Mario Auditore

"Don't you recognize me? It's a-me, Mario!"

- Mario meeting Ezio.

Mario Auditore (1434 - 1500) was an Italian condottiero and the ruler of Monteriggioni since 1454. He was also a notable member of the Assassin Order.

Early life
Mario was most likely born in Monteriggioni, Tuscany, alongside his younger brother Giovanni. Mario came from a bloodline of notable Assassins and thus also became one, starting his training at a young age.

As a young man, Mario played an important role in the Battle of Anghiari, where he alerted the condottiero Micheletto Attendolo to dust clouds over the road, signaling a surprise advance on the Florentines by the Milanese troops. The attack was stopped, and the Florentines won the battle. However, after this battle, most of his time was spent defending his home town of Monteriggioni and the Tuscan countryside from persistent Florentine troops determined to seize it.

Defense of Monteriggioni
In 1454, Mario's younger brother Giovanni decided to move to Florence to pursue a career in banking. Mario remained at the Auditore family villa in Monteriggioni, and the two exchanged letters to keep in touch. In one of these letters, Mario defended his decision to stay in Monteriggioni by writing that he "preferred fighting like a man, to filling out balance sheets." It is insinuated that he rarely saw the family after that.

Under Mario's rule, Monteriggioni temporarily had a time of prosperity. Mario opened several shops and guilds in the city and greatly increased the city's defenses, in order to withstand Florentine attacks. He discovered a Florentine informant living in Monteriggioni, Luciano Pezzati, and faced his men with some of his own. He dueled Luciano, barely defeating him, and had him dragged to the Villa Auditore. From Luciano, he found out that Florence was sending the condottiero Federico da Montefeltro to lead an attack on Monteriggioni. Due to Mario's leadership, the city was successfully defended and the attack was a failure.

Eventually, Luciano Pezatti confessed the truth behind the siege, that the Florentines attacked in search of a mysterious artifact in Monteriggioni. Mario, curious as to what this might be, gathered his architects and historians, eventually discovering that the city well was once drained and excavated. Together with a miner and some of his men, he set foot inside the well. While at first they did not find anything, Mario saw that the miner's flame was flickering while near the back wall, indicating the presence of wind. Together, they pushed against the wall and found a hidden corridor, filled with various deadly traps. Members of their group were caught up in the traps, and even Mario himself caught a swinging pendulum trap, blinding him in his left eye and causing the scar on his face.

At last, they found a wooden box within the well, from which a presence told Mario's men that their "pain was temporary" and to "Ignore it." Mario's men were certain the presence would heal their wounds, but Mario thought that as the box had been hidden for so long, there had to be a reason why it was there, and that opening it would be unwise. Mario's men rebelled, eager to uncover the presence, and he was forced to strike them down. Mario was curious as to what the box might contain, but he promised himself not to open it. He carried it to the Villa Auditore, while not giving in to the Shroud's attempts to heal him. He had his brother pick it up, making it "the Brotherhood's problem."

Training Ezio
In 1476, Giovanni and two of his sons, Federico and Petruccio, were executed for being accused of treason, while secretly being executed by the Templars, the arch-enemies of the Assassins. In order to get to safety, Giovanni's remaining son Ezio escorted his mother Maria and sister Claudia out of Florence and towards Monteriggioni.

When the three almost reached Monteriggioni, they were ambushed by Vieri de' Pazzi and his soldiers. Mario and his mercenaries saved the trio and he insisted that they accompanied him back to Monteriggioni. Mario told Ezio of his Assassin heritage and that he had to be trained so that he could properly fight and defeat the Templars and protect his mother and sister. He then showed Ezio the inside of his villa and the Sanctuary hidden at the back of a bookcase and explained the purpose of the Codex. He soon started Ezio's training to become an Assassin and was also shown to be extremely proud of his Assassin heritage after he stormed off when Ezio announced his decision to take Maria and Claudia to Spain, against Mario's wishes.

Feeling guilty, Ezio rethought his decision and followed Mario to San Gimignano to kill Vieri de' Pazzi. When Ezio killed Vieri and began to abuse the body, Mario stepped in and urged him to have respect for the dead. "You are not Vieri," he said to Ezio, "do not become him." Then, addressing Vieri's body, he delivered a short monologue before uttering the words "requiescat in pace (rest in peace)," a term that Ezio adopted for further assassinations.

Acquisition of the Apple of Eden
In 1488, Mario and some of the other Assassins met with each other in Venice to acquire the "Apple" from the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Rodrigo Borgia, knowing that it was to be delivered to him that day. When they arrived at Rodrigo's location, they found Ezio fighting Rodrigo and joined his side. After defeating Rodrigo's guards and almost killing Rodrigo. The latter ran for his life and left the Apple behind. The group, along with Mario, revealed themselves to be Assassins, which was unbeknownst to Ezio when he first met them.

After securing the Piece of Eden, Mario studied it alongside Niccolò Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Ezio. When the Apple was activated, Mario and Machiavelli were both affected and collapsed, holding their heads. Ezio and Leonardo, however, remained unaffected. Mario recognized its great power and told Ezio to protect it by taking it to the Rocca di Ravaldino in Forlì, as that citadel was protected by their ally Caterina Sforza. Mario then invited Leonardo to the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni.

After seeing Ezio place his fiftieth feather in the chest in Maria's room, Mario entered and attempted to stop Ezio from continuing on what Mario considered to be a vain effort and left after informing him that he left a new weapon at the blacksmith for Ezio to use.

In 1499, Mario, Ezio and the other Assassins who Ezio previously met gathered in the Villa Auditore to find out the prophecy in the Codex. They found out that the Codex pages showed a map of all the locations of 'Vaults' in the world. Ezio concluded that the nearest vault was in the Vatican and that Rodrigo Borgia became pope so that he could have access to the Vault and the Staff of Eden, which was in fact the papal staff. Ezio left for Rome to assassinate Rodrigo and enter the Vault, killing several of his men along the Passetto di Borgo. Ezio eventually spared Rodrigo, but recovered the Staff of Eden from him and discovered the Vault.

Later life
After Ezio discovered the Vault, he met with Mario and the two fought their through the Vatican, and reached Timber river where Mario encouraged Ezio to drop the Apple in, but Ezio could not do it, so Mario decided he would take care of it until Ezio made his decision. After the escaped from Rome they returned to Monteriggioni. Shortly after they returned, Monteriggioni was besieged by the Borgia, under the command of Cesare Borgia. Mario quickly met Ezio, saying that he would keep the Apple safe with him and that Ezio had to stop the enemy's cannons. However, Mario became wounded and was captured by Cesare. Mario, who walked back to the city, collapsed at the city gate, followed by Cesare Borgia and his lieutenants. Cesare, holding the Apple in his hand, shot Mario dead as an 'invitation' from his family to Ezio's to go to Rome.

Personality and characteristics
Mario dressed in the flamboyant style of the Italian nobility of the Renaissance, sported long, dark hair that he slicked back neatly and had a scar over his left eye, which he was also blind in. This is an injury he sustained when he was exploring underneath the Villa Auditore, and found the Shroud. He was a boisterous man and made no apologies for his passion for fighting and alcohol. He cared deeply for his family and was extremely proud of his Assassin heritage. From his letter to Giovanni and their differences in fighting styles, it can be assumed that he was often playfully critical of his brother, much like his nephew Federico was with Ezio.

The logo of the Assassins was embroidered/stitched onto the leather of Mario's left shoulder pad. The Auditore coat of arms was also stitched onto the cape he wore.

Upon close inspection, one notes that Mario often put his hand on the shoulder of the person he was speaking to, presumably as a sign of closeness or affection.

Trivia

 * When he first introduced himself, he exclaimed to Ezio that "It's a-me, Mario!". This being a popular phrase of Mario's from the Super Mario Bros. game series.
 * He was often referred to as ubriacone ("drunkard" in Italian) by the Pazzi.
 * Although Mario lived in the villa, you only get to see him during his scripted missions or when you place your 50th feather in Maria's box.
 * During Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Mario had greying hair, indicating he has aged significantly.