Bayek of Siwa

Bayek was British actor Abubakar Salim's first major acting role.[13] The role of Bayek was originally advertised as an animated TV series that involved motion capture.[14] Salim recalled that when he reached the audition room, he was asked to read a completely different character, which lasted two rounds, before being informed that the role he auditioned for was in fact the protagonist of the next Assassin’s Creed video game.[15] A self-confessed fan of the video game series, Salim initially reacted with shock, as well as elation at the realization that he would follow iconic series characters Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze.[14] On developing a voice for Bayek, Salim said that it was a collaborative creative process with the developers, and they worked a lot on building the in-universe world and defined the rules as they went along.[14] He noted that while there are no recordings which show how an ancient Egyptian accent would really sound like, it was important that they could develop, with assistance from multiple experts on ancient Egyptian culture, an accent that was recognizable but not too similar to the modern Egyptian accent.[14] Salim recalled that the script for Origins contained many phrases and slang from the developer's idea of the historic Egyptian language to make dialogue a little more colourful, and that he was particularly fond of the Egyptian swear words.[14]

To perform his role, Salim wears a lycra suit and a large helmet, with an attached camera directed towards his face. He noted that the motion capture process would take place in one space without transitioning to another physical set or any interference from lighting issues, and that the camera's precise position is not important as it would be taken care of by staff in the editing room; the focus is on his interactions with the other actor.[14] For performance capture of combat situations, he is given a stick with a ball attached and a dustbin lid to simulate a sword and shield respectively.[14] For Salim, a motion capture performance felt liberating compared to theatre performance in front of a live audience or for film performance where camera positioning is very important.[14] In a later interview, Salim reflected that his work for Origins gave him a better insight into the development process for video games, which eventually inspired him to pursue a career in video game development and establish his own studio, Silver Rain Games.[13]

Bayek first appears as a vengeful individual who assassinates a man known as Rudjek "The Heron". Bayek regroups with his best friend Hepzefa, and returns to his hometown of Siwa to kill Medunamun, a local priest known as "The Ibis", who has been torturing the locals for information to open the same vault. It is later revealed in a flashback sequence that he is a prominent member of Egyptian society due to his status as a Medjay, who was abducted along with his son Khemu by a group of masked men and taken to an underground vault in the Temple of Amun. The masked men gave Bayek a dormant artifact and demanded that he use it to open a secret vault. Khemu helps Bayek escape, but while struggling with one of the masked men, Bayek accidentally kills Khemu. He then goes into self-imposed exile to plot his revenge against his abductors. Bayek travels to Alexandria, where he reunites with his wife Aya. Aya reveals that she has already killed Actaeon "The Vulture" and Ktesos "The Ram", leaving only one target left, "The Snake". Bayek identifies the Royal Scribe Eudoros as The Snake, but Bayek is disturbed by Eudoros' last words, which imply that there are more masked men. Aya directs Bayek to her friend Apollodorus the Sicilian for more information. Apollodorus introduces him to Cleopatra, who confirms that the masked men are members of the Order of Ancients. Cleopatra claims that the Order attempts to remove her from power and seeks to control all of Egypt by using her brother Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator as their puppet.

Cleopatra gives Bayek four new targets: Taharqa "The Scarab", Khaliset "The Hyena", Hetepi "The Lizard" and Berenike "The Crocodile". He tracks them down and kills them while Aya convinces Pompey the Great to ally with Cleopatra. Bayek receives a letter from Aya explaining that there are more members of the Order at large, including members of Ptolemy's royal guard who are the likely culprits responsible for Khemu's death. Bayek begins to question his mission, believing Cleopatra is using him to kill her rivals. Pompey is brutally murdered by Lucius Septimius, "The Jackal", forcing Bayek and Aya to sneak Cleopatra into the palace to meet Julius Caesar, where she impresses Caesar and secures his support in her civil war against Ptolemy XIII. During a battle between the two rival pharaohs and their forces, Bayek kills Pothinus, "The Scorpion", but is stopped from killing Septimius by Caesar, while Ptolemy gets eaten by crocodiles when he tries to flee across the Nile. Cleopatra secures the throne as undisputed ruler in the aftermath of the civil war and cuts ties with Bayek and Aya, which led them to realize that Cleopatra and Caesar are now allied with the Order. Bayek gathers his allies and supporters to form a brotherhood of covert agents to counter the Order and defend the free will of the Egyptian people through deception, espionage, and sabotage.

Bayek and Aya later discovers the Order's interest in the tomb of Alexander the Great, where they find a mortally wounded Apollodorus, who warns them that Caesar's lieutenant Flavius Metellus is "The Lion" and the true leader of the Order, and that he had taken the Orb and a Staff from the tomb and is en route to Siwa. After murdering Hepzefa in an attempt to open the secret vault in Siwa, Flavius travels to Cyrene, where he activates the artifacts to hold the population in thrall. Bayek locates and kills Flavius, and then meets with Aya, who has recruited Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus to their cause and intends to travel to Rome in order to assassinate Caesar and his advisor Septimius, the final survivor of the masked men. Bayek and Aya amicably end their relationship as husband and wife and part ways, but continue to work together as members of the Hidden Ones, an organization they originally founded in response to betrayal by Cleopatra and Caesar. Bayek devised the Assassin Brotherhood's Creed and its strict tenets on discretion and never harming an innocent life, and increased the scope of their mission agenda to protect the rest of the world from the shadows.

Bayek is the protagonist of the story-driven expansion DLC's for Origins, The Hidden Ones and The Curse of the Pharaohs. As leader of the Hidden Ones, he would sometimes sign letters of correspondence under the alias of Amun.

A teenaged Bayek is the protagonist of Assassin's Creed: Desert Oath, which serves as a prequel story to Origins. In Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Bayek may be recruited as a simulated lieutenant on the ship Adrestia; players can unlock this feature via Ubisoft Club.[16] He is available as an unlockable character for Assassin's Creed: Rebellion, a mobile free-to-play strategy RPG action game. As part of an event crossover with Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise, Bayek's layered armor was available for a limited time and unlockable by players who completed seasonal challenge rewards for Monster Hunter: World.[17]