With Assassin’s Creed Mirage, players are being teleported back to days gone by, experiencing an AC title that’s reminiscent of hte older, classic games. It has been said that stealth is making a grand return in Mirage, along with all the elements that made the older games so enjoyable. That means smaller maps, shorter stories, and less ambition overall – which makes it easier for everyone. In this guide, we’re taking a deeper look at the Assassin’s Creed Mirage main character – Basim Ibn Ishaq.

Basim is quite the enigma, and his role in Valhalla shaped the course of the game itself – and most of the subsequent future of the Assassin’s Creed series. He’s a mysterious character that – for many – could be considered a villain, but in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, we’ll see a whole other side of him. We’ll be getting an exclusive look at how he came to be a Hidden One as we explore his story in AC Mirage.

So, this is our Assassin’s Creed Mirage main character guide, and it’s about to teach you everything you need to know about Basim.

But First, a Warning

Before you dive too deep into this article, please bear in mind that we can’t fully explain who Basim is and how he’s important without writing up spoilers. He’s an impactful and important character – which is partly why he has his own game – but we’ll have to spoil some details about Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in order to fully explain who he is.

Right, now that you’ve had a fair warning, let’s jump into our Assasin’s Creed Mirage main character guide.

Meet The Assassin’s Creed Mirage Main Character: Basim Ibn Ishaq

Basim Ibn Ishaq was born in 835 as a human reincarnation of Loki, an Isu (read: Those Who Came Before). In the year 75,000 BCE, Loki allowed his consciousness to be preserved, and thousands of years later, he was reincarnated as Basim Ibn Ishaq in Baghdad. It’s a similar story to Eivor, who is a reincarnation of Odin.

Basim’s story sees him start life as a petty street thief, but he’s eventually pulled under the guidance of Master Roshan, a leader of the Hidden Ones in Baghdad. He’s trained and rises through the ranks of the Hidden Ones – and this is where the bulk of the story for Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be set. He eventually becomes a Master Assassin, all while weaving together a subplot that nobody is aware of, biding his time as Loki’s consciousness wakes within him.

In Valhalla, we see Basim reveal his true colours, and in an effort to reunite himself with his long-forgotten family, he betrays and attempts to eliminate Eivor – who he knows is a reincarnation of Odin, a legendary Isu that wronged him millennia ago. Ultimately, Basim becomes trapped in a state of stasis, aware of his surroundings but unable to move and unable to die. His story comes full circle as he is freed from his bindings in the present day by Layla Hassan, another Assassin, and he himself enters an Animus to explore Eivor’s genetic memories.

Related: Where Is Assassin’s Creed Mirage Set?

How Powerful is Basim in Mirage?

Image Credit: Ubisoft

As a reincarnation of Loki, who you may recognise from Norse mythology, Basim has untold powers that are often left untapped. Like Eivor, he’s essentially a God, but while Eivor’s powers rest in the physical, Loki’s abilities are more focused on the mind. He’s a wise, logical, and deeply knowledgeable individual and was able to understand on a granular level how human society functions while in his frozen state between the events of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and the present day.

He’s an agile and deadly Assassin, and in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, he introduces an all-new ability – Assassin’s Focus. He has the innate ability to slow time and dash between targets, eliminating them with alarming precision, effectively dispatching an entire room of guards before they’ve even had time to blink. He’s a master swordsman and a ferocious fighter, and many of those traits have been passed down through reincarnation, even if in Assassin’s Creed Mirage he isn’t aware yet of his true heritage.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be released on October 12th, and we’ll finally learn about the origins of Basim’s story. It’s an exciting premise for any Assassin’s Creed fans, and it’ll be well worth buying.

Related: What Is Assassin’s Creed Mirage About?

For more Assassin’s Creed news, check out all our other articles about the series.