Civilian

Civilians are the common people in the Assassin's Creed series, found abundantly throughout the game worlds.

Assassin's Creed
Peasants are the general denizens of the cities (and the Kingdom) of the Holy Land in Assassin's Creed. Generally, they will do nothing to hurt Altaïr, although there are some special variants of peasants that might.

Peasants are programmed to react realistically to Altaïr's actions: watching closely when he enters a fight, making comments as he free runs throughout the city, gasping when he buries any of his blades into an enemy and fleeing when the enemy dies. Peasants can also act as both a shield and a hindrance for Altaïr as he flees. If he runs into enough of them while sprinting, he will lose his balance and fall to the ground, greatly offending those he ran into. However, if he is shoving his way through a crowd, he may keep up his momentum.

If Altaïr murders a peasant, he suffers a large desynchronization due to his disregard for the first tenet of the Creed, but when you have completed the game, he will no longer desynchronize for killing them.

Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Civilians behave roughly the same way that they do in Assassin's Creed. However when killing civilians, instead of losing synchronization, the player will be warned twice and finally desynchronized if a third is killed; a double assassination will count for two kills and thus two strikes. Ezio can also blend in with all groups of civilians, as opposed to just Scholars. Ezio also has the ability to throw 10 florins on the ground, which will cause a mob of civilians to crowd around him and pick up the coins.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, aside from being by themselves, civilians are often seen on horses or in couples or groups as well, and instead of just walking about by themselves can also be seen doing group activities such as giving massages, having conversations and having romantic moments.

Civilian Types
Some civilians are different from the rest. Some may assist, be a hindrance, or an outright danger.

Beggars
Found in: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

In the three cities of Assassin's Creed, a desperate female beggar may pester Altaïr for money, claiming her family is "sick and dying" and "have nothing". They will harass Altaïr for several seconds, before giving up. If you attempt to climb a building to escape them, they will throw a rock at you. If you climb up a ladder however, they will simply walk away without throwing rocks. If you draw any of your weapons, they will run away screaming. In addition, you may throw them in another direction to frighten them. Doing so enough, will get you an Achievement. Another method is to simply punch them once, and send them running. Doing this is much the same as throwing them, but will not (usually) cause the guards to intervene. There is also no Achievement for this method.

Either way, you'll take a very minor hit of desynchronization, but considering the annoyance beggars cause, it might be worth it. Frightening them will cause them to be scared of you for quite some time.

In Assassin's Creed II, beggars will appear in some cities, but will not chase or harass Ezio for money, only leaning against a wall or standing up when Ezio is near them. If you throw money at them, they will pick it all up, thank you, and then walk away. They instead reappear in function as minstrels, who act similarly to the beggars in the first game, except that they do not demand money, but instead run in front of Ezio singing and playing chords on their instruments.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood features the calmer beggars of Assassin's Creed II, as well as the return of the harassing beggars from the original game. Both versions of beggars can be gotten rid of by throwing money at them. This time around, the harassing beggars are usually found in groups of three, all of which are women.

Carriers
Found in: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

In the three cities of Assassin's Creed, some peasants may be found walking around carrying something heavy. If you bump into them, they will drop the item and cause a big commotion. To pass by carriers without causing a commotion, they should be gently pushed aside while in Low Profile. The carriers come in two varieties: jar carriers and box carriers. Jar carriers are women carrying around a large jar on their head and box carriers are men holding a box close to their chest. If you are to knock any of these things down, nearby guards will give you a warning, and if you repeat it, they will attack.

In Assassin's Creed II, only box carriers appear. They are seen carrying boxes from shop to shop. If you bump into one, they will cause a great deal of commotion, and guards will often come and push you around. Ezio becomes one in the penultimate memory block (not including the DLCs), when he is carrying a box. He cannot use the "gentle push", and knocking over another carrier will cause nearby guards to push Ezio, making him drop the box.

It is quite possible for a box-carrier to walk into the back of Ezio while he is walking. This results in them dropping the box but still blaming Ezio. Also galloping near one causes him to drop his box, even if his definition of "near" seems to span a circular area with 20 meter diameter around him.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, box carriers once again are the only type of carrier in the game, and they act the same way as in Assassin's Creed II.

Citizens in distress (Save Citizen)
Found in: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

In Assassin's Creed, occasionally, Altaïr can find citizens that need saving within the three cities. They are often being harassed by guards for crimes they did not commit. Altaïr can kill the guards, and in doing so, unlock a group of either Scholars or Vigilantes. Women that are saved unlock a group of Vigilantes, and if you rescue a man, they will unlock a group of Scholars.

In Bloodlines, Citizens are the similar to their original counterparts, but will reward Altaïr with coins instead of unlocking a specific group.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, citizens that are being harassed by Borgia guards can be saved by Ezio. Once saved, they will give their lives to join Ezio's cause and become an Assassin apprentice.

Scholars
Found in: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

Scholars are holy men who walk slowly and silently through the three cities. Having robes similar enough to a Scholar's, Altaïr can blend in with a group of them to escape guards.

In Bloodlines, Scholars do not come in groups and appear even when you have not saved any citizen. Altaïr cannot blend with them.

In Assassin's Creed II, instead of Scholars, there are Monks. Their importance is severely diminished as Ezio can blend in with any crowd, and that they aren't very good pickpocketing targets. Instead, their closest counterpart functionally would be Courtesans, which have the added advantage of moving with Ezio instead of the other way around.

Thugs
Found in: Assassin's Creed

Thugs or Courageous Citizens are burly denizens of the three cities. They are the only peasants that will fight you, but only in a fistfight; drawing a weapon will cause them to flee. You can pickpocket Thugs for 5 throwing knives, or defeat them in a fistfight for one. Draw a weapon and kill them, however, and you will get zero knives, as well as desynchronization. Strategy-wise it is better to flee should you start a fistfight with them, as the reward for beating them is hardly worth the effort, as opposed to running away and trying again somewhere else. Thugs will not follow you to the roofs should you choose to escape.

Thugs appear in Masyaf as well, but they have a much different appearance than the other 3 cities. In Masyaf they are far less burly, and take the appearance of Assassin Informants but with darker robes. They act in the exact same way though.

While they do not appear in Assassin's Creed II or Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, it is worth noting that some civilians will fight you if you are caught pickpocketing. Unlike in Assassin's Creed, however, fist fighting civilians are very easy to defeat. In addition to the fact that Ezio is more proficient in unarmed combat than Altaïr is, fistfighting civilians will back down and flee after the first hit, even if they block it. It should also be noted that in both the Beat Up and Mail Delivery missions in Forlì, gangs of Civilians will engage Ezio in much the same way as the Thugs do in Assassins Creed, and unlike the aforementioned civilians, they will require a lot more hits to defeat.

TroubleMakers
Found in: Assassin's Creed

In the three cities, one may find madmen and drunkards. They usually are found babbling, walking through back alleys, and struggling with chronic flatulence. If you get close, they will shove you violently and generally cause a great disturbance. Because Trouble Makers create a commotion when they push you, it can cause you to become Exposed. This can sometimes cause you to fail a side mission, or break your cover as you attempt an assassination. They can also push you into water, instantly killing you.

Just like with beggars, it's suggested that you punch or shove them when you see them, as this will, oddly enough, not arouse suspicion with the guards and is a surefire way to get them off your back. You'll take a hit of synchronization (one unit's worth) but this is a small price to pay to deal with them. However, make sure that there are no Thugs nearby as this will start a fistfight with them.

In Assassin's Creed II, drunkards resemble the ones in the original game in terms of appearance, however, they do not act aggressively.

Vigilantes
Found in: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

In Assassin's Creed, Vigilantes are groups of brave, tough men unlocked after saving female citizens. If Altaïr runs past a group of Vigilantes while being chased by guards, the Vigilantes will grab the guards, delaying them greatly. Altaïr can then escape, or take the opportunity to assassinate the guards as they are held back. They are particularly helpful in assassination missions for targets who flee, such as Talal, Jubair al Hakim and Sibrand.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the vigilantes make a return, acting exactly like vigilantes from Assassin's Creed.

Minstrels
Found in: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

In any of the cities in Assassin's Creed II, as well as Rome in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, minstrels will follow Ezio on the streets, playing a song on their lute and singing about Ezio. For better or for worse, they are the beggars of Assassin's Creed II. However, they are slightly less annoying than their Assassin's Creed counterparts. For starters, they are not as desperate or whiny as the beggars of Assassin's Creed, nor will they throw rocks at him if he tries to escape. Secondly, there is a much easier and socially acceptable method to get rid of them than in the previous game: appeasing them by throwing money at them. Just like in the previous game, you can punch them or throw them to cause them to run. Unlike in the previous game, doing these sort of rash actions against them (drawing weapons, punching, etc.) does actually carry a real consequence, as it will cause a 25% increase in Notoriety.

Another method for dealing with them is to knock them over when holding the high profile button, immediately stopping them from singing and blocking your way. Although if done near guards, this may cause a slight amount of Notoriety.

Stealing from a minstrel causes him to drop his instrument.

They are also in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, but they wear different colored clothes, but they will still sing the same songs as in Assassin's Creed II.

During Ezios missions in Venice, particularyly the festival part, there lutes can sometimes be picked up and used as a club or mace. Oddly, the sound produced when killing someone with a lute will be a sword exocution sound, even thou the lutes exocution is same as a mace's.

Pickpockets

 * Main article: Pickpockets

Found in: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Pickpockets, as the name suggests, are thieves that will attempt to steal the player's money. If the pickpocket is successful in stealing the money, or if Ezio is in the pickpocket's sight, he will escape by use of free-running. Should the player be pickpocketed, the stolen money can be regained by chasing, and tackling the pickpocket. In addition to the player's money, an extra 500 florins can be gained by tackling. Also in Brotherhood, pickpockets carry one trade item that can be used for the Shop Quests. The extra money can be gained even if the player didn't have any money stolen. Pickpockets are identified with a money pouch icon on the mini-map, as well as a silver arrow which appears above them. Pickpockets are also subject to the same laws as Ezio. If one is on the rooftops, he may be shot at by an Archer, or Arquebusier. If one is killed, the dead body can be looted. Killing one has no penalties for desynchronization, but can cause an increase in notoriety.

Borgia Messengers
Found in: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Borgia Messengers behave almost exactly like pickpockets, but with some minor differences. Firstly, they won't attempt to steal from the player. Second they don't have any icon on the radar, and the only way to identify them is by a silver chevron which appears above their head. Thirdly, you can steal a sum of 1503 to 1505 florins from them. And lastly, killing one will result in a 50% notoriety increase in AC II, or a 100% increase in Brotherhood. If a Borgia messenger is located on the rooftops by guards, he will be attacked. Same as with pickpockets, the dead bodies can be looted.

Courtesans
Found in: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Courtesans are very good at distracting guards, also they can get into places covered with guards, although guards will steal 2 courtesans from you when they walk past them, a new upgrade of the courtesans in Brotherhood is that they can poison guards, hire courtesans, then walk past guards and get them to steal 2, then the courtesan will stand in front of the guard and blow a powder (poison) into the guards face. Then they will walk away, the guard will then do the same as any other guard that gets poisoned by Ezio with the poison blade.

Also when you enter a fight with guards while with courtesans, they (in Brotherhood) will flee instead of fight.

Mercenaries
Found in: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Mercenaries are very skilled fighters. You can use them to attack and kill guards; the only down side of Mercenaries is that they can't scale rooftops with Ezio unless there is a ladder to climb. Mercenaries always carry heavy weapons, i.e Axes or Claymores, meaning they can't sprint. Also, in Brotherhood they are useful for getting rid of Minstrels, as when they sing to you, a Mercenary will run over and push him away and chase him around the city telling him to keep away from Ezio. This, however, doesn't last as the next time the Minstrel appears he will continue to sing to Ezio.

Thieves
Found in: Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Thieves are a good way to lure away guards from targets to assassinate, or good ways to be rid of Guard Posts, Lock onto a Guard and press the Y Button (Xbox 360) or Triangle (PlayStation 3). In Brotherhood, Thieves are extra handy for receiving Florins without arousing Notoriety or a Fight as they will pickpocket any civilians they pass and you will receive the cash, although Thieves can Free - Run with Ezio, they are not good in a full group as if they are on a small platform or rooftop they are most likely going to fall, either from lack of space, from an archer, crossbow men or rifle men shooting at them, other thieves gentle pushing them causing to fall or losing grip while holding onto the edge of a roof.

Potential Assassin Apprentices
Found in: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Potential Assassin Apprentices were civilians under the influence of the Borgia, who were often bullied and beaten up by the guards for fun. When saved by Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the civilians seek to eliminate the Borgia influence in Rome and join the Assassin Order as Ezio's personal team of Assassins.

Trivia

 * Assassin's Creed contains files titled "SnakeCharmer", but no snake charmer exists in the game. This hints that Ubisoft may have originally intended the game to feature snake charmers.
 * The NPCs of the civilians in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Masyaf are similar.
 * When using eagle vision in Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood, civilians are the only ones that don't glow any color. They are simply grey, because they are not an ally or an enemy.
 * In Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood, the player can distinguish between different civilian attributes and types. For instance, a rich civilian will wear more lively and colorful clothes, capes and shoes, all of a very fancy nature. A richer civilian can be pickpocketed for more Florins.
 * People celebrating Carnivale are rich civilians, especially the ones that dance.
 * In Assassins Creed II the minstrel's florin pouch only contains 10 florins at most but in Assassins Creed: Brotherhood minstrel's doesn't have any florins
 * Interestingly enough, you see no children walking in the streets, not even with an adult. The only children found are Ezio's younger brother, Petruccio, Caterina Sforza's children Bianca and Ottaviano and the lost child in Brotherhood whose mother was captured by Silvestro Sabbatini. Also a child appears when Ezio and Mario are trotting down the streets in Monteriggioni.
 * In Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood, women will often find anything Ezio does to be attractive, commenting how strong, fast, or brave he is throughout the game.
 * Ezio can kill civilians without desynchronizing by using a gentle push or by punching them into water. However, throwing them in to water will cause desynchronization.
 * You can also 'kill' civilians without desynchronization by knocking them out first and then dragging their subdued body off a ledge higher than a single story. This will stop them from writhing about on the ground and turn them into a motionless corpse. This, in fact, works with any subdued person.If the civilian is picked up and thrown a second time, he will resume his writhing.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, as Ezio rebuilds Rome, civilians will start carrying parasols, sceptres and fans.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the male potential Assassin Recruits always have the same clothes as Duccio de Luca, Claudia Auditore's former love interest in Assassin's Creed II.