Playing the White Knight: Constructing Masculinity through Violence in Assassin’s Creed II

Abstract: While violence against women is tragically rampant both within digital games and in the real world, players of fantasy games are often forced to embody male “white knight” avatars who enact violence on behalf of women. Examining the white knight avatar of Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood reveals that these games assume the player is a heterosexual male who wishes to reaffirm his own masculinity through performing an idealized “white knight” role. Combining Judith Butler’s notion of gender performativity and Ian Bogost’s procedural rhetoric illustrates how these games construct and then fulfill a patriarchal male gender role reliant on obtaining dominance and power through violence, with the white knight serving as arbiter of acceptable and idealized masculinity. The underlying assumption in these depictions of gendered violence is that male aggression is honorable and gender-affirming if done within the context of protecting a helpless female friend or romantic interest. Importantly, many games do not give the player the opportunity to opt out of engaging with this gendered violence and do not provide alternative representations of masculinity as nonviolent. This examination concludes by offering examples of healthy constructions of masculinity in games that are not based in gendered violence and provides suggestions for game developers who wish to challenge heterosexist masculinity.