Abu'l Nuqoud

"A final evil for a greater good. We are the same!"

- Abu'l to Altaïr

Abu'l Nuqoud is the fourth person Al Mualim wants Altaïr to assassinate. He is found in the Rich District of Damascus.

Description
Abu'l Nuqoud was a corpulent, and wealthy man; a lavished merchant king of the city of Damascus, left to rule there as its soldiers journeyed to wage war in the Crusades. He decorated his home with the finest furniture, dressed himself in eccentric, expensive robes, and feasted upon only the finest of foods. The name "Abu'l Nuqoud" means the man who has a lot of money (literally the "father of money").

Abu'l was known by the citizens for his great, extravagant shows of wealth - he often threw lavish parties, the expenses of which were so grandiose that they offended the very townspeople he wished to impress. These same townspeople held for him a great hatred, based upon both his repulsive physical appearance (he was obese with a warty and pock-marked face), and for what appears to have been his homosexuality. (In his cut scene, he can be seen caressing the faces of one of his guardsmen.)

Hated, ostracised and ridiculed mercilessly by the poorest citizens of the city, Abu'l came to hold a great contempt for them in return. He saw them as nothing more than a source of all the crime, disease, and other poor things in the world. With that, he took perverse pleasure from seeing them die painful deaths.

Death
As Altaïr sought out Abu'l Nuqoud's life, the merchant king decided to throw a lavish party at his palace for the nobility of Damascus (paid for with money stolen from the city's treasuries). After the guests had settled down, Abu proposed a toast to their generosity, then proceeded to lambaste them for their hatred and hypocrisy in supporting Saladin and his war campaign. It was revealed (while Altaïr combed the city tracking his target) that he had poisoned the wine to get revenge on the people who tormented him with their cruel words and bigotry, and he ordered his men to kill anyone who tried to escape from the party. Altaïr took advantage of the panic to assassinate Abu.

In his dying speech, Abu said that he did not join up with the Templars for revenge, but to create a new, better world instead of pretending to follow a god who called him an abomination, due to his obesity or his speculated homosexuality (see Trivia). He also challenged Altaïr's willingness to strike down those Al Mualim ordered him to, remarking that Altaïr doubts the worthiness of his cause.

Final Words


Altaïr: ''Be at peace now. Their words can no longer do harm.''

Abu: Why have you done this?!

Altaïr: ''You stole money from those you claimed to lead, sent it away for some unknown purpose. I want to know where it's gone and why!''

Abu: ''Look at me! My very nature is an affront to the people I ruled, and these noble robes did little more than to muffle their shouts of hate.''

Altaïr: So this is about vengeance, then?

Abu: ''No, not vengeance, but my conscience. How could I finance a war in service to the same god that calls me an abomination?''

Altaïr: If you do not serve Saladin's cause, then whose?

Abu: In time, you'll come to know them: I think perhaps you already do.

Altaïr: ''Then why hide? And why these dark deeds?''

Abu: ''Is it so different from your own work? You take the lives of men and women, strong in the conviction that their deaths will improve the lots of those left behind: a minor evil for a greater good. We are the same!''

Altaïr: No! We are nothing alike!

Abu: ''Ah, but I see it in your eyes: you doubt. You cannot stop us... we will have our "New World".''

Behind the scenes
Creative director Patrice Desilets stated that the production team affectionally called the merchant king their "she-male". He pointed out that the fun of a character like Abu is "the big party, [where] everyone is drinking, then everyone is dying, and then you've got to go and reach him and kill him from behind."

Trivia

 * He runs surprisingly fast if he sees you coming.
 * He is the only target without any weapon upon him. He will turn to fight you if he makes it to a guard tower and receives a sword, however.
 * Because of some of his mannerisms, such as his style of dress, his speech about people of all kinds living together, and his words about not serving the "same god that calls me an abomination" and the way he touches one guard, and the fact that many characters refer to him as "different", it is speculated by some that he may be a homosexual.
 * When looking at his face closely, you can see him suffering from severe acne.