Of the many series owned and published by Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed is certainly one of the oldest. With the first entry in the series releasing nearly fourteen years ago, Assassin's Creed has become an incredibly recognizable franchise within the gaming community. Although, there is a particular weapon utilized throughout the series that attributes to the memorability of Assassin's Creed.
The hidden blade has a longstanding history within the Assassin's Creed timeline. The weapon was first introduced in the original Assassin's Creed and has since been a series staple, making an appearance in almost every game in the franchise. Now, one fan of the series has found a way to recreate the hidden blade using an unexpected form factor.
A Reddit user named tortilla_de_patata shared a video of a homemade hidden blade constructed out of popsicle sticks. The blade works the same way the blades in Assassin's Creed work, without any of the embellishments usually seen on the Assassin guantlets. The minimalistic design of the homemade blade is almost reminiscient of the hidden blade used by Desmond Miles during gameplay segments in Assassin's Creed 3.
[Homemade fan content] I did a hidden blade out of popsicle sticks. What do y'all think? from assassinscreed
It's amazing to see the ingenuity required to make something like this. The fact that the Reddit user was able to make a functional hidden blade is astounding. A lot of physical hidden blade replicas require the user to hit a button on the bottom of the gauntlet as opposed to having the blade slide in and out of the gauntlet, like in the game. So, to have a homemade hidden blade that both extends out and retracts is quite the achievement.
The hidden blade has gone through numerous different design changes over the course of the series. In fact, the original hidden blade required the user to remove their ring finger in order to operate the device. It wasn't until Leonardo Da Vinci modified the device for Ezio in Assassin's Creed 2 that Assassins would be able to use it without having to cut off a finger.
It will be interesting to see what direction Ubisoft takes with Assassin's Creed going forward. The fact that the hidden blade returned in Assassin's Creed Valhalla may indicate that future games will more closely resemble earlier entries in the Assassin's Creed series. Though, considering how many structural changes have been made to the series with every new installment, it will be hard to know what the next entry in Assassin's Creed.