Anthropogeography of the Gang Leaders in Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

The Gang Wars in Assassin's Creed: Syndicate are a series of side activities which are partly compulsory, as you need to conquer three boroughs, therefore carry out three gang wars so as to unlock an important sequence later in the game, but it is imperative that you do all of them not only to establish the Rooks in the entirety of London, but also to not miss the chance to meet all the gang leaders, each one of whom is a unique personality and a perfect representative of the borough that they rule. Gangs were a real plague in London during the Victorian times, an era of great scientific and industrial achievements, but also of extreme poverty and social injustice. On the one hand London was evolving rapidly due to its breakthrough railway network and its artistic achievements, among others, but on the other the vast majority of citizens lived and worked in miserable and, quite often, dangerous conditions, without any hope for improvement. This contrast was among the many causes for the rise in crime and the formation of several gangs that infested the poorer districts of the city, quite often managing to evade the law and operate unbothered.

There are seven gang leaders in the game, each of whom makes a first appearance in their respective borough after a certain activity or set of activities is complete. You have the chance to chase and kill them just then, and when the time comes for the gang war there will be only a few weak Blighters left to fight; but it is recommended to let them go at that point, and wait to face them directly as part of the gang war. Because it is then that they will show all their glory and of course the fight against them is far more sensational and challenging, more so since the gang members participating will also be significantly stronger.

Rexford Kaylock is the tough and cunning master of Whitechapel. We get to meet him as part of the story, his gang war serving as the tutorial for this activity. Although Whitechapel is quite degraded as a district, the power of its boss has a very long and strong reach because Kaylock is not your typical thug and has gadgets at his disposal that allow him to confuse and startle his enemies. Specifically he has a grappling gun with which he can fly upwards in an instant, escaping any scene in the blink of an eye.

The gang leader of Whitechapel is a very interesting case, as it is quite clear, even from his brief appearance, that his attitude is of the style that he owns the area. Dressed in black, moving with a steady yet laid-back manner, he can be as intimidating as he wants, while at the same time maintaining the devotion and respect of his gang members. The special tool that he uses, the grappling gun, is what a bit later develops into the Rope Launcher when Alexander Graham Bell fixes it and gives it to the Fryes. Even in its primitive form, the tool looks like something that Bell would have invented, and it is very likely that the Blighters may have stolen from him early designs for this tool and subsequently had it constructed for their boss. 

In the crime-ridden district, which was no less a slum area during those times, Kaylock seems to be quite fitting, in spite of his collected attitude and, quite possibly, decent education. It looks like he is able to manipulate people whose intellectual status is inferior to him, and this includes also members of his gang. As a Templar, he is far more dignified than the standard Blighters who are mostly thugs carrying out chores and following orders. His name means "ruler", which fits him so well; and his surname, nodding to the kaylock nut, perfectly describes his resilience, unmovable authority and imposing strength.

The even more degraded borough of Lambeth is under the control of Cletus Strain, a sly and sadistic gangster who is equipped with smoke bombs and his preferred weapon is a small but deadly cleaver. He loves to tease his enemies by singing nursery rhymes as he approaches, specifically "Sing a Song of Sixpence" specially dedicated to the Rooks, as he picks out the line "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie", then during the actual gang war he switches to the song "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" which he hums as he jumps in the battlefield smoke bomb in hand.

During the Victorian era, Lambeth had several slum neighborhoods and was generally considered a district of ill reputation, attracting gangsters as cruel and remorseless as Cletus Strain was. At the same time, there was a significant development in industrial units, gradually helping the borough to see a considerable financial improvement, although the people hired to do all the hard work in the factories would still live in extremely poor conditions. 

In the district, there is also a Child Liberation site, a cotton mill named Strain & Boil, possibly getting that name after Mr Cletus became its boss. The fact that he has several children working there in dangerous conditions, further highlights his relentlessness and complete lack of sensitivity. In battle, apart from the smoke bombs that he drops temporarily blinding his enemies, he attacks in a completely brutal manner, slashing and beating mercilessly with his cleaver. His so apt surname illustrates the pain that he causes to whomever dares to doubt his authority.

Neurotic and hysterical, Edith Swinebourne is the boss in the borough of The Thames. Gifted with a terrifying shrieking voice, she rushes in the scene together with her gang, impatient to pulverize her enemies. She likes to boost her energy with suspicious substances just before the fight, blatantly injecting herself in plain sight, as yet one more means of intimidation and threat. 

 

Being a vital route for transportation and commerce, the River Thames played a vastly important role in the Industrial Revolution and all that followed it. During the Victorian era, up to 60.000 ships would travel up and down the river per year, mainly steamboats of several kinds. As such, the borough of the Thames was a neuralgic district, with a very unique structure due to its main artery being the river, and its many bridges that connected all surrounding areas of London. Becoming the boss of such an essential part of the city was definitely a personal success for Edith Swinebourne, whose explosive temperament was impossible to tame. 

 

 

Later in the game, while Jacob is hanging out with Maxwell Roth, the leader of the Blighters sends him off to kidnap a police officer of Scotland Yard who is in reality Starrick's eyes and ears at the force. Although everyone knows about him, the officer holds his position firmly and nobody can remove him. We learn in the process that he is called Swinebourne too. Could be that he is someway related to Edith, and this possibly explains how he can call the shots in Scotland Yard, even after the boss of the Thames is eliminated. The semiology of her surname is also very interesting: swine, its first part, means pig. This detail seems to allude to an urban legend circulating in the Victorian times, according to which giant hogs were lurking in the sewers flowing into the river Thames. 

 

The cool, almost expressionless Octavia Plumb has the industrial district of Southwark under her strict control, possibly being familiar with how factories and similar workplaces operate. Imposingly tall and blonde, she likes to put her hair up in two braids tied around her head, a hairdo that hints at an aristocratic background or at least an attempt to allude to one. Regardless it comes to creepy contrast with her cruel demeanor and steel attitude. 

Octavia will let her gang kill and be killed by the Rooks, and then when the time comes to duel in person with Jacob or Evie, she will show up with more thugs, and the more time you need to kill her, more thugs will run to her assistance. Not so tough on her own after all, it seems. Maybe it's because, as we read in her resume, she was always surrounded by family and friends, apparently being a rather obnoxious social butterfly.

 

The Victorian era Southwark was a primarily industrialized district, hosting a vast network of new railway lines and a considerable number of heavy duty factories and forges, as well as extended areas with slums and working-class blocks. The striking contrast between the borough's evolution in manufacturing and mass production and the still problematic conditions in which people were forced to live and work is kind of reflected in Octavia's style and personality. Not randomly, her surname means lead weight, something nodding directly to the industrial vibe of the borough she controls. 

The elegant-looking but absolutely bloodthirsty Bloody Nora rules the borough of the City of London with an iron fist. Nothing is really known about her past, yet she holds a firm and no-nonsense attitude, not hesitating to resort to extreme measures against her enemies. Not randomly, the place where the gang war in her borough takes place is the street in front of St Paul's Cathedral, one of the most emblematic landmarks of London. This way, she sets her ground and establishes her position, even if moments later she is doomed to meet her demise.

Bloody Nora is a pretty lady, with a noble look; however her demeanor is rather authoritative, and she likes to humiliate her enemies. Her status as a boss of London's most central borough which is essentially its historical core, makes her stand out among the other gang leaders - at least most of them. The vast area that is ruled and controlled by her is heavily populated and it is far more privileged than Whitechapel or Southwark. Additionally she has a lot more goons at her service, keeping a dood deal of neighborhoods under her command.

 

  

Her name references the expression "Bloody Nora!" which is used to express frustration or anger. Another urban legend narrates that the expression itself is derived from an incident that took place years earlier, involving an obnoxious maid named Norah who was caught by her master while she was beating another servant to death with a piece of celery; then later she killed another one with a kettle, and as her master saw her all covered in blood, he yelled "You're all bloody, Norah!" Whether these were real events, it was never confirmed, but it is very likely that Nora the gang leader took advantage of the notoriety of her (real or imaginary) namesake so to build her own bloody image. 

 

The intelligent and aristocratic gang leader of The Strand, Victor Lynch, seems to have nothing in common with the rest of the gang bosses. Having grown up in a privileged family, from a very young age he discovered his love and talent for experimenting with dangerous chemicals. Since he also had the means to fund this activity, he would devote a lot of his time in carrying out such experiments, often endangering the lives of people around him. Passionate and focused, he was a perfect choice for a leader, more so since his intelligence and wit allowed him to be able to deal efficiently with all sorts of enemies.

It is not by chance that Victor Lynch rules The Strand - a vibrant, colorful district bursting with artistic activity and characterized by its scenic neighborhoods and parks. The boss himself owns a huge factory unit, the famous Lynch's Fine Ornamentation, which produces stylish, expensive furniture, made specially for the upper class citizens. His gang strongholds are two particularly dangerous areas that are the exact opposite of the overall bustling vibe of the borough: St Giles Rookery, notorious at the time for its slums and criminal activity, and Clare Market, another overpopulated slum district where crime ruled and thrived in the Victorian era.

During the gang war, he loves to show off his love for chemistry by using the extremely dangerous voltaic bombs as a means to immobilize his enemies. Regardless, he is a charming, mysterious man who is equally genial and relentless. His name is quite significant of his whole personality and attitude: his first name hints that his constant aim is to be a winner, and his last, which means to capture and kill someone by mob action, clearly describes his cruelty and contempt towards everyone else.

Born in a wealthy family, Lilla Graves, the terrifying leader of the Westminster gang, developed a tendency towards extreme violence from her early years, forcing her parents to seek out ways to reform her. Of course Lilla could never accept this so, in her turn, she was forced to rid off her parents to save her dignity and allow the full potential of her personality to bloom. Making use of her inherited family fortune to live a good life, she regularly got involved in illegal activities eventually making her way to the top and becoming the head of Westminster's Blighters. The fact that she was also a heavyweight boxer significantly helped her inspire fear and respect in the hearts of the civilians under her control, and of her own gang as well.

Westminster was a privileged borough during the Victorian era, as it hosted the Buckingham Palace, the Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and several other buildings and landmarks of high importance. However it had its fair share of crime and degraded neighborhoods, with the Devil's Acre being among the most dreaded districts of London during those times. Lilla's wealthy background fits the high-class vibe of the borough, but her extremely violent demeanor matches even more the danger that lurks in those slums. Early on in the game, one of the criminals that Frederick Abberline sends us to arrest is a woman named Mildred Graves, who operates in the poor district of Lambeth. As it turns out, Mildred is Lilla's sister; unlike the clearly smarter boss of Westminster, Mildred wasted her share of the inheritance and is now forced to pay her debts by covering up Lilla's crimes for a bit of money.

Lilla Graves is undoubtedly the most badass and fearsome gang leader of London, closely followed by the other three ladies that rule the boroughs. Although less terrifying than Lilla, still Nora, Edith and Octavia are equally intimidating, way more than their male counterparts. This is very interesting from a sociological aspect, as it highlights a harsh reality which still exists, to some degree: during those difficult times, the women who assumed challenging and dangerous roles were forced, by default, to become far more cruel and relentless than men in the same fields, not only in order to be able to inspire absolute fear in the hearts of their enemies, but most importantly to succeed in imposing themselves on their subordinates and gaining their devotion and respect. As the boss of the most difficult borough of the game, Lilla is the strongest gang leader and the Westminster gang war is naturally the toughest. You need to kill 17 Blighters before Lilla steps in for a tête-à-tête fight with Jacob or Evie, but she takes care to flex her nearly superhuman physical strength even before the initiation of the gang war, killing a Rook girl in front of everyone by snapping her throat, at the same time laughing frantically. Her ominous last name is pretty self-explanatory and significant of her lethal aura. Notably Mildred's hangout is the cemetery of Lambeth, a detail that somehow foreshadows the end of both sisters, also in direct connection to their illustrative surname.