Hidden Blade

"The hidden blade has been a constant companion of ours over the years. Some would say it defines us - and they would not be entirely wrong. Many of our successes would not have been possible without it."

- Altaïr's Codex, Page 13

The iconic weapon of the Assassin's Creed series, the Hidden Blade is a weapon used for both stealth assassinations and regular combat, and is the most vertasile weapon in the entire series with multiple upgrades and forms of use.

Assassin's Creed
In Assassin's Creed, the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad initially wielded the hidden blade, however, due to his failure in retrieving the Apple of Eden, and his breaking of the Creed, he was demoted to a Novice by Al Mualim, and was stripped of his weapons. At his first promotion to Rank 2, however, he earned back his hidden blade, along with his sword.

Aside from assassinations, the hidden blade was also used in a variety of investigations. For missions given by informants, wherein Altaïr is asked to stealthily assassinate a number of targets, he may only make use of his hidden blade or throwing knives. Additionally, after successfully interrogating a target, Altaïr is forced to kill them so they cannot reveal their plans to the enemy, and does so by burying his hidden blade into their stomach.

Assassin's Creed: Lineage
The hidden blade had a more trivial role in Assassin's Creed: Lineage, having only been wielded by Giovanni Auditore for a small number of scenes.

As outlined in Altaïr's Codex, this revised hidden blade was designed by Altaïr so that the Assassins, who he intended to go undercover, could not be identified by their lack of a ring finger. Furthermore, the mechanism did not require a wrist "flick" to extend the blade, thus the user could retract the blade without any wrist or hand movement. Additionally, as pictured, the weapon could be used with a clenched fist, although Giovanni is the only known Assassin to do this.

While there is a rotating wheel atop the rear portion of the mechanism's housing, its function has not been identified, and there are no known schematics or explanations for the mechanism. There are also no shots of it operating during Lineage, and it would often be shown on the actor's arm either sheathed or already extended.

Assassin's Creed II
In Assassin's Creed II, Ezio Auditore at first carried a single hidden blade that he inherited from his father, along with the Codex page detailing its construction. After he had gained proficiency with the first, Ezio would later gain a secondary blade from Leonardo da Vinci, who built it based upon the designs detailed in Altaïr's Codex. Later on, Ezio was able to learn a variety of assassination techniques (summarized below), from instructions detailed in the Codex.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
"Now I can kill double the guards."

- Ezio Auditore, regarding the secondary hidden blade.

At the start of Brotherhood, Ezio still possessed his two previous hidden blades, and used them in battle as he escaped the Vatican. After he returned to Monteriggioni, however, he removed his hidden blades, and was only able to salvage the first blade and bracer of his father during the Siege of Monteriggioni.

Upon his arrival in Rome, he was equipped with a single hidden blade, though its bracer had been replaced, courtesy of Niccolò Machiavelli. Later on, however, Leonardo da Vinci was again able to reconstruct a second hidden blade for him but Ezio had to pay.

Aside from wielding it in battle, Ezio also made use of the hidden blade to unlock the entrances of certain Lairs of Romulus.

Apprentices
Additionally, Ezio's Assassin recruits were each equipped with a single hidden blade, as the right to use two hidden blades is only reserved for the most trusted of Assassins, or those who have earned the rank of the Master Assassin. The apprentices are capable of all of the standard assassination techniques.

Modern Times
In the Animus Virtual Training Program developed by Rebecca Crane, Desmond Miles was given the chance to hone his skills with the hidden blade. Such challenges included Stealth Assassinations and Flawless Kill Streaks using only the hidden blade.

While in the field, Desmond also used the hidden blade to operate a mechanism in the tunnels underneath the Sanctuary.

High/Low Profile Assassinations
Altaïr rams the blade into the victim's abdomen when facing the target, and through his spine when behind the target. When stealth is not a priority, Altaïr may also perform a high profile assassination, which involves sprinting towards the target, jumping and then thrusting the blade into the victims throat or major arteries in the neck as he lands on him. Alternatively, if approaching from behind, Altaïr may push the target onto his knees and stab him in the neck.

The hidden blade is the only weapon that Altaïr may wield while sprinting. When Altaïr is close enough to the victim during a pursuit, he may carry out an assassination. Altaïr will perform a running leap, landing on his victim from behind and burying the blade in the neck. This feature makes it an ideal choice for running down assassination targets who flee such as Talal, the slave trader in Jerusalem.

Air to Assassinate
From higher ground above a target, such as a nearby roof or beam, Altaïr leaps directly onto his victim and stabs him in the throat. Although the move was not covered in the manual or in-game tutorials, this technique does exist, and the controls were documented by "Stabguy" on The Hidden Blade website. The move was shown in a demo of the game in the assassination of William of Montferrat.

Open Combat
The hidden blade can also be used while in combat. An enemy who has been grabbed and thrown (or counter thrown with a grab break) can easily be killed while he lies on the ground. Using the blade in combat against large groups is challenging, as Altaïr is unable to block any attack. Additionally, the time frame in which Altaïr can counter-attack is extremely small, especially in comparison to that of the sword and the short blade. Successfully countering enables one of several different – and always lethal – counter-attacks, in which Altaïr stabs his opponent in the chest, head, abdomen, base of the skull, or spine.

Double Assassination
Due to the addition of the second hidden blade, Ezio is able to kill two enemies at once. This technique may be performed on the ground (from behind or between two guards) or from above, as elaborated mentioned below.

Air Assassination
Similarly to the "air to assassinate" technique in Assassin's Creed', this allows Ezio to kill an enemy by leaping onto them from above. He may also perform a Double Air Assassination, and kill two enemies from above at once, as long as they are close to each other. However, this technique is easily noticed by guards, and they will immediately attack upon witnessing it.

Hiding Spot Assassination01practice.jpg
Ezio may now assassinate enemies whilst hiding. Particularly useful against Seekers, he may perform an assassination from hay stacks, benches, wells or any other hiding spot.

Ledge Assassination
This technique may be performed on any enemy standing above a ledge from which Ezio may hang, and is particularly used against archers. Depending whether it is done in high or low profile, he will either pull the guard from the roof, or jump up to stab him in the chest.

Open Combat
The hidden blades in Assassin's Creed II are vastly more useful in combat than they were previously; they can now be used offensively, and Ezio is also able to block attacks with them like any other weapon. The blades are a fast, but low damage weapon, which makes them useful for suppressing enemy attacks.

As in the original Assassin's Creed, every counter attack with the hidden blades is an instant kill. Though the timing window for a counter attack has been lengthened compared to the first game, it is still short compared to other weapons. Unlike the sword or the short blade, the hidden blades can counter attacks from Brutes and Seekers.

The hidden blade also allows Ezio to attack very quickly, and gives more freedom in movement than the other weapons. For example, Ezio can easily strafe a 180° arc in the time it takes for the enemy to attack. This is barely possible (except from very close range) with the sword or dagger. It also allows Ezio to quickly flee from a battle without having to take the time to sheathe his weapon.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
All of the techniques for the hidden blades in Brotherhood are the same as in Assassin's Creed II, aside from improvements to the hidden blade upgrades, which are stated below.

Open Combat
In Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, combat with the hidden blade has again improved. The time segment where Ezio can counter with the hidden blade is slightly increased, allowing for more counter kills.

Also, a new ability called execution streaks are introduced, allowing Ezio to perform multiple instant kills after killing a single guard. Each kill must be quickly followed up with another in order to keep the streak going. Being attacked cancels the streak, requiring Ezio to start another one.

Ezio is also unable to block multiple attacks with the hidden blades, promoting a more offensive style of gameplay.

Upgrades
Through his travels in Assassin's Creed II, Ezio would acquire several Codex pages that, upon decryption, detailed upgrades for the hidden blade that were envisioned by Altaïr. These improvements were then developed for Ezio by Leonardo da Vinci. The first of these improvements was the addition of a second, darker hidden blade made from a difficult-to-obtain metal. The second was a metal plate on top of the primary blade's bracer that - unlike in the original Assassin's Creed - would allow one to safely deflect enemy attacks with the blades.

The other upgrades to the hidden blade included the Poison blade, which allowed Ezio to stab an enemy and leave them to die slowly, granting both a low-profile assassination as well as a distraction to kill or bypass other enemies, and the Pistol, which was the more deadly of the upgrades, allowing Ezio to kill from a distance. Additionally, both blades may be supplemented with various vambraces which act as armor, giving Ezio more health.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, further improvements included a Pistol that was both easier to aim, and did not appear to require pulling a trigger to be fired, as well as a Poison dart launcher, that allowed the use of the poison blade from a distance.

Trivia

 * The hidden blade is used in every major assassination. Even if the player begins by attacking the enemy with a sword, the Assassin will always finish them off with the hidden blade.
 * In the E3 teaser trailer of Assassin's Creed (as well as in certain concept art), Altaïr can be seen pushing a button to operate his hidden blade. In the actual games, however, no such button or other trigger mechanism exists.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Renaissance and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (novel), unleashing the hidden blade required the use of a button, via a certain muscle on the forearm being flexed.
 * In an Assassin's Creed Developer Diary video, Jade Raymond speaks about Altair's lack of his ring finger, which is due to the initiation ceremony when a novice is promoted to an Assassin. The ring finger of the left hand is cut off, the hidden blade is installed and the new born Assassin is ready to complete the missions bestowed upon him or her.
 * Despite being equipped with a hidden blade, some Assassins such as Malik Al-Sayf did not have an amputated finger.
 * Patrice Desilets, the creative director of the game, stated that the addition of a second blade in Assassin's Creed II also had a lucid reason: it's Assassin's Creed II, so there are two blades.
 * The first recorded usage of the hidden blade by an Assassin was Darius, when he assassinated Xerxes of Persia. However, his ring finger is still intact and he wields it on his right hand.
 * The original design of Ezio's second hidden blade in Assassin's Creed II was displayed as a brown glove, however, in-game, it was replaced with a second bracer. However, in Brotherhood, his second hidden blade includes a glove, until a bracer is purchased.
 * It is unknown why the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood cover and E3 Trailer depict Ezio with a secondary hidden blade bracer identical to his primary one, as in-game, no such second bracer exists.
 * The hidden blade is a crafted item in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy. The materials for its construction are 2 Coils, 1 Iron, 1 Hide and 1 Box of Components (which in turn is crafted using 3 Gears, 3 Screws, 1 Chain and 2 Sprockets).
 * The second hidden blade is marginally longer than the primary one in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, perhaps designed to be a more effective melee weapon to complement the primary hidden blade's design as an assassination tool.

Gallery
thumb|300px|left|A video guide for the hidden blade in Assassin's Creed. thumb|right|300px|A video guide for the hidden blade in Assassin's Creed II.