Aiden Pearce from the first entry of the Watch Dogs franchise has been revealed as a DLC character for Watch Dogs: Legion, but who exactly is the masked vigilante rightfully nicknamed “The Fox”? Let’s find out.
If you haven’t played Watch Dogs yet, your chances of knowing Aiden Pearce are likely slim. As we quickly approach the Oct. 29th release date for Watch Dogs: Legion, Ubisoft has begun to unveil their post-release plans, which includes the release of DLC characters.
As one of them, Aiden Pearce is among them, slated as the first of several. Getting to know him, is actually an important fact as his endeavors set forth the events of both DedSec and the entire Watch Dogs (included in the Watch Dogs: Legion Season Pass) franchise.
Aiden joins the hacktivist collective known as DedSec, a hacktivist group that seeks to take out those that threaten their safety, and the well being of all. But you might be wondering: How does Aiden bring all of this full circle, including the Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dog links, which all hinge upon the shady doings of the Blume corporation and Aiden Pearce’s assassination of a key figure from Assassin’s Creed: Origins.
The dark past of Aiden Pearce and what set his actions into motion
When it comes to Aiden’s past, there’s no escaping the fact that Aiden has a rap sheet almost a mile long. His history with run-ins with law enforcement is no secret as Aiden’s criminal history is filled with gang associations, violent tendencies, and a trigger finger to follow.
Eventually, Pearce became a worthwhile combatant in both close-quarters combat as well as marksmanship. Years later, he would become a talented thief, honing in his abilities of social engineering, psychology, and intimidation tactics, which led him into becoming acquainted with Damien Brenks, a fellow hacker.
However, all of their working together lead to Pearce’s undoing, also known as the Merlaut Job, the incident that led to the events of Watch Dogs and became the reason Pearce would work with DedSec while he did. It became his overall undoing and set him up to become “The Fox” or “The Vigilante”.
The Merlaut Job is the catalyst that set everything into motion
The Merlaut Job wasn’t beautiful, rather, it was one of the dirtiest jobs there was to be had when it came to backstabbing an acquaintance. Due to a job going wrong and paranoia, Dermont Quinn, also known as Lucky Quinn, felt he had been hacked for a video of a Chicago’s mayor murdering Rose Washington.
Due to his paranoia and misunderstanding of what had happened, Damien Brenks and Aiden Pearce would find hits put on their heads, a way to force them into submission, which ultimately led to Pearce’s niece, Lena Pearce, being killed in the attempted assassination.
After the failure of both the assassination and the Merlaut Job, Pearce would begin to hunt down those who killed his niece. He would begin investigating the identities of those who wronged him and took his niece’s life, which included him working with BadBoy17, a DedSec hacker, and Jordi Chin, a Fixer.
Pearce’s trail of vengeance brings an entire universe to life
Throughout his adventures, you find that Aiden begins to face down against an enemy similar to that of Abstergo who is slowly being tied to Blume, who also, just happens to operate the CtOS system in the Watch Dogs universe and ultimately allowing shady dealings under the table to occur so that others can use their CtOS system.
The big catch that links much of the universe to Assassin’s Creed is that Aiden Pearce has appeared in the series before when CCTV footage leaked of Aiden Pearce taking out Oliver Garneu, the CCO of Abstergo Entertainment (his CtOS profile has him as the CEO), which even took place during a mission called “Requiescat In Pace,” a phrase commonly used by Ezio Auditore in Assassin’s Creed 2.
Except, this is our only solid link to the two franchises connecting and being cannon to one another. However, it still sets fans awaiting more confirmation about the two worlds existing together, outside of fan-service based DLC.
Watch Dogs: Legion is set to release on Oct. 29th for PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One. Ubisoft has confirmed the game will feature a free upgrade to the next-gen versions.
About the Writer(s):
Dustin is our native video game reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook today.