Basim is the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Mirage. While his character was explored a little in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, little is known about his backstory. This master Assassin simply shows up and blows the player’s mind with a massive revelation.
As far as characters go, he’s easily the best one Ubisoft could have picked for Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The game aims to explore Basim’s past and uncover how he became an Assassin/Hidden One and got embroiled with the Isu.
Related: Assassin’s Creed Mirage: City & Setting Explained
Who is Basim in Assassin’s Creed Mirage
In Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Basim is a young thief in Baghdad. He has grown up stealing to survive on the streets and has nearly paid the price for it with his life on more than one occasion. One fateful day, when his luck was about to run out, he was rescued by a prominent member of The Hidden Ones, the order that would become the Assassins Brotherhood, Roshan.
She sees potential in Basim, and Basim thinks his future lies with The Hidden Ones, so he joins up. He hones his skills through training over the years in Almanat, the growing fortress of The Hidden Ones. Then, he returns to Baghdad to take down The Order, those seeking to control the world from the shadows.
In Assassin’s Creed Mirage, players see Basim go from novice to mentor. While they won’t quite see him reach the master rank he has achieved by the time of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, he’ll still be incredibly capable by the end of the game.
The game follows Basim as Assassin’s Creed 2 followed Eivor. It’s a coming-of-age story where the protagonist battles with their inner demons and learns that their morals don’t necessarily hold up in every situation they enter into.
What is the Dark Entity Basim Sees in His Assassination Corridors?
When he enters an Assassination Corridor, the place where protagonists in Assassin’s Creed games go when they kill a target for a short monologue, Basim sees a dark entity. It’s a human-like creature but also extremely terrifying and inhuman in many ways.
Spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t finished Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Basim is the reincarnation of an Isu, a god-like creature in the Assassin’s Creed universe. Reincarnations pop up now and then because of the genetic data in humanity that these beings have left behind. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla reveals that Basim is a reincarnation of the Isu that was Loki of the Aesir in Asgard.
As has been the case with every culture in history, people interpret what they see based on their experiences and knowledge. At the time of Assassin’s Creed Mirage, 861 CE, very few people in Baghdad would have heard of the Aesir or Asgard. Instead, they’ll have their own myths and legends.
It’s the myths and legends that Basim heard growing up that have formed this dark entity. It’s a force behind his subconscious, the memories of Loki buried in his DNA. While they’re locked away and haven’t been triggered, Basim can feel them lurking in the back of his mind.
That’s what this entity is and why it comes to him in Assassination Corridors. It’s Loki, or at least Loki’s memories, trying to take over Basim’s mind. An Assassination Corridor is an internal monologue in which the Assassin speaks to their target and uncovers how that target felt about their actions. While those without an Isu lurking in their brain see only the target, Basim sees Loki as a Djinn. This is a sort of Genie, a dark force that haunts and curses people.
In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Eivor saw Odin in these same Assassination Corridors because they, too, are an Isu reincarnation. Loki is a trickster and devious Isu, so he chooses to overtake Basim when Eivor meets him.
The dark entity will eventually be triggered, Loki’s memories will flood Basim’s mind, and he’ll struggle for control. He won’t win it, but it’s part of Basim’s story. This is who Basim is, and it’s what players will see unfold over the course of Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s story.
