Nation leader

A nation leader was any paramount leader of a polis in the classical period of Greece, whether in the capacity of its head of state or through de facto authority. At the onset of the Peloponnesian War, the King Archidamos of Sparta and the Athenian strategos Perikles were exemplars of these two respective iterations. The term is specific to this historical setting and is a feature of Assassin Layla Hassan's Animus sessions reliving the genetic memories of the Spartan misthios Kassandra the Eagle Bearer.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
==History==
Nation leaders during the Peloponnesian War supported either the Delian League or the Peloponnesian League and represented their faction's influence within a region although they were also subject to manipulation by the Cult of Kosmos, who sought to rule the Greek world, and control the Peloponnesian War to their liking. In order to do this, they either blackmailed the leader, as in the case of Arkadia's archon, Lagos,Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Serpent's LairAssassin's Creed: Odyssey – Judge, Jury, Executioner or simply placed one of their own in said position.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Delian LeagueAssassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Peloponnesian League Sometimes the leader was an ally of the Cult, supporting them, as in the case of the leader of Messara, the father of Melanthos, in the 420s BCE.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – The Gods of the Aegean Sea
While most of the leaders were men, Phoenix of Naxos Island was a woman.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – A Mother's Prayers Her friend,Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Port of Lawlessness the pirate Xenia and her crew had occupied Koressia, though Pirate Islands were nominally under the rule of the Delian League or the Peloponnesian League. Xenia's power was such that the title for the leader in the islands was 'Exiled Captain of the Pirate Islands'.
The misthios Kassandra, in addition to killing the members of the Cult of Kosmos who were installed as nation leaders, was also hired to eliminate corrupt leaders at least twice.Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Chip on Your ShoulderAssassin's Creed: Odyssey – Lacerated Leaders
==Biographies of nation leaders==
Layla Hassan's Animus sessions reliving Kassandra's memories were supplemented with biographies of various regional leaders Kassandra encountered through her journeys.
<tabber>
|-|Perikles, Father of Democracy=
Representative of Attika
"After his parents' ostracism, Perikles triumphantly returned to Athens, rose to power, and rebuilt the city from the ashes of the Persian invasion, proving the strength of democracy in the process. Athens owed much of what it became to this man."
|-|Kleon the Everyman=
Representative of Attika
"Kleon was one of the most commanding voices in Athens. Whenever he spoke, the people listened. The world was his podium, and his calls for change against the Athenian elite were a rallying cry for the downtrodden."
|-|The Two Kings of Sparta=
Kings of Lakonia
"The two houses that ruled Sparta both claimed to be descended from Herakles. They made political decisions together, the theory being that they'd keep each other honest."
|-|Archidamos the Peaceful=
King of Lakonia
"Archidamos might have been best known for the 30 years' peace with Athens he was a part of. Then again, they also named the first part of the Peloponnesian was the "Archidamian War" after him."
|-|Phoenix=
Oligarch of Naxos Island
"Little was known about the woman named Myrrine prior to her arrical in Korinth. Whispers of her brief but ruthless career as a smuggler under Xenia, the Pirate Queen, came and went. However, Phoenix was known across the world as the cunning and fearless leader of Naxos."
|-|Iobates the Stoic=
King of Hephaistos Islands
"Life under Iobates's rule was uniquely oppressive. The people lived in constant fear, as he openly and regularly contracted mercenaries as private aides, relying on them more than his nation’s army."
|-|Kodros the Bull=
King of Delian League
"To be happy, the masses needed only to be fed and entertained. This was a principle Kodros the Bull fully understood. He promoted all forms of entertainment, but favored prize fighting the most. He believed it kept the citizens distracted, dull, and bloodthirsty."
|-|Lagos the Archon=
Representative of Peloponnesian League
"Arkadia's citizens were never so prosperous, nor their fields so bountiful, than when Lagos the Archon led them. Even though that was true, there were some who said the Archon sold his soul to Demeter herself."
|-|Podarkes the Cruel=
King of Silver Islands
"The Delians suffered under the control of a man known as Podarkes, who made an art of deception and torture. In these, he was the world's greatest artist."
|-|Silanos of Paros=
Oligarch of Paros Island
"Silanos rose to power in Paros swiftly, with just the right balance of naval skill and wealthy supporters. He was feared at sea and held at arm's length on dry land. Few faced his fleet and survived."
|-|Skylax the Fair=
King of Abantis Islands
"Skylax the Fair was revered. Because he was a generous leader, his people happily marched to battle in his name, though attacking his enemies never interested him. His power and his vast wealth seemed to be enough to keep him satisfied."
</tabber>
==Behind the scenes==
In Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (2018), set in Greece at the time of the Peloponnesian War, Nation Leaders are non-player characters who, as their name implies, represent the highest authority figure in each region of the game's world. Each region—and thus each Nation Leader—is always aligned with either Athens or Sparta, and every region save the starting location of Kephallonia has a Nation Leader.
The primary gameplay function of the Nation Leaders pertain to each region's Nation Power, a gauge which, when depleted, enables the player to engage in the region's battleground to flip the region to the opposing faction. Weakening Nation Power involves several activities, among them the killing of Nation Leaders. Nation Leaders by default remain at their heavily guarded bases called Leader Houses, but they wander outside these premises when the Nation Power is weak.
With some exceptions, all the Nation Leaders are randomly generated in model, name, and biography. A new Nation Leader periodically spawns after their predecessor has died. These exceptions include Perikles, the Nation Leader of the Attika region; Archidamos the Peaceful, the King of Lakonia; Phoenix, the mother of the protagonist and Nation Leader of Naxos Island; and several Cultists of Kosmos who are assassination targets like Kleon. Perikles, Kleon, and Archidamos, playing major roles in the story, are invulnerable, but the former die during the events of the story. After Perikles, Kleon, and Skylax are dead and Myrinne has been recruited, their respective regions' Nation Leaders begin randomly generating like the others.
Perikles, Kleon, Pausanias, and Archidamos are the only four historically-attested Nation Leaders in the game. The randomly generated Nation Leaders of other nations never correspond to their historical rulers even where the Nation Leader of Makedonia bears the title "King of Makedonia", and they can be killed any number of times.
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
==References==
Category:State leaders