Arno Dorian

"The Creed of the Assassin Brotherhood teaches us that nothing is forbidden to us. Once, I thought that meant we were free to do as we would. To pursue our ideals, no matter the cost. I understand now. Not a grant of permission. The Creed is a warning."

- Arno Dorian, reflecting on his perception of the Creed.

Arno Victor Dorian (1768 – unknown) was a French member of the French Brotherhood of Assassins that was active during the time of the French Revolution. He is an ancestor of Callum Lynch and the only known son of the Assassin Charles Dorian, who was killed by the Assassin-turned-Templar Shay Cormac. As a child, Arno was adopted by François de la Serre, the Grand Master of the Parisian Rite of the Templar Order, where he was raised alongside de la Serre's daughter, Élise.

In May of 1789, de la Serre was murdered in one of the courtyards at Versailles as part of a coup within the Parisian Rite, and Arno was framed for the murder. Imprisoned at the Bastille, he met the Assassin Pierre Bellec, who told Arno of his Assassin heritage. Wracked with guilt for his past failures, Arno started upon a path of redemption and thus joined the Brotherhood, working to uncover the true instigators of the revolution, while also avenging his father and adoptive father in the process.

Throughout his journey, Arno gained various allies, including Antoine Lavoisier, Marquis de Sade, Georges Danton, Napoleon Bonaparte and Élise, who was now a Templar opposing a radical splinter faction within her Order. When the Assassin Mentor Honoré Mirabeau begrudgingly accepted an alliance with her on behalf of the Brotherhood, Bellec poisoned him, which caused Arno to kill Bellec in turn.

Arno and Élise later discovered that the leader of the splinter faction, François-Thomas Germain, had orchestrated de la Serre's death and was manipulating the revolution in the Templars' favor. After killing his subordinates, they tracked him down to the Temple in July of 1794. During a final confrontation, both Élise and Germain were killed, leaving Arno heartbroken over losing Élise and more cynical as a result.

After accepting a mission from de Sade in Franciade, Arno met a young boy named Léon. Together, they discovered that Napoleon had planned to use an artifact buried underneath the town to take control over France. Initially hesitant to take action, Arno eventually regained his sense of duty and decided to stop Napoleon's plans, recovered the artifact (which turned out to be an Apple of Eden) and sent it to Egypt not long after finding it.

By the year 2014, Arno's genetic memories were studied by both Abstergo Entertainment as well as by an unidentified member of the Initiates hacker group.

Early life
Arno was born into a noble household in Versailles, France, on August 26, 1768, as the only child of Charles and Marie Dorian. Due to his upbringing, Arno was well-educated, mostly having access to tutors and various books. At some point, Marie, having discovered her husband's allegiance to the Assassin Brotherhood, abandoned her family, leaving Charles to raise their son alone. Throughout most of his childhood, Arno traveled with his father, visiting places around Europe and North Africa.

In 1776, Arno accompanied his father to the Palace of Versailles, where Charles was attending a meeting with his fellow Assassins in regards to the protection of a Precursor box, a First Civilization artifact that had been recovered from the Colonial Templars twenty-five years earlier in 1751. Once in the palace, Charles had Arno sit in a chair while he went on to meet with his fellow Assassins; though Arno wanted to go with him, his father assured him he would return shortly (even giving him his pocket watch to keep track of the time) and would see some fireworks with him. Before leaving, Charles requested Arno not explore, to which Arno reluctantly agreed, only to ignore shortly afterwards while following a mysterious young noble girl outside; upon catching up with her, she encouraged him to steal an apple from a nearby bowl (which resulted in Arno having to escape punishment from nearby guards). Once alone with the girl, he introduced himself to her, to which she returned by introducing herself as Élise de la Serre, who accompanied her father to a meeting with King Louis XVI. Unbeknownst to Arno, while he and Élise were playing outside, Charles Dorian was assassinated by Shay Cormac, while attempting to locate Arno, who recovered the Precursor box from him and left before he could be caught.

Following the assassination, Arno and Élise overheard nearby commotion and, thinking the guards were still after them, confessed to stealing an apple; when the guards ignored him and continued onwards, Arno and Élise followed them (at her urging) to see what was going on. Upon seeing his father's deceased body, Arno could only stare in silent, horrified shock, but was brought out of his stupor by François de la Serre, who quickly adopted Arno, who was completely unaware that he was the Grand Master of the Parisian Rite of the Templar Order. Initially, de la Serre kept his allegiance to the Templars a secret from Arno, mostly out of respect for the boy's late father and because it had been a request made by his wife, Julie, and Élise (though he did tell his daughter to try and influence him into joining their cause). From that point on, Arno was raised alongside Élise, with whom he bonded with over the years. However, there were times that Arno remained distraught over the loss of his father, often writing letters to him upon his adopted father's suggestion, in order to cope with his grief.

When Julie fell ill, Élise stopped playing with Arno and spent more time at her mother's bedside. Arno, who barely knew Julie and was forbidden from entering her room, spent his days alone. François, distraught when his wife finally died, found comfort in being Arno's guardian. As he grew older, de la Serre began training Arno, sparring with him and teaching him how to hunt. The Grand Master was quite optimistic that Arno would one day join the Order, and arranged his timetable so he could train with the governor.

Arno hardly gave Julie's death a second thought, and was only a mere inconvenience to him since François and Élise stopped playing with him. When Élise was sent to Maison Royale de Saint-Louis school at to continue her education, she sent letters to Arno regarding her negative feelings for the students and teachers.

By 1788, Arno had moved out of the de la Serre household and lived in the slums of Paris. It was there that he spent his days and nights drinking, playing cards, and even entertaining women. Despite distancing himself, Arno still kept in contact with his adopted family, mostly with François and Élise.

One year later, in 1789, Arno lost his father's watch in a card game to two brothers, Hugo and Victor. Although Arno endeavored to steal the memento back, he was discovered. Enraged, Arno's pursuers chased him all the way back to the de la Serre household, where François attempted to mediate the situation by assigning Arno to assist his butler, Olivier, with chores (which entailed cleaning the horses for François' carriage ride to meet Élise).

As François left, a Templar messenger, Perrault, arrived in an attempt to deliver a letter from Chrétien Lafrenière, which Arno volunteered to deliver (as Perrault was already exhausted). Initially, he lost sight of de la Serre's carriage (and mistook another carriage for his), but Arno quickly rectified that problem by climbing the spire of a nearby church and using Eagle Vision to locate him; unfortunately, while he managed to get inside the building, Hugo and Victor cornered him before he could reach François. Though he bested his attackers, he was forced to flee from the guards. Returning to the de la Serre household, Arno decided to slip the letter under the door to François' study, confident that it would be found upon his return.

Imprisonment
That evening, Arno infiltrated the Palace of Versailles in order to attend a party that was being held in Élise's honor, though it was really her induction into the Templar Order. After sharing a romantic moment with her, Élise forced him to exit the room by going out the window, where he was forced to evade the palace's guards. When he reached the palace's courtyard, Arno came upon a mortally-wounded François, mistaking the state that he was in as public drunkenness. Unfortunately, François collapsed onto the ground and Arno rushed over to help him. Unaware of what was going on, Arno heard one of de la Serre's attackers, Charles Gabriel Sivert, call out to the guards whilst framing him for de la Serre's murder, before escaping the palace grounds. When the guards showed up, they automatically jumped to the conclusion that Arno was responsible for his adoptive father's death. Having resisted attempts for a peaceful arrest, the guards subdued Arno and he was taken and imprisoned in the Bastille.

After his first night in prison, Arno discovered that one of his fellow cellmates, Pierre Bellec, had stolen his father's watch. Infuriated, Arno demanded that Bellec give it back. Rather than do what Arno asked, Bellec decided to challenge the former to a duel, only for the latter to draw attention to the strange symbols he drew in his cell. Although Arno initially thought these symbols were nothing more than senseless scribbles all over the wall, Bellec aggressively urged Arno to concentrate, which caused Arno to realize these symbols had a much bigger meaning. This resulted in Bellec dragging Arno to a corner, realizing he possessed Eagle Vision. Once Arno introduced himself properly this time, Bellec instantly recognized Arno's last name, revealing that his late father was an Assassin before returning the watch and offering to train Arno, which proceeded for the following two months of their imprisonment. When the Bastille came under attack from a civil uprising, Arno and Bellec escaped. Before parting ways, Bellec gave Arno a medallion, saying it would lead him to the Assassins in Paris, and performed a Leap of Faith from the fortress's battlements. Despite being hesitant to follow Bellec, he was forced to follow him in the maneuver after being cornered by several guards.

Subsequent to his escape, Arno visited Élise, who assumed he was responsible for her father's death. Arno professed his innocence and told Élise about her father's Templar heritage, only to learn that she was aware of it, and was a member of the Templar Order herself. She then showed him the letter he was supposed to deliver at the night of François' murder, which warned him of betrayal from someone within the Parisian Rite. Realizing his negligence played a larger part in the events than he had previously believed, Arno left the mansion afterward.

Joining the Brotherhood
"...The Assassins... They gave me a purpose. Something to believe in. To see that betrayed... I need to make it right myself. I need to know why."

- Arno Dorian, reflecting his thoughts to Élise, 1791.

Wracked with guilt and blaming himself for de la Serre's death, Arno sought out the Assassins, discovering their headquarters underneath the Sainte-Chapelle. He was then inducted into the Brotherhood and vowed to hunt down François' murderers to redeem himself for his failures.

One of his earliest missions with the Brotherhood was to protect Théroigne de Méricourt during the Women's March on Versailles.

Two years later, Arno joined Bellec in tracking down Sivert, but the latter chose to acquire a ledger of Templar records rather than assassinate Sivert, since they were not assigned to kill him. When they reported to the Council, it was Bellec who criticized the Mentor Mirabeau's truce with the Templars, and the rest of the Council agreed that the new Grand Master would not keep the truce. Arno managed to gain Bellec and the Council's blessing to assassinate Sivert after learning his secrets.

Arno surveyed Sivert's meeting at Notre-Dame and determined opportunities that he could exploit. He proceeded to retrieve the building keys from the thieves who took them and assassinated Sivert's accomplice, Duchesneau, in order to take his place in the confessional booth where Duchesneau and Sivert was supposed to meet. Posing as Sivert's accomplice, Arno received information about the Templars' manipulations against the corruption of the church. Once Sivert had revealed all he knew, Arno stabbed Sivert in the throat with his Hidden Blade, killing him instantly. In that moment, Arno saw Sivert's memories and learned he had a partner-in-crime on the night of François' murder, the Roi des Thunes, who struck the killing blow. Having learned this, Arno returned to the Council to report his findings. When he requested permission to hunt down Roi des Thunes, he was given a Phantom Blade.



On 19 January 1791, Arno arrived at the Cour des Miracles and singled out Roi des Thunes' lieutenant, Aloys la Touche, who was in the process of amputating a young man's right foot. Before Arno could intervene, the Marquis de Sade casually introduced himself and advised Arno not to lash out so hastily, suggesting instead that he follow la Touche back to his master. Reciprocating this, Arno tailed la Touche back to his residence and interrogated him, eventually trapping la Touche in shackles. Arno proceeded to infiltrate Roi des Thunes' lair, just as la Touche had freed himself to warn Arno's target of the impending danger. Nevertheless, Arno proceeded to assassinate Roi des Thunes, learning of his motive for assassinating de la Serre from his memories, and that he and Sivert did so under the orders of their new Grand Master.

Returning to the surface, Arno discovered that the Marquis de Sade had immediately superseded the position of Le Roi des Thunes. As Arno turned to leave, de Sade produced the poisoned pin that killed de la Serre, to which he identified a silversmith named François-Thomas Germain. After tracking down and rescuing the silversmith, Germain claimed that a man named Lafrenière commissioned it, and confirmed Arno's statement of Lafrenière being a Templar.

With this, Arno tracked down and assassinated Chrétien Lafrenière, only to learn that he had penned the letter to Francois de la Serre, warning the former Grand Master of an eventual betrayal within the Templar Order. Arno reported his findings to the Assassin Council, who were outraged that he had assassinated Lafrenière without their consent. However, when Arno mentioned that Lafrenière was planning on attacking the Hôtel de Beauvais, and not an Assassin base, the Council begrudgingly aggreed to send him to investigate the meeting.

After successfully infiltrating the hotel, Arno eavesdropped on the meeting of a group of Templars, led by an unknown figure plotting to eliminate Élise. After hearing this, Arno escaped the hotel and managed to save Élise from the Templar ambush at the Hôtel Voysin. Following this, Arno then rendezvoused with her at the Café Théâtre, where he offered to help Élise avenge her father. To this end, he proceeded to bring a blindfolded Élise before the Assassin Council where, despite the hostility from the Assassins – particularly Bellec – Mirabeau was more inclined to parlay with her.

While the Council debated over Élise's offer of alliance, Arno informed her of Germain and his last known location, prompting her to run off. By the time she came to a stop, Élise informed Arno that Germain was exiled from the Templar Order for his radical views and heretical notions about Jacques de Molay. Investigating Germain's residence, they found it empty, as the man had anticipated that his deception would not hold up. Upon evading a Templar ambush, Élise found a ledger confirming that Germain had murdered her father. As they were shot at by snipers, Arno instructed Élise to go to Mirabeau's estate while he dealt with their attackers.

Confronting Bellec
When Arno arrived at Mirabeau's estate, he found the Mentor poisoned. Suspecting someone was attempting to pin the blame on Élise, Arno tracked down the apothecary and had discovered that Mirabeau's murderer was Pierre Bellec. Bellec had done this because he strongly believed that no peace could be achieved between the two factions, and that purging the Brotherhood to remake it into a stronger organization was a good thing. This approach had been similar to what Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and Connor had done, but in Bellec's case, it backfired. Even though he tried to persuade Arno to join his cause, he refused and was forced to fight his former teacher.

Arno managed to gain the upper hand in the fight, having no choice but to kill Bellec when he tried to kill Élise. Before dying, Bellec commended Arno for defeating him, and urged Arno to finish him off, otherwise he would never stop. Once Bellec died from his wounds, Arno paid him his final rites.

As a lesser punishment for allowing two Master Assassins to die, the Council assigned Arno to "fetch and carry work." However, he did aid his fellow Assassins in aiding Théroigne de Méricourt against the Templar Flavigny's attempts to cause a food shortage.



In August 1792, he was ordered to infiltrate Palais des Tuileries and destroy Mirabeau's letters to the King there which could compromise the Brotherhood. It was then, that Arno met with Napoleon Bonaparte, who was in turn searching for a specific key. As the palace became swarmed with extremists, Napoleon and his soldiers helped Arno escape through a secret passage, but not before Arno noticed another Templar, Frédéric Rouille. After escaping the palace, Napoleon provided Arno with Rouille's location at the Grand Châtelet prison, allowing Arno to assassinate him.

Execution of the King
Arno later joined with Élise to stop Marie Lévesque's plot of hoarding grain in order to turn the middle and lower classes against the King. After assassinating Lévesque, Arno and Élise managed to escape from the Templar extremists using a hot air balloon, before having a romantic moment.

Arno subsequently pursued Levesque's accomplice, Louis-Michel le Peletier, with aid from Marquis de Sade. From there, Arno snuck into the cafe le Peletier was dining in and substituted the Templar's wine with a poisoned bottle. Upon its consumption le Peletier was rendered paralyzed, allowing Arno to assassinate him, to which the Assassin learned that le Peletier had cast the tie-breaking vote for the execution of King Louis XVI, and that François-Thomas Germain would be present for the execution.

On 21 January 1793, Arno confronted Germain as the execution was underway, with the latter proclaiming the rebirth of the Templar Order. Germain posited to Arno that the reason for de la Serre's murder was to rid the Templar Order of corruption and bigotry, while also stating that it served only the first phase of the Order's reformation, and that it would be truly reborn with the death of the King.

Germain revealed his plans as Louis XVI was placed at the guillotine. By ridding France's upper class and aristocracy of power, it would be much easier for the Templars to gain control over France, by granting power to the people instead. Once the King was beheaded, François proclaimed that Jacques de Molay had been avenged, then made his escape, leaving Arno to deal with his subordinates. With Élise caught in the fighting, Arno focused more on defending her than pursuing Germain. This displeased Élise, who desired revenge and rejected any further aid from Arno.

Exile
Arno met with the Assassin Council to discuss his lead on the Templar Grand Master, however he was directed to the ceremony chamber. Arno attempted to update the Council, but they silenced him and cast judgment on him instead. The Council did not approve of what they believed was a personal vendetta for revenge, brashly killing targets without permission from themselves. They declared that Arno was banished from the Brotherhood and he was no longer welcome, but that he was fortunate they would not punish him further.

Arno left the Sanctuary and Paris to live at the de la Serre estate in Versailles, where he gained a reputation for being a drunkard. In his stupor, he got into a bar fight, ending in his humiliating defeat and the loss of his father's watch to the gang leader. He tracked the gang to the Palais de Versailles, was forced to face the terrible memories of his past, and killed the entire gang, only for Élise to turn up with his watch in hand.

Deducing that she wanted something from him, Arno furiously reopened old wounds from their last fight, stating that he cared more about her than killing Germain and that he wanted to assuage the guilt he felt for causing her father's death. When he allowed Élise to speak, she informed him that Paris had become more chaotic because of Germain. She encouraged him to be the man she loved and return with her to Paris. Arno agreed to come, but only after he assassinated Aloys la Touche, who had sown dissent and fear amongst the populace of Versailles.

During this, he reconciled with and saved his former enemies Victor and Hugo, who were supposed to be sentenced to execution. After assassinating la Touche, Arno discovered that Germain had one final conspirator and mastermind behind the Reign of Terror, Maximilien de Robespierre.

Return to Paris
Joining forces with some of his former brothers, Arno helped the Assassins in undermining Robespierre's leadership of the Republic, assassinating General Marcourt, Jacques Roux, and rescuing the spy Didier Paton. They aided the Girondists and attempted to rescue Georges Danton, but he refused. They also prevented a raid on Mirabeau's tomb in the Panthéon.



In 1794, despite the anarchy, Paris was in the middle of a celebration. Élise revealed to Arno that the event was being hosted by Robespierre. Arno insisted on assassinating Robespierre, but Élise suggested a different approach since Robespierre was well-guarded.

After discreetly infiltrating the celebration and locating Robespierre, Élise planned to discredit him in the eyes of the public, allowing her and Arno to kill him easily. Arno agreed and gathered incriminating evidence while Élise poisoned Robespierre's winery with powdered. After Arno planted the evidence on several people, the people turned against Robespierre and arrested him, much to Arno and Élise's surprise.



Despite this, Robespierre broke free of his imprisonment and sought shelter from the last vestiges of his allies in France. Tracking Robespierre down to the Hôtel de Ville, Arno and Élise infiltrated it and cornered him. As he refused to cooperate, Élise shot him in the jaw, to which Robespierre revealed that Germain was located in the Parisian Temple by writing it on parchment. Following this, Arno and Élise arrived at the Temple and infiltrated it, eventually locating Germain. Before Arno could assassinate him, however, Germain used the power of a Sword of Eden against him in combat, before using it to disappear from the chamber.

Arno subsequently managed to find Élise again, and together they entered the Templar crypt in the catacombs, where they once again confronted Germain. While Élise was distracting Germain, Arno attempted to assassinate the Grand Master once more, but failed due to a shield projected by the sword. After three more attempts, Arno managed to break through, but the shock wave trapped him under rubble. Élise came to Arno's aid, but noticed Germain attempting to escape. Despite Arno's protests, Élise left him behind to pursue Germain, but failed to kill the Grand Master.



Élise's sword was broken during the fight, while the Sword of Eden's power was rendered unstable. Arno managed to free himself and rushed to help Élise, but was too late as the Sword of Eden exploded, killing Élise and mortally wounding Germain in the process. In an act of grief, Arno slowly assassinated Germain by stabbing him in the throat with his Hidden Blade. In a vision following his death, Germain explained his struggle of being a Sage, and his beliefs in de Molay's and Élise's unfortunate deaths.

As Germain finally succumbed to his wounds, Arno mournfully carried Élise's body out from the Temple, leaving behind Germain's lifeless body inside.

Hiding in Franciade
Arno undertook another mission with his fellow Assassins and Théroigne de Méricourt, attacking the Jacobins' headquarters. Depressed following Élise's death, he took a sabbatical in Franciade, drinking away his sorrows in a local tavern. Eventually he was contacted by de Sade, who asked him to find a manuscript made by Nicolas de Condorcet, hidden in the tomb of Louis IX inside the royal necropolis. During their meeting in the tavern, the Marquis paid Arno's drinking debts and promised him a place on a ship leaving France for Egypt four days later, in exchange for Condorcet's scientific studies.

While searching for the manuscript in the undercity, Arno found out that the manuscript was not in the tomb and that a group of crypt raiders were searching for the entrance of a Temple. After more investigations, he discovered that the manuscript was stolen by a young thief named Léon, and while searching the necropolis for him, Arno found out that he had been captured by the raiders for spying on them.

Hiding, Arno heard that the raiders were led by Philippe Rose and sponsored by Napoleon Bonaparte in order to open the Precursor temple under the Basilica and take the Piece of Eden stored within. Arno then saved the unruly orphan from the raiders and recovered the manuscript, though he was reluctant to involve himself in Bonaparte's affairs, wishing instead to leave France at the earliest opportunity. His resolve softened after visions of Élise and the boy's pleas, as well as the imperious need to save France. Arno eventually decided to stop the raiders from acquiring the artifact before leaving for Egypt.

Finding the location of the Temple and stealing the key from one of Napoleon's officers, Arno was able to open the door leading to it but was ambushed by Rose, who intended to take the artifact for himself. Arno fell into the depths of the necropolis, but survived and managed to reach the Temple before the raiders' leader could take the Piece of Eden.

Arno then killed Rose, recovered the Head of Saint Denis and used its power to repel the numerous raiders and escape the Temple. Later, as agreed, Arno met de Sade in the tavern and gave him Condorcet's manuscript. However, he repaid his drinking debt with a and left without a word, having decided to stay in France. Arno also contacted the Brotherhood, asking them to bring the Apple of Eden contained in the Head of Saint Denis to Al Mualim in Egypt, beyond the reach of Bonaparte.

Ruddock's betrayal
Now residing in Versailles, Arno was met in September 1794 by the outcast Assassin Bernard Ruddock, an acquaintance of Élise's who had contacted Arno at some point after Élise's death. Ruddock gave Arno a letter that Élise had written in the event of her death, explaining a number of her actions and directing him to find her chest of keepsakes. She only asked that Arno allow Ruddock to keep a pack of letters that she had been given by Jennifer Scott on her trip to London, which would allow Ruddock to gain favor with the Assassin Council and rejoin the Brotherhood.

Arno agreed to honor her wishes, took Ruddock's address and told him he would be in touch once he had obtained the letters and Élise's chest. Arno also agreed that he would endorse any efforts he made to win favor with the Assassins. Arno traveled to the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis where he met Élise's teacher, Frederick Weatherall and was given the chest as promised.

Ruddock had followed Arno and betrayed him, attempting to kill him on the order of the British Templars. However, Ruddock was killed by Weatherall before he could shoot Arno. Arno stayed with Élise's friends during the years following her death, having been invited to stay by her former maid out of respect to her mistress.

Master Assassin
By October 1794, Arno had rejoined the Brotherhood and was working again with his brothers, when sixteen years after Rousseau's death, his remains were transferred to the Pantheon. As it passed through Franciade, the procession carrying the ashes of the philosopher to Paris was attacked by raiders hired by a mysterious benefactor, but the plot was foiled and the raiders eliminated by Arno and another Assassin. At some point, Arno earned the rank of Master Assassin.

During the following years while undergoing several missions for the Brotherhood, Arno also tried to honor Elise's last will of reducing the gap between the Templars and Assassins. He also frequently visited Élise's grave, and proclaimed himself redeemed of his previous mistakes.

On 24 December 1800, Arno prevented a Royalist assassination attempt on Napoleon involving snipers, as well as an explosive device known as the Machine Infernale. Arno managed to assassinate the snipers before they could fire at Napoleon's carriage, and the Machine Infernale was detonated too early, away from Napoleon's carriage. Arno then tracked down the Royalist leader behind the assassination attempt and eliminated him and his henchmen.

In 1808, Arno entered the Temple once more, accompanied by Napoleon. There, they discovered Germain's corpse which had long since decayed. They then buried his skeletal remains in the Parisian catacombs.

Legacy
In 2014, centuries after his death, a DNA sample of one of Arno's descendants living in Montreal was acquired by Abstergo Entertainment in order to find out what happened with Germain's remains. Robert Fraser was tasked with reliving his memories, however, he suffered a strong Bleeding Effect, believing himself to be Arno and eventually destroying all his work and burning his superior's hard drive in order to help the Assassins.

Both sides ended up discovering that Germain's remains were useless for the Phoenix Project by the end of the year.

Coincidentially, Abstergo kidnapped another descendant of Arno, Callum Lynch, in 2016, but this time to relive the memories of a different ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha. Later, as Cal fully synchronized with Aguilar, Arno was present among the group of his Assassin ancestors that briefly appeared through the Animus to convince Cal to embrace his heritage.

Personality and characteristics
"What is this, the sixth time? Seventh? Perhaps a new hobby might be better for your health."

- François de la Serre, regarding Arno's troublemaking habits, 1789.

In his early life, Arno was witty and charismatic but also no-nonsense, which fed into his sharp sense of humor, falling back on it whenever he felt emotionally vulnerable. He was brash in nature, rushing into action over reason, which was a flaw seen by members of the Assassin Council. This often led him into trouble along with his adopted sister Élise. Due to the fact that he was well-educated, Arno often quoted classical books, though his noble upbringing did not prevent him from cheating at card games.

After the murder of his adoptive father, Arno set out on a quest to find redemption, using this goal to help others in the turbulent time of the French Revolution. As a newcomer to the Assassins, he was prone to questioning their typical approach and age-old beliefs, but was aided in the field by his stealthy and ruthless nature. It was at this time that he began to mature and take his life more seriously. As he became more serious, his personality began to quickly change, and was able to focus on the task at hand; as a result of this, he wasn't as witty or brash as he once was.

Arno, seeing the turmoil in France first-hand, desired to bring justice. He displayed dismay or even frustration when Bellec told him not to intervene when extremists were harassing citizens, or when de Sade discouraged him from saving a man getting his leg amputated by la Touche. This stemmed from the fact of his failure to save his adoptive father, and the desire to amend his mistakes.



Over time, Arno realized the true purpose of the Creed, and its flaws. He concluded that the Creed merely served as a guide and a warning, rather than a principle meant for one to follow, having witnessed first-hand how ideals led to dangerous fanaticism, as seen with Bellec and Germain. Or how Élise became obsessed with getting revenge, which cost her life in the end.

Following Élise's death, Arno suffered from depression and sorrow, causing him to become more cynical in nature. This ultimately led to his abandonment of France, and unwillingness to involve himself in saving it from Napoleon's schemes, while also discouraging Léon from doing so. However, after witnessing the "dark magic" the Head of Saint Denis possesses, he eventually came to terms with his past, and regained his resolve to be an Assassin again.

By the time he became a Master Assassin, Arno had become extremely wise and analytical. He was able to understand that an idea, if pushed too far, would be detrimental to the person and those around him.

Arno was fiercely independent, as he questioned the Assassins' Creed and the ways of Altaïr, preferring to do things his own way. He also declined Napoleon's offer to join the French Army saying that he "wasn't much of one to take orders." Napoleon respected Arno for this, remarking at how they both had similar views that defined them differently to most other people. Arno also somewhat respected Napoleon's views to an extent as well.

Equipment and skills
"I am... no longer certain of Lafrenière's motivations. In his memories, I saw him writing the letter that would have warned (Mister) de la Serre of his betrayal. When he spoke of his impending attack, he mentioned a club in the Marais - not one of our safehouses."

- Arno Dorian describing his gift, 1791.

From his early childhood, Arno spent several days sword fighting with Élise, whom proved to outrank him. He was later taught by François in terms of basic swordsmanship as well as hunting. By the time of his early adulthood, Arno had become a decent swordsman as proven where he was able to fend off Hugo and Victor. He perfected the art in which he could engage multiple opponents in battle and utilize the environment to his advantage. Eventually, it was honed to the point where Arno was able to defeat his mentor Bellec. He later passed these lessons on to a young girl named Marianne in the fight to reclaim her home.

Arno grew to become a skilled freerunner as he was able to scale buildings as well as natural elements with relative ease, his agile speed allowed him to traverse over and under several obstacles. In addition he proved to be a capable swimmer, able to swim great distances with exceptional ease.

Upon joining the Brotherhood under the wing of Pierre Bellec, Arno eventually became a Master Assassin trained in the methods of stealth, swordsmanship, combat, firearms, pickpocketing and lockpicking. Arno was able to wield a variety of weaponry including swords, pistols, spears, heavy weapons, rifles as well as Guillotine Guns. As he journeyed through the Brotherhood, Arno also claimed several weapons from his targets as trophies, namely a round axe (from Charles Gabriel Sivert), an officer's pistol (from the Roi des Thunes), a light halberd (from Frédéric Rouille) and finally a Sword of Eden from François-Thomas Germain.

Arno's stealthy and ruthless nature aided him. As a master of stealth, he could utilize various corners and hiding spots to silently assassinate his targets without being noticed. He proved to be proficient with his Hidden Blade utilizing it in both stealth assassinations as well as in open combat.

In terms of weaponry Arno wielded a Hidden Blade alongside a Phantom Blade, which was capable of firing normal and berserk darts; He carried a wide range of bombs in his arsenal including smoke, stun, cherry or poisonous gas variants, of which he could utilize them to either distract or cripple his enemies.

Arno possessed sharp observational skills as he was able to identify and pinpoint several opportunities that could aid him during his assignments; thess deductive skills also helped Arno when solving numerous murder mysteries around Paris. Arno possessed the rare ability of Eagle Vision, as well as a sub-version dubbed 'Eagle Pulse' which he used to perceive his enemies, allies and objects of interest – even through walls – but only for a limited time. Additionally, his First Civilization bloodline granted him the ability to see the memories of those whose lives he took.

Romantic life
Taken in as an orphan into the de la Serre household, Arno grew up along with François de la Serre's boisterous daughter, Élise. Viewing her more as a friend than a sister, his feelings for Élise eventually changed into mutual love as they both matured, though they kept the romance a secret due to differences in social class. Due to their own respective educations, the lovers had very little time together and could only meet up several times a year. Additionally, although Arno loved Élise he did break his tryst with several women during their long periods of separation; but still loved only her.

Once Élise discovered Arno's failure to deliver a letter warning her father of the betrayal, their relationship became strained. Élise held Arno responsible for her father's death, and it was not until years later, coincidentally by which point Arno had joined the Assassins, that the two began to rebuild their friendship and quickly resumed their romance. After Élise died, Arno was thrown into depression and cynicism. However, he was eventually able to get his life back on track and have descendants at a later unknown point in his life.

Trivia

 * Arno's name is a derivative of German Arnold and French Arnaud. Its old German origin is Arenwald, meaning "eagle power", from aren "eagle" and wald "power" or "governing". Victor is Latin for "conqueror", while Dorian is a Greek name meaning "gifted".
 * Much like Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad before him, Arno was an Assassin that consorted and eventually became romantically involved with a Templar. However, Altaïr had been aware of Maria Thorpe's allegiance before entering into the relationship, while Arno was not aware of Élise's until after the murder of her father.
 * Arno was mentioned in Assassin's Creed: Rogue in a message from Melanie Lemay to one of the Abstergo Entertainment employees regarding research into Arno's genetic memories. He appeared in person during the final memory of Shay Cormac relived by the Helix research analyst. This appearance takes place when Arno meets Élise for the first time, before Shay kills his father.
 * In all but one trailer, Arno is shown using the Hidden Blade on his right arm, but in the game, it is on his left arm. The only trailer to show the Hidden Blade on his left arm is the TV-spot trailer.
 * Arno's backstory is somewhat similar to Ezio Auditore's: Both men were of noble descent, carefree and trouble-making in their youth, both suffered familial losses at the hands of the Templars and both ended up humbled and wiser by the Assassin Brotherhood later in life.
 * Arno's birthday corresponds with the proclamation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789.

Appearances

 * Assassin's Creed: Rogue
 * Assassin's Creed: Unity
 * Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel)
 * Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment - Employee Handbook
 * Assassin's Creed: Heresy
 * Assassin's Creed (film)
 * Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization