Trivia / Assassin's Creed Origins

• All-Star Cast: The Japanese version features Jun Fukuyama, Miyuki Sawashiro, Atsuko Tanaka, Sora Amamiya, Hōchū Ōtsuka, Tetsuya Kakihara and Show Hayami in the lead roles.
• Fake Nationality:
  • The Egyptian-American Layla Hassan is played by Canadian Chantel Riley.
  • The Ambiguously Brown Egyptian Bayek is played by Black British actor Abubakar Salim.
  • This more or less applies to all of the Roman characters and members of the Ptolemy dynasty who are voiced by European actors.
• Inspiration for the Work: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been referenced as a major influence in open-world structure and side-quest design. Likewise, the protagonists' names Bayek of Siwa and Aya of Alexandria are reminiscent of Geralt of Rivia.
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: The Dawn of the Creed Legendary Collector’s Edition of the game costs $800, and includes a 29 inch statue of Bayek, Bayek’s amulet, two steelbooks, lithographs, art cards, art book, soundtrack, a printed version of the in-game map, and the deluxe edition of Origins. It's so large that people who order it get parts of it now and the rest of it when the game releases. Pretty Good Gaming worked out that it would cost less to fly to Egypt and buy a pair of daggers than buy this edition of the game.
• Milestone Celebration: It is the 10th title in the AC series and will release on the ten year anniversary of the Franchise, with Assassin's Creed coming out in 2007.
• Playing Against Type: Tristan D. Lalla previously played Adewale, a blunt, honest and honourable Assassin in Black Flag. Here he plays Taharqa who is much more self-aggrandizing and eventually outright villainous though not without sympathetic traits such as his family and the desire to make his home city architectural wonder of the world.
• Pre-Order Bonus: Pre-ordering Origins gets you the "Secrets of the First Pyramids" DLC mission. Pre-ordering at Gamestop also gets you a physical pin.
• Promoted Fanboy: Abudakar Salim is a huge Assassin's Creed fan. He did his audition without knowing what the production was and when it was revealed to him what he was actually auditioning for, Salim admitted to have gone full Squee mode upon realizing that he'd be following in the footsteps of Altair and Ezio as a new Assassin's Creed protagonist.
• Refitted for Sequel: According to this interview (Valhalla spoilers), ideas proposed for this game included both Animus anomalies and a Whole-Plot Reference to the original game with three major cities replicating the targets and plotlines of Assassin's Creed. Both were left out, but were later implemented to Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.
• Ripped from the Headlines: Part of Layla's backstory takes place in 2011 in the midst of The Arab Spring, just before then-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarek was deposed.
• Sequel in Another Medium: The Titan Comics-published Assassin's Creed: Origins four-part comic mini-series details the fall of Cleopatra 14 years after Origins.
• Throw It In!: The ability to change Bayek's hair and beard with a button combo was originally a dev tool left in the game. After seeing positive feedback, they added visible hair and beard toggle icons to the gear screen.
• What Could Have Been:
  • A durability mechanic for weapons was considered, but ultimately discarded.
  • Bayek was originally meant to die or be injured early on in the game, with Aya being the protagonist for the rest of the game, but Ubisoft executives forced director Ashraf Ismail to keep Bayek as the main character. The final version does allow the player to control Aya in specific missions.
  • An idea Darby McDevitt had for the main plot around the time of Unity's release that didn't pan out was Bayek hunting down 12 Templars who'd been overtaken by the souls of 12 Egyptian gods.
• You Sound Familiar: Taharqa, the Scarab of the Order of Ancients, is voiced by Tristan D. Lalla, the man who provided the voice for Adéwalé in Black Flag, Freedom Cry, and Rogue.

---