Short blade

The Short Blade is a short, curved blade that is a smaller and a more agile weapon than the longsword. The short blade trades power and reach for a faster swing rate. The Animus, in its hints and tips given to the player, recommends the Short Blade for killing off large numbers of enemies. Though there are only two variants of short blade in Assassin's Creed, there are several choices that may be purchased in Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

Assassin's Creed
In Assassin's Creed, the short blade is first available after Altaïr has reached Rank 3. Like the sword, Altaïr's short blade increases in quality and power with his rank. Altaïr carries the short blade on his back with the handle facing down.

The short blade is much faster than the longsword, making it ideal for dispatching large numbers of low-ranked enemies. However, as an enemy's rank increases, the short blade's effectiveness diminishes due to the higher quality armor used by high-level enemies. The short blade seems intended as a fallback weapon when using the throwing knives. If an enemy gets too close, Altaïr can fend off the enemy long enough to switch to his more powerful longsword.

While the short blade is selected, the player can also use throwing knives by holding down the high profile button and pressing the weapon hand button ( on Playstation 3, X on Xbox 360, Left Mouse Button for default PC layout). When all throwing knives have been used, the short blade will become the main weapon.

Outside of a few characters in cutscenes, Altaïr is the only person in Assassin's Creed to use a short blade. All other NPCs use long blades.

Assassin's Creed II
Just as in Assassin's Creed, Ezio is equipped with both a long and short blade, though they are sheathed together at his side. Various types short blades can be purchased at blacksmith shops with unique speed, damage and deflection properties. The special attack of most short blades can only be performed from behind, and takes the form of slitting their throat, or stabbing them in the shoulder or the back, which will always result in an instant kill.

thumb|left|300px|Guide to the Short BladeIt should be interesting to note that the last-tier short blade in Assassin's Creed resembles the Sultan's Knife, meaning that in Assassin's Creed, it is the most powerful, but in Assassin's Creed II the most powerful short blade is the Notched Cinquedea.

Another interesting note is that, while Ezio is not the only person in the game to wield short blades (Thieves, Courtesans, Agiles, and certain other NPCs have them as well), he is the only person in the game to hold his short blade in an icepick grip, just as Altaïr does. All other short blade users wield theirs blade-up in combat. However, a few characters use an Icepick Grip on short blades during cutscenes (such as when Francesco de' Pazzi stabs Giuliano de' Medici).

Like the Animus mentions, the short blade is a great way to take out weak enemies such as archers or regular guards.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
The short blade functions the same way as it does in the previous games, being a weaker, though much faster and efficient weapon than the sword or mace. Unlike in Assassin's Creed II, Ezio can now dual-wield throwing knives simultaneously with his short blade, as Altaïr did. He can also hold the weapon hand button with the short blade currently equipped to aim at multiple targets.

Statistics

 * The Channeled Cinquedea can only be obtained from disarming a guard.

Trivia

 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, once all throwing knives have been used up, the special attack of the short blade is switched to that of the fists, throwing sand.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the Notched Cinquedea has the store image of the Channeled Cinquedea, and vice versa. The Channeled Cinquedea is an unpurchaseable weapon that can only be found from disarming a guard. This is most likely a misplacement of store images used for the Blacksmiths.
 * There are only a few people who hold the Short Blade in an Icepick grip. Such people are, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Tamir, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Francesco de' Pazzi, Bernardo Baroncelli, and Claudia Auditore da Firenze.