Pistol

The Mars semi-automatic pistol

A pistol is a firearm designed to be portable enough to be operated in one hand. Sometimes distinguished from a revolver by having a chamber integrated into the barrel, pistols have developed over the centuries from single shot single shot weapons to semi-automatic guns and are widely employed as side arms by soldiers, Templars, Assassins, and police alike.

Description

A flintlock pistol of the American Revolutionary era

Pistols, being firearms small enough to be wielded and fired in one hand, are ranged weapons that launch projectiles via the ignition of gunpowder. Advancement of pistol technology paralleled that of their longer variants, the musket and rifle, with the pistols throughout the 18th century, from the War of Spanish Succession to the French Revolution, utilizing a flinklock ignition mechanism and lead shots as ammunition. Because the flintlock design did not permit the chambering of more than one round, pirates of the early 18th century resorted to carrying as many as four pistols on their body at any given time. A solution offered by gunsmiths later in the century involved incorporating multiple barrels into one pistol, as seen with the Double-Barrel Pistol, the Pepperbox Pistol, and the Duckfoot Pistol, a handheld volley gun.

During this time, some manufacturers instead favored the more sophisticated wheellock mechanism that was initially used by the Assassins for their Hidden Gun, but owing to the complexity and costs of this superior mechanism, standard pistols were of the flintlock design.

By the latter half of the 19th century, innovations in firearm technology led to the emergence of semi-automatic pistols that fire multiple rounds without needing to be reloaded and which automatically load new rounds upon firing. While many modern pistols carry multiple cartridges in a single chamber, there are also revolvers which utilize a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers.

Like all firearms, pistols emit a loud, explosive sound upon firing and are therefore not ideal for stealth operations without a suppressor that reduces the noise. Because of this, the Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins developed the Phantom Blade, a wrist-mounted miniature crossbow, while the vast majority of Assassins continue to rely on traditional throwing knives as ranged weapons even to the present day.

History

The gun of Octavian de Valois

For human civilization, firearms small enough to be equipped in one hand were first utilized by the Assassin Brotherhood in the form of the Hidden Gun, an invention of the Mentor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad who himself divined it from his Apple of Eden. Unlike true pistols, the miniature Hidden Gun was crafted as a ranged parallel to the Assassins' iconic Hidden Blade used for assassinations and thus were concealed in their wrist bracers.

The wheellock mechanism of the Assassins' Hidden Gun would not become public knowledge until at least the time of the Renaissance in Italy. While the Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci rediscovered the Hidden Gun for his friend, the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an ornate wheellock pistol served as the personal weapon of the Templars Octavian de Valois. Papal Guards in service to the House of Borgia during Rodrigo Borgia's tenure as Pope wielded similar side arms, as did the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire in the same period.

Daniel Cross wielding a Mark 23 pistol

By the beginning of the 18th century, single-shot flintlock pistols had become widespread throughout Europe and the European colonies in the Americas. Aside from serving as common weapons for officers, they were commonly sold in shops throughout North America. In the West Indies during the Golden Age of Piracy, they were particularly popular among pirates. Skilled pirates such as Edward Kenway could operate four pistols in rapid succession in the heat of battle. By the time of the Seven Years' War, pistols were standard for Assassins and Templars alike, a trend that would continue into the 19th century and onward as swords and other melee weapons became increasingly obsolete.

In the 21st century, pistols remain a universal side arm for combat personnel across the world ranging from the police, national militaries, mercenaries, criminals, and Assassin and Templar agents.

Trivia

Terminology

• In real-life, the terms pistol and revolver, depending on the dictionary, are not always considered interchangeable and are instead regarded as distinct sub-types of the handgun. In Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, the distinction is not consistently made; the Tutorial entries ascribe the gameplay term "Pistols" to all usable firearm, even if they are revolvers, while the weapon selection menu classifies handguns under the title "Firearms" instead, with guns either being named pistols or revolvers.

Gameplay

• In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, pistols are only carried by the Papal Guards and the Janissaries respectively, both being elite units. These guards periodically take aim at the player before firing, and their shots can only be evaded by strafing continuously. The player's equivalent weapon is a Hidden Gun.
• The Pistol features as a ranged ability in the multiplayers of Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. It is functionally identical to that of the Hidden Gun in previous game, only that it has been thematically changed to match the setting.
• Pistols feature as a class of weapons the player can equip for the first time in Assassin's Creed III. The weapon can be either free-aimed or fired using the Quick Shot function that allows the player to instantly shoot a target without manual aiming. The latter ability allows the player, as Desmond Miles, to instantly mow down all Abstergo guards in his path after acquiring the Mark 23 semi-automatic pistol from killing the Templar Daniel Cross. The free-aim and Quick Shot mechanics are carried over in all subsequent main installments until Assassin's Creed: Origins.
• While Assassin's Creed III, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Assassin's Creed: Rogue, and Assassin's Creed Unity gives the player the option of increasing their rate-of-fire with pistols that are built with multiple barrels, these guns are not present in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, where, in the tradition of pirates, the player instead can carry up to four pistols. To do so, the player must craft a pistol holster for each additional pistol, with the second holster being made from ocelot pelts, the third from humpback whale skins, and the fourth from crocodile leather.
• In Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, pistol shots are evaded by using other enemies as human shields. The player is prompt ahead of time to do this while the enemy shooter is taking aim. Since this mechanic was removed in later games, players are forced to roll to dodge bullets in Assassin's Creed: Unity. However, rolling can only be performed in combat, and so a player being fired at while fleeing can only hope to avoid being shot by breaking the shooter's line of fire. Because damage registration depends on actual contact with the projectile, civilians may be killed if the player runs through a crowd and uses them as cover.
• In Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India, and Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia, the player can simply dodge bullets at the click of a button upon being fired upon.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
• Assassin's Creed: Underworld
• Assassin's Creed Volume 1: Trial by Fire
• Assassin's Creed Volume 2: Setting Sun
• Assassin's Creed Volume 3: Homecoming
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates