Murderer’s Creed, Ubisoft’s long-running open-world RPG collection, and Vanderpump Guidelines, Bravo’s long-running actuality TV collection, are linked—form of. It’s uncommon that two of my greatest, most disparate pursuits collide so spectacularly as this, however right here we’re, and it’s all because of a person named Jax Taylor.
Taylor, one of many former stars of VPR (he left/was fired after season eight, relying upon who you ask) has been claiming for practically 15 years that the face on the Murderer’s Creed I field artwork (or II, relying upon who and whenever you ask) relies on his visage. Taylor, who was beforehand a mannequin, even lists it as considered one of his (unverified) credit on his previous Mannequin Mayhem web page.
Earlier than we go any additional, it’s necessary to notice that Taylor has, traditionally, been thought of to be, properly, um, a liar. As any VPR fan is aware of, and as a 2019 Vulture article identified, Taylor was accused of infidelity in back-to-back seasons and “each occasions [he] satisfied each the present’s behind-the-camera employees and his mates that he was wrongfully accused; each occasions, he was caught red-handed because the season ended.” Taylor was additionally tied up in a lie in season six, after he was caught dishonest on his future spouse (then-girlfriend) with one other co-star. There are different lies you’ll discover deep within the Bravo subreddits: that he was roommates with Channing Tatum, that he virtually obtained a job working for the NHL, that he cherished the tea set Lisa Vanderpump gave him as a marriage reward.
However the actuality TV star doggedly insists that he’s, certainly, the face on the quilt artwork of an Murderer’s Creed sport. He not too long ago doubled down on this declare at Lexington Comedian Con, which passed off within the Kentucky metropolis over the March 7-10 weekend. Taylor and several other of his former and present castmates (he’s starring in a brand new Vanderpump Guidelines spinoff referred to as The Valley alongside his maybe-future-ex-wife, Brittany Cartwright) had their very own tables on the conference, which have been adorned with photographs of their skilled appearances. On Taylor’s desk: An image of the Murderer’s Creed I cowl artwork.
Is Jax Taylor the face of the Murderer’s Creed field cowl artwork?
Now, right here’s the place issues get complicated. Taylor first claimed this online game connection again in 2012, when he posted “Me on the quilt of assassins [sic] creed II” on X (previously Twitter). The image accompanying the textual content definitely appears like cowl artwork for an Xbox 360 sport, however there are some notable discrepancies. First, the picture depicts Murderer’s Creed I, not II, and second, that image doesn’t seem to have ever been used for a bodily launch of the Ubisoft sport. An intrepid reporter requested about this alleged cowl artwork again in 2022, and the replies solely unearthed extra questions: It seems that the picture Taylor posted is from a web site referred to as Customaniacs, which, again within the Xbox 360 period, would share hi-res, downloadable, customized items of field cowl artwork for individuals to print out and slip into the plastic shells.
On March 12, I reached out to Taylor’s PR through e mail, who initially confirmed that Taylor was “on the primary season” of Murderer’s Creed. When pressed for clarification, the consultant confirmed that he was the mannequin for “the very first sport” and “simply the field artwork.” I thanked them for the clarification.
An hour later, unprompted, Taylor’s consultant emailed me a picture that solely made issues extra baffling: an image of the quilt of PlayStation: The Official Journal’s Vacation 2009 problem, which featured the publication’s evaluate of Murderer’s Creed II. Sure, a evaluate of the sequel, not the primary sport like his consultant initially confirmed. So as to add extra layers to this confusion cake, the PlayStation magazine cowl doesn’t depict the field artwork for any Murderer’s Creed sport, however bespoke artwork. (Unrelated, however hilarious: the picture is clearly simply the quilt torn off the journal, the remainder of which Taylor ostensibly threw out.)
Not lengthy after my dialog together with his PR individual, Taylor posted an image of the PlayStation: The Official Journal cowl that had been emailed to me to his Instagram story, with the caption “Flashback to once I did the quilt artwork/field artwork for #assassinscreed 2009.” He tagged the Instagram accounts for Lexington Comedian Con and PlayStation.
The factor is, a French-Canadian mannequin named Francisco Randez has been broadly credited because the face of collection protagonists Desmond, Altair, and Ezio. Randez has performed interviews about his function within the collection and has an IMDb credit score for it. In a 2011 interview, Murderer’s Creed devs focus on creating the digital likenesses of the character, referring to the “good-looking mannequin” as a “neighbor” of the sport’s producer in Montréal…although they’ve hassle remembering his identify and name him “Rafael.” (It’s across the 8:50 mark.) Is there a couple of “Murderer’s Creed man”? Is Jax Taylor considered one of them? Is he none of them?
I reached out to each Ubisoft and Francisco Randez. Ubisoft declined to remark, and Randez has but to reply.
So, it’s nonetheless unclear if Jax Taylor is, certainly, the face on the quilt for both Murderer’s Creed I or Murderer’s Creed II. As a VPR fan, I’m inclined to imagine he’s not, however what do you assume?