Basim Ibn Ishaq

A street thief who joins the Hidden Ones to fight for peace and liberty.

Basim Ibn Ishaq is the central character of Assassin's Creed Mirage, a street thief who becomes a Hidden One in 9th-century Baghdad. The game follows his transition from thief to fully-fledged member of the Hidden Ones under the tutelage of his mentor, Roshan bint-La'Ahad. His story is set during the Islamic Golden Age, primarily during the Anarchy at Samarra, and takes place a decade before the events of Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

Quick Facts

Affiliation: The Hidden Ones
First appearance: Assassin's Creed Mirage

Lore & Background

Basim Ibn Ishaq is a young street thief living in Anbar with his childhood friend and companion, Nehal. For his entire life, Basim has been haunted by visions of a monstrous jinni, which Nehal has been helping him cope with. He seeks to join the Hidden Ones but is flatly rejected by the senior Hidden One stationed in Anbar, Roshan. In an effort to prove himself, Basim sneaks into the Caliph's palace to steal a chest sought by both the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients.

He retrieves a disk-shaped artifact from the chest, which displays a holographic message, before he is confronted by the Caliph, al-Mutawakkil. Nehal kills the Caliph to save Basim, and they both flee the palace. In retaliation for the Caliph's murder, the guards begin slaughtering all thieves in Anbar, and Basim angrily blames Nehal before parting ways. He escapes the city with Roshan's help, and she takes him to the Hidden Ones' mountain fortress at Alamut. Over the following months, Basim trains under Roshan and is eventually initiated into the Hidden Ones.

Reader's Guide

Basim Ibn Ishaq is the single playable character in Assassin's Creed Mirage, removing gender choices from previous games like Valhalla. He has a large arsenal of weapons and tools at his disposal, including the signature Assassin Hidden Blade, smoke bombs, throwing knives, and poison darts. Both weapons and tools can be upgraded through a skill tree which allows different effects to be applied to them. Basim also has access to both Eagle Vision and an avian companion named Enkidu, an eastern imperial eagle that can be used to scout nearby areas.

Unlike previous Assassin's Creed games which featured avian companions, enemy marksmen can detect and shoot at Enkidu, requiring the player to eliminate the marksmen before Enkidu can be used again. Mirage introduces a new ability called 'Assassin Focus', which allows the player to eliminate multiple enemies simultaneously and is recharged by performing stealth assassinations. When the ability is activated, time stops and the player can mark up to five enemies who will then be automatically killed by Basim in quick succession.

Another new feature are various poles located around Baghdad, which can be used to cross wide gaps. Furthermore, moving and running animations have been refined to improve mobility and fluidity, with the development team taking inspiration from 'samurai, ninja, and even Jedi to a certain point'.

Did You Know?

Basim is voiced by Lee Majdoub in Assassin's Creed Mirage.
His avian companion Enkidu is named after the character from Mesopotamian mythology.
Basim's mentor Roshan bint-La'Ahad is voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo.
The game was originally envisioned as an expansion for Assassin's Creed Valhalla before being reworked into a standalone title.