Aveline de Grandpré

During an interview with Evan Narcisse from Kotaku, Liberation writer Jill Murray explained that Aveline was concepted by developmental staff at Ubisoft Sofia at the beginning of the project, which predated her involvement.[2] She noted that the studio "did their research and decided from the beginning that a woman Assassin of French and Haitian descent would be a compelling character".[2] Along with co-writer Richard Fareze (sic), the formal research they relied on were official documents from the era that directly impacted life for the characters of Liberation, in particular the Code Noir, a French legal document which defined the conditions and rules of slavery in territories under French sovereignty.[2] Murray also read slave narratives from various eras to immerse herself into their experiences and reactions people, along with their use of written language.[2] Murray said she also took inspiration from informal conversations with people, particularly if their own experiences are relevant to the subject matter she explores as part of her work.[2]

In response to a line of questioning from Narcisse as to whether it was a conscious decision or a coincidence that Aveline's character arc incorporated tropes such as the "tragic mulatto", "slave revenge" and the "Back-to-Africa movement", Murray indicated that her approach to text, as informed by her work background in theatre production, is with an eye for how to bring worlds and characters to life, rather than critical analysis for its own sake from an English or cultural studies perspective.[2] Murray explained that Aveline's arc should not be interpreted as an attempt to reflect the entirety of the 18th century black experience as she is "an individual, not a people or an issue".[2] Thus, Murray and her co-writer would look for other opportunities to represent different points of view through the characters Aveline meets, who are depicted as an array of individuals attempting to survive and carve out their own destinies in diverse ways.[2] For example, the backstory of Aveline's mother Jeanne, from her abduction into a life of slavery and becoming the placée of Aveline's French father Philippe Olivier de Grandpré, is recounted in a series of diary entries which Aveline could collect in the game world. Aveline also meets a man who has no territory he feels he can call home, and comes into conflict with a former slave who has opted to fight for the English as a soldier in exchange for his freedom.[2]

With regards to Aveline's presentation as a female protagonist in the Assassin's Creed franchise, Murray noted that it has not changed how the game itself is presented, though the actual game mechanics introduced "some fresh energy and some new opportunities" into the game's design.[3] Murray was of the view that it is necessary to rebut incorrect assumptions and misconceptions about the perceived risks involving the creation and inclusion characters from minority groups, noting that writers should have to rise to the occasion if they believe in their characters, and show themselves and people they work with how to portray them successfully. She emphasized that "this does not require magic, scary effort—it's effort anyone can put in. It's fun, it adds variety, and it makes a lot of players feel good."[2]

Aveline has access to three personas in Liberation: besides her well-armed Assassin persona, she also has the "lady" persona, a respectable businesswoman who is following in her father's footsteps, and a "slave" persona where she is able to blend in among black slaves who have similar backgrounds as her mother.[3] Each persona is more than a change in physical attire as she exhibits different abilities, and alters the way she interacts with her environment as well as how characters respond to her; guards will attempt to protect her from danger when Aveline assumes her "lady" persona, whereas they will react with hostility if she is encountered as an Assassin.[3] Murray suggested that with each persona, Aveline attempts to see where within the society of New Orleans she fits, and that she truly becomes herself whenever she assumes the Assassin persona, as it is a combination of every aspect of her identity which she grows into and comes to inhabit.[3] Many of Aveline's in-game movements for Liberation were taken directly from those designed for the lead character of Assassin's Creed III: only a handful of her animations, such as walking and running, were replaced.[4] Weapons employed by Aveline include dueling pistols, a cane knife, a whip she appropriates from a slave master at a predetermined point in the narrative of Liberation, poison darts fired from a blowgun or a modified parasol, and the Brotherhood of Assassins' signature Hidden Blade.

Like other protagonists in the series, Aveline has been subject to merchandise. A promotional video featuring a limited edition figurine of Aveline was uploaded to Ubisoft's official YouTube account in November 15, 2018.[6] Aveline's likeness, along with five other series protagonists, was used for a line of character-themed wine labels as part of a joint collaboration between Ubisoft and winemaker Lot18; the full name of her label is "2017 Aveline de Grandpré Appellation Côtes du Rhône Contrôlée".[7]

As a character, Aveline has been mostly well received. She is considered to be one of the most notable black characters in video game history.[8] Evan Narcisse from Kotaku wrote positively of the character on more then one occasion, and believed that she is a "great black game character".[9][2] He was intrigued by the idea of Aveline because of her ethnic background and that it is uncommon for a character like her to be in the leading role of a major video game.[9] In an article published for Kotaku in February 2013, Narcisse considered Liberation to be the "best example of how to craft a character descended from African heritage in a video game", as it takes a historical moment where the action happens and finds ways to integrate the experience of being a mixed-race woman in 18th Century New Orleans into an interesting playable adventure.[2] Conversely, Narcisse expressed disappointment that Aveline was voiced by a white actress, and contrasted the decision to the casting of an actor who has Blackfoot heritage for Connor, a character of Native American descent.[10]

Chris Suellentrop from The New York Times suggested that Aveline may have been "the greatest black heroine in the history of video games" in an article dated January 2014, and that she is deserving of a wider audience which he believed the early 2014 release of the high-definition makeover of Liberation for platforms far more popular then the PlayStation Vita should provide.[11] Suellentrop commented that while neither the original version of Liberation nor the remastered version were very good, with aspects such as gameplay, storytelling and voice acting being of questionable quality at best, he has yet to encounter a game which deals with the history and imagery of slavery in the New World in intimate detail through Aveline's story arc, and that the game demonstrates a level of sensitivity and intelligence in its approach.[11] Mike Williams from US Gamer agreed that Liberation is a flawed game, though he enjoyed the exploration of Aveline's role in New Orleans as an assassin and as the free daughter of a former slave, and expressed hope that the remastered version of the game would enjoy a new, wider audience.[5] Jef Rouner from Houston Press noted that Aveline was discussed extensively during the controversy surrounding gender options for the cooperative mode of Assassin's Creed Unity in 2014, as some quarters considered her to be an inferior series protagonist as the original version of Liberation was perceived to be a portable spin-off which lacked the distinctive gameplay of the mainline console entries, though Rouner emphasized that she is still "pretty badass".[12] On the other hand, Tobias Kraft criticized Aveline's characterization in his chapter of the book New Orleans and the Global South: Caribbean, Creolization, Carnival as "shallow" and that her motivations never goes beyond the "obvious trail" of heroic solidarity and individual sacrifice, and said that she falls short of the standards set by Jean Genet's Les Negres".[13]

The Guardian staff included her in their list of "30 truly interesting female game characters", commenting that her ability to change her appearance in order to alter how other characters treat her is apt for the nature of her position as the series' first female protagonist, and noted that while Ubisoft may have received criticism for its attitude towards female characters, she was never reduced into being a mere love interest to Connor at the very least.[14] Aveline placed favorably in ranking lists of Assassin's Creed series protagonists; PC Gamer said she is "infinitely more interesting than boring old Connor",[15] while GAMINGBible praised her inherent badassery and her ability to exploit contemporary expectations of her race and gender to achieve her goals.[16]

For their work as co-writers of the script for Liberation, Richard Farrese and Jill Murray were awarded Outstanding Achievement in Writing Videogame Writing at the 2013 Writers Guild of America Awards.[17]

In a 2015 panel titled "The Visual Politics of Play: On the Signifying Practices of Digital Games", Professor Anna Everett was of the view that Ubisoft's decision to feature Aveline as a lead character of a major video game franchise, while commendable, is undermined by the fact that Liberation is set in the colonial period of slavery which is "overdetermined in both its willingness to address this ignoble past and, arguably, its unwillingness to craft a powerful contemporary black shero tackling racial justice issues in the 21st century".[18] The panel's chair, Professor Soraya Murray, devoted the first chapter of her 2017 book On Video Games: The Visual Politics of Race, Gender and Space to analyze Aveline's role within the narrative of Liberation and the franchise as a whole.[19]

• History of New Orleans