The Creed

"Nothing is true; everything is permitted."

- The Creed's maxim

The Creed is the code and guiding philosophy of the Assassin Order, upheld from the Third Crusade, until modern days. It restricts unnecessary slaughter of innocents, preserves the reputation of oneself and of the Order, and is meant to create peace, not only within the world, but within the individual.

The Assassins have been handing the Creed down orally from generation to generation, ensuring that the message the Creed brings is delivered to and upheld by every member of the Assassin Order. Al Mualim, one of the Grand Masters of the Assassins, once remarked that "We are nothing if we do not abide by the Assassin's Creed."

In the ancient Codex of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, it is stated that the Creed cannot be killed, even if all of its followers are.

The Three Tenets
The Creed mainly emphasizes three simple, moral, tenets that focus on ensuring a successful mission, mastery of emotions, and the safety of the Brotherhood.

Stay your Blade from the Flesh of an Innocent
"I would not have drawn attention to us. I would not have taken the life of an innocent."

- Malik A-Sayf at Solomon's Temple.

The goal of the Assassins is to ensure peace in all things. The Assassins believe that political assassinations and the death of the corrupt will bring peace and a true sense of security to the common people. Slaying innocents and civilian bystanders who do not need to die goes a long way towards spreading strife and discord, in addition to ruining the name of the Assassin Order itself.

Hide in Plain Sight
"Let the people mask you such that you become one with the crowd."

- Al Mualim

Be unseen. The Assassins aim is to get close to their target stealthily, usually in public, to perform awe-inspiring assassinations. The greatest illusion from an assassination is that an Assassin seemingly materializes from nowhere, kills a corrupt public figure, and vanishes into the depths of the crowd or environment. If an Assassin is spotted stalking their target, the supernatural effect is diluted, and it becomes more difficult for the Assassin to reach his target.

Never Compromise the Brotherhood
"Your actions must never bring harm upon us - direct or indirect!"

- Al Mualim

The actions of one must never bring harm to all. If an Assassin fails, is captured, or is being chased, he or she must never commit any action or say anything that can be tied back to the Brotherhood, or bring harm to any member of it.

The Maxim
"...Our Creed does not command us to be free. It commands us to be wise."

- Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

"Nothing is true; everything is permitted" is the Creed's maxim and primary guideline. The phrase was created during the 11th century by Hassan-i Sabbah, the first recorded Grand Master of the Assassin Order.

The maxim simply means that society is forever changing, therefore an Assassin should not bind themselves to certain practices. However, it does not give the Assassin the freedom to do as they wish, but only grants them the knowledge that there is always an alternate option.

Additionally, the maxim is spoken at every new Assassin's induction into the Order.

Third Crusade
"Your selfish act beneath Jerusalem placed us all in danger! Worse still, you brought the enemy to our home! Every man we lost today was lost because of you!"

- Al Mualim before stabbing Altaïr.

In 1191, Altaïr broke all three tenets during an important mission at Solomon's Temple. By murdering an innocent (an old man who he thought could have alerted the guards), and revealing himself to Robert de Sable, Altaïr inevitably led the Templars back to the – until then, secret – location of Masyaf, jeopardizing not only his own safety, but the livelihood of the entire Brotherhood.

Upon his return to Masyaf, he was publicly chastised and executed via stabbing as punishment by his Master. However, the execution was only an illusion, as Al Mualim wished to grant him a second chance. Instead, Altaïr was merely stripped of all his weapons and equipment, and demoted to the lowest rank of Novice.

Renaissance
In 1498, Perotto Calderon also broke the tenets of the Creed out of his love for the Templar Lucrezia Borgia and their newborn son. He broke his cover as a spy amongst the Borgia, compromising the Brotherhood in the process, and killed several of his fellow Assassins in an effort to steal the Shroud they protected, which he thought could cure his child's deformities.

Though he was successful, a team of Assassins later tracked Perotto down, and executed him as punishment.

Third Crusade
After the shame of his demotion, Altaïr more closely followed the Creed by never killing anyone other than guards or his assigned assassination targets, and remaining discreet as he performed his investigations. He was also careful to never compromise the Brotherhood, by avoiding Assassin Bureaus when under pursuit.

Nevertheless, Altaïr unknowingly broke the third tenet after dispatching eight, highly-ranked Templars. Upon deducing his mission, Robert de Sable hoped to trick Altaïr into inadvertently allying two opposing forces. Since the targets were of both Saracen and Crusader origins, their respective leaders, Saladin and Richard I of England, would likely be more willing to join together in order to combat a considerable, new threat: the Assassins.

Robert attempted to convince Richard to join forces with Saladin in an attack against Masyaf; wherein he planned to recover the Piece of Eden that he had lost to Al Mualim at Solomon's Temple. However, Altaïr's subduing of Robert in front of Richard convinced him not to attack the Assassins, and Altaïr went unpunished for this transgression.

Renaissance
"You are not Vieri, do not become him."

- Mario Auditore to Ezio.

When Ezio Auditore killed Vieri de' Pazzi during one of his early assassinations, he showed disrespect to his corpse, cursing him and calling for his everlasting suffering. Seeing this as a violation of the Creed, his uncle Mario intervened, chastising the young Assassin for his vengeance, which prevented both the victim and the Assassin from finding the peace that the Order wished each assassination to achieve.

Throughout the course of his life subsequently, Ezio followed his uncle's example, showing respect for the dead by closing their eyes and saying "Requiescat in pace" ("Rest in peace").

Modern Times
Though an Assassin in his own right, Desmond Miles mostly adhered to the Creed in order to maintain synchronization with his ancestors, whose lives he observed through the Animus.

He did, however, follow the second tenet to a certain extent before his incarceration at Abstergo Industries, and was careful about hiding his identity. For years, he was able to bypass Templar detection by avoiding the use of his real name or of credit cards, and was only caught after applying for a driver's license for his motorcycle.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, the player can slaughter Masyaf guards with no special repercussions.
 * After completing the main storyline of Assassin's Creed, the player can kill civilians without losing sync with their ancestor.
 * The exact phrase "Nothing is true; everything is permitted" is taken from the novel Alamut by Vladimir Bartol, a book that served as a primary inspiration for Assassin's Creed. In it, the maxim is the highest truth of the Ismaili, the sect of Islam that gave rise to the historical Hashashin.
 * The maxim of the Creed was translated and used in both Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II, in the words exchanged with the final target. "Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine" was spoken by Altair to Al Mualim, and "Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito" was spoken by Ezio to Rodrigo Borgia.
 * The correct English-to-Arabic translation of "Nothing is true; Everything is permitted" is "La shay' haqiqah, koulo shay' moumkin". The currently used translation actually means "Nothing is an absolute reality, all is permitted."