Nero the Assassin (French: Néro), the most recent Netflix French drama, is a fast-moving, dark, and emotional movie that has become a must-watch among lovers of real-life stories. The show introduces its blend of sword fights, superstition, and a touch of the supernatural to leave the viewers with a sense that they are in a place that is hauntingly familiar.
But that leads to the big question: Is Nero the Assassin a true story? Let us unpack the reality of this gripping new series.
What Néro the Assassin Is About
The series was developed by Martin Douaire, Allan Mauduit, Jean-Patrick Benes, and Nicolas Digard, and it is based on the story of the deadly but lonely assassin Néro, who has to reside in South France in the 16th century. He is a servant of an influential man called Rochemort, performing unsafe tasks in an already poverty-stricken and fear-threatened land.
Traced with his estranged teenage daughter, Perla, a girl reputed to be the last descendant of the Devil, Néro cannot control his life as closely as he does. When the secret of her lineage leaks, dark and powerful spirits start to hunt her down and Néro is left with no alternative but to preserve his life or to have a son.
Since then, the show transforms from more than an action series, it becomes a story of love, faith, and redemption, with a backdrop of the mayhem that is going on in the world that does not know what it is afraid of.
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Is Néro the Assassin Based on Real Events?
Although Néro the Assassin is written in a realistic manner and the world is thoroughly developed, it is not a true story. The story of Nero and Perla is totally fictional, but is based on the real historical anxieties and convictions that used to consume Europe.
The authors rely on this medieval superstition and conflict of religion as the background to give emotion to the story. By doing this, they make the world seem both fantastical and too familiar.
The Real History That Inspired the Series
No historical record exists of an assassin called Nero, or of anybody being termed a descendant of the Devil. Yet the fact remains that the individuals who lived in the sixteenth century in France were strongly religious, as well as scared of things that they could not explain.
The fact was that at that time, unexplained illnesses, natural disasters, and even droughts were commonly perceived as manifestations of the Devil. The explanations of the Church based on fear and faith became true without science to give answers.
The Library of Congress explains that in an era before modern science, people usually resorted to religion to interpret medical or natural mysteries. Such fear was the direct cause of the witch hunts that rocked Europe. During the period between 1550 and 1700, about 2,000 witch trials occurred in France and the majority of the victims were women who had been accused of having connections with the dark powers.
Perla is persecuted in Néro the Assassin as an echo of the same superstitions in the real world. Her alleged Devil blood causes her to be feared and even hunted, once again a representation of how women and outsiders could be demonized just by being different.
Final Thoughts
Néro the Assassin is not, therefore, a true story. But it is based upon the truths that once marked the history of humanity.
The combination of history and imagination makes the show powerful and the story sound real, as it should not have happened, but it could.
Eventually, Néro the Assassin lets us know that some of the scariest legends are the ones that we create ourselves, and occasionally, that is what makes them seem true.
