Hidden Blade

The iconic weapon of the Assassin's Creed series, Hidden Blades are used both for regular combat and for stealth Assassinations.

Assassin's Creed
Although Altaïr already has this weapon at the start of the game, he loses it when he is demoted to Novice. At his first promotion to rank 2, however, he earns it back (along with his Longsword) so that he may perform his first assassination on Tamir the Merchant in Damascus.

Usage
This weapon is mostly used for stealthy, low-profile assassinations upon soldiers. An unaware soldier may be assassinated without drawing too much attention. When stealth is not a priority, Altaïr may perform a high profile assassination. This involves jumping upon an opponent and causing his victim to fall on the ground, then the blade is triggered, stabbing the opponent in the throat, or jabbing the blade into the target's nose, and on into the brain, when right in front of you, between other examples.

Both low and high profile assassinations may fail. A guard wary of your actions may catch your arms when you attempt the kill and throw you back. Attacks from behind though will NEVER fail. Counter-maneuvers using the blade are possible in active combat.

Be aware, of course, that you will lose a lot of synchronization if you assassinate innocent civilians with the hidden blade, just as with any other weapon.

In combat
The hidden blade can also be used while in combat. It can be easily used on weak enemies, just pushing him to the ground and then moving in for the kill while he lays on the ground.

Use in combat against stronger enemies or larger groups is more challenging, as it is only possible for Altaïr to counter the enemy he is facing and he cannot block any attack. The time frame in which Altaïr can counter-attack is extremely small compared to the longsword and short blade, but successfully countering enables one of several different - always lethal - counter-attacks in which Altaïr stabs his opponent in the chest, head, abdomen, under the chin, or spine. Mastering the use of a hidden blade in combat against large and powerful groups of enemies is an art. It is actually possible to assassinate the enemy in combat, while he is caught in a moment of inattention, or grappling with a vigilante, but any other time, it will fail because the enemy will always block the attack.

Mechanism
When not in use, the blade is hidden in a gauntlet on Altaïr's lower left arm. A ring on his little finger serves as the trigger for the gear system to eject the blade. As the system is not powerful enough to penetrate enemies, Altaïr extends the blade fully and then stabs it into his foe.

When the blade is open, it rests between Altaïr's middle and little fingers, in the space left by his amputated ring finger. This amputation is part of the initiation into the Hashshashin sect, which the Assassins are based on. When he is ready to put up the blade, he flicks his wrist and the blade returns to the gauntlet.

Assassination missions
The Hidden Blade is also used for one of the investigations given to you by informants. You are asked to stealthily assassinate a number of targets. If any guard even once confronts you, the mission is failed. If you attack the targets or the guards with fists, the short blade, the longsword, or any other high profile weapon, you will fail the mission. Because of this, you may ONLY use the throwing knives or the Hidden Blade to assassinate your targets.

Interrogation missions
During Interrogation missions, after successfully interrogating the target, Altaïr is forced to kill them, so they can not reveal his plans to the enemy. He will bury the blade in their stomach to kill them, then gently lower their body onto the ground so as not to draw further attention to himself. Occasionally, other assassinations performed with the Hidden Blade play out in the same manner.

Save Citizen missions
In the optional Save Citizen missions to save citizens from soldiers threatening to kill them, this weapon will come in handy. Successfully and stealthily used, you might take out three of the soldiers before they notice you, draw their weapons, and engage you in a swordfight. If they notice your tactic, however, you'd best be prepared and draw either your short blade or sword for a swordfight.

Assassinations
The hidden blade is used in every storyline assassination you perform. Even if you begin by attacking the enemy with a sword, you will always finish them off with the hidden blade before it cuts to the death cutscene.

Assassin's Creed II
"The blade is designed to ensure the commitment of whomever wields it."

- Leonardo da Vinci

In Assassin's Creed II, Ezio possesses two of these blades, whereas Altair has only one. In addition, unlike Altaïr, who had to sacrifice his ring finger, both Ezio's ring fingers are intact, due to a modification that raises the base of the weapon itself. It is worth noting that the modification was not made by Leonardo da Vinci as when Giovanni is using the blade in Assassin's Creed: Lineage he has all his fingers intact but was instead a modification made by Altair to help the assassins go underground as the absent ring finger distinguished assassins from other civillians.

Ezio's blade is the one inherited from his father. The blade is initally broken since the last fight of Giovanni against Borgia's men (see Assassin's Creed: Lineage), but Ezio brought it to his friend Leonardo da Vinci to repair it.

At the end of the game, Desmond recieves from Lucy a similar (if not the same) model of the Hidden Blade used by Ezio to face the attacking Abstergo's men. However, unlike Ezio's, the Hidden Blade has no upgrades.

In combat


In Assassin's Creed II, the use of the hidden blade in combat is more "classical": it can be used like a bladed weapon, and is capable of breaking an enemy's defenses instead of just trying to assassinate him. It attacks fairly fast, becoming faster after the acquirement of the second blade, allowing Ezio to unleash a constant barrage of strikes, suppressing a foe's ability to attack or killing them before they can attack. It is also possible to block attacks while using the Hidden Blade unlike the first game (not with the Blade itself though, but with the upgraded bracers).

Veterans of Assassin's Creed combat may want to challenge themselves by using the Hidden Blade(s) in combat. While the counter-kill timing window is very short (fraction of a second), skillful timing will be rewarded nicely; except for against the Brutes' smashes which knock Ezio's weapon away (which does not work against Hidden Blades) and Seekers' (sweep Ezio's feet) special attacks, a successfully timed counter will always kill the guard against which it is performed, even if they have high health and/or are a high-ranking soldier.

Upgrades
The second Hidden Blade is acquired later and the main blade gets upgraded with the Poison Blade and the Pistol installed.

Techniques
Later on, Ezio can assassinate enemies below with an Air Assassination, a Double Air Assassination if the target is adjacent to another, by leaping from the platform onto the victim. This, however, is easily noticeable by Guards and will attack once they see you doing it.

At the same time Ezio learns the aforementioned technique, he can also assassinate enemies above certain ledges while he's climbing them and is now able to assassinate them as well when he is in a hiding spot (e.g. Hay, Wells and Benches)

Ezio can also perform special kill animations with the dual hidden blades.

Trivia

 * On one of the Codex Pages it states that the blade has to be connected or linked with the user, thus explaining part of why Altaïr had his ring finger removed. Altaïr opens his hand and spreads his fingers whenever the blade is extended. Similarly, he never uses the blade with his hand clenched in a fist; all stabbing moves and assassinations are performed with an open hand. The only time the blade sits in the space left by the amputated finger is when the player extends the blade and holds it out (by holding the weapon hand button while out of combat). Holding the button will keep the blade extended, and will act as any unsheathed weapon, scaring away civilians.
 * Ironically in both games the trigger mechanism is not visible on Altair's or Ezio's hands, even when they aren't wearing gloves it is not there.
 * Masyaf Guards in Assassin's Creed do sport a hidden blade, though they never use it, nor is their ring finger missing.
 * Malik, from the first game, had the hidden blade before he lost his arm but did not have an amputated finger.
 * The first recorded usage of the Hidden Blade by an Assassin was Darius, when he assassinated Xerxes. Moreover, his seal's symbol is the Hidden Blade. However, his ring finger is still intact.
 * Patrice Desilets, the creative director of the game stated that the addition of a second blade in Assassin's Creed II also had a lucid reason: it's the sequel, it's Assassin's Creed II so there are 2 blades.
 * In the film Smokin' Aces, one of the assassins sport a weapon similar to the hidden blade.