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Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

GAME · 2013 · CANADA

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Developer
Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Romania, Ubisoft Kyiv
Platforms
Microsoft Windows, Wii U, PlayStation 3

32 archived facts 5 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026

  • Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag — production image

32 Interesting Facts About Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Interesting Facts (13)

  1. #001

    All of the subtitles in the game are written with every noun capitalised. This is because this is how English used to be written during the 17th and 18th centuries.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  2. #002

    Edward Kenway is the father of Haytham Kenway and the grandfather of Connor Kenway, the deuteragonist and protagonist of Assassin's Creed III (2012).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  3. #003

    This was the first of two installments in the series where the main protagonist did not wear a "beaked" hood; each of the other Assassin's had an eagle's beak designed to the front of their hoods.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  4. #004

    Features two actors that have portrayed characters from DC comics. Matt Ryan plays John Constantine in the NBC show Constantine (2014) and Sean Pertwee plays Alfred J. Pennyworth in Fox's Gotham (2014).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  5. #005

    Roger Craig Smith who voices Ruggerio Ferraro also voiced Ezio Auditore.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  6. #006

    Mark Bonnar developed Blackbeard's voice by walking around the city of Bristol and recording conversations with various residents he met. Then, while driving home, he listened to the tapes and tried to imitate the Bristol accent until he decided he had perfected it.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  7. #007

    When you exit the Animus in the game, a woman approaches you and tells you that Abstergo Industries CEO Olivier Garneau went to a meeting in Chicago but never returned. Chicago is the city where Watch Dogs (2014) is set, and in a side mission you kill Garneau. If you look at his profile on Aiden's phone, it says 'targeted by the Brotherhood,' showing that the two games take place in the same universe.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  8. #008

    In all the subtitles in the game, every name is capitalized. The reason is that English was written this way in the 17th and 18th centuries.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  9. #009

    Edward's voice actor, Matt Ryan, initially chose to voice the character with a Manchester accent. However, when the producers heard his natural Welsh accent, they asked him to speak Edward with his own accent. As a result, Edward's story was rewritten so that he was born to a farming family in Swansea, Wales.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  10. #010

    Unlike most Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed protagonists, Edward is not motivated by revenge or the memory of a deceased relative. For most of the game, what drives him is the desire for great wealth, fame and victory.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  11. #011

    Even though this is an Assassin's Creed game, the main character is not an Assassin and does not officially join the order until the end of the game. False rumors have circulated about Edward Kenway, such as that he was a pirate trained by the Assassins or that he was both at once. In reality, he lived only as a pirate before joining the Brotherhood.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  12. #012

    Edward Kenway is the father of Haytham Kenway, the secondary protagonist of Assassin's Creed III (2012), and the grandfather of its main protagonist, Connor Kenway.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

  13. #013

    The game features two actors who have portrayed characters from DC comics. Matt Ryan played John Constantine in the NBC series Constantine (2014), and Sean Pertwee played Alfred J. Pennyworth in Fox's Gotham (2014).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Production Story (5)

  1. #014

    This was the first of two installments in the series where the main protagonist did not wear a "beaked" hood; each of the other Assassins had an eagle's beak designed to the front of their hoods.

    PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

  2. #015

    Edward's voice actor, Matt Ryan, chose to voice him with a Mancunian accent (a dialect of English spoken in the English city of Manchester). However, after the game developers heard his natural Welsh accent, they asked if he could voice Edward using his native Welsh accent. As a result, Edward's back story was re-written to have him born in Swansea, Wales to a farming family.

    PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

  3. #016

    Carsten Myhill, lead content manager for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, rejected the view that the game should have been a spin-off like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood or Assassin's Creed: Revelations, arguing that its fresh feeling, setting, attitude and tone justified the numbered Assassin's Creed IV title.

    PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

  4. #017

    Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was the first numbered main-series entry in the franchise to carry a subtitle, a choice Myhill said was intended to set its pirate theme apart from the rest of the series.

    PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

  5. #018

    Director Ashraf Ismail modeled the open world of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag on Super Mario 64's approach, using a hub world with pockets of maps filled with content.

    PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

Behind the Scenes (3)

  1. #019

    Ralph Ineson spent several hours researching Charles Vane online, out of concern he would have to do an accent for the role. When he discovered that Vane's accent and birthplace were never recorded in any historical documents, he decided to use his natural speaking voice for the character.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  2. #020

    Mark Bonnar came up with Blackbeard's voice by traveling around the city of Bristol and recording his conversations with various residents he encountered. Then, when during the car ride home, he listened to the tapes and practiced mimicking the Bristol accent until he decided he had perfected it.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

  3. #021

    In November 2013, Ubisoft funded the exhumation of the remains of the Spanish corsair Amaro Pargo so that his face could be reconstructed for a possible appearance in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. The exhumation produced significant findings about the corsair's physiognomy.

    BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

Characters & Cast (6)

  1. #022

    Edward Kenway is listed as being born in Swansea, Wales, which is the same place of birth for his voice actor, Matt Ryan.

    CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

  2. #023

    Unlike most Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed protagonists, Edward is uniquely not motivated by revenge or the memory of a deceased relative. Throughout most of the game, gaining great fortune, fame and glory is Edward's motivation.

    CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

  3. #024

    Before Edward's captaincy, his ship was called the 'El Dorado' and sailed in the Spanish Treasure Fleet. He then rechristened it the 'Jackdaw', after a small bird of the same name.

    CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

  4. #025
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    Edward Kenway's death is not shown in game, but in the sequel comic, he is killed when the Templars break into his home while he is sleeping and stab him to death. Then, they take his kids, Haytham and Jennifer. Haytham is raised to become a member of the Templar order, while Jennifer is sold to Turkish slavers as a concubine.

    CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

  5. #026
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    The "twist" of James Kidd being revealed as a woman named Mary Read should be very obvious to most players, as the character's voice never changes and James is clearly voiced by a woman.

    CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

  6. #027
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    Despite this being an AC entry, the main character of the game is not an Assassin and does not become one until nearing the end of the game. There was also much false propaganda surrounding Edward Kenway; saying that he was a pirate who was trained by the Assassins or that he was both at the same time. In truth, he never trained with the Assassins and lived solely as a pirate before officially joining the Brotherhood.

    CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

Easter Eggs & References (5)

  1. #028

    In your cubicle, books can be found such as "Assassin's Creed: The Fall" and "Assassin's Creed III: Forsaken". These are real books by Oliver Bowden (Anton Gill) that tell the Assassin's story in greater detail.

    EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

  2. #029

    A certain document found on an Abstergo computer lists the time eras that Desmond had Assassin ancestors in. With many of these having been done (Crusades, Italian Renaissance), it is thought by players that the other periods listed will appear in future games. Their theories are supported by the fact that the French Revolution was on the list, and has been the setting of a game: Assassin's Creed: Unity (2014).

    EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

  3. #030

    In this game, a woman comes to you when you're out of the Animus and tells you that the head of Abstergo Industries, Olivier Garneau, had a meeting in Chicago (where Watch Dogs (2014) takes place) but hasn't returned. In one Watch Dogs side mission, you kill Garneau. Should the player then decide to profile Garneau with Aiden's phone, his descriptor even reads "Targeted by the Brotherhood", clearly referencing the Assassin brotherhood in these games. This puts both games in the same universe.

    EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

  4. #031

    During the present day, the player accesses "Market Analysis" of previous Assassin's Creed characters. In the one for Ezio Auditore, the narrator keeps mispronouncing Ezio's name as "Enzio." This was done on purpose, as both the Marketing Analysis Director and Ezio Auditore share the same voice actor: Roger Craig Smith.

    EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

  5. #032
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    The theater Edward and his children visit at the end of the game is the same one Haytham attends at the beginning of Assassin's Creed III (2012).

    EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

Sources & editorial notes

Sources for the entries on this page

  1. Wikipedia Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag — WikipediaEncyclopedia · accessed 17 Sep 2026

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