Ezio Auditore da Firenze

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"The Auditore are not dead! I'm still here! Me! Ezio; Ezio Auditore da Firenze!"

- Ezio Auditore, 1476

Ezio Auditore da Firenze (born 1459) was an important figure during the Italian Renaissance - unbeknownst to most history novelists and philosophers - and a member of the Assassin Order. He is a descendant of Altaïr ibn La-Ahad and the ancestor of Desmond Miles and possibly Subject 16. Ezio was unaware of his Assassin heritage until he was 17-years-old, when, following the murder of his father and two brothers (Federico and Petruccio), Ezio fled from Florence and took solace in the town of Monteriggioni.

After the mentoring and training from his uncle, Mario Auditore, Ezio proceeded on his quest of revenge against the Grandmaster of the Templar Knights, Rodrigo Borgia, who had ordered the execution of his father and two brothers. During his 23 year quest for revenge, Ezio managed to not only unite the Codex pages Altaïr wrote, for the first time since Domenico Auditore, but also to save the cities of Florence and Venice from the Templar Knights' wrath. Later still, Ezio was responsible for the rescue of Christoffa Corombo, uncovering a new plot to discover the "New World".

Assassin's Creed: Lineage
Ezio Auditore da Firenze was born in 1459 AD, to Giovanni and Maria Auditore. Until the age of 17, Ezio lived a life of luxury as a Florentine Nobleman, unaware of his father's allegiance to the Assassin Order.

The beginning
The story starts off with Ezio, his older brother, and other people fighting Vieri de' Pazzi's men. Ezio's group wins, is scarred on the side of his mouth, and Vieri escaped the scene before Ezio can do anything to him. He slept with a young woman, Cristina Vespucci, and got caught by the woman's father who made the local guards chase him. Ezio met up with his father at the Palazzo Auditore and did several errands for him, his sister, and his mother and meets Leonardo da Vinci in the process. After completing his errands Ezio returned home to find his father and brothers missing and his mother and sister hiding. Learning that city guards had been ordered to arrest Giovanni and all of his sons, Ezio made his way to the Piazza della Signoria, where his father and brothers were being held, and was instructed by his father find a chest hidden in his office and to take everything out of it and to deliver a sealed letter to Uberto Alberti, the personal assistant of Lorenzo de' Medici and a close friend to the Auditore family. Doing so, Ezio found the assassin coat that he would be wearing for the next 23 years and the letter to contain details of a plot against the city of Florence, and the Auditore family, and was told by Alberti that his family would be released when said letter was presented at the execution as evidence.

The next day, Ezio returned to the Piazza della Signoria to find Alberti presiding over the execution of the Auditores, denying any knowledge of the letter's existance. After attemping to murder Alberti, Alberti ordered the city guards to murder Ezio. After the guidance of one of Giovanni's friends, a thief, Ezio flees the Piazza della Signoria and seeks shelter in a whorehouse, ran by the sister of the Auditore house maid, Paola. Paola later teaches Ezio how to survive in the city as an outlaw, before directing him to Leonardo da Vinci, to repair the "hidden blade" of the late Giovanni Auditore. After fixing the blade, Ezio learns the location of Alberti and, after sneaking into the courtyard of the Basilica of Santa Croce, murders him with his hidden blade, stabbing him numerous times in the stomach, before proudly shouting his name to everyone present making Alberti Ezio's first important assassination.

Now the most wanted man in Florence, Ezio and his mother and sister fled Florence in the hopes of making their way to Spain, but first visiting the Auditore family's villa in the town of Monteriggioni, as a means of shelter. During their travel to Monteriggioni, the three were acosted by Vieri de' Pazzi and his followers, but were saved by the timely arrival of Ezio's uncle, Mario, and his mercenary guards. Mario tells Ezio of the Assassin Order - in an attempt to induct him into the Order - and reveals to him that many of his ancestors, including his father, were apart of the Order. However, Ezio refuses. Enraged, Mario leaves Monteriggioni for the city of San Gimignano, the location of Vieri de' Pazzi, in the attempt of relieving Monteriggioni of its continual assaults. Guilty, Ezio decides to agree to Mario's offer and travels to San Gimignano.

When Ezio arrives outside the city, he joins Mario and his mercenaries in their assault on the city, they wait until nightfall and make there way to Vieri de' Pazzi by killing guards patroling the city. Briefly watching a meeting between Rodrigo Borgia, Jacopo de' Pazzi, Francesco de' Pazzi and Vieri, Ezio finally meets up with Vieri and fights him for the last time. In the end Ezio eventually stabbed Vieri de' Pazzi in the throat. Though it is in vain as Vieri doesn't answer any of his questions before he dies.

Following the death of Vieri, Ezio returned to Florence to prevent the planned de' Pazzi takeover and deaths of Lorenzo de' Medici and Guilani de' Medici. Arriving too late to save Guilani, Ezio manages to prevent the death of Lorenzo de' Medici – the ruler of Florence – and restore his family's good name. Despite this however, the de' Pazzis had already succeded in their plan and brought the city to a state of civil war. After learning the location of Francesco de' Pazzi at the Piazza della Signoria, Ezio chased murdered him and left the corpse to those loyal to de' Medici; although Jacopo de' Pazzi and several other conspirators were able to escape. Shortly afterwards, de' Medici publically cleared the name of the Auditore family and provided Ezio with the names of the conspirators who had escaped.

Learning that the de' Pazzi conspirators were located in San Gimignano, Ezio made his way to San Gimignano and murdered Antonio Maffei, Stefano da Bagnone, Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli and Francesco Salviati before finally locating and following Jacopo de' Pazzi to an ancient Roman theatre. Once there, Ezio eavesdropped on a conversation between Jacopo de' Pazzi, Rodrigo Borgia and the Venetian merchant, Emilio Barbarigo. After stabbing de' Pazzi for his failure to capture Florence, Borgia revealed to Ezio that he knew that he was there and was apprehended by Borgia's bodyguards while Borgia and Barbarigo fled. Ezio then stabbed both bodyguards, before murdering de' Pazzi.

Venice
With the Pazzi conspiracy ended, Ezio returned to Lorenzo and declared his success. Before leaving the city for Venice, Ezio was granted a gift; a Medici cape, that would keep the city guards attention from him. Ezio then made his way to the studio of Leonardo, only to find that he had just left for Venice himself. Meeting with Leonardo, the two made their way through the appennine mountains to the city of Forlì, narrowly avoiding the Templar soldiers sent after them by Rodrigo Borgia.

Eventually arriving in Forlì, the two made their way to the city docks, where Ezio was refused passage without a pass. It was at this moment that the two heard the screams of a noble lady stranded in the city's wetlands. Rescued, the lady introduced herself as Caterina Sforza, and forced the dockman to grant Ezio passage to Venice. Once in Venice, Ezio and Leonardo were given a brief tour of the city before Ezio begun to seek out a way into the Palazzo of Emilio Barbarigo, although in vain. Suddenly pushed aside, Ezio watched as a collection of thieves attempted to breach the palazzo, but failed, and subsequently aided in the escape of the thief Rosa, who had been shot through the leg with an arrow. After successfuly escaping the city guards, Ezio was introduced to the leader of the Venetian thieves guild Antonio, and together the two concocted a new plot to kill Barbarigo and liberate the merchant district.

The plot was successful, and gave Ezio the name of another Templar conspirator – Carlo Grimaldi. A government official and member of the Council of Ten, Carlo was close to the Mocenigo, the Doge of Venice and hoped to turn him to the Templar cause. Overhearing another meeting between Borgia and Carlo, Ezio uncovered a changed plot to poison the Doge and replace him with the Barbarigo, Marco. Returning to Antonio, the two sought to find a way into the Palazzo Ducale – the Doge's Palace –, searching the front gates, the rear walls and even passing over the the Basilica di San Marco; but were hampered at every turn. Returning to the piazza below, an enraged Antonio remarked at how only birds might get into the Doge's palace, reminding Ezio of Leonardo's flying machine he had seen on the way to Forlì.



After removing the city guards at four separate locations, Antonio's thieves proceeded to light massive bonfires throughout the city, giving Ezio the lift Leonardo's flying machine needed to make it to the Palazzo Ducale. The plan worked and Ezio breached the Palazzo Ducale, although he was too late to save the Doge. Carlo fled, crying out that Ezio had assassinated the Doge, although he himself hid not survive long. Blamed for killing the Doge though, Ezio was now the most wanted man in Venice, and was forced to flee the city guards. Returning to Leonardo's workshop, Ezio was directed to the brothel of Sister Teodora, where Antonio was presiding. Under the cover of carnevale, Ezio made his way to the brothel and begun planning the death of Marco Barbarigo; competing in the four games of carnevale to win the golden mask that would gain him entrance to Marco's private party, Ezio was successful, but found himself denied the golden mask by Marco's cousin Silvio Barbarigo and his slave Dante Moro. The assassin was successful in regaining the mask and managed to assassinate Marco, leaving to door open for Agostino – a Barbarigo not entwinned with the Templars – to become Doge.

With his quest nearly at an end, Ezio tracked down Silvio Barbarigo and his slave Dante Moro, in the process liberating the mercenary leader Bartolomeo d'Alviano and his soldiers. Having tracked the Templars to the city Arsenal, Ezio managed to break in and kill Dante Moro and Silvio barbarigo, but was astonished to learn that the plot to remove the Doge was merely a distraction so that the Templar's could move their vessel to Cyprus, although the reasons for this were unknown to Ezio.

Induction into the Order and later years
"La shai wak'ion motlaq bal kollon momken (Nothing is true, everything is permitted)"

- Mario Auditore at the initiation

Two more years passed before word of the Templar vessel reached Ezio once again; when Rosa brought him a shipping manifest detailing the return of the ship that very day. Sneaking into the Arsenal, Ezio watched as a templar soldier carrying a Piece of Eden disembarked from the ship and made his way to a Templar base in the city. Following the soldier, Ezio assassinated and impersonated the guard, carrying the Piece of Eden to a meeting with Rodrigo Borgia himself. Finally able to confront the man ultimately responsible for the deaths of his father and brothers, Ezio spurned the Templar Grandmaster for the non-appearance of the supposed prophet detailed in the Codex prophecy. Borgia responded, proudly naming himself the prophet before engaging Ezio in battle; the battle was short and Ezio easily bested the Templar. On the backfoot, Borgia called upon the city guards and insulted the assassin for the lack of "his people" showing up.

At this very moment Mario Auditore, Antonio, Paola, Teodora, La Volpe and Bartolomeo d'Alviano appeared, driving off Borgia and revealing themselves to Ezio as assassins. With the arrival of Niccolò Machiavelli, the Assassin Grandmaster, it as revealed to Ezio that he was in fact the supposed prophet, and that for the past decade they had all worked together to induct Ezio into the Assassins Order proper. That night, they all met up again, and Ezio was formally inducted into the Order.

Over the next few years Ezio continued to serve the assassin's faithfully, defending Forlì from the Orsi brothers and defeating the Dominican priest Girolamo Savonarola during his purge of Florence in 1498. In 1491, at the behest of the Assassin Antonio, Ezio helped to rescue the Spanish-Genoan explorer Christoffa Corombo.

"I thought&hellip; I thought I was beyond this. But I'm not. I've waited too long, lost too much – Requiescat in Pace (Rest in Peace), you bastard!"

- Ezio to Rodrigo Borgia during his first, failed assassination attempt

The following year, in 1499 the assassins finally came together once more at the Villa Auditore, with the Piece of Eden and the completed Codex in hand. Using the two objects, they discovered the location of the Vault to be under the Vatican, in Rome. Unfortunately for them however, Rodrigo Borgia had become Pope in 1492, although Mario believed he had only done so to gain access to the Papal staff, another of the Piece of Eden’s. Undeterred, Ezio travelled to Rome with a mission to assassinate Rodrigo Borgia. Fighting his way along the entire length of the Passetto di Borgo, Ezio snuck into the Sistine Chapel and struck at Borgia from above. Preparing to deal the killing blow, Borgia surprised Ezio by using the Staff to blast him away and drain the energy of those in the room. Ezio though, possessing the Apple, was safe from the Staff’s effects and the two engaged in a duel; Ezio using the same technique Al Mualim had in his duel against Altaïr in 1191. The duel ended in success for Ezio once more, though Borgia did manage to obtain the Apple and make his way to the Vault. Outside the Vault, Ezio watches as Borgia tries, in vain, to open it. Laying down his arms, Ezio challenges and defeats Borgia in a fist fight, obtaining possession of both the Staff and the Apple, but refusing to take Borgia’s life.

Entering the Vault, Ezio stood in shock as he was confronted by a hologram-esque individual naming herself "Minerva", and claiming to be one of "Those Who Came Before"; Ezio was further confounded when the hologram sought not to speak to Ezio, but through Ezio, to an unseen figure named Desmond, before leaving abruptly and Ezio with many questions. At some point after this event, Ezio made his way to Italy once more, this time to liberate his fellow assassins in the country, who were being persecuted by the Templars under the guise of a religious inquisition.

After returning from Rome, Ezio sealed his piece of Eden under the statue of Altaïr at the Villa Auditore.

Personality and characteristics
"Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito. Requiescat in Pace."

Ezio was a young Florentine nobleman who lived during the 15th and 16th century. Unlike his ancestor Altaïr, he was a brought up without knowing of the assassins existence; a seducer of women and playful man, Ezio possessed acrobatic skills beyond what most had, save for his brother and father. Having left school at an early age, Ezio was without a formal education, perhaps explaining his playful nature. He came from an affluent background and had many friends until the deaths of his father and brothers drove him out of Florence. Forced to protect his mother and sister, Claudia, Ezio became an Assassin, exacting revenge on the conspirators who had betrayed his family and plotted to seize both Florence and Venice. His first victim, Uberto Alberti, the one who sentenced his father and brothers to public execution, was assassinated publicly, forcing the Auditore out of the city and to the town of Monteriggioni, where his uncle resided. At first, Ezio wanted only to stay briefly, wishing to move his family onwards to Spain, and away from those who conspired against him. However after considerable persuasion from his uncle, Ezio decides to remain and exact his revenge upon the Templars as a whole. Aided not only by his uncle Mario but also Leonardo da Vinci, Ezio managed to redeem the good name of his family in Florence, portraying the same level of loyalty his father had to the city’s ruler: Lorenzo de' Medici.

Quick to anger, Ezio often allowed his emotions to overcome him, going so far as to disrespect the corpse of Vieri de’ Pazzi just after his death. Eventually however, Ezio did manage to control his anger, and by the time he had become a Master Assassin, could control it almost completely.An explorer, throughout his quest Ezio scoured the cities looking not only for the Codex pages, but also to obtain the assassin seals from the six assassins tombs spread across northern Italy. After obtaining them, Ezio had access to the black Grandmaster robes of his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

Equipment and Skills
Ezio Auditore da Firenze was a highly skilled assassin during the Italian renaissance and a leader amongst the Order of Assassins. A master of multiple fields, including theft, blending, armed and unarmed combat, free-running and long-distance combat; he is able to use a variety of weapons including two hidden blades, the longsword, throwing knives and more. As the years progress, Ezio's discoveries of the pages of the codex allowed da Vinci to upgrade his weaponry, including the addition of a wrist gauntlet, wheel lock firearm concealed beneath his left hidden blade, and a poison needle inside the other.

Born with the ability to use Eagle Vision, Ezio could access the ability to instinctively differentiate friend from foe. He also had access to a variety of weaponry and armor thanks to the various blacksmiths located throughout the region; including maces, longswords and daggers.

Trivia

 * The Italian name 'Ezio' derives from the Greek word 'Aetos', which means "Eagle", similar to Altaïr whose name means "The Flying One".
 * Unlike Altaïr (who had his ring finger removed as a commitment to make way for the Hidden Blade), Ezio has all ten fingers; a modification to the Hidden Blade made by Altaïr sometime after he defeated Al-Mualim making this possible. Leonardo da Vinci deciphered a Codex Page written by Altaïr on which said modification was illustrated. Instead of removing their ring finger, Assassins now have a mark burned into the ring finger as a sign of their lineage.
 * It is stated in the Philosophical Codex that after Altaïr defeated Al-Mualim in 1191 and became the leader, the Assassins were forced to realize the scope of their fight against the Templars, and had to abandon many of their traditions: like the removal of the ring finger and the ban on using poison, in order to survive.
 * Ezio also uses a wheellock firearm, based off of a design found in the Codex pages; historically a type of weapon that didn't develop until just after the time-frame of the game, some of the first wheellock firearms were, in actuality, designed by da Vinci.
 * Ezio's face in Assassin's Creed II seems to be a mixture of Desmond's (Francisco Randez) and Devon Bostick's from Lineage.
 * It would appear that Ezio remained unaware of his bloodline, and that he is a descendant of Altaïr, despite learning about him in Monteriggioni. Ezio never truly understood why he was such a successful assassin himself.
 * Ezio is 40 years old in 1499 (20 years older than Altaïr's age in 1191); the same age as his father upon his death in 1476.
 * If you move the camera to a certain angle in the game, Ezio's face has barely aged, except for the beard, even if you played through 20 plus years of his life. His voice does deepen and mature through time though, making him sound calmer and talks slower.
 * Just like Altair and Desmond, Ezio has a scar on his mouth, acquired after the mission "Boys Will Be Boys", when Vieri De Pazzi threw the rock at his face during the first memory sequence