Line #57 ComicBook/AssassinsCreedSubjectFour


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-assassins_creed_subject_four_8094.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:200: [[StartOfDarkness It feels like there's something coiled like a snake deep inside of me, and it's waiting to get out.]]]]
3
4	-> ''"My father wanted this life, Anna, not I. He came to this country with a dream and made the Narodnaya Volya his cause. I do not know if I have the strength to serve the Order of Assassins as he did."''
5	-->-- '''Nikolai Orelov'''
6
7	''Assassin's Creed: Subject Four'' is a 2010-2011 ExpandedUniverse comic book containing miniseries set in the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series and published by Creator/DCComics.
8
9	''The Fall'' stars Daniel Cross, a recovering drug addict who has been experiencing the GeneticMemory of his ancestor in the form of hallucinations. His ancestor just happens to be Nikolai Orelov, a master Assassin and key player in the Russian Revolution in the early 20th century.
10
11	''The Chain'' continues the story of Cross and Orelov after the events of the first series, following a timeskip for each.
12
13	----
14	!!Tropes:
15
16	* ActionGirl: Invoked by Daniel regarding Hannah, but she never really fills this role.
17	* TheAlcoholic: Daniel as the comic opens.
18	%%* AncientConspiracy: It's ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'', so duh.
19	* AnimalThemeNaming: Orelov is Czech for "Eagle's son," which goes nicely with the series knack for giving eagle-related names to their historical Assassins.
20	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler:Subverted. For a moment, Daniel believes that the Mentor is offering him the position of Grandmaster. The Mentor tells him that he has a long way to go before he's even eligible.]]
21	* BeardOfEvil:
22	** Tsar Alexander III has a particularly glorious one. It even comes with a curly handlebar mustache.
23	** UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin's looks to be a more straight example.
24	* BeardOfSorrow: Daniel and Nikolai. More than once.
25	* BeenThereShapedHistory: In ''The Chain'', Daniel manages to be a Gump ''in his own canon''. Have you ever wondered who [[spoiler: acquired the information about Ezio Auditore's first-civilization message for Desmond Miles, which led to Desmond's kidnapping, therefore kicking off the entire series]]? Yup, that was Daniel!
26	* BigGood: The Mentor is the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood in the present day.
27	* BilingualBonus: Daniel occasionally speaks in untranslated Russian.
28	* BoisterousBruiser: Alexander III trash talks Nikolai after nearly beating him to death.
29	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Daniel whenever Vidic's reprogramming kicks in.]]
30	* CanonImmigrant:
31	** Preemptive. Daniel is supposed to play an important role in the games. [[spoiler: Revelations has made this official, with him being held as a Templar Hero, a member of their Inner Sanctum, so far appearing twice out of sight with his voice heard, and now working as the Templar's head of operations, further pushing him to be Desmond's Evil Counterpart and future enemy since he's coming after Desmond's dad.]]
32	** As of [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', he is officially Desmond's EvilCounterpart and the two cross paths several times during the game]].
33	* ChildrenAreInnocent: The only reason Tsar Alexander III doesn't kill Nikolai is because the royal family happens to be watching.
34	* ContinuityPorn: There are numerous references to the games.
35	%%* CoolTrain: The Imperial Train.
36	* CurbStompBattle: Alexander III had very little trouble laying a brutal smackdown on Nikolai.
37	* CynicismCatalyst: Nikolai lost a child at some point prior to the comic. He was apparently less violent before then.
38	* DeadPartner: Nikolai used to work with Aleksandr Ulyanov, before Alek was executed.
39	* DistressedDude: [[spoiler:Subverted. Daniel was never in any real danger. The Mentor just didn't want him to be conscious to know exactly where his office is.]]
40	* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:Daniel]] proves to be one for [[spoiler:Desmond Miles]] from the main games.
41	* GambitRoulette: Hoo boy, here we go. [[spoiler:Vidic reprogrammed Daniel to relive Nikolai's memories almost at random. While Daniel could keep them suppressed with medication, he eventually decided the meds weren't worth it. Nikolai's memories come back and Daniel begins shouting things about Templars in the middle of an alley. This attracts the attention of Hannah, who assumes that Daniel is an Assassin. Daniel eventually joins the order and even gets to meet the Grandmaster. Once again, due to Vidic's reprogramming, Daniel blacks out and kills the Grandmaster with his own hidden blade. Under Vidic's reprogramming, Daniel returns to Abstergo and reveals the locations of every Assassin training camp he had been to.]]
42	* GeneticMemory: While it IS one of the staples of the series, this time it's done a bit differently. Daniel doesn't use the Animus to access Nikolai's memories. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a lot of control over when it happens either.
43	* GraveRobbing: Nikolai (to his own displeasure) digs up [[spoiler:Rasputin's grave to take a shard of the Staff of Eden]].
44	* HighlyVisibleNinja: Though he is advised to be stealthy, Nikolai prefers to charge in with his guns blazing. Justified during the Tunguska raid when the Assassins storm the secluded facility in the middle of Siberia.
45	* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In real life, the Narodnaya Volya were a Russian left-wing terrorist organization. UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin was also given a similar treatment especially if you remember that communist revolution led to the one of the most horrific (if not ''the'' most horrific) dictatorships in modern history[[note]]although apparently Assassin's Creed canon has them losing control/influence over the Revolution and being usurped by the Templars[[/note]].
46	* HistoricalInJoke: Nikolai manages to stab Tsar Alexander III in the kidney during their fight. He actually died of a kidney infection six years later, probably as a result of injuries sustained in the Borki Train disaster.
47	%%* HuskyRusskie
48	* IHatePastMe: Sort of. Nikolai's memories cause his descendant a lot of trouble. Daniel just wishes they'd go away.
49	* IJustKnew: Despite not knowing about his Assassin heritage, Daniel got a tattoo of the Assassin emblem because "It felt right."
50	* InTheHood: Russian and Arabic assassins are shown wearing the series signature white beaked hoods. Averted with Daniel, Paul, and the Mentor who never wear hoods. Mildly averted with Hannah, who always wears a hoodie but keeps the hood down... even in the rain.
51	* InadequateInheritor: Nicholas II is far less badass than his father.
52	* ItsAllMyFault: Nikolai still has nightmares of Aleksander Ulyanov blaming him for not saving him in time.
53	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique:
54	** Nikolai tortures a Templar agent to get the Staff's location. [[TortureAlwaysWorks The information is correct,]] if inaccurate.
55	** Lampshaded with this exchange:
56	--->'''Assassin 1:''' [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Are brother Orelov's methods always so savage?]]
57	--->'''Assassin 2:''' [[CynicismCatalyst He was a gentler man]] when I met him years ago; before they lost the child.
58	%%* LanternJawOfJustice: Nikolai.
59	%%* LeParkour: Daniel, Nikolai, Paul and Hannah.
60	* LotusEaterMachine: [[spoiler:The Animus serves as a place for Daniel to distract himself from his troubles after he kills the Mentor,]] though he seems to have recovered in time for ''The Chain'' and [[spoiler:''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'']].
61	* MacGuffin: The Staff of Eden. It also happens to be the Tsar's royal staff.
62	* MadeOfIron: Nikolai [[spoiler:lived through the Tunguska explosion at point blank. No one else around survived.]]
63	* ManchurianAgent: [[spoiler:Daniel was brainwashed to kill the Grandmaster of the Assassin Order.]]
64	* MeaningfulName: [[spoiler:Daniel Cross isn't his real name. It was chosen for him by Warren Vidic. Cross is supposed to represent his status as a Templar ManchurianAgent. The Templar symbolism is obvious but there's also the allusion to a double cross.]]
65	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: The 2000 Presidential Election in the US is constantly in the background. The Assassins are trying to keep the Templars from rigging the election. [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush They]] [[AllThereInTheManual fail.]]
66	%%* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Tsar Alexander III.
67	%%* MoralityPet: Anna tries to be this for Nikolai.
68	* MurderInc: The Narodnaya Volya, (aka the Russian chapter of the Assassin Order)
69	* NinjaSchool: The Assassin training camps.
70	* NoEscapeButDown: Daniel after he [[spoiler:realizes that he killed the Mentor and hears the bodyguards knocking on the door.]]
71	* OldMaster: Nikolai's pretty old in Issue 3, but no less skilled an Assassin.
72	* OlderAndWiser:
73	** Nikolai seems to have calmed down after the Tunguska event.
74	** Now that he's an Assassin, Daniel has become this. Also really pretty.
75	%%* PapaWolf: Alexander III
76	* PosthumousCharacter: Nikolai lost a child before the comic started.
77	* ThePurge: Thanks to Daniel's actions, the Templars are able to initiate the Great Purge, finding and wiping out most of the Assassin Order's global network. Only a few off-the-grid settlements that he didn't visit are able to survive.
78	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: In Imperial Russia, Tsar assassinates you.
79	* RasputinianDeath: Invoked regarding... [[PosthumousCharacter Rasputin's death]].
80	-->"Not so immortal after all, henh?"
81	* RedemptionInTheRain: Daniel decides to join the Order after having a massive hallucination during a rainstorm. Also doubles as a ShowerOfAngst.
82	* RightBehindMe:
83	** Alexander III when Nikolai breaks in the door to the Tsar's car, but only sees the Tsar's... [[PapaWolf family]].
84	** Nikolai later pulls this off on [[spoiler:Tsar Nicholas II, who recognizes Nikolai from the train incident.]]
85	* ShirtlessScene: Daniel after he gets out of the shower.
86	* ShroudedInMyth: Most Assassins don't believe in the Mentor's existence, because he never keeps to a single place and rarely makes his position known.
87	* SpottingTheThread: Nikolai can immediately tell that [[spoiler:Tsar Nicholas II's royal staff is only a copy of the real Staff of Eden.]]
88	* StartOfDarkness: For Daniel, showing how he went from a hero of the Assassins to one of the Templars most brutal killers.
89	* SuperWindowJump: Daniel performs a spectacular Leap of Faith from the [[spoiler:Burj al Arab in Dubai after he kills the Mentor.]]
90	* TheTunguskaEvent: This one goes by the "[[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla]]'s DeathRay" school of thought. Nikolai was there when it happened.
91	* TokenMinority: Paul is the only non-white person in the Assassin camp. Daniel is quick to point this out, much to Paul's non-amusement.
92	* TooDumbToLive: For a secret society influencing human history from the dawn of humankind, Assassins show horrendous flaws in their tradecraft. They recruit Daniel almost forcing him into service even though circumstances of his appearance are very suspicious. Despite this, Daniel is selected to meet the Mentor after merely two years. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well...]].
93	* TookALevelInBadass: Daniel after he joins the Order.
94	* TraintopBattle: Averted. While the battle between Nikolai and Alexander III does leave the train car, it's only because the train crashes and they continue to fight amongst the wreckage.
95	* TranslationConvention: Played straight and averted. While Nikolai's memories are read in English, Daniel occasionally speaks in Russian which is never translated.
96	* TurnOfTheMillennium: The latter portion of ''The Chain'' takes place in 2000, while ''The Fall'' is mostly set in 2002. In terms of the former, the Assassins are backing UsefulNotes/AlGore in the 2000 US presidential election, while the Templars are backing UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. [[spoiler:Daniel murdering the Mentor due to his programming and being forced to divulge his knowledge of the Assassin bases he's visited]] is what allows the Templars to enact the Great Purge on the Assassins and rig the election so that Bush ends up winning.
97	* UnwittingPawn: The Russian Brotherhood of Assassins. They are cooperating closely with "Narodnaya Volya" (or form this institution themselves). They were also determined to assassinate Alexander II (five attempts, the last of them being successful). The problem is that Alexander II was almost a revolutionary himself. He abolished serfdom and allowed peasants to buy property, tried to mitigate the tensions in conquered territories (such as former Poland) and was fascinated by American democracy and Abraham Lincoln in particular. He thought of gradual (to avoid grand upheaval) introduction of democratic government. His assassination ruined this vision. Alexander III returned to absolutism, and his son (lacking the skill of his ancestors) was toppled by communists who quickly introduced one of the most inhumane totalitarian regime in the human history. And that's pretty much Templar agenda.
98	%%** [[spoiler:Daniel.]]
99	* WalkingShirtlessScene: [[spoiler:The Mentor's henchmen]] are inexplicably never shown with a shirt. Even when they're [[spoiler:kidnapping Daniel.]]
100	* WouldHurtAChild: During the Great Purge, the Templars gun down everyone in the Assassin camps, including the children.

Context ComicBook / AssassinsCreedSubjectFour