History YMMV / AssassinsCreedBrotherhood

* EvilIsSexy:
** Cesare Borgia, full stop. Lucrezia as well, if you are into evil blondes.
** Many of the multiplayer characters, considering they're Templars. Actually subverted in the case of [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Fiora Cavazza, the Courtesan]], who [[spoiler:has a HeelFaceTurn after a run in with [[DeadlyDoctor Malfatto]], and joins the Assassins in killing off many of the other multiplayer characters before being found herself]].

* AccidentalAesop: The first Cristina mission. After Cristina rebuffs Ezio's clumsy advances, he follows her to her house. Coincidentally, Vieri is waiting for her there in order to rape her. Ezio beats him up, and Cristina rewards him with "a second chance" and a SmoochOfVictory. What have we learned? That if a beautiful girl ignores you, you are justified in stalking her; that this is for her own good anyway, since her beauty will naturally attract [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality possessive creeps]] from whom she will need defending; that intervening when someone is about to be sexually assaulted is "very kind" (as opposed to "the least anyone should do for any fellow human"); that in your crush's eyes, this act will completely cancel out the fact that you followed her without her knowledge or consent; and finally, that instead of being freaked out by these events (and by men in general) for a while, she will instead [[RescueRomance suddenly desire you]] and invite you to court her favour. [[TakeThat Kinda like]] ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''.

* DieForOurShip: You wouldn't think it; but Caterina and Cristina have received flak from certain fans who preferred the idea that Ezio was more intimate with Rosa (even though Caterina/Ezio was more FriendsWithBenefits, and Cristina/Ezio were StarcrossedLovers, meaning neither of those pairings worked out). It doesn't help that Rosa is absent from the events of ''Brotherhood'' (save a passing mention in the novel). Unfortunately, the real reason Rosa was never mentioned was due to the death of her voice actress, Lita Tresierra, before the game was released.

* CompleteMonster: [[MalevolentMaskedMan Il Carnefice]] (''TheExecutioner") is an executioner in the service of the [[Characters/AssassinsCreedEzioAuditoreTrilogyRomanTemplars Borgias]] who [[AxCrazy expresses brutality and enthusiasm]] in his work. Given a list of people to execute by Fiora Cavazza, he tells her a sick joke that she is on the execution list, leaving her horrified; since Il Carnefice is illiterate, he doesn't go over the list and just executes who he wants, regardless of guilt or innocence, displaying the chopped body parts of his numerous victims to the crowds. He would also [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]] an innocent women before hanging her, and sends his men to kill her grieving husband when he tries to remove her corpse from Il Carnefice's noose.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: When lowering them into the Temple of Juno via a hidden mechanism, Shaun jokingly tells Desmond; "If you're trying to kill us you're gonna have to do better than that". [[spoiler:Moments later, Juno takes control of Desmond's body and forces him to stab Lucy.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Shaun saying that the UK is not part of Europe is either this or HilariousInHindsight in light of Brexit.

** '''[[OneHitKill ARROW FREAKIN' STORM]]'''. Have a full Assassin Signal bar and hold down the signal button for a few seconds and then ''[[KillEmAll every guard who has the misfortune of being in the area DROPS DEAD]]''. [[note]] On the other hand, this can be ''incredibly'' satisfying. Been frustrated by a previous mission, and facing a ton of guards? You could kill-streak through them all, sure. Or you could just go "oh, I so don't have time for this," and hammer that Arrow Storm button. [[/note]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: One of the main criticisms of the story of ''[=AC2=]'' was that Claudia and Maria are very quickly DemotedToExtra once you arrive at the Villa in Tuscany. Maria in particular gets the worst of it since she more or less goes completely catatonic after the death of her husband and sons, and gets no lines in the game [[VideoGameCaringPotential unless Ezio went through the effort]] [[ThatOneSideQuest of collecting all 100 feathers]]. Ubisoft seemed to have taken that criticism to heart and gave them a more active role in the Assassin order.

* UncannyValley: The Nobleman, with his hunched back and seemingly undersized limbs.

* FoeYay: A little more than subtext between Ezio and Lucrezia. In the DLC ''The da Vinci Disappearance'', [[spoiler:you are trying to locate five of Leonardo's paintings that were looted by the Borgias from the villa after the Monterrigioni attack. A lead brings you to Lucrezia's bedroom, where you seduce her into giving you the one in her possession, and the locations of the other four]]. [[ShipTease You then tie her up and leave.]]
--> '''Ezio:''' No man can heal your pain, Lucrezia. You must do so on your own. (smiles) Say hello to the ''Duca'' for me.

* DieForOurShip: You wouldn't think it; but Caterina and Cristina have received flak from certain fans who preferred the idea that Ezio was more intimate with Rosa (even though Caterina/Ezio was more FriendsWithBenefits, and Cristina/Ezio were StarcrossedLovers, meaning neither of those pairings worked out). It doesn't help that Rosa is absent from the events of ''Brotherhood'' (save a passing mention in the novel).
** Unfortunately, the real reason Rosa was never mentioned was due to the death of her voice actress [[http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Lita_Tresierra]] before the game was released.

* CompleteMonster: [[MalevolentMaskedMan Il Carnefice]] (''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Executioner]]") is an executioner in the service of the Borgias who [[AxCrazy expresses brutality and enthusiasm]] in his work. Given a list of people to execute by Fiora Cavazza, he tells her a [[EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor sick joke]] that she on the execution list leaving her horrified; since Il Carnefice is illiterate, he doesn't go over the list and just executes who he wants, regardless of guilt or innocence, displaying the chopped body parts of his numerous victims to the crowds. He would also [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rape]] an innocent women before hanging her, and sends his men to kill her grieving husband when he tries to remove her corpse from Il Carnefice's noose.

%%%%%% Apparently, the above message is sufficient. We don't want ANY natter on this page, not just about the Apple of Eden.

*** Shrunken heads (and Aconite, which is otherwise only randomly dropped by Borgia messengers) can be obtained if you invest enough gold in certain shops. Given that it takes one million florins to get a shrunken head, and you can only invest in 1 shop every 20 minutes for some reason, it will take a while.
*** The tactic of just letting the game run and collect money while you do other things can somewhat alleviate the problem.

* TheUntwist: Machiavelli turning out not to be a traitor can be this to some as there was never a real motivation for him to switch sides in the games. It can still be pulled off for the history-knowing players, as Machiavelli's personality, in reality, fell more in line with the Templars and his book ''The Prince'' is considered to be about Cesare Borgia.

** The timing for the counter-kills with the Hidden Blades has been made noticeably easier (perhaps representing Ezio's ''decades'' of experience wielding them). Combine that with kill streaks and still being able to counter any melee attack from any guard, one wonders why Ezio carries any other blades. On the other hand, the longsword/bludgeon ("Medium Weapon") seems to have an even more generous window of opportunity for counters, and both the Medium Weapons and Short Blades can integrate the Pistol and Throwing Knives respectively into their kill streaks. Moreover, Borgia Captains and Papal Guards [[spoiler:and Cesare Borgia]] ''are'' immune to counter kill attempts, though only [[spoiler:Cesare]] is immune to kill streaks.

* TheUntwist: Machiavelli turning out not to be a traitor can be this to some as there was never a real motivation for him to switch sides in the games. It can still be pulled off for the history-knowing players, as Machiavelli's personality in reality fell more in line with the Templars and his book ''The Prince'' is considered to be about Cesare Borgia.

* NightmareFuel:
** Oh God, [[http://i36.tinypic.com/xlk0oi.jpg the Harlequin]]. It's even lampshaded, in SONG no less, by this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Dm77MdlVM GameStop commercial]]. To make matters worse, the [[MonsterClown Harlequin]] has been made [[http://i35.tinypic.com/2vx4sw6.jpg into a Jack-in-the-Box]].
** Work your way through 16's puzzles. Then go read up on some of the stuff touched on in them. Then realize exactly how ''little'' Ubisoft had to change to make it all look like an AncientConspiracy (just by adding a Templar backstory to real-world events), ''and'' what the nature of the conspiracy is: [[spoiler:''capitalism'' was created to replace the divine right of kings as the means of Templar rule.]] Sleep tight.
*** One puzzle leads to a phone conversation between a man calling his cable company and a female rep for said company. [[spoiler:The man accidentally stumbled across a monitoring system keeping track of him and his son through the channels. It keeps track of their interests, credit card purchases, and even their heart rates. The woman transfers him over and another man says a technician is on their way and will be there shortly. The sound of banging against a door is heard as the son wonders what's going on. The call ends with an eerie "Have a nice day, Mr. Jameson"]].
** Almost the entire final scene. [[spoiler:Aside from Juno possessing Desmond and forcing him to stab Lucy, her cryptic messages get increasingly more frightening as you climb around.]]
--> [[spoiler:''WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT YOU AS YOU WERE!'']]
** ''Project Legacy'' has [[spoiler:the Shroud of Eden.]] ''[[spoiler:[[AC:[[CompellingVoice "OPEN YOUR EYES. SLEEP IS DEATH."]]]]]]''
** The Animus voice when Subject 16 starts speaking through it, especially when it starts saying things that read like they should be screamed - all in that flat voice.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: One of the main criticisms of the story of ''[=AC2=]]] was that Claudia and Maria are very quickly DemotedToExtra once you arrive at the Villa in Tuscany. Maria in particular gets the worst of it since she more or less goes completely catatonic after the death of her husband and sons, and gets no lines in the game [[VideoGameCaringPotential unless Ezio went through the effort]] [[ThatOneSideQuest of collection all 100 feathers]]. Ubisoft seemed to have taken that criticism to heart and gave them a more active role in the Assassin order.

* IconicSequelOutfit: Ezio Auditore takes his father's Assassin robes at the beginning of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' and wears them throughout the game until he canonically claims the Armor of Altaïr shortly before the Bonfire of the Vanities. However, he loses both his father's robes and the Armor at the beginning of thus game, before being given a [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Ezio_Auditore_da_Firenze.png new set of robes]] upon his arrival in Rome. Between looking closer to Altaïr's outfit in the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI original game]] and being the first robes that uniquely belonged to Ezio, this new outfit has proven popular enough to be used in most promotional material involving Ezio, and is the only Legacy Outfit that has appeared in every single main game since ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII III]]'', with the exception of ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla Valhalla]]''.

* [[WhatDoesHeSeeInHer What Does He See in Him?]]: Players may find themselves wondering this about Leonardo and Salai's AmbiguouslyGay relationship, given how Salai is basically a delinquent who Leonardo and Ezio have to constantly bail out of self-inflicted trouble.

* RealityEnsues: After the raid of Monteriggioni, Ezio Auditore was running around defenseless, badly wounded from gunshots and a fall from the rooftops. It is by pure adrenaline he was able to walk around, get all survivors and his remaining family members out of the villa to safety, while also setting on his journey to Rome. Once that adrenaline runs out, Ezio passes out from his wounds. Had Michiavelli not found Ezio and brought him to Rome for treatment, he would have died.

* ShockingMoments: The start of the game. [[spoiler:The villa is under attack by the Borgia, cannonfire is ripping the town apart, there's an epic horseback sprint through the city to reach the walls as buildings fall around you, you take command of the cannons to fire back on the ''massive'' army the Borgia have sent against you, Mario is killed by Cesare Borgia, and Ezio is shot and, unable to fight properly, forced to flee with his family as the town is destroyed]]. All bets are off -- the Borgia are ''done'' playing around.

* HarsherInHindsight: Shaun saying that the UK is not part of Europe is either this or HilariousInHindsight in light of Brexit

* [[WhatDoesHeSeeInHer What Does He See in Him?]]: Players may find themselves wondering this about Leonardo and Salai's AmbiguouslyGay relationship, given how Salai is basically a delinquent who Leonardo and Ezio have to constantly bail out of self-infliced trouble.