Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Ezio Auditore da Firenze is to be the protagonist of Assassin's Creed II. He is an ancestor of Desmond and a descendant of Altaïr.

Assassin's Creed: Lineage
Ezio is a young nobleman, son of Giovanni Auditore, an Assassin. Though he is not aware of his father's true profession.

He has slight skills at playing chess, and he is "learning fast" according to his mother (though he lost against his older brother, Federico).

Assassin's Creed 2
Ezio Auditore Da Firenze's story begins moments after he exits the womb of his mother, Maria Auditore. Giovanni Audiotre, Ezio's father enters and he is overjoyed by the fact of his newborn son. Years later, around the time of Ezio's late teen years he gets into a scruff with the son of a prominent family, Pazzi, who insults his parents. Reprimanded gently by his elder brother, Frederico and his father, Ezio becomes more involved with his family's affairs. His father, Giovanni, and another man, Uberto Alberti are discussing secret matters that Ezio can't make sense of, but seem urgent. Eventually, guards raid the Giovanni home and arrest Ezio's father, elder and younger brothers, Petruccio. Ezio delivers evidence that can prove his family's innocence to Uberto, who promises to defend them at the hearing. But it turns out Bernaldi is a traitor who destroyed the evidence and sentenced the three Firenze men to death. Swearing vengeance, Ezio has to hide his mother and sister and learn the ways of the assassin. He is first taught stealth by Paola of the Courtesans, and later combat, by his uncle Mario, of the Mercenary faction.After assassinating Uberto, apparently a city official in charge of the law, Ezio has to balance his life between assassinations and protecting his sister and mother, who refuses to speak after Ezio's father and brothers were taken. Now wanted in Florence, Ezio has to flee Firenze to Tuscany with his family to the Auditore villa. He meets up with Uncle Mario, whose mercenaries save his family from an attack by Pazzi.

Background
Ezio is a young Florentine nobleman who lives in Florence during the 15th century. Unlike Altaïr, he is a seducer, and he easily blends with any social classes. He has an affluent lifestyle and many friends until a life-changing event. He and his family are betrayed, victims of a conspiracy that takes his father's, elder brother's, and younger brother's lives.

From that day, Ezio is considered as a criminal and a traitor, and has to protect his mother and his sister. He becomes an assassin to accomplish his vengeance against the ones responsible for the tragedy that befell him and his family (it is likely that those men are Templars(see the last shot of Lineage Part II - The swords are lain down in the shape of the Templar symbol). Ezio is helped not only by his uncle Mario, but also Leonardo da Vinci who becomes his best friend and his personal engineer, as well as Niccolò Machiavelli and other famous Renaissance figures.

Ezio will travel across Italy to various locations like Venice, Tuscany and Rome. We will live a large period of Ezio's life through the game, from his youth to when he becomes an old Master Assassin. In Assassin's Creed II, we will be playing approximately 27 years of his life from 1476 to 1503.

Equipment
It has been announced that Ezio will be able to use a variety of weapons including two hidden blades, allowing him to eliminate two enemies simultaneously. He can also steal (and use) several enemy weapons such as axes, hammers, maces, spears, halberds and two different sword types (one- and two-handed). Ezio will be able to use Da Vinci's flying machine in some parts of the game, gaining altitude from fires set throughout the city by his allies. Ezio will gain many upgrades from Da Vinci on his wrist gauntlet like a small pistol of some sort (most likely an early wheel lock firearm) concealed near his left hidden blade, or a poison needle. Ezio is said to possess the ability to use Eagle Vision while moving. He can visit Blacksmiths to purchase weapons and armors including Helmschmeid and Metal Plate, or tailors to customize the colors of his clothing.

Trivia

 * The Italian name 'Ezio' derives from the Greek word 'Aetos', which means "Eagle", similar to Altaïr whose name means "The Flying One".
 * Unlike Altaïr (who had his ring finger removed to make way for the Hidden Blade), Ezio has all ten fingers (as evidenced by the fact he wears a ring -either a signet or wedding ring- marked with the Assassin's symbol). This was not, as is widely believed, made possible by a modification by Leonardo Da Vinci, as Giovanni da Firenze (Ezio's father) has all of his fingers as well. It is likely the change was made at some point between Altaïr's time and Ezio's. This seems odd, as the sacrifice of the finger was originally intended to 'ensure the commitment of whoever wields [the blade]'. However it is possible that as the Assassin brotherhood became more secretive, the missing finger became too obvious as a signal of involvement and was phased out.
 * It is stated in thePhilosophical Codex that after Altaïr defeated Al-Mualim at the end of Assassin's Creed 1 and became the leader, that the Assassins were forced to realize the scope of their fight against the Templars, and would have to abandon many of their traditions, like the removal of the ring finger, or the ban on using posion, in order to survive.
 * Ezio uses a wheel lock firearm, a type of weapon that Europe didn't start developing until the very late 1400's and early 1500's, making this weapon most likely one of the very first of its type to appear in Europe, thus many people may not know what the weapon is in game. The earliest firearms were single shot and took time to reload, so will most likely be only used as a last resort weapon. Also note that Da Vinci created some of the first modern wheel lock pistols, so this could be a shortened version of one.
 * Ezio's face in Assassin's Creed II seems to be a mixture of Desmond's (Francisco Randez) and Devon Bostick's from Lineage.