Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau

"Ah, but to administer is to govern, to govern is to reign. That is the essence of the problem."

- Mirabeau at the Tennis Court Oath, 1789.

Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau (1749 – 1791), better known as simply Mirabeau, was a French nobleman, the Mentor of the Assassin Council of the French Brotherhood, and a leader of the French Revolution during its early stages. A gifted orator, he favored a constitutional monarchy built on the model of Great Britain, being a voice of moderation in the.

Early life
Born to an aristocratic family, Mirabeau grew up near Marseille and was often punished for his indiscreet sexual affairs in the form of imprisonment, which was a common disciplinary tactic among the nobility. He became infamous for writing indecent love letters to Sophie, a married woman whom he seduced and followed him into exile in Switzerland.

Nevertheless, he was caught and jailed in Vincennes for rape, despite Sophie's clear devotion to him. Through his oratory prowess, Mirabeau argued and won an order that acquitted him of all charges. He subsequently went to Holland, where he met and stayed with a Dutch woman.

Eventually, Mirabeau journeyed to England, before returning to France, where he became a member of the Estates General and advanced to the Assembly. He began cultivating connections to the Queen and the court. As a result, suspicions arose that he was secretly working for the royalist cause or at a minimum bribed by the Crown, as some of his debts were paid for by the royal court.

Heading the Assassin Council
The Templar Élise de la Serre, daughter of the late Grand Master François de la Serre and the adopted sister of Arno Dorian, was brought to the hideout of the Assassins by Arno. Élise tried to appeal for an alliance with the Assassins against an extremist faction within the Templar Order. Bellec strongly objected to the alliance, but was paid no heed by Mirabeau, who sought to maintain peace with the Templars.

Death and legacy
Fed up with Mirabeau's conservative views, Bellec threatened an apothecary in exchange for aconite, a deadly poison. Bellec then gave Mirabeau a chance to change his mind, but upon realizing he could not convince his Mentor, Bellec snuck the aconite into Mirabeau's drink; once Mirabeau drank the poisoned wine, Bellec paid Mirabeau his final rites.

Shortly after, Élise and Arno discovered Mirabeau's body, and tracked down his former friend and tutor. After Arno killed Bellec, Mirabeau was cremated by the Assassin Council, and his ashes and relics were hidden in the Pantheon.

However, Mirabeau's correspondences with King Louis XVI were exposed to the public, causing his public image to decline. The citizens began storming the Pantheon, believing Mirabeau had betrayed the people. The Templars also sought to claim Mirabeau's relics, but Arno and his fellow Assassins infiltrated the Pantheon and claimed them for safekeeping.

With the retrieval of the relics, the Assassin Council hid them in an unknown location where the Templars could never find them.

Personality and characteristics
Despite his facial disfigurement, Mirabeau managed to charm a lot of women, though his impetuosity would repeatedly get him in trouble. He was capable of forceful outbursts, but was otherwise a compelling and influential man, demonstrating a wealth of knowledge.

Ambitious and vain, Mirabeau was unafraid of attacking powerful figures, genuinely believing in the virtue of his goals. However, he was not above taking money from the royal family to help pay off his debts.

Reference

 * Assassin's Creed: Unity