Is this the meaning of the protagonist’s name in Assassin’s Creed 3?

By Serge on March 15, 2012

‘Ratohnhaké:ton’ might have nothing to do with ‘birds’.

Tags: Assassin's Creed III, life scratcher, meaning, mohawk, PC, Playstation 3, Ratohnhaké:ton, translation, Ubisoft, Xbox 360

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When Assassin’s Creed III was first announced, we definitely were not the only ones looking for the meaning of Ratohnhaké:ton, the name of Assassin’s Creed’s new protagonist. Unfortunately, the translation was nowhere to be found online.

So, since we really really wanted to know what the word meant, we e-mailed the Kahnawà:ke Language and Cultural Center in Canada, asking them for the meaning of the word Ratohnhaké:ton. There were very helpful and kind enough to reply to our e-mail, and here is the translation they provided.

Ratohnhaké:ton can be literally translated as “He scratches/scraps at life” or “Life Scratcher”. Apparently, it has no significant meaning in Mohawk culture, aside from being a regular person’s name.

So there you have it. Unlike previous protagonists whose names had a bird motif, Ratohnhaké:ton takes a different path. So does “Life Scratcher” have any significance to the character or story of AC III? Or is it just a cool-sounding Mohawk name?

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Comments

jared penton

Actually, his other name “Connor” does have a meaning behind it. I actually looked that up last week out of curiosity and it means “Lover of the Wolves or Hounds” or something of the like. So… although his Indian name may have little significane, his “common name” (Connor) does carry a significant meaning…however unlike Altair and Ezio, it revolves around wolves instead of eagles.
Skalleponken

Well at least there’s hawk in ‘Mohawk’
Skalleponken

Well at least there’s hawk in ‘Mohawk’
MalenkoMC

Assuming that the pictures in the game informer story are not misleading, you will begin AC3 as a young boy (or at least see that story line). From the looks of the picture and the story about his family being killed when he was young, the name is significant to his past. Him taking the name Connor also engulfs his native american heritage as jared pointed out. I think the names are valid, although, I am very interested to see just how the brotherhood made it to the US since Ezio left it alone in Masayaf/Italy/Constantinople.
jared penton

MalenkoMC
‘Face’

It was confirmed that, although Altair & Ezio had glancing characteristics that represent the Eagle, Connor, on the other had, will resemble a Wolf. Wolves have claws and do scratch…

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