Freerunning

Free Running or freerunning is a form of acrobatics in which participants, known as free runners, use the city and urban landscape to perform movements through its structures. It is one of the core gameplay mechanics of the Assassin's Creed series.

It is derived from the French Parkour, l'art du déplacement (English: the art of moving), but is now considered as a separate discipline. While Parkour emphasizes efficiency, free running embodies complete freedom of movement, which allows the inclusion of many acrobatic maneuvers often simply for aesthetics and challenge.

In this way, the movements that Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and Desmond Miles perform should rather be considered as Parkour, despite being referred to as free running both in the game and by the developers. Characters in the game also use many movements of the Parkour discipline such as Passe-muraille, Balancé, Saut de bras, Planche, etc.

Known practitioners

 * Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
 * Malik A-Sayf (before the amputation of his arm)
 * Kadar A-Sayf
 * Rauf
 * Giovanni Auditore
 * Ezio Auditore
 * Federico Auditore
 * Mario Auditore
 * La Volpe
 * Antonio
 * Most of the known Assassins
 * Rosa
 * Thieves (including Pickpockets)
 * All Guards (except Seekers and Brutes)
 * Borgia Messengers
 * Followers of Romulus
 * Desmond Miles (obtaining Ezio's skill through the bleeding effect of the Animus)
 * Lucy Stillman
 * Shaun Hastings
 * Rebecca Crane
 * Adam and Eve
 * Francesco de' Pazzi
 * Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Multiplayer Characters
 * Maria Thorpe (In Acre, while being chased by Altaïr)

Assassin's Creed
Altaïr can climb up any wall if its surface is not too flat, and possesses anything he can possibly grab onto (such as windows, cracks or ledges). In addition, he can use many of the following Parkour movements:

Balancé
Balancé (Swing) is a movement where you swing on a bar and let go, in order to grab another object, or to drop to the ground.

Lâché
Lâché (Drop) is the act of dropping from a hanging position or from a bar.

Passe-muraille
Passe-muraille (Wallpass) is the climbing of a tall wall by kicking its surface once to propel upward.

Planche
Planche (Muscle-up or Climb-up) is the movement of climbing an obstacle from a hanging position into a position where your upper body is above the obstacle, supported by the arms.

Roulade
Roulade (Roll), often called breakfall, is a forward roll where the hands, arms and diagonal of the back contact the ground. It is used primarily to transfer the momentum from jumps, and to minimize impact and prevent a painful landing.

Saut de bras
Saut de bras (Arm jump) is to land on the side of an obstacle in a hanging position, the hands gripping the top edge, holding the body, ready to perform a muscle up.

Saut de fond
Saut de fond (Long jump) is a jump from a high height, usually followed by a roll.

Saut de détente
Saut de détente (Gap jump, running jump) is similar to a long jump.

Saut de précision
Saut de précision (Precision jump) is a static or moving jump from one object to a precise spot on another object of a small surface such as low walls. It is usually done with the feet close together but nobody in the games does it in this way.

Assassin's Creed II
thumb|300px|right|Uplay Help - Assassin's Creed II: Parkour Tutorial In addition to all the movements of Assassin's Creed, the second episode has some additional ones.

Fast Climb
By holding the High Profile trigger, Ezio can climb up the building much faster than his ancestor. However, the scheme of the ledges he will grab onto must be regular, and he must be in a standing position on a ledge.

Climb Leap
"Begin in a hanging position, then jump to the ledge above you. As you reach it, grab it with your hand and pull yourself up!"

- Rosa

This movement is first shown by Rosa, and allows Ezio to grab a potentially out-of-reach handhold by performing a vertical jump while climbing. Being wounded, she makes a fellow thief teach Ezio how to do the movement.

Sprint Jump
Sprint Jump is a new maneuver, unlocked in the Bonfire of the Vanities DLC, but can only be used in the Oltrarno district of Florence. The Sprint Jump allows Ezio to jump twice as far as normal. This move is performed by sprinting straight onto and jumping from a springboard. If you do not sprint up to the springboard, the move will fail, and Ezio will only do a normal jump.

Trivia

 * There is a bug present in Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II and Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, wherein citizens or regular guards sometimes perform free running movements that only Assassins are able to do. This bug mostly occurs when the NPC appears on a building or higher platform.
 * In-game hints in Assassin's Creed II suggest looking for white sheets, as stacked boxes that serve as a starting point for free running will always have those draped over them.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Ezio is able to swing from a wooden beam while free running when he jumps off of a horse, rather than simply pulling himself up.
 * It is worth noting that the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer characters also have the ability to climb leap, even though it was a move that was discovered by Thieves.
 * In the Colosseo, there are citizens up on the third level who, if they are disturbed, will free run down to the bottom level and simply rejoin the crowds to act as normal citizens.