Soldier

Guards are the most common opponents for an Assassin to battle throughout the Assassin's Creed series.

Assassin's Creed
"Hashshashin!"

- A Saracen guard, upon seeing Altaïr.

During the course of Assassin's Creed, there are two main types of guards: Soldiers and Archers. The archers are mostly the same, but there are three ranks of soldiers, all of whom are armed with swords with varying styles.

The ordinary Crusader and Muslim soldiers or archers speak English, Crusader Captains and Sergeants speak French or German, Muslim Captains and Guards speak Turkish or Arabic and the Templar Knights speak all of the dialects (but only speak Arabic in Altaïr's fight against Robert's imposter).

The following are the different ranks of a soldier guard, as well as certain special types of guards.

Regular Guards
The ordinary soldiers don't wear helmets (or wear turbans instead, for those in Muslim cities) and are only equipped with leather armor or light Lamellar armor. They cannot grab or break a grab attack, cannot combo attack and cannot counter attack. They can only deflect attacks, and there is a 25% chance of dodging a light attack. Guard archers are on par with ordinary ones, except that they are only found on rooftops, wear a hood, and use bows for a ranged attack.

Elite Guards
These Guard Sergeants are equipped helmets, with the Crusader variant wearing chain mail tabards, and Saracen Sergeants possessing medium Lamellar armor. They can grab and there is a 50% chance of them being able to break a grab attack, as well as a 50% one of countering or dodging a light attack. There is also a 25% chance of breaking your defense, but they cannot perform a combo attack.

Guard Captains
Guard Captains are the most powerful guards besides the Knights Templar. The Muslim Captains wear Baidah helmets and heavy Lamellar armor, while Crusader captains wear chain mail tabards with surcoats, chain mail mittens and varying knight helms (with faces usually covered, due to helmet size). They can grab too and there is a 75% chance of them being able to break a grab attack and counter or dodge a light attack. There is also a 50% chance of breaking your defense. If a successful heavy attack is delivered, they will perform a combo attack.

Knights Templar
Templar Knights are a special variation of guard where only 60 are found in the entire game. They are similar to the Crusader guard captain, except possessing higher stats and a special armor, most notably a version of helmet that always appears bloodstained. They will also provoke a fight when they see Altaïr, no matter what his social status is, and ordinary guards will always stand back while Altaïr and the Templar Knights engage each other. Strangely enough, Templar Knights can be found in many places, including mountain paths and Muslim cities.

Masyaf Guards
The guards of Masyaf, despite being marked as an ally via Eagle Vision, function exactly like normal ones. They are equipped with robes similar to Altaïr's, but they only have a long sword and their robes are shorter. The ordinary guards wear no hoods, the elite guards wear hoods, and the guard captains wear hoods and cloth face masks, leaving only their eyes visible. They all speak English and have all five fingers, indicating that, though members of the order, they are not Assassins themselves, instead serving as the "Common Soldiers" of the Assassins.

Assassin's Creed II
"Assassino!"

- A guard in Venice, upon seeing Ezio.

In Assassin's Creed II, there are five types of enemy guards:

Note: In the memory The Cowl Does Not Make The Monk, the guards are disguised as monks.

Coloring
The coloring of the guards uniforms can identify whom they serve in the game, whether it be a city or a person.


 * Black caps and red sleeves mean they serve the Pazzi family. These guards disappear after Sequence 5, but before then, they are found in Florence and Tuscany.
 * Dark red caps and black sleeves with red going down the side mean they serve the Borgia. These guards usually guard Codex pages and appear whenever you encounter Rodrigo Borgia outside of Rome. They can be found at the north strip of Venice.
 * Dark yellow caps and sleeves with black armor plates mean they serve the Medici Family. These guards first appear helping you fight the Pazzi during Sequence 4, and are found in Florence and San Gimignano.
 * Green caps and sleeves means they serve the city of Forlì. They aid you in Sequence 12, and are found only in Forlì.
 * Blue caps and sleeves with gold armor plates mean they serve the city of Venice. They have much better armor than any other regular guard in the game, and are only found in Venice.
 * Black caps, sleeves, and armor plates mean they serve Girolamo Savonarola. They only appear in Sequence 13, are as heavily protected as Venetian guards, and can be seen fighting Borgia guards throughout the city.
 * White caps with red and white sleeves mean that they serve Rome. They can only be seen in Sequence 14 in Rome, and are the most heavily protected class of guards in the game.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
In addition to the guards of Assassin's Creed II, there are several new guard types to reflect the changing location and time period. Guards will also be more aggressive and will have new moves of their own, such as being able to grab Ezio, though this can easily be countered by flipping them to the ground.

Compared to Assassin's Creed II, there are no longer Elite-ranked Regular guards, only Militia or Leaders, and both Militia and Seekers now have the ability to throw sand at Ezio.

Crossbowmen
Similarly to archers, Crossbowmen patrol and defend the rooftops, but are more deadly, Crossbow bolts causing more damage and hitting Ezio faster than arrows fired from a longbow. Unlike the Archers from Assassin's Creed II, the Crossbowmen have no melee weapon, and if closed in on will walk backwards to create distance. However, compared to the Archers they have increased free-running ability, and if investigating, they will leap over towards where they detected Ezio.

Horsemen
Horsemen patrol the streets of Rome and are deadly in both short and long range, being able to slash Ezio while on a horseback. They will also try to hit Ezio with the arrows from their Crossbow, or in some cases, their Throwing Knives, if he attempts to flee.

Amongst the Regular guards, the armored ones will sometimes mount horses and act as Horsemen, but only those that spawn as Horsemen (already on horseback) count towards the Guild Challenges.

Arquebusiers
The Arquebusiers are firearm-wielding soldiers who serve and protect the pontiff during their tenure. They act similarly to Crossbowmen, but are able to fire faster shots that cause more damage.

Papal Guards
The Papal Guard are elite soldiers commanded by the Papacy to serve and protect the pontiff during his tenure. The armor worn by these guards is heavy, though seems largely ceremonial in design. They also combine the best qualities of all the other guards, like speed and combat abilities (dodging reflexes), and are able to dual-wield a pistol alongside their primary weapon.

Cento Occhi Thieves
On very rare occasions, mostly at night or sunset, masked thieves will attack Ezio in addition to the guards. In appearance, they wear hats similar to that of the militia, clothes of a civilian or thief, and a bandanna over their faces. They attack with small daggers and throwing knives. They cannot be seen or picked out of a crowd, as they appear to jump into the battle randomly to support their Papal overlords. They each carry large amounts of money and a trade item, similar to a Borgia Courier or a pickpocket. They also appear in the High-Stakes Negotiations memory.

French Soldiers
Up until after Sequence 6 after the French general Octavian de Valois is killed, French guards will appear in the Campagna district in Rome. They are stationed in military camps (referred to as Guard Posts) throughout the Campagna district, the small camps consist of ten soldiers guarding their territory. The main French camp is the most heavily guarded, and is where Octavian was located before his death. French soldiers will behave exactly the same as Borgia guards in combat, patrols and ranking. However, there are no French arquebusiers outside of the final mission of Sequence 6, and they are colored a dark blue instead of the Borgia red.

Viana Guards
Viana guards only appear in Sequence 9, during the Siege of Viana. They will engage Ezio in a fight if he is seen, or they will either attack the invading soldiers of King John's army. These guards act the same in combat patrolling and ranking, and their clothes and armor are dyed yellowish-green.

Navarre Soldiers
These guards serve King John III of Navarre and only appear in Sequence 9 at Viana, under the command of Cesare Borgia as he tries to retake the Viana Castle from the Count of Lerin. These guards will attack Ezio on sight or fight Viana guards. They behave exactly the same as any other regular guard in terms of combat, ranking and patrols. Their clothes and armor are colored red.

Taunts
The following are examples of taunts that Ezio uses to anger the guards in Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and provoke them into an easily countered attack:
 * "It's a fight, fesso (fool)! Start fighting for a change!"
 * "Come now! You bore me!"
 * "Are you afraid?!"
 * "Bring it on!"
 * "Your mamma cannot save you now!"
 * "Hurry up! I need to meet a lady friend!"
 * "Shall we dance?"
 * "I hate these awkward moments!"
 * "Generally they are made to swing!"
 * "Do you Actually have to use it?!"
 * "Can you hear me in there, metal man?" (only to Brutes)
 * "Come on, you fat pig!" (only to Brutes)

Taunts are not an available move in the first Assassin's Creed game.

Trivia

 * The quickest way to defeat any guard is to counter kill with the hidden blade. This requires reflexes and timing, however, as the counter kill window is only a fraction of that of a sword or dagger.
 * The amount of counter attacks needed to kill a guard does not affect counter kills with heavy weapons, long weapons or the hidden blade. For all of these, the guard being countered is unable to block or parry.
 * In Assassin's Creed II, the taunts Ezio says to brutes are different from the taunts he says to the other guards, mainly insulting them about their weight. For example, the taunt, "Well, you're certainty well fed!"
 * Strangely, in the mission "Play Along," Ezio assassinates an Agile so he can disguise himself as a guard, but instead of having an Agile's outfit, he wears the outfit of a Leader guard.
 * Strangely, in the cut scene where Ezio's Flying Machine crashes on the Doge's Palace in Venice, you can see a Brute and a Seeker stationed on the rooftop.
 * In the mission "Clothes Make The Man", Ugo tells Ezio that the thieves are to impersonate the archers. Yet in the next mission "Everything Must Go", after Ezio kills the archers on the rooftops, the thieves wear the armor of Leader guards instead of archer armor.
 * In Florence, Borgia guards are often seen guarding treasure. If you go up to them and start a fight, then run into a group of Medici guards, the two groups will start fighting each other, making this an effective escape tactic. The Borgia guards will nearly always win, unless there is a massive number of Medici guards fighting them. After the fight, they will then return to guard the treasure (Borgia) or patrol the city (Medici).
 * In PlayStation home, you can purchase the design of a Seeker for your avatar, which also comes with a spear.
 * On Xbox Live, you can purchase the outfit of one of the Militia guards.
 * At the end of the memory Follow The Money, (Assassins Creed Brotherhood) a papal guard is seen with a sword very similar to the Sword of Altaïr.
 * In Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Ezio can successfully loot dead rooftop guards even if they slide off the roof, as long as Ezio begins looting when the guard is still on the roof (you can do this with any dead body, actually).
 * In Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, there are several guard archetypes never encountered in any other game in the series. I.e. the duelists, the unnamed archetype carrying large shields (similar to modern riot police), a mysterious masked shirtless archetype and another shirtless archetype wearing a robe and carrying maces.