Bayek of Siwa
Bayek of Siwa is a male video game character who features in Assassin's Creed.
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Biography
Bayek was a male human born in Siwa, Egypt in the year 85 BCE where he was the son of the Medjay Sabu and his wife Ahmose. As a young child, his family home was attacked by a grave robber named Menna with Bayek's mother protecting him whilst his father killed the invader. In his youth, he came to be friends with fellow Siwan Hepzefa and a Nubian girl named Kensa who came to teach him hunting.
By 70 BCE, he was still with his parents in Siwa where during this time he was involved with a Greek girl named Aya of Alexandria to whom he adored. They often went to the Hotep Cavern in the Qattara Depression where they fell in love. Bayek's father did not approve of their relationship as he knew that Aya's dream was to settle in Alexandria, and he feared that her mixed heritage would corrupt his teachings. Bayek had started training to be a Medjay, a protector of the community. A messenger arrived and relayed a message to Sabu. He briefly spoke with Rabiah. Sabu elected to leave Siwa without giving a reason other than it being safer for Siwa that he left. After discussing his decision with Rabiah and Ahmose, Bayek chose to follow his father and goes off in search of him. He initially traveled to the city of Zawty to find the messenger who had informed Sabu. In doing so he met Tuta, a boy street urchin, who ultimately misled Bayek, resulting in his purses being stolen. After chasing down the thief across rooftops, Bayek was nearly strangled to death by Tuta's father, Paneb. He was saved by Aya, who had followed him. She knocked out Paneb and the three of them, including Tuta, escape to Thebes.
There they met Kensa, but Bayek's father was not there. Word reached Bayek that Menna may be nearby to Thebes. With Kensa, Aya, Tuta, Seri, and Neka, they decided to go hunting for Menna. Neka was captured, before being tortured. He was saved by a brave night rescue by the others. During the battle, Menna escaped on a chariot. He was pursued by Bayek and Kensa, the latter felling their driver by arrow shot. Menna ultimately died in the chariot crash. Kensa received word that Sabu was being held in a pit at the island of Elephantine. As such, Bayek and Aya left with her in search. Undercover by a sandstorm, the group infiltrated the island of Elephantine. Sabu was not in the pit, but a deranged man was set there as a decoy. After they escaped the area guards, Sabu revealed himself to the group. Bion arrived, but he was caught in the trap and was injured, but managed to escaped.
Several years passed, and Sabu continued to train Bayek as a Medjay. In turn, Aya was trained by Bayek with Sabu's approval. They spent years training on the run across many villages. Eventually, Bayek asked for Aya's hand in marriage but she refused, citing that life as a Medjay's wife would be harsh and that she still dreamed to move back to Alexandria, where she hoped to become a scholar. After receiving news about her aunt having fallen ill, Aya opted to return to Siwa, but along the way encountered Bion, whom she unknowingly led back to Bayek and Sabu's hideout. As soon as he arrived at the camp, Bion let loose arrows that hit Sabu and sliced Bayek's stomach with a blade. All three men were ultimately injured in the ensuing battle, leading Sabu to push Bayek into a nearby river to save him. As a result, Sabu was struck down and killed by Bion. After witnessing his father's death, Bayek fell unconscious and was swept away to safety by the river.
Bayek was eventually pulled from the river by people aboard a boat who nursed him back to health over the course of four days. He then steadily traveled north, before disembarking to purchase a horse to get to Siwa. He arrived to find Aya safe with her aunt but was warned that Bion was somewhere nearby. Fearing for Ahmose's life, he immediately headed to his mother’s home along with Aya. Bion lied in wait and they all fought him until Ahmose critically wounded him in the process. With his dying breath, Bion revealed that a man named Raia had hired him to eradicate the Medjay bloodline. Not long after Bion's death, Bayek married Aya, who had decided to stay with him after all, and became the protector of Siwa. Eventually, Aya gave birth to their son, Khemu, in 56 BCE. Years later, Bayek traveled to Alexandria and killed Raia in his own home. Unbeknownst to the Medjay, Raia was a member of the Order of the Ancients, a powerful and secretive organization that sought to control all of Egypt. As the last Medjay of Siwa, Bayek was viewed as the respected protector of his community. To the rest of Egypt, however, he was seen as an inconvenient relic by those in power.
As a father, Bayek trained his son to follow in his footsteps and become a Medjay, teaching him the tradition of Old Egypt through the star's constellations. At some point, he also befriended a female eagle, Senu, who became a constant companion. The two shared a symbiotic relationship, as Bayek could see through the eyes of Senu. In 49 BCE, the pharaoh Ptolemy XIII visited Siwa. To celebrate the arrival of the pharaoh, Bayek was charged by the Oracle of Amun to hunt an ibex for a feast that night. Bayek hunted the animal with his son and Chenzira, a friend of Khemu. Afterwards, Bayek decided to test the courage of his son, asking him to leap from a cliff into the water below; in doing so, he hoped to teach Khemu to conquer his fears, much like his father had taught him many years prior. To Bayek's disappointment, however, Khemu was too scared by the heights and refused to jump. At that moment, they were interrupted by the screams of Chenzira in the distance. Bayek ordered Khemu to hurry back home while he went to investigate the potential danger. The Medjay was then confronted by a group of soldiers who had taken Chenzira hostage and demanded that Bayek follow them. After Chenzira ran away, Bayek attempted to fight the soldiers, but was ultimately overwhelmed, knocked unconscious and taken captive. Waking up in the Temple of Amun, Bayek was led by a masked man to a secret chamber underneath the temple where, to his dismay, he discovered that Khemu had also been captured by four other masked men. The masked figures showed Bayek a relic and demanded that he open the vault under the temple, believing that he would be able to do so due to his role as Medjay. Bayek, however, had no knowledge about the vault. Before the group could interrogate Bayek for more information, the pharaoh arrived at the temple. Khemu stole a knife from one of the masked men and succeeded in freeing his father, who attempted to take down the masked ones. He was subdued by one of them, who manipulated his attack and forced him to unintentionally stab Khemu in the heart, killing him. Before Bayek could respond, he was struck by the masked men and left for dead.
Overview
Personality and traits
In appearance, Bayek of Siwa was a tall, athletic man of Egyptian descent with dark brown skin, shaven head, and a trimmed beard that framed his strong, weathered features. His eyes, deep and resolute, carried the weight of both his losses and his purpose. Bayek’s clothing reflected his dual nature as both warrior and wanderer—he wore layered desert garb made of light linen, leather armor, and the traditional Medjay hood that became the Assassin’s symbol. His equipment included his curved khopesh blade, a bow, hidden blade, and a round shield bearing the sigil of the Medjay. His constant companion was Senu, a golden eagle that served as his scout. He was also by the alias of Amun.
During his childhood, he and his father spoke the Prayer of the Medjay every morning with this being a promise to those in need.
Bayek was shown as being a caring and loving father as well as husband who was a dutiful protector to his home of Siwa. He believed in two concepts namely freedom and the life of the innocent where both needed to be balanced on a scale.
After Khemu's death, Bayek's outlook on life changed somewhat as he hunted the people responsible. He came to vow to not rest until everyone involved had paid with their lives.
It was shown that he was a deeply pious man that greatly devoted to the Egyptian pantheon.
After forming the Hidden Ones, he came to regard its members as his being his new family and would go to great lengths to protect and advise them.
Powers and abilities
Bayek of Siwa was an ordinary human and thus had no superhuman powers or enhancements. As such, he had all the basic traits of a human being but developed them to extraordinary levels through rigorous training, combat experience, and his life as a Medjay. His physical conditioning allowed him to traverse deserts, climb mountains, and endure injuries that would cripple lesser men. Bayek’s proficiency in armed and unarmed combat was unmatched among his contemporaries; he mastered multiple weapon styles, from spears and swords to bows and shields. His agility and precision in stealth operations reflected years of discipline and adaptability. Beyond his physical prowess, Bayek’s intelligence and tactical insight made him a master hunter and investigator. He could track his enemies across vast landscapes, infiltrate guarded fortresses, and exploit terrain and environment to his advantage. Though mortal, his strength of will and clarity of purpose elevated him to the status of legend, remembered as both the last Medjay and the first Assassin.
He possessed the Eagle Vision that was an extrasensory perception or 'sixth sense' that allowed him to sense the locations of people in the immediate vicinity and objects related to them.
As a Medjay, Bayek was shown to be a highly skilled warrior who was trained in the arts of combat with him being able to engage multiple opponents simultaneously. He was able to wield a variety of weapons with these including; a khopesh, swords, bows, spears, axes and shields for protection. He possessed a Hidden Blade that he could use for stealth assassinations. Originally, he came to be trained by Kensa in the art of hunting where he came to be capable of killing several animals ranging from snakes, hippos, and crocodiles. He came to be skilled in combat as well as being an expert in stealth and freerunning.
He shared a symbiotic relationship with his eagle Senu who aided him by performing reconnaissance.
Bayek was one of the co-founder of the Hidden Ones that came to be the first official incarnation of the Assassin Brotherhood. In fact, he was responsible for created the Assassin's Creed that spoke against killing the innocent which stemmed from a time when his friend Gamilat killed an innocent person.
Notes
- Bayek of Siwa was created by Ubisoft Montreal and voiced by actor British actor Abubakar Salim where he made his first appearance in Assassin's Creed: Origins (2017).
In other media
Video games
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed: Origins: (2017)
External Link
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