Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Featured Welsh Content

Edward James Kenway is the main playable character in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. This pirate was born in the Welsh seaside city of Swansea on 10 March 1693 to father Bernard Kenway of Manchester, England and Linette Kenway of Cardiff, Wales. After moving to Bristol, England at the age of 10, Edward grew tired of the farming life and turned rebellious in his youth, before becoming the Welsh pirate players take the role of in the game.

Welsh actor Matt Ryan, also born in Swansea, portrays Edward in both voice and motion capture, with the character’s Welsh backstory written once the game’s lead scriptwriter, Darby McDevitt, asked Ryan to read lines in his native accent. So impressed was McDevitt by Ryan’s voice that he decided to make Edward’s origins that of a Welshman, using the actor’s input to craft an authentic and culturally Welsh character. Amusingly, McDevitt even spoke to Ryan’s father to learn some Welsh phrases and incorporated them into the dialogue.

Kenway names his ship the Jackdaw, “for a sly bird I loved as a child back in Swansea”, referencing the bird commonly found across Wales.

In a conversation with his second-in-command, Kenway says Adéwalé speaks “like a true Welshman” after the latter expresses a desire to steal gold from the British.

In another scene in Kingston, Antó, the West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins leader, refers to Kenway as an Englishman, but the pirate annoyingly corrects him by saying, “I’m Welsh”.

In one early scene, there is a character with a distinct Welsh accent that refers to himself as English. This could simply be an Englishman with a Welsh accent, or it may point to a broader topic entirely, where some Welshmen that were loyal to the king were happy to refer to themselves as English.

The Welsh pirate and privateer Captain Henry Morgan is referenced both in conversation and through obtainable equipment. An overheard discussion between two characters mentions Morgan’s real-life sacking of Panama in 1671, and Kenway is able to collect some of Morgan’s possessions from Black Island, including his redingote, pistols and ship sails.

The Welsh pirate Bartholomew Roberts, also known as Black Bart (Barti Ddu in Welsh), is a character that appears in the game. Roberts has a distinct Welsh accent and makes mention of the village he was born in, Casnewydd-bach in Pembrokeshire.

Fellow Welsh pirate Howell Davis, from Milford Haven, whom Roberts initially served under, also makes a minor appearance, where his ship can be followed by Kenway and his body is later discovered. Roberts wears Howell’s outfit going forward.

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