Nearly one month after its release, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is proving to be one of the most popular games of 2025. According to industry analyst Mat Piscatella, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been the best-selling game in the United States for three weeks and has become the second best-selling game in 2025 so far. Many Assassin’s Creed fans are likely celebrating Shadows’ success, some are still looking to the franchise’s future with the series' next upcoming mainline title, Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe. While little is currently known about this game, one mysterious character from Shadows could tie the two games together in an intriguing way: the Spanish Assassin Alvaro Catarribera.
How Assassin's Creed Shadows Sets Up the Claws of Awaji DLC
Assassin's Creed Shadows' upcoming major expansion, Claws of Awaji, is more organically set up to carry on from the events of the base plot.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Alvaro Catarribera Explained
Throughout the beginning of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the story of Fujibayashi Naoe’s mother and her family’s connection to the Assassin Brotherhood was shrouded in mystery. It’s only after Naoe and Yasuke meet Tokugawa Ieyasu and re-encounter Hattori Hanzo that Naoe’s Assassin lineage is revealed. After exploring a kofun once used by Assassins as a headquarters, Naoe and Yasuke discover a journal once owned by a foreigner named Alvaro Catarribera. Yasuke is able to translate the journal to Naoe, and the animus briefly plays select thoughts and memories of Catarribera to the currently unknown modern-day character. Alvaro Catarribera was once a member of the Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins sometime during the 16th century.
Catarribera was a dedicated member of the Brotherhood, constantly fighting for the liberation of others and living by the standards of the Assassin’s Creed. This was until one mission wherein Catarribera accidentally killed an innocent young girl with his hidden blade. Despite being mournful and repentant for his actions, Catarribera was excommunicated from the Spanish Brotherhood. Tormented with nightmares, Catarribera traveled across the world to places such as Malaysia, Taiwan, and China. Here, in Macao, China, Catarribera came upon two Templars and discovered their plot to expand their influence to Japan. Catarribera followed the Templars to Japan in 1549, where he found a renewed drive to live up to the Assassin’s Creed’s tenets of liberty and protection of the innocent.
Alvaro Catarribera’s Foundation of the Japanese Brotherhood of Assassins
During his early travels in Japan near Nagasaki, Catarribera rescued a young girl named Tsuyu, who would go on to become Fujibayashi Nagato’s wife and mother to Naoe. Together, Catarribera and Tsuyu founded the Japanese Brotherhood of Assassins, otherwise known as the Kakushiba ikki, with Tsuyu being his first recruit. The two Assassins quickly found new recruits and allies in the form of Fujibayashi Nagato, Hattori Hanzo, Momochi Sandayu, and others, including Emperor Go-Nara, who entrusted the Assassins with the protection of the three Imperial Regalia from the growing Templar threat. Eventually, Catarribera chose to leave Japan for parts unknown but promoted Tsuyu to lead the Kakushiba ikki as a Master Assassin before his departure.
Only Alvaro Catarribera’s voice is heard in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but his physical appearance could be seen in the ongoing prequel manga Assassin's Creed: Shadows – Iga no Monogatari, released simultaneously with the game on March 20th, 2025.
Alvaro Catarribera’s Potential Role in Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe and Beyond
It’s currently unknown when Alvaro Catarribera was born or how old he was by the time of Naoe and Yasuke’s founding of the new Kakushiba ikki in 1582. Given his travels and landing in Japan in 1549, it could be estimated that Catarribera is around 50–70 years old if he is still alive during Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ main events and if he left Spain in his 20s, 30s, or 40s. If Catarribera is alive during Shadows’ events, he could potentially appear in Assassin’s Creed: Codename Hexe. First revealed back in 2022, Codename Hexe will be the next mainline Assassin’s Creed game after Shadows, with an expected release sometime in 2026 due to Shadows’ many delays.
Not much is officially known about Codename Hexe, but rumors and leaks have suggested that the game will be set during the 16th or 17th century witch trials in the Holy Roman Empire. If these rumors turn out to be true, Codename Hexe could potentially feature Alvaro Catarribera in a variety of ways. Witch trials and executions occurred throughout the Holy Roman Empire as early as the 1400s to as late as the late 1700s, so Catarribera could appear in the game either during his time with the Spanish Brotherhood in the early 1500s or post-Japanese Brotherhood in the late 1500s or early 1600s. If it’s the former, Codename Hexe could show players how Catarribera became excommunicated. Otherwise, Codename Hexe could show Catarribera traveling to Europe to connect his Kakushiba ikki with the European Assassins.
The Potential Appearance of Alvaro Catarribera in Assassin’s Creed Shadows DLC
While Alvaro Catarribera could prove to be an interesting connection between Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Codename Hexe, if he does return to Europe in the upcoming game, he may still appear in future Shadows DLC. The only DLC confirmed for Shadows so far is the Claws of Awaji Expansion, which is set on the island of Awaji and slated to release sometime in 2025.
With Naoe and Yasuke attempting to reclaim a powerful lost treasure on Awaji, likely a Piece of Eden, Catarribera could pop up to aid the two after hearing about the original Kakushiba ikki’s destruction and the disappearance of this treasure. Catarribera’s appearance in the DLC could allow for more backstory and still lead to his appearance in Codename Hexe if he decides to leave for European Assassin aid afterward.
Assassin's Creed Shadows
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 81 /100 Critics Rec: 82%
- Released
- March 20, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft Quebec
- Publisher(s)
- Ubisoft
