Born to enslaved parents in Trinidad, Adéwalé was sold to the owner of a prosperous plantation before his teens. He escaped by joining a group of buccaneers who raided the plantation.

Adé sailed with this group of men for many years, honing his skills as a sailor. In 1715, he was captured by Spanish authorities, who decided to send Adéwalé to Spain, and loaded him into one of the galleons that made up their perennial treasure fleet. Thanks to a hurricane, and a young Welsh pirate named Edward Kenway, Adé escaped. Freeing more prisoners as they went, Adé and Edward commandeered a brigantine and set sail just in time to beat the worst of the storm. When the hurricane passed, Adé was free once more.

Adé became the quartermaster aboard Captain Edward's ship, the Jackdaw. Operating out of Nassau for a time, they grew wealthy off their spoils and lived the lives they had always dreamed of. But Adé was a man who valued the democratic ideals of this pirate community far above the spoils they acquired while living it. And as he saw Edward Kenway fall deeper into a spiral of selfish greed and pointless glory, he wondered if there wasn't a more noble cause he might adopt to suit his ideals.

Adé met with Ah Tabai at the Assassin's village in Tulum. There he spoke with the old Mentor and asked him many questions about the Brotherhood. After hearing answers that pleased him greatly, Adé joined them. For over fifteen years, Adéwalé faithfully served the Assassins. But in time, he became increasingly troubled by memories of his past.

In 1735, while on a mission to eliminate a Templar Admiral off the coast of Saint-Domingue, he was thrown overboard and washed ashore near Port-au-Prince.