Within the series' alternate historical setting, Bayek lived during the final years of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, shortly before it was annexed by the Roman Empire as the Province of Egypt.

[1] Jean Guesdon, the Creative Director for Origins, noted that a holistic approach is essential in order to create an authentic in-game world, and remarked that "small details help make it feel real".

[4] While Bayek's story arc is filled with themes of revenge, political turmoil, and civil war, the developers made it a point to ensure that players do not lose sight of his core personality.

[5] He is also depicted as playful and possesses a loving nature, with a particular fondness for children and cats and readily shows his tender side during these interactions, even as he carries his grief of losing his son with him.

[8][9][7] In July 2020, a report by Jason Schreier from Bloomberg claimed that Bayek was originally meant to be incapacitated or killed off early in the story, and the game's narrative would continue with Aya as the player character.

He noted that the motion capture process would take place in one space without transitioning to another physical set or any interference from lighting issues, and that the camera's precise position is not important as it would be taken care of by staff in the editing room; the focus is on his interactions with the other actor.

[12] In Assassin's Creed: Origins, the player experiences Bayek's life as part of a simulation played by another in-game protagonist, Layla Hassan, through her Animus device.

[15] The game's backstory establishes that Bayek served as the last Medjay of Siwa, acting as a protector for his people, until 49 BCE, when his son Khemu was killed during an altercation with five masked men who sought to open an underground vault in the Temple of Amun.

Seeking to avenge his son, Bayek abandoned his Medjay duties and went into a self-imposed exile for a year while hunting down the masked men responsible for Khemu's death.

Later, Bayek meets the deposed Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, who confirms that the masked men are members of the Order of Ancients, the same organization that removed her from the throne and seeks to control all of Egypt by using her brother Ptolemy XIII as their puppet.

In response, Bayek gathers his allies to form a secret brotherhood to counter the Order and protect the people of Egypt from the shadows, vowing to fight for justice and freedom instead of revenge.

Instead, they both choose to fully dedicate themselves to their brotherhood, naming it the Hidden Ones, and part ways, with Bayek remaining in Egypt while Aya, now calling herself Amunet, travels to Rome.

Due to the actions of Gamilat, he also decides to create a code of conduct with strict tenets that every Hidden One must follow, beginning with the prohibition of harming innocent lives.

He then gives it to Sutekh, a thief who aided his quest, and entrusts him with hiding it in a place where it will never be found.... A teenaged Bayek is the protagonist of the 2017 novel Assassin's Creed: Desert Oath, which serves as a prequel story to Origins and was published prior to the release of the video game.

[16] In Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (2018), Bayek makes a non-canonical appearance as a simulated lieutenant on the player's ship, the Adrestia; he can be unlocked via the Ubisoft Club.

[19] In Assassin's Creed Valhalla (2020), Bayek has a brief voiceover cameo when the protagonist Eivor finds the Magas Codex in the side mission "A Brief History of the Hidden Ones".

[24] In April 2018, Ubisoft published an opinion piece by Youssef Maguid, an employee who was born in Egypt and raised in the United States, about Bayek's importance as a figure of representation and inclusivity for him as an Egyptian American and a member of an ethnic minority.

[30] The complexity and contradictions of his identity and personality - a friendly character with empathetic traits as well as a seasoned and ruthless killer who ends up murdering thousands during his lifetime as part of his vendetta - has invited commentary from various sources.

[35][31] Patrick Klepek from Vice found the depiction of their relationship and their shared grief over the loss of their son to be powerful and believable, and that it does as much to make Origins memorable as the changes the game introduced to the franchise's combat system.

[36] In response to Bayek's positive reception, then-chief creative officer of Ubisoft Serge Hascoët indicated that the character may appear in a future television or film adaptation alongside Aya.

[37] Matt Kim from US Gamer suggested that Hascoët played down the possibility of Ubisoft developing a direct sequel to Origins starring Bayek and/or Aya due to his company prioritizing the exploration of new time periods and historical settings over pre-established characters.