History Videogame / AssassinsCreedII

* BusCrash: [[spoiler: Lorenzo de' Medici]] disappears after Ezio goes to Venice and dies offscreen.

* CruelMercy: At the end [[spoiler: Ezio spares Rodrigo's life]], implying that while [[CycleOfRevenge killing him won't bring back what Ezio's lost]], letting [[spoiler: Rodrigo]] live might be worse, as [[spoiler: Ezio has defeated him at his moment of triumph, proved to Rodrigo the he isn't the Prophet he thought he was, and was going to enter the Vault and take what Rodrigo spent his entire life searching for]]. In that context, it is pretty damn cruel to let him live. On the other hand, he totally effing deserves it. A more subtle complement to this: While Ezio was unconscious, [[spoiler:Rodrigo]] had both the Staff and the Apple, but the Vault did ''not'' open for him... yet at the end, it did for Ezio.

* DoesntLikeGuns: For one reason or another, [[spoiler: neither the Modern Templars nor the Modern Assassins in the ending ending scene use guns, merely batons and a Hidden Blade. No explanation in-game other than neither side wants Desmond to die so anything else is speculation.]]
* DopplegangerAttack: [[spoiler: Similar to Al Mualim, Ezio uses the Apple of Eden to create copies of himself when he fights the Pope. It works quite well and even the Pope congratulates him on this trick.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Lots. In particular, plenty of the paintings Ezio can buy and display in Mario's villa foreshadow [[spoiler: Human/Those Who Came Before couplings, and the Assassins' true nature. The Glyph puzzles make these connections more explicit]].
* FourthWallPsych: In the final cutscene of the game, [[spoiler: Minerva]] begins her monologue talking to Ezio, but turns to stare into the camera a few sentences in. When Ezio expresses his profound confusion, she tells him that she's not talking to him and continues to talk to the camera, despite his protests that there's no one else there. It isn't until the end of the cutscene that she confirms she's addressing [[spoiler: future Desmond and friends. [[MindScrew And maybe the player as well]].]]

* InternalHomage: In Bonfire of the Vanities, you have to kill nine subordinates of the current villain [[spoiler: who has the Apple]] before you can vanquish him. Sound familiar?

* MercyKill: Ezio gets to do this to [[spoiler:Jacopo de' Pazzi after Rodrigo [[YouHaveFailedMe gives him severe wounds]]]], as well as to [[spoiler: Savonarola who is being burned alive by angry Florentines]].

* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: Checco Orsi]] tries to do this by stabbing Ezio post-assignation.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Played straight, with Ezio cutting a swath through countless guards and conspirators throughout the game....[[spoiler: only to let the Spaniard go at the very end. This is because he decided that ''not'' killing him was a crueler punishment.]]

* YouAreTooLate: [[spoiler: Despite all Ezio does to reach the Dodge in time, he arrives just in time to watch him die from poison]].

* CruelMercy: At the end [[spoiler: Ezio spares Rodrigo's life]], implying that while [[CycleOfRevenge killing him won't bring back what Ezio's lost]], letting [[spoiler: Rodrigo]] live might be worse, as [[spoiler: Ezio has defeated him at his moment of triumph, proved to Rodrigo the he isn't the Prophet he thought he was, and was going to enter the Vault and take what Rodrigo spent his entire life searching for]]. In that context, it is pretty damn cruel to let him live. [[KickTheSonOfABitch On the other hand, he totally effing deserves it]]. A more subtle complement to this: While Ezio was unconscious, [[spoiler:Rodrigo]] had both the Staff and the Apple, but the Vault did ''not'' open for him... yet at the end, it did for Ezio.

** Savonarola in the ''Bonfire of the Vanities'' DLC. Granted, having countless Renaissance paintings and sculptures thrown into a fire because you find them indecent is a bit of a dick move. However, people forget that Savonarola's denouncements of such priceless artworks were ''very popular at the time'', mainly because the continued patronage of fancy artwork by wealthy Italian families began to seem like a mocking gesture as poverty, plague, and other miseries continued to climb in Italy. He's definitely extreme, but probably had [[WellIntentionedExtremist good intentions]], and he certainly wasn't the conniving maniacal bastard he is in the game. (In fairness, the ''AC'' team aren't the first ones to portray him that way.) In his case, it seems more like a downgrade, since instead of his influence over others coming from nothing but innate charisma and a heaping helping of fearmongering, in this game, he just happened to [[spoiler:walk by an Apple-shaped pouch next to a gut-stabbed Ezio and pick it up]].

** Compared to the Templars of the previous games who (with only a couple of exceptions) were for the most part people who demonstrated (or satisfactorily explained) their intent of working towards the greater good of the people a-la transforming the Holy Land into a state straight out of Thomas Hobbes' ''Leviathan'', with many a reference to the "state of nature" and what not, the Templars in ACII for most part tend to come off as selfish dicks who are more interested in their twisted vices than the overall Templar goal of bringing about peace by stripping humanity of their free will and only see allegiance to the Templar order as a means of getting what they want. This is likely intentional on the part of the writers, who probably wanted to show the decaying effect an excess of power has on an organization, even one that has such reputably lofty goals as the Templars. It is worth noting that in the first game, there were also Templars who also used their power primarily for personal gain, i.e. Tamir, Majd Addin, and Abul Nu'qoud. A couple of the Templars in the second game are also decent people; Alberto Uberti comes off as a scheming killer out for revenge in Shaun's notes, but his letter to his wife indicates he only betrayed Giovanni because of fears for his family's safety. Dante Moro was little more than a victim of circumstance and the scheming of his superior.

* AnAesop: If the series itself does have one to teach, it is that people should not allow others to choose their path and what they believe, but to decide it for themselves. In this particular game, this moral is made explicit through [[https://youtu.be/FThVFUzol2k Ezio's speech]] at the end of the DLC "Bonfire of the Vanities" memory sequence. Ezio pleads with a crowd that VengeanceFeelsEmpty, and it won't make you a better person. Also, he implores the crowd to find their own way, not to blindly follow those with the loudest voices or the most wealth.
-->'''Ezio:''' Twenty-two years ago, I stood where I stand now – and watched my loved ones die, betrayed by those I had called friends. Vengeance clouded my mind. It would have consumed me, were it not for the wisdom of a few strangers, who taught me to [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty look past my instincts]]. They never preached answers, but guided me to learn from myself. We don't need anyone to tell us what to do; not Savonarola, not the Medici. We are free to follow our own path. There are those who will take that freedom from us, and too many of you gladly give it. But it is our ability to choose – whatever you think is true – that makes us human... There is no book or teacher to give you the answers, to show you the path. Choose your own way! Do not follow me, or anyone else.