Pierre Bellec

Pierre Bellec (1741 – 1791) was a French-Canadian Master Assassin, and a former colonial soldier, who was active during the French Revolution.

Early life
Born in and having discovered his Assassin lineage while partaking in the Seven Years' War as a corporal, Bellec was careful not to rise in the ranks, being more useful to the Brotherhood as a nondescript soldier. He came to France just in time to escape the purge of the Colonial Assassins, and trained many Assassins for the French Brotherhood, including Charles Dorian and the latter's son, Arno Dorian.

Although he was passionately loyal to the cause, his view on the Assassins' philosophy was rather simplistic, bordering on fanatical, refusing to allow peace with the Templars no matter the cost. He also showed sympathies with the Jacobins.

Meeting Arno Dorian
Around 1789, Bellec began infiltrating prisons throughout France in search of mysterious glyphs. While imprisoned in the Bastille, a young man was thrown in his cell, accused of murder. While the young man slept, Bellec found Charles' watch on his person and realized he was Charles' son, Arno. When Arno awoke and discovered his watch missing, Bellec challenged him to duel him for it. The duel came to an abrupt end when Arno told Bellec to return to the glyphs in the corner. Bellec then realized that Arno possessed Eagle Vision to see them. He gave back Charles' watch to Arno, revealing that his father was an Assassin. He then spent two months training Arno in combat, and telling him about the Assassins and Templars.

On July 14, the Bastille was stormed by revolutionaries, prompting Bellec and Arno to take the opportunity to escape. When they came to the edge of the battlements, Bellec gave Arno a medallion, saying it would lead him to the Assassins, before taking a Leap of Faith into the the moat below.

Sure enough, Arno found the Assassin headquarters underneath Sainte-Chapelle, against Bellec's expectations. After greeting the boy, he brought Arno before the Assassin Council and witnessed his initiation into the Brotherhood.

Mirabeau tasked Arno, under pressure from the Assassin Council, to assassinate the Templar Charles Gabriel Sivert. Bellec told Arno that he won't assist him, but advised the young Assassin to try and exploit opportunities in order to reach his target. Should the assassination fail, Bellec told Arno it is best to take his own life rather than compromise the Brotherhood, which was they way during the Levantine era.

Poisoning of Mirabeau
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. Elise 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 peace with the Templars.

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 once Bellec realised he could not change Mirabeau's mind, he snuck the aconite into Mirabeau's drink. Once Mirabeau drank the poisoned wine, Bellec paid Mirabeau his final rites.

Arno eventually tracked Bellec down to the Sainte-Chapelle, with Bellec attempting to explain that he was only following the examples of Assassins in Masyaf, Monteriggioni, and the Thirteen Colonies in purging the old order to rebuild it with greater strength and conviction. Bellec attempted to convince Arno to join his cause, but Arno refused, resulting in the two dueling.

Arno managed to gain the upper hand in the fight, and was forced to kill Bellec when he tried to kill Elise. Before dying, Bellec commended Arno for defeating him, and urged Arno to finish him off, otherwise he will never stop. Once Bellec died from his wounds, Arno paid him his final rites. Bellec's Assassin robes were then passed on to his former apprentice.

Personality and characteristics
Bellec was a grizzled and argumentative individual, known for possessing a rather crude sense of humor. He also refused to put up with any unreasonable behavior from his compatriots, such as Arno Dorian.

Bellec was very extreme in his methods, refusing to believe that the Assassins and Templars could ever achieve peace between their factions, without it implicitly meaning appeasing the enemy and thereby betraying the Brotherhood. His extremism culminated in poisoning of Mirabeau in order to prevent peace between the two factions. In contrast to this act of murder, he believed himself to be the successor of other Assassins who managed to rebuild the Brotherhood, such as Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Despite his coarse attitude, there is a softer side to Bellec's personality. He trusted Arno like he did with the latter's father, but believed that he was influenced by the wrong kind of people. Before he died, he admitted his respect for Arno and his decision, and urged him to kill him in order to strengthen his conviction.

Trivia

 * According to Bellec, his grandmother was Belgian.
 * Pierre is a French form of Peter.

Reference

 * Assassin's Creed: Unity