Assassin’s Creed Origins: Is Bayek Desmond’s Ancestor?

Is Bayek Desmond’s Ancestor in Assassin’s Creed Origins?

There are some spoilers ahead concerning Desmond Miles and events tied to him in Assassin’s Creed as well as Assassin’s Creed Origins. Read at your own risk.

For those new to Assassin’s Creed, Desmond Miles was one of the main protagonists of the series. In fact, without Desmond, none of the adventures would’ve been possible. He was a key component to the Animus Project since it was his DNA that provided us the memories of each assassin. This was because all of the assassins were actually Desmond’s ancestors.

As fans know, Desmond actually dies at the end of Assassin’s Creed III, sacrificing himself for humanity (newcomers, the story is pretty deep with a lot of moving parts but we broke that down for you). Abstergo still had access to his DNA which is why we had more individuals to explore.

Yet, things are different in Assassin’s Creed Origins. Players, through rogue Abstergo employee Layla Hassan, jump into the memories of Bayek of Siwa, a Medjay in ancient Egypt. She accesses his DNA by connecting a portable Animus to his mummified corpse within his tomb.

Yeah, that’s some pretty serious desecration, but it does allow players to experience the Egyptian civil war, see Cleopatra, and fight some hippos (which is incredibly frightening). However, it also shows that this wasn’t DNA available within Abstergo. Instead, it’s completely separate from Desmond Miles (AKA Subject 17).

Yet, eagle-eyed fans may notice that Bayek shares a resemblance to some of the previous assassins in the series, namely a scar on his lips. Desmond had it, as did Altair (the assassin from the very first game). However, it may just be a coincidence.

You see, Bayek has no children, and, as part of the story, he and his wife go their separate ways to spread the brotherhood. It seems that while Bayek can be credited for giving all of Desmond’s ancestors a start (he created the group they all eventually join, after all), that’s his only relation to the likes of Altair, Ezio, Connor, and the rest. At least… as far as we know as of the end of Assassin’s Creed Origins. If anything else comes up, we’ll be sure to update.

For more on Assassin’s Creed Origins, be sure to check out our wiki.