Giovanni Auditore da Firenze

"I am Giovanni Auditore, and like my ancestors before me, I am an Assassin."

- Giovanni Auditore

Giovanni Auditore (1436 – 1476) was Florentine noble and head of the Auditore family in Florence. A nobleman and banker working for the Medici family, Giovanni's true nature as an Assassin was known only to a few. Raised and trained along with his brother Mario from birth to be an Assassin, Giovanni had been aware of the Templar Order for almost all of his life.

The husband of Maria Auditore, and father to Federico, Ezio, Claudia and Petruccio, Giovanni sought to induct his children into the Order, but had only revealed his allegiance to his wife by the time of his death; despite this however, he had already begun to train his eldest son in the Assassin ways, albeit secretively.

Early years
"Tu sei un Auditore. Sei un combattente. Perciò Combatti! (You are an Auditore. You are a fighter. So fight!)"

- Giovanni Auditore speaking to Ezio at his birth.

The second son, or grandson, of Ilario Auditore, Giovanni was born in Monteriggioni, in 1436, two years after his elder brother Mario. From an early age, both Giovanni and his brother were taught the ways of the Assassins, although Giovanni was also tutored in banking and other subjects as well.

With time, Giovanni left the family Villa and joined Ilario in Florence, where he was serving as Gonfaloniere to Cosimo de' Medici. As such, Giovanni joined the Medici banking family and adopted the title of da Firenze. Sometime later, he saved a young Lorenzo de' Medici from drowning in the Arno river, ensuring the continued friendship of the Medici and Auditore family. In 1452, Giovanni met and married Maria de' Mozzi, whom he revealed himself to be an Assassin to. After four years, their first son – Federico – was born, followed by Ezio in 1459, Claudia in 1461, and Petruccio in 1463.

At some point during this time, he also revealed to Lorenzo, his patron, his true nature as an assassin, and undertook several missions for him behind the back of his own children. In 1476, Giovanni Auditore tracked down Rodrigo Borgia, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, in a Florentine alleyway; although he managed to eliminate two of his bodyguards, and incapacitate the third, Borgia himself escaped. The assassin handed the third guard over to the Uberto Alberti, the Gonfaloniere of justice, for questioning.



In pursuit of Rodrigo Borgia
Through torture, the guard revealed that Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan was to be assassinated by the Templars, and Giovanni was quickly sent to prevent this. Though he arrived too late to save the Duke, Giovanni was able to eliminate some of his murderers whilst the Duke’s bodyguards killed the rest. With all the assassins dead, Giovanni searched the corpse of Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani, and found a pouch of coins stamped with the seal of Venice.

Arriving in Venice, Giovanni infiltrated the Basilica di San Marco, and eavesdropped on a group of men conversing in a nearby room. The men then dispatched a courier, with a message for their master in Rome. Giovanni chose to pursue the courier, before finally confronting him. After a lengthy battle, he overpowered and pinned down the courier, his hidden blade to the man’s throat. Refusing to answer his questions, the courier impaled himself on the blade, leaving Giovanni frustrated, albeit with a letter sealed with the crest of the House of Barbarigo. Returning to Florence, Giovanni presented the letter to Lorenzo de' Medici, although it was encoded.

That night, Giovanni was summoned to meet with Lorenzo and Alberti. Before leaving, Maria reminded her husband that their second eldest son, Ezio, who was watching them from behind a nearby haystack, was becoming suspicious of his banker father having to leave the Palazzo at night so often; Giovanni promised that he would speak with him soon, and then left. Arriving at the meeting, Alberti falsely claimed that Father Antonio Maffei had been unable to decrypt the letter, and that as such, the only course of action was for Giovanni to deliver the letter himself. Giovanni agreed, and headed for Rome with the letter in hand.

In Rome, he delivered the letter, and followed it until it reaches Rodrigo Borgia. Giovanni followed Borgia into St. Peter's Basilica, where the two finally share words; Borgia remarked at his respect for the assassin's skills, offering him the chance to join the Templar Order, and live to see the "new world". Giovanni refused, and was subsequently attacked by a number of Borgia's henchmen. Despite being heavily outnumbered, he prevailed, although a knife thrown by Rodrio Borgia did wound him, allowing the Templar the opportunity to escape.

Returning home, Giovanni had his wife tend his wound, and confessed that he feared the assassination of the Duke of Milan was just the beginning of a much wider conspiracy. Before he could go on however, the two were interrupted by their son Federico, who warned that Father Maffei had arrived with armed guards. Asking his son to provide him cover, Giovanni slipped out of the palazzo through a secret passage within the fireplace.



Betrayal and execution
At some point after this, Giovanni found evidence suggesting Francesco de' Pazzi had committed murder, and had Uberto Alberti arrest him; as a result of this, Francesco's son, Vieri, developed an intense rivalry with Ezio Auditore. Following a brawl the two had on the Ponte Vecchio, Giovanni scolded his son for his behavior, although he noted that it reminded him of himself when he was younger. He then tasked Ezio with delivering a letter to Lorenzo de' Medici, but was surprised to learn that Lorenzo had left the city for a short while. Undeterred, Giovanni had Ezio deliver several more letters, as well as pick up a letter from a pigeon coop near the Piazza della Signoria.

Whilst his son was away however, armed guards sent, unknowingly to Giovanni, by Uberto Alberti, invaded the Palazzo Auditore and arrested Giovanni and his two other sons, taking them to be imprisoned in the clock tower of the Piazza della Signoria. Before long, Ezio had managed to climb the clock tower, where Giovanni told his son to empty his chest in the room behind the fireplace, and take the evidence exonerating him to the Gonfaloniere. The next day however, Giovanni was shocked to find Uberto and Rodrigo Borgia together, with Uberto denying ever receiving the evidence; he was subsequently sentenced to death. A horrified Ezio, watching from below cried out that Uberto was lying, but was unable to prevent his father's hanging.

Legacy
"My dear sons, dark skies are rising over Florence and time is running low. The enemy is closer than I thought. Now, the final battle is about to unfold. Every man is mortal, every life bounds to an end but certain things will never change. Federico and Ezio, my sons, always remember: WE are the Auditore da Firenze and WE are Assassins."

- Giovanni Auditore da Firenze

Despite his death, Giovanni's actions would have lasting consequences for his surviving son: Ezio Auditore.

Having predicted a turn of events similar to what ultimately happened, Giovanni had arranged for his live-in servant Annetta to take his wife and daughter to her sister's establishment, where they would be safe. There, Annetta's sister Paola, a courtesan Giovanni had previously represented in court, and introduced into the Assassin's Order, provided Ezio with some basic training in blending, and gave him the skills necessary to execute his revenge on Uberto Alberti before he left the city. When Ezio arrived in Monteriggioni, his uncle Mario was shocked to discover that his brother had never told Ezio of his assassin heritage, or that Giovanni himself had indeed been an assassin. Despite this, Ezio soon vowed to take up all his fathers work, which included locating what remained of the Codex, and to avenge his death with the blood of Rodrigo Borgia and his Templar lackeys.

Eventually, Ezio returned to Florence and provided the body of his father with a proper funeral; he was cremated, alongside his two sons, and set adrift down the river in a small boat.

Personality and traits
Giovanni Auditore da Firenze was trained from birth in the Assassin ways, alongside his brother Mario. Despite this mutual upbringing, the two parted ways later in life due to a philosophical divide over how to live their lives. Giovanni, who had been tutored in banking, preferred to live a calmer life whereas Mario wished to live a life with more action. This divide eventually saw the two brothers lose touch with one another; to such a degree that upon his arrival in Monterigionni in 1476, Ezio Auditore was unaware who exactly his uncle was. The divide also affected how Giovanni brought up his children, with none of them explicitly knowing of their heritage; however, although his children were unaware of his true nature, Giovanni did allow others to know of it, trusting in their secrecy. Among these individuals were his wife, who would often tend to his wounds, as well as the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de' Medici, and the city's Gonfaloniere: Uberto Alberti. They were not the only ones to know however; many of Giovanni's contacts within the mercenaries, courtesans and thieves also knew the assassin by name, suggesting a certain degree of mutual-trust between the parties.

Despite never revealing to his children the heritage, Giovanni did work to prepare them for life as an assassin. By the time of his death, he had already begun preparing his eldest son, Federico, in the assassin ways, and was preparing to begin training Ezio as well. A strict father, Giovanni nonetheless showed great affection for his children, and saw a younger version of himself in their antics at times.

A skilled warrior, Giovanni was able to hold himself against a number of opponents in combat with relative ease, armed only with a sword and his hidden blade; early in 1476, Giovanni pursued Rodrigo Borgia to Rome, survived being ambushed by Templar soldiers, despite receiving a wound from the hands of Rodrigo himself. He was also a competent free runner, much like his sons, and would often use the skill when shadowing a target.

Trivia

 * Giovanni's ring finger remains intact due to improvements to the "Hidden blade," in effect to the changes of the Assassin Order's tactics and traditions made by Altaïr after the events of the first game.
 * Giovanni died before telling Ezio (as well as his youngest son, Petruccio, and his daughter Claudia) of their Assassin heritage, which disappointed his brother, Mario. However, he had begun training his eldest son, Federico, but couldn't actually get far enough to teach him any intermediate Assassin skills.
 * Giovanni knew about Ezio's Eagle vision, although it is unknown if he too possessed the skill.
 * Giovanni leaves his Assassin outfit behind for Ezio to find, however in the short-film 'Assassin's Creed: Lineage', it lacks the 'Eagle's beak' on the hood, as well as several other details, due to the budget not being large enough to afford a perfect replica. Even so, the differences are minor.
 * The sword Giovanni left behind for Ezio is the 'common sword,' but in the cutscene where Giovanni is killed, it is replaced by an 'old Syrian sword'.
 * Giovanni died at the age of forty, the same age Ezio turned when he confronted Rodrigo Borgia in Rome.
 * You can't open the letters he gives you to deliver, even after beating the game.
 * During the events of Assassin's Creed: Lineage, Giovanni kept his Assassin garb on a mannequin, however at the beginning of Assassin's Creed II, the outfit is kept in a chest.