Gaspar de la Croix

"Gaspar de la Croix. Engineer. Marksman. Recluse. He frightens me, but his technical skills are unprecedented."

- Fiora Cavazza.

Gaspar de la Croix (1466 - 1503) was a master engineer, marksman and a member of the Templar Order. He was frequently hired by Cesare Borgia to take down easy targets on the field at the start of a battle, as well as to create the mechanisms for various complicated weaponry.

His genetic memories were later used as an Animi Avatar by the Templar company Abstergo Industries, for the training of their Animus recruits, under the title of the Engineer.

Working for the Borgia
In 1503, Fiora Cavazza visited Gaspar on Cesare's request to pick up several parts and equipment that the engineer had repaired. At his workshop, she discovered him singing a remorseful song in French and hesitated to interrupt him.

Throughout her stay, Fiora saw Gaspar as distant and haunted, particularly after he began asking her uncomfortable questions, such as whether she had witnessed death, and if death was driven by fate, chance, or choice.

Finally, as she departed, Gaspar refused to accept the payment for his services and was left tinkering with a firearm, which he thoughtfully aimed out of his front window at the passing crowd, prompting Fiora to reconsider passing by it any time she visited him again.

Death
"I don't scare easily!"

- Gaspar as he is chased by Ezio Auditore.



Later that same year in Rome, Gaspar fought to suppress a group of citizens attempting to form a resistance against the Borgia. Wielding his arquebus skillfully, he was able to kill many of the protesters from a distance. However, when the uprising had dwindled to the last man, the Assassin Ezio Auditore chanced upon the scene and joined the fray.

As Gaspar shot the final insurgent, Ezio charged at the engineer, who chose to flee. However, Gaspar reached a dead end and tried to fight back, though he was fatally stabbed by the Assassin's Hidden Blade.

Trivia

 * "De la Croix" is of French origin and means "of the cross," likely in reference to his affiliation with the Templars.
 * Gaspar is one of the few targets that you cannot kill unnoticed.
 * After the assassination, Ezio closes Gaspar's eyes in the same way as he always does with those he gives last rites to, even though Gaspar is wearing glasses over them.