History WMG / AssassinsCreedI

The Apple let Altaïr cheat death by reincarnated as the person we know to be Desmond. This explains why Altaïr looks exactly like Desmond, and why he carries the same exact scar. This also lets Altaïr use the apple and ''not'' turn out to be a villain.

* The events of Assassin's Creed: Revalations puts this all to rest, [[spoiler: Confirmed but Desmond lost the skills from training after he ran from lack of practice.]]

** Desmond repeatedly says he "was" an Assassin, but isn't anymore. Perhaps he is a trained Assassin, but just wasn't trained in the more physical aspects of it that involve dicing people up, Altaïr and Ezio style. Maybe he was training to be an analyst-type, versus a field Assassin. Or, considering how often it's mentioned that present-day Assassins are pretty weak, at least in relation to the financially and resource rich Templars, the Assassin group Desmond came from may be some splinter cell of super paranoid, cult-like Assassins; they know that they're fighting Templars, but they weren't aware of just how powerful a force they were fighting. Which is why Desmond is totally ignorant about how far back the battle between Templars and Assassins goes and doesn't have the physical training to handle them. Being in the Animus and reliving his ancestors memories simply opened his eyes to the truth.

[[WMG: We've never seen Altaïr.]]
Sure, at first glance, Desmond is Altaïr's IdenticalGrandson. This does not, however, explain their matching ''scars.'' The Animus is merely rendering Desmond into Altaïr's place, visually, because Desmond is experiencing these memories as if he's there. We have no idea what Altaïr looks like. Sorry, ladies, the badass assassin doesn't have [[GoodScarsEvilScars sexy scars]], just the dorky bartender.
* This is also stated very blatantly in the game.
** Thrown for a loop, though, with ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII''. Not only does Ezio have the scar (which would match with the above information) but we see how he gets it in the beginning of the game. So either people from Desmond's family have a natural predilection for ugly scars, or the Animus decided to rationalize Desmond's face.
** Thrown even MORE for loops in ''Altaïr's Chronicles'' and ''Bloodlines'', which don't seem to technically take place inside the Animus.
** Confirmed with the release of a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf6Q1-YWAz4 gameplay trailer]] from ''Revelations'', where Ezio is the one reliving Altaïr's memories. He looks completely different.


[[WMG: We've never ''heard'' Altaïr.]]
In addition to the theory above, Altaïr's voice isn't his own, but Desmond's rendered in Altaïr's place. I mean, it's not like he'd actually sound like that as an Arab in the Holy Land.
* This may have made sense if Altaïr's voice was the same as Desmond's, but Altaïr does have a different voice actor Philip Shabaz. And again, thrown for a loop with ACII where Ezio has a very distinct Italian accent.
** Ezio's distant and more realistic accent could simply be the result of the combination of the superior programming in the Animus 2.0, and Desmond's ease with the Animus from using it so much, allowing him to be in way better sync with Ezio versus Altaïr.
** Maybe the genetic memories have decayed more from Altaïr because he lived longer ago.
** Altaïr did have an accent in ''Bloodlines''.
** Read an article on a website around the time of [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII ACII's]] release, and it was speculated that Altaïr was given an American accent in the original ''Assassin's Creed'' because [[ExecutiveMeddling higher-ups]] were worried that American audiences wouldn't take to a [[ButNotTooForeign blatantly ethnic (secondary) protagonist]]. Sadly, this may very well be the case. But luckily Altaïr will have an appropriate Arabic accent (by his original voice actor!) in ''Revelations''.


[[WMG: Everything Desmond was told about the Animus is wrong.]]
Looking through a persons life by reading their descendants "genetic memory"? A big case of ArtisticLicenseBiology. However, time travel is hinted to exist, and the Abstergo seems to have had access to technology that lets them mess with peoples heads, like the Piece of Eden. Its possible they combined those two things, and use the Animus to read the mind of someone in the past. They just use Desmond to lock on to his ancestor and the images Desmond sees are straight from Altaïr's mind.
* Wait, reading the mind of an ancestor in the past is more plausible than genetic memory? I'm having trouble seeing how you can accept psychic time travel as an element of the AC world while rejecting genetic memory completely. This would also carry the unfortunate problem of turning all the GameplayAndStorySegregation from "It's an Animus abstraction!" into, well, GameplayAndStorySegregation.
** Also, cases of poor research and "You Fail X" are covered in the plot: why do the marks, real people we can look up in an encyclopedia, not die in the right way or the appropriate times? The Templars made up false history to cover up the Assassins' work. Why do we have technology? The Templars reverse-engineered stuff from Those Who Came Before and selected people to pretend to invent it. Why do we think Creator/LeonardoDaVinci never got his flying machine working? The Templars deleted it from history, assuming anyone who would write it down heard about Ezio taking flight to begin with. Why does genetic memory exist when we "know" science has proven it's an impossible fantasy? The Templars and Pieces of Eden are responsible for what the public thinks science has and hasn't done. Is it a {{handwave}}? Yes, but it's a very good one, because it's [[MagicAIsMagicA always consistent and an important plot point]], not just a random AuthorsSavingThrow.


[[WMG: The deaths of the Templars did not happen the way you see them in game.]]
After assassinating an individual you get to watch their FinalSpeech as they lay dieing in your arms. However, if you hit the glitches you see them up and about talking to you. It seems like the assassinations didn't quite end the same way as you think and Altaïr actually spent some time discussing matters with his targets before killing them. This is supported by the female scapegoat, who you see bleeding from the neck only to revert to perfect health when Altaïr chooses to spare her at the end of the scene.

This seemed kinda obvious to me, but a lot of people seem to bring up how it made no sense for them to be talking to you for a few minutes after having been stabbed through the neck.
* Not surprising, because the Animus is not 100% perfect, with the number of the times the simulation desynchronizes (depending how good/bad at the game you are). It's very likely that the Animus doesn't need an exact reenactment, just the fact that it was Altaïr/Ezio delivering the killing blow to the target.
** This troper always assumed that it told the ancestor's story in BroadStrokes - everything happened, just not necessarily in that order or exactly how it is shown onscreen. This would cover a multitude of the Animus' sins.
* Or, since the Animus is being run by Templars, they added in the speeches to make them look better to the person in the Animus. Would fit in nicely with how they don't have those long scenes in Assassin'sCreedII because [[spoiler:that Animus is built by the Assassin's, so they wouldn't add things to justify Templar actions]].
* In this troper's opinion, the "memory" part of the assassinations extends only up to the moment the Hidden Blade lands on the mark's throat. During the {{final speech}}es, the entire background looks just like when you're about to be desynchronized, signifying that this part is outside of what actually transpired. Perhaps it's a glimpse of Altaïr's thoughts as his victim lays dying? There is a difference between recalling what happened in the past and reminiscing on what it felt like being there during that experience...

* Confirmed, he swam (in a cutscene and we don't see him actually swimming but he jumps into the sea from a ship) in the DS/iOS game. The event was referenced in [=AC2=]'s codec pages.

[[WMG: Altaïr is JustForFun/OneOfUs]]
Obviously he played SuperMarioBros.

[[WMG: Altaïr is the Father of Understanding]]
The theory goes that the oft-mentioned Father of Understanding is Altaïr after he used the Apple to live longer. To the Templars he would 'understand' their motives due to the side-effects and going revolutionize the Templars. The reason the Assassins weren't wiped out was because whoever he chose to succeed him - because he wouldn't have left them without a strong leader since he wasn't their enemy when he left to use the Apple - was too good and the Apple may have slightly decreased Altaïr's sharp thinking as part of the price of immortality. The new leader kept the information about what happened to Altaïr from the rest of the Assassins to prevent the obvious damage it would cause to their morale.
* Maybe, but there is a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baphomet historical father of understanding]].

[[WMG: Sooner or later, we will be playing as Subject 16]]
They may as well have written "chekov's gun" in with their crazy scrawlings, and I cannot be the only one who's curious about them.

[[WMG:Desmond is Subject Sixteen.]]
"Desmond Miles" is a false personality generated by Sixteen to cope with the Bleeding Effect.
* Jossed in ''Revelations''.

[[WMG: Disaster to be averted? Gamma ray burst.]]

[[WMG: Altaïr is OneOfUs]]

The Apple let Altaïr cheat death by reincarnated as the person we know to be Desmond. This explains why Altaïr looks exactly like Desmond, and why he carries the same exact scar. This also lets Altaïr use the apple and ''not'' turn out to be a villain.
* Except that it's pretty much established in the first game that Desmond looks exactly like Altaïr because the Animus is letting Desmond impose his face over Altaïr's in order to make him more comfortable in the Animus...which pretty much means we actually have no idea what Altaïr "actually" looks like.

** Thrown for a loop, though, with ''[=AC2=]''. Not only does Ezio have the scar (which would match with the above information) but we see how he gets it in the beginning of the game. So either people from Desmond's family have a natural predilection for ugly scars, or the Animus decided to rationalize Desmond's face.

* Confirmed, he swam (in a cutscene and we don't see him actually swimming but he jumps into the sea from a ship) in the DS/iOS game. The event was referenced in AC2's codec pages.

Looking through a persons life by reading their descendants "genetic memory"? A big case of YouFailBiologyForever. However, time travel is hinted to exist, and the Abstergo seems to have had access to technology that lets them mess with peoples heads, like the Piece of Eden. Its possible they combined those two things, and use the Animus to read the mind of someone in the past. They just use Desmond to lock on to his ancestor and the images Desmond sees are straight from Altaïr's mind.

** Also, cases of poor research and "You Fail X" are covered in the plot: why do the marks, real people we can look up in an encyclopedia, not die in the right way or the appropriate times? The Templars made up false history to cover up the Assassins' work. Why do we have technology? The Templars reverse-engineered stuff from Those Who Came Before and selected people to pretend to invent it. Why do we think LeonardoDaVinci never got his flying machine working? The Templars deleted it from history, assuming anyone who would write it down heard about Ezio taking flight to begin with. Why does genetic memory exist when we "know" science has proven it's an impossible fantasy? The Templars and Pieces of Eden are responsible for what the public thinks science has and hasn't done. Is it a {{handwave}}? Yes, but it's a very good one, because it's [[MagicAIsMagicA always consistent and an important plot point]], not just a random AuthorsSavingThrow.

[[WMG: The Apples will be used to save the world in a different way than the first attempt.]]
Juno mentioned that, as a special property of the Apples power, and i paraphrase: "If a hundred people sat enthralled then they may make a wall disappear if they will it away."
In the end, the first civilization sent the apples into space after using it to control people, hoping to "enthrall" everyone. What if instead of trying to enthrall people all at once (the space sending example) then saying the necessary words, you could use the special property or power of the apple spread it slowly. You create a religion so to speak. After this is done, keep the apple with you and use faith or the special reality warping property of the apple to will the disaster away.
* Further, i guess someone wanted the human/precursor hybrids dead for their immunity to the eden artifacts.
* further, oh look, no need to free juno.

* Seems like an extension of the idea that you're desynchronized with every hit you take, implying that Altaïr was''never'' hit even once.

** Also, cases of DidNotDoTheResearch and "You Fail X" are covered in the plot: why do the marks, real people we can look up in an [[strike:online]] encyclopedia, not die in the right way or the appropriate times? The Templars made up false history to cover up the Assassins' work. Why do we have technology? The Templars reverse-engineered stuff from Those Who Came Before and selected people to pretend to invent it. Why do we think LeonardoDaVinci never got his flying machine working? The Templars deleted it from history, assuming anyone who would write it down heard about Ezio taking flight to begin with. Why does genetic memory exist when we "know" science has proven it's an impossible fantasy? The Templars and Pieces of Eden are responsible for what the public thinks science has and hasn't done. Is it a {{handwave}}? Yes, but it's a very good one, because it's [[MagicAIsMagicA always consistent and an important plot point]], not just a random AuthorsSavingThrow.

** Read an article on a website around the time of [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII ACII's]] release, and it was speculated that Altaïr was given an American accent in the original ''Assassin's Creed'' because [[ExecutiveMeddling higher-ups]] were worried that American audiences wouldn't take to a [[ButNotTooForeign blatantly ethnic (secondary) protagonist]]. Sadly, this may very well be the case. But luckily Altaïr will have an appropriate Arabic accent ([[AndTheFandomRejoiced by his original voice actor!]]) in ''Revelations''.