Characters / Assassin's Creed: The Assassins

Main Character Index

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This character page is for Assassins in the modern day storylines, and the organization as a whole.

Be aware that this page WILL contain some unhidden spoilers!

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The Assassin Brotherhood

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

Originally known as the Hidden Ones, the Assassin Brotherhood are an ancient group dedicated to preserving the freedom of mankind from any who would threaten it. Their main enemies are the Templar Order, who seek to use the Pieces of Eden to dominate the world and control free will. They have long operated in secret, only occasionally recruiting exceptional individuals into their ranks. By the 2010s, the Assassin Brotherhood is severely depleted and on the run, desperately trying to stop the Templars from achieving their final goals and a massive potential global catastrophe from a massive solar flare.

The Assassins have also recently become enemies of the Instruments of the First Will, a cult dedicated to re-establishing Isu rule over humanity.

The Brotherhood as a whole

A secret society formed by Bayek of Siwa and his wife Aya in 47 BCE during the final years of Ptolemaic Egypt and the Roman Republic after the death of their son Khemu at the hands of the Order of the Ancients, the Assassins are dedicating to protecting the innocent from tyrants and warmongering plutocrats for millennia. They are engaged in a Forever War with the Templar Order over control of the Pieces of Eden and the latter's desire to establish a one-world government that would control everything, which they see as antithetical to the human value of free will. Ever since the Great Purge at the turn of the millennium, the Assassins elected to adopt a model of leaderless resistance where there would be no single Mentor in charge of the group but rather decentralized individual cells working together in secret to bring down the Templars and Abstergo.

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• Aesop Amnesia: The Assassins tend to operate in small, isolated cells that are systematically destroyed, leaving the Brotherhood to come Back from the Brink and rebuild their numbers and power in some region, usually thanks to the Player Character. Since they have the advantage over the Templars, they then split up to expand their influence, at which point the Templars are able to destroy the smaller, isolated cells all over again.
• Arch-Enemy: To the Templar Order. In fact, their rivalry has spanned millennia touching nearly every corner of the globe throughout human history.
• Animal Motif: Eagles most prominently but birds in general, which they associate with flight, freedom and movement.
• Anti-Hero: They’re merciless and ruthless and will not hesitate to kill anyone affiliated with the Templars or people who they feel stand in the way of the greater good. But by the same token they will (Usually) Never Hurt an Innocent and they also have genuinely good intentions.
• The Anti-Nihilist: The Assassins; "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."
  Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad: ... laws arise not from divinity, but reason. I understand now that our creed does not commend us to be free — it commends us to be wise.
  Ezio Auditore da Firenze: ... It would be (cynical) if it were doctrine. It is merely an observation of the nature of reality: To say that nothing is true is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say that everything is permitted is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic.
  Edward James Kenway: I feel it is only the beginning of wisdom, and not its final form.
  • By Assassin's Creed: Unity, during The French Revolution, however, this treatment of the dogma of the Assassins is taken as more a justification for The Unfettered than an explanation as The Fettered. The Player Character in that time explains why this should not be, while still adhering to its principles more closely to Ezio and Altaïr than the interim Assassins.
    Arno Victor Dorian: The Creed of the Assassin Brotherhood teaches us that nothing is forbidden to us. Once, I thought that meant we were free to do as we would. To pursue our ideals, no matter the cost. I understand now. Not a grant of permission. The Creed is a warning. Ideals too easily give way to dogma. Dogma becomes fanaticism. No higher power sits in judgment of us. No supreme being watches to punish us for our sins. In the end, only we ourselves can guard against our obsessions. Only we can decide whether the road we walk carries too high a toll. We believe ourselves redeemers, avengers, saviors. We make war on those who oppose us, and they in turn make war on us. We dream of leaving our stamp upon the world... even as we give our lives in a conflict that will be recorded in no history book. All that we do, all that we are, begins and ends with ourselves.
  • Exemplified by their founder, Bayek of Siwa and reinforced again centuries later by Connor.
  Bayek: We sharpen our blades, and pull what hope is left from this foul earth.
  Connor: Because I believe things can still change. I may never succeed, the Assassins may struggle for another thousand years in vain, but we will not stop!... ...For at my side walks hope. In the face of all that insists I turn back, I carry on.
• Appropriated Appellation: Shaun theorizes in Valhalla that since the term "Assassin" is believed to derive from the Arabish word for "hashish smokers", the Hidden Ones decided to adopt the name to turn a likely insult into a mark of pride.
• Army of Thieves and Whores: The Assassins are not above using organized crime to their benefit, often allying with thieves and pirates or even outright using gangs as enforcers.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Hidden Blade used to be this; it was a concealable weapon good for sudden strikes but not only wasn't much good in a straight fight, but could only be used while concealed if the user was missing a finger. This was fixed over the years with a change in the mechanism, the addition of vambraces, and the use of different blade geometries.
• Back from the Brink: The Assassins are never more resilient or dangerous than they are when they're on the mat and almost out for the count. They have survived repeated purges and rebuilt from scratch time and time again. Even after The Purge in 2000s, when it seemed that they were finally gone for good, by the time of Syndicate, as noted by Shaun's database entry and the opening map behind Bishop, they have several new bases and centers, are winning a few battles against the Templars, and likewise they have found many new recruits, thanks to the Initiates. That said, they are still not back to their pre-2000s strength and remain underground.
  Pierre Bellec: Do you think it's the first time this has happened? ... The first time the Order has built itself back up from nothing to power? No. Masyaf, Monteriggioni, the American Colonies ... it's all happened before, and we've risen anew, stronger than ever.
• Benevolent Conspiracy: The Assassins "work in the dark to serve the light". So while they attack Templars in their down time they do things like sponsor artists and intellectuals, protect Persecuted Intellectuals, spread The Renaissance across Europe, renovate and build communities, or help out fugitive slaves and minorities.
• Bird vs. Serpent: The Assassins/Hidden Ones, represented by the eagle, fight against the Templars, whose predecessor organization, the Order of the Ancients, was referred to and represented collectively as a snake.
• Black-and-Gray Morality:
  • Usually the gray to the Templar's black. Though the Templars at times are not as bad, and during The American Revolution, it veers to Gray-and-Gray Morality.
  • Even in Assassin's Creed, Altaïr feels increasing sympathy for his targets and notes that some of them at least are not as evil as he assumed.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Their trademark Hidden Blade, which they have used into the modern era (although it's more ceremonial by that point).
• Big Good: The Assassins serve as freedom fighters to undermine Templar control over world politics and the economy.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: A benevolent example; They are functionally anarchists who use violence to forward their goals, though they typically prefer targeted violence towards specific individuals and are usually against harming innocents.
• Bully Hunter: This is the Raisons D'être of the ideal Assassin; a protector of innocence that smites tyrants and oppressors of the weak from the shadows when society is too corrupt and cynical to oppose their cruelty. Being warriors of compassion, the best among Assassins such as Ezio Auditore, Connor Kenway, Jacob Frye and Bayek also endeavor to rebuild broken communities after slaying the tyrants that oppressed them. It is in fact Ezio Auditore's financial sponsorship of the formerly destitute states of Florence, Venice and Rome after slaying its tyrants that single-handedly allowed The Renaissance to begin in the Assasssin's Creed universe.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The Assassins tend to suffer very badly from defections, betrayal and treachery. During the Crusades, Abbas Sofian usurped the brotherhood and led a coup against Altair while corrupting the Brotherhood's methods and principles. Later turncoats include Duncan Walpole, Shay Patrick Cormac, Nikolai Orelov and in the modern era, Daniel Cross and Lucy Stillman. They are also infiltrated a number of times by outsiders like the Templars and the Initiates.
• Color Motif: The colors of white and red are frequently used by the Assassins to represent their desire for peace and outright passion for their cause.
• The Combat Pragmatist: Frequently, since their opponents don't exactly play fair either.
• Cool People Rebel Against Authority: The Assassins have this shtick. Their members and allies have included the likes of Marcus Junius Brutus, Dante Alighieri, Niccolo, Maffeo and Marco Polo, Niccolò Machiavelli, Ludovico Ariosto, Leonardo da Vinci, Desiderius Erasmus, Piri Reis, Suleiman the Magnificent, Comte de Mirabeau, Napoléon Bonaparte, Hattori Hanzō, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, George Washington, Joan of Arc, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Karl Marx and Queen Victoria, as well as Nikola Tesla. Even Nicolaus Copernicus, who was briefly a Templar learnt to regret it. There is one historical figure the Assassins aren't too proud to include in their roster however, Jack the Ripper.
• Dare to Be Badass: Their Creed asks this of their initiates and humanity as a whole.
  William Miles: Beware the easy path. Knowledge grows only through challenge.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The quote in Brotherhood about sums it up.
  Ezio Auditore: We work in the dark to serve the light. We are Assassins.
• Death of a Child: The entire reason why the Assassin Brotherhood exists is that one member of the proto-Templar Order of the Ancients killed Khemu, the young son of co-founders Bayek and Aya.
• Democracy Is Flawed:
  • The Templars believe in a plutocracy or oligarchy, while the Assassins favor a society where people have some say over how they live their lives but they fully know that Democracy is flawed, difficult and requires great demands, although they favor that over blind acceptance of tradition. Connor Kenway, a half-British/half-Native American assassin who supported The American Revolution learned the hard way that the new nation he's helped in building will have little place for people like him.
  • The Assassins allied with Vladimir Lenin during the Russian Revolution (his brother was an ex-Assassin), but on the other hand, Assassins also served the early FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, playing a big part in the First Red Scare and the Palmer Raids, during which they deported Nikolai Orelov's wife and daughter back to Russia. Though that is the separate American and Russian branches of the Brotherhood and perhaps different countries tend to have their own local policy.
• Devious Daggers: The Assassins have the Hidden Blade as their most iconic weapon, a small dagger that can retract into their sleeves, making for a murder weapon that practically hides itself, greatly facilitating sneaky assassinations.
• The Determinator: They have a bit of a habit of including them, and the order as a whole probably fits this too. As explained by Altaïr and Clay, the Assassins' emphasis on the hard life demands this of all their members.
• Dramatic Irony: Origins reveals that the Assassin's initial goal prior to their formation was actually two parents avenging their son's murder before changing to free will among the populace.
• Due to the Dead: It's customary for Assassins to provide comforting words to their targets as they lay dying, regardless of their personal feelings toward the target. Mario Auditore chewed out his nephew Ezio for extensively insulting his lifelong rival Vieri de' Pazzi after his death.
  Altaïr: No man should pass from this world without knowing some kindness.
• Enemy Mine:
  • William and Desmond Miles discuss this in Assassin's Creed III where Desmond wonders if there has ever been a time when the Assassins and Templars have formed a truce:
  William Miles: Throughout our history, there have been moments, several, in fact. But it's impossible. There are existential differences. Insurmountable. If there were to be unity, it wouldn't be a truce so much as a submission.
  • One of the few examples of such a situation happening was during the time of the Mongol Empire as detailed in Memories, when the Assassins and Templars attempted to unify against a common foe, only to fall to ineffectiveness due to their drastically different worldviews.
• The Fettered: The Assassins strive for Freedom/Chaos, yet live by a strict moral code that defines all their actions. The Templars, in contrast, seek Order/Law, yet have absolutely no moral restrictions on their behavior and are free to use any and all means (up to and including mass murder) in pursuit of their goal: this leads to quite a few ironies. Ultimately, both the Assassins and Templars believe that "Nothing is true, everything is permitted". But to the Assassins the phrase is descriptive whereas to the Templars it's proscriptive.
  • Inverted Trope: There has been moments, where despite being bound to the creed, the Assassins have been more The Unfettered depending on the individual. For example, Ezio spent most of his life, doing everything in his power to get revenge on the Templars. While the Colonial Assassins, didn't even care that they caused the earthquake that devastated Lisbon in 1755. Clearly the creed isn't conscriptive by any manner, with the ends justifying the means.
• Fingore: The early Hidden Blade designs required one to remove their ring finger in order for the user to operate the weapon and to show their commitment. This tradition is started when Bayek, one of the founders of the Order, accidentally severed his finger during a scuffle with his target. Altaïr eventually modifies the design so the device can be used without sacrificing the ring finger to make Assassins harder to be identified, though certain branches keep the original tradition or brand or tattoo the finger instead.
• Glory Days: Pierre Bellec states during the French Revolution (mid-to-late 1700s) that the Assassins have been on a low point for two hundred years, which would mean the 1500s, around the time of Ezio and the Renaissance Assassins. The fact that their victories get more and more Pyrrhic, that they got more factitious as time went and that they still look at Altair and Ezio as Tough Act to Follow further cements this.
• Good Counterpart: They are this to the Templar Order (sort of) as both groups are secret societies founded in Ancient Egypt that work in the shadows to influence the course of world history to bring permanent peace on Earth. But whereas the Templars want absolute control, the Assassins desire free will and would do anything to preserve it by any means.
• Good is Not Nice: The Assassins mean well, but that doesn't mean they can't be utter bastards about it at times.
• Good Wears White: White is one of the primary colors of the Assassins alongside red, a tradition that dates back to Ptolemaic Egypt when Bayek and Aya used to wear clothes that had those colors before switching to their Hidden One outfits.
• Guilt by Association: According to the Assassins, if you help the Templars willingly, knowingly or not, you are the enemy.
  Assassin interception details: David Borgen provides support to remote settlements to help them grow. Unfortunately, he has been helping everyone, including local Templar leaders. His services are no longer needed.
• The Hashshashin: Their front during the Third Crusade, after which the subsequent incarnations of the organization are named.
• He Who Fights Monsters:
  • Some of the Assassins can be as fanatical and cruel as the Templars, such as Pierre Bellec, while thinking they still follow the same Creed as their forebears.
  • In their pursuit for peace, the Assassins can break any or all the Creed's tenets or enforce a much more fanatical version of them, leading them to commit atrocities as bad as the Templars. Most notably, during the Russian Revolution, the Assassins share the same idea with the Templars of killing Princess Anatasia.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: One of the common Assassin methods of getting through missions unnoticed, through whatever means necessary. It is, in fact, part of their Creed from the Middle Ages.
• In the Hood: A recurring part of their uniforms over the ages is a hood. Its original purpose was to copy that worn by clerics but they kept it long after it had served its purpose. Sure, it hides their faces but it also makes them look conspicuous. This has been subjected to Lampshade Hanging a couple times. First by Sofia in the early 16th century and also during the French Revolution.
  Napoléon Bonaparte: The hood... is a bit sinister though if you don't mind my saying.
• Irony: Altaïr himself notes this in his Codex:
  Altaïr: What follows are the three great ironies of the Assassin Order: (1) Here we seek to promote peace, but murder is our means. (2) Here we seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to a master and set of rules. (3) Here we seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet we are practitioners ourselves.
  • Despite being a secretive order who work from the shadows, they make for terrible spies as members tend to be too Weak-Willed to avoid turning or too strong-willed to compromise their beliefs and thus end up exposing themselves.
  • Desmond notes in a recording with Shaun in Valhalla that despite the Assassin belief in free will, growing up he was just expected to believe as he was told without questioning it.
• Leap of Faith: The trademark skill of the Assassins, along with the Hidden Blade. All recruits are required to perform this as part of their initiation as full Assassins. The tradition originates from Bayek's childhood, as it was how his father taught his son to conquer his own fears.
• Light Is Good: The Assassins are associated with white and are normally the more moral of the two main factions, but aren't pure, as Assassins are trained killers who are not above murder (even of people who have no idea they're pawns of the Templars) in order to make sure humanity remains free.
• The Mentor: A title given to the overall leader of an Assassin Guild, and eventually all Assassins worldwide. It is also the source of a great deal of tension among the Assassin fraternity, as noted by Altaïr in his Ironies. On one hand they are an organization that promotes freedom but in practise Assassins have to be strictly disciplined and obey all orders unquestioningly; this creates quite a few problems:
  • Altaïr was the prize student of Al Mualim, whose inquisitive Rebellious Rebel personality led him to be one of the few to resist him when he used the Apple of Eden to enslave Masyaf. Altaïr later faces challenges to his authority from Abbas Sofian and his faction who take the Order into a newer decadent direction while he is away fighting Genghis Khan.
  • In Rogue, Achilles conducted his duties as Mentor admirably, building a stable base and recruiting great initiates but an error in his judgment leads to a falling out with Shay, when the latter points out that Achilles' search for First Civilization objects to keep out of Templar hands has unwittingly resulted in two earthquakes and the deaths of countless lives. Achilles summarily expels Shay and the rest of the Assassin Brotherhood unquestioningly follow his commands and put him on his hit-list forcing him to become a defector to the Templars just to survive.
  • In Unity, the Assassin Mentor Mirabeau pursues a pragmatic alliance with Templar Grand Master de la Serre, much to the displeasure of his fellow Assassins, who obey him at first until the Revolution breaks out in full. Pierre Bellec getting frustrated at Mirabeau's decision to support and ally with Master de la Serre's daughter leads him to poison him and frame her, resulting in Arno trying to kill him. Bellec believed that he was merely following in the footsteps of Altair, Ezio, and Connor in trying to rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood from scratch.
• Mission Creep: While they have existed as the Hidden Ones prior to the modern era, the contemporary Assassins descend from the Asasiyun of Masyaf. They were originally Warrior Monks who operated in fortresses and specialized solely in assassination. As the Templars went underground, the Assassins changed tactics and expanded their operations to meet their overall goal (Peace, Freedom, Suppressing the Templars), so instead of solely killing targets, the Assassins would help scholars, artists, architects, town planners, local businesses, revolutionaries, and rebels. Modern-day Assassins spend a lot of their time in corporate espionage, hacking and cyberwarfare, and averting solar catastrophes but are unable to entirely evolve beyond their original "oppose all Templars" view.
• The Mole: They tend to get a lot of these, with Lucy Stillman being turned to the other side without them knowing it. One explanation offered by Clay Kaczmarek is that the Assassins' insistence on difficulty over the Templars clinging after "easy solutions" means that it's easier to be the latter than a true Assassin. Altaïr himself noted that the true meaning of the Creed caused some to Go Mad from the Revelation and unable to function because the notion of true freedom of conscience and will was hard to actually embody and practice.
  • William and Desmond Miles note that the Creed and discipline is a kind of Crippling Overspecialization in itself, and as a result, they have never been able to send The Mole into the Templars:
  William: We either sent in people who were either too weak, and found themselves turned – or too strong, and were unable to carry out the charade.
• Motive Decay: Lampshaded by Haytham in III. Altaïr and the Levantine Assassins fought to maintain peace, their fight against the Templars being a by-product; indeed, Altaïr only learned his targets were Templars when they hinted at it and Al Mualim told him, and his later life became focused on stopping conflict through the land (specifically, Genghis Khan, who had no ties with the Templars). From Altaïr to Ezio and then Connor, one can see how killing Templars has become the sole focus of the Assassin Order, with peace becoming a secondary concern at best, and have taken to attacking anyone remotely linked to the Templars, whether they know it or not, despite their tenant of "stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent". This obsession is to the point that some Assassins will simply ignore non-Templar-affiliated tyrants. This isn't exclusive to Assassins, though. The Templars in Ezio's era became obsessed with power for its own sake, and most Templars become obsessed with hunting the Assassins, which often is why they become Fascist, but Inefficient. In the end, both Orders are so obsessed with hunting and killing each other, they cause the very same tragedies they seek to stop. And that's exactly what Juno wanted.
• Multi National Team: The Assassins have Guilds in nearly every part of the world and their membership includes people of all races, nationalities, religions and backgrounds.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: One of their tenets as part of their eponymous Creed is "stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent". However, they're willing to make exceptions for Unwitting Pawns of the Templars and, in some cases, witnesses of their crimes. Due to the fact that this looser behavior only began after the time of Altaïr, it can be taken as part and parcel to their Motive Decay over time.
• Ninja: The Assassins are basically globe-trotting ninjas in all but name. Working in the shadows to take out their targets? Check. Blending into the crowd to avoid capture or death? Check. Code of honor? Check. A wide arsenal of weapons to kill their enemies? Check. On top of it all, they have a few elements of stereotypical ninjas such as hopping across buildings and their standard hooded long coats which aren't too dissimilar to the typical stagehand ninja outfits found in Japanese kabuki drama, some more highly visible than others.
• Order Versus Chaos: Technically the chaos to the Templar Order because they assassinate oppressive rulers, but here the “chaotic” group are (usually anyway) the good guys. Assassins by their nature believe in the harder path rather than simple solutions favoring a difficult present to a peaceful but false utopia.
• Our Founder:
  • Bayek and Aya/Amunet founded the Hidden Ones, the original incarnation of the Assassins. Though Aya (as Amunet) has a statue in the Assassin Sanctuary in Italy whereas her husband has been all but forgotten since he chose to make himself an Unperson in a letter obtained by Eivor.
  • In the Italian Renaissance, it's Altaïr ibn La'Ahad with his Codex serving as a major source of inspiration and guidance for the Assassins. Altaïr developed cells in numerous countries, brought Niccolo Machiavelli and Marco Polo into the fold and even allowed the traditional, historically known front of the Assassins known as the Hashashin to crumble before the invading Mongols so that they can move into the shadows to match the Templars cloak and ideological influence.
• Professional Killer: While in later time periods there can be Assassins who've never killed anyone, for most Assassins their job is to kill those in the way of freedom, mainly Templars, but many an unaffiliated tyrant has fallen to the Hidden Blade of an Assassin. Inversely, they're not above contracting outsiders to kill low-priority targets, such as hiring Aiden Pierce to kill Abstergo stooge Olivier Garneau.
• The Purge: The Assassin Brotherhood have suffered this fate to different degrees several times at the hands of the Templars and their pawns throughout the ages, but have always managed to survive. The most recent instance began in 2000, and has forced several chapters of the order to go deep into hiding or on the run after Templar sleeper agent Daniel Cross killed the current Mentor and gave the Templars the location of dozens of Assassin bases.
• Red Is Heroic: Most Assasins incorporate the color of red into their robes.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The rebellious, law-breaking Reds, to the corrupt yet orderly Templars' Blues.
• La Résistance: The original incarnation of the Assassin Brotherhood was a militant group known as the Hidden Ones formed by Bayek and Aya to oppose the takeover of Egypt by the Roman Republic and the proto-Templar Order of the Ancients. This has since been carried over to all other subsequent Brotherhoods which work in the shadows to oppose Templar tyranny.
• Rule-Abiding Rebel:
  • Another one of the ironies; while the Assassins claim to have killed kings and attacked powerful authority figures in the past, and generally stand with the people, within the games the Assassins rarely go against ruling classes despite occasionally threatening to do so. The threatening part is Truth in Television as their historical counterparts preferred threatening people into submission by showing that they could be very scary enemies.
  • They frequently ally or court support from Kings and other nobility (Richard the Lionheart, Lorenzo de'Medici, Caterina Sforza, the Ottoman Empire, Queen Victoria, the Tokugawa clan, Oda Nobunaga, among others) to fight against Templars. Indeed, the Assassins allied with the French King Philip le Bel, openly serving his offices, to institute The Purge on the Templars and later backed the royalists against the Revolutionary Templars, who claimed revenge against the injustice visited on Jacques de Molay.
  • With select exceptions (Altair fighting Genghis Khan, Ezio fighting the Pope and in the New World, Connor and Edward fighting against the British Empire), the Assassins rarely take a stand against powerful authorities and usually oppose revolutions since they feel these are Staged Populist Uprising created by the Templars. In general, the games feature the Assassins opposing the Templars, taking over territory and merely becoming the new secret society in charge.
  • Altair was one of the big exceptions since he fought everything from abusive merchant bosses (Tamir), grandmasters of religious military orders (Garnier de Nablus), secular rulers (Majd Addin) and even his own mentor.. Afterwards, he, Maria, and Darim went to Mongolia to fight against Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire for about a decade. This goes hand-in-hand with the Motive Decay of the general Brotherhood.
  • Bayek is another aversion, as the formation of the Brotherhood comes directly from his desire to oppose Caesar and Cleopatra, who have sided with the Order of the Ancients.
  • The Assassin Recruit Contract missions in Brotherhood go into more detail about this. They protect nobles, politicians, etc. that oppose the Templars because they are either allies (like Caterina Sforza) or at least an Enemy Mine situation. They also killed nobles, politicians, etc. that were Templars or the servants of Templars. Some of the targets do not specify if they are Templars to any degree. Queen Isabella I of Castile was poisoned by them. Her contemporary, King Henry of England, received aid several times from them in dealing with would-be usurpers and infiltrators of his Star Court. Another ruler, this one in Germany, received an army trained by Assassins disguised as mercenaries.
• Secular Hero:
  • As a general rule, Assassins tend to be agnostic if not outright atheistic due to their knowledge of the Isu.
  • Averted by their founders. Bayek is deeply religious, and one of the original Assassins is the High Priest of Memphis.
• Signature Device: The Assassins will almost always be seen wielding their Hidden Blades, a weapon used since the very inception of the Order. Every non-Assassin who wields one was either gifted the tool, forcibly obtained it from an Assassin (Whether through stealing or as a battle trophy), or happens to be a turncoat from the Order.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism:
  • Believe it or not, they're the idealists. Though it's highly qualified; some of the Assassins like William Miles and Achilles are generally fairly pessimistic about a solution to the conflict, however much they would like it and are quick to correct Naive Newcomers like Desmond and Connor who think their small victories will have a great impact. The Assassins believe in freedom and bringing wisdom and knowledge to mankind, but are aware that he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.^note  This quote from the Ecclesiastes forms the Arc Words for the first game and Altaïr's life as a whole.
  • This serves as the crux of the whole Assassin-Templar conflict. The Assassins want a better world, but firmly believe that humans must create (and are capable of creating) it themselves for it to be worth anything in the end. The Templars want a better world also, but believe that, for this world to be created, it must be forced upon humans, who are incapable of overcoming their own destructive nature. Funny enough, it seems to be up to each and every one of us to decide who's right. But of course, the Templars are not very good at practicing what they preach...
• Skeleton Motif: Origins reveals that the Assassin symbol is indeed derived from the underside of an eagle skull, The skull was a pendant worn by Bayek's son Khemu, whom Bayek kept following his murder. When Bayek finishes avenging him, he discards the pendant, and symbolically his grief, to dedicate himself to the brotherhood's creed. The impression the pendant's left on the sand would become the brotherhood's logo.
• Unwitting Pawn: A great Irony of the series at the end of Assassin's Creed III is the fact that Altaïr, Ezio, and Connor for all their yearning for peace, freedom and justice end up being this for Juno. Their conflict against the Templars through the course of history have merely enabled the plans for the return of a First Civilization being, the very group their ancestors revolted against to start with.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist:
  • The Assassins are willing to ally with evil people and groups if forced to, and will kill those being manipulated by the Templars without knowing it, in order to safeguard humanity.
  • Taken further in III. Desmond asks his father William whether the Assassins have ever tried to do something to a Templar agent like the Templars did to Daniel Cross or Lucy Stillman. William admits they did, but that they just weren't as successful due to their agents either being too weak to resist being turned or too strong to appear to be turned.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Applied to them as a whole by Juno during Unity.

Worldwide Assassin Leaders

The Mentor

The Mentor

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Subject Four

The overall leader of the Assassin Order until 2000, when he was assassinated by Daniel Cross. His death led to the Great Purge that left the remaining Assassins separated in smaller cells.

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• Big Good: Served as this for the entire Assassin Order until his death, being a wise leader.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Owned a ceremonial but perfectly functional Hidden Blade. Unfortunately for him.
• Cool Old Guy: Is very wise and had even realized that the Assassins had strayed from their original goals over the centuries; as a result he decided to focus more on soft power and keeping balance instead of murdering people.
• Curiosity Killed the Cast: Had he not been so interested in meeting Daniel he'd likely still be alive and the Assassins far stronger than they are now.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Owns a German Shepard and was indeed very heroic.
• Impromptu Tracheotomy: Daniel Cross stabs him in the neck with the very Hidden Blade he gave him.
• Light Is Good: Wears all white and is a very moral man from what we see of him.
• No Name Given: He's simply called "The Mentor" with no inkling to his real name.
• Properly Paranoid: Constantly moves around and is seen by very few Assassins except his Elite Mooks. Daniel managing to assassinate him proved him quite right in his measures.
• Rousseau Was Right: As he put it:
  The Mentor: Give a man a chance to act honorably, without manipulation, and he usually will. For the sake of humanity, we have to believe that.
• Shrouded in Myth: Due to his secrecy, most Assassins believe he's just a myth.

William Miles

William Miles

Main Game Appearances: Brotherhood | Revelations | Assassin's Creed III | Origins | Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Other Apperances: Assassin's Creed: The Fall | Initiates | Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone

Voiced by: Nick Jameson (Brotherhood), John de Lancie (Revelations, AC III and Origins) (English)^note Other Languages:Mikhail Georgiou (Russian)

Desmond's father and the head of the Assassin Brotherhood in 2012. His relationship with Desmond is extremely strained, and his manipulative tendencies have worried other Assassins as well. William reunites with his son to try and stop the impending Second Disaster from occurring. Following their success, William leaves the Brotherhood due to Desmond's sacrifice to complete their mission. He later returns to the Assassins in 2014 after working through his issues and deciding to get revenge on the Templars.

---

• Abusive Parents: Not only did he put young Desmond through Training from Hell without ever truly explaining why, leading to Desmond resenting him and all the other Assassins to the point of eventually running away, but when Desmond later angrily compares him to the Templars, he punches Desmond in the face.
• Berserk Button: Do not say he's like the Templars.
• Big Good: De-facto leader of the Assassin Order as of 2012. However, in 2013 he leaves the order and leaves Gavin in charge after Desmond's death. Then he resumed the role in 2014.
• The Chessmaster: He had Lucy sever all ties with the Assassin Order, so that the Templars would not suspect she was a spy. He still couldn't predict Lucy betraying the Order due to his manipulative tendencies.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Or rather, King. After calming down following punching Desmond in the face in III, William realizes how horrible he's been to his son and becomes progressively warmer, until he seems genuinely fatherly after being saved from Abstergo Industries Headquarters in Rome.
• Disappointed in You: The opening video for Assassin's Creed III has him dripping in condescension for how his son wasted his life when he was The Runaway and later dismisses Desmond's I Just Want to Be Normal as Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!. He warms up and by the end when Desmond performs a Heroic Sacrifice, you can be sure he would take back every last word he said about (and every fist he threw at) him.
• Freudian Excuse: He tells Desmond that he genuinely trusted Daniel Cross when they met; given that Daniel's actions decimated the Brotherhood it's entirely possible he feels the need to atone for trusting Cross.
• Good is Not Nice: William is on the side of good, but he's also extremely manipulative and secretive, and as a result is more respected than actually liked among his fellow Assassins.
• Happily Married: To Desmond's mother. In addition to being a fellow Assassin, she also had a better handle on how to handle William's aloof personality type than Desmond did.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Desmond accuses William of being like this in regards to how he perceives the way he's been treated (like an object rather than as a human being.) William socks him in the face in response.
• Heroic BSoD: After devoting thirty years of his life to the Assassin/Templar conflict, William eventually discovers that Juno was manipulating both sides as part of her long range plan to bring herself Back from the Dead. And about a minute after he learns this, his son (who he had somewhat forcibly recruited into his cause) dies to carry out the next phase of said plan. To say that he takes this hard is a massive Understatement. When he recovers and returns from his sabbatical, he is more jaded and ruthless than he was before.
• In-Series Nickname: Called Bill by Rebecca and Shaun, though this isn't exactly an uncommon name for someone named William.
• Jerkass: His own son Desmond, and even his long time friend and comrade Gavin often can't stand the levels of secrecy, manipulation, and abuse William shows. Even Layla Hassan, not exactly the nicest person in the world, points out he's a colossal asshole.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Shaun tells Desmond that William stayed by his side during the entirety of his coma. William himself states that after Desmond ran away he spent his entire time searching for him, with Abstergo finding him first due having to better resources. In his heart-to-heart talk with Desmond, William admitted he didn't do a good job at being a father, but he does genuinely love and care for Desmond; he even apologized for punching him some time after it happens. By the time of Origins (set about late 2017), he sternly replied "occupational hazard" when Layla tried to offer her condolences to Desmond, which seemingly touched a nerve by reminding William of his most painful loss.
• Knight Templar: Ironically and hypocritically, William is not above manipulating others and treating people like tools. In III, Desmond calls him out on this.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: He's Desmond's dad, though this is only a surprise to the player, and not to Desmond.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Ever since Desmond's death, William fell into a deep depression and regrets all the terrible things he did to Desmond. However, he hides his grief from everyone.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Desmond calls him out on this with respect to the Templars, as they both have no issue using people as pawns if necessary. He is not amused. It could be argued his emotional outburst of punching Desmond is because he knows fully just how right he is.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In all his emails in III, William properly punctuates his emails without any sense of emotion, like a CEO coordinating with their workers, even telling off Shaun for joking around with the emails^*Rebecca updated the Assassin's email system to exclude RE: in subject lines. Shaun, being Shaun, responded by adding RE: RE: RE: to the subject, much to Rebecca's sarcastic amusement and William's annoyance. His final email in response to Shaun's question of good news or bad news is written without capitalisation or punctuation, and includes the RE:.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Desmond's death sends him into a Heroic BSoD.
• Parental Neglect: His lack of concern for Desmond in many cases is why he and his son have a very strained relationship. This is especially evident in the opening for III, where the two barely say a word to each other despite not having seen each other in years. Later on, after lashing out against Desmond, William admits that he's been a poor parent and has done a shitty job raising him.
• Perp Sweating: He has his own interrogation room set up in his hidden bunker in Norway, complete with a desk and a single lamp providing light. William calls it "the White Room" and uses it to interrogate the crew of the Altair II to determine who the Initiates' spy aboard is.
  Gavin: Leave it to William Miles to own a bunker with a built-in interrogation cell.
  William: I like to be prepared for anything. I call it the White Room.
  Gavin: You have a sick sense of humor.
• Pet the Dog: When Desmond is no longer able to bottle up his guilt over Lucy's death, William assures him that it's not his fault.
• Poor Communication Kills: His secretive and manipulative nature was directly responsible for Lucy defecting to the Templars. Even his old friend Gavin calls him out on it:
  Gavin: Tell you what, you keep your riddles and your schemes, down here in the dark, and my team will go out into the real world and do real work.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He leaves the Assassin Order after the events of Assassins Creed III (specifically Desmond's death) and leaves Gavin in charge. Then he comes back a year later, ready for revenge.
• Team Dad: Takes on this role in Revelations and III, with Lucy out of the picture. It turns out to be more literal than expected in terms of Desmond.
• The Bus Came Back: Returns in Origins, to ask Layla Hassan to assist the Assassins.
• You Are in Command Now: He became the head of the Assassin Brotherhood by virtue of being the highest ranked one left after the Great Purge of the Assassins by the Templars at the end of the 20th Century following Daniel's betrayal of the Order.
• You Don't Look Like You: By his reappearance in Origins, he's apparently lost some weight.

Desmond's Cell

Desmond Miles

Desmond Miles/Subject 17/Sample 17

"All joking aside, I'm having the time of my life."

Main Game Apperances: Assassin's Creed | Assassin's Creed II | Brotherhood | Revelations | Assassin's Creed III | Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Other Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

Voiced by: Nolan North (English)^note Other Languages:Alexander Gavrilin (Russian), Xavier Fagnon (French AC), Nicolas Charbonneaux-Collombet (French AC II, Brotherhood, Revelation, AC III)

"What. The. Fuck."

The viewpoint and player character of the early entries of the series, Desmond is a genetic descendant of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze and Ratonhnhaké:ton. He is a full-blooded Assassin, who is dragged into the Secret War against his will. Not the greatest fighter at first, but the "Bleeding Effect" of being constantly exposed to the Animus and his ancestors, coupled with his genetic ties, allows him to develop agility and fighting skills on a par with his forefathers.

Following his death, the Templars retrieve his body and use his DNA as the basis for Abstergo Entertainment's Sample 17 project.

---

• Adapted Out: Desmond is absent in all the novel adaptations, even during the meeting with Minerva in II and Jupiter in Revelations.
• All for Nothing: As we find out in Valhalla, Desmond's sacrifice didn't stop the Second Disaster - he just delayed it.
• Ambiguously Brown: His ethnicity isn't immediately apparent on looking at him, but this was intentional, allowing him to have Ancient Egyptian, Sub-Saharan African, Arab, Italian, British (Welsh and English), French and even Native American ancestors. Black Flag reveals that he had ancestors as far-flung as Taiwan and Japan. For the record, Desmond's face model, Francisco Randez, has a Spanish background.
• And I Must Scream: According to a line in Unity, Desmond is stuck inside the Grey with Juno.
• Audience Surrogate: Players learn about the Assassins and their actions throughout history as Desmond journeys through his ancestors' memories. His reactions to certain revelations also coincide with what most players might exclaim themselves.
• Aura Vision: After his time as Subject 17 in Altair's memories, Desmond develops Eagle Vision via the Bleeding Effect. This allows him to see hidden messages and find keypad codes.
• The Bartender: After running away from home, Desmond became a bartender in New York City with a pretty active social life.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Lucy gives him a hidden blade at the end of Assassin's Creed II.
• Body Horror: According to 4, touching the pedestal at the Grand Temple caused burn damage so significant it fused the bones in his hand.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: ...so Abstergo was able to track him down by finding his motorcycle license, and kidnap him, forcing his legacy on him for their own purposes.
• The Chosen One: As stated by his father, Bill, Desmond is the convergence of multiple Assassin bloodlines, including Ezio and Altaïr (who are not related to each other) and thus is considered particularly special for his abnormally high concentration of First Civilization DNA that "only one in ten million" have. As shown in 4, this includes, not including the games themselves at that point, 13th Century Egypt and Central Africa, 14th Century Japan, 18th Century French Revolution, 19th Century Napoleonic Wars, Taiwan, New England, and American Midwest, and 20th Century "Summer of Love" American Pacific Coast. That's not even counting the games themselves, which take up most of the Patrilineal line.
  • Shaun even calls him this in his grief over Lucy's death.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: As per Body Horror above. From what can be seen at the end of Assassin's Creed III, it took a little while for Desmond to die, and during that entire time he was being electrocuted so severely that his hand was essentially melting from the inside out. Juno assured him that it will be quick and painless.
• Deadpan Snarker: Specifically takes a level in Smartass in Brotherhood. Only for this to fail him in a funny moment.
  Desmond: [in a stereotypical Italian accent] Hey, wassa-matta-you Altaïr?
  Rebecca: That's racist!
  Desmond: You're racist!
• The Determinator: Upon being told what needs to be done to avert the Second Disaster. Desmond doesn't back away, complain or feel betrayed, he simply listens to Minerva telling him the alternative which is so appalling that he tells her that it's worthless. He then tells his father and his friends to run and sacrifices his life.
  • In an audio log found in Black Flag that was meant for his father, he reminisces about how William tried to teach him the basics of performing a stealth kill when he was fourteen. He was told to wait twenty minutes, then to attempt to sneak up the stairs and into his father's bedroom to tap him on the shoulder. Instead, he waited four hours, then took another hour to actually reach the bedroom. Though he failed the test due to a misstep, William was considerably impressed by his patience.
• Devious Daggers: He eventually settles on Dual Wielding a Hidden Blade and a small dagger. This is a notably wimpy combination compared to the other choices available to Connor and Ezio, but it's all Desmond feels comfortable carrying on him, and it's more than enough for him to take on a small army.
• Disappeared Dad:
  • Inverted on himself, as he ran away from his dad.
  • However, it seems that he was one, as he never mentions having a son and it's quite possible he didn't even know about his son's existence.
• Doomed Moral Victor: At the end of III, he sacrifices himself to free Juno, knowing what she is and what she'll try to do, because he believes the Assassins will be able to find a way to stop her, rather than going with the future Minerva offers. Uprising eventually shows Desmond is right.
• Eleventh Hour Super Power: Near the finale of Assassin's Creed III, he uses Ezio's Apple of Eden when he kills Vidic, and then on the entire way out of Abstergo Industries Headquarters in Italy by causing all of the guards in the way to each have a Psychic-Assisted Suicide.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Shaun and Clay, a.k.a. Subject 16 and his own father, who he hugs after rescuing him from Abstergo.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Due to having such an abnormally large concentration of First Civilization DNA.
• He Had a Name: After taking in Clay's memories in Revelations and understanding the latter's harrowing ordeal, he's slightly offended in III when Rebecca refers to Clay as "Subject 16". He sternly replies, "His name was Clay."
• Hero with Bad Publicity: In III, wanted posters can be found for him in Brazil, likely stemming from his activities.
• Heroic BSoD: Is in a major one in Revelations, due to being forced to murder Lucy in Brotherhood, to the point where the entire point of the game is to help him get out of it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrifices himself to save the world from the Second Disaster at the end of III. However, this also releases Juno.
• I Am What I Am: Gives one during Revelations when he fully embraces his identity as an Assassin:
  Desmond: In a few short months my life changed forever. I know my easiest days are behind me, but I don't want them back – not now. My name is Desmond Miles, and I am an Assassin.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: In the third game, he states that he simply wants to go back to his life as a bartender. William sees this as wasting his life and as such talks down to Desmond because of this.
• Insanely International Ancestry: His ancestry can be traced back to various sources such as Syrian, Italian, English, and Native American.
• In the Hood: Finally is seen putting his hood of his hoodie over his head in Assassin's Creed III in order to hide his face.
• Instant Expert: The process by which Desmond picks up Assassin skills so quickly is a plot trope and played for drama. The Animus and the Bleeding Effect allow him to pick up on lifetimes' worth of skills in a few days or weeks, but at the cost of a deteriorating mental state that is already causing hallucinations and may eventually leave Desmond entirely unable to differentiate himself from his ancestors. As of Revelations and the creation of a Synch Nexus, this fate appears to have been avoided in the case of Altaïr's and Ezio's memories (and later Connor and Haytham's), leaving Desmond with the skills but removing the side effects.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He might come off as a bit rude, cynical and sarcastic person when he's held by Abstargo as their experiment subject and after he's rescued by the Assassins, he warms up to them with Lisa the most as he spent time with her.
• Lightning Bruiser: Once he develops some actual skills, Desmond has a tendency to juke and roll a lot more when running around, allowing him to get through people and smaller obstacles faster. The dev team explicitly broke their "no spinning" rule regarding acrobatics when dealing with Desmond, stating that he could "twirl his way to success." He can also fight as well as Connor, who himself emphasizes strength, speed, and lethality in his fighting style.
• Luke, You Are My Father: According to "Database: Reconstructed Data 010", on October 2015 Abstergo learned that he conceived a son out of wedlock when the mother brought him to an Abstergo clinic in New York^note Desmond's son, Elijah, was 10 years old in 2015 so he was 7 when Desmond died. They also learned that Elijah is also a Sage, a human reincarnation of Juno's husband Aita. Fortunately Juno and her cult protected him from the Templars, and after he turned on her, the Assassins are his current guardians.
• Messianic Archetype: According to Minerva in III, if Desmond allows the solar flare to reach Earth, Desmond will become the leader of the survivors and in time, worshiped as a God. However, this would bring upon a new Assassin/Templar cycle and history will repeat itself once more.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: A photo of Desmond shirtless in Black Flag shows him to be pudgy, barrel chested, and lacking musculature, and it was established in previous games that all the time he spends being sedentary in the Animus has caused his body to deteriorate. Despite this, he can run rings around a battalion of guards and is just about as capable a fighter as Connor Kenway. Brotherhood also has Lucy teasing him lightly several times that he might be getting fatter.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After Clay informs him of Lucy's death and Desmond remembers that he is the cause.
• My Skull Runneth Over: According to recordings in Valhalla, while the Synch Nexus did prevent a personality override, he still spent the events of III experiencing moments of Altair and Ezio's life at random, and even had a brief glimpse of Edward (but not, he noted, Connor, who was apparently "quieter"). Desmond and Shaun were concerned his own personality would be overridden by the memories.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: According to Syndicate, he managed to father a son, not that he (presumably) knew about it. Unfortunately, said son is also a Sage, who Juno is currently trying to use for world domination.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Desmond's disguise for when he goes out into the world in Assassin's Creed III? Putting his hood up. This doesn't work on anything more than overhead cameras, with Abstergo personnel who see him recognizing him.
• Le Parkour: Beginning in Assassin's Creed II he gets Ezio's freerunning skills, which are developed further in Assassin's Creed III.
• Prodigal Hero: His standing among the Assassins, his father and Shaun after coming back in the fold. His father is disappointed in his son for working a "shitty job" while the rest of them were risking their lives while Shaun likewise dislikes Desmond for seemingly getting special favor despite showing less commitment than others. Desmond, for his part, proves them wrong and makes them realize he's special with his father lapsing into grief on his Heroic Sacrifice. Shaun in Syndicate also misses him and regrets giving him a hard time.
• Properly Paranoid: He spent nine years avoiding major cities and giving out his real name, just in case. What finally allows the Templars to catch him? A motorcycle license. Photograph and fingerprints.
• Refusal of the Call: He ran away from being an Assassin when he was sixteen.
• The Runaway: At age 16, he "escaped" the Farm where his father was training him to be an Assassin.
• Sadistic Choice: He had two options with the Second Disaster. Sacrifice himself and save the world, but let Juno go free to plot and scheme anew, or let the disaster happen, and try to rebuild the world afterward, with the caveat that he'd become a new religious figure whose words will be reinterpreted to start a new cycle of fanaticism. Desmond choose the former because he didn't see any hope in Minerva's choice, and believed in the Assassins to find a way to win.
• Sanity Slippage: Due to the Bleeding Effect, it gets progressively worse.
  • In Assassin's Creed, he merely gains Eagle Vision from the "Bleeding Effect" of his Animus use.
  • In Assassin's Creed II he has visual hallucinations and "dreams" a memory of Altaïr's outside the Animus (one that he'd never encountered in the Animus either).
  • In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the hallucinations are getting worse: more frequent, with sound and in one case an event that Ezio almost certainly didn't experience (the Borgia mole disguised as a thief who revealed where the Monteriggioni refugees were fleeing from). The e-mails between his companions also reveals that Desmond's been screaming in his sleep. Worse yet, Desmond is aware of and self-conscious about how his symptoms are paralleling those of Subject 16. And that was on top of having his mind so immersed with Ezio's that he sometimes spoke as if he were Ezio and even physically moved like Ezio.
  • And his fears are justified: by Assassin's Creed: Revelations, he's comatose from shock, his consciousness has been fractured and only the Animus is keeping him alive. Subject 16 himself is the one who has to help bring him back from his coma.
• Second Hour Super Power: At the end of Assassin's Creed, he develops Eagle Vision, which he keeps for subsequent games.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Valhalla reveals that Desmond's sacrifice at the end of III only delays the apocalypse as the Earth's magnetic field is still affected by the solar flares.
• So Last Season: In Assassin's Creed III, he discards Ezio's fighting style for Connor's. More or less justified in this case, since Desmond's weapons of choice seem to be twin knives, which Connor was especially good at. And he never really got a chance to use Ezio's skills in a fight in any case.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Desmond carries the bloodlines of at least three families of Assassins: Altaïr's, the Auditores, and the Kenways.
• Took a Level in Badass: A new one in each game. However, this has the unfortunate side effect of increased Sanity Slippage until the end of Revelations.
  • At the end of Assassin's Creed, he develops Eagle Vision.
  • The entire point of Assassin's Creed II is to develop Le Parkour and fighting skills. By the end of the game, he manages to be just as competent as Lucy in combat.
  • In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, he performs a Leap of Faith near the beginning of the game outside of the Animus, and is trusted enough to help with Le Parkour related puzzle unlocking and to go outside of the new base of operations alone for short periods of time.
  • In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, he, with the help of Subject 16, undergoes Sanity Strengthening, keeping his levels in Badass without any of the nasty side effects anymore. It finally comes to a head in his final look into his own history through the Black Room.
    Desmond: My name is Desmond Miles, and I am an Assassin.
  • By the time of Assassin's Creed III, his Le Parkour skills improve even further to include Connor's maneuvers, and he goes One-Man Army on Abstergo Industries to rescue his father. Hell, not even the Templar's most skilled assassin is anywhere near a match for him. He also controls the Apple of Eden and uses it to kill Vidic and save his father from his kidnappers.
• Took a Level in Kindness: He becomes more friendly after the Assassins rescue him.
• Training from Hell: Desmond's childhood experiences of "The Farm" involved a strict and excruciating physical regimen. The fact that he went through this with little understanding of the true conflict between the Assassins and the Templars eventually encouraged him to run away. In a sense, Assassin's Creed can be considered a mix of this and Cold-Blooded Torture, since he's forced to learn the ways of the Assassins through a dangerous device in an incredibly short time span.
• You Are Number 6: Downplayed, as Desmond's number code of Subject 17 is only used in lieu of his real name in Abstergo's formal communications. When addressing him in person, Vidic always uses "Mr. Miles". It's played up postmortem, where he is primarily known as "Sample 17".
• You Don't Look Like You: His appearance changes slightly with each game. Curiously, his appearance tends to mirror that of whichever ancestor's memories he's currently reliving — or possibly the Animus is doing this backwards (imposing his face on the ancestor's appearance).

Lucy Stillman

Lucy Stillman

"Just try and have a little faith."

Appears in: Assassin's Creed | Assassin's Creed II | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Assassin's Creed: Initiates

Voiced by: Kristen Bell (English)^note Other Languages:Elena Chebaturkina (Russian), Laura Blanc (French AC), Marie Zidi (French AC II, Brotherhood, Revelation)

"The answers to all of your questions are right in front of you. You just have to know where to look."

Vidic's research assistant from the first game, Lucy reveals herself as an Assassin and brings Desmond to a pair of other Assassins in order to train him via the Bleeding Effect.

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• Action Girl: She beats the holy howling shit out of a bunch of Abstergo guards in the escape from Abstergo in II, using nothing but unarmed combat and their own batons in seconds. She wasn't even out of breath afterwards.
• Badass Normal: In spite of the above, she doesn't seem to have Eagle Vision, and also seems to find Desmond's Leap of Faith in Monteriggioni "awesome," meaning she has likely never seen or performed a similar act.
• Becoming the Mask: While she did manipulate Desmond, it's implied that she was starting to fall in love with him. Warren actually flat out told her to not let her emotion get in the way.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Lucy was an Assassin, but became disillusioned and became a Double Agent for the Templars.
• Death Seeker: May have been one towards the end; when Desmond is ranting about her loyalties he states "I would very much like for you to be possessed by a magic space wizard and murder me."
• Evil All Along: She was a loyal spy for Vidic all this time. Good thing Juno took care of her then.
• The Heart: Everyone else in the team turns to her for emotional support as the stresses of their situation threaten to overwhelm them, and she takes a very personal interest in Desmond's mental well-being.
• Horrible Judge of Character: While it is true that William can be a manipulative dick, her belief that Abstergo "genuinely cares about helping people" is downright absurd.
• Hypocrite: In her e-mail to Subject 16, she tries to justify her betrayal by claiming that William is just using them, and Abstergo is the one who cares about people... even as Abstergo refers to Clay only by his assigned number, keeps him locked away as a prisoner, forces him into a machine that they know is stripping him of his sanity and could eventually kill him, and threatens to induce a coma to force him to cooperate if he doesn't do so willingly. She is fully aware of all of this, yet when spelling out her reasons to Clay, she appears not to see the glaring flaw in her logic.
  Lucy^note In a letter to Clay.: In this war against the Templars, [William] doesn't think about the lives he's hurting. We aren't people to him. How can we trust someone like that? Clay, you of all]] people should understand. Abstergo cares about helping people.]]
• I Did What I Had to Do: It's strongly implied that she despised her role as a Templar double agent and having to mislead the other members of her team (especially Desmond) was truly heartbreaking for her to do, but due to her belief that William was simply using them to prolong the Assassin-Templar conflict, she saw it as the only viable solution to end the conflict.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Kristen Bell provides her voice and facial model. Her departure from the series probably was the out-of-universe reason for Lucy's death.
• In Love with the Mark: Despite having defected to become a Templar sleeper agent, it's heavily implied through various dialogue in Brotherhood and Revelations that Lucy had developed a genuine crush on Desmond, despite her objective requiring her to actively manipulate him.
• The Leader: In charge of the Italy-based team of Assassins.
• The Mole: While hinted at in Brotherhood, The Lost Archive DLC in Revelations explicitly reveals that she betrayed the Assassins, having lost all faith in them, and believing William was simply using her and Subject 16. Vidic knew about her being an Assassin, and outright planned her escape with Desmond, and she had been ordered to steal Ezio's Apple and infiltrate the Assassin Order... Then Juno made Desmond stab her, foiling Vidic's plan.
• My Greatest Failure: She harbors terrible guilt for what happened to Subject Sixteen, an Animus subject driven to cut his wrists and cover the walls of his room in his own blood. If she, encouraged by Vidic, had not pushed Sixteen so hard in the Animus, he might not have committed suicide. Recalling his death is a good way to break her unflappable demeanor. She did promise to protect him (however that was meant to mean) in spite of being The Mole for Abstergo, and did turn off security cameras to hide his nighttime wanderings after she found out about them. Even as an Abstergo agent, she wanted Clay not to give up her position and change of allegiance. Then again, how she thought that would result in anything but his death is unknown. By Brotherhood it's subsided, not least because she's become better at compartmentalizing and focusing on their tasks at hand.
• Ms. Exposition: Until her death in Brotherhood's finale, she's the one telling Desmond what's going on.
• The Mole: Lucy, an ex-Assassin who defected to the Knights Templar, pretends to turn back to the Brotherhood in order to steal the Apple of Eden for the Templars - though, as mentioned above, Juno put a stop to that.
• Team Mom: She writes schedules, breaks up arguments, calls meetings, offers consolatory talks, tries her best to see to Desmond's physical and mental well-being, and in general acts as the most on-task and organized member of the Assassin team, though that isn't very hard. Desmond even accuses her of having no sense of fun.

Shaun Hastings

Shaun Hastings, Deacon

"Anybody up for some reconciliatory yoga? Anyone?"

Main Game Appearances: Assassin's Creed II | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Assassin's Creed: Revelations | Assassin's Creed III | Black Flag | Assassin's Creed: Initiates | Assassin's Creed: Unity | Assassin's Creed Syndicate | Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Other Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Initiates | Assassin's Creed: Gold

Voiced by: Danny Wallace (English)^note Other Languages:Andrey Simanov (AC II), Kirill Turansky (AC III - Valhalla) (Russian), Georges Caudron (French)

"That's life. Well, that's death, technically, but you take my point."

The Assassin Order's resident historian, he assists Desmond by creating database entries on notable people and events he comes across in the Animus. Shaun was not born into the Assassin Order: he was a history professor who attempted to warn people that Abstergo Industries was up to no good after researching them and was recruited into the Assassins by Rebecca after narrowly escaping a Templar kidnapping attempt. In 2013, he and Rebecca were dispatched to wander North America to gather information on Templar activities there, eventually investigating Abstergo Entertainment in Montreal.

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• Belligerent Sexual Tension: If Rebecca storing her iPod in his room means anything, and his cover at Abstergo Entertainment involves flirting with her, which annoys her to no end.
• British Stuffiness: Jokingly invokes it in Valhalla, when he says Loki and his mistress got up to things he's "too British to mention" (i.e.: sex).
• Butt-Monkey:
  • In the e-mail chains of Brotherhood, he always seems to blunder into getting assigned extra duties due to his mouth.
  • In Syndicate, he starts synchronizing sense memories of the Frye twins tasting vintage beers. It turns out that "vintage beer" in 1868 is a far cry from "quality alcohol" in 2015. Doctor Garrett's Ale turns out to taste respectable. The rest are making him suffer, including the Mariner Lager that Shaun knows to have a good reputation.
  Shaun: This can't be right. This was the apex of the London beer industry! Before Belgain conglomerates and lowest common denominator macrobrews! It can't actually be this dreadful, can it?
• Cultural Posturing: He never passes up the opportunity to extol the virtues of Britain over America and mainland Europe (particularly the French). Though as III and Syndicate show, he also holds nothing back taking potshots at Britain as well.
• The Cynic: Oh yeah. Desmond even calls him out on his cynicism during a conversation in III about how modern American politicians trying to use the Founding Fathers "intent" to support their own positions:
  Desmond: They're looking for intent – what these men envisioned for our country and its future.
  Shaun: Idealistic... and unlikely. I don't think most of your presidents and senators and judges care what the founders thought. They just want to know how they can bend old words to achieve modern goals. Who cares if they were deists or theists or wanted a central bank. Why do people need the validation? What should matter is what you – as an individual, believe. And why you believe it. What? Are we so insecure that we have to find 18th century letters to validate our beliefs? Oh, look mom! A dead man agreed with me. Maybe. If you transpose the letters in his shopping list you can plainly see he was on my side.
  Desmond: Jesus Shaun. That's a cynical way to look at it...
  Shaun: Doesn't make it less true.
• Deadpan Snarker: Comes with being The Cynic. Lots of his quips are aimed at both his colleagues and the new guy. Although he eased up on the snarkohol in Assassin's Creed III, at least in conversations. In the database on the other hand, he only gets snarkier.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: In III, when Desmond starts getting e-mails from Juno, and Shaun tries to tell him to disregard them, Juno emphatically messages Shaun to back off. He simply shrugs it off with a simple, "Well, seems somebody doesn't like me."
• Encyclopedic Knowledge: Of at least history, architecture, literature, and computers: he has a breathtaking amount of knowledge about the people, events, and important locations of several historical time periods. He's thorough to the point of keeping it at his fingertips, often boasting about how quickly he comes up with the database entries, which considering the sheer size and volume of information is commendable.
• If We Get Through This…: Like Rebecca during III, he tells Desmond that provided they avert the Solar Flare, he would like to work with Desmond in diving back into the Animus all the way back to the First Civilization, purely for intellectual curiosity.
• I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: When Desmond talks about how glad he is to be among the "good guys", Shaun immediately objects. "We are Assassins. Let me define that for you; we assassinate people." Although he will admit that their purpose is "safeguarding free will".
• Ink-Suit Actor: His appearance is clearly modeled on Danny Wallace.
• Insufferable Genius: He's the smartest person in the group, and he knows it. For example, see this trailer for Brotherhood. Luckily, he is a very useful member of the Assassin Order and lightens up a bit in Assassins Creed III. Though his database entries...
  Shaun's Database Entry: With his talent for making connections between historic events, he's widely regarded as the most intelligent person in the order - and by 'widely regarded as the most intelligent person in the order' I mean he IS the most intelligent person in the order.
• Irony: In Valhalla it's lampshaded during the retelling of Shaun going through his genetic memories to see if he had any Assassin and/or Templar ancestors (He didn't) that a man with the last name "Hastings" has no genetic memories relevant to the Norman Conquest of 1066.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his snide remarks towards them, he genuinely cares about his team's well-being. In the third game, he's also much friendlier towards Desmond, offering to lend an ear to listen. The only "jerk" that comes out of him is more good-natured ribbing in e-mails and database entries.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Sure, he may consider most people idiots who are too blind to recognize how crappy the world is and the fact there is a secret war going on throughout history, but he will never stop defending their right to have free will. When Rebecca is mourning Desmond's death during Initiates, about how little they knew of him, Shaun cheers her up in this fashion:
  Shaun Hastings: All I'm saying is, I think we made the most of what little time we had, and we made a difference. The world lives to turn another day. Isn't that what we should hold on to?
• Lethal Chef: During his time as a barista at Abstergo Entertainment in AC4, his coffee is said to be rather bad. It comes to a head when it's revealed in Initiates that Jennifer Tam had been sick from food poisoning and blames it on the coffee Shaun made. Doubly confirmed in Syndicate when, in Shaun's page of the Codex that Rebecca says his coffee is shit.
• Mission Control: Actually rarely does this for Desmond except when trying to solve the Subject 16 puzzles, but he assists other Assassin field teams... when he can reach them.
• Mr. Exposition: His job is to provide Desmond details about the people, places, and events he encounters in the Animus. He misses no opportunity to snark even in them, especially because he knows Desmond (or the player) actually reads them.
  Shaun: (after talking about Altaïr's Eagle Vision) Of course you'll know more about that than me (I can't believe I just typed that) because it's in your blood, and that's part of why you're here.
  (Blank)
  Well, let's be honest. You knew you weren't here because of my enduring affection, or my warm and passionate cuddles.
• My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: In III, he takes many shots at Colonial America but he does not spare Britain. He calls the "Pocket Borough" system entirely corrupt, and he jokes about how Brits like to ruin everyone else's fun (cracking down on "Little's Court") and suggests that the Intolerable Acts were because the British Parliament was outraged by the Sons of Liberty wasting so much precious tea.
• Necessarily Evil: How he views himself and the Assassin Order. When Desmond and Rebecca protest that they are the good guys, he points out to them that they are called "assassins" for a reason, and that have to do the things no one else can to safeguard the world from the Templar threat, even if it crosses moral lines.
• Nerd Glasses: Both he and Rebecca are primarily computer techies but Shaun appears nerdier because of the glasses.
• Non-Action Guy:
  • Says he's killed before, what with his being an Assassin, but prefers not to. A fairly humorous email subplot in Brotherhood concerns him being menaced by a taller guy during a food-run and refusing to go out again because of it.
  • In Syndicate he does end up killing Isabelle Ardent directly with his special taser.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: While working undercover in Abstergo Entertainment, the only thing that's changed in his appearance is his hair color, which is now black.
• Relationship Upgrade: He and Rebecca are married by the time of Valhalla.
• The Resenter: By the time of Revelations, he seemed to have developed a grudge against Desmond for killing Lucy, even suspecting that he was a Templar sleeper agent. Which is fair enough; from his point of view, Desmond, for no apparent reason, murdered a loyal Assassin who had saved his (Desmond's) life by helping him escape a dangerous Templar base and who deeply cared about him. He gets over it by the third game as Lucy's true allegiance is now public knowledge amongst the group.
• Self-Deprecation: He heaps scorn on anyone equally, including himself. For instance, when the team encounters strange data packets in the Animus in Valhalla, Rebecca describes it as a surgical insertion in their servers, with the intruders slipping in and out without anyone noticing. Shaun just snarks that this is exactly how she described their wedding night, which he finds rude.
• Ship Tease: With Rebecca. Shaun seems to play on it intentionally for laughs.
• Shock and Awe: As of Syndicate his main weapon is a Hidden Blade taser that kills instantly upon someone being touched with it.
• Shout-Out: He's named after Sean Hastings, founding CEO of HavenCo.
• The Smart Guy: He may be an ass, but he's damn well-read, complementing Lucy and Rebecca pretty well.
• Took a Level in Badass: After III, Shaun and Rebecca begin to take up field work. He even has the honor of killing Isabelle Ardant.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • In III, he's more directly helpful, has far less snark, and isn't rude to Desmond at all. Then again, this might related to the fact that Desmond's dad, Bill, is a complete asshole to him, so Shaun has standards in that regard. Or he's much more curious about the Grand Temple and its secrets.
  • Considering the modern events in I and II, with an entire sect of Assassins being purged, having to risk a high-profile escape attempt to get Desmond out of Templar hands, and juggling the affairs of several other Assassin cells that were disappearing daily over the two days that II took place in, it could be that Shaun was simply dealing with a lot of stress at the time and using Desmond as an outlet. In Syndicate, he confirms this, and admits that he greatly misses Desmond and regrets being rude to him.
  • He arguably takes one in every game he's in. In II, Shaun was particularly mean-spirited not only to Desmond, but to Rebecca and Lucy as well. He lightened up in Brotherhood and was happy enough to answer Desmond's questions about what he saw in the Animus. His snarky comments came across more as friendly jabs than proper insults. In Revelations, he went back to being mean about Desmond due to the fact he seemingly murdered Lucy, but actually showed a lot of compassion towards the situation and to Rebecca. As mentioned above, he was a lot nicer to Desmond in III, finally treating him like a proper friend. His limited appearance in Black Flag saw him acting much more cheerful and outright flirting with Rebecca. By Syndicate, he had actually become a perfectly nice guy - so much so that it's somewhat hard to believe that he was ever as cruel as he was in his first appearance.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Rebecca. Possibly more than that as her iPod (or some electronic device) was found in his room, according to one e-mail chain. He also comes to feel this way about Desmond, reminiscing about their snarky banter with Rebecca, in Initiates:
  Shaun: He was a bit annoying at the beginning though, wasn't he?
  Rebecca: Ha. Maybe a little. But that's what we said about you, too.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: He communicates with Desmond through the Animus, providing information on people and objects.
• Welcomed to the Masquerade: He wasn't supposed to know about the Assassin-Templar war, but his penchant for looking into conspiracies led him to Abstergo Industries (the modern day Templar Order). Because Templars are fond of killing people who find out about them, Shaun is kidnapped to be executed. It's Assassin Rebecca Crane that rescues him and promptly recruits him to the side of the Assassins.
• Would Hit a Girl: Kills Isabelle Ardent in Syndicate by stabbing her with a shock blade from behind.

Rebecca Crane

Rebecca Crane

"Who knew that coding could be just as exhilarating as strapping on a board and dropping out of a helicopter?"

Main Game Appearances: Assassin's Creed II | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Assassin's Creed: Revelations | Assassin's Creed III | Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag | Assassin's Creed Syndicate | Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Other Appearances: Assassin's Creed: Initiates | Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

Voiced by: Eliza Jane Schneider (English)^note Other Languages:Olga Zvereva (Russian), Edwige Lemoine (French)

"Sometimes, Desmond, people have to die for things to change."

An Assassin engineer, she developed the Animus 2.0, an improved version of Abstergo's machine. Like Shaun, she was not born into the Assassin Brotherhood but was instead recruited for her technical skills. She brought Shaun into the Assassin Order after saving his life from a Templar kidnapping attempt. In 2013, she and Shaun were dispatched to wander North America to gather information on Templar activities there, eventually investigating Abstergo Entertainment in Montreal.

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• Action Girl: She's more combat proficient than Shaun, who states that Rebecca has saved his life several times.
• Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better: When introducing herself and "Baby" to Desmond, she says that whatever Absergo's techies can do, she can do it better because she has more passion and ambition.
• Brainy Brunette: Dark-haired and good with computers.
• Courier: Her cover in Black Flag is delivering packages.
• Dark and Troubled Past: There are some hints that her recruitment to the Assassins and some past missions with them were not very smooth. She gets somewhat annoyed when Desmond asks if she has ever killed anyone:
  Rebecca: Hello to you too. I dated a guy who was an electronics engineer around the time the Assassins first contacted me.
  Desmond: And?
  Rebecca: Now I'm single.
  Desmond: Are you kidding?!
  Rebecca: Of course I'm kidding! You think I would actually joke about someone I actually killed?! Death is only funny when it's not happening in front of you! I should know, and that's all I'm gonna say about it.
• Genki Girl: The most relentlessly cheerful and energetic member of the team, at least in the early years. She's cooled down considerably by the time of Valhalla.
• The Ghost: Rebecca is largely absent from Unity, outside of Bishop mentioning she helped with some of the heist memories.
• I Call It "Vera": Refers to the Animus 2.0 as "Baby."
• Ms Fixit: Improvising a small-scale virtual reality machine in a place that doesn't even have electric lighting? All part of the job.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: Just look at her quote above. Considering how the Templars control so much of the world, this is a pretty justifiable stance.
• Nice Girl: In contrast to Shaun, she is much friendlier. She's introduced hugging Lucy.
• Passionate Sports Girl: Formerly. In Brotherhood, Rebecca says she was into extreme sport's until she broke her leg. She then found more fun with computers, and now she focuses her attention on technology and being an Assassin.
• Relationship Upgrade: She and Shaun are married by the time of Valhalla.
• Secret-Keeper: Shaun implies that Rebecca knows who Bishop really is, but she won't tell.
• Ship Tease: Shaun flirting with her in Black Flag certainly qualifies, although he may just be doing it for laughs.
• Stepford Smiler: For all her perkiness, her emails show that the pressure and isolation are starting to get to her, and she mentions to Lucy that she misses her family and her dog in an email chain in Brotherhood. Her email in III has her confide more in Desmond.
• Taking the Bullet: She is shot protecting Shaun from Violet da Costa at the end of Syndicate.
• The Smart Girl: Splits the role with Shaun: she handles the technology, he focuses on providing the history and information.
• Tomboy: She has overalls, flats, short hair, belts and straps with tools hanging off them, and explains that she got into computer engineering after breaking her leg in a skyboarding accident.
• Took a Level in Badass: Like Shaun, Rebecca begin to take to field work after III.
• Uncertain Doom: Syndicate ends with her getting shot. It's not until Origins that she's confirmed to still be alive.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Like Shaun, she pops in from time to time to make note of strange phenomena in the Animus.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Shaun. Possibly more than that as her iPod (or some electronic device) was found in his room, according to one e-mail chain.
• Wrench Wench: The team engineer and programmer, and frequently elbow-deep in gadgets.

Subject 16

Clay Kaczmarek / Subject 16

"Along the way, you'll begin to see the truth."

To see Clay Kaczmarek, ^{click here.}

Appears in: Assassin's Creed II | Brotherhood | Revelations | Initiates

Voiced by: Cam Clarke (Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood), Graham Cuthbertson (Revelations)(English)^note Other Languages:Sergey Chikhachev (Russian),

"What is a man but the sum of his memories?"

Desmond's predecessor in the Animus project. Also a descendant of Ezio, Clay (as Subject 16) was kept in the Animus for days at a time, and was eventually driven insane by the Bleeding Effect. He committed suicide before Desmond arrived at Abstergo, but before he died, he left clues for Desmond both inside and outside the Animus. In Revelations, he shows himself for the first time, having uploaded his mind into the Animus just before his suicide.

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• A Day in the Limelight: The Lost Archive DLC chronicles his stay at Abstergo, dropping tidbits of information about his life before becoming, and during his tenure as, Subject 16.
• Ambiguously Evil: In Revelations. Being inside the Animus has done a serious number on his sanity, and the player is often left to wonder whether he's still on your side. He is.
• And I Must Scream:
  • It's clear in Revelations that, in spite of being rather accommodating for Desmond, Clay just wants to get out of the Animus again.
  Clay: I don't want to... be here... anymore.
  • As with Desmond, a line in Unity suggests Clay is stuck inside the Grey.
• Badass Bookworm: He was an Assassin and incredibly knowledgable about computers and information technology. His AI alter-ego knows enough about Byzantine-Turkish history to supply a database nearly as detailed as in-house historian Shaun Hastings in Revelations.
• Brain Uploading: In Brotherhood, it's revealed that he uploaded his mind into the Animus itself, breaking it up into several chunks of code for Desmond to find and piece back together.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: His dialogue in Revelations is... a little off at times, though it does make sense when you take it from his point of view, especially after The Lost Archive.
• Couldn't Find a Pen: Subverted, actually. He could find a pen — he just needed something only Desmond could see. It was what he used to kill himself, spilling enough blood to paint the walls with it.
• Crazy Sane: Yes, he's completely lost it, but it was his insanity that allowed him to paint messages to Desmond in his own blood, upload his mind to the Animus, and keep it from killing Desmond. It was by going nuts and doing things that no sane person would ever do that he was able to be any use at all.
• The Dead Have Names: For a while, Desmond's cell refers to Clay as Subject 16, but after Desmond's experience in Revelations and Clay's sacrifice, he tells Rebecca his name and refers to him as such. In honor of him, the Assassins name a drone after him in Syndicate.
• Driven to Suicide: He was already showing symptoms of the Bleeding Effect, but learning of Lucy's betrayal fractured his sanity beyond repair, eventually leading him to this.
• Due to the Dead: Completely averted by Abstergo, who dumped his body into the Tiber River after he died.
• Fauxshadow: Given Clay's rather manic personality and desire to escape from the Animus, one wouldn't blame a player from assuming that he was going to undergo a Face–Heel Turn and be revealed as the Big Bad of Revelations. Clay actually does legitimately want what's best for Desmond though and even sacrifices the last vestiges of his existence to save him.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Desmond in Revelations. Despite him being bizarre and Ambiguously Evil for the majority of the time, his likely final Heroic Sacrifice left an impression on Desmond, leading to him even going so far as to cut off Rebecca calling him Subject 16 by saying He Had a Name.
• Footnote Fever: His database entries are fairly sober and refined but it has a distinct personality, much like Shaun's, especially when he refers to the division of the Roman Empire into the Western and Easter/Byzantine as one of the all-time worst ideas in the history of the world.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Subverted. In The Lost Archive, it turns out that it wasn't finding out about "The Truth" (i.e. the Adam and Eve video) that drove him over the edge. All things considered, he actually takes The Truth, along with Juno's appearance, pretty much in stride. Which may or may not be because he was a little crazy already.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Possibly. He appears to sacrifice his existence to save Desmond from deletion, but this has not been confirmed.
  • In a much more chilling version, why did he kill himself? According to The Lost Archive, it wasn't just because he'd gone insane — thanks to Lucy's betrayal, suicide was the only way he could help Desmond.
• Heroic Willpower: Just look at all the madness tropes that apply to him. Despite all of it, he scrapes together enough sanity to make sure he imparts quite a few clues and messages to Desmond.
• Icy Blue Eyes: His gaze can be very intense, likely due to the marked lack of sanity he has going on. That plus his...unusual state of existence makes it overlap with Creepy Blue Eyes.
• I Just Want to Be Special: As noted in his psychiatric profile, Subject 16 was suffering from depression because he could not live up to his father's expectations, until the Assassins came along and gave meaning to his life.
• It Amused Me: To Desmond in Revelations. Since he's now part of the Animus he can control it to some extent, as a sort of Virtual Reality Warper (while Desmond is merely in the Animus and has to conform to its weird mechanical logic). However, while he's more lucid than he was and very much inclined to help, he's still crazy — and bored. Very, very bored. And so poor Desmond is forced to bear the brunt of Sixteen's attempts to amuse himself.
• Mad Oracle: His ramblings are always more relevant than they seem. However, we learn in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag via Desmond's phone recordings that Clay's visions were filled with glimpses of both actual futures and possible futures (called "Calculations") and that he ultimately couldn't tell one from the other. Desmond absorbed his memories after collecting the "Synch Nexus" and saw glimpses of his possible futures.
• The Mole: For the Assassins. According to The Lost Archive, Clay had in fact been deliberately allowed to be captured so he could get information on the Animus project and eventually get out of Abstergo... but then Lucy stabbed him in the back (metaphorically).
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: She sees me raise the knife.
• Overdrawn at the Blood Bank: Seriously, how did he manage to spill that much blood to paint with without passing out halfway through, or at least collapsing? That's a lot of blood. And he did it with a ballpoint pen. The human body may have more than enough to make that kind of mess, but he managed to cover a lot of surface area with pretty precise and relatively neat drawings before finally dying. You'd think he would have collapsed from excessive exsanguination long before he could have covered so much of the room with that much blood.
• Post-Historical Trauma:
  • Thanks to the Animus, the poor man has probably lived through centuries in his mind, and seen and experienced a lot of horrible events. At the very least, we know that he experienced Ezio and Altaïr's lives, neither of which were exactly cakewalk. The "Bleeding Effect" resulted in him being unable to separate the past lives of his ancestors from his present.
  • It turns out to be worse than that. He somehow got exposed to the "calculations" that is the in-Universe Applied Phlebotinum that allows people to glimpse alternate futures or possible futures. This drove him crazy, since he couldn't separate this from his ancestors memory to his own memory. His appearance in Brotherhood where he mentioned Desmond's son is an example, as Desmond reveals in phone messages in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
  • As of Assassin's Creed Syndicate, its been revealed that that particular "calculation" was correct, and Desmond has a son somewhere in the world. What's more, the kid's apparently a Sage. And Abstergo is aware of him. And Ardant was the one who advocated leaving him alone until he was older. And she's quite dead now.
• Reluctant Psycho: Most apparent in II and Brotherhood. Subject 16 is fully aware of the fact that his psyche is irreparably shattered, but he's desperately trying to fight through the madness to get his message across.
• Room Full of Crazy: Those mysterious markings Desmond saw in his Abstergo cell? Subject 16 wrote them in his own blood!
• Sanity Strengthening: Surprisingly. In Revelations, despite having been trapped in the Animus for god knows how long, Clay is far more stable than he was in either II or Brotherhood. Of course, 'more stable' does not equal 'not crazy'.
• Sour Supporter: 16 was hard on Desmond, and often more crude than he needed to be, but he did support him, and even sacrificed himself to save Desmond from being erased by the Animus at the cost of his own "life".
• Trauma Conga Line: Dear God. Just read the rundown of what he went through under The Woobie trope. Is it any wonder the man went insane?
• Trickster Mentor: In Revelations, he helps Desmond get his head on straight but he has a peculiar way of doing it.
• Undying Loyalty: Even in death, Clay is loyal to the Assassins.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: His inability to please his father drove him to depression. Sadly, The Lost Archive features a voice-mail in which his father finally acknowledges him, which he probably never got to hear in his lifetime.
• Word-Salad Horror: Some of the things he said in "the truth" puzzles are just as creepy as random.
• You Are Number 6: Until Revelations he was only ever known as Subject 16. This is even lampshaded.
  Clay: They never told you my name?
  • So much so that in III, anytime Rebecca calls him Subject 16 Desmond replies.
  Desmond: His name is Clay.

Philadelphia Brotherhood

Paul Bellamy

Paul Bellamy

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Subject Four | Assassin's Creed: Initiates

The leader of an Assassin base near Philadelphia at the end of the 20th century, and a descendant of Aveline de Grandpré. After Daniel Cross is brought to his attention by Hannah, he allowed her to accompany him on his journey to meet the Mentor, only to discover that Cross was a deep cover Templar agent who began the Great Purge. Paul was captured by the Templars and placed into a coma after being forced into an Animus for his ancestor Aveline's memories.

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• And I Must Scream: After being captured by the Templars and forced into a Animus coma.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Is an expert in the use of the Hidden Blade, and happens to be one of the few modern Assassins who regularly uses one.
• The Leader: Of his Assassin cell.
• Le Parkour: Like most Assassins.
• Token Minority: Paul is the only non-white person in the Assassin camp. Daniel is quick to point this out, much to Paul's non-amusement.
• Uncertain Doom: Last seen as a permanent guest of the Templars forced into a coma.

Hannah Mueller

Hannah Mueller

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Subject Four | Assassin's Creed: Initiates

An Assassin technician stationed in Philadelphia at the end of the 20th century, Hannah encountered a drunken Daniel Cross mumbling about Templars in a bar and brought him back to camp when she saw him about to attack someone. After helping him unravel his past, she accompanied him on his journey to meet the Mentor, and was horrified when he assassinated the Mentor and began the Great Purge.

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• Heroic Sacrifice: When Cross led a Templar attack on a Assassin base in 2011, Hannah stayed behind to delay him and try to convince him to return to the Assassins. He killed her in response.
• Le Parkour: Was a skilled freerunner.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Her support of Cross allowed him access to Assassin camps all around the world, allowing the Templars to carry out the Great Purge when he turned on the Brotherhood.
• Red Is Heroic: Red-haired and on the side of good.
• The Smart Girl: Her role as an Assassin is to work with computers. She has never even killed someone, which even Shaun Hastings has done.

Altaïr II Cell

Gavin Banks

Gavin Banks

Main Game Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Revelations (voice)

Other Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Initiates | Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants | Assassin's Creed: Gold

An Assassin who operates as a mobile Mission Control for the Assassin Brotherhood from his ship, the Altaïr II. During the events of Assassin's Creed III, he moved around the United States, creating distractions to prevent the Templars from locating Bill's team. He is later tasked with rebuilding the Assassin Brotherhood by William Miles, a task he begins by investigating the destruction of the Osaka Brotherhood.

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• Ascended Extra: Remember that voice who gave Bill and his team forged passports and identities in Assassin's Creed: Revelations? That was Gavin.
• Aura Vision: He is able to use Eagle Vision, but it doesn't come naturally or easily to him and leaves him tired afterwards. Despite this, it is fairly advanced, as he is able to use it to determine that the Osaka Brotherhood was not killed by Templars, but by the Yakuza.
• Big Good: Takes over this role from William Miles in May of 2013 after William leaves the Assassin Order following Desmond's death. Later relinquishes the role back to William in 2014 once William pulls himself together and returns to the Order.
• Cool Boat: The Altaïr II.
• Deadpan Snarker: Is very sarcastic most of the time.
• Face Framed in Shadow: The only image given of him for a long time.
• Hero of Another Story: Which is being told by Assassin's Creed: Initiates.
• Houseboat Hero: He gave it up for a bit to travel around the U.S. creating distractions, but is now back on the Altaïr II.
• It's Personal: He is enraged upon discovering that the Assassin branch in Osaka was wiped out by a branch of the Yakuza, since one of his mentors was the leader of the cell. He orders his team to locate the "scumfucks" who did it in order to gain Revenge.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be a bit of an asshole, particularly when frustrated, but he feels guilty whenever he goes off on one of his team.
• The Leader: Of his cell of Assassins on the Altaïr II.
• Mission Control: His role is similar to Shaun's as he acts as a researcher who keeps the Assassin teams in contact with each other and directs resources.
• Take Up My Sword: He is forced by William to take over as the head of the Assassin Order, and William passes onto him a book he has written containing all the knowledge he had collected as leader of the Assassins. William later returns and takes up the leadership role once again.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Towards William after he returns to the Assassins but does not contact Gavin for several months, forcing him to track down his old friend just to talk.
  Gavin: You give me that thing, with a tear-stained letter about how you can't go on, but in less than a year, you're back in the game. I feel like you played me.

Susan Drayton

Susan Drayton

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates Initiates

A Canadian Assassin and captain of the Altaïr II. She grew up in Prince George, Canada.

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• Backstory: She was an environmental activist when she was younger and broke into a water plant in Prince George, where she discovered a sample of Abstergo's "New Fluoride". Susan was arrested while escaping, but was rescued by an Assassin leader named Janice, who recruited her into the Assassins.
• The Captain: While she is the captain of the Altaïr II, she is subordinate to Gavin, since he is the higher-ranking Assassin.
• Nature Lover: As mentioned in her backstory, she was originally an environmental activist before joining the Assassins.

Emmanuel Barraza

Emmanuel Barraza

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

"What's the first tenet of our Creed? "Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent." I failed, so I made a promise; no more killing. Ever."

Another Assassin and crew member on the Altaïr II. He is an ex-soldier and serves as the ship's armorer, procuring weapons and training the rest of the crew, although he himself is a pacifist.

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• Actual Pacifist: He refuses to use violence, having sworn never to take another human life after his first mission as an Assassin ended up with him having to destroy a bus filled with children, who had been strapped with bombs by Templars planning to disrupt a peace conference. His pacifism is to the point where he won't intervene when Gavin is being beaten up by a member of the Onmoraki-Gumi.
  • Badass Pacifist: He more than proves he is this when he realizes that the Onmoraki-Gumi are actually Assassins, and places his hand between Kiyoshi Takakura's hidden blade and Gavin, allowing his palm to be impaled before calming the situation down.
• The Atoner: Swore to never take another life after breaking the first tenet of the Assassin's Creed, even though it had been necessary.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: He just needs a simple look around the Osaka safehouse to know exactly how each Assassin there died due to his long history of dealing with rooms like that. Later he quickly figures out that the Onmoraki-Gumi are Assassins.
• Berserk Button: He does not take kindly to William Miles suggesting that he may be the Initiates spy so he can get back at the Assassins for giving him the mission where he was forced to kill children:
  Emmanuel: With all due respect, sir: Fuck you. I'm loyal to the Brotherhood. I'm loyal past the point of common sense. So kill me or get out of my face. Sir.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Hinted at by the Initiates spy aboard the ship, who notes that Emmanuel was born in a room similar to one where they found an entire Assassin cell slaughtered.
  Initiate spy: He was born in a room like that, and I think he's convinced that he'll die in one."
• Dirty Business/I Did What I Had to Do: Feels he was justified in killing child suicide bombers to prevent an attack on a peace conference, which if it had succeeded would have caused even more conflict and death. Doesn't mean he likes having done so, and subsequently swore to never kill again as a result.
• Headbutting Heroes: Does not get along with William Miles, due to William being the one who ordered him to hunt down Templars involved in the War on Terror, which led to him having to kill children to stop a suicide bombing. While both acknowledge Emmanuel's actions as necessary, Emmanuel resents William for putting him in that position, while William is sickened by what Emmanuel did.
• Impaled Palm: Gets one when he places his hand between Kiyoshi Takakura hidden blade and Gavin. Kiyoshi compliments him by saying he is "almost Japanese in the way he deals with pain."
• In-Series Nickname: "Manny".
• Memento MacGuffin: His dog tag with the Assassin's symbol burned onto it, which he uses to prove to Kiyoshi Takakura that he is an Assassin.
• My Greatest Failure: Killing children strapped with bombs who were pawns of the Templars.
  Emmanuel: Every kid on that bus was wearing a bomb and they were aimed at the peace talks. I saved more people than I killed.
  William: No one is saying otherwise.
  Emmanuel: You know what the worst part of it is? Those kids weren't even Templars, or anything like that. They were victims in the truest sense.

Emmett Leary

Emmett Leary

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

"Emmett's many computers are arranged just so among his pipes and ashtrays. They hum as he plays the keyboard like a ghastly instrument, and the world's secrets dance to his tune."

The Assassin computer expert aboard the Altaïr II.

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• Death Faked for You: Following his escape reports were made that he'd died, likely due to Abstergo.
• Functional Addict: Is a marijuana smoker who remains mostly functional.
• Hacker Cave: Has one on the Altaïr II.
• Heel–Face Turn: Was originally an Abstergo scientist working on the Surrogate Initiative (on the tech that reads genetic memories to be precise) before joining the Assassins just as Abstergo goons came to collect him for refusing to work with Vidic.
• Non-Action Guy: During the raid on the Russian Assassin lab inhabited by Assassins driven insane by the Bleeding Effect, Emmett laments that he is a terrible shot and that he should have stayed on the boat.
• The Stoner: He smokes marijuana to deal with his arthritis, which apparently distracts him enough that the Initiates spy on the ship was able to hack into his computers and send messages through the Assassins Hephaestus 2.0. system.
• Stoners Are Funny: He talks to a lamp at one point while debating with the rest of the Altaïr II crew about the identity of the leader of the Onmoraki-Gumi.

Dr. Stephanie Chiu

Doctor Stephanie Chiu

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

"I patch you guys up, and I grow Emmett's weed, but mostly, I'm just here to fight against Abstergo. No one should be allowed to ruin lives like that."

A Chinese Assassin who serves as the medic for the Altaïr II cell.

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• Asian and Nerdy: Chinese and working in medicine.
• Dressed to Heal: Wears a doctor's coat with stethoscope all the time.
• Family Business: Her parents intended for her to follow in their footsteps and become a scientist for Abstergo.
  William Miles: You graduated from an Abstergo-funded university. You were meant to follow in their footsteps.
  Chiu: My life was planned since birth: Study hard, qualify as a doctor, join the family business. Be a good girl.
• In-Series Nickname: "Chewy".
• The Medic: She's the Altair II's medical officer.
• The Mole: She and Eric Cooper are the Initiates spies.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: On the medical side of her skills, she has degrees in medicine and biomedical and chemical engineering, as well as a post-doctoral fellowship in membrane technology. Chiu also has a degree in information security and network science.
• Parental Betrayal: She was none to happy to discover what her parents really did for Abstergo.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After discovering her father created New Fluoride for the Templars, Chiu fled them and tried to hide in Hong Kong. She was pursued by Templar agents, but was rescued by Gavin and Susan, who recruited her into the Assassin Brotherhood.
• White Sheep: Her parents are prominent Abstergo scientists at a pharmaceutical lab in Beijing, and are likely Templars as well, considering the fact that her father created New Fluoride.

Eric Cooper

Eric Cooper

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

"It's fair to say I hit rock bottom, ken? I figured, either I die alone on the streets of Edinburgh, or I die alone, out there in the world somewhere. Didnae see much of a difference. But the Assassins changed my outlook completely."

A Scottish Assassin who serves as first mate and navigator of the Altaïr II.

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• Badass Armfold: His picture has him with his arms folded.
• Coat Cape: Wears his jacket on his shoulders.
• Easy Sex Change: Averted: as a trans man he has already undergone all required gender reassignment surgeries, but still needs Dr. Chiu's help regulating his hormones.
  Eric: Even after the surgeries, it takes a wee bit of effort to remain the ruggedly handsome scoundrel that sits before you.
• Driven to Suicide: He was contemplating killing himself before Gavin recruited him into the Brotherhood to join his lover after getting his revenge on the hate group who murdered them, and only joined because he figured it would be better to die in service of a good cause. However, working with the Assassins has renewed his will to live and he wants to make plans for his future.
• The Mole: He and Dr. Chiu are the Initiates spies.
• Number Two: To Susan, since as first mate he is charged with making sure the Altair II and its crew is running smoothly.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Went on one against a "hate group" that killed the love of his life.
  William: You were recruited into the Brotherhood after you went on a killing spree in Edinburgh?
  Eric: You call it a "killing spree" and I'll call it a "carefully executed plan of revenge against the hate group that killed the love of my life" and we'll just agree to disagree.
• Verbal Tic: Puts "ken?" at the end of his sentences. It's a Scottish equivalent of saying "right?" at the end of a sentence.

Akaki Ninidze

Akaki Ninidze

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

"The Assassins had long since vanished, but they still enjoyed a fearsome reputation in Syria, Turkey, and Russia. I tried to use that to my advantage. I studied whatever I could find on them and created a "Brotherhood". I took in people who were tired of fighting for misguided reasons, and wanted to fight for peace."

A Georgian Assassin who serves as the chief engineer of the Altair II.

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• Backstory: He and his brother Nodar created an "Assassin" order in Georgia based off of the historical group, not realizing that the Brotherhood still existed, in order to try to end some of the conflict and turmoil in his native land. They made enough progress and impact to draw the attention of the Templars, who crippled the group and killed most of them before Gavin found them and brought Akaki, Nodar, and the other survivors to safety and informed them of the Assassins continued existence. After a few months of training, Akaki and his brother joined Gavin's cell while the rest of his group became a true branch of the Assassin Brotherhood and stayed behind in Georgia.
• Cigar Chomper: Always seen smoking a cigar.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: His Assassin Brotherhood didn't last long under the assault of the Templars, with only a handful of survivors.
• Grease Monkey: He's the Altair II's engineer.
• The Leader: Of his Georgian "Brotherhood" before meeting Gavin.

Nodar Ninidze

Nodar Ninidze

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

Akaki's older brother, who also serves aboard the Altair II.

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• Big Brother Instinct: Part of the reason why he decided to help Akaki out.
• Hidden Depths: He was originally a sumo wrestler in Japan who made komusubi rank (the lowest title holding position and fourth-highest rank in sumo wrestling) before coming back to Georgia due to the politics and corruption in the sport.

Layla Hassan

Layla Hassan

Main Game Apperances: Assassin's Creed Origins | Assassin's Creed: Odyssey | Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

Other Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

Voiced By: Chantel Riley (English)^note Other Languages:Antje von der Ahe (German), Varvara Chaban (Russian)

Layla: They know I don't work by the book.
Deanna: Well this time, you lit the book on fire and then stomped on it!

An Egyptian-American Abstergo employee researching the memories of Bayek of Siwa. After learning the truth of the Assassin-Templar War, Layla joins the Assassin Order to continue her research and gain revenge upon her former employers for trying to kill her.

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• Ambiguously Gay: She only describes Deanna as her best friend, but while mourning her, she calls her "sweetheart" in a way that could be romantic or platonic. Also, in the Atlantis DLC, after she murdered Victoria in a fit of rage, in the ending sequence, the dialogue choice “we will be together” Layla voices her very emotional regret over Victoria’s dead body that she refused to dance with her while drunk and that they will be together again. The choice for “come back” has an even more despondent Layla begging her to come back, that she was scared, alone and that she needs her.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: At the end of Valhalla, she transforms into a being similar to the Reader, essentially a future-predicting computer program.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: She acquires Aya's Hidden Blade and uses it to deadly effect against Abstergo agents sent to silence her.
• Brooklyn Rage: Lived in New York City until she was at least 16 years old and still has a New York accent, and after going under the Bleeding Effect, becomes quite the skilled warrior.
• Captain Oblivious: Despite gathering a huge amount of data on Abstergo over the years, and despite having some suspicions that there's something going on with them, she fails to put two and two together and realize they're a bunch of evil bastards.
• The Chosen One: By Aletheia, to be the next holder of the Staff of Hermes.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Compared to Desmond, the Research Analyst, and Numbskull. They were all, to one extent or another, Vanilla Protagonists who the player could identify with easily and step into their shoes. By contrast, Layla is a fully fleshed-out character with a proper arc and established personality.
• The Corruptible: Part of the Fate of Atlantis DLC is her and Aletheia takes steps to make sure the Staff does not corrupt her the way it did Pythagoras.
• Determinator: For better or worse, once she puts her mind to something, she's adamant about seeing it through.
• Duct Tape for Everything: How she attaches Aya's Hidden Blade to her forearm in a hurry when Abstergo's Sigma Team shows up to kill her. It's one of the more sensible examples of this trope and works appropriately well.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: She's doing independent research on Bayek and Aya so that Abstergo will be forced to give her credit after she got none for being behind the design of the Animus 4.3. On top of Abstergo murdering Deanna, it's also why she decides to go with William Miles in the ending.
• Exhausted Eyebags: Sporting them come Valhalla.
• Foil: To Desmond Miles, the other modern-day playable character with a face, name and backstory. Each of them explores the memories of three main historical characters, work for Abstergo in their respective first game before joining the Assassins, and perform a heroic sacrifice to stop a cataclysm. However, Desmond comes from a family of Assassins from which he escaped in his youth, while Layla only joins the Brotherhood in her adulthood; Altaïr, Ezio, Connor and Edward are ancestors of Desmond whose memories are sourced directly from his DNA, while Bayek, Aya, the Eagle Bearer, and Eivor are unrelated to Layla and their memories are sourced elsewhere; Desmond voluntarily gives up his life to save humanity, Layla does so accidentally.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Helped create the Animus 4.3 first seen in the movie, and personally designed the one used in Origins. Not getting any credit for the former is what fuels her actions during the game. The final Isu message suggests she might actually be able to build an Animus that can change the past.
• Gamer Chick: Hinted at in one point of Valhalla, when she makes a quip about unlocking achievements.
• Heel–Face Turn: While she was at worst a Punch-Clock Villain, after putting a target on her back and killing her friend, Layla vows to get back at Abstergo by allying with William Miles and the Assassins.
• Heroic RRoD: Having to go through some of Deimos' memories does a serious number on her, made worse by the fact Layla cannot opt out of them, and not for lack of trying.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted. Her stopping the magnetic irradiation of Earth at the end of Valhalla results in her death, but it is an unwitting one on her part (the machine forces her to drop the Staff thereby exposing herself to the effects of radiation).
• Immortality: Since the Eagle Bearer passes the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus on to her at the end of Odyssey, it can be assumed that she now has the same immortality that they had because of it. This is, however, subverted at the end of Valhalla.
• Mortality Ensues: Holding onto the Staff of Hermes gives her complete immunity from all forms of bodily harm, like the Eagle Bearer before her. So, of course, what happens at the end of Valhalla, when she uses the Staff to protect herself in a highly irradiated place? The Isu machine makes her drop it, leading to her dying from radiation exposure.
• My God, What Have I Done?: During Fate of Atlantis, she kills Victoria Bibeau in a momentary fit of rage brought on by the Staff. Once she comes to, she's horrified.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: At the end of Valhalla, not only does the machine force her to drop the Staff of Hermes, dooming herself to death by radiation poisoning, but said Staff falls upon the remains of Basim/Loki thereby restoring him back to life.
• Out of Focus: Compared to Desmond, the last fully-fledged modern day protagonist before her, she has significantly less screentime in the games she's in, especially since the historical setting stories are expanded compared to earlier games.
• Red Baron: Aletheia addresses her as the Heir of Memories.
• Sanity Slippage: While she hasn't broken yet, she does begin to suffer from the Bleeding Effect as a result of using the Animus, at one point referring to Deanna as Aya. Later on, holding the Staff of Hermes starts to do a number on her self-restraint. Depending on the player's choice of dialogue, she might well start talking to Victoria's corpse as if expecting her to just get back up from being dead.
• Take Up My Sword: At the end of Odyssey, she's given the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus by the Eagle Bearer.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Initially, with some of her team. A note on her laptop has her being informed that if she kills Victoria Bibeau, she's out of a job.
• This Cannot Be!: At the end of Odyssey, she has this reaction to the Eagle Bearer being alive and well in the present day after spending so much time as them in the Animus.
• Took a Level in Badass: In Origins, she goes from a tech expert to able to slice up Abstergo's elite Sigma Team. By the end of Odyssey, she's capable of handing Otso Berg, one of the Templar's top killers, his ass on a platter.
• Unwitting Pawn: Ultimately, it turns out Alethia was manipulating her as part of a gambit to resurrect Loki.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Sophia Rikkin, who convinced her to work for Abstergo, and used Layla's ideas to improve the Animus, but then ignored her emails before point-blank refusing Layla's requests to actually work on the Animus personally. This seemed to end whatever friendship they had. And if that didn't, then sending agents to murder Layla and Dee definitely did.
• You Have Researched Breathing: She needs to undergo the Bleeding Effect with the best freerunner in the franchise to learn how to climb a ledge that barely reaches up to her shoulders. At least she picks up the rest of his climbing skills as well while she's at it.

Victoria Biebau

Doctor Victoria Biebau

Main Game Appearances: Assassin's Creed: Odyssey | Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants

A former member of Abstergo's Aerie Project, who defected to the Assassins, and works with Layla Hassan's cell.

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• Ascended Extra: From one-off mention in Rogue, to supporting character in a book, then appearing in the games.
• Canon Immigrant: She first appeared in the Lost Descendants books and comic tie-in, before appearing in Odyssey.
• Character Death: Layla kills her in the second episode of Fate of Atlantis in a momentary rage.
• Easily Forgiven: During her days working for Abstergo, she got caught burning some confidential files. Despite Abstergo being pretty kill-happy when it comes to employees disobeying, she managed to successfully plead her case. And that was before she became a Templar.
• For Science!: Asks Layla if she can grab a DNA sample from the Eagle Bearer's corpse. Layla points out how creepy this is.
• Heel–Face Turn: She used to be a Templar, and a willing one, but by Odyssey she's an Assassin.
• In-Series Nickname: Layla likes to call her "Doctor Daycare", since her job at Abstergo involved working with teenagers.
• Jerkass Ball: Takes an instant dislike to Aletheia and makes no secret of hiding it. While Aletheia's actions are pushing Layla's vitals into the red, she is also trying to help save the world, making Vic look very petty.
• The Killjoy: Not maliciously, but pretty much all her interactions with Layla's team through Odyssey seem to consist of her scolding everyone else for joking around and having fun.
• Mission Control: Serves as one for Layla. Or tries to, at any rate.
• Non-Action Guy: When some Abstergo goons attack, she just hides. Possibly because she's a doctor with no combat experience.
• Noodle Incident: Exactly how she left Abstergo is not clear. Certainly, Odyssey doesn't feel the need to tell. Whatever it was that happened, William Miles (a noted paranoid bastard) regards her as trustworthy.
• Properly Paranoid: She turns out to be right to be concerned about Alethia and the effect the Staff has on Layla, though circumstances mean she doesn't get to experience this first-hand.
• The Shrink: Actually is a trained psychiatrist. Not much use when dealing with someone as stubborn as Layla.
• Spanner in the Works: Somehow, Aletheia, who had the ability to predict multiple futures, didn't see Victoria's presence coming. Said presence ends with Victoria's death, which buggers up Aletheia's plans with Layla and the Staff of Hermes.
• Team Mom: Tries to be one for Layla's cell, but tends to come across as a bit of a mother hen, worrying too much and ruining everyone else's fun. Admittedly, where Layla is concerned, someone needs to look out for her.
• Token Good Teammate: During her time working for Abstergo, she was one of their less assholish employees.
• What the Hell, Hero?: She's appalled when Layla kills a bunch of Abstergo thugs in self-defence.

Alannah Ryan

Alannah Ryan

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

A new recruit to the Assassins around the same time as Layla Hussain, who joins her on the Altair II.

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• Nice Guy: Very cheerful and good-natured.
• Non-Action Guy: Had to sit out the Quebec caper Layla's squad pulled. Judging by what happened with Sigma Team, and talk of Kiyoshi having to fight them off alone, she's not got a lot of combat experience.
• Put on a Bus: She's gone in Valhalla.
• The Smart Guy: For Layla's cell.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: For Layla, in Odyssey.

Florence Cell

Adriano Maestranzi

Adriano Maestranzi

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

The current leader of the Assassins in Italy, Maestranzi is a wheelchair bound ninety-four year old Assassin. In 2012, he helped direct Assassin teams to get Bill's team out of the country.

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• Affectionate Nickname: The other Assassins, including Bill, often refer to him as the "Old Timer".
• Heroic Sacrifice: Since he was in a wheelchair and so old, he had no chance of evacuating when the Templars attacked his cell, so he stays behind to detonate a bomb and kill them. He manages to destroy the Assassins files, stop the attack, and give the other Assassins a chance to flee. Unfortunately, only Harlan managed to escape.
• Last Words: Vittoria agli Assassini!
• The Leader: Of the Assassin's based in Florence, Italy.
• Mentor: To Harlan.
• Old Master: Ninety-four years old and still helping to lead the Assassins against the Templars.
• Taking You with Me: Blows himself up along with the Templar team sent after the Assassins, with Juhani Otso Berg being the lone survivor.

Harlan Cunningham

Harlan T. Cunningham

Main Game Appearances: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Assassin's Creed Rogue

Other Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

A high-ranking Assassin operating in Italy, he assisted Bill in securing Desmond in the Animus following the incident in Juno's Vault. He later led operations disrupting the Templars search for Bill's team during Assassin's Creed III. Rogue reveals that he was a wrestler in Texas who fled to Europe upon being outed as gay.

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• Arch-Enemy: Juhani Otso Berg is his, and the feeling's mutual, though Cunningham is not above trolling him as seen in one of Rogue's audio files.
• Ascended Extra: Similar to Gavin, he was just a random voice who got turned into a major character for Assassin's Creed: Initiates.
• Battle Couple: Goes on missions with his student and lover, former MMA fighter Arend Schut.
• Dressed to Kill: The first Assassin in the series to wear a classy suit.
• Happily Married: As of the Jack The Ripper DLC, he and his longtime boyfriend Arend Schut are married.
• Heroes Love Dogs: He and Arend get into a discussion about getting a dog. They come to an impasse about what kind (Harlan thinking Arend wanted a Chihuahua.
• Hero of Another Story: Is a main character in the Desmond Files portion of Initiates.
• The Lancer: To Adriano, often serving as a go-between for him and Bill.
• Professional Killer: Like most Assassins.
• Sole Survivor: After the Templars tracked an Assassin back to his team's hideout in Florence, Harlan was the only one who managed to escape after Adriano detonated a bomb to kill the Templars.
• Survivor's Guilt: He feels terrible about leaving Adriano behind, but Gavin helps him realize there was nothing he could have done.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Rogue reveals that he's currently in a relationship with a recruit to the Brotherhood, former MMA fighter Arend Schut.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Gender-flipped variation. He informs Kiyoshi that if Arend dies on his watch, he will remove the guy's tongue via his urethra.

Arend Schut-Cunningham

Arend Schut-Cunningham

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics) | Assassin's Creed: Uprising

A Dutch former MMA fighter, and the lover of Harlan T. Cunningham.

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• Battle Couple: Goes on missions with his lover Harlan T. Cunningham.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Wields a Hidden Blade on his right arm.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Also likes using brass knuckles.
• Happily Married: As of the Jack The Ripper DLC, he and Harlan are now married to each other.
• It's Personal: He tells Bishop to tell Galina not to feel too bad about being unable to kill Otso Berg. After Harlan got hurt in a previous encounter with Berg, he wants to be the one to do Berg in.
• Meaningful Name: Arend means "eagle" in Dutch.
• Mr. Muffykins: In Assassin's Creed Uprising Issue #3, Arend and Harlan are in a phone argument about getting a chihuahua. Arend is very emphatic that he doesn't want one.
• Teacher/Student Romance: Is in a relationship with his mentor and lover Harlan T. Cunningham.
• Violently Protective Boyfriend: See It's Personal.

Osaka Brotherhood / Onmoraki-Gumi

Saeko Mochizuki

Saeko Mochizuki

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

The 78-year old Mentor of the Osaka Brotherhood. She inherited the position from her husband Kenichi.

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• Cool Old Lady: As the mentor of the Osaka Brotherhood.
• In-Series Nickname: Osoroshii Baba, which translates to "terrible grandmother".
• The Leader: Becomes Mentor of the Osaka Brotherhood after her husband was killed by the Onmoraki-Gumi.
• The Mentor: Alongside her husband, she taught Gavin the ways of the Assassin Order when he was younger. She also holds this position in the Osaka Brotherhood.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Led the Assassins in one against the Onmoraki-Gumi, and ends up taking over what is left of them afterwards.

Kiyoshi Takakura

Kiyoshi Takakura

Main Game Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

Other Apperances: Assassin's Creed: Initiates | Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics) | Assassin's Creed: Uprising | Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice

Voiced by: Dai Tabuchi (English)^note Other Languages:Andrey Mishutin (Russian)

A Japanese Assassin who survived the attack by the Onmoraki-Gumi.

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• Anti-Hero: A Type III. Kiyoshi is a ruthless Japanese gangster that doesn't like gaijin (non-Japanese) however he does stick to the Creed and has a good relationship with fellow Assassin Layla Hassan.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Is always wearing a suit and is also fairly badass.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Wields a hidden blade, like most Assassins.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He nearly kills Gavin over an insult to his fashion sense. He is clearly ashamed about losing control and violating the Creed afterwards.
• Foreign Queasine: His opinion of London food.
• Meaningful Name: The taka in his name means hawk. Many assassins have names that translate to birds of prey, especially hawks, who are symbolic of the Brotherhood.
• Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters: Although he is an unrepentant Japanese gangster, Kiyoshi firmly sticks to the three tenets of the Creed and he never hurts any innocents.
• Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie: He is an Assassin, a member of the Yakuza and a master swordsman who is proficient in firearms.
• Obsessed with Food: The Assassin Intel logs you get in the Jack The Ripper DLC of Syndicate show that even though he'll be hunting down for Dr. Gramatica and/or his laboratory, he's quite eager to go on a food tour of Korea. He also loves Texas BBQ as revealed in the manga series Blade of Shao Jun.
• Odd Friendship: He and Layla Hassan strike up a surprisingly good working relationship.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: In Odyssey, he manages to fight off Sigma Team on his own, while wounded.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: He laughs while beating up an old white man, and later expresses surprise at how well Emmanuel Barraza can handle pain for a "gaijin"^note non-Japanese person.
• Poor Communication Kills: He nearly stabs Gavin with his hidden blade due to neither realizing the other is an Assassin.
• Tattooed Crook: Hardly surprising, since he is both an Assassin and part of the Yakuza. His tattoos include dragons and the Assassin insignia.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: In Odyssey, he's part of the Altair II cell, but is only heard, not seen.
• Yakuza: He is a Japanese assassin that wears a sharp suit and has tattoos typical of a member of the organization.

Indian Assassins

Siobhan

Siobhan

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brahman

Siobhan is an Assassin who works undercover at Abstergo front company MysoreTech.

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• Boom, Headshot!: She is shot in the head when the Templars first track down her, Jasdip, and Jot Soora.
• Honey Trap: Initially, she tries to get Jot's attention by befriending and blatantly trying to seduce him, complete with a forced kiss. When she later finds out that Jot is the fiancee of a glamorous movie star, she's faintly bemused by her audacity in thinking it would work.
• The Mole: For the Assassins inside MysoreTech.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Far nicer than her brother Jasdip.

Jasdip Dhami

Jasdip Dhami

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Brahman | Assassin's Creed: Uprising

The brother of Siobhan.

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• Blade Below the Shoulder: Wears a gauntlet that contains a Hidden Blade.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Seemingly dies fighting the Templars invading their Assassin hideout, though Rogue reveals that he managed to get away.
• Boom, Headshot!: Is killed in the final chapter of Uprising when Galina snipes him in the head.
• Cool Shades: Is always seen wearing his sunglasses. He abandons them after Brahman, and by the time of Uprising goes without.
• Face–Heel Turn: Joined the Instruments of the First Will because of his refusal to indoctrinate the Initiates in their war against the Templars and doesn't hesitate to take on his ex-Assassin comrades in 2017.
• Flechette Storm: His First Will-given outfit unleashes these.
• Good is Not Nice: He's on the side of good as an Assassin, but he's also a bit of an asshole.
• In the Hood: Like most Assassins he wears one.
• It's Personal: Yet another person with a grudge against Otso Berg, for killing his sister.
• Jerkass: He is a total asshole to Jot, dismissing him as useless on several occasions and even threatens to kill him at one point. Jasdip also shows no sympathy to Jot over the death of Monima, although he had lost his sister earlier that day as well.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Has a very prominent jaw.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: While Siobhan is (mostly) nice and polite to Jot, Jasdip is extremely rude.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: His Assassin outfit lacks sleeves, showing his muscular arms.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Assassin Intel from the Jack the Ripper DLC shows him concerned for the safety of the Initiates, knowing how dangerous getting innocents involved in the Assassin-Templar war is. The line about him seeing how ugly getting innocents involved first hand implies that he may have regretted what happened with Jot. And then utterly shot when he joins the Instruments of the First Will.
• Worthy Opponent: His opinion of Juhani Otso Berg and Sigma Team. While working for Juno, he spares Berg for this reason.
  One does not dispatch one's demons without affording them the proper respect.

Dinesh

Dinesh

Appears in: Brahman

Dinesh is a tech-savvy Assassin operating in Mumbai.

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• Boom, Headshot!: Dies when the Templars raid the Assassins' Hideout at the Chor Bazaar via headshot.
• The Smart Guy: Is the tech guy for the Mumbai cell.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He is introduced near the end of Brahman and is the least developed member of the Indian Assassin cell.

Russian Assassins

Galina Voronina

Galina Voronina

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates | Assassin's Creed Syndicate | Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics) | Assassin's Creed: Uprising

Voiced by: Patricia Summersett (English)^note Other Languages:Julia Cherkasova (Russian)

Galina is the last remaining member of the Russian Assassins, as well as the granddaughter of Sergei. The rest of her cell was driven insane by her mother, who built an Animus and forced the others into it until they suffered from the Bleeding Effect. After killing them all nearly single-handedly, she joined the Altaïr II cell and later became a Master Assassin.

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• Abusive Mom: Doubly subverted. Her mother forced her into the Animus, but she was motivated to build the Animus in part out of a desire to give her daughters a better future. But, as all the test subjects went insane, she decided to test it only on herself. Years later, having had a Sanity Slippage, crossed the Despair Event Horizon, and possibly been possessed by Juno, she forced Galina and Avdotya into the machine that drove everyone else in their cell insane in a desperate attempt to "save" them.
• Action Girl: Effortlessly tears through the insane Assassins of her cell, with Emmett describing it as a "gruesome ballet".
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: As of Syndicate she's achieved Master Assassin rank.
• The Big Girl: She is recruited by Gavin to serve as his cell's muscle after the Russian Brotherhood is wiped out.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Wields two hidden blades.
• Breakout Character: From her first appearance in Initiates, her interesting backstory and cool personality, many fans latched on to Galina, becoming the second transmedia character (after Daniel Cross) to appear in a render in the main games.
• Cassandra Truth: She's one of the first people to tell the Assassins that Precursors can interact with users within the Animus, but they don't believe her due to her questionable mental health.
• Combat Pragmatist: Despite her skills in close combat, she has no issue doing things such as sniping people at range rather than directly engaging them.
• Cynical Mentor: To Charlotte de la Cruz, frequently chiding and berating the inexperienced young woman for being optimistic or naïve.
• Dance Battler: Emmett describes her fighting style as looking like a "gruesome ballet" and her fight with Berg in Syndicate does include some balletic movements.
• Dark and Troubled Past: The more Galina's past is revealed, the more disturbing it becomes. Shaun even describes her life as a "never-ending horror movie."
• Death Glare: Gives Emmett a look that "made him want to shit his pants" when he tries to tell her that users can't talk to anyone in the Animus.
• Devious Daggers: This Assassin brings a knife to a gun fight and wins.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Downplayed. Eschewed a gun for her two Hidden Blades, which worked out extremely well, though she's certainly capable of using them when absolutely necessary, such as when she uses a sniper rifle to take out Jasdip Dhami via headshot in Uprising.
• Drowning My Sorrows: She takes to self-medicating with alcohol after Charlotte's apparent death. The other Assassins are concerned, but are unable or unwilling to intervene.
• Foil:
  • To Juno. Both were forced to watch their loved ones Mind Raped in the name of a far-fetched "higher cause," desperately begging them to hold on as they tried to find a way to save them, but ultimately had to put them out of their misery themselves. Juno is consumed with revenge, refuses to acknowledge her own role in Aita's demise, and vents her wrath on humanity. Galina, for all her faults, never stops fighting for the Assassins or humanity even as they let her down time and time again.
  • To Charlotte. Both are young women who used the Animus to acquire skills from their ancestors, resisting the Bleeding Effect and contacting Precursor entities within the machine. Charlotte, using a comfortable, up-to-date Animus, becomes Consus' Chosen One, while Galina was forced into an outdated prototype Animus known to have dangerous physical and mental side effects even without Juno lurking in the shadows. Moreover, Consus gives Charlotte miraculous revelations about Pieces of Eden, while Galina was made to watch her loved ones, including her own twin sister, slowly descend into madness from Juno's "revelations", leading the two women to have very contrasting views of The Ones Who Came Before.
• Forced to Watch: She was made to witness her cell's descent into madness, as she was the only one able to resist the Bleeding Effect and remain sane.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • Her trust issues, even with other Assassins, likely stem from William Miles' Empty Promise to her mother to watch over them. When the situation in Russia became unbearable, her twin sister Avdotya told her to send SOS messages to Miles in hopes of rescue, but as he'd abandoned the Assassins, the messages go unanswered until it's too late.
  • She also vehemently opposes any sort of contact with the Precursors, as Juno first infiltrated her cell by possessing her mother in the guise of "Eve" and then slowly drove the rest of the cell insane, one by one, until only Galina was left. She's horrified when Charlotte makes contact with Consus, terrified that history will repeat itself.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Beneath her Sergeant Rock exterior, she's utterly traumatized by her past experiences with Juno and the Animus and terrified that they will happen again.
  • On a lighter note, she also apparently enjoys kitten gifs and Richard Curtis movies.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Has piercing blue eyes that can get very cold if she's angry.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Odyssey reveals she took Charlotte's apparent death really hard.
• In the Blood: Her grandfather was an Assassin at the turn of the century, and like Galina was utterly devoted to the Assassins, uncaring to the feelings or concerns of others, and just an all-round Jerkass. And whether she realizes it or not, she's inherited some of her mother's black and white thinking.
• In the Hood: Wears a hoodie.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Galina is pretty forthright with her opinion or analysis of a situation, and usually focused on her mission to the exclusion of all else, usually coming across as rude and uncaring. That said, when she does care about someone, she lets them know, even surprising Charlotte with a hug before leaving on a mission.
• Leeroy Jenkins: She tends to shoot first worry about consequences later. When she and Shaun blow up the Phoenix Lab in Paris, Shaun realizes that Gramatica is wearing a Shroud of Eden and considers grabbing it, but Galina detonates an grenade before Shaun can do anything.
  Shaun: Hello! We're here to destroy your abominable samples and- wait, are you wearing a blanket?!
  Galina [utterly unconcerned]: Is it fireproof?
  Shaun: [as a grenade clatters across the floor] No, wait! That's the- BOOM!
• No-Sell: Managed to resist the Bleeding Effect that drove her fellow Assassins to madness, at least for the time being.
• Not So Stoic: Galina is pretty prickly to outsiders, and even fellow Assassins, her default expression usually being a scowl or a frown (especially during her time with Charlotte). When she meets up with Shaun and Rebecca in Syndicate, she actually smirks and makes jokes at Shaun's expense.
• Once Killed a Man with a Noodle Implement: According to Uprising #1, she once killed three Abstergo agents with one scented candle. Mandarin and cranberry, to be precise.
• One-Man Army:
  • She has the skillsets of all her Assassin ancestors thanks to her time in the Animus, and puts those skills to good work on quite a few occassions.
  • Curbstomps her former cell with little more than two hidden blades like a protagonist of the earlier games without breaking a sweat.
  • She also kicks Juhani Otso Berg's ass in a fight at the end of Syndicate, before cutting her way through Sigma Team.
• Remember the New Guy?: Sort of. To anyone who wasn't a part of Initiates, or didn't follow the story, her appearance in Syndicate will seem this way. Thankfully, the database takes the time to explain her backstory.
• Sanity Slippage: Syndicate reveals she was affected by the mental issues that come with the Bleeding Effect, with Rebecca mentioning that she once found Galina talking to herself and upon asking her about it, Galina claimed she had been speaking with her dead twin sister Avdotya.
• Self-Made Orphan: Kills her mother with a Hidden Blade to the brain to end her madness.
• Sergeant Rock: She's strict to the point of controlling with those under her command, but when a situation goes bad she doesn't hesitate for a second to offer her life for theirs.
• Sibling Murder: Kills her own twin sister, who had been driven insane by the Bleeding Effect like the other Russian Assassins, without hesitation.
• Single Tear: Shed one when killing her mother.
• Staking the Loved One: Kills her mother and twin sister after the Bleeding Effect turns them into feral shells of themselves.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Manages to pull this off on Shaun in Syndicate despite the room they're in being patrolled by drones.
• Supporting Leader: She leads Charlotte's Assassin cell throughout Uprising and most of Assassins.
• The Only One I Trust: Gavin Banks is one of the only people she trusts unconditionally. Though he arrived too late to help, he was the first and only responder to her SOS call in Initiates and refused to leave her in Russia upon realizing that she was the last surviving Assassin in the country. Come the events of Assassins, he's the only person she trusts to answer her distress signals, and he does.
• There Are No Therapists: Everyone agrees she's been through hell and has some psychological scars to prove it, but no one seems to think of getting her professional help.
• The Remnant: The last Russian Assassin, since the rest were driven to madness and killed.
  • Becomes this twice over by the end of Uprising, outliving all the other members of the original Salton Sea Cell (Xavier, Kody, and Charlotte) introduced in Assassin's Creed.

Avdotya Voronina

Avdotya Voronina

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

Galina's twin sister, who went mad and who she was forced to kill during the assault on the Assassin science city.

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• Abusive Mom: Doubly subverted. Her mother forced her into the Animus, but she was motivated to build the Animus in part out of a desire to give her daughters a better future. But, as all the test subjects went insane, she decided to test it only on herself. Years later, having had a Sanity Slippage, crossed the Despair Event Horizon, and possibly been possessed by Juno, she forced Galina and Avdotya into the machine that drove everyone else in their cell insane in a desperate attempt to "save" them.
• Apocalyptic Log: Leaves one for her sister before being forced into the Animus.
• Driven to Madness: Like the other Russian Assassins due to the Bleeding Effect.
• Mercy Kill: Is taken out by her sister to end her madness.
• Vampire Refugee: In a way. She knew that overexposure to the Animus would ultimately turn her into a feral shell of herself and sent Galina to get help, but the help arrived too late to save her.

Medeya Voronina

Medeya Voronina

Appears in: Assassin's Creed: Initiates

The mother of Galina and Avdotya and an Assassin scientist, who was driven to madness by the Animus.

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• Abusive Mom: Doubly subverted. She forced her daughters into the Animus, but she was motivated to build the Animus in part out of a desire to give them a better future. But, as all the test subjects went insane, she decided to test it only on herself. Years later, having had a Sanity Slippage, crossed the Despair Event Horizon, and possibly been possessed by Juno, she forced Galina and Avdotya into the machine that drove everyone else in their cell insane in a desperate attempt to "save" them.
• Demonic Possession: Is implied to have gotten possessed by Juno.
• Despair Event Horizon: Has one following the collapse of the Soviet Union as Templars move to put Russia under their control, as well as her fellow Assassins being incapable of seeing past the short-term goal of making a weapon.
• Driven to Madness: Using a poor man's Animus during the 2012 coronal mass ejection wasn't exactly the best idea.
• In the Blood: Like her father, Sergei, she's disturbingly willing use mysterious technology to experiment on humans.
• Meaningful Name: Medeya is the Russian form of the Greek and Georgian name Medea, and there are certain parallels between Medeya and the mythological figure, Medea. In the Greek myths, Medea was abandoned by Jason, causing her to go mad and kill her children. Similarly, Medeya went insane after the other Assassins abandoned her following the fall of the USSR, and her actions ultimately led to the death of her daughter, Avdotya. Also, one of Medea's children, Thessalus, managed to escape, while his twin, Alcimedes, died, mirroring the fates of Medeya's daughters.
• Professor Guinea Pig: Tested her prototype Animus on herself.
• Reluctant Mad Scientist: Forced to make a working Animus using 1977 prototype blueprints in order to get an edge on the Templars. She succeeds, technically, but all the test subjects go insane from the Bleeding Effect. Her despair over this doesn't stop her from testing it on herself and later, in desperation, on her twin daughters.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Genuinely believed that the only way to save her cell was to force them all into a machine known to induce insanity.

Salton Sea Cell

Charlotte de la Cruz

Charlotte de la Cruz

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics) | Assassin's Creed: Uprising

• Agony of the Feet: She gets shot in the foot by a Mexican mobster while trying to save Kody.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: While she does succeed in killing Juno, she's still inside the secret Australian lab when Otso Berg blows it up, presumably killing her.
• Conspiracy Theorist: She was one before the Assassins found her. It seems to be inherited from her grandmother, a leading figure in Erudito.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: She's the one who kills Juno.
• Heroic RRoD: Going through a fake memory of Hiram Stoddard's very nearly kills her.
• Innocently Insensitive: While working with Galina, she repeatedly treads on her Berserk Button by accident, not knowing why Galina might be so untrusting of the Animus or Consus.
• In the Hood: Kody gives her a white and red hoodie before she goes into an Abstergo hideout to save Galina.
• Jumped at the Call: She agreed to join the Assassins the minute Galina and Xavier asked her.
• Le Parkour: Good enough at freerunning to climb up the inside of an air vent.
• Never Found the Body: She's still inside the secret Australian lab when it explodes, but we never actually see a body. The Assassins seem very convinced she's dead.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: At her job, she pulls a bit of wrangling to help a lady with her monetary problems. She gets fired, and then Abstergo sends a heavily armed hit-squad to her door.
• Sherlock Scan: She has a version of Eagle Vision which allows her to see where an air vent might go.
• Uneven Hybrid: Her ancestor Ignacio has some Isu somewhere in his DNA, meaning Charlotte does as well, allowing her to use the Koh-I-Noor Diamond.

Kody Adams

Kody Adams

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics)

• Character Death: Shot dead by Abstergo agents during their siege on Erudito's island.
• Distressed Dude: He gets kidnapped by an angry cartel leader who wants Galina dead. With some Templar assistance, Galina and Charlotte save him.
• Ear Ache: He gets an ear cut off by his captors.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His decision to skip a more indepth medical scan of Charlotte means that Abstergo's tracking device goes undetected, leading them straight to her.
• Non-Action Guy: Kody's the tech guy of his cell, and doesn't really do action, something he freely admits.
  Kody: We're R2-D2 and C-3PO, stuck waiting around in the console room while the others go off to save the princess.

Xavier Chen

Xavier Chen

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics)

• Character Death: He's dragged underwater by Joseph and strangled.
• Jerkass: He's rude, and controlling, and even draws a gun on Galina when she demands he take Charlotte out of the Animus.
• My Greatest Failure: The mission Joseph went AWOL from, wherein everyone but Xavier and Joseph died. It motivates his efforts to recover Joseph from Abstergo. He just doesn't realize Joseph blames Xavier for making him leave his lover behind.

Madrid Abstergo Rehabilitation Center Assassins

Cal Lynch

Callum "Cal" Lynch

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (2016) | Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization | Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun

Played by: Michael Fassbender, Angus Brown (age 7)^DubsIlya Isaev, Artyom Fadeev (age 7) (Russian)

Dubbed by: Jean-Pierre Michaël (European French)

An American descendant of the Spanish Assassin Aguilar de Nerha and the main protagonist of the modern-day plot of the 2016 Assassin's Creed film. The Abstergo Foundation stages the execution he was facing for murder and brings him to their "rehabilitation center" in Madrid. He is put in an Animus in order to find clues of the location of the Apple of Eden once handled by Aguilar during the end of the Emirate of Granada.

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• Ancestral Weapon: He wields the Hidden Blades of Aquilar de Nerha, his ancestor. They were given to him by Abstergo to try and help him achieve better synchronization in the Animus.
• The Cameo: He appears in flashbacks in Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun.
• Character Development: He eventually comes to embrace the Assassin's Creed after realizing why his mother was killed.
• Dark and Troubled Past: His father killed his mother according to the Creed to preserve the secret of the Eden Apple of Granada as modern-day Templars led by Alan Rikkin were coming for them.
• Death Faked for You: Templars fake his death sentence to have him vanish from official existence in order to have him at their free disposal.
• Death Row: After his childhood Back Story sequence ends, he is seen in a death row in his 30s, facing the death penalty for killing a pimp.
• Dual Wielding: In the fight to escape Abstergo he uses Aguilar's Hidden Blades in tandem, a skill he picked up from the man himself. Callum even kills a Templar in the same way Aguilar executes Ojeda. (Two blades to the throat while the enemy is injured and on their knees.)
• Establishing Character Moment: When we meet Callum as a kid, he tries to make a wide, rather dangerous looking jump on his bike (with no help in sight mind), fails, and softly says "Shit."
• Had to Be Sharp: In response to Sophie saying she wants to "cure aggression", he says that aggression helped keep him alive. This is not hyberbole; he was fake executed for the self-defense murder of a pimp.
• Heroic Lineage: His Assassin heritage includes Aguilar de Nerha and his mother, Mary Lynch, who both suffered greatly to keep the Apple of Eden out of Templar hands. Among the holograms that induct him into the Assassin Brotherhood, one of them appears to be Arno Dorian. He's also revealed to have Assassin ancestors who fought in the English Civil War, the American Civil War and World War II.
• Identical Grandson: Justified just like the games due to the Animus which makes Callum appear identical to his ancestor Aguilar. Both are played by Michael Fassbender.
• Instant Expert: The Bleeding Effect allows him to acquire his ancestor's martial skills insanely fast.
• Initiation Ceremony: He is formally inducted as an Assassin by his mother and some of his ancestors through the Animus.
• In the Hood: He dons a black coat with a hood in the climax along with Moussa and Lin.
• Laughing Mad: Callum giggles deliriously as he's dragged to his second trip in the Animus while also singing Patsy Cline's "Crazy", because he's going through Sanity Slippage thanks to the Bleeding Effect.
• Momma's Boy: When his execution is faked and he has flashbacks to his childhood, they are mostly happy memories with his mother.
  • If one thing can be said to solidify his allegiance to the Brotherhood, it is seeing his mom wearing Assassin robes and telling him that he's not alone.
• Sanity Slippage: It happens to him as he's unwillingly dragged into the Animus the first two times. He starts hallucinating both his father and his ancestor to the point that he can spar with them.
• Shirtless Scene: In his third Animus scene, and he also fights bare-chested during the Assassins' revolt at the Abstergo facility.
• Unwitting Pawn: He is used by the Templars-backed Abstergo Foundation to find the location of the Eden Apple of Granada by exploring the life of Aguilar in 1491. Sophie makes for an unusual Templar in that she wants Cal to be witting and therefore willing to help them. He makes up for it by stealing the Apple back from her father, after killing him.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: While the events of the movie are part of Assassin's Creed canon, there's been no acknowledgement of what's become of Cal since he killed Alan Rikkin.

Joseph Lynch

Joseph Lynch

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (2016)

Played by: Brendan Gleeson^DubsBoris Bystrov (Russian)

The father of Callum Lynch, who was forced to kill his wife, Mary (also an Assassin), in order to save her from abduction by Abstergo and protect the Apple of Eden of Granada.

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• Badass in Distress: He is arrested in the film's prologue for the murder of his wife, and Abstergo presumably got their hands on him quickly after that.
• Character Death: Killed by Abstergo security guards during Moussa's prison riot.
• Do Not Go Gentle: Armed with only a disassembled Hidden Blade, he brings down several Abstergo security guards before getting killed.
• Heroic Lineage: Being Callum's father (and having been abducted by Abstergo for the same project as Cal). An early draft of the film had him seizing ''Arno's Guillotine Gun, implying that that part of Callum's heritage was from his side of the family rather than Mary's.
• I Did What I Had to Do: His first scene is immediately after Mary's death and he is constantly repeating the Creed like a Survival Mantra, as if he's trying to reassure himself that he did the right thing.
• Love Is a Weakness: He couldn't bring himself to kill his son which ultimately enabled the Templars to get their hands on him. It's also implied that he couldn't bring himself to kill his wife either and that she forced his Hidden Blade into her throat.
• Offing the Offspring: His plan in 1986 was to kill Cal and Mary at the same time but he backed out at the last second and instead ordered young Cal to run away.

Moussa

Moussa

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (2016)

Played by: Michael K. Williams^DubsAlexander Gruzdev (Russian)

Moussa is a descendant of the Louisiana Assassin-turned-Templar Baptiste (from Assassin's Creed III: Liberation). He was abducted by Abstergo Industries to be used as one of their test subjects.

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• Chekhov's Gun: While Moussa is in Sophia's office, there's a glimpse of a couple of smoke bombs encased in glass on a table. He later initiates the prison break by using them on the guards in the cafeteria.
• Guile Hero: Michael Williams has stated that Moussa would prefer to use trickery or magic to defeat his enemies than hand-to-hand combat. Indeed, in the film itself, Moussa starts the prison riot with the "pick a hand" trick and revealing smoke bombs in both so his allies can swarm the guards.
• Insult of Endearment: "Pioneer" was initially a reference to how Callum was helping the Templars explore Aguilar's memories and find the Apple of Eden, and to a lesser extent, for ordering steak when the Madrid facility guards recommended chicken. After Callum is inducted into the Brotherhood by Mary's hologram, it has clearly become more of a friendly nickname.
• In the Hood: He dons a black coat with a hood in the climax along with Callum and Lin.
• Irony: Moussa is completely loyal to the Assassins, despite the fact that his ancestor Baptiste was a known Assassin turncoat.
• The Leader: While he was imprisoned at the Abstergo facility in Madrid, he gained the trust of a number of other assassins, becoming their leader and planning their escape. Whenever newcomers arrived at the facility, Moussa was the one to welcome them.
• Play-Along Prisoner: Moussa has spent five years at the Abstergo facility in Madrid since his capture, seemingly playing along with his captors. He actually waits for the right moment to revolt with the other Assassin prisoners.
• Prison Riot: Masterminds a revolt with the other Assassins and starts it while Cal Lynch is in his third Animus regression.
• Undying Loyalty: He is completely loyal to the Brotherhood and does his best to prevent Cal from helping the Templars in their quest to find the Apple of Eden. While Moussa initially isn't sure if Cal will join his mutiny, all of his doubts are relieved once Cal is formally inducted as an Assassin by his mother and ancestors through the Animus.

Emir

Emir

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (2016)

Played by: Matias Varela^DubsAlexander Hoshabaev (Russian)

A descendant of the Ottoman Assassin Yusuf Tazim (from Assassin's Creed: Revelations). Abstergo Industries abducted him to use as a test subject for their new Animus project.

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• Mission Control: His role in Moussa's Prison Riot is taking over the Abstergo Center's security room and assisting his fellows from there.
• Prison Riot: He participates in the mutiny Moussa organized, breaking into the Abstergo Center's security room, unlocking the Animus chamber for his friends and blocking other doors to prevents guards from reaching them.
• Sacrificial Lion: While the other Assassins fight furiously against waves of Abstergo guards in the Animus chamber, Emir is left to fend by himself in the security room. Overwhelmed, he doesn't live to see his friends taking over the Abstergo center with Callum.

Nathan

Nathan

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (2016)

Played by: Callum Turner^DubsDenis Stroev (Russian)

A descendant of the British Assassin-turned-Templar Duncan Walpole (from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag). Abstergo Industries abducted him to use as a test subject for their new Animus project.

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• Annoying Arrows: He receives a crossbow bolt in the shoulder, although it appears to hamper him.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He gets stabbed twice by Abstergo guards during the revolt.
• Irony: Much like Moussa, Nathan is a loyal (bordering on zealous) Assassin while his ancestor, Duncan Walpole, is a known Assassin turncoat.
• Sacrificial Lion: He perishes during the revolt.
• The Straight and Arrow Path: He uses a hidden crossbow during the revolt, shooting an Abstergo guard right in the face with it.

Lin

Lin

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (2016)

Played by: Michelle H. Lin

A descendant of the Chinese Assassin Shao Jun (from Assassin's Creed: Embers and Assassin's Creed: Chronicles). Abstergo Industries abducted her to use as a test subject for their new Animus project.

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• Action Girl: As a female Assassin, she surely qualifies.
• Ancestral Weapon: She gets to use the Hidden Shoe Blade of her ancestor.
• In the Hood: She dons a black coat with a hood in the climax along with Callum and Moussa.
• The Straight and Arrow Path: She takes a crossbow from a dead Abstergo guard and uses it during the revolt in Madrid.

Others

Bishop

Bishop

Appears in: Unity | Syndicate

Voiced by: Kate Todd (English)^note Other Languages:Tatyana Shitova (Russian)

"Welcome to the Assassins, Initiate."

Bishop is a member of the Assassin Brotherhood who recruits the player character of Unity as an Initiate and tasked them with reliving Arno Dorian's memories in order to find the Sage operating during the French Revolution. In Syndicate, she has the Initiate go through the memories of Jacob and Evie Frye to find a Piece of Eden.

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• But Thou Must!: Bishop claims you have a choice about whether to view Abstergo's video on the Phoenix Project, but in order to say "no", you have to turn the console off.
• Mission Control: Serves as this for the Assassins and the Initiates.
• Mysterious Past: No one really knows where she comes from, save for Rebecca, who serves as her Secret-Keeper. Gavin Banks theorizes that she's former CIA, whereas Harlan Cunningham thinks she might've been an Erudito defector.
• No Name Given: She is known simply as Bishop.
• Remember the New Guy?: She's introduced as a firm friend of Shaun and Rebecca in Unity and Syndicate despite being unmentioned in Black Flag, Initiates, or any of the Desmond games.
  • Though, it's mentioned that Shaun and Rebecca did not meet Bishop until after the events of Initiates - and due to there being nothing to bridge the gap between then and Unity, it makes sense that they are already friends by then. However, she still falls under this trope due to the fact her character gets no introduction or explanation during Unity. It takes until Syndicate before her role gets any sort of context.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Her resemblance to Rebecca Crane had many players believe she was the same character with a different voice actor. Word of God confirmed this was not the case. She has an up to date model in Syndicate that doesn't resemble Rebecca Crane anymore
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Fulfills this role for the playable character throughout the Modern Day sections of Unity and Syndicate.

Mary Lynch

Mary Lynch, née Mckye

Appears in: Assassin's Creed (2016)

Played by: Essie Davis

A descendant of Aguilar de Nerha, the mother of Callum Lynch and the wife of Joseph Lynch. She died when Callum was 7 years old in order to prevent her capture by the Templars, who sought to use her to locate the Apple of Eden handled by Aguilar in 1491.

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• Heroic Suicide: She tells her husband to kill her to prevent the Templar's getting the Apple of Eden. She ends up forcing his blade into her own neck when he hesitates to do the deed.
• Posthumous Character: She inducts Cal in the Brotherhood with some of their ancestors through the Animus, despite having died 30 years before.
• You Are Not Alone: As an Animus projection, she tells Cal that he is not alone, and never was.

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