Overview

Assassin's Creed: Shadows Non-Binary Love Interest Controversy, also known as Yasuke's Non-Binary Love Interest, refers to backlash and discourse targeted at Ibuki, a character in the 2025 Assassin's Creed: Shadows (AC Shadows) video game by Ubisoft who identifies as non-binary, a person who feels their gender cannot be defined within the margins of the gender binary (he/she). Comments and discussions about the implementation of the LGBTQ+ character as Yasuke's love interest were popularized as soon as the game was released in mid-March 2025 across YouTube, Twitter / X and Reddit, with some calling the game "woke" while others defended it amid the backlash.

Background

On March 19th, 2025, X^[1] user @Mangalawyer posted a screenshot of AC Shadows showing protagonist Yasuke and Ibuki, a non-binary character, captioning the post, "Yasuke actually has a gay romance in AC Shadows." The tweet also mentions that after some flirting, "they kiss each other." The post (seen below) amassed over 3 million views and 10,000 likes in a day.

On the same day, X^[2] user @fe44lh uploaded a video of the moment Yasuke kisses the non-binary love interest (seen below), captioning it, "A Black samurai in a relationship with a non-binary person 🙃." The post garnered more than 10 million views and 25,000 likes in roughly one day.

Online Reactions

Yasuke's love interest and his kiss scene with the non-binary character spawned a series of heated debates and backlash, with many labeling the game as "woke" amid the controversy in March 2025.

For instance, on March 19th, 2025, X^[3] user @kangminjlee posted Yasuke and Ibuki's screenshot, captioning it, "Yasugay, the legendary first black homosexual in Japan." The post (seen below) amassed over 60,000 views and 3,100 likes in a day.

On the same day, YouTuber^[4] and Twitch streamer Asmongold reacted to the tweet about Yasuke's love interest controversy, which garnered more than 808,000 views, 27,000 likes and 9,000 comments in a day.

Redditor^[5] u/QuiverDance97 posted a screenshot of @Mangalawyer's tweet on March 19th, 2025, to the /r/CriticalDrinker subreddit, which received roughly 1,100 upvotes and 200 comments in a day.

Search Interest

External References