Assassin's Creed (video game)/Characters

The Assassins

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

"A small sacrifice to save many. It is necessary"

The player character of the first Assassin's Creed I game. After a horrible mistake that cost the Assassin order many lives, he has to redeem himself by assassinating nine key figures of the Holy Lands to end the Third Crusade.

• Anti-Hero: Type IV -> Type III.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: At first.
• The Atoner: His primary role through the game. After he screwed up big time, he has to seek redemption by assassinating nine head figures of the Holy Lands.
• Badass Grandpa: Was still quite skilled with a sword in his sixties, though by his 80's he no longer has the stamina to freerun.
  • The simple fact that he, an assassin, lived to be 92 years old is a testament to his badassery.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Does this to Al Mualim, when he turned out to be a manipulative and power hungry Templar.
• Combat Pragmatist: Remember, "everything is permitted" includes everything in combat.
  • Contrary to part of their creed, everything wasn't permitted (for example, poison). Several Codex pages in AC II show that Altaïr fixed that.
• Cradling Your Kill: He's quite fond of it.
• Determinator
• Doting Parent: It's shown that he's very close to his sons Darim and Sef, and was deeply embittered by the fact that Sef was executed by the Assassins under Abbas Sofian's orders.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Justified, since his very foolish actions in the beginning were the reason why he lost his rank and respect. He eventually earns it back.
• Dying Alone
• Happily Married: To Maria.
• Heartbroken Badass: He had a relationship with Adha during the events of Altaïr's Chronicles and Maria from Bloodlines onward. Both of them die. Maria's death especially haunts him until the day of his own death as seen in Revelations.
• The Hero
• In the Hood
• It Got Worse: His life, as Revelations revealed.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: His preferred way to get information.
• Jerkass: At first. He acted high and mighty and believed himself superior to others. He wised up during his journey when he witnessed what happens to those who let themselves be consumed by arrogance.
  • Revelations would reveal in the first Altaïr memory (set two years before the events of Assassin's Creed) that he originally was more humble and stoic but that his success as a Master Assassin and high esteem in the eyes of Al Mualim got to his head, leading him to this.
• Knight in Sour Armor: The Codex entries revealed that he's a strong believer in that Humans Are the Real Monsters and that God Is Evil, and that he maybe should have let the Templars use the Piece of Eden to put an end of all evil, yet he fights on to make the world a better place for the common man.
• Legendary in the Sequel
• Master Swordsman
• Necessarily Evil: How he views his methods.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the first minutes of the game, which his act of overconfident jerkassery cost Malik his arm and his brother's life, and then lead the Templars to Masyaf. Then later, near the end of the game, his successes gave Robert de Sable the means to unite the Crusaders and the Saracens against the Assassins.
  • And by killing his Templar targets, he gave Al Mualim the chance to take power. Altaïr quickly put a stop to this, however.
  • He's also responsible for Maria's death when he accidentally Mind Raped the man who executed his son Sef with the Apple, who goes insane and stabs her in the back.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: In the first game, he speaks with a distinct American accent. In Revelations he speaks with a more period-accurate Middle-Eastern accent. This is lampshaded in the game as an effect of the Animus software, with the 2.0 version used in Revelations being more true to what actually happened.
• One-Man Army: For someone who is supposed to use stealth, he's one hell of a fighting machine.
• Pride: The flaw that led to his initial disgrace in the first game. He never fully got over it, believing that he was capable of ending all of the world's strife in his lifetime. One of his greatest regrets in his waning years was that he could not find the humility to give up the fight and do something else with his life.
• Redemption Quest: Most of the first game's story is this for him.
• Shut UP, Hannibal: His response to those targets who try to justify their evil, or if they pull the Not So Different card on him.
• Sympathy for the Devil: When he hears the motive of his targets from their mouths, he begins to question if they're as evil as Al Mualim claims they are. The only one with whom Altaïr didn't sympathize was Majd Addin, who was a complete fuckhead.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Despite his life being a chain of traumatic events, leaving him saddled with enormous responsibility, undermined by so-called allies, with few friends and too many lost loved ones, Altaïr went out on a pretty high note. He got to live the latter half of his long life with his only remaining family and eldest son, watch said son grow into an old man with a loving family of his own. Moments before he breathes his last, he has a touching farewell with his son, who thanks Altaïr for everything.
• Trauma Conga Line: In Revelations.
• Warrior Poet: Most noticeably in his Assassin's Creed II Codex entries. Altaïr turned out to be an incredibly progressive philosopher for his time, and could even draw and design weapons, as well.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Never gets very much by way of happiness. Much more evident later in life.

Al Mualim (Real Name: Rashid ad-Din Sinan)

"I abide my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceive that this also was a chasing at the wind. For in much wisdom, is much grief. And he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow."

The Grand Master of the Assassin Order. He gives Altaïr the mission to assassinate nine corrupt head figures of the Holy Land as a way for him to earn his redemption.

• Badass Grandpa: He might be 50–60 years old, but he still can kick ass. And remember, this is taking place during the Middle Ages. Most people didn't reached 40 during that time.
• Big Bad: Shares this role with Robert de Sable.
• Broken Pedestal: Turned out that he was a traitorous Templar who just played Altaïr and the brotherhood to kill his fellow Templars so that he wouldn't have to share his power once he conquered the Holy Lands.
• The Chessmaster
• Cool Old Guy
• A Father to His Men: To his fellow Assassins. According to Altaïr, he even had personally raised some of them. Subverted at the end.
• A God Am I
• In the Hood
• Knight Templar: Both as in personality and as a member.
• Manipulative Bastard
• Milky White Eye: If you look closely, you'll notice his right one is like this.
• Old Master
• Scars Are Forever: Has a nasty scar running through his right eye.
• The Starscream: To Robert de Sable.
• The Strategist: The leading planner of the Assassin order.
• Treacherous Advisor
• Treacherous Quest-Giver: Al Maulim reveals to Altaïr the real purpose of why he send him to kill off those Templar targets.
• Utopia Justifies the Means

Malik Al-Sayf

A member of the Assassin Order. He holds a grudge against Altaïr because his foolishness cost Malik his arm and his brother's life. Since he can't use both arms to fight any more, he's promoted to Rafiq and placed in Jerusalem, leading the Assassins operating there. In the years following Assassin's Creed, he helped Altaïr devise new assassination techniques.

• Big Damn Heroes: At the last level. His timing approach saved Altaïr's life from been taken by the brainwashed Assassins.
• Deadpan Snarker:

Altaïr: Safety and peace, Malik. Malik: Your presence deprives me of both!

• Dead Little Brother: Something that made his anger on Altaïr reach new levels. Took a while before he let it go.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Despite being one of the major characters of the first game as well as popular with the fandom, he does not appear in Revelations, and is executed by Abbas, off-screen, between the second and third seal memories, though details on the latter can be found in The Secret Crusade.
• Envy: He admits this is partly the reason he hated Altaïr.
• Handicapped Badass: He might be one-armed, but he can still put up a fight.
• The Lancer
• No One Could Survive That: What the others thought about Malik's fate. He did survive, but at a great cost.

Abbas Sofian

A member of the Assassin Order. He holds a grudge against Altaïr for believing that he lied about the truth behind his father's exile. He appears briefly in the first game, but plays a much larger role in Assassin's Creed: Revelations

• Bad Boss

Altaïr: You corrupted everything we stand for, and lost everything we gained. All of it, sacrificed on the altar of your own spite.

• Disproportionate Retribution: Believed Altaïr lied about his father committing suicide, which was actually true. His response? Take away Altaïr's position as Grand Master by having his son Sef killed and then imprisoning Malik. Then years later, ordering Malik's execution.
• Evil Former Friend: They trained together in their childhood and became friends until Altaïr told him the truth about his father's exile.
• It's Personal: Ordering the execution of Sef lead to the former developing a burning hatred for Abbas.
• Manipulative Bastard
• One-Shot Character: In Assassin's Creed, he only appears when Altaïr returns from Solomon Temple to criticize him. He is never seen again until Revelations where he plays a much larger role.
• The Starscream

Crusaders

Richard I Lionheart of England

"We enter this world kicking and screaming, violent and unstable. From birth, that permanent peace is impossible, though we all wish it."

King of England and leader of the Crusaders. He wants to "free" the Holy Lands from Saladin.

• Enemy Mine: After Altaïr killed several of his lieutenants, he considered Robert's advice on allying with Saladin against the Assassins, their common enemy.
• One-Scene Wonder: He only appears twice in the game, and the last one is quite powerful.
• Real Men Love Jesus
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He turns out to be this. When Altaïr finally met him, he listened to Altaïr's claims of Robert's treason instead of just executing Altaïr, and then listened on Robert's denial. Unsure who to believe in, he let them fight a duel so that God would reveal the one who was telling the truth. After Altaïr won, he actually congratulated him and had a talk about the nature of war and peace. Even before the duel, he was considering an alliance with Saladin against the Assassins.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something

Robert de Sable

Grand Master of the Templar Order, and the Big Bad of the first game. His goal is to take over the world by using the Piece of Eden.

• Arch Enemy: To Al Mualim and Altaïr.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: He's undoubtedly the most powerful fighter of all the characters. Expect the first minutes of the boss fight against him to be a total Curb Stomp Battle on his end.
• Bald of Evil
• Batman Gambit: Pulled two of these. Expecting Altaïr to try to kill him, he made Majd Addin's funeral into a trap, placed the best soldiers and a female decoy dressed as him, and hoped they would distract and kill Altaïr while he himself would be at Arsuf, trying to form an alliance of the Crusaders and Saracens against the Assassins by using Altaïr's successes to convince the leaders of both factions.
• Big Bad
• French Jerk
• Knight Templar: Literally.
• Large and In Charge: Robert is almost a head taller than anyone else in the game. This is most apparently when you go toe-to-toe with him near the end of the game.
• Running Both Sides: Both the Crusader and Saracen armies, right under King Richard's and Saladin's noses.
• Scars Are Forever: As a cut scar on his bald head.
• The Starscream: To Richard the Lion Heart. To Robert, the King is just a zealous fool who is responsible for the war and all its horrors, and so he plans to betray him just so that he can take over the Holy Lands and put a end to the war.
• Treacherous Advisor: To Richard the Lion Heart
• Utopia Justifies the Means
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: All the horrors he orders the Templars to commit are for the goal of world peace (or so he believes).
• World Domination

Garnier de Naplouse

"Do you appease a crying child simply because he wails? 'But I want to play with fire, father.' What would you say? 'As you wish'? Ah... but then you'd answer for his burns."

Grand Master of The Knights Hospitallers . He performs medicinal experiments on his "patients" in his hospital within the poor district of Acre.

• Affably Evil: Talks to his "patients" with a calm and kind voice, just as a grandpa talking to his grandchildren, whether they insult or thank him. Even when dying he prefers to have a soft conversation with Altaïr rather than insulting or yelling at him.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Applies to all of the Nine if you go up against them in a straight fight, but Garnier in particular stands out as he looks like he's pushing 70.
• Badass Grandpa
• Face Death with Dignity
• French Jerk
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Garnier de Naplouse was a brave knight and a great leader who had helped King Richard several times through the Crusade. The fictional Garnier is a Mad Scientist who performs sick experiments on the poor and the sick.
• Kick the Dog: Orders two Hospitaliers to break the legs of a escaping "patient" to make sure he can't run away a second time.
• Knight Templar: Literally.
• Mad Scientist
• Utopia Justifies the Means
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: According to him, he's not committing sick, twisted experiments on helpless people, he's just freeing them from "the prisons of their minds".

Sibrand

Grand Master of The Teutonic Knights. The deaths of his fellow Crusaders turned him into a paranoid wreck, attacking everything that even looked like an Assassin.

• The Archer
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Cool Helmet: Wears one kickass helmet.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: When he found out the truth about the afterlife through the help of Piece of Eden, his mind snapped from the revelation, and he became extremely fearful of death.
  • The truth is debatable since so much of Assassins Creed is about mistakes and lies.
• Kick the Dog: Executes a scholar on the open street because he thought he was an Assassin. He later spends his last minutes shooting birds.
• Knight Templar: Literally.
• Nietzsche Wannabe: The Reveal about the afterlife by the Piece of Eden has turned him into this. This makes him even more afraid of death.
• Properly Paranoid: His paranoia might be over-the-top, but it's caused by his fear of the Assassins, who can appear from nowhere, kill him, and then disappear like ghosts. And with The Reveal of the afterlife on his mind, it's perfectly reasonable that he's scared shitless of everything white and hoody.
  • It should be noted the afterlife business isn't necessarily tied to it. He's an atheist because of the Apple but not necessarily because the apple has anything to say about God or religion, just that it isn't from Eden.
• Utopia Justifies the Means
• Well-Intentioned Extremist
• Villainous Breakdown: Damn! Just Damn! In the first scene he appears, he screams accusations and then kills a scholar, just because he wore clothes similar to those of the Assassins—which was part of the point of the Assassins wearing the iconic robes. When Altaïr was busy climbing up the ship Sibrand's in, he was busy shooting birds and screaming at his guards for not shooting them as well.
  • He thinks the birds are going to attack him.

"Fine! If you will not lift a hand in defense of your master, I will take care of this heathen myself!"

William of Montferrat

Lord of Acre under King Richard, he rules Acre with a iron fist. He forces the starving people to leave their food for his troops, and then forces his troops to spend hours of merciless training for the preparation of "The New World".

• The Caligula
• Face Death with Dignity
• Historical Villain Upgrade: The real life William of Montferrat was a Benevolent Boss with A Father to His Men attitude and a loyal servant to King Richard. The fictional William of Montferrat is none of them.
  • Were it not for Assassin's Creed he may have very well been lost to obscurity, as originally the developers had chosen his son Conrad, who historically was killed by two Hashashin. When they learned that Conrad had not been killed that year but that William had been in Acre as of 1191 (and died around that time), they switched to William as the target.
• Kick the Dog: Executes two of his soldiers because they were caught drinking on duty.
• Knight Templar: Literally.
• Mean Brit/Evil Brit: YMMV on the evil part but he's still a mean SOB.
• The Neidermeyer
• The Starscream: To King Richard.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He actually believes he helps the people of Acre without realizing he makes their lives harder. He takes the people's food because it could be rationed properly in the future when "The New Order" comes, not knowing he just starves them to death.
• Utopia Justifies the Means

Maria Thorpe

Robert de Sable's personal steward, Maria flouted the gender norms of her time and ran away to fight in the Crusades, seeking honor and glory.

• Action Girl
• Arranged Marriage: Word of God says her parents forced her into one, which is what eventually led her to leave England.
• Ascended Extra: While she only appears briefly toward the end of the first game, she is featured in the PSP game Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and then goes on to appear in a major scene in Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
• Battle Butler: To Robert de Sable.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight
• Heel Face Turn: By the end of Bloodlines, she's well on her way to allying with the Assassins.
• Honor Before Reason: Said to not agree with Robert's beliefs, but she follows him anyway out of respect.
• Humiliation Conga: The Templars put her through one in Bloodlines, eventually leading to her Heel Face Turn.
• Knight Templar: Literally.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: She does at least have a helmet on, but really, Altaïr? The breasts and distinctly female voice weren't a giveaway?
• Smug Snake: She has shades of this.

"I sense you expected someone else!"

• The Smurfette Principle: The only female who appears in Altaïr's memories..
• The Snark Knight
• Sweet Polly Oliver: She ran away, disguised herself as a man, and enlisted in the Crusades. When she does show up in the game, she's disguised as Robert himself.

The Saracens

Saladin

Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and leader of the Saracen forces during the Third Crusade.

• The Ghost: He never makes an appearance, only mentioned several times through the first game.

Majd Addin

Regent lord of Jerusalem, ruling in Saladin's absence. A power hungry tyrant, he holds mock trials in order to execute those who he claims to be "enemies of the state", but in reality they're just there to satisfy his bloodthirst.

• Ask a Stupid Question: As mentioned on the main page, he asks Altaïr is he knows what it's like to hold a man's life in his hands, seeming unaware of his profession or even the situation he himself is now in.
• Authority Equals Asskicking
• Beard of Evil
• The Caligula
• For the Evulz:

"I killed them because I could. Because it was fun! Do you know what it feels like to determine another man's fate? And did you see the way the people cheered? The way they feared me? I was like a god!"

• A God Am I
• Knight Templar: Subverted. He's an actual member of The Knights Templar, but he doesn't have the same goals. A better world means nothing to him, only the rush of power and the kill.
• Psycho for Hire
• Screw the Rules, I Make Them
• Token Evil Teammate: While none of the Templars are angels, Majd Addin is the one who is a evil psychopath instead of a misguided idealist.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Averted. Utopia is the last thing he cares about.
• Villain with Good Publicity

Abu'l Nuqoud

One of the richest noblemen in Damascus, he throws endless parties with the money of the people, leaving them poor and starving.

• Ambiguously Gay: It's important to note that this is not simply a stock villainous trait he's given. It's rather integral to his character and one of the reasons he wants to bring about the New World. It's hard not to feel sympathy for him when he talks about how could he support a religion than called him a "monster."
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Ironic, since this trope is the reason why he hates the other noblemen.
• Face Death with Dignity
• Fast Fat: For an overweight aristocrat, he can put up a hell of a chase. That's why it's important for the player to take him out in a quick surprise attack, or you'll chase him through the city and pretty soon you'll have the half of the city guard after you.
• Fat Bastard
• Kick the Dog: Poisons the wine and then orders archers to kill every guest who came to his party.
• Knight Templar: Literally.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivers one to his party guests. During the party, he starts with a typical "welcome speech" before going this round. With it, he accuses the guests for their arrogance, their greed, their hatred for the Crusaders, their lack of love, compassion and mercy and their support to Saladin, which he claims are the reasons why the war still is ongoing.
• Man of Wealth and Taste
• Nice Hat: Nice turban, actually.
• Not So Different: Tried to pull this card on Altaïr, but it obviously didn't work.
• Wicked Cultured
• Well-Intentioned Extremist
• Villainous Glutton
• Utopia Justifies the Means

Talal

Talal is a slave driver, operating in Jerusalem. He sends his men to kidnap random people from the streets and then delivers the prisoners to Acre, where Garnier De Naplouse then takes care of them.

• Affably Evil: He tries to be polite when he tells about his motives to Altaïr. Even when he orders his men to kill Altaïr, he apologize to him first and mutters to himself why it always have to be violent outcomes of things.
• The Archer
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Subverted. He runs while his men fights.
• Face Death with Dignity
• Fragile Speedster: He's a extremely fast runner and difficult to keep pace with, but as soon you do catch him, he'll fall with just one stab in the neck.
  • Like everybody.
• Informed Ability: Through the mission, you hear several times about how good Talal is with his bow but when you finally get to meet him, you don't see him take advantage of his skills, even when he has the chance to put an arrow through Altaïr's head. Instead he runs away while letting his henchmen do the shooting.
• Knight Templar: Literally, But as far as he goes, all he wants is to help the cities diseased and insane.
• Nietzsche Wannabe: The Piece of Eden's reveal of the afterlife killed his belief in God, but yet he took it much better than his fellow Templar, Sibrand. Subverted that despite having no faith in God, he tries to help people instead of destroying everything, but in his twisted ways.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He thinks he's freeing the people he kidnaps from the harsh life of the streets, not knowing that kidnapping people against their own will is not good.
  • It's possible that based on his knowledge of where the kidnapped are going he may not have know 'exactly' what Garnier was doing with them
• Utopia Justifies the Means: A shared belief with the other Templars.

Tamir

Tamir is a merchant who runs a large black market in Damascus, selling weapons to an unknown client (Later turned out to be Robert de Sable). He's Altaïr's first assassination target.

• Arms Dealer
• Bad Boss
• Berserk Button: One of his subordinates tells him that perhaps he "asks too much" when he berates the man for being unable to fill a weapons order. Tamir's response is to stab the man to death with a knife, cutting him dozens of times in a berserk fury.
• Kick the Dog: See above.
• Knight Templar: literally
• Lean and Mean
• Well-Intentioned Extremist
• Utopia Justifies the Means

Jubair al Hakim

Jubair al Hakim is the head of The Illuminated and the Chief Scholar of Damascus. Despite that, he hates any book that exist, believing them to be the sources of all evil in the world and so he and his men try to burn every book that exist in the city.

• Book-Burning: Oh yeah.
• Culture Police: An extremely lethal one.
• Evil Mentor: Not that he's completely evil, but familiar to the members of the Illuminated.
• Face Death with Dignity
• Kick the Dog: When one of the scholars objects to Jubair's book burning in his introductory cutscene, Jubair pushes him into the pile of burning books, telling him that if he loves his books so much, he can join them.
• Knight Templar: literally
• Lean and Mean
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He thinks that books hinder the people's individualism and that they just make them believe in false things without questioning them. He also believes that holy books such as The Bible and the Quran are the reasons why the world is filled with war and hate. That's why he does everything in his power to burn those books so that they won't "infect people's minds."
• Utopia Justifies the Means