Character page for the late 15th century/early 16th century Templars of Rome in Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Lineage.
May contain unmarked and/or Late Arrival Spoilers.
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The Borgias
In General
The House of Borgia
An Italo-Spanish noble family that rose to prominence in ecclesiastical and political affairs during the Italian Renaissance.
- 0% Approval Rating: The people of Rome and many cardinals despise them, as the player can find out when listening while hiding in crowds (said cardinals are even hopeful that an Assassin managed to rid them of Juan the Banker). The Papal army meanwhile is more interested in the pay the Borgias offer, and they also have to rely on French allies to keep the city in fear of them. Modern day Templars even refer to the Borgias' rule of the Order as its dark age.
- Ambition Is Evil: They're power-hungry, and rule through backstabbing and military oppression.
- Animal Motifs: Their (historical and in-game) family emblem is a bull, and can be seen on their soldiers' banners and breastplates.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: They're the most prominent aristocratic family in Italy, and nasty pieces of work at that.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: As evident in Brotherhood, Cesare is a power hungry manchild who might or might not be fucking his sadistic sister Lucrezia, who's also said to have been abused by her father Rodrigo. Another relative, Juan, is quite a nasty lustful piece of work, especially since he's a cardinal.
- Create Your Own Hero: Given the nature of Assassins and Templar history, it was gonna happen eventually, but the Borgia really sped up the process by going after the Auditore family, and making Ezio Auditore their worst nightmare. First Rodrigo Borgia makes the error of his family's life by having Ezio's father and two brothers hanged on false charges, all but ensuring an enemy for life. Second, even after sparing Rodrigo, Cesare signs his and his father's death certificates by boldly besieging Monteriggioni against his father's advice and killing Mario Auditore, which leads to Ezio not only restoring the Assassin Order of Rome back to its former glory, but leads to the end of the Borgia family's reign.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: They're portrayed as much nastier and depraved than the historical Borgias, even when not factoring in the Templar connection and Cesare's Evil Plan to use the Papal armies, French allies and Leonardo da Vinci's war machines to conquer Italy.
Rodrigo
Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI
Main Game Appearances: Assassin's Creed II | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Other Appearances: Assassin's Creed: Lineage | Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (novel)
Voiced by: Manuel Tadros (English and French)note
Played by: Manuel Tadros (Lineage)
"It's not approval I'm after. Just power."
The main villain of Assassin's Creed II. He is the Grand Master of the Italian Rite of the Templar Order, as well as the man ultimately responsible for the death of the father and brothers of Ezio Auditore. During Ezio's decades-long quest for vengeance, Rodrigo carved his way to the top of the Catholic Church's hierarchy, as Pope Alexander VI.
- 0% Approval Rating: The Templars, even in the time of Abstergo, regard his tenure over them as the "Dark Age of the Order", especially since his greed has absolutely nothing to do with the Templar ideals, and he didn't care about them at all.
- Acrofatic: In both battles where he's an opponent he does not seem at all encumbered by his girth.
- Asshole Victim: No one really mourns once he finally bites it.
- Bad Habits: As explained by himself, he actually doesn't care about the Catholic faith and only pretended to in order to gain power and influence.
- Big Bad: He is the main villain of Assassin's Creed II. All the other Templars that Ezio fights in his first twenty years as an assassin work for him and it was him that ultimately ordered the execution of the other male members of the Auditore family.
- The Chessmaster: He prefers to set plots into motion behind the scenes, using lower ranked Templars to carry out the dirty work and take the risks involved.
- Cool Sword: During his fight with Ezio in Venice, Rodrigo wields a Schiavona, the second-best sword in the game (behind the Sword of Altaïr).
- Corrupt Church: The Catholic Church is led by him, a power-hungry Templar who doesn't care about religion or spirituality, and he made sure it is completely infiltrated by Templars.
- Cruel Mercy: Receives this at Ezio's hands at the end of Assassin's Creed II. Ezio spares his life but not before taking away his belief that the latter was the Prophet, subjecting him to a beating of a lifetime, mocking his sense of power, and robbing him of whatever ancient secret he was searching for in the chamber under the Sistine Chapel. Rodrigo is a lot more mellow and chastised after that in Brotherhood, and essentially defanged. His son on the other hand...
- Damage-Sponge Boss: In the final fight, he's not exactly a great brawler, but he can take a lot of hits and is pretty decent at dodging basic punches. This is probably to ensure he's able to get through his rather long final battle speech before you beat him.
- Demoted to Extra: He's the Big Bad of AC II, but barely appears in Brotherhood.
- Dirty Old Man: The existence of his many children gives it away but Shaun's database notes that after Ezio's defeat of the man at the Vatican he seems to have turned to sex as relief and apparently became quite The Hedonist. He apparently had a fondness for prostitutes.
- Evil Is Petty: Ezio's father was killed for attempting to stop Rodrigo Borgia's bid for control of Florence note , and Federico may have been slain with him to preempt revenge on the part of the eldest Auditore sonnote , but Rodrigo also had the youngest brother Petruccionote killed too just to make a point.
- Evil Old Folks: He's closing on age 70 when Ezio confronts him in the Sistine Chapel, although his character design doesn't quite make him look that age.
- Fat Bastard: Evil and fat.
- Final Boss Preview: The moment in San Gimignano, where Rodrigo calls out Ezio, telling him he knows he's listening and that he planned on him coming there shows that he's a much tougher fish for Ezio than the Templars he's hunting down and that the latter would have to up his game if he wants to progress further.
- Foregone Conclusion: If you know your history, his ascension to the Papacy shouldn't be of any surprise, though it does come off as a
Player Punch in AC II due to the eleven-year time skip between Sequences 11 and 14, that game's last two chapters. The "setting drop" in Brotherhood ("1503 - Rome") was enough to show the history aware that this was when Rodrigo would die. - Get It Over With: Having been beaten to a pulp by Ezio and told he wasn't the Prophet meant to open the Vault beneath the Vatican, Rodrigo tells Ezio to finish him off. Ezio refuses, knowing that letting Rodrigo live with the knowledge everything he'd done had been for nothing was a far greater punishment, as well as accepting that killing Rodrigo wouldn't bring back his father and brothers.
- Graceful Loser: After having been beaten and spared by Ezio, Rodrigo told Cesare to leave the assassin in peace and refused to help him after he put himself at the top of Ezio's shit list. He's still an evil bastard, but he clearly respects Ezio.
- Historical Beauty Update: He looks much less ugly in the games than on his Real Life historical
◊ portraits, due to being modelled after his voice actor rather than the real article. - Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, has become a byword for Papal corruption and he seems almost certainly to have been an opportunist rather than a man of faith. However, the game relies heavily on the biased information spread by his enemies, especially one of his immediate successors Giuliano della Rovere (Pope Julius II). Rodrigo's famous Pet the Dog moment, his tolerance towards Jewish refugees where he housed them in Rome's famous Jewish quarter (which is absent from the game) is not touched on. In real life, his successor used this to vilify him and spread anti-Semitic propaganda which included the now well-known accusations of incest. His reputation was further slandered during the Protestant Reformation (for obvious reasons the Protestant perception is particularly popular in the Anglosphere) when he was used as a symbol of everything wrong with the Church and posthumously labeled a devil-worshipper.
- His backstory video in AC II has him poisoning entire dinner parties to death, executing his enemy's prepubescent son out of spite, and implies he raped his daughter (something noted again in Brotherhood). There's no evidence that the real Rodrigo ever did any of these things, even though he doubtlessly had a hand in some deaths, being the sleazy Renaissance politician that he was.
- Even some historians pointed out that his vices and crimes weren't all that different from those committed by other crooked noblemen of the time, but people were less willing to forgive Rodrigo for them because unlike those other noblemen, he was the Pope and was expected to be morally upright. And also because he was Spanish and thus hated and distrusted by the non-Spaniards around him (especially the Italians and French).
- Hoist by His Own Petard: He tries to poison his son Cesare, when the latter shows himself to be too ambitious and counterproductivenote . However, it ends the other way around, with said poisoned apple being forced into his mouth.
- Ink-Suit Actor: He is modeled after his voice actor Manuel Tadros, who also portrayed him in Lineage.
- In the Hood: He spends much of the game wearing a Palpatine-style black hood that conceals his upper face, and his name and identity aren't revealed for quite a while too. He eventually ditches it after becoming Pope.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He has his dreams crushed and his organization gutted by Ezio, who punctuates this by beating the hell out of him. Come Brotherhood and he comes off as a very weak man despite his position and is left futilely trying to reign in his son who screws up and gets the Templars slaughtered again, culminating in Rodrigo's attempted assassination of Cesare backfiring and resulting in his own death.
- Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: In the final battle, he agrees to Ezio's challenge to a brawl without weaponsnote . Earlier in the game during their first confrontation, he opts to fight Ezio one-on-one rather than calling for help from his guards (although the guards do attack once it becomes clear he's going to lose).
- The Man Behind the Man: He tends to operate by pulling the strings of other Templars and their puppets. Ezio only knew him as "The Spaniard" for a while and it took him years to peel out the layers and figure out Borgia's real identity.
- Manipulative Bastard: Rodrigo Borgia knew how to manipulate, such as convincing someone to feel like they have no choice but to condemn to hang their best friend.
- Old Shame: The modern day Templars regard his tenure as an embarrassment, at least in "Abstergo Files" in the multiplayer section of Assassin's Creed: Revelations. They felt that he strayed away from their ideals and brought shame on their cause. Though you can argue that Borgia in admitting he wanted power has a certain honesty.
- This is averted at least by Abstergo Entertainment, one of their front companies in charge with making sure history is Written by the Winners. There Borgia is lionized among the "Great Minds of History", and is laughably described as a "bon vivant, progressive man who stood up for family values" with his infamous reputation being due to a smear campaign by Ezio Auditore.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Before his identity was revealed, he was only referred to as either "the Spaniard" or "Maestro". Interestingly, his identity is revealed early on: after Vieri is assassinated, Mario casually reveals Rodrigo's name to Ezio. Nevertheless, for the majority of the game Rodrigo is still only referred to as "the Spaniard" and "Maestro."
- Orcus on His Throne:
- Chose to remain hiding during Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, primarily out of fear of Ezio and to focus on consolidating of Templar gains.Cesare spoiling this unofficial grace period by attacking Monteriggioni is why Rodrigo holds a grudge against Cesare that eventually leads to the poisoning.
- This was also consistent with his behavior in II where he let the Pazzinote and Barbarigonote families and their allies take credit — and thus the brunt of the Assassin's attention. Until about the time that the Apple of Eden arrived from Cyprus, Ezio only saw him once and thus wasn't in a position to kill Rodrigo.
- In both AC II and Brotherhood, he blamed all the problems with Ezio on his allies, never himself, in spite of having had the means and resources to have helped if only he would have been willing to risk them by committing them against Ezio.
- Parental Incest: Rumors abound about him and his daughter, Lucrezia, though this only appears in Brotherhood as an accusation by Caterina Sforza. A comment by Cesare in Brotherhood implies it is true (with a comment about "persuading" the Pope to give more money), and it is also deliberately mentioned in his Assassin's Creed II database entry.
- Patricide: He is on the receiving end of this from Cesare, his ill-legitimate son, who force feeds him a poisoned apple.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Even after Ezio beats the hell out of him and shatters his dreams at the end of II, Rodrigo is aware that Ezio's revenge ended after that, and was content to let his enemy retire in peace while he formed his powerbase. Late in Brotherhood, Rodrigo chews out Cesare for needlessly antagonizing Ezio in an attempt to get on Daddy's good side and making him seek out retribution that ruined everything the Borgias were working towards shortly before attempting to kill him and being killed instead.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: In the brief sword fight at the end of the Venice section, he holds his own against Ezio and an entire squad of Assassins, even knocking him down and making a getaway. He also is one of the few Templars to spot Ezio listening in on their conversations.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He gives one to Cesare, pointing out that the collapse of the Borgia powerbase in Rome is entirely Cesare's fault because he provoked the Assassins into coming after them by razing Monteriggioni.
- "The Villain Sucks" Song: In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Ezio records his observations about Rodrigo for posterity:"Before Rodrigo was the Pope
He was a man of vices
And once he gained the Holy See
He raised his vices' prices." - Worthy Opponent: He gradually comes to consider Ezio this. When Silvio Barbarigo dismisses the threat Ezio could pose to Templar plans in Venice, Rodrigo bluntly scolds him that the Pazzi made the mistake of underestimating Ezio and paid dearly for it.
- You Have Failed Me: Jacopo de' Pazzi gets stabbed in the gut by him for failing to kill Lorenzo Medici.
Cesare
Cesare Borgia
Main Game Appearances: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Other Appearances: Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy | For Honor note
Voiced by: Andreas Apergis (English)note
"We've had too much bloodshed. I think a cleansing is in order. So, consider this an invitation, from my family... to yours."
Rodrigo Borgia's ambitious son and Captain General of the Papal armies. He is the main villain of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
- 0% Approval Rating: By the time Ezio kills him in Viana, virtually all of Cesare's remaining allies have abandoned him due to his violent ways. And before that, the people of Rome were not unhappy with seeing his grip on the city crumble under the pressure of the Assassins.
- A God Am I: Cesare has a bit of a god complex, believing that he cannot be bound nor killed by a normal man. He also believes that he's more powerful than the Pope himself, seemingly unaware that his father's status as Pope was the only reason he had any power in the first place. He maintains this belief throughout his life, even in his final moments, despite being aware that his death is imminent.
- Ambition Is Evil: Really wants to take over Italy, while his father merely wanted to consolidate the power they held. Moreover, while his father has some measure of patience (having been at this for almost thirty years) and is willing to work behind the scenes, Cesare wants to do it openly (albeit only disguising the Templar angle under the guise of the Church), quickly and by overt military force.
- During the final boss fight in Viana, Spain, Cesare claims to intend to conquer Spain as well, even though Cesare was now in the service of one of his relatives, King John III of Navarre.
- Badass Boast:Cesare: Father, don't you see? I control all of this! If I want to live, I live. If I want to take, I take. If I want you to die, YOU DIIIIIIIEE!
- Big Bad: The main villain of Brotherhood. He is the one who attacks Monteriggioni, steals the Apple, kills Mario and is the one all the Roman Templars effectively work for, since Rodrigo has essentially withdrawn following the ending of Assassin's Creed II.
- Bling of War: He's always seen wearing a silvery armor that's adorned with cherubs.
- Brother–Sister Incest: Kisses his sister Lucrezia in a lover's fashion before a military expedition in Romagna, is receptive to his sister's... suggestions, and it's implied that the whole chain of Memories where Ezio must save Pietro, Lucrezia's admirer, from Cesare's personal assassin Micheletto Corella are all because of Cesare's jealousy, albeit deliberately provoked by Lucrezia who mistakenly believes that he's cheating on her with the captured Caterina Sforza. Later in the game, however, Cesare makes it very clear that he never really loved her, much to her shock and sadness.
- The Caligula: If the most depraved, mad and irrational Roman emperors lived up to their reputation, he'd be side by side with them.
- Cain and Abel: With his younger brother Juan, whom he is said to have killed prior to the story.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Rodrigo manipulated things from the shadows, kept his involvement in things mostly a secret, and largely avoided violence when he could, Cesare is brash, imediately reveals himself to Ezio to mock him, and his ultimate plan is to conquer Italy with military force.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He has a bad habit of killing his sister's lovers, be they her official husband or otherwise.
- Determinator: He's poisoned by Rodrigo and is still visibly suffering from it by the time he is arrested, but still continues to push his forces onwards, albeit from behind.
- Disney Villain Death: Ezio "lets fate decide" by dropping him off a battlement.
- Dragon Ascendant: Subverted, due to how sour the situation is revealed to be when he returns from Romagna. He is never as big a threat as his father was when in his father's position.
- Dragon-in-Chief: He's the primary antagonist despite being merely The Dragon, since Rodrigo's become Orcus on His Throne.
- Evil Is Hammy: In point of contrast with his always composed father, who rarely raised his voice, this is someone who loves shouting and gesturing and making big entrances.
- Evil Plan: Take over Italy from Rome, and through the use of overt military conquest and the power of the Apple of Eden. He is not a man for subtlety like his father.
- Exact Words:
- He tells Francesco Troche that he won't kill him... immediately before his bodyguard does it.
- Towards the end of the game he keeps shouting that no man can kill him. Opting not to take the chance (and to screw with his mortal enemy in the process), Ezio drops him off a wall and lets gravity do him in.
- Four-Star Badass: His database entry notes that he's an effective military commander (he spends most of the game conquering Romagna-Marche with his Papal forces, and also served as a sub-commander for the French in southern Italy), and when we see him at Viana, he leads from the front, slaying several enemy soldiers.
- Historical Beauty Update: Played with. While his in-game appearance IS consistent with how he was depicted in portraits from the time period, the real Cesare was disfigured by syphilis and frequently hid this disfigurement with ornate masks.
- Hot-Blooded: He has a fiery temper and it's quick to set off as well.
- Humiliation Conga: The latter half of Sequence 7 and the whole of Sequence 8 are just one disaster after another for Cesare, ending with him arrested for "murder, betrayal and incest" by a general whose family he'd pressed into his service, at the order of the new Pope who'd opposed his family, and Cesare being dragged away by his former elites the Papal Guards. Sequence 9 has Ezio finding him fighting on the front lines at the castle of Viana, now in the service of a relative.
- Worse yet, it's his downfall because it's been a long time coming — while it's not revealed how much progress Cesare made in Romagna, it probably wasn't worth the Assassins stealing Rome out from under him and Rodrigo, which causes him to have a Villainous Breakdown.
- Jerkass: He's quite a vile and mean individual overall. His sacking of Monteriggioni was particularly petty.
- Large Ham: If he wants to ham, he HAAAAAAAAAMS!
- Light Is Not Good: His breastplate is decorated with cherubs, and he's a cruel would-be tyrant.
- Manchild: The psychopathic kind. He acts like a petulant child when Rodrigo scolds him for his actions.
- Never My Fault: We don't get to see it until close to the end, but when Cesare returns to Rome only to find his power base has been all but entirely eroded, he confronts Rodrigo about the whole mess, seeming to expect daddy to pay his bills, then give him even MORE money, and is also aghast that Rodrigo effectively did nothing to stop the meddling of the Assassins in Rome. When called out by Rodrigo for his obvious shortcomings, his failures, his temperament, his powerlust, his bloodlust against the Auditores (via the effective sacking of Monteriggioni) and where all of it has gotten the Borgia control over Rome and the Papal States (that is, to ruin)... Cesare is as obstinate, boastful, and ego-driven as ever. He states that everything he's managed thus far are accomplishments in spite of the "interference of failures" like his father, that he'll just be able to use the Piece of Eden to scavenge everything... and even as his Humiliation Conga continues, he never once stops to consider that maybe, just maybe, he has any fault at all for where he is now. No, it's his father's fault. It's the Assassin's fault (which isn't untrue). It's the fault of his (remaining) loyal-to-the-death men for not living up to his (by then unrealistic) expectations... but NEVER does he once entertain, let alone consider the idea that he's to blame for one iota of his problems. It's amazing only in the sense that no other Templar ever reaches quite THIS level of Never My Fault, but always justifies their actions or at least goes out with a Jerkass "fuck you". Cesare outright takes the cake here, folks.
- No Man of Woman Born: Claims this about himself at least twice, but there's nothing to indicate it's anything more than egotistical boasting on his part. The novel does point out he seems to have the Devil's luck when it comes to cheating death, which does cause Ezio some concern, but ultimately it's just luck. The only reason Ezio kills him "by letting fate decide" instead of just stabbing him is to troll the guy.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Rodrigo reads his son the riot act when the Assassins start eroding his base at Rome, noting that Cesare pissed off Ezio in making things personal, refusing to learn from his own mistake and his own plan on leaving the Auditore family and the Assassins alone.
- Overlord Jr.: He's Rodrigo's illegitimate son and sets about speeding up his father's shadowy conquest of Italy with overt military action.
- Out of Focus: Despite being the primary villain, Cesare leaves the plot early in Brotherhood to go fight wars in Romagna and take more power for the Templars, allowing Ezio to destabilize the Borgia powerbase for the bulk of the game. By the time Cesare reenters the plot, Ezio has been so successful that he's actually run out of money to support his armies.
- Patricide: He murders his own father when the latter tried to poison him.
- Psychopathic Manchild: The fiery temper, having no patience, extreme Never My Fault levels, ungratefulness... yeah, he's essentially this.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's actually a very skilled swordsman and as a military commander he leads from the front, although there's nothing to back up his claim of being "the greatest fighter who ever lived". In the actual final battle, he fights like the Elite Mook Papal Guards and is immune to insta-kills, but doesn't counter, grab, or kick to break your defenses, making fighting him a simple matter of continuously smacking him to death while occasionally breaking off to fight his respawning mooks. He's certainly got nothing on Robert de Sable or Al-Mualim from the first game.
- Smug Snake: At first he seems like a Worthy Opponent of Ezio Auditore, but he turns out to be nothing more than a delusional tyrant who fancies himself as an invincible and invulnerable king. He thinks that everything is under his control but when he kills his father Rodrigo, who was the real man with all the power everything starts spiraling downwards from there, as it soon becomes apparent that Cesare merely lived off his father's name and reputation.
- Spoiled Brat: This is his default attitude as he only got so far because of his father's financial backing, and has the nerve to ask Rodrigo for more money when everything is going to hell for the Boargias.
- The Starscream: Semi-privately speaks poorly of Rodrigo and his personal power structure behind his back.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Lucrezia warns him of Rodrigo trying to poison him and that she knows where the Apple was hidden. Instead of thanking her for saving his life and asking where the Apple is, he beats the information out of her for not having told him sooner. This is why she also tells Ezio where to find the apple the moment Cesare leaves.
- "The Villain Sucks" Song: Ezio speaks fondly of Cesare when disguised as a minstrel in Assassin's Creed: Revelations:"Young Cesare, I heard him say
Could not be killed by man
So I tossed him through the air
To see where he might land.""Cesare, oh Cesare
A man of great depravity
He thought himself immortal til
He had a date with gravity." - Villainous Breakdown: As Ezio manages to steal Rome under him, he quickly devolves into a hysterical brat. Daddy won't pay his warmaking bills, didn't tell him that his French ally is dead or about the extent of the Assassins' liberation of Rome, blames their troubles on Cesare's "Moment Of Awesome" that was razing Monteriggioni, refuses to let him use the Apple of Eden... oh, and poisoned that apple Cesare just bit.
- Wolverine Publicity: A poster villain for the Ezio trilogy, and tends to dominate Renaissance-era montages of later games like Assassin's Creed III, primarily because he's the only lead villain from earlier games whose identity was NOT a spoiler.
- World's Best Warrior: Cesare believes himself to be this, claiming during the final battle with Ezio that he's "The greatest fighter who ever lived!" To his credit, all indications point to him being a very talented swordsman. During the boss fight, however, he's not much better than a Papal Guard.
- Young Conqueror: Wants to conquer Italy. And Spain, too. He razed Monteriggioni. It's that youthful impatience that lead him to this, instead of his father's shadowy strings-behind-the-scenes plan.
Lucrezia
Lucrezia Borgia
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: Liane Balaban (English)note
"None speak ill of the Borgia! The same will happen to any who defy us!"
Rodrigo Borgia's illegitimate daughter and Cesare's lover, and a target of his abuse as a child.
- Break the Haughty: Lucrezia gets her ego steadily beat down throughout the entire story by at least three different people, including her brother, which finally breaks her.
- Brother–Sister Incest: She and Cesare share a father, and (at the very least) saliva through kisses. Ezio would later mock her for this in one of his minstrel disguise songs by saying she would have liked to have more brothers and thus more lovers. However, when Cesare demands to know where she'd hidden the Apple of Eden, he makes it clear that he does not really love her.
- Butt-Monkey: Save for her first appearance, every one afterwards has her suffer some sort of misfortune, some more comical than others.
- Choke Holds: Cesare attempts to strangle Lucrezia towards the climax of the game. She goes on a Heel–Face Turn as a result. In the mobile version of Brotherhood, Ezio murders her this way.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Rodrigo's daughter who helps Daddy with his Templar business.
- Death by Adaptation: In the mobile version of Brotherhood, Ezio kills her.
- Death by Childbirth: Lucrezia dies in 1519 ten days after giving birth to her eighth child due to birth complications.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Genuinely loves her son Giovanni and even tries to subtly tell him as much.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo: Her son Giovanni was taken in by Cesare (who may or may not have actually been his father, with the other candidate being an Assassin named Perotto Calderon) and raised believing Lucrezia was an "aunt" rather than his mother.
- Harmless Villain: Interestingly enough, when using Eagle Vision, Lucrezia does not glow in any color, despite being hostile towards Ezio throughout the entire game.
- Heel–Face Turn: Of sorts. She doesn't react well to Cesare's interrogation for the Apple, telling Ezio its location in retaliation. She spent the last years of her life having nothing to do with the Templars, instead living quietly with her newfound husband and raising her children as best she could.
- Hypocrite: When Ezio escorts Lucrezia to Caterina's cell, she rants about how the Assassins have ruined many people's lives and ensured the end of the Pazzi family's bloodline... despite the fact that the Borgia destroy businesses, have let Rome fall into ruin and squalor, have hopelessly corrupted the Cardinals, and have Ezio as the only surviving male member of the Auditore family, this last one for apparently giggles.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Best shown in her appearance in the Brotherhood DLC "The Da Vinci Disappearance". She's part of a horrible family and an incestuous sister, but much nastier things happened to her as well, which can draw some sympathy.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Even if the statement's hypocritical considering the Templar's actions, Ezio does ally with a lot of cruel people over the course of the trilogy, which the Assassin Order takes as implicit permission to do the same in later history. This ends up biting them in the ass during the French Revolution.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: After Cesare threatens her, Lucrezia reveals to Ezio the location of the Apple and from there on, she leaves the Templar Order.
- Ms. Fanservice: Her cleavage highlights her buxom breasts.
- Neck Lift: In the mobile game, Ezio kills her through suspended strangulation.
- Pet the Dog: When Cesare is forcing a poisoned apple into his father's mouth to kill him (rather violently, too), she attempts to stop him after maybe 1.5 seconds, clearly not wanting to see her father (and in some claims, incestuous (previous) lover) suffer in such a way. It's small, and ultimately means little, but it's there and apparently earnest.
- Really Gets Around: It is known that Lucrezia has slept with many men which include both her father and brothers. In her lifetime, she was married three times.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Had a son with an Assassin in Project Legacy, whether or not she recognized him as such, but the father ends up taking the son away when he's born malformed.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: She hides the key of Caterina Sforza's cell in her cleavage. Caterina promptly searches it there when Ezio brings her Lucrezia.
- "The Villain Sucks" Song: When Ezio (in minstrel disguise) remembers the fair Lucrezia in Assassin's Creed: Revelations:"Fair Lucrezia could not sate
Her appetite for lovers
But I suspect she would be fine
With two or three more brothers." - What the Hell, Hero?: Gives a rather ineffectual one to Ezio when he holds her hostage in his rescue of Caterina. According to her, Lorenzo de Medici wasn't kidding when he vowed to "erase" the Pazzi family from Florence, forbidding the surviving women from marrying and erasing the tombstones of their ancestors. It doesn't stop Ezio from dragging her to Caterina's cell though.
- Yandere: Goes nuts on Caterina for the possibility that Cesare might have done something with her. According to Caterina, he didn't.
Juan
Cardinal Juan Borgia the Elder / "The Banker"
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: Harry Standjofski (English)note
"The finer things in life make power so rewarding. I see an apple, I can pluck that apple. No one will stop me."
A member of the Borgia family who was made a Cardinal. He handles the Templars' finances for their political and military endeavors.
- Acrofatic: If Ezio or one of his Assassin apprentices gets detected during the mission to kill Juan, he will have no trouble running from Ezio like any other target despite his weight.
- Ax-Crazy: A bit: his database entry mentions an incident where he accused a steward of serving him false wine and drinking the real stuff, and then trying to set the steward on fire after dumping the wine on him. It didn't ignite, but Juan had the steward killed anyway.
- Fat Bastard: He is overweight, which is unsurprising considering how much food is at the lavish parties he throws.
- The Hedonist: He likes to spend large amounts of money throwing massive sexually themed parties.
- Historical Ugliness Update: If he indeed is meant to represent the historical Juan/Giovanni Borgia, then he looks nothing like the genuine article◊, who was not fat not bordering on Gonk.
- In-Series Nickname: "The Banker".
- One-Steve Limit: Averted: there were many Juan Borgias running about at the time, and this one is not to be mixed with Cesare and Lucrezia's brother, who was killed prior to the story.
- Pet the Dog: To a minor extent: the common citizens of Rome were invited to his parties, but they still often complained that their tax money could be better spent.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: His assassination mission has him walking around without a shirt. It is... disturbing, to say the least.
- Wicked Cultured: A fan of the arts, he also had a lot of knowledge about French culture which helped him bring Octavian de Valois into the Templar Order.
Allies & Servants of the Borgias
Micheletto Corella
Micheletto Corella
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: Tony Calabretta (English)note
Cesare's right hand man and assassin. He has known Cesare since their childhood together, and was inducted into the Templar Order due to this connection.
- Boom, Headshot!: Shot in the head by Cesare in the novelization.
- The Dragon: He is referred to as "Cesare's butcher", i.e. the guy he sends to make sure his plans are carried out and people are killed. He then relays these orders to rank and file.
- Historical Domain Character: There was a Micheletto Corella who was close with Cesare in real life. Rumors also persist of Corella being a hitman for Cesare like he is portrayed in the game.
- Not Worth Killing: After stopping him from killing Peretto, Ezio doesn't deliver a fatal blow. When Micheletto asks why, Ezio retorts he doesn't have to; Micheletto's fortunes are so tied to Cesare, when his master falls, so will he.Ezio: I do not need to kill you. He that is the cause of someone else becoming powerful is the agent of his own destruction.
- Professional Killer: His main role is to execute anyone who displeases the Borgia.
- Undying Loyalty: He has cast his entire lot in with Cesare. which Ezio notes will be his undoing. It breaks in the novelization after he gets insulted for his failures, even after he freed Cesare from prison.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He disappears from Brotherhood after Ezio spares his life, with only a few mentions. In the novelization, he is killed by Cesare after attacking him for being insulted too many times.
- Would Hit a Girl: In the course of "instructing" his lord Cesare's nephew Giovanni, he claims to have kicked many women in "a better place that hurts more, even for a woman."
- Would Hurt a Child: He was fairly abusive towards Giovanni whenever Cesare left him in his care.
Baron Octavian de Valois
Baron Octavian de Valois
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: Arthur Holden (English)note
"You must learn how to speak French. It would mask your barbaric sensibilities."
The Baron of Valois and general in the French and Papal armies. He is a distant cousin of French King Louis XII. He was brought to Rome to lend military aid to Cesare Borgia's armies.
- Alas, Poor Villain: He lived a completely uneventful life until his distant cousin became king of France, at which point he was given the enormous responsibility of leading the French forces in Italy. When Ezio assassinates him, he weakly tells Ezio that he "only wanted respect". When Ezio points out that respect has to be earned, his last words are "perhaps you are right... I need more time..."Ezio: Che tu sia parte nella morte. (May you be equal in death.) Requiescat in pace.
- Arch-Enemy: To Bartolomeo d'Alviano during the war in Rome considering that they are the commanders on each side, contrast in their backgrounds and outlooks and then there's the fact that Valois kidnapped his wife.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Bartolomeo notes that a lot of Octavian's arrogance comes from the fact he is now related to royalty.Bartolomeo: He's so blinded by the trickle of royalty in his blood, that lazy inbred can't see the battlefield.
- Armchair Military: He doesn't actually fight with his troops, instead hiding in his fortress while sending wave after wave of soldiers at Bartolomeo.
- Bling-Bling-BANG!: His pistol is gilded with gold.
- The Brute: His forces help provide the muscle used to keep Rome secure for the Templar's and Bartolomeo notes that he's being used as Dumb Muscle by Cesare.
- Cultural Posturing: He constantly insists on the superiority of the French over the Italians, and frequently insults them by calling them barbarians.
- Dirty Coward: He doesn't fight alongside his men, and when cornered he uses Pantasilea Baglioni as a human shield.
- Historical Character's Fictional Relative: A fictional cousin of King Louis XII of France.
- French Jerk: He's French and exceedingly condescending towards the Italians and seems to believe that he'll eventually conquer all of Italy, or so Cesare lets him think. His guards aren't much better either.
- I Have Your Wife: His grand plan to defeat Bartolomeo is abducting Pantasilea off-screen to try and force him to surrender. All it does is enrage Bartolomeo and Ezio, who proceed to utterly destroy him and his forces while rescuing her.
- Non-Action Guy: Never engages in combat once, instead simply running when threatened and using Pantasilea to shield himself.
- Would Hit a Girl: Has no problem with taking Pantasilea captive and threatening to harm her if his demands are not met.
Fiora Cavazza
Fiora Cavazza
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
"I am done with Cesare. Done with the mad people who surround him."
A former prostitute who was recruited by Cesare to serve as his underworld liaison, she turned against him after several years due to his abuse, threats, and constantly putting her into dangerous situations. She allied with the Assassins to dismantle his power base, which she initially had helped establish.
- Action Girl: She has no problem getting into a fight, and manages to hold her own against Malfatto and defeat Caha in combat.
- Co-Dragons: She was one of Cesare's Dragons, and his main connection to his "underworld" Templar allies.
- Combat Hand Fan: The throat slit is the preferred method of killing with her Metal Fan.
- Combat Pragmatist: She kills Il Lupo with a slash across the back with her poison-tipped fan, knowing she couldn't beat him in a fight.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She was disgusted by Cesare having her send thugs to beat Donato Mancini for beating him in a race, as well as the corruption of Brother Ristaro and brutality of Il Carnefice. However, she was truly appalled by Malfatto and Cesare wanting to recruit him, which is why she turned to the Assassins to take down the Templars.
- Femme Fatale: Her work involved seducing people to find out their connections and business so she could exploit both, first for herself, then for Cesare and finally for Rome's Assassin Guild.
- Heel–Face Turn: After being pushed a little too far by Cesare (in terms of who she had to put up with, Malfatto being the last straw), she decided to cut her losses and join the Assassins, providing them with details on Cesare's other agents. Due to this, she tries to cover her ass and kill off Il Lupo and Baltasar because they (if somehow taken alive or otherwise talking) could reveal to the Assassins the extent to which she'd helped Cesare. Later, to prove her devotion to the Assassins, she tries to steal the Apple of Eden from Borgia custody. She fails.
- Hero of Another Story: In Project Legacy, which is separate from the Brotherhood main game, she is a viewpoint character who eventually works against the Templars. The "Rome" memory set's first chapter is about her memories.
- Ms. Fanservice: Former courtesan and later Femme Fatale, she has good reason to invoke as many sexy tropes as she finds necessary.
- Predatory Prostitute: Dowplayed in that she does have some standards, but Cavazza has quite the mean streak and is implied to regret little of what she's done for Cesare as a spy and assassin. She merely wants him defeated before he gets an excuse to kill her.
- Punch-Clock Villain: She only worked for Cesare for the benefits (power, money, etc.)that he provided for her, and never bought into the Templar cause. Her change of heart - going so far as to join the Assassins, the Templars' sworn enemies - further suggests that Fiora did not care about Templar ideals. Once working for them proved to be more trouble than it was worth it (Cesare sending her to meet with Malfatto being the final straw), she allied herself with the Assassins because she knew they were the group that could better protect her from the Templars.
- Professional Killer: One of her jobs for Cesare was assassinating some of his enemies using her cover as a prostitute, including his own brother, Juan Borgia the Younger.
- Uncertain Doom: Her last appearance is immobilized, at the feet of a very pissed Cesare Borgia, after she tried to steal the Apple of Eden. Given that it's not her memory we see this in, but Cesare's son Giovanni's, it's likely it didn't end well for her.
Baltasar de Silva
Baltasar de Silva
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
Hiding behind the guise of a barber, Baltasar de Silva is Cesare's master spy and secretly studied the Assassins' techniques and equipment, in the hopes of using their own skills against them. He was not the combative type, instead preferring to use traps or hired help to defeat enemies.
- Apologetic Attacker: Apologizes to Fiora Cavazza before unveiling his trap.
- Booby Trap: He's shown to have a bit of a fondness for these. When Fiora leads the Assassins to his actual hideout, they are first confronted with a tripwire bomb in the doorway and once they're inside, they discover the place is loaded with an abrasive powder. Baltasar sets fire to it, intending to burn the place down while they're inside, but Fiora and the Assassins manage to escape unharmed.
- Captain Ersatz: Sweeney Todd in an Italian Renaissance coating.
- Co-Dragons: One of Cesare's, serving as his master spy. He and Fiora often worked together.
- I Lied: After the "reformed" Fiora is lured towards an abandoned warehouse with promises of a better deal, Baltasar engages in some casual conversation before he calls out a squad of arquebusiers to kill her. He didn't expect the Assassins to have their own ambush team waiting too.
- Improbable Weapon User: With a razor as a weapon, slitting your targets' throats is the only option.
- Kill It with Fire: He attempts burn Fiora and the Assassin team accompanying her inside his hideout.
- Out-Gambitted: By the Assassins, obviously.He probably hadn't expected them to follow Fiora to the warehouse.
- The Spymaster: Runs Cesare's spy network, which is focused on gathering intelligence on the Assassins.
Auguste Oberlin
Auguste Oberlin
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: Marcel Jeannin (English)note
"Who has been tearing down my signs? I want him dead. "
Auguste Oberlin was the personal blacksmith of Cesare Borgia, crafting weapons for most of Cesare's agents, as well as more ambitious designs. He was also responsible for the creation and distribution of Borgia propaganda throughout Rome.
- Berserk Button: He is infuriated when Ezio tears down his propaganda.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: He wields a Bearded Axe in the singleplayer mission during his confrontation with Ezio, and he's a cruel domestic abuser.
- The Blacksmith: He crafts weapons for most of Cesare's agents.
- Domestic Abuse: His horrible treatment of his wife, along with his alliance to the Borgia, is what provokes Ezio into luring him out (by destroying his propaganda posters) and then killing him.
- Evil Redhead: That red hair of his and all that Borgia propaganda he puts up make him a highly visible target for an Assassin.
- Fat Bastard: He's so chubby his guards are more likely to reach Ezio before he does.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Only one of his arms has a gauntlet.
- Genius Bruiser: He is revealed to be quite attentive to detail. Also an excellent craftman and mechanical designer.
- Hidden Depths: As stated above, when Fiora Cavazza first meets him, she is more than a little surprised that beneath his brutish appearance lies an intelligent and cultured man that is very dedicated towards his work. He was also an artist, designing intricate propaganda for the Borgia.
Donato Mancini
Donato Mancini
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ??? (English)note
"Donato Mancini is Cesare's finest horseman, perhaps better than Cesare himself."
—Fiora Cavazza
Donato Mancini was a military captain of the Papal army under the Borgia and a very confident, capable horseman, better than even Cesare Borgia himself. While he appeared honourable, even he was not afraid to resort to underhanded methods or petty revenge.
- Armor Is Useless: Despite wearing a full breastplate, he dies just as easily as his squishier opponents.
- Beard of Evil: He has a small pointed black beard, which is classic evil hair.
- Cool Sword: It's pretty fancy.
- Evil Is Petty: He decides to destroy Rocco's stand and plans to murder him simply because he lost a horse race.
- Honor Before Reason: Wouldn't take a bribe to throw a horse race to Cesare and wouldn't let himself be threatened either, saying that there are no other factors in a race but skill. However, this is more arrogance than honor as Mancini ended up vandalizing the selling stall of Rocco, a rider who did beat him, and then wanted him to report to the Circus Maximus (Circo Massimo) to be cut down. When Ezio arrives at the Circo Massimo, Mancini is on his horse wondering where Rocco is.
- Hypocrite: While he claims to Fiora Cavazza that the winner will win and should not be begrudged because of that, he's obviously vengeful when he himself is beaten by someone like Rocco. Even his biography jokingly hints at this, stating that he "remains a distinguished and refined character, respecting the code of honour. Unfortunately, those he challenges to a duel by Sword never get the chance to count to three."
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Took a severe beating from Teodor Viscardi for winning the race against Cesare on principle, after previously being threatened.
Malfatto
Malfatto
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
"Cesare wants me to meet his murderous doctor, Malfatto, though I do not believe he really is a doctor. He is a predator of women. A monster."
—Fiora Cavazza
An infamous serial killer of courtesans, Malfatto was a doctor only in name, murdering many more than he saved. He was feared enough to catch the eye of Cesare Borgia, who wished to recruit the evil doctor into his personal army.
- Captain Ersatz: Our Jack the Ripper of the Italian Renaissance.
- Cool Mask: The beak thing that all plague doctors wear. Gets cooler in his advanced gear.
- Malevolent Masked Man: Wears a white doctor's mask like other Renaissance physicians, but since he is a serial killer, the effect is much more frightening.
- Deadly Doctor: Uses drugs to kill people.
- Dirty Coward: He drugs Fiora Cavazza in her sleep, only to seem to panic when she manages to get up and fight back (then again, she did manage to tear a large gash in his stomach). He also runs on sight from Ezio, but that's just being smart.
- The Faceless: He is never seen with his mask off. Ezio doesn't even bother removing it to close his eyes after Malfatto is assassinated.
- Improbable Weapon User: Uses a syringe full of poison that he jabs into his targets.
- Karmic Death: Possibly, if he's killed by a female Assassin recruit.
- Meaningful Name: Malfatto is probably derived from the verb "malfattore", which translates to "doing evil deeds".
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: By assaulting her, he inadvertently begins Fiora Cavazza's turn against Cesare and the downfall of Cesare's crooked connections in Rome.
- Plague Doctor: He looks the part but he's actually spreading "plagues", (i.e. drugs) than healing them.
- Serial Killer: He's a serial killer who targets prostitutes.
- White Mask of Doom: In his case, the mask is not a mark of healing but of death.
- Would Hit a Girl: As long as they can't hit back.
Gaspar de la Croix
Gaspar de la Croix
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: Marcel Jeannin (English)note
"I don't scare easily!"
Gaspar de la Croix was a master engineer and marksman. He was frequently hired by Cesare Borgia to take down easy targets on the field at the start of a battle, as well as to create the mechanisms for various complicated weaponry.
- Ax-Crazy: Described as a "haunted man", by Fiora, who meets him while he is still mostly sane, although he is, by then, already an unstable recluse. By the time Ezio finds him, he's finally snapped and has begun to fire at people indiscriminately.
- Cold Sniper: He is one of the best shots in the series, and puts down a uprising singlehandedly with his rifle.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His history is never revealed, but he is clearly driven by remorse. This eventually led to him killing indiscriminately.
- Dark Is Evil: His gear progression steadily turns various parts of his, originally orange, costume black.
- The Engineer: The database describes him as a master engineer who created complicated weaponry.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He looks through his Sinister Shades and shoots the innocent without qualms of conscious.
- Logical Weakness: Someone who puts all his skill and sanity into sniping is going to be at a disadvantage in close quarters combat. According to the synchronization objective, Ezio killed him with his Hidden Blade.
- Mad Scientist: Of the Engineer variety given his creations and how he eventually over the deep end while using them.
- Mad Mathematician: He is described as being obsessed with numbers and calculations.
- Meaningful Name: His surname, "de la Croix", is French for "of the cross", which neatly ties in with his Templar alliance.
- Trigger-Happy: The civilian who starts the Templar Agent mission staring him said he abruptly started shooting randomly inside the guy's house.
Il Carnefice
Il Carnefice
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
An executioner that was active in Rome, Il Carnefice worked under the direct employment of Cesare Borgia, often receiving instructions or execution warrants through Fiora Cavazza. He would perform his work with great enthusiasm and brutality, often displaying severed limbs to the audience.
- Ax-Crazy: He loves his work, and enjoys dismembering some of his victims after he hangs them.
- Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: Wields a Bearded Axe and is a murderous executioner who revels in bloodshed, and also happens to be a rapist.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": "Il Carnefice" is just Italian for "The Executioner".
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: When Fiora Cavazza delivers him a list of people to kill from Cesare, he tells her that she is on the list. As she starts to panic, he then laughs and reassures her he can't even read.
- The Executioner: Even his name means "executioner"!
- In the Hood: He heeds to hide his face behind a hood more than anyone because of the stigma associated with executioners.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Most executioners wear masks to hide their identity and disassociate themselves from their job. He wears the mask because he loves it.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Il Carnefice translates to "executioner".
- Never Learned to Read: He doesn't even read the execution warrants he gets because he's illiterate.
- Obviously Evil: A bloody and hoody executioner who boasts about the people he kills; oh yeah, he counts.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Ezio learns of Il Carnefice when he finds a man crying over his executed wife, who Il Carnefice had raped and then hung. He can't bring her down from the gallows because he himself will be executed if he does so. Ezio goes after the bastard immediately. It is, in fact, the first thing he does after recovering from his Game-Breaking Injury.
- Starter Villain: He's the first proper assassination target of Brotherhood.
Lanz
Lanz
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
A thief who leads the Cento Occhi, Lanz turned to a life of crime after his wife suffered a miscarriage. After robbing a carriage belonging to the Borgia, he and his gang were forced into Cesare Borgia's service as payment deliverers.
- Badasses Wear Bandanas: It likely keeps his hair out of his eyes while he free-runs.
- Despair Event Horizon: According to his wife, he became what he is now after his child was lost in miscarriage.
- Oh, Crap!: His reaction upon seeing Ezio pretty much says it all:Lanz: Merda (Shit)!
- Only One Name: Just "Lanz".
- Poor Communication Kills: Ezio is never told the full extent of his background, and believes he is simply a Templar killer who happened to lose his child. Similarly, Lanz's wife probably didn't expect Ezio to just go and kill her husband for his misdeeds.
- Thieves' Guild: The leader of one, although they are little more than murders who take from their targets corpses.
Cahin & Caha
Cahin & Caha
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
Two of Cesare Borgia's assassins, Cahin and Caha were a corrupt French nobles that dressed as a harlequin and hellequin. Together with his sister Caha, he would lure his victims to their deaths while putting on a show for them.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: As French nobles, they don't need to work for Cesare. They kill his targets because they enjoy it.
- Dark Action Girl: Caha is one of Cesare's assassins.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Cahin slips away while his sister cradles him, seconds before she too, is killed.
- Dual Wield: Cahin wields two rondel daggers, while Caha uses two barbed daggers that she could hang off her costume..
- Emotionless Girl: Caha, according to her character bio, feels nothing. This is subverted when Cahin is killed; she immediately loses all sense of self-preservation and fights her way to his body, removing his mask and cradling his body until an Assassin shoots her in the back of her head with a crossbow bolt.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Although he is fast enough to keep up with them for at least a little bit, Cahin can't hope to match multiple assassins with two daggers and gets stabbed multiple times in the gut before going down.
- Malevolent Masked Men: Cahin wears a harlequin mask, and so does his sister.
- Monster Clown: They kill people as part of their acts and find it funny. They could give The Joker a run for his money.
- Running Gag: There's an achievement called "Clowning Around" that involves fighting a jester using The Harlequin's character model at six different locations. He'll be doing some acrobatics on the street, and once Ezio gets close enough, he'll engage him on a fist-fight out of nowhere. Whether the Harlequin in question is Cahin or not is debatable, but seeing as you must defeat him with your bare hands (killing him does not count towards the achievement, and that includes dropping him on water), it's possible that Ezio fights Cahin at six different places instead of fighting six different Harlequins.
- Professional Killer: They are two of Cesare's top assassins.
- Sexy Jester: Caha's outfit is lowcut in the chest area, thus putting more emphasis on her sex appeal than her brother's.
- Sibling Team: Caha and Cain are siblings and always work together, to the point that Caha just gives up and lets the Assassins kill her after Cahin is killed by four of them.
- Theme Naming: The phrase "cahin caha" means "willy-nilly" in French.
Charles de la Motte
Charles de la Motte
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
A French marquis that commanded an army of mercenaries, Charles de la Motte was a very valuable ally to Cesare Borgia. He was invited to Rome to strengthen alliances and simultaneously work out a plan to lure out the Assassins.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: An evil French noble Templar.
- Beard of Evil: It looks just like Obi-wan Kenobi's, but he's evil.
- Character Death: He was assassinated by Ezio at the request of Francesco Vecellio, who was the Sole Survivor of the Assassin team de la Motte killed.
- Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey: Played straight at first. He appears as an arrogant jerkass who can't back up his assertions with proof. When he's found challenging Italian knights to a duel with his, even if the match is rigged by assassins, their performance is described as so underwhelming, the match didn't need to be rigged to begin with. When he appears some time later harrassing Romans with his troops, the Assassins have an easy time killing them. Then he subverts the trope hard. The whole thing was a move to draw them out of their hideouts where he could crush them with sheer force and firepower. It was a complete success.
- Meaningful Name: "De la Motte" is French for "of the mound", which, when combined with his royal title of marquis, could be interpreted as a play on words of the phrase "king of the hill".
- Small Name, Big Ego: Has an unmatched blade to go with his unprecedented ego... or so he claims. His strategy skills, however, are not in doubt.
Rocco Tiepolo
Rocco Tiepolo
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
A Templar condottiero that collected warriors and prided himself on exotic tactics and mercenaries. Rocco Tiepolo would provide Cesare Borgia with a lot of his men, although he himself was not under their command.
- Affably Evil: Of all the strange and generally jerkass people Fiora meets as envoy for Cesare, she gets along with him the best, even dining and flirting with him.
- Blood Knight: He considers a hopeless fight against a dozen Assassins as the perfect death.
- Captain Ersatz: He looks like, dresses like, and even acts like a less badass, more evil Mario Auditore.
- Cool Sword: His weapon is a short sword that bears a bit of a resemblance to the Schiavona.
- Face Death with Dignity: He makes no effort to plead for his life or run away. Fiora describes his death-in-battle as "the end he has fantasized".
- Hired Guns: He sells mercenaries.
- Only in It for the Money: His biography outright states money is his only motivation, having often double-crossed previous employers after having found a higher bidder. Like many of his fellow low-ranking Templars, the Order's idealogy doesn't seem to mean much to him. The only reason the Assassins killed him is because they couldn't outbid Cesare.
- Wicked Cultured: He's a villain with a love for wine.
Silvestro Sabbatini
Silvestro Sabbatini
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ??? (English)note
"To secure his reign, Cesare needs to control the populace. Fear keeps them quiet."
Silvestro Sabbatini was a Templar slave trader that claimed to be a nobleman, though he was little more than an infamous panderer, using any means necessary to ascend the social ladder. He was once punished for failing Cesare by having his left arm sliced off, though he later received a prosthetic as replacement for his lost limb.
- Alliterative Name: Silvestro Sabbatini.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Turns out to be partaking in human trafficking. Of course, he likely isn't even a nobleman.
- Artificial Limbs: Lost his left hand and forearm to Cesare due to an unspecified failure involving a courtesan, but the mere accidental mention of the prosthetic (delivered by Fiora Cavazza as "a second chance" from Cesare) is enough for him to decide to kill his wife, despite her sincere apology.
- Berserk Button: He is infuriated when his wife asks if he is scared of Cesare for what he did to his hand, and resolves to kill her himself in retaliation.
- Character Death: He is killed in a battle with Ezio's recruits.
- Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: He has a bit of a thing for 'the sparklies', most likely to further the illusion that he is noble. Initially, he is disappointed in the metal prosthetic offered by Cesare, because it wasn't quite jewel-encrusted enough. When Fiora offers to return it to Cesare, he changes his mind.
- Fur and Loathing: The fur coat on his shoulders is a mark of his delusions of nobility.
- Nouveau Riche: Fiora implies he is this in Project Legacy, and that he merely buys his way into social circles.
- Primal Stance: He seems perfectly capable of standing upright, but seems to slink around a lot.
- Social Climber: His main goal, which he seeks to obtain through bribes and Templar influence.
Brother Ristoro
Brother Ristoro
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
A corrupt priest who serves the Templars by providing forged letters of condemnation or forgiveness to them.
- Bald of Evil: He goes beyond a tonsure. It certainly makes him look more severe.
- Death from Above: Ezio killed him with an air assassination.
- Dirty Old Monk: He regularly visits whorehouses, and Fiora notes that his perversions were some of the worst. She actually felt bad whenever she left prostitutes with him as payment for his services to Cesare.
- Hypocrite: Besides his service to the Templars, he routinely visits whorehouses and has many other vices, breaking his religious vows.
- Open Secret: Everybody in Rome knows he works for the Borgia and is corrupt, but he still denies it in public and kills anyone who speaks of it.
- Sinister Minister: Poisoned two believers who became aware of and spoke out against his corruption.
Il Lupo
Il Lupo
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
An Templar assassin used by Cesare, he worked with Fiora Cavazza and Baltasar de Silva in studying the Assassin Order and began using their own techniques to hunt them.
- Animal Theme Naming: Only known as "Il Lupo" (The Wolf).
- Badass Cape: Part of his Assassin imitation is a fine cape.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: Uses similar attire, weapons, and techniques to those of the Assassins when hunting them.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: His version is similar to the real-life katar.
- But I Read a Book About It: All of his gear and techniques came from Baltasar's notes on them from watching actual Assassins on the hunt.
- Expy: Similar in appearance, name, and profession as La Volpe.
- He Knows Too Much: After she defects to the Assassins, Fiora takes out Il Lupo on her own by luring him to a secret meeting, knowing that if the Assassins saw him they would realize exactly how much she had done for the Templars.
- In the Back: Fiora kills him with a slash from her poison-coated fan to his back, knowing she could never kill him in a fair fight.
- In the Hood: Like the Assassins he imitates, he wears a hood.
- Only Known By His Nickname: His real name is never mentioned and he's called "Il Lupo".
- Professional Killer: He serves as one of Cesare's assassins, taking orders from Fiora and Baltasar.
Lia de Russo
Lia de Russo
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
A Templar agent who provides the Order with ancient relics and artifacts, often killing those in possession of them.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: She uses a Hidden Blade mounted over her arm rather than the traditional Assassin underarm.
- Consummate Professional: When making deliveries to Fiora, Lia doesn't bother with small talk and simply delivers the item for payment.
- Dark Action Girl: She acquires artifacts for the Templars by murdering their current owners. Fiora notes that some of the things she delivers still has the blood of her victims on them.
- In the Hood: Wears a green hood attached to her cape. Like an Assassin, she needs to hide her face.
- Psychotic Smirk: She always seems to be smiling and is usually seen when doing her dirty work.
The Cardinal
The Cardinal
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: ???
An unnamed Borgia-allied cardinal of the Roman Curia. He is the man behind the terror attacks of the Followers of Romulus.
- Arc Villain: He is the main villain of the Followers of Romulus arc.
- Bad Habits: He's more of a Borgia agent who seeks to extend the power of the Church over the people of Rome by any means necessary than a man of faith.
- The Man Behind the Man: The leaders of the Followers of Romulus actually answer to him.
- No Name Given: His name is never specified.
- Le Parkour: He is surprisingly agile and doesn't seem to be hampered by his cardinal robes when Ezio Auditore chases him in the construction sites of the heights of St. Peter's Basilica.
- You ALL Look Familiar: His character model is that of an ordinary Roman cardinal, many of which can be seen in and around the Vatican in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
Other Templars
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus
Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Voiced by: Vince Benvenuto (English)note
A astronomer and mathematician who joined the Templar Order, but quickly turned on it after being barred from sharing his findings. He becomes an ally of the Assassins after his life is saved by Ezio Auditore.
- Determinator: Nothing is going to stop Nicolaus from learning and spreading his knowledge to the masses, including the Borgia Templars themselves coming for his life. Even when stated by Ezio that his life is in danger, he still refuses to back down, stating that it's better to die enlightened than to remain in ignorance.
- Heel–Face Turn: He is never really a enemy to begin with, then he quickly abandons the Templar cause when they try to suppress his findings.
- Humble Hero: A sharp contrast to every Templar in the franchise, he's humbled and in awe at the potential of science and human understanding and accepts that humanity will have to go a long way further and he himself will not live to see it end.
- Obliviously Evil: He did not realize what the Templars were truly like until after he joined them, and swiftly parted sides with them once he discovered their true nature.
- Token Good Teammate: He is this to the Templars before leaving the order. He doesn't seem to care about the Templars' domination goals, he only has science in his mind.
- The World Is Just Awesome: His speech on the ideals of the Renaissance:Copernicus: Cesare thinks himself the center of it all, but he circles the periphery with the rest of us. Did you know that the sun is most likely the midpoint of the universe, not the Earth? I see the movements of the moon and stars, and yet I can only observe. So much is unknown to me. This age of reason is but the beginning of an end I will never see. Someday we will be able to influence this world, to exploit the power of the human will to harness light and perhaps even travel into the heavens. But I am getting ahead of myself, first we must see the sun spinning at the center.
- It also echoes Ezio's speech at the Bonfire of the Vanitiesnote . Ezio is impressed and tells him he think it's possible, but Copernicus, humble and intelligent, corrects him.Copernicus: You should not accept my word. Not until I have proof.
- It also echoes Ezio's speech at the Bonfire of the Vanitiesnote . Ezio is impressed and tells him he think it's possible, but Copernicus, humble and intelligent, corrects him.
