Alexios and Kassandra | |
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Assassin's Creed character | |
First appearance | Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018) |
Created by | Ubisoft Quebec |
Adapted by | Gordon Doherty |
Portrayed by | Michael Antonakos (Alexios) Melissanthi Mahut (Kassandra) |
Voiced by | Leonidas Castrounis (Alexios, young) Maria Syrgiannis (Kassandra, young) |
In-universe information | |
Origin | Sparta, Ancient Greece |
Nationality | Greek |
Alexios (Greek: Αλέξιος) and Kassandra (Greek: Κασσάνδρα) are two interconnected fictional characters in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game franchise, first appearing as the player characters of the 2018 video game Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Alexios and Kassandra are portrayed through performance capture by Michael Antonakos and Melissanthi Mahut respectively. Leonidas Castrounis and Maria Syrgiannis respectively voice the two characters as children in flashbacks.
Within the series' alternate historical setting, both characters are siblings who were separated from their Spartan parents and each other during childhood due to a prophecy delivered by the Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi. Through their mother Myrrine, the siblings are descendants of a fictional version of Leonidas I, who is himself descended from the otherworldly Isu, the so-called First Civilization, and wielded a spear that is imbued with fantastical powers. In Odyssey, the player has the choice to experience the memories of either Alexios or Kassandra as part of a simulation played by another in-game character, Layla Hassan. The chosen character becomes the elder sibling in the game's narrative, who is stranded from childhood on the island of Kephalonia following a traumatic incident at Mount Taygetos, and as an adult becomes a legendary mercenary known as the "Eagle Bearer". The younger sibling in turn becomes "Deimos", a revered enforcer of a secret society known as the Cult of Kosmos and one of the game's primary antagonists.
Odyssey's story follows the Eagle Bearer's journey across Classical Greece during the Peloponnesian War as they attempt to reunite their fractured family and hunt down the Cult of Kosmos, who are depicted as the orchestrators of the war. Within the series' lore, Kassandra is designated as the canon Eagle Bearer, appearing as such in Odyssey's novelization and later reconfirmed in Odyssey's successor, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, in which Kassandra appears as a guest character as part of a bonus questline added after the game's release.
Both characters have received a positive reception from video game journalists and series fans following their debut. Kassandra in particular has received attention as a positive example of gender equality and representation in video games, as well as critical acclaim in response to Mahut's performance and interpretation of the character.