to slaughter innocent villagers.[13]
When Xiao Han defended this decision, claiming they all had to make sacrifices for the greater good, and absolved himself of any responsibility by saying that it was the ninja who had carried out the massacre, Xue Yan tried to argue back. However, she was stopped by Liu Qing, who unlike her, believed that they should trust their Mentor's judgment on all matters and follow him without question.[13]
After Xiao Han's murder of Xialun Qing, Xue Yan finally reached her breaking point and reprimanded her Mentor, accusing him of breaking their Creed and no longer being the same kind man who had taught her about the Assassins' righteous cause. Although Xiao Han lashed out at her in response, deep inside he agreed with her words, as he was also feeling uncomfortable about having taken an innocent life.[1]
Skills and equipment[]
Xue Yan aiming her crossbow
Extremely quick and light on her feet, Xue Yan specialized in ranged weaponry unlike her fellow Assassins. She had mastered her weapon of choice, the crossbow, being able to fire multiple bolts in rapid succession and with pinpoint accuracy to take out large groups of enemies.[4] Despite this, she struggled to provide cover fire to Liu Qing while the latter was dueling Shimazu Saito, as the two were too close for Xue Yan to get a clear shot on Saito.[5]
In addition to her crossbow, Xue Yan also wielded a pair of deer horn knives for close-quarters combat.[6] During their journey to the Philippines, Xue Yan and her fellow Chinese Assassins sported gliders and parachutes which allowed them to fly for short distances. They also carried Greek fire bombs, which created a thick smoke upon detonation and flames that could not be extinguished with water.[10]
Behind the scenes[]
Xue Yan is a character introduced in Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. Despite being Assassins, both she and Liu Qing notably lack a Hidden Blade.
Etymology[]
Xue (薛) is a Chinese surname originating from the State of Xue in modern-day Shandong. Yu the Great, the founding emperor of the Xia dynasty, bestowed upon his minister Xi Zhong the title Marquis of Xue in gratitude for his invention of the Chinese chariot; Xi Zhong's descendants subsequently bore Xue as their clan name.[21]
Yan (嚴) is also a Chinse surname meaning 'solemnity', though it can be used as a given name. It originated during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han (r. 57-75 CE), when people with the surname Zhuang (莊) changed it to 嚴, as 莊 happened to be the emperor's given name.[22]
In Episode 89, her name is spelled as Shuyan (舒嚴), with Shu (舒) being an alternate spelling of 薛 and meaning 'relax' or 'smooth out'.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
References[]
