History VideoGame / AssassinsCreedRevelations

''Revelations'' is unique in that it places you in control of the three primary characters in the Assassin's Creed story thus far: Ezio Auditore from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' and ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', Altaïr ibn La-Ahad from the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI first game]], and Desmond Miles -- the descendant that links all the Assassins together. Ezio and Altaïr have their stories completed in this game.

In the 16th century storyline, Ezio travels abroad to explore Constantinople at the height of the Ottoman Empire, where an increasing number of Templars threatens to destabilize the region, and a lot of information about the {{Precursor}} society is revealed. In order to access the priceless secrets of the Library of Altaïr, Ezio must collect a series of discs. Contact with these discs allows him to relive some of Altaïr's memories (creating an ''Film/{{Inception}}''-like [[DreamWithinADream memory-within-a-memory]] for Desmond). The Altaïr memories fill in gaps in his story from before, during, and after the events of the first ''Assassin's Creed'' game, and conclude it.

In the 16th century storyline, Ezio travels abroad to explore Constantinople at the height of the Ottoman Empire, where an increasing number of Templars threatens to destabilize the region, and a lot of information about the {{Precursor}} society is revealed. In order to access the priceless secrets of the Library of Altaïr, Ezio must collect a series of discs. Contact with these discs allows him to relive some of Altaïr's memories (creating an ''Film/{{Inception}}''-like [[DreamWithinADream memory-within-a-memory]] for Desmond). The Altaïr memories fill in gaps in his story from before, during, and after the events of the first ''Assassin's Creed'' game.

After ''Revelations'', the series continued with the next numerical entry (and a new historical protagonist as well as a new era and setting) in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII''.

* ActionGirl: Shao Jun, an Assassin from China, appears in ''Embers''. There are also various female Templars as multiplayer characters, and, of course, your female Apprentices can be pretty terrifying as well.

* AndYourLittleDogToo: In the Champion mission, you initially have to defend a printer from the eponymous Templar. In the second part, the Champion goes after the printer's father instead.

* ArmorOfInvincibility: There are two, the Armor of Ishak Pasha (obtained by finding all ten of Ishak Pasha's memoir pages and completing a free-run mission) and the Master Assassin Armor (obtained by completing the first parts of all the Master Assassin missions). Both are unbreakable and provide the maximum health bonus. The former can also deflect bullets, weakens bombs and makes guards more likely to flee, while the latter allows Ezio to sprint completely silently and pretty much breaks the game's remaining difficulty in half because [[DiscOneNuke it can be acquired from Sequence 3 onwards, less than two hours into the game]].

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In one sequence, Ezio and Piri Reis escape from the Golden Horn to sail to the underground city of Derinkuyu in Cappadocia, where the Turkmen chieftain Shah Qoli (Shahkulu) is harbouring a Templar base. Except that Cappadocia is in ''central'' Anatolia, well away from the coast. Piri Reis must have been a fantastically gifted navigator indeed to take his ship to a landlocked destination.

** Altaïr's gives a portion of his MacGuffin books to Niccolo Polo, which form {{Plot Coupon}}s for this game. Altaïr also gave part of his books to his son to take to Alexandria (well after its famed Library was burned) -- they are never heard from again.

In Ezio's storyline, Ezio travels abroad to explore Constantinople at the height of the Ottoman Empire, where an increasing number of Templars threatens to destabilize the region, and a lot of information about the {{Precursor}} society is revealed. As part of his mission in Constantinople, Ezio must collect a series of discs. Contact with these discs allows Ezio to relive some of Altaïr's memories (creating an ''Film/{{Inception}}''-like [[DreamWithinADream memory-within-a-memory]] for Desmond). The Altaïr memories fill in gaps in his story from before, during, and after the events of the first game.

After ''Revelations'', the series continues with the next numerical entry (and new historical protagonist) in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII''.

Back in 2012, Desmond finds his mind trapped deep within the Animus, along with that of his predecessor, Subject 16, and he must continue to relive Ezio's memories if he ever wishes to wake up again. ''Revelations'' serves as a sort-of loop closer, tying up storylines and plot threads started in the first three games.

In Ezio's storyline, Ezio travels abroad to explore Constantinople at the height of the Ottoman Empire, where an increasing number of Templars threatens to destabilize the region, and a lot of information about the {{Precursor}} society is revealed. As part of his mission in Constantinople, Ezio must collect a series of discs. Contact with these discs allows Ezio to relive some of Altaïr's memories (creating an ''Film/{{Inception}}''-like memory-within-a-memory for Desmond). The Altaïr memories fill in gaps in his story from before, during, and after the events of the first game.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory:

* DiscOneNuke: By completing the Master Assassin missions, you unlock '''the''' best gear, including the [[ArmorOfInvincibility strongest armor]] along with [[InfinityPlusOneSword all the sword weapon with maxed out stats]]. These missions become available in Memory Sequence Three, about an hour and a half into the game.

* AnachronismStew: The main antagonists are the Byzantines, and they are frequently referred to as Byzantines. However, the term "Byzantine" is a modern invention used to describe the society and culture of the Eastern Roman Empire, and was never used by contemporaries. The Byzantines insisted until their last days that they were Romans, or Hellenes, or Greeks. Even during the War of Greek Independence centuries later, many Greeks STILL considered themselves to be Romans. Then again, this can be {{Hand Wave}}d as another of the Animus's oversimplifications for the subject's sake, like the convenient subtitles.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_Creed_Revelations_for_TV_Tropes_9602.jpg]]

* GrandFinale: ''Revelations'' is the final installment in the "Ezio Trilogy," and it concludes his story on a fairly definitive note, [[spoiler: with him retiring as an Assassin and accepting that his entire life has been as a conduit for Desmond, before going off to live a quiet life with [[SecondLove Sofia]]. Compounding this, ''Embers'' (included in certain editions, ends with Ezio's death about a decade after the events of the game.]]

** Ezio, having become Mentor and leader of the Italian Assassins in the previous game, is treated like this on his arrival in Constantinople. [[spoiler: He even names the new leader of the Istanbul Assassin guild after Yusuf dies.]]

* CombatPragmatist: As is traditional for the series, Ezio pulls no punches in combat. In this, he inherits Assassin traditions well from Altaïr, who at [[OldMaster 82]] is not above [[spoiler: fighting swords with bullets -- one bullet, to be precise.]]

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: Altaïr remains infuriatingly respectful of Abbas despite the latter being an insufferable JerkAss to him, having his youngest son executed out of spite, murdering and then beheading his best friend, and nearly destroying the Assassin Order. He only [[spoiler:kills him at the end]] as a last resort. [[spoiler: In a conversation with Maria, he says that he regrets not doing so earlier and she reminds him that his mercy earned him respect among others.]]

* HeroesWantRedheads: Ezio isn't picky but his LoveInterest [[spoiler: and ultimately, his wife]], Sofia Sartor, is a redhead.

* InjuredPlayerCharacterStage: Ezio falls off a speeding carriage down a cliff. Until he finds a HealingPotion towards the end of the mission, his injuries prevent him from performing most of his [[LeParkour fancy acrobatics]], so he has to rely on basic moves and environmental shortcuts. A similar situation happens when [[spoiler: old Altair returns to Masayaf]].

** Similarly, Altaïr had nothing really personal against Abbas, until the latter made a point of [[spoiler: executing his youngest son, as well as his best friend, and was indirectly responsible for the death of his wife]]. Even if it took twenty years, it was going to happen.

* InjuredPlayerCharacterStage: Ezio falls off a speeding carriage down a cliff. Until he finds a HealingPotion towards the end of the mission, his injuries prevent him from performing most of his [[LeParkour fancy acrobatics]], so he has to rely on basic moves and environmental shortcuts.

''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' is the fourth entry in the main ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series, released in 2011 on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/Xbox360 and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], as well as in 2016 on UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/XboxOne via The Ezio Collection.

* ButtMonkey: [[spoiler:Duccio de Luca]] comes face to face with Ezio yet again. He just can't seem to escape. At least he doesn't take a beating this time...unless you decide to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential seek him out and beat him up again]] ([[ButThouMust not that you have much choice about the matter]]; he's marked with a "target" marker that won't disappear unless you beat him up). You even get a trophy/achievement called "Bully" for it.

** The first: in ''Brotherhood'', Assassin recruits could go on contract missions throughout different cities for XP/loot/etc, generally making them stronger but we never saw any other returns/effects. In ''Revelations'', the Mediterranean Defense allows us to do all that again, but now we see their full effects: you can weaken Templar control of 12 [[note]]13, if one is unlocked during multiplayer[[/note]] cities by doing missions, as well as bring them under Assassin control to provide money/XP/crafting ingredients, improve the lives of it's citizens, and so forth.

** The first: in ''Brotherhood', Assassin recruits could go on contract missions throughout different cities for XP/loot/etc, generally making them stronger but we never saw any other returns/effects. In ''Revelations'', the Mediterranean Defense allows us to do all that again, but now we see their full effects: you can weaken Templar control of 12 [[note]]13, if one is unlocked during multiplayer[[/note]] cities by doing missions, as well as bring them under Assassin control to provide money/XP/crafting ingredients, improve the lives of it's citizens, and so forth.

* PietaPlagiarism: Altaïr does this with Al Mualim's body.
* PlotCoupon: The Masyaf Keys.
* PoorCommunicationKills: At the request of Prince Suleiman, Ezio [[spoiler:assassinates Tarik Barleti, who had secretly been working against the Templars]]. Would've been nice if he had shared that info. In the end, his plan succeeds only because Ezio intervenes. Lampshaded by Suleiman [[spoiler:who'd requested the assassination]]:

* TheRemnant: The Byzantine Templars.
* TheRival: Ezio gains one, of the friendly variety, in Yusuf Tazim, leader of the Assassins in Constantinople.

* RoomFullOfCrazy: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjL8sDM32n8 Black Room]].
* RousingSpeech: Ezio gets to deliver one this time around. "Fight with me, and show him what it means to cross the Assassins!"

** The first: in ''Brotherhood', Assassin recruits could go on contract missions throughout different cities for XP/loot/etc, generally making them stronger but we never saw any other returns/effects. In ''Revelations'', the Mediterranean Defense allows us to do all that again, but now we see their full effects: you can weaken Templar control of 12 [[note]]13, if one is unlocked during multiplayer[[/note]] nearby cities by doing missions, as well as bring them under Assassin control to provide money/XP/crafting ingredients, improve the lives of it's citizens, and so forth.

* ShaggyDogStory: The entire purpose for Ezio's visit to West Asia is to enter Altaïr's library. The game is spent searching for the keys to said library. When he gets there at the end of the game, [[spoiler:it's empty of everything but Altaïr's skeleton and his Apple. And Ezio leaves the Apple and says, "Hey, Desmond, be a good kid and listen to Unca Jupiter for a bit, okay?"]]

* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: The ending cutscene functions as both a [[ApocalypseWow visually spectacular]] explanation of what happened to the First Civilization and a preview of what will happen to ''ours'' if Desmond doesn't stop it.
* [[SuddenlyVoiced Suddenly Accented]]: Altaïr gains an Arabic accent. {{Justified| Trope}} in-game by upgrades to the Animus.

* SwissArmyWeapon: In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', Ezio's hidden blade got attachments for a thin poison needle and a pistol alongside the usual stabbing blade. In ''Revelations'' the hookblade is added, useful for ziplining, faster climbing, all new fatalities, and [[MundaneUtility picking flowers]].

** All of Ezio's songs when he's disguised as a minstrel.

** And we finally have contenders for the knee-stomp, such as damn near every hookblade kill, and one sword kill that involves stabbing them in the throat and then ''snapping their neck 180 degrees with it.'' Ezio may well be the most lethal example of a grumpy old man, and Altaïr isn't far behind.

** Alternatively, you can simply shove the poor fishermen right off the dock and [[SuperDrowningSkills into the water.]]

** For several of the multiplayer characters, when assassinating a player that is sitting on the bench, He/she will walk up to the victim and quickly pull them off the bench and then kicks their head back into the bench. In a setting where you are constantly assassinating other characters, this animation is especially shocking.

* WeaksauceWeakness: [[DemonicSpider Janiss]][[EliteMook aries]] are resistant to all types of attack... except bare fists, apparently. Dodging, then landing one unarmed combo somehow incapacitates a soldier who can survive multiple stab, bullet, and blunt weapon injuries.
* WhatTheHellHero: The latter half of the game is full of these moments, with Ezio arguably at his ugliest in this game:

** For one thing, the Templars as led by [[spoiler:Prince Ahmet]] is highly intelligent and sophisticated, he also shows a lot of VillainousValour and in the end [[spoiler:gets killed by his more violent and cruel brother, who plans to militarily expand Turkey's borders]]. A lot of the other Templars come from minority regions whose lands were conquered by the Ottomans, whose expansion was ''supported'' by the Assassins under the belief that the Turks were building a multi-cultural empire even if it is at the expense of sovereignty of conquered peoples (which is actually a Templar idea), showing the political consequences of the Assassins playing with History.

** The Altair Memory Seals likewise shows that the chief conflict of his later years wasn't against the Templars but an Assassin vs Assassin CivilWar between him and Abbas Sofian, under his rule the Brotherhood became highly corrupt and hated.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Ezio's love interest Sofia Sartor is a redhead.

* HeroicSacrifice: As if to make up for the hints that he might try to pull a GrandTheftMe on Desmond and even asking Desmond to help him pull it on someone else, [[spoiler:16 throws Desmond into Ezio's memories to save him from being deleted by the Animus, and is himself deleted by the Animus]].

* HubLevel: The Animus Island, the program construct that Desmond takes refuge on when not immersed in Ezio's simulation.

* InfinityMinusOneSword: Several, including the faction weapons (Altaïr's Sword, Romani Stiletto, Ottoman Mace, Broadsword) and the [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Signature Edition]] exclusive Vlad Tepes' Sword, which makes guards more likely to flee and has unique killing animations.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: There are three, all unlocked through the Master Assassin missions. We have Mehmet's Dagger (obtained by completing The Trickster, Part 1 or Discovery), Yusuf's Turkish Kijil (obtained by completing The Deacon, Part 1) and the Almogavar Axe (obtained by completing [[ThatOneLevel The Champion, Part 2]]). Aside from maxed-out stats, the secondary effect for the former is a small chance of poisoning anyone it hits, while the latter two make guards more likely to flee.

** Similarly, Altaïr had nothing really personal against Abbas, until the latter made a point of executing his youngest son, as well as his best friend, and was indirectly responsible for the death of his wife. Even if it took twenty years, it was going to happen.

* KickTheDog: Swami just can't resist digging in the knife when Altaïr is negotiating with Abbas over the Apple. [[spoiler:He tells Altaïr that, [[WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied as his son was executed]], he was told that it was under his father's orders, so that he died thinking that he was betrayed by his father]]. And then he learns about Malik... [[UnstoppableRage Altaïr reacts as expected]].

** Subject 16 has taken several levels in hamminess.

* MadeOfIron: Ezio takes an arrow to the shoulder with barely a flinch, then casually snaps off the end while enemies swarm above. Cool as can be, he goes on to fight an entire army, and at one point, he headbutts an enemy wearing an iron helmet. With his bare forehead. The soldier is the one who gets knocked down, and Ezio continues with his curb-stomping without even pausing to grimace. At ''fifty-two years old.'' Appropriately, the accompanying music is titled "Iron". The conclusion of the cutscene has Ezio literally fall several stories straight down only to make a ThreePointLanding on a wooden platform ''[[GroundShatteringLanding which partially broke from the impact]]'' and [[UnflinchingWalk casually walks away]]. Seeing as the first memory of Sequence 1 starts immediately after that, ''this is all canon'', AND his free-running ability is intact!
* ManchurianAgent: The Templars have used these against the Assassins before, according to Shaun. [[spoiler:He suspects Desmond might be one after killing Lucy. As shown in The Lost Archives DLC, she was the real traitor]].

* MoralDissonance: Of course, Ezio probably didn't know or intend for the consequences of setting an armory on fire, however, his lack of remorse for [[spoiler:burning down an entire underground city and choking most of the civilians]] is a little jarring.
** The whole conflict as a whole has this if you bother to examine it. First, the Ottomans are warmongers, especially the Janissaries, who bully smaller countries and are responsible for many of the Templar Agents that Ezio kill, especally Vali cel Tradat, who was an Wallachian ex-Assassin and admired Vlad Dracul for protecting their country, and Shahkulu, who came from a village the Ottomans razed and was raised by the Templars. Lots of the civilians complain about the Ottoman occupation and are oppressed by the Janissaries. None of that seems to matter to Ezio and the Assassins, who are focused on their war with the Templars and the seeking for the Masyaf Keys. The Janissaries don't want Ahmet on the throne because he's a pacifist, and they want Selim on the throne so he can lead them in a holy war against the other nations. Ahmet himself, [[spoiler:while the Big Bad behind the Byzantine Templars, is nothing like the Borgias and wants to find the Grand Temple to [[WellIntentionedExtremist destroy the divisions between men, follows the original Templar doctrine]], and actually puts up a good ShutUpKirk speech to Ezio. But Ezio, who only fought and interacted with Templars like the Borgias, couldn't make peace with Ahmet. This leads in to the ''ACIII'' plot, where the fact that Assassins aren't exactly the good guys is once again highlighted]].

* NeverBringAKnifeToAFistFight: Can be played surprisingly straight, because a dodge followed by 4 unarmed punches will incapacitate any non-boss enemies. This is a slower technique against standard {{Mooks}}, but can eliminate [[EliteMooks Janissaries]] in one combo when it normally takes 2-3.
* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight: Generally, one of the quickest ways to deal with a soldier you don't have time for is to just shoot him with your hidden gun.
** Also subverted when facing riflemen, due to the time period. An arquebus that takes 30 seconds to reload won't help you much against the sword-wielding Grand Master of the Assassin's Order.

* NostalgiaLevel: Desmond's final memory sequence takes place in locations from the first and second games in the series. Some parts are easier to recognize than others due to the bizarre nature of the viewing mode, but they're a near-perfect match nonetheless.

* OneManArmy: At the ripe old age of 52, Ezio is still [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCTtIIW1WA0 pretty much unstoppable]], and he knows it.

* PassingTheTorch: From Altaïr to Ezio to Desmond, complete with pat on the shoulder. And a minor example with Altaïr and Niccolo Polo. Even the soundtrack has one track named this, as well as one of Altaïr's sequences.

* CozyCatastrophe: [[spoiler:The solar flare that caused the collapse of the First Civilization was revealed to have been this. "Less than ten thousand" individual humans remained after the solar flare, which still allows a substantial buffer before the species died out]].

* DiscOneNuke: By completing the Master Assassin missions, you unlock '''the''' best gear, including the [[ArmorOfInvincibility strongest armor]] along with [[InfinityPlusOneSword all the weapons with maxed out stats]]. These missions become available in Memory Sequence Three, about an hour and a half into the game.

* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: In The Lost Archive DLC, the player finds out that [[spoiler:Lucy had been on the Templars' side the entire time]].

* EnemyCivilWar: Can be invoked. Ottoman and Byzantine Templar guards will get into fights if they see each other, and one tutorial specifically tells you to make use of this. One of the side missions requires you to do this to two different groups for full synchronization.

* EscortMission: Frequent throughout the game, some of these add the requirement for OneHundredPercentCompletion that you keep your escortee from taking damage.
* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: Corruption is the obligatory Zombie-esque multiplayer mode. Players infect each other with a computer virus, but the effect is pretty much the same.
* EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler:Ahmet and Selim]].
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin[=/=]ShapedLikeItself: The hookblade has been described to Ezio as having ''"two parts, the hook ''and'' the blade, so you can use one, or the other... an elegant design."''

* FakeLongevity: The "Scholar" achievement. It's not uncommon to have collected every treasure, data fragment and got full synch before you have the roughly 500,000 Akçe needed to buy all the game's books. Though if you abuse the bomb buy-back mechanic (see GameBreaker in YMMV tab), [[SubvertedTrope then it might not actually take ''that'' long.]]

* TheFarmerAndTheViper: Altaïr remains infuriatingly respectful of Abbas despite the latter being an insufferable JerkAss to him, having his youngest son executed out of spite, murdering and then beheading his best friend, and nearly destroying the Assassin Order. He only finally [[spoiler:kills him at the end]] as a last resort.

* FirstPersonGhost: Justified in the Desmond's Journey sections, as the puzzles are made of pure Animus data, and Desmond can't even feel or see his own body. Also applies to The Lost Archive DLC with Subject 16.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Suleiman asks Ezio to spare the life of his uncle Ahmet, but acknowledges that his father would not show mercy in the same circumstances. Ahmet dies at the hands of his brother]].

* GoodAllAlong: Subject 16 early on displays a few hints that he might try to take over Desmond's body. Then he outright asks to be carried out of the Animus and given a new body. Then he takes it incredibly well when Desmond says no and, at the end, [[spoiler:performs a HeroicSacrifice to throw Desmond back in Ezio's memories and save him from deletion]].

* GrandTheftMe: 16 asks for Desmond's help with this, and takes it surprisingly well when Desmond denies his request.

* BadassCape: Ezio sports one while in Cappadocia.

* BackToBackBadasses: The box art (the page image) has Ezio and Altaïr in this position, brandishing their Hidden Blades.
* BagOfSpilling: Ezio starts off with just his bare hands, thanks to being captured by the Templars and having his right Hidden Blade broken during the fight. He retrieves his sword and the Hidden Blade with the gun and poison attachments, including the poison dart launcher, soon after escaping imprisonment, though.
** Getting dragged behind a carriage for a few miles is a nice bit of action and a handy way of explaining the damage to the ArmorOfInvincibility he got in the previous game.

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Prince Ahmet, Suleiman's uncle and the next in line for the title of Sultan]].

** Ezio, having become Mentor and leader of the Italian Assassins in the previous game, is treated like this on his arrival in Constantinople.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Desmond manages to restore his sanity, but Ezio's quest to find Altaïr's library ultimately ends up accomplishing nothing. (Well, not exactly nothing; he accepts his role as a conduit through which Those Who Came Before can address Desmond, after which he goes on to finally settle down with Sofia.) Oh, and a solar flare is going to destroy mankind on Earth unless Desmond and company can open the Grand Temple in time]].

* CityOfAdventure: Constantinople straddles so many different regions of the world, it's a place where anything can happen.

* CombatPragmatist: As is traditional for the series, Ezio pulls no punches in combat. In this, he inherits Assassin traditions well from Altaïr, who at [[OldMaster 82]] is not above fighting swords with bullets -- one bullet, to be precise.

* CoolMask: The armour of Ishak Pasha has one.