Basim Ibn Ishaq

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.

In Their Own Story

Upon arriving in Baghdad, Basim learns that five Order members have infiltrated the Caliphate's highest levels of power and are exploiting it to excavate or rebuild ancient Isu artifacts. He proceeds to hunt down four of the Order members, assassinating them and their subordinates and foiling their respective plots. During this time, Basim reunites with Nehal, who is distrustful of the Hidden Ones and encourages Basim to investigate the artifacts sought by the Order, believing they are both somehow linked to them. Eventually, Basim confronts the Order's leader, al-Mutawakkil's former concubine Qabiha, who claims that the answers he seeks lie in an Isu temple underneath Alamut. Qabiha then tries to convince Basim to accompany her to the temple, but Roshan kills her and warns Basim not to investigate any further. Disobeying Roshan, Basim travels to Alamut with Nehal, only to find the fortress under siege by the Order's forces. Basim rescues many captured Hidden Ones and rallies them to fight off the attack while he heads to the temple. He is confronted by Roshan, who reveals that she is aware of Basim's true nature and attempts to stop him from entering the temple, fearing what it may awaken within Basim. Basim defeats Roshan, but spares her life and enters the temple with Nehal. Inside, he finds more disk-shaped artifacts and discovers that the temple used to be a prison where the Isu Loki was once held. Basim also realizes that Nehal never existed; both she and the jinni were representations of his repressed memories as Loki. Deciding to embrace his nature as Loki's reincarnation, Basim 'fuses' with Nehal and regains Loki's memories. After leaving the temple, Basim is welcomed back into the Hidden Ones, while Roshan resigns in protest. Now fully aware of his past life as Loki, Basim muses that he has been reborn in a new world, and looks forward to a 'reunion' with those who were responsible for his imprisonment.

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.
• Basim's story in Mirage takes place a decade before the events of Assassin's Creed Valhalla.