The Olympics 2024's hooded parkour man was in fact a reference to Assassin's Creed Unity's Arno

So, yeah, that hooded parkour man from this year’s Olympics opening ceremony was indeed supposed to be a reference to Assassin’s Creed Unity.

The Olympics 2024 Games’ opening ceremony gave us a protracted rundown of everything there is to know about French culture: a beheaded, maybe-Marie Antoinette lady trapped in a heavy metal performance, Celine Dion singing atop the Eiffel Tower, and a mysterious flag-bearer that ran and jumped across Paris’ rooftops in a familiar white hood.

I initially thought it was just a cute coincidence since the clip below doesn’t quite have the same iconic hood design from Assassin’s Creed, but nope, it seems like the Olympics actually went full-on with the video game reference.

I wasn’t certain how I was feeling about not having the Olympics Opening ceremony in a stadium for spectacle reasons but then we got Stomp and an Assassin’s Creed parkour bit and I’m all in. pic.twitter.com/S702MZNVUlJuly 26, 2024

As spotted by Eurogamer, publisher Ubisoft tweeted that we should “Keep an eye on Paris’ rooftops – Arno might just be watching from above,” in reference to the main character from Assassin’s Creed Unity.

Keep an eye on Paris’ rooftops—Arno might just be watching from above. pic.twitter.com/opqDU04XgoJuly 26, 2024

You might remember Assassin’s Creed Unity, which is somehow almost ten years old, as the gorgeous Paris-based entry in the stealthy stabathon series that launched with some major bugs and a subsequently dampened reception. But the years have been kind to Unity’s jaw-dropping city since post-launch updates have more or less cleaned up most people’s complaints.

Unity’s rendition of Paris was actually so realistic, in-game data of the Notre Dam was used to restore its real life counterpart after a disastrous fire. That makes the above Olympics nod all the more a fitting celebration of the French publisher’s storied series.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows debate somehow reached the Japanese government, who reportedly remind everyone that historical fiction isn’t really their concern at all.

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