Which Assassin's Creed game was the first to let players control a female protagonist throughout the main story?

Assassin's Creed Liberation was the first Assassin's Creed game to let players control a female protagonist throughout the main story.

The protagonist is Aveline de Grandpré, a French-African Assassin active in eighteenth-century Louisiana. Liberation was originally released for the PlayStation Vita in 2012 and later appeared on other platforms, including as Assassin's Creed Liberation HD in 2014. Its story covers New Orleans, the Louisiana bayou, and parts of the Gulf Coast.

The distinction matters because earlier Assassin's Creed games included important women but did not make one the continuous main playable character. Assassin's Creed Syndicate later featured Evie Frye as one of two principal playable characters, while Odyssey allowed players to choose Kassandra or Alexios. Liberation's portable origin is another reason it is sometimes overlooked in franchise histories.