28 Facts About Edward Kenway

Edward James Kenway is a fictional character in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game franchise.

Edward Kenway was introduced as a supporting character in Assassin's Creed: Forsaken, a companion novel to the 2012 video game Assassin's Creed III.

Edward Kenway subsequently appeared as the protagonist of the 2013 video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and its novelization, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag.

Edward Kenway has received a positive reception for his charm and characterization as a morally ambiguous protagonist and self-made man and is considered to be one of the series' most popular characters.

McDevitt explained that Black Flag is at its core a story of immorality and repentance, and Edward Kenway is a married man whose strained relationship with his wife is one of the central struggles in the game.

Edward Kenway is voiced by Matt Ryan, who portrayed the character in a motion capture studio.

Ryan noted that unlike the majority of the game's cast of characters who are fictionalized versions of historical figures, Edward Kenway is an original character.

Unsatisfied with his wages on the farm, Edward Kenway quickly became a drunkard with dreams of becoming rich as a privateer.

Caroline lost faith in Edward Kenway and left him while concealing her pregnancy.

Edward Kenway left his homeland to search for his fortune, first as a privateer, then as a pirate.

Edward Kenway was active in the West Indies from 1712 to 1722 during the later years of the Golden Age of Piracy and was known for his close relationship with the likes of Adewale, Blackbeard, Mary Read and Anne Bonny.

Edward Kenway commanded the Jackdaw, a brig he had captured from the Spanish treasure fleet in 1715, and inadvertently became involved in the Assassins' and the Templars' search for an ancient place called the Observatory, which Edward intended to use for personal gain.

In 1722, Edward Kenway was informed of Caroline's passing two years prior and the existence of his daughter, Jennifer, and arranged to meet the latter.

Edward Kenway discovered several temples, including one underneath the ruins of Alamut Castle in the Holy Land, as well as an artifact known as the Shroud of Eden, which he subsequently hid in the Tower of London, until it was re-discovered by Albert, Prince Consort over a century later and relocated to Buckingham Palace.

In 1735, Edward discovered that Birch was secretly the Grand Master of the British Templars, but before he could act on this information, he was killed by masked assailants sent by Birch to break into the Kenway Mansion and steal Edward's journal.

Edward Kenway actively avoids choosing a side permanently, and is willing to utilize opportunities from both the Templars and the Assassins to achieve his goal.

Edward Kenway begins to have a change of heart following the death of Read, who had consistently appealed to Edward's conscience throughout their friendship, and permanently sides with the Assassins towards the end of his piracy career.

Edward Kenway is featured in Dead Men's Gold, a story arc from the 2018 mobile spin-off game Assassin's Creed: Rebellion, which serves as a prequel to the introduction sequence of Black Flag.

Edward Kenway is the central focus of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, the novelization of the 2013 video game, authored by Bowden, and Assassin's Creed: Awakening, a non-canonical manga adaptation of the game, written by Takashi Yano and illustrated by Kenji Oiwa.

In 2017, Edward Kenway appeared in the third issue of the Assassin's Creed: Reflections comic book miniseries, which recounts his final adventure in the Caribbean prior to settling down in England, and his encounter with infamous pirate Edward Kenway "Ned" Low.

Edward Kenway is the protagonist of the webtoon Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple, which follows his search for Pieces of Eden in East Asia a few years after the events of Black Flag and began publishing in April 2023.

Outside the Assassin's Creed series, Edward Kenway has been referenced in the 2020 game Watch Dogs: Legion, where a statue of the character can be found in an underground Assassin Tomb in London, as part of a non-canonical crossover between the Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs franchises.

Edward Kenway has been well received by video game journalists, with high placements on several "top character" ranking lists of Assassin's Creed series protagonists.

Edward Kenway found the character's privateer-turned-pirate background, a chancer looking for profit whose decision to steal the robes of a member of the Assassins sparks his growth from rebel to honorable captain, to be a "fresh perspective to the overarching narrative of the series".

Andrei Dobra from Softpedia interpreted McDevitt's statements about Edward Kenway in an interview with VG247 as indicative of a belief that the popularity of Black Flag is largely because the character is an unusual protagonist who trumps many established tropes concerning heroes in the franchise.

Evan Stallworth Carr from The Daily Californian found Edward Kenway to be "a deeply interesting character" who displays a "charismatic and outgoing personality" for his pirate persona.

Stephen Totilo was of the opinion that while the subplot involving the wife he left behind paid off beautifully at its conclusion, Edward Kenway is a "forgettable lead" and his character arc is "shallow".

Tom Phillips from Eurogamer found it to be a "surprisingly mature conclusion for a series all about stabbing people in the neck", as Edward Kenway finally gives up a life of piracy to settle down with his newly discovered daughter, and that it took the entirety of the narrative of Black Flag where his experiences of the deaths of all of his close friends and loved ones lead him to making a sensible decision about his life.