Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Look, I love a well-planned stealthy assassination as much as the next guy, but sometimes you just need to beat someone up with a big stick. That’s exactly what Yasuke does in a new Assassin’s Creed Shadows clip that shows him going ham on some enemies with a kanabo.

Kanabo quite literally translates to metal rod (according to DeepL). It’s a spiked or studded two-handed club that was actually used in feudal Japan by samurai, so it’s the perfect weapon for Yasuke.

In the clip, we see Yasuke absolutely clobbering some poor fellas with the thing. He’s very deft with it too. He not only delivers slow, overhead strikes, but quick jabs with both the handle and the very end of the weapon, making it much faster than you may think a two-handed club would be.

 

 

My favorite combo is when Yasuke slashes the club down, cutting across an opponent’s body and causing them to double over, stunned. Before they can catch their breath, Yasuke brings the weapon up through their feet, tripping them and launching them into the air before bringing the kanabo over his head and slamming them into the ground with it. It’s not as brutal as his Sparta kick, but I still would not want to fight that man.


I love this weapon because it really plays into Yasuke’s more strength-oriented fighting style. He’s a big, strong samurai wearing heavy armor, so he can’t sneak around like Naoe. Instead, he overwhelms his opponents with force and skill.