Xiao Han

Xiao Han (: 蕭 韓) was the Mentor of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins during the early 18th century. He was also the nephew of Sun, the head of the Hualien Trading Company in Macau.
During his tenure as Mentor, the Chinese Brotherhood was nearly wiped out by the Qing Empire, which was responsible for the persecution of countless people. Seeking to overthrow the Qing dynasty and restore the Brotherhood's former strength, Xiao Han led the search for a Piece of Eden rumored to be hidden in the lost Khmer city of Angkor, which would allow him to succeed in his goal.
However, his efforts were opposed by the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who was also on Angkor's trail and disagreed with the use of the Pieces of Eden's power for personal gain. Consequently, the two Assassins clashed several times as they both pursued leads to Angkor's location across Southeast Asia.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Not much is known about Xiao Han's background other than the fact that he used to be close to his uncle Sun in his childhood. Unlike Sun, who believed their ancestors' pursuit of noble goals to be the cause of their family's downfall, Xiao Han fully embraced his Assassin heritageAssassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 38 and rose to become Mentor of the Chinese Brotherhood.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 39
However, during Xiao Han's tenure, the Qing Empire initiated a purge of the Chinese Brotherhood, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Assassins and the destruction of their headquarters. Xiao Han witnessed the attack first-hand and, blaming himself for being unable to prevent it, vowed revenge against the regime.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 73 He was subsequently aided in his endeavors by Liu Qing and Xue Yan, who were the only other Chinese Assassins to survive the purge.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 34
===Meeting with Sun===
In 1725, Xiao Han, accompanied by Liu Qing and Xue Yan, arrived at his uncle's floating gambling hall in Macau to discuss a Precursor site believed to be located in Angkor. Sun had gained possession of a sea log given to him by the Templar Shimazu Saito which contained the location of the lost city, but the information was encrypted. Xiao Han was shown the log by his uncle and agreed to help decipher it. Soon after, Sun snatched the log and claimed that, by recovering the treasure in Angkor, he would gain them immense wealth.
When Xiao Han asked his uncle what he intended to do with the treasure, Sun explained that he would present it to the Qing Emperor, expecting to be greatly rewarded in return. He also stated that once the Emperor acknowledged Xiao Han's loyal service to the Qing Empire, he and his Brotherhood would be pardoned for their crimes.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Han used a rope dart and promptly snatched away the log in Sun's hand. He then angrily reprimanded his uncle for surrendering himself to the Manchu regime, stating he was a disgrace to his homeland for trampling on the Creed that had been passed down in their family for generations. As his fellow Assassins drew arms, Xiao Han activated his Hidden Blade and announced he would kill Sun in the name of the Assassins.
===Conflict with Edward Kenway===
Sun denounced his nephew for betraying him, claiming that Xiao Han would be nothing without his patronage, and ordered his guards to kill him and his fellow Assassins. While Liu Qing and Xue Yan battled Sun's guards, including a number of Saito's ninja followers, Xiao Han chased after a fleeing Sun and eventually cornered him. However, before he could execute his uncle, he was stopped by the British Assassin Edward Kenway. Unaware of Edward's identity or affiliations, a furious Xiao Han attacked him.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 35
Learning that Edward sought the sea log in his possession, Xiao Han refused to hand it over and the two Assassins began to duel with their swords. After Xiao Han used a rope dart to disarm Edward, the latter lunged at him with his Hidden Blade, prompting Xiao Han to activate his own Hidden Blade and block his attack.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 36
As the two realized they were both members of the Brotherhood, they stopped fighting and questioned what the other intended to do with Angkor's treasure. Edward claimed that he only sought an adventure before slamming Xiao Han to the ground, causing him to drop the log, which landed near Sun.
Annoyed by his fellow Assassin's interference with his plans, Xiao Han explained that he would use the Piece of Eden from Angkor to deliver a great boon to the Brotherhood by overthrowing the Qing dynasty. However, Edward remarked that using Isu technology for personal gain went against everything the Brotherhood stood for, and compared Xiao Han to the Templars.
During Xiao Han and Edward's argument, Sun grabbed the sea log and began to make his escape. Upon seeing this, Xiao Han abandoned Edward and began to chase after his uncle, soon calling upon Liu Qing and Xue Yan to help him recover the log.
Sun ordered his remaining guards to slow down the Assassins, but Xiao Han and his companions easily dispatched them. As Edward caught up with them from behind, Liu Qing and Xue Yan engaged him in combat to buy their Mentor enough time to assassinate Sun and recover the sea log.
Using a rope dart to stop Sun dead in his tracks, Xiao Han confronted his uncle and began to choke him. Sun tried to plead for his life, but Xiao Han ignored and stabbed him with his Hidden Blade, ending his uncle's life to prevent him from bringing more dishonor upon their ancestors, or himself. He then took the sea log from his body, but it was promptly stolen by Edward.
Xiao Han once again tried to make his "brother from the west" sympathize with his cause, but as Edward refused to allow the Chinese Assassins to use Angkor's treasure for their own gain, the Mentor declared him to be their enemy. Xiao Han was then joined by Liu Qing and Xue Yan as they surrounded Edward, but before anything could happen, they all witnessed the gambling ship being bombarded with cannon fire by Admiral Jeong. Xiao Han used this distraction to snatch away the sea log from Edward and, after warning him to stay out of their way, left alongside Liu Qing and Xue Yan.
===Alliance with Madam Lee===
The following morning, Xiao Han, Liu Qing and Xue Yan approached Jeong as the admiral and her crew were investigating the wreckage of Sun's gambling den to confirm his death. Jeong initially aimed her pistol at the Assassins, but after Xiao Han revealed that he had acquired the sea log sought by Jeong's patron Lee Huiyin, the admiral agreed to grant them an audience with her.
Meeting with Lee at the Mandarin's House, Xiao Han proposed an alliance to recover Angkor's treasure, believing that joining forces would allow them to find the artifact much quicker. However, Lee was reluctant to work with another Assassin after how her partnership with Edward had ended.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 40
Xiao Han explained that, although Edward was an Assassin, he did not understand the Chinese Brotherhood's mission. However, he believed that Lee would be able to sympathize with their cause much easier given her past, as she too had been persecuted by the Qing regime.
As Xiao Han revealed his knowledge of Lee's true name and background, Jeong pointed her pistol at him, but Lee was interested to hear what the Mentor had to say and allowed him to continue speaking. After Xiao Han explained his goal to overthrow the Qing dynasty and end the persecution of the people, Lee agreed to the partnership, but only because she believed it would allow her to gain more power and influence.
===Pursuing the Fenghuang===
After learning that Edward and the members of his Zhang Wei Union had left Macau to pursue a possible lead to Angkor's location, Xiao Han and his fellow Assassins joined Jeong and her fleet as the admiral pursued the Union's ship, the Fenghuang, to the Philippines.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 47 After the Fenghuang sank most of Jeong's fleet, the admiral sailed Xiao Han, Liu Qing, and Xue Yan close to the ship, allowing them to board it using their gliders. They then used their Greek fire bombs to set the deck on fire and killed many of the ship's crew in the resulting commotion.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 48
During the chaos, the Union's engineer Yun Pyeong-Gyu realized that water only made the Greek fire burn more fiercely and instructed the crew to use sand to extinguish the flames. Upon spotting Yun, Xiao Hun attempted to kill him as the engineer became frozen in place due to his fear. However, he was stopped by Edward, who engaged the Chinese Mentor in a duel.
After Xiao Han and Edward reached a stalemate, the latter was joined by several crew members who held the Chinese Mentor at gunpoint. Upon seeing Xue Yan be defeated by Shimazu Saito and noticing that a storm was approaching, Xiao Han declared that there was no point in continuing the fight and ordered his Assassins to retreat. They all used parachutes to glide back to Jeong's ship, where Xiao Han asked the admiral if she could resume her pursuit of the Fenghuang.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 49
Jeong revealed that Edward's crew had sailed into the storm, forcing her to call off the pursuit as she did not want to risk losing her fleet. However, she assured the Assassin that they would eventually catch up to Edward and make him pay for betraying Lee. Liu Qing and Xue Yan then apologized to Xiao Han for their defeat, but the Mentor told them that it was not their fault, as their opponents were stronger than they had anticipated, and that, given their pursuit of the same prize, their paths were bound to cross again.
===Search in the Philippines===
Sometime later, Xiao Han and his fellow Assassins accompanied Jeong and Lee to Manila, where a riot had occurred recently. While Lee met with the Lieutenant to secure their passage to the Southern Seas, the Chinese Assassins investigated around the city to uncover details about the riot. They learned that a monk had used a Piece of Eden – a crescent amulet – to incite the riot, and that Edward had fought him, but ultimately lost the amulet to members of a native resistance against the Spanish colonists.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 58
Following this, Xiao Han and the others met with Lee and Jeong, where the Mentor informed them of their findings. When Lee questioned what their next move was, Xiao Han claimed that they would travel to Cebu, where another lead to Angkor's location could be found.
However, the Mentor then pointed out that the journey may be unnecessary, as if they managed to intercept the native resistance fighters along the way, they could simply take the Piece of Eden they had stolen. As Lee praised Xiao Han for his cunningness and placed her hand on his shoulder, she told him that he had free reign to do as he pleased.
Thanks to Fuma Sukuna's informants, the Chinese Assassins learned that the native resistance had a stronghold on Monkey Island and went to investigate it. Along the way, Xiao Han and the others watched as Sukuna and his ninja followers laid waste to entire villages, but did nothing to try and stop them. Eventually arriving at the resistance's fort, the Assassins and Sukuna found it in ruins and concluded that the rebels had already left Monkey Island.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 65
Xiao Han then decided to follow the resistance to Cebu and left with Liu Qing and Xue Yan while Sukuna and his men stayed behind to take care of the remaining matters on the island. Before rejoining Jeong and her fleet, Xue Yan questioned Xiao Han about their mission's righteousness, as she was uncomfortable with having allowed Sukuna's ninja to slaughter innocent villagers. The Mentor claimed that he took no enjoyment in the trail of blood they had to leave behind, but that their "great cause" required certain sacrifices to be made.
Xue Yan tried to argue back, but was stopped by Liu Qing, who agreed with Xiao Han that they all had to make sacrifices for the greater good. The Assassins then met up with Jeong and boarded her ship, resuming their voyage to Cebu, where they hoped to find both the rebels and the next clue to Angkor's location.
===Confrontation in Cebu===
As Jeong's fleet approached Cebu, Xiao Han instructed the admiral to wait for his signal to commence her attack. Jeong reassured him that she would do so and Xiao Han and his fellow Chinese Assassins proceeded to infiltrate the city to look for the crescent amulet. Splitting up, the Mentor headed to Fort San Pedro, where he found that Edward had claimed the amulet after defeating the resistance's leader, Rajah.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 71
Promptly killing the defenseless Rajah with a rope dart, Xiao Han revealed himself and confronted Edward, demanding that he hand over the amulet. As Edward refused, the two Assassins fought each other and Edward was quickly defeated when Xiao Han immobilized him with a rope dart. The Chinese Mentor then asked Edward how he could call himself an Assassin when he opposed the Chinese Brotherhood's cause, to which Edward proceeded to call out Xiao Han's own hypocrisy.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 72
Claiming that Rajah, whose life Xiao Han had just taken, had also fought for his people's freedom, Edward asked the Chinese Mentor if that was the kind of liberty he wanted, before pointing out that freedom taken by force would only end up destroying everything he held dear. However, Xiao Han was unmoved by his words and claimed that his course of action was for him and his brethren alone to decide and that Edward's only part in their cause was to surrender the amulet.
At that moment, Shimazu Saito arrived and loosened an arrow at the rope dart holding Edward in place, releasing him. As Liu Qing and Xue Yan also came to the fort and joined their Mentor, the Chinese Assassins engaged Edward and Saito in a duel. While Xue Yan fought Saito, Xiao Han and Liu Qing battled Edward, who struggled to keep them at bay.
After Saito was defeated, Edward reluctantly decided to unleash the amulet's powers against his opponents. Gazing into the artifact, Xiao Han found himself back at the Chinese Brotherhood's headquarters, with all of his apprentices still alive and delighted to see him. After the Mentor assumed that the Brotherhood's purge was just a bad dream, one of the Assassins quickly corrected him and the vision turned into one of hundreds of Assassins lying dead in front of their burning base, much to Xiao Han's horror.
As the vision came to an end, Xiao Han found that he was unable to control his own body and all he could do was lay on the ground, defeated. Seeing this, Xue Yan rushed to his and Liu Qing's aid, allowing Edward and Saito to escape in a strange flying contraption.
After recovering from the amulet's effects, Xiao Han asked Xue Yan for Edward's whereabouts, to which she informed him of the British Assassin's escape. However, despite the loss of the amulet, the mission was not a complete failure, as Xue Yan had managed to steal a sea log from Saito during the fight, providing the Chinese Assassins with the locations of two other Pieces of Eden.
==Personality and traits==
Xiao Han was a stoic individual who made it his life's mission to overthrow the Qing Empire and establish a new dynasty in China, under which the Brotherhood could thrive again. He despised the Manchus for their treatment of the Han people like himself, referring to them as "barbaric invaders" on multiple occasions, and believed that removing them from power would benefit not just the Assassins, but all of the Han people.Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple – Episode 40 To this end, he sought to acquire Angkor's Piece of Eden, which caused Edward Kenway to compare him to the Templars, who similarly wished to use the power of the Pieces of Eden for personal gain.
Entirely focused on his mission, Xiao Han refused to allow anyone to prevent him from accomplishing it, be it his own uncle Sun, or his "brother from the west" Edward. He denounced Sun for surrendering himself to the Manchu regime and eventually killed him, believing that his uncle was a disgrace not just to their bloodline, but also to the Creed. Similarly, after Edward interfered with his plans, Xiao Han branded him an enemy of the Chinese Brotherhood and warned him to stay out of their way or else he would face the "wrath of their blades".
Xiao Han's determination to succeed in his goals went so far that he was willing to eliminate anyone he perceived as an obstacle. During his boarding of the Fenghuang, he ruthlessly killed many of the ship's crew and almost executed Yun Pyeong-Gyu, who was unarmed and begging for mercy. He also took no issue with allowing others to slaughter innocents, believing that as long as it was not him who had committed the act, he was absolved of any guilt.
That being said, Xiao Han was not completely unreasonable, as when Liu Qing and Xue Yan apologized to him for their defeat by Edward's crew, the Mentor told them not to be so hard on themselves. He claimed that it was not their fault as their opponents were much stronger than they had anticipated, and that they would have their chance to exact retribution when their paths crossed again.
Xiao Han's bitterness and stubbornness were likely a result of the deep blame he felt for being unable to prevent his Brotherhood's collapse. As the Mentor, Xiao Han felt responsible for the death of every Assassin under his watch and wished to make up for his perceived failure by restoring the Brotherhood's former strength, no matter the cost.
===Skills and equipment===
Xiao Han was a skilled swordsman, easily dispatching a number of Sun's guards aboard his gambling ship and holding his own against Edward Kenway, a powerful warrior in his own right. He had also mastered the use of the rope dart, which he wielded effectively in battle to disarm his enemies, or outside of combat to snatch away items from a target's hand. Unlike most contemporary Assassins, Xiao Han utilized only one Hidden Blade, which he wore on his left arm.
During their journey to the Philippines, Xiao Han and his fellow Chinese Assassins sported gliders and parachutes which allowed them to fly for short distances. They also carried Greek fire bombs, which created a thick smoke upon detonation and flames that could not be extinguished with water.
==Behind the scenes==
Xiao Han is a character introduced in Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple. In Episode 34, he implies that both himself and Sun are descended from an Assassin named Xiao Yun, who may or may not be Shao Jun.
===Etymology===
Xiao (蕭) is a common Chinese surname derived from , a region in the north of the province of East China. Han (韓) is also a Chinese surname derived from 姬 (), the ancestral name of the that ruled China between the 11th and 3rd centuries BCE, though it can also be used a given name. The name is also used to denote the , the largest ethnic group in China.
==Gallery==
ACFT Xiao Han closeup.png|Close-up of Xiao Han's face
ACFT - Young Xiao Han and Sun.png|A young Xiao Han with Sun
ACFT - Xiao Han reading the sea log.png|Xiao Han reading Hendrik's sea log
ACFT - 18th century Chinese Assassins.png|Xiao Han with his fellow Assassins
ACFT - Edward facing Xiao Han.png|Xiao Han facing Edward
ACFT - Sun running away.png|Xiao Han pursuing Sun
ACFT - Chinese Assassins using parachutes.png|Xiao Han and Liu Qing using parachutes to escape the Fenghuang
ACFT - Monkey Island ablaze.png|Xiao Han and his fellow Assassins departing Monkey Island
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
==References==
de:Xiao_Han
Category:Individuals
Category:Han Chinese
Category:Qing people
Category:Assassins
Category:Chinese Assassins
Category:Mentors