Mercenary

"I fight at your side, any time!"

- Mercenary's greeting to Ezio

The Mercenaries, known as the Mercenario in Italian, are one of the three factions of Assassin's Creed II helping the main character, Ezio (the other two being the Courtesans and the Thieves).

The Mercenaries in Tuscany/San Gimignano are led by Mario Auditore, Ezio's uncle. In Florence, the Mercenaries are led by Niccolò Machiavelli. In Venice, the Mercenaries are led by Bartolomeo d'Alviano.

Mercenaries (and all other hired help) cost 150 florins, follow you around, and make comments after a fight. They bear Heavy Weapons and are like a more powerful variation of the Brute. However, Mercenaries encountered in missions (that are not hired) are free and have Longswords and Maces. Due to their lack of armour, their effectiveness is drastically reduced and they can be outmatched by 2-3 Pazzi Guards. Ezio can order them to fight the Guards, thus providing a distraction.

Trivia
While distributing Bartolomeo's men to specific spots throughout the Castello district to distract Silvio, his men act like normal guards instead of Brutes, even being able to sprint.
 * During the mission to assassinate Vieri De Pazzi, Mario refers to his Mercenaries as his brothers, insinuating that they are Assassins, although they do not appear to actually be Assassins due to the fact that they're not carrying any of the equipment Assassins would usually have with them.
 * It's ironic that Niccolò Machiavelli is portrayed as the leader of Florentine mercenaries when he was strongly against the use of mercenaries in real life.
 * Strangely enough, Thieves are actually more combat effective than Mercenaries are.
 * In the mission "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" the Medici Guard act like mercenaries (except they don't bear heavy weapons, immediately run off to more fights when theirs is finished, and don't follow the player around).
 * In some parts of Venice, you can hire groups of six mercenaries instead of the usual four.
 * Mercenaries cannot perform any kind of parkour (free-running).
 * Interestingly,you can always hire Mercenaries during your missions or the ones you hired before your mission will appear in your mission as well.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood several of them will fight with you in the Tank Mission.
 * Mercenaries have weapons like brutes but are easily defeated by them.