Richard I of England

"We come into the world kicking and screaming; violent and unstable. It is what we are, we cannot help ourselves."

- King Richard I.

Richard I of England, commonly known as Richard the Lionheart (1157 - 1199), was the King of England from 1189 to his death in 1199. He was the commander of the Crusader army during the Third Crusade, and was considered a great military leader and warrior.

Early life
Richard was born as the third of five brothers, thus he was not expected to be King, and was instead raised in northern France (which belonged to the King of England at the time). As a result, Richard spoke very little English.

When his two older brothers died without children of their own, Richard was the next in line, and became heir apparent. Even before he became King, Richard had earned the nickname "Lionheart" for his ferocity and utter fearlessness in battle.

Third Crusade
Richard landed in Acre on 8 June 1191, quickly forcing the city to surrender to the Crusaders.

Later that year, Richard departed Acre with his army to move south. He left William of Montferrat as Regent Lord of Acre, unaware that William was secretly a member of the Templar conspiracy, who intended to betray the King. Fortunately for the oblivious King, William was killed by the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad soon after Richard left Acre.

Under Richard, the Crusaders eventually reached Arsuf, where they engaged Salah Al'din's army. Here, they were approached by Altaïr, the Assassin responsible for killing not only William of Montferrat, but also the Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitalier (Garnier de Naplouse) and of the Knights Teutonic (Sibrand).

Altaïr claimed that Robert de Sable, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and one of the generals working alongside Richard, intended to betray the King. However, Robert insisted that Altaïr's story was merely a ruse to keep Richard from interfering in the Assassin's mission.

Richard left the decision in the hands of God, declaring that Robert and his Templars were to fight Altaïr in a trial by combat. Altaïr proved the victor, and so Richard accepted the Assassin's version of events.

Richard and Altaïr then discussed the philosophies of war and peace, in which Richard admitted that he was not yet ready for peace with Salah Al'din. As Altaïr left, saying that he needed to confront the faults of his Master, Richard reminded him that Al Mualim was merely human, just as he was.

Characteristics and personality
Richard was a man strong in faith, and relied upon God for crucial decisions. He did, however, seem tolerant towards non-believers, as Altaïr denying the help of God in his victory against Robert did not trouble him.

Richard believed that mankind could never change. In his mind, the only way for him to bring peace was for his men to crush their enemies, Salah Al'din and the Saracens.

Trivia

 * When observing King Richard through Eagle Vision, he appears to be red, implying that he is an enemy despite appearing to be friendly, or at least neutral towards Altaïr.
 * Richard can be attacked, but he will not die. In order for you to do this, you have to throw one soldier to him. Upon standing up, the soldier will try to attack you from inside the barrier. He will hit Richard instead and force him out of the barrier. You can attack him, but not kill him.
 * In-game, Richard is portrayed with a French accent, which is likely attributed to him being raised in France.