History Characters / AssassinsCreedTheTemplars

A Turkic-born ''jiedushi'' (military commissioner) of the Tang dynasty who unleashed an uprising against Emperor Xuanzong in the mid-8th century. He is a former member of the Golden Turtles, the Chinese branch of the Order of the Ancients, but left the group to found the Yelouhe and the Yan dynasty because of fierce rivalry with fellow Golden Turtle Yang Guozhong.

* GeneralRipper: Lushan has a deep hatred of Guozhong over his leadership of the Golden Turtles, so he splits off and forms his own group, the Yelouhe.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: An Lushan was a general of Sogdian and Göktürk origin in the Tang army who rose to prominence by defending the northeastern frontier of China from the Khitans and other threats. He managed to amass significant military power with Chancellor Li Linfu and Emperor Xuanzong. After Linfu's death, Geshu Han became the new chancellor and soon developed a rivalry with Lushan, which led to him creating the Yan dynasty as its self-proclaimed emperor. Lushan's rebellion was initially successful with the Yan forces capturing the capital of Luoyang and some of Xuanzong's relatives such as his sister who were sacrificed. However, he was killed by Li Zhu'er in 757 after he was unable to find the sword in his bed.

* CorruptPolitician: Willing to help in a murder in order to achieve presidency.

[[folder: McGowen]]

* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In real life, Lushan was killed by Li Zhu'er in 757. In ''Dynasty'', [[spoilers:it's Li E who does it instead]].

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: An Lushan was a general of Sogdian and Göktürk origin in the Tang army who rose to prominence by defending the northeastern frontier of China from the Khitans and other threats. He managed to amass significant military power with Chancellor Li Linfu and Emperor Xuanzong. After Linfu's death, Geshu Han became the new chancellor and soon developed a rivalry with Lushan, which led to him creating the Yan dynasty as its self-proclaimed emperor. Lushan's rebellion was initially successful with the Yan forces capturing the capital of Luoyang and some of Xuanzong's relatives such as his sister who were sacrificed. However, he was killed by Li Zhu'er in 757 after he was unable to find the sword in his bed.

[[folder:Jacques de Molay]]
!!Jacques de Molay
[[quoteright:298:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5bf84ba681db45c31cd5b38b945725a6.png]]
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Memories'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity''

The last public Grand Master of the Templar Order in the early 14th century, he ordered his followers into hiding and to operate secretly before being put to death by the Assassin ally King Philip IV of France. The modern day Templars recognize him as a hero.

!!!'''Mentioned in''': ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' | ''Assassin's Creed: Heresy'' ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla''

* AdaptationalVillainy: As a member of the Order of the Ancients, this makes him a relative villain within the setting though he's also noted to be as valorous as his mythical counterpart.

* BigBad: He is the main antagonist of ''The Blade of Aizu'' since he wants to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and replace it with a Westernized state ruled by the Imperial Court as well as obtaining the Musashi Masamune, the legendary sword of UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi.
* DragonInChief: Although Lloyd is a Templar agent working for Harry Parkes, he serves as the main Big Bad throughout the story.

!!!'''Mentioned in''': ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' | ''Assassin's Creed: Heresy'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla''

* EtTuBrute: His allies Guinevere, Lancelot, and Amr were responsible for his death at Camlann.

[[folder:Erich Albert]]
!!Erich Albert
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy''

Albert was a Templar who served as a German general in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. He was assassinated on December 25, 1914 by a British Assassin serving as a medic in the British Army.

* AFatherToHisMen: During the Christmas Truce of 1914, Albert's first priority was to get medical help for one of his wounded soldiers.
* AffablyEvil: Seemed to be pretty nice for a Templar.
* FourStarBadass: As a German general.
* OhCrap: When he saw that the British medic had a [[GoodScarsEvilScars circular scar]] on his ring finger.

[[folder:The Black Cross]]
!!The Black Cross / Albert Bolden
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Templars'' | ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedUprising''

A feared figure among the Templar ranks, the Black Cross was dispatched to hunt down any Templar who strayed from the path, and kill them. The last recorded one was Albert Bolden, a UsefulNotes/WW1 veteran who disappeared in Hong Kong in 1927.

* InevitableMutualBetrayal: His allies Guinevere, Lancelot, and Amr were responsible for his death at Camlann.

[[folder:William Magear "Boss" Tweed]]
!!"Boss" Tweed
!!!''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants''
A Democratic politician from New York and leader of Tammany Hall, an influential political organization in 19th century America. Unbeknownst to the public, Tweed is the Grand Master of the American Templars in the Northern states.

* BigBad: For the historical segments of ''Last Descendants''.
* CorruptPolitician: Comes with being a Templar trying to cripple the American Assassins and aid the Confederate war effort by instigating the 1863 New York draft riots. In RealLife, he was already convicted for funneling $25 to $45 million from New York City taxpayers.
* TheDon: Tweed is the de facto leader of New York's Civil War era gangs with the help of his loyal agents such as Cudgel Cormac.
* EvilMentor: To Cudgel Cormac, his trusted right-hand man.
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Although he isn't racist, he allowed tor rioters to attack black civilians as a necessary sacrifice.
* InevitableMutualBetrayal: His black maid Eliza brought forward evidence of his corrupt activities to the public during Reconstruction and got him arrested in 1871, eight years after the New York draft riots that killed her father.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: "Boss" Tweed was one of the most influential American politicians of the 19th century who served as an important leader and organizer for the Democratic Party in New York.
* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: In ''Last Descendants'', he opposes any distinctions between races and only allows the rioters to attack black civilians out of necessity instead of outright prejudice. However, Tweed was a 19th century Democrat and it's unlikely that he would have regarded blacks as equals to whites.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Tweed was known as a notorious politician that stole millions of dollars from taxpayers but he certainly didn't instigate the New York draft riots on July 13-16, 1863 nor was he aligned with the Confederates.
* PoliticallyCorrectVillain: Tweed doesn't agree that there are distinctions between races and only permitted the rioters to attack black residents of New York to help the American Templars as opposed to having disdain for them.

[[folder:Erich Albert]]
!!Erich Albert
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy''

Albert was a Templar who served as a German general in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. He was assassinated on December 25, 1914 by a British Assassin serving as a medic in the British Army.

* AFatherToHisMen: During the Christmas Truce of 1914, Albert's first priority was to get medical help for one of his wounded soldiers.
* AffablyEvil: Seemed to be pretty nice for a Templar.
* FourStarBadass: As a German general.
* OhCrap: When he saw that the British medic had a [[GoodScarsEvilScars circular scar]] on his ring finger.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Black Cross]]
!!The Black Cross / Albert Bolden
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Templars'' | ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedUprising''

A feared figure among the Templar ranks, the Black Cross was dispatched to hunt down any Templar who strayed from the path, and kill them. The last recorded one was Albert Bolden, a UsefulNotes/WW1 veteran who disappeared in Hong Kong in 1927.
----

* AristocratsAreEvil: A daimyo of Japan and a Templar.

[[folder:Erich Albert]]
!!Erich Albert
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy''

Albert was a Templar who served as a German general in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. He was assassinated on December 25, 1914 by a British Assassin serving as a medic in the British Army.

* AFatherToHisMen: During the Christmas Truce of 1914, Albert's first priority was to get medical help for one of his wounded soldiers.
* AffablyEvil: Seemed to be pretty nice for a Templar.
* FourStarBadass: As a German general.
* OhCrap: When he saw that the British medic had a [[GoodScarsEvilScars circular scar]] on his ring finger.

[[folder:The Black Cross]]
!!The Black Cross / Albert Bolden
!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Assassin's Creed: Templars'' | ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedUprising''

A feared figure among the Templar ranks, the Black Cross was dispatched to hunt down any Templar who strayed from the path, and kill them. The last recorded one was Albert Bolden, a UsefulNotes/WW1 veteran who disappeared in Hong Kong in 1927.

* OurFounder: Of not only the Kingdom of Britannia but the modern United Kingdom in general.

* PosthumousCharacter: See TheGhost above.

* VillainousLegacy: Manuel Palaiologos' ambitions were based upon avenging him.

* LawfulEvil: The Templars are typically figures of authority that usually enjoy high trust from the public whether as aristocrats or titans of industry.

* KnightTemplar: The group is figuratively and literally Knight Templars. They wish to establish a one-world government to bring peace on Earth but they will use extreme methods and means to achieve it.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Templar-run Abstergo is a multinational corporation that subverts elections and rigs the Presidency of the United States and commits a host of environmental and corporate crimes across the world with impunity. The Truth videos from ''Brotherhood'' even claim that capitalism is the Templars' new method of controlling the masses.

* BadassLongcoat: Historical Templars tend to wear mantles, and many of them are skilled warriors.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Templars run and operate Abstergo Industries to achieve socioeconomic dominance in the present day.
* CorruptChurch: Christianity and Templars often go hand in hand, with several Templars throughout history serving as either missionaries, priests or high-ranking members of the Vatican Church.

* CreateYourOwnHero: Nearly every playable Assassin's journey begins when the Templars kill their love ones. In fact, it was the Templars themselves who created their arch enemy in 47 BC via Flavius killing Bayek and Aya's son Khemu by deflecting Bayek's blade into them.
* DemocracyIsBad:
** Their great belief is this. They aspire to a plutocracy of the wise directing the undisciplined and uninformed mass to a utopia founded on "order, purpose, discipline". In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' which deals with UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, Haytham Kenway, Grandmaster of the Colonial Templars, claims that the Founding Fathers function in the same way despite their democratic pretenses [[note]]Pointing out that they are composed of wealthy, white landowners, many of whom who own slaves (including Washington and Thomas Jefferson) but talk of freedom and liberty.[[/note]] but the Templars are looked down upon by the Assassins, because [[AtLeastIAdmitIt they admit it openly.]]
** Modern-day Abstergo is a multi-national corporation that claims to subvert elections and rig the Presidency of the United States and commit a host of environmental and corporate crimes across the world with impunity. The Truth videos from ''Brotherhood'' even claim that capitalism is the Templars' new method of controlling the masses.

* EnemyCivilWar: The biggest reason they fail to capitalize on any major success over the Assassins. Anytime they rise to significant power and prestige, it's practically guaranteed they'll turn on each other. If Robert and [[spoiler:Al-Mualim]] could have cooperated, they would have gotten the Apple before the first game even began. If the Borgias didn't kill each other, they could have actually killed the Auditores. And then there's Haytham and his new-world Templars, who betray each other and effectively wipe out the old English group from which they spawned (not to mention pissing off Connor as early as five years old). In ''Unity'', there was Elise and her campaign of vengeance against [[spoiler:Germain's]] faction for the death of her father, the former Grand Master. It's also why the Modern Templars are highly successful in today's Era, they work together quite well.

* EvilCounterpart: To the Assassin Brotherhood. Both groups are secret societies founded in Ancient Egypt that work behind the scenes to influence well-known rulers and other important figures throughout history to achieve their goals. However, the Assassins desire free will whereas the Templars want absolute control so they can establish a one world government.

!!!'''Mentioned in''': ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' | ''Assassin's Creed Heresy'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla''

* BigGood: To the Romano-British inhabitants of England and the modern-day United Kingdom. He's also the only Templar to serve this role besides Jacques du Molay.

* PublicDomainCharacter: He's the ''Assasin's Creed'' version of the mythical British king.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: He holds Shay's story as proof that the Templar way is better than the Assassins. Considering that Shay left because the Assassins refused to heed his warnings and blindly heeded Achilles, if anything Shay proves that Templar values such as blind obedience are foolish. He also became a loyal Templar because George Munro disregarded William Johnson's suggestion to kill him and showed kindness.

* CompletelyMissingThePoint: Is fascinated by Juhani's story about remembering a Viking ancestor raiding a monastery. This, despite the fact the experience was obviously traumatizing to him.

* TokenGoodTeammate: One of the most notable and heroic members of the otherwise shady, Illimunati-esque Order of the Ancients.

* InternalAffairs: The Black Cross, whose job is to make sure their Rite's Grandmaster stays in line with the Templar Code, and kill them if they don't.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:His fight against Layla in ''Odyssey'' ends with Layla running Berg through with the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus, severing his spine and paralyzing him from the waist up.]]

* PosthumousCharacter: He's already long dead by the events of ''Origins'' but his influence is widespread with the Order of the Ancients having members in Egypt, Rome, Greece, Persia and China.

** Might have founded the Templar Order. [[spoiler: Maybe. Later games suggest that the group was actually founded by an Egyptian Pharaoh named Smenkhkare during the Old Kingdom to study an Isu technology cache and later spread to try to take over the Earth. Cain may be metaphorical rather than historical, or Smenkhare may have simply refounded something that had already existed.]]

* TheGhost: He's never appeared in the flesh at all in the series but his tomb does appear in ''Origins''.

* PosthumousCharacter: He's already long dead by the events of ''Origins'' but his influence is widespread throughout the ancient world such as Greece, Persia, Egypt, Rome, and China.

** For the Assassins after Altair, as every Templar since has been his philosophical descendant.

!!!'''Appears in:''' ''Film/AssassinsCreed2016'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins''

!!!'''Appears in:''' ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' | ''Website/AssassinsCreedInitiates'' | ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedBrahman'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedChronicles'' | ''Assassin's Creed: Templars'' | ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedUprising'' | ''Assassin's Creed: Reflections'' | ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey''| ''Assassin's Creed: Heresy''