Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Ezio Auditore da Firenze (born 1459) was a Florentine noble during the Italian Renaissance and, unbeknownst to most historians and philosophers, a central member and Grand Master of the Assassin's Order. A descendant of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and ancestor to both Desmond Miles and Subject 16, Ezio was unaware of his Assassin heritage until the age of 17, when his father Giovanni and two brothers Federico and Petruccio were murdered. Ezio already possessed abilities not unlike Altair, strangely, (such as climbing and jumping, and killing, for that matter) and with these abilities, Ezio fled Florence – his birthplace – and took refuge at the Villa Auditore in the Tuscan town of Monteriggioni.
Learning of his heritage from his uncle, Mario Auditore, Ezio began his Assassin training, as well as his quest for vengeance against the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Rodrigo Borgia, who had ordered the executions of his father and two brothers. During his quest, Ezio managed to not only unite the pages of Altaïr's Codex for the first time since Domenico Auditore, but also to save the cities of Florence, Venice, and later Rome from the Templars' wrath. In liberating Rome from Borgia control, helped spread the Renaissance and Assassin ideals of independence and free thought throughout Italy.
Shortly before the death of Rodrigo Borgia (in Assasin's Creed: Brotherhood) ,1503, Ezio was pronounced the Grand Master, or "Il Mentore", of the Assassin Order.
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, (Arabic: الطائر ابن لا أحد (aṭ-ṭāʾir ibn lā ʾaḥad) "Flying One - Son of no One") (Voiced byPhilip Shahbaz) usually known by the mononym Altaïr, is the protagonist of Assassin's Creed. He is anAssassin who was born in 1165 and who lived during the third Crusade. His name is Arabic for 'The Flying One' or 'Bird of Prey' and is pronounced in three syllables. "Ibn La-Ahad" means "Son of no one". Ben Reeves of Game Informer adds that the "name of the top assassin...is also the name of a star in the constellation Aquila - Aquila being another name meaning eagle. Not coincidentally Ezio is the Italian form of a Greek name that also means "eagle". Altaïr is an ancestor of both Ezio Auditore da Firenze andDesmond Miles.
Altaïr was born the son of a Muslim Arab father and a Christian Italian mother . During his childhood he left for Masyaf, Syria in order to begin his Assassin training. Altaïr felt little at the death of his parents when they died due to the nature of the Assassin order. Prior to the events of the series, Altaïr trained under Al Mualim, Master of the Assassin Brotherhood, quickly rising above his brethren in the abilities of mastering several weapons and skills ranging from hand to hand combat to sword fighting. This caught both Al Mualim's eye and favor, and Altaïr was quickly promoted to the rank of Master Assassin.
Little is known about Altaïr's background information, including where he was born. His year of birth, however, is 1165 AD (according to current information from the Assassin's Creed instruction manual). His parents,[9] and relatives (if any) are unknown.
In the codex pages Altaïr states that he never felt a connection between his parents and himself and that when he left them it was nothing more than departing "two strangers." He also stated that it was Al Mualim who cared for him and that it was enough for him during that stage of his life.
Assassin's Creed is set in 1191 during the Third Crusade, where Altaïr is first introduced as a character. Altaïr has become overconfident and arrogant because of his rank within the Assassin's Order, to the point where he believes he is above the Assassin's Creed and the Three Tenets the Order of Assassins lives and dies by.
Al Mualim once stated that "we are nothing if we do not abide by the Assassin's Creed." It restricts unnecessary slaughter of innocents, preserves the reputation of one's self and the order, and is meant to create peace not only within the world, but within the individual. The Assassins have been handing the Creed down orally from generation to generation, ensuring the message the Creed brings is delivered to every member of the Assassin's Order.
The three tenets are: - Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent; always be discreet; and never compromise the Brotherhood.
When sent to the Temple of Solomon to fetch the Ark of the Covenant for Al Mualim with fellow assassins, brothers Malik and Kadar A-Sayf, he encounters Robert de Sablé and his French Templars. Altaïr rashly confronts Robert de Sablé – Grand Master of the Knights Templar, who throws Altaïr aside, cutting him off from the melee that ensues by a collapsing wall, and escapes alone, returning to Masyaf disgraced and empty-handed, where he is forced to explain himself.
Malik however brings the Templar Treasure to Al Mualim (who regards it as a "Piece of Eden"), explaining the events which led to Kadar's death and the severing of Malik's left arm at the hand of Robert de Sablé. Robert and the rest of the Templars retaliate by besieging Masyaf, killing many of its citizens before being foiled by an intricate trap activated by Altaïr.
When Al Mualim discovers that Altaïr broke all three tenets of the Creed, he disgraces Altaïr, enacting a mock execution for treason and demoting him to the rank of Novice. He is stripped of all his weapons and equipment and must earn his way back into the Brotherhood. By murdering an innocent (an old man who he thought could have alerted the guards), revealing himself to Robert de Sablé, and leading the Templars back to the – until then, secret – location of Masyaf, he jeopardized not only his own safety, but the livelihood of the entire Brotherhood.
To re-establish himself within the Order, Altaïr is assigned to kill nine key targets (later revealed to be Knights Templar) threatening to tear apart the Holy Land. Malik is unable to fight due to his injury, and is assigned as the head of the Assassin's Bureau in Jerusalem.
Over the course of the story, Altaïr learns more about the Piece of Eden and its uses. Al Mualim names this piece "the Apple," believing it to be the legendary apple from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. After assassinating eight of the targets, Robert de Sablé is the only remaining target that Altaïr must confront. Altaïr stalks de Sablé in Jerusalem and attempts to execute him, only to discover that de Sablé used an impersonator to cover his escape.
Altaïr chooses not to kill the impersonator, a Templar woman named Maria Thorpe. Altaïr discovers de Sablé's plan to unite the Saracens and Christians against the Assassins. Altaïr rushes to the Christian camp of King Richard of England to reveal de Sablé. Richard the Lionheartwitnesses the accusations levelled against de Sablé and Altaïr. The King declares that God will decide who is truthful by ensuring the truth-teller is victorious in combat.
Altaïr and de Sablé clash swords, but Altaïr manages to finally gain the upper-hand and kills de Sablé, leading Richard to believe that Altaïr was chosen to be victorious by the grace of God, and as such was telling the truth. As Altaïr gloats over his fallen enemy, de Sablé uses his dying breath to reveal that Al Mualim was his benefactor in this entire affair until he discovered the true intentioned use of the Piece of Eden.
Altaïr rushes back to Masyaf to confront Al Mualim, discovering that the town inhabitants have become soulless slaves to Al Mualim's will. He fights his brethren to gain access to the castle to confront Al Mualim. Face to face at last, Al Mualim reveals to Altaïr that the Piece of Eden, the Apple, was instrumental in creating illusions on a grand scale in famous events in history. The Apple allows the holder to manipulate visual reality and control the weak willed.
Master and student fight for control of the artifact with Altaïr defeating Al Mualim and the Apple of Eden taken out of his grasp. Unable to destroy the Piece, Altaïr discovers that among its abilities, it also holds a map that shows the locations of all the other Pieces around the world. The first game story for Altaïr ends there.
During one break while using Animus 2.0 during Assassin's Creed II, Desmond suffers a hallucination via the Bleeding Effect that returns him to the memories of Altaïr in Acre - this shows Desmond is partially able to access Altaïr's memories without the use of the Animus interface.
In the vision, Altaïr chases after a person, revealed to be Maria, the impersonating Templar he had earlier spared. After the chase, Altaïr and Maria engage in intercourse. When Altaïr departs, Desmond finds his memory staying with Maria, moving toward her womb, indicating she has fallen pregnant with Altaïr's child, an ancestor of Desmond's. This leaves Desmond confused as he recovers, but he keeps the fact that he accessed Altaïr's memories without the Animus to himself.
At the point when Assassin's Creed II begins, Altaïr has been dead for over two centuries. However, it is known that he left a Codex that his descendant, Ezio, later finds. In it, he left a secret map which reveals the locations of Pieces of Eden scattered all over the world. The Codex pages also reveal that Altaïr invented several new improvements and technologies, such as compacting a wheellock firearm on the assassin's wrist, as well as creating a fighting style which uses two hidden blades instead of one. In the game the player can obtain Altaïr's all-black Master Assassin armor as well as his sword. The final page of the Codex states that Altaïr left for Mongolia with his family in his old age to assassinate Genghis Khan. It is unknown if they succeeded, however Genghis Khan's death is attributed to a Mongolian assassin by one of the statues found beneath Villa Auditore in the game.
In Assassin's Creed: Altaïr Chronicles the year is 1190 AD, and the Third Crusade is engulfing the Holy Land. Crusaders clash with Saracensfor control of the Holy City, Jerusalem. The game takes place before the events of the original Assassin's Creed. Altaïr is tasked by Al Mualim to find and retrieve a sacred object: the Chalice. It is said to have the power to unite under one flag all the factions of whatever side possesses it — either the Crusaders or the Saracens — and end the Third Crusade in victory for one side or the other. But the Chalice is too powerful an object to be left in the hands of men alone: It must be found and destroyed fast. After learning that the Chalice is kept in Jerusalem, Altaïr manages to get there before the main antagonist which is the Templar leader, Basilisk. There he successfully rescues the Chalice from a group of Templars. Altaïr identifies the Chalice as Adha, the woman he knew and liked before the events of game. From her, he learns that the Templars have paid off Harash, the second-in-command of the Assassins. Altaïr then plans to attack Alep, the assassin fortress, kill Harash and run away with Adha, but after making his way through Harash's assassin guards and killing him, Adha is kidnapped by Basilisk and taken to their port in Tyre.
Altaïr fights through the Templar Knights and kills Lord Basilisk in one final confrontation on his ship. But Adha is on a different ship, which escapes before Altaïr can catch it. He swims to shore and, seeing the Templar ship far off in the distance, yells "I will find you, Adha!". But in one of the Codex Pages in Assassins Creed 2 it is said that Altaïr found Adha dead; when or where is not stated.
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines takes place before the events of Assassin's Creed II, but after the events of the original Assassin's Creed. The game is set on the island of Cyprus, taking the player to two of its cities, Limassol and Kyrenia. Altaïr has traveled to Cyprus from the Holy Land, the setting of the first game, in order to assassinate the last remnants of the Templars.[10] Bloodlines includes more face time with Maria, the female Templar that was spared by Altaïr in Assassin's Creed.
