Pierre Bellec

"Do you think it's the first time this's happened? The first time that the Assassins have been forced to purge their leadership? The first time that the Order has built itself back up from nothing to power? No. Masyaf, Monteriggioni, the American Colonies... it's all happened before, and we've risen anew, stronger than ever. But now... we've lost our purpose, Arno. We mired ourselves in politics and revolutions. But we're not a nation. We're an army. And in an army, 'making peace with the enemy' is called 'treason.'"

- Bellec justifying his murder of the French Mentor Mirabeau to Arno Dorian, 1791.

Pierre Bellec (1741 – 1791) was a French-Canadian Master Assassin, and a former colonial soldier, who was active during the French Revolution. At some point before the French Revolution, Bellec took a seat on the Assassin Council of the French Brotherhood.

Early life
Bellec was born in in 1741. At the age of 16, he joined the French colonial militia, as the Seven Years' War began. Serving with a certain level of distinction, he earned a commendation for valor after participating in the. Around this time, he discovered his Assassin lineage and joined the Colonial Brotherhood. After becoming a corporal, he was careful not to rise in the ranks, being a more useful asset as a low-ranking soldier.

As the war raged on, the Templars initiated a purge of the Colonial Assassins, during which Bellec witnessed the former commit ruthless acts. He claimed to have seen Templars massacre entire villages for the chance of eliminating a single Assassin. In 1762, he left the militia and traveled to France, escaping the purge just before the remnants of the Colonial Assassins were crushed.

Activities in Paris
Bellec settled in Paris, becoming a Master Assassin and a member of the French Assassin Council. He was charged with training apprentices of the Order, and became a tutor to Charles Dorian. While on a mission, Charles was locked in a swordfight with a Templar, only to be saved when his teacher assassinated the Templar from above. Bellec then passed Charles the latter's pocketwatch, telling him that he needed to return to his son safely.

In December 1776, Charles was murdered by the Templar Shay Cormac at the Palace of Versailles. For the next several years, Bellec had himself arrested numerous times in order to explore the prisons across Paris for mysterious glyphs containing cryptic messages of the past.

Meeting Arno Dorian
By May 1789, Bellec had managed to have himself imprisoned in the Bastille. At that time, 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. He also explained the young man about his Eagle Vision and taught him how to use it.

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 the 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 realized 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
"To save the Brotherhood, I'd see Paris burn."

- Bellec's dying words to Arno, 1791.

Bellec was a grizzled and argumentative individual, known for possessing a rather crude sense of humor. 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.

A loyal Assassin, Bellec scolded Arno when the latter pursued targets without the consent of the Assassin Council, even if he himself approved of the young man's actions. In reverence to the Levantine Brotherhood's history and influence, Bellec was able to speak Arabic to some extent.

Bellec's radical views on the conflict between the Assassins and Templars 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 was 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.

Equipment and skills
Pierre Bellec was a highly skilled Master Assassin, having been trained by the Brotherhood from a young age and serving as a soldier in the French Army. Because of this, he was proficient in unarmed combat, swordsmanship and freerunning – skills he would later tutor Arno in, along with pickpocketing and lockpicking. He also possessed the rare ability of Eagle Vision. In terms of equipment, Bellec was armed with a Hidden Blade, smoke bombs, a sword and a pistol.

Trivia

 * According to Bellec, his grandmother was Belgian.
 * Pierre is a French form of Peter, which is derived from the Greek word πέτρος (petros) meaning "stone" or "rock". Bellec is a patronymic surname, which has the Brittonic beleg, meaning "priest", as its origin.
 * Pierre's outfit is identical to the robes worn by members of the Parisian Brotherhood, albeit with a different colorscheme.