Rodrigo Borgia

"He is Rodrigo Borgia; one of the most powerful men in all of Europe, and leader of the Templar Order"

- Mario Auditore

Rodrigo Borgia (1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503), born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja, was the Grand Master of the Knights Templar during the Renaissance in Italy. He was elected Pope from 1492 to 1503 as Alexander VI. His enemies called him "The Spaniard" (due to his Spanish origins) while his Templar followers called him "Maestro" ("Master" in Italian). He was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his surname (Italianized as Borgia) became a byword for the debased standards of the papacy of that era.

Assassin's Creed: Lineage
The Medicis were the ruling family in Florence. But a conspiracy was being plotted in a attempt to overthrow the powerful Lorenzo de' Medici, and Rodrigo Borgia was at the center of it. One night in 1476, Borgia was on his way to leave Florence with few of his men in the dark streets of the city. Suddenly, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, an assassin, intercepted him. Borgia fled immediately as the assassin battled his men. Hidden behind a corner, he saw Giovanni capture one of his men. The prisoner revealed the plotted assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan and a powerful ally of Lorenzo de' Medici, to Giovanni. Giovanni quickly went to stop the attempt, but arrived too late. Rodrigo and his accomplices' plan had succeeded and Borgia began planning the next move.

Deducing the origin of the Duke of Milan's murderers by looting a Ducat from one of them, Giovanni headed to Venice. There, he intercepted a message from Marco and Silvio Barbarigo to their master, Rodrigo. After having decoded the letter by Uberto Alberti and Father Maffei, Giovanni carried the copied message to Rome, in order to discover who is behind the plots. Once arrived in the city, he gave the message to a man. By tailing this one, it appears that the letter travels in various hands before arriving in its final destination: Rodrigo's. Rodrigo headed next to see pope Sixtus IV to obtain a military support in order to conquer Florence.

Assassin's Creed II
An enemy of Giovanni Auditore, Rodrigo masterminds every plot throughout the game, first to take Florence and Tuscany, then to take Venice and Forli. Later on he would try to take Florence again after Lorenzo De'Medici's death. He would become Ezio Auditore's most intimate enemy, haunting him from behind the scenes of every Templar plot he encountered: starting with the conspiracy against Ezio's father and brothers, all the way to the taking of the papacy, nearly thirty years later.

He is first seen behind Uberto Alberti in Alberti's home. Ezio noticed him, but did not know who he was yet. But perhaps his presence was what made Ezio decline taking shelter in Uberto's home for the night, where they definitely would have killed him. Later, Rodrigo attended the judgement of Giovanni and two of his sons. Years later, he would state that Ezio's brothers did not need to die, but he had them killed anyway to make a point to the assassins and to Ezio. Two years later, Rodrigo went to a meeting with the Pazzi family in San Gimignano and with the Templars in a catacomb under the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. There he reminded them to beware the assassins, and stated that the next day would be "a new dawn for Florence".

After Ezio thwarted the Templars in Florence, Rodrigo was to meet with the remaining conspirators in Tuscany. The Pazzi were going to ask for asylum with Rodrigo in either Venice or Rome. But before the meeting could even commence, most of them were killed by Ezio. Only Jacopo de' Pazzi actually made it to the meeting alive. There Jacopo claimed that the blame rested with his nephew, Francessco, and Emilio Bombarigo. Enraged by his weaseling, Rodrigo lectured, then stabbed, Jacopo. Ignoring Jacopo's pleas for mercy, Rodrigo stabbed him in the neck, then called out Ezio who had tailed Jacopo to the meeting. Sarcastically apologizing for killing Ezio's target for him, Rodrigo mocked Ezio; saying that he had been doing "this" for far longer than the novice assassin. He ordered his men to kill Ezio and left without bothering to watch. He might have guessed that Ezio would escape, and chose not to stick around for it.

Borgia was later found in Venice, planning with Carlo Grimaldi and the Barbarigos to murder the current Doge, Giovanni Mocenigo, so that one of them can replace him and take control of Venice. He chastised the Bombarigos for making their own plans and arguing over who would be the new Doge after they took Venice. He appointed Marco Bombarigo as the next Doge, and then left them to carry out his plans. While Ezio was hunting the Bombarigo's in Venice, Rodrigo was tracking the location of the Piece of Eden which Altair once took from the Templars. He sent ships to Cyprus in order to claim it from the Vault where Altair sealed it away before his death. He appeared in Venice to lay claim to the Piece of Eden; but Ezio, disguised as the carrier of the artifact, attempted to kill him. Rodrigo was prepared for the attack, and told his men to stand down so that he could deal with Ezio personally. The two began an intense battle, with Ezio emerging as the victor. Realizing he could not defeat Ezio alone, Borgia called in a supply of guards to overwhelm Ezio. Suddenly, many of Ezio's allies appeared, revealing themselves to be assassins. They held off the guards to allow Ezio to re-challenge Borgia, who then escaped from them before Ezio could kill him.

During the following years, it is known that Rodrigo's son, Cesare, tried to take over Forli. Rodrigo, no doubt, supported him in this venture. He also probably had a hand in the Bonfire of the Vanities, likely taking advantage of Lorenzo's death.

Borgia later became the Pope and traveled to Rome. Borgia's true intent however, is just to get in the vault that lays under the Vatican, where, according to himself, God rested. Ezio chased him to assassinate him. Ezio snuck into the Vatican and seemingly assassinated Borgia without being seen. After Ezio finished speaking with Borgia he left only to see him rise from the ground and use his Piece of Eden, the Papal Staff, to strike down Ezio and everyone else in the room. However, he was surprised to see that Ezio was able to resist the power of his staff, Ezio brought out his own Piece of Eden, The Apple that Altair took from Ali Mualim. Ezio then summoned four clones of himself to assist him in his battle against Borgia, eventually defeating him. But Borgia tripped Ezio with the staff, and snatched The Apple from his hands, and combined it with The Staff to open up the door to The Vault, which had been underneath Rome the whole time. Ezio tried to stop him, but he was lifted into the air by Borgia, unable to resist two combined Pieces of Eden. Borgia stabbed Ezio with a dagger and left him laying on the ground as Borgia escaped into the Vault. Ezio eventually made his way to the Vault, with Borgia furiously pounding the door to the inner chambers. Ezio dropped down into the pit where Borgia was, and challenged him to one last fist fight, with no more weapons, no more plots, and no more decoys. Borgia accepted and the two had one last battle. During the battle, Borgia stated that he never believed in The Bible or in God, and only became Pope to get the Staff and access to the Vault, wanting to unify Italy under the Templar rule. Ezio defeated Borgia but refrained from killing him, saying that killing him will not bring back his family. Besides, the knowledge that he was not the Prophet, as he had believed, was an even sorer blow than anything else that Ezio could have thought of.

Assassin's Creed II: Discovery
Soon after, he heard of Christoffa Corombo's plans to sail west and arranged a meeting with him. Christoffa's right hand man Luis Santangel warned him that it was a trap, but Christoffa wouldn't listen. It was indeed a trap and Borgia ordered his men to give him proof of Christoffa's death.

Final Words
(First assassination attempt by Ezio)

Ezio: ''I thought...I thought I was beyond this. But I'm not. I've waited too long, lost too much... Requiescat in Pace (Rest in Peace), you bastard!''

Rodrigo: I don't think so!

(Second "death scene" with Rodrigo)

Rodrigo: ''You can't!! You can't!! It's MY destiny!! MINE!!! I am the prophet!!''

Ezio: You never were.

Rodrigo: Get it over with then...

Ezio: ...''No. Killing you won't bring my family back... I'm done. ''Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito. Requiescat in Pace. (Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Rest in Peace.)

Trivia

 * As Ezio enters the Sistine Chapel to assassinate Borgia, he is proclaiming the Nicene Creed to the congregation. It is befitting and dramatic irony that he is assassinated as he proclaims this, as the Nicene Creed confesses the wholeness of the Christian doctrine, which Borgia later states in the final battle that he does not believe in.
 * Although Ezio did not kill Borgia, he is listed as dead in the Animus' Conspirator Web after the player completes the game and reenters the Animus. This may be due to Ezio simply listing off Rodrigo as a target.
 * While it is known that Rodrigo would go on to have the most debauched bloody papacy in human history what occurs between of him and Ezio is completely unknown as Rodrigo dies of a fever 4 years later in 1503 leaving ample time to wage a sizeable campaign against the Assassins himself.
 * Throughout the entire game, Rodrigo is always wearing something that covers his head. Not once is he without a hat or a hood.
 * Rodrigo's cloak from before his rise to Pope resembles Al Mualim's robe from Assassin's Creed.
 * Rodrigo is the only assassination target Ezio has had to fight repeatedly as well as the only one he ever spared. He is also the most formidable fighter in-game.
 * Rodrigo uses a Schiavona for his and Ezio's first fight. He then uses the Staff of Eden as Pope. It is interesting to note that he is the only opponent that can stab people when they are knocked down. In Lineage, he used a throwing knife to nearly kill Giovanni; yet there are no other instances of him useing any knives in Assassins Creed besides the one he stabbed Ezio with.

Gallery
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