Assassins

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"Laa shay'a waqi'un moutlaq bale kouloun moumkine ("Nothing is true, Everything is permitted" in arabic)''"

- The Assassin's Creed The Assassins, also known as the Hashshashin, are an organized Order of Assassins, who are in a continuous low-grade war with their greatest adversaries: the Knights Templar. The order has existed for at least a millennium, and was active during the Third Crusade, the Renaissance, and even into the year 2012.

The Order
The order believes in a firm creed of values that strictly govern their way of life, consisting of three tenets: stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent, hide in plain sight, and never compromise the Brotherhood. These tenets are lived daily by Assassins in the fight for "peace in all things". The Assassins carry out their duties through political strategic assassination, and by doing so, potential threats to peace are forever suppressed. By killing one individual, the Assassins believe that they can save tens of thousands.

Through their work, Assassins could be easily looked upon as keepers of peace. Assassins believe that they fight on behalf of those people who do not possess their abilities, resources, or knowledge to speak out against those in power who harm the powerless. Assassins speak to these corrupted men for the dispossessed by introducing them to the sharp edge of a blade.

By doing so, the common people are freed from the shackles of oppression. Even though the Assassins fight for the people, they are feared, because no matter how one looks at the matter, killing above the bounds of the law for noble purposes is still killing, still an essentially evil act. The only way to justify the Assassins' deeds is to see them through the prism of long-term self-defense, though many moralists and philosophers claim this is just sophistry, a rationalization for murder. The Assassins were most feared due to their terrifying reputation for taking life in public places before many witnesses. The Assassins did so to create an atmosphere in which it was not safe to commit corrupt acts under the sun. This spread fear amongst their enemies, for they never knew when they might fall to an enemy who they could not see or hear.

Assassins used a particularly efficient weapon for assassinations: the Hidden Blade. A single thrust from this weapon could change the course of the Holy Land's future, as well as that of all future history. Such power could easily go to an Assassin's head, causing him to lift himself above others knowing he could change history, thus becoming as corrupt as the men whom he slew. But the devotion to the Assassins primary goal (peace in all things) and the knowledge of their "Assassin's Creed" provided the moral guidance necessary to keep the corruption caused by ultimate power at bay. This was not always the case. In order to have the precise political impact desired by an assassination, the Assassins possessed extensive political knowledge and remained always in tune with the ever-changing politics surrounding the many empires of the Holy Land and later of Western Europe during the Renaissance. They used this information to decide whose death would most benefit the people of their region.

Obtaining this information was done by stationing agents within the various cities of the Middle East and Europe to keep an eye on the actions of the various nobles and rulers. When deployed on missions, elite master assassins or blade hands were the ones responsible for carrying out public assassinations. They worked alone in the field, usually disguised as holy scholars of any of the three major monotheistic faiths or other suitable caricatures. When stationed in a particular city, the Assassins would spend an immense amount of time getting acquainted with their environment and learning where and when it would be best to strike at their chosen target. The actual strike itself always took place in public. By performing the murder in the public's eye, the Assassins knew without a doubt that news and information about the assassination would spread quickly amongst the common people, and those other corrupt men who served the one assassinated, effectively spreading fear and disrupting the chain of command among the corrupted regime that had been targeted by the Assassins.

Note: The Templars think that religion is just a lie and a means to control, the Assassins do not deny religion, but they say it has been misunderstood (e.g. the garden of Eden)

Third Crusade
In 1191, during the Third Crusade, the Syrian branch of the Assassins Order has its stronghold in the fortress of Masyaf. Led by Al Mualim, the Assassins battle with the Templars and their leader, Robert de Sable over ideologies and the means with which to accomplish them. It is during the Third Crusade and this low-scale war with the Templars that Altair must find wisdom within himself from the "Assassin's Creed" in order to accomplish the assassinations appointed for his redemption. As the war intensifies and Altair begins to understand the Assassin's true way of life: the "Creed", its meaning begins to open Altair's eyes and mind to question his cause and the lives he is meant to take in the name of the Assassin's peace. Is killing these men the true and only way to teach those that have strayed? Or do they not deserve a second chance; "misguided perhaps but pure in motive". Altair, after killing Robert de Sable, confronts his Master, Al Mualim, who has secretly been a high-ranking Templar the entire time. After a grueling struggle, Altair defeats Al Mualim and becomes the leader of the Assassins, though many lives were lost during Al Mualim's short reign of Terror. Altair then dedicates the Order to hunting down and destroying the remaining Artifacts, left by "Those Who Came Before," using the Piece of Eden to find them.

Renaissance
During the Renaissance time period, the Assassin Order had apparently "gone underground". The reason for this is explained inside the Codex pages, where Altair states that even though the Templar Order was served a crushing defeat in the Holy Land and Cyprus, they still survived in more inconspicuous ways. As such, Altair believed that the Assassins too had to change tactics so as to live on.

For example, he talked of abandoning the Assassin fortress of Masyaf and conducting their operations more covertly so as not to attract attention from their enemies. He also proposed that the method of removing the ring finger was an obvious sign to Templar forces who the Assassin members were, and found a way to modify the Hidden blade and still keep their finger. Another way Altair changed tactics is by introducing the use of poison which before was considered a "cowards" tool. The Renaissance Italian Assassin Order, however, didn’t follow all these traditions that were passed down to them.

One example of this was the Auditore Villa, built by Ezio's great-grandfather, which acted as an Assassin fortress, containing recovered Codex pages and the Armor of Altair. It was considered an Assassin fortress (whilst containing the Auditore Family Crypt) even displaying a mix of the Auditore and Assassin symbols.

Rituals were still in place to induct new recruits as shown when Ezio is finally revealed to the rest of the Assassin Order, many of who have helped him over the years. Machiavelli (the supposed Grandmaster of the Assassins during the Renaissance) conducted a ritual, whereby he posed questions to Ezio, who had to respond with "Nothing is true, everything is permitted". He then finished by burning the ring finger on Ezio’s left hand, the same finger which use to be taken from Assassins to show their commitment to their Order.

However, they did still follow Altair's idea of keeping hidden and evolved into a secret society, despite the display of the Villa's Assassin heritage.

Modern Times
The Assassins managed to exist to at least the year 2012, and their war with the Templars continued. Both the Templars and Assassins went undercover amongst the society, with the Templars taking the form of many corporations such as NASA and Abstergo. However, many Assassins were kidnapped by Abstergo and were forced to use their invention, the Animus, which allows to user to view his/her ancestors memories through his genes. Many of them died in these projects due to the Bleeding Effect, which causes them to see events from their ancestors' memories while not in the Animus.

Many of them were also killed by Templars in direct combat, as the Templars were in far more numbers and had more advanced weaponry.

Known Assassins
"The seeds were planted as two worlds became one. Behold, the Assassins, the children of two worlds!"

- Subject 16

Members

 * Al Mualim (Master and leader of Syrian-Assassins (Secretly was a former Templar)
 * Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (Master Assassin and field instructor (Becomes Leader of the Syrian-Assassins after the events of the first game)
 * Harash (Al Mualim's right-hand man (Sold the Assassins Order to Basilisk)
 * Malik (Dai over Jerusalem's Assassin Bureau)
 * Kadar (Member of the Assassins and Malik's younger brother)
 * Raoul (Member of the Assassins)
 * Abbas(Member of the Assassins)
 * Masun (Traitor of Masyaf)
 * Jamal (possible Assassin that betrayed Masyaf)
 * Bahir (Damascus - Rooftop Race Informant PC version)
 * Karim (Acre - Rooftop Race Informant PC version)
 * The Dai and Rafiqs

Allies

 * Adha ("The Chalice")
 * Maria Thorpe (Altaïr's wife)

Members

 * Niccolò di Bernado dei Machiavelli (A nobleman from Naples; presumed Grand Master)
 * Giovanni Auditore da Firenze (Deceased Florentine Nobleman; Mario's brother, Ezio's father)
 * Mario Auditore da Firenze (Ezio's uncle and mercenary leader)
 * Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Florentine Nobleman; Giovanni's son)
 * Paola (Head of the Florentine Brothel)
 * Sister Teodora (Head of the Venetian Brothel)
 * Antonio (Head of the Venetian Thieves Guild)
 * La Volpe (Head of the Florentine Thieves Guild)
 * Bartolomeo d'Alviano (Head of the Venetian Mercenaries)

Allies

 * Leonardo da Vinci (Ezio's best friend, genius inventor)
 * Agostino Barbarigo (Brother of Marco Barbarigo; Doge of Venice)
 * Lorenzo de' Medici (Lord of Firenze)
 * Caterina Sforza (Countess of Forli)
 * Christoffa Corombo (Italian Conquistador)
 * Luis Santangel (Finance minister to Ferdinand II)

Members

 * Desmond Miles
 * Subject 16
 * Lucy Stillman
 * Shaun Hastings
 * Rebecca Crane
 * Any remaining Assassins alive (confirmed to be survivors by Lucy and Shaun).

Members

 * Adam and Eve
 * Abel
 * Darius
 * Iltani
 * Wei Yu
 * Qulan Gal
 * Amunet
 * Leonius
 * Dante Alighieri
 * Domenico Auditore
 * Boston Corbett (?)
 * Jack Ruby (?)

Allies

 * Nikola Tesla (An ally of the Assassins, helped destroy the Staff and cause the Tunguska Event)
 * Marco Polo (Brought the Codex from Mongolia to Italy)
 * Abraham Lincoln (?)
 * John F. Kennedy (?)

Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles

 * Tamir (Altaïr's Chronicles)
 * Alaat
 * Roland Napule
 * The Master's Student
 * Master of the Tower
 * Harash
 * Lord Basilisk

Assassin's Creed

 * Tamir
 * Garnier de Naplouse
 * Talal
 * Abu'l Nuqoud
 * William of Montferrat
 * Majd Addin
 * Jubair al Hakim
 * Sibrand
 * Robert de Sable
 * Al-Mualim

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines

 * Frederick the Red
 * Moloch
 * Dark Oracle
 * Shalim
 * Shahar
 * Pirate Captain
 * Armand Bouchart

Assassin's Creed II

 * Uberto Alberti
 * The Pazzi Family
 * Vieri de' Pazzi
 * Francesco de' Pazzi
 * Jacopo de' Pazzi
 * The Pazzi Conspirators
 * Stefano da Bagnone
 * Bernardo Baroncelli
 * Antonio Maffei
 * Francesco Salviati
 * The Barbarigo Family
 * Emilio Barbarigo
 * Marco Barbarigo
 * Silvio Barbarigo
 * Carlo Grimaldi
 * Dante Moro
 * Rodrigo Borgia (spared)

Emblem of the Assassins
It appears regularly throughout all Assassin's Creed games, like Ezio's Hidden Blade, Assassin Tombs, the Auditore Villa, belt buckles of Assassins, the Masyaf Temple and more notably, on the banner of each game's cover.

Real History
The Hashshashin (also Hashishin, Hashashiyyin, Hashasheen or Hassassins), from which the word assassin is thought to originate, was the Persian derived designation of the Nizari branch of the Ismā'īlī Shia Muslims during the Middle Ages. It is also confirmed that King Richard hired the Hashshashin to kill Conrad of Montferrat, son of William of Montferrat.