A hooded torchbearer parkouring across Parisian rooftops appears to have been part of the wild Assassin's Creed tribute at the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Although it hasn't been formally confirmed, Ubisoft has made several allusions to the relationship between Assassin's Creed and the most recent iteration of the quadrennial sporting event.

The first time the firm did this was on 26th July, right before the opening ceremony, when the Assassin's Creed franchise's official French-language Twitter account wrote that "in Paris, Arno is never far away." Fans didn't take this tweet very seriously at first, but the English-language account quickly asked people to "keep an eye on Paris' rooftops" today, speculating that "Arno might just be watching from above." This led to some conjecture on the internet regarding Ubisoft's potential involvement in the next celebrations.

The last torchbearer for the 2024 Summer Olympics resembled an Assassin's Creed protagonist

As it turned out, there was a clear reference to the well-known series during the July 26 event, as the last torchbearer was a hooded figure who resembled a protagonist from Assassin's Creed. When the enigmatic figure initially surfaced, he was a boat rider assisting three children in carrying the Olympic torch across the Canal Saint-Martin. They then ran through the renowned Louvre Museum and parkoured across roofs in Paris while carrying the flame by themselves. This feat was the subject of multiple tweets from the Olympic Games' official Twitter account about 8:30 p.m. CET.

The appearance of the unknown individual was very much in keeping with the overall Assassin aesthetic established by the popular game, even though it didn't quite like the protagonist Arno from Assassin's Creed Unity, the only series entry that is set mostly in France. Their white cloak and hooded clothing made them look like they belonged in a Ubisoft game, save for the fencing mask the torchbearer wore to conceal his identity.

Official confirmation that this bizarre set piece was intended to be an Assassin's Creed tribute has not been provided by Ubisoft or the organisers of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Still, a lot of the franchise's followers seem to believe that to be true, as evidenced by their comments on social media after the event. However, not everyone concurs with that hypothesis. Some spectators of the 2024 Olympics believe the image might have just as easily been a reference to Gaston Leroux's renowned novel The Phantom of the Opera, which was published in the 20th century and has been adapted multiple times.

A third idea is that this portion of the opening ceremony was inspired by other French art pieces, including video games and literature. Despite not being an official sponsor of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Ubisoft is a well-known French corporation with strong connections to the host city. Its 2022 virtual reality game Save Notre-Dame on Fire is one recent example of this relationship; the game's earnings went toward helping to rebuild the cathedral after a catastrophic structural fire devastated it in 2019.