North, it's impossible to shake the feeling of pure monotony when stepping into Desmond's shoes when all you want to do is hop back in time and stab people in the face." The significance of Desmond as an atypical video game protagonist and as a character study on posthumanism is analyzed by Aubrie Adams in the 2017 publication 100 Greatest Video Game Characters. Adams commented that as his mind travel through time and experiences the memories of his ancestors, aided by the technological innovations of science fiction plot devices like the Animus, his body appears to have become increasingly unnecessary throughout the franchise. From this view, the technology that enables him to transcend the biological limitations of his frail body taps into a cultural zeitgeist that desire the idea of extending life throughout technology. Adams cited the character's continued presence in the storylines of later games in spite of his apparent death in Assassin's Creed III, along with fan theories and official in-game lore which confirm the persistence of his consciousness in the virtual environment, which is indicative of his conclusive change into a posthuman character who transcended his trivial need for a physical form. Adams highlighted the significance of the introduction of Desmond as a character during a time period when white hypermasculine player characters were the norm in the video game industry, emphasizing in particular his depiction as a subdued protagonist who is psychologically complex, and of an ambiguous ethnicity as the result of his diverse ancestral heritage. The story arc in the early Assassin's Creed titles centered around Desmond, where his identity gradually evolves from a blank state who subsumes the characteristics and skills of others into a highly skilled Master Assassin, is also marked by his evolving individuality as he comes to terms with his shifting personal identity and acceptance that he is part of a lineage that is bigger then the sum of its parts. Adams commented that there is a compelling depth to Desmond as character but only if players are willing to engage in the largely optional experiences that follow his psychological journey and illuminate the details of his past. References Bibliography Assassin's Creed characters Fictional characters with retrocognition Fictional aikidoka Fictional karateka Fictional judoka Fictional taekwondo practitioners Fictional hapkido practitioners Fictional Krav Maga practitioners Fictional American people in video games Fictional European-American people Fictional Chinese American people Fictional Italian American people Fictional