Mario Auditore

"Don't you recognize me? It's a-me, Mario!"

- Mario meeting Ezio.

Mario Auditore (1434 - January 2 1500) was an Italian condottiero and the ruler of Monteriggioni since 1454. He also was the Grand Master of the Assassin Order until his death in 1500.

Early life
Mario was most likely born in Monteriggioni, Tuscany, and was the elder brother of Giovanni, who was born when Mario was two years old. Mario came from a bloodline of notable Assassins and thus also became one, starting his training at a young age.

When he was six years old, Mario played an important role in the Battle of Anghiari, where he alerted the condottiero Micheletto Attendolo to dust clouds over the road, signaling a surprise advance on the Florentines by the Milanese troops. The attack was stopped, and the Florentines won the battle. After this battle, he spent most of his life not aiding the Florentines, but defending Monteriggioni from their persistent attacks.

Ruler of Monteriggioni
In 1454, after Mario's younger brother, Giovanni, decided to move to Florence to pursue a career in banking, and after their father had died, Mario became the lone ruler of Monteriggioni. Mario remained at the Villa Auditore, and exchanged letters with Giovanni to keep in touch. In one of these letters, Mario defended his decision to stay in Monteriggioni by writing that he "preferred fighting like a man, to filling out balance sheets." It is insinuated that he rarely saw the family after that.

Under Mario's rule, Monteriggioni temporarily had a time of prosperity. Mario opened several shops and guilds in the city and greatly increased the city's defenses, in order to withstand Florentine attacks. In 1454, he discovered a Florentine informant living in Monteriggioni, Luciano Pezzati, and faced his men with some of his own. He dueled Luciano, barely defeating him, and had him dragged to the Villa Auditore. From Luciano, he found out that Florence was sending the condottiero Federico da Montefeltro to lead an attack on Monteriggioni. Due to Mario's leadership, the city was successfully defended and the attack was a failure.

Eventually, Luciano Pezatti confessed the truth behind the siege, that the Florentines attacked in search of a mysterious artifact in Monteriggioni. Mario, curious as to what this might be, gathered his architects and historians, eventually discovering that the city well was once drained and excavated. Together with a miner and some of his men, he set foot inside the well. While at first they did not find anything, Mario saw that the miner's flame was flickering while near the back wall, indicating the presence of wind. Together, they pushed against the wall and found a hidden corridor, filled with various deadly traps. Members of their group were caught up in the traps, and even Mario himself caught a swinging pendulum trap, blinding him in his left eye and causing the scar on his face.

At last, they found a wooden box within the well, from which a presence told Mario's men that their "pain was temporary" and to "ignore it." Mario's men were certain the presence would heal their wounds, but Mario thought that as the box had been hidden for so long, there had to be a reason why it was there, and that opening it would be unwise. Mario's men rebelled, eager to uncover the presence, and he was forced to strike them down. Mario was curious as to what the box might contain, but he promised himself not to open it. He carried it to the Villa Auditore, while not giving in to the Shroud's attempts to heal him. He had his brother pick it up, making it "the Brotherhood's problem."

Training Ezio
In 1476, Giovanni and two of his sons, Federico and Petruccio, were executed for being accused of treason, while secretly being executed by the Templars, the arch-enemies of the Assassins. In order to get to safety, Giovanni's remaining son Ezio escorted his mother Maria and sister Claudia out of Florence and towards Monteriggioni.

When the three almost reached Monteriggioni, they were ambushed by Vieri de' Pazzi and his soldiers. Mario and his mercenaries saved the trio and he insisted that they accompanied him back to Monteriggioni. Mario told Ezio of his Assassin heritage and that he had to be trained so that he could properly fight and defeat the Templars and protect his mother and sister. He then showed Ezio around his villa. He soon started Ezio's training to become an Assassin, teaching him disarming and countering skills, as well as taunts. In 1478, Ezio announced his decision to take Maria and Claudia to Spain, against Mario's wishes. Due to his pride in his Assassin heritage, he stormed off, and left for San Gimignano before Ezio could rethink his decision.

Feeling guilty, Ezio followed Mario to San Gimignano to kill Vieri de' Pazzi. When Ezio killed Vieri and began to abuse the body, Mario stepped in and urged him to have respect for the dead. Then, addressing Vieri's body, he delivered a short monologue.

When they returned to Monteriggioni, Mario's men celebrated the victory, and Mario himself showed Ezio the Sanctuary, down a staircase hidden behind a bookcase in his study, and also explained the importance of the Codex, a few pages of which he and Giovanni had collected and translated, before placing on the Codex Wall.

Acquisition of the Apple
In 1488, Mario and some of the other leading Assassins met in Venice, planning to acquire the "Apple" from the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, knowing that it was to be delivered to him that day. When they found Rodrigo, they saw they had been beaten to him by Ezio, who was locked in combat with Rodrigo and was joined by the Assassins. After defeating Rodrigo's guards and almost killing Rodrigo, the Templar leader ran for his life and left the Apple behind. Mario, revealed the group to be Assassins, to Ezio which was unbeknownst to Ezio when he first met them. On the same night, the group met atop a tower in the city, where Ezio was inaugurated into the Assassin Order, and took a leap of faith.

After securing the Piece of Eden, Mario studied it alongside Niccolò Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Ezio. When the Apple was activated, Mario and Machiavelli were both affected and collapsed, holding their heads. Ezio and Leonardo, however, remained unaffected. Mario recognized its great power and told Ezio to protect it by taking it to the Rocca di Ravaldino in Forlì, as that citadel was protected by their ally Caterina Sforza. Mario also invited Leonardo to the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni.

After seeing Ezio place his fiftieth feather in Maria's feather chest, Mario entered and attempted to discourage Ezio from continuing on what Mario considered to be a vain effort and left after informing him that he had left a new weapon at the blacksmith for Ezio to use.

In December 1499, Mario, Ezio and the other Assassins who Ezio previously met gathered in the Villa Auditore to find out the prophecy in the Codex. They discovered that the Codex pages showed a map of the locations of each of the 'Vaults' in the world. Ezio concluded that the nearest vault was in the Vatican and that Rodrigo Borgia had became Pope so that he could have easy access to the Vault and the Staff of Eden, which was in fact the papal staff. Ezio left for Rome to assassinate Rodrigo and enter the Vault, while Mario and his fellow Assassins caused trouble around the city to distract the Papal army's attention. Ezio spared Rodrigo, but recovered the Staff of Eden from him and discovered and entered the Vault, and after communicating with Minerva, one of Those Who Came Before, he left.

Siege of Monteriggioni
After Ezio this, he met with Mario and the two fought their way back through the Vatican, and reached Tiber river where Mario encouraged Ezio to drop the Apple in, but Ezio could not do it, so Mario decided he would take care of it until Ezio made his decision. After the pair escaped from Rome they returned to Monteriggioni.

They made it back to the town by the afternoon of New Year's Day 1500, and Mario told Ezio that he had had new cannons installed into the walls, and that his mercenaries were still trying to get the hang of them. Mario and Ezio rode into the town, and were cheered by the townspeople for their victory in the Vatican. Mario returned to the Villa, while Ezio began to enjoy the new abundance of time he had.

At dawn, on January 2, Claudia's birthday, Monteriggioni was besieged by the Borgia, under the command of Cesare Borgia. Mario quickly met Ezio, saying that he would keep the Apple safe with him and that Ezio had to stop the enemy's cannons, whilst he lead a frontal assault on the Borgia. However, during the battle, Mario became wounded and was captured by Cesare. Mario, who attempted to flee back to the city, collapsed at the city gate, followed by Cesare Borgia and his three lieutenants. Cesare, holding the Apple in his hand, shot Mario in the head as he lay beneath him, killing Mario, as an 'invitation' from Cesare's family to Ezio's to go to Rome. After Mario died, the city was destroyed, the Villa Auditore was desicrated, and the Assassin Order was forced to relocate to Rome, under the acting leadership of Niccolò Machiavelli.

Personality and characteristics
Mario dressed in the flamboyant style of the Italian nobility of the Renaissance, sported long, dark hair that he slicked back neatly and had a scar over his left eye, which he was also blind in. This is an injury he sustained when he was exploring underneath the Villa Auditore, and found the Shroud. He was a boisterous man and made no apologies for his passion for fighting and alcohol. He cared deeply for his family and was extremely proud of his Assassin heritage. From his letter to Giovanni and their differences in fighting styles, it can be assumed that he was often playfully critical of his brother, much like his nephew Federico was with Ezio.

The logo of the Assassins was embroidered/stitched onto the leather of Mario's left shoulder pad. The Auditore coat of arms was also stitched onto the cape he wore.

Upon close inspection, one notes that Mario often put his hand on the shoulder of the person he was speaking to, presumably as a sign of closeness or affection.

Trivia

 * When he first introduced himself, he exclaimed to Ezio that "It's a-me, Mario!". This was intended as a reference to Mario, who often says the same line, from the Super Mario Bros. game series.
 * Mario often refers to Ezio as nipote ("nephew" in Italian)
 * He was often referred to as ubriacone ("drunkard" in Italian) by the Pazzi.
 * Although Mario lived in the villa, you only get to see him during his scripted missions or when you place your 50th feather in Maria's box.
 * Mario's sword can be found as an artifact while exploring Monteriggioni with Desmond Miles.
 * During Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Mario had greying hair, indicating he has aged significantly. However, he was able to free-run along with Ezio after they left the Vault in the Vatican.
 * In the novel of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, after the defense of Monteriggioni, Mario was beheaded and his head was shown to Ezio by Cesare Borgia.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, after arriving in Monteriggioni with Ezio, you can harm or kill Mario without any penalty. He does not protest or say anything if he is harmed here.
 * Mario wields a schiavona, but the artifact in Monterrigioni looks nothing like one.