Alan Rikkin

Alan Rikkin (unknown – 2016) was the Chief Executive Officer of Abstergo Industries and a member of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order. He held the position of Guardian within the Order, answering directly to the General of the Cross.

Biography
In 2000, Rikkin was among those informed by Warren Vidic that Daniel Cross had returned to Abstergo's facility in Philadelphia, after Cross had assassinated the Mentor of the Assassins. In 2010, Clay Kaczmarek was tasked by William Miles to hack Rikkin's personal computer in the hope of learning more about the Animus project.

Rikkin succeeded the previous CEO of Abstergo after their death in January 2012. In a tape, Rikkin's predecessor encouraged him to stay on course after all he had learned from the previous Grand Masters, and reminded him that the free market would soon collapse, and that he needed to establish the New World Order before all turned to anarchy.

Later that year, Abstergo was hit by a scandal over the testing of their New Fluoride product; the United States government threatened to freeze Abstergo's assets, which coupled with the loss of an Apple of Eden in the DIA satellite accident, forced them to hasten the completion of the Eye-Abstergo satellite.

Animus Project
"I'm about ready to pull the plug on your Subject 17. So either get me results or get another person into that Animus."

- Rikkin giving orders to Warren Vidic.

Rikkin oversaw the Animus Project supervised by Vidic and Lucy Stillman, reviewing the data obtained from Subjects 12-16. He became frustrated that it was taking a few days for Desmond Miles – Abstergo's seventeenth subject in the program – to synchronize with the memory they needed to map the locations of the Pieces of Eden, one of which would replace the Apple needed to power the Eye-Abstergo satellite.

Rikkin, David Kilkerman, and Henry Liman came to the Animus Project laboratory in Rome the day after an unsuccessful attack from the Assassins. Vidic had obtained the necessary memory, to which Rikkin responded he would send teams to collect all of them, should anyone else obtain one and cause trouble in the Templars' New World.

Rikkin also ordered that Desmond be terminated, but Stillman retorted, saying that they needed him to obtain any more information on the sites from his genetic memory, so Rikkin deferred to her judgment.

On 17 December, Rikkin contacted Laetitia England, after she reported that Desmond Miles had stolen a Precursor power source in Manhattan.

Managing Abstergo
Rikkin became acquainted with Olivier Garneau (the CCO of Abstergo Entertainment) and, in 2013, contacted him about his progress regarding the Observatory.

In 2014, Rikkin sent a message to Melanie Lemay, congratulating her for her role as CCO of Abstergo Entertainment. Because of her hard work, Rikkin offered her a raise and personally stated that he was looking forward to working with her in the future.

On 17 October 2015, Rikkin had a conference with Isabelle Ardant. He was later contacted by Álvaro Gramática after Violet da Costa retrieved a Shroud of Eden from the vault under Buckingham Palace and the Phoenix Project was accelerated.

He was later responsible for the abduction of Callum Lynch and using him to find another Apple via the Animus with the help of his daughter Sophia. However, Callum escaped with the other kidnapped Assassins and went to London, killing Alan and stealing his Apple, venturing into the unknown soon after.

Personality and characteristics
"You told me she wasn't going to be a problem and here she is stirring up the shit again."

- Rikkin to Warren in an e-mail.

Rikkin could be a rude and vulgar individual. Despite both being members of the Inner Sanctum, his emails to Vidic were often disrespectful and impatient. However, in an email written for him with other Abstergo executives, Rikkin showed the intelligence and charisma necessary to head a company.

Lucy Stillman once emailed Rikkin, requesting information on a deceased friend and ex-employee, Leila Marino. The only response she received was an out-of-office notice, despite the fact that Rikkin continued to manage his other emails during the time he was supposedly away, even sending Vidic a message warning the latter to keep Lucy from asking difficult questions.

Rikkin was also ignorant of historical facts, proven when he mistook who was, believing Fawkes was involved in the French Revolution. When corrected by Caroline Grey, he snapped at her, claiming "We are making history here, the past is largely irrelevant."

One of the leaders of the modern-day Knights Templar, Alan Rikkin was determined to achieve his orders’ centuries-long goal to gain control over humanity. Through Callum Lynch, and the ancestral memories he holds, Rikkin may finally have found the key to the Templar's endgame.

Trivia

 * The production team behind the Assassin's Creed movie tweeted Rikkin's business card: by calling the numbers on it, fans would receive a voice message by Jeremy Irons as Rikkin.
 * In Assassin's Creed 6: Leila, Rikkin is identified by Laetitia England as the Leader of the Templar Order.
 * Rikkin was part of the development team for Abstergo’s Liberation video game.