| Tavon Freeman | |
|---|---|
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| Biographical information | |
| Born |
2 October 1999 |
| Political information | |
| Affiliations | |
| Real-world information | |
| Appears in | |
Tavon Freeman (born 1999) is a college senior attending the University of Chicago and majoring in Anthropology. He is the descendant of the 16th century Afar warrior Qali.
In 2022, during his final semester of college, Tavon began work on writing his thesis. This led to Tavon using a hacked Helix to relive his ancestor's memories to research and document Afar culture for his thesis. Through Qali's memories, Tavon accidentally uncovered the existence of the Assassin-Templar War, making him a person of interest to Abstergo Industries.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Tavon was born in Houston to Virgil and Denise Freeman. From a young age, Tavon was taught about racism in the United States and promptly instructed to always be vigilant and keep himself out of situations that could risk him harm as a black child. Despite this, they also taught him to not be a coward and to always stand up for what's right - but to be smart about it.
He heeded his parents words but for the majority of his life, he had not experienced anything as drastic as his parents had warned him in his childhood. During middle school, he met a Mexican boy named Eduardo "Eddie" Céspedes. Their shared hobboy of skateboarding quickly made the two fast friends.
In February 2017, following the election and inauguration of 45th President Donald Trump, Tavon and Eddie were hanging out at their local skate park. They were then come upon by five other skateboarders, revealing themselves to be Trump supporters who began hurling insults and derogatory comments to both Tavon and Eddie, but mainly Eddie. After calling Eddie a racial term and telling him to "go back to his country", a brawl then ensued with Tavon and Eddie defending themselves against their attackers. Not a great fighter, Tavon was knocked out and Eddie was subsequently killed after receiving a fatal blow to his head. Following this, the three attackers fled before police could arrive. Upon waking up, Tavon learned that Eddie had passed.
Shortly after this, Tavon played an important part in identifying their attackers and having them sent to prison for Eddie's murder. From that day forth, he had finally experienced what his parents had warned him about years prior. Not wanting to sit idly by and continue to allow this to happen to others, Tavon desired to educate himself and learn of other cultures in order to spread knowledge and eradicate intolerance.
Researching Qali's memories[]
In the following years, Tavon developed an interest in anthropology borne of his desire to become open minded - an interest which he would pursue upon attending college in Chicago. While at college, he became roommates with Marcus Faheem, an electrical engineering major, and the two eventually became close friends. During Tavon's final year of college, he formed an idea for his thesis topic by exploring the genetic memories of his distant ancestors and directly experiencing their lives and cultures.
Having already purchased a Helix console some time prior for gaming purposes, Tavon was aware of the Animus technology inside. Tavon garnered the aid of Marcus to use his electrical engineering capabilites to modify his Helix to allow Tavon to relive the memories of his own ancestors instead of playing through the memories of another. Aware of his Ethiopian ancestry through a DNA test his mother had done some years prior, Tavon decided to base his research on Ethiopian culture during the Ethiopian-Adal War, finding the time period interesting. Once Marcus had successfully tinkered with Tavon's Helix, he began reliving the memories of his ancestor during his designated time period.
Meeting Gwen Williams[]
Following exploring the memories of his ancestor Qali's early life, Tavon is retracted from his Helix by Marcus. Fearing that he'd been inside for too long. Marcus asks Tavon what he found and what it was like, exploring his own ancestor's memories. Tavon tells him of Qali and of Afar culture, sharing he was not aware of his Afar ancestry but that experiencing life back then was surreal.
After a brief conversation between the two, Marcus notifies Tavon of a party currently ongoing and expresses his desire to visit. Tavon sees its at a frat house and expresses his desire to not go, however, Marcus states that it is their final semester and that they should take advantage of college life as much as they can before they are forced into "boring post-grad life". Tavon relents and agrees to go to the party with Marcus.
The two attend the party and Marcus immediately vanishes into the party, leaving Tavon alone. Annoyed at Marcus' antics, Tavon goes to find a drink and stands by the table - unsure of what to do. He is then approached by another student who greets him, she comments of his seeming lack of interest to party. She introduces herself as Gwen Williams and the two continue to converse with Tavon revealing his thesis topic. Developing an interest, Gwen requests to be present at one of his Helix sessions.
During this conversation, Tavon notes that Gwen has a striking resemblence to Saami, Qali's lover. They are then interrupted by a drunk student, a quarterback named Elliot. Elliot harasses Gwen who is visibly disinterested. Tavon stands up to Elliot, telling him to leave her alone but is then assaulted by the drunk quarterback.
With the intervention of Gwen, who bottles Elliot, she and Marcus help Tavon out of the party. Following this, Tavon develops a sexual interest in Gwen.
Ancestry[]
Tavon comes from a line of individuals affiliated with the Assassin Brotherhood in some way.
Dating back to the 16th century, Tavon's earliest known ancestor was the Egyptian Assassin Camad. Prior to 1514, Camad would forego his life as an Assassin and become a member of the Kalal tribe of the Afar people. Taking on a wife, Haawa, Camad and Haawa would give birth to a son, Qali, who would go on to aid the Assassin Brotherhood during the Ethiopian-Adal War from 1532 to 1543. Eventually, Qali would marry the reborn Isu Saami and the couple would have at least one child who would go on to become an ancestor to Tavon.
Personality and characteristics[]
Tavon is both a witty and outspoken individual with a strong sense of justice. Despite his lack of physical prowess, he was not afraid to stick up for those in need which frequently led to Tavon receiving multiple beatings in his early life. Tavon's sense of justice was derived from his parents and having experienced racism in America.
Because of one specific experience Tavon desired to educate himself on the various cultures of the world to eliminate his own prejudice and biases. This led to Tavon's interest in anthropology and learning what it means to be human in the hopes of spreading his own knowledge and eliminating intolerance. Due to this, Tavon is an open-minded young man.
Equipment and skills[]
Tavon has been an avid skateboarder since being a teenager, still practicing it in his early adulthood. Because of this, he is a skilled skateboarder able to perform a multitiude of maneuvers.
Trivia[]
- 'Tavon' is a modern name of American origin meaning "of the staff of the gods". The surname 'Freeman' is of African-American origin denoting a man freed of slavery.
- Tavon stands at 5'11" and weighs 140lbs.
- In his free time, Tavon enjoys spray painting - legally, of course.