Animus Subjects

2011-02-05T06:19:26Z

70.26.165.39: /* Subject 15 */

The '''Subjects''' were people selected and acquired by [[Abstergo Industries]] for use in their experiments with [[genetic memory]] and the [[Animus]]. To date, their have been at least seventeen subjects, many of whom were eliminated by Abstergo Industries once their usefullness was finished.

==Known Subjects==
=== Subject 4===
Subject 4 was mentioned in a letter dated September, 1985, in which an individual signed only "W.V." reported on making a prototype [[Piece of Eden]] replica and its use on Subject 4 between their animus sessions.<ref name="Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref>

=== Subject 12===
Subject 12 was the direct descendant of an individual involved in (or subjected to) [[The Philadelphia Project]]; an event wherein the ''[[wikipedia:USS Eldridge (DE-173)#Philadelphia Experiment|USS Eldridge]]'' manifested itself in a future state for approximately eighteen minutes.<ref name="Assassin's Creed">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref>

===Subject 15===
Subject 15 was mentioned by [[Lucy Stillman]] to be female and pregnant. She suffered through the bleeding effect by seeing memories of her ancestors and other people from different time periods. She also experienced "memory-within-memory" patterns, due to being pregnant and the memories of the fetus's father conflicted with Subject 15's own ancestors' memories. After Lucy discovered some adverse effects of the Animus on the subject she e-mailed [[Warren Vidic]] warning him of said effects. Warren told Lucy that the experiments on Subject 15 would stop, and then sent a disposal unit and had [[James Morse|James Horse]] file an accident report ;)<ref>http://abstergoindustries.com/portal/</ref>

===Subject 16===
{{main|Subject 16}}
[[File:Ending--article_image.jpg|thumb|right|Subject 16]]
Subject Sixteen was, as his moniker suggests, the sixteenth individual to undergo Abstergo's experiments. 16 was the first subject to noticeably suffer from the [[bleeding effect]], although this was not picked up on until after his death. As a result of the "[[Bleeding effect]]", Subject 16 went mad and wrote the [[cryptic messages]] throughout the [[Abstergo laboratory]] and his sleeping quarters, with his own blood.<ref name="Assassin's Creed" />

Like his successor, Subject 16 was a direct descendant of [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]].<ref name="Assassin's Creed II">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref> During his time at Abstergo Industries, 16 managed to hack into the Animus and placed several hidden [[rifts]] throughout the Animus' projection of Ezio's genetic memories; these puzzles were later happened upon by Subject 17, who upon solving them was granted access to one of 16's own memories.<ref name="Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" />

===Subject 17===
{{main|Desmond Miles}}
[[File:Desmond2.png|thumb|Subject 17, Desmond Miles]]
Subject 17, or Desmond Miles, is the only Abstergo Subject whose name is known.

Brought to Abstergo against his will, he was threatened with a coma and death if he did not participate in the [[Warren Vidic]]'s experiments. Giving in to the threat, he entered the Animus and was forced to relive the memories of his ancestor: [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]], in order to find the location of a number of [[Pieces of Eden]]. Like Subject 16 before him, Desmond quickly begun to experience the bleeding effect.<ref name="Assassin's Creed" /> Although at first he only suffered from relatively minor changes, after his escape from Abstergo Industries, Desmond willingly choose to relive the memories of another ancestor – Ezio Auditore da Firenze – in order to exploit the bleeding effect and learn the skills necessary to become a true [[Assassins|assassin]].<ref name="Assassin's Creed II" />

===Unnumbered subject===
This Subject was an individual worked on by an [[Abstergo doctor]] at some point during the late 20th Century. The doctor prevented his assistant, [[Clarke|Miss Clarke]], from administering an anaesthetic to dull the trauma of "initial insertion".<ref name="Assassin's Creed: The Fall">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Fall]]''</ref>

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Characters]]

Niccolò Machiavelli

2011-02-05T05:00:10Z

70.26.165.39: /* Balls */

{{Era|AC2|acb|bbook|Renaissance|assassins}}
{{WP-REAL}}
{{spoilerhd}}
{{Character Infobox
|name = Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
|image = char_machiavelli.png
|imgdesc = Niccolò Machiavelli, as he appeared in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''.
|birth = 3 May 1469 [[Florence]], [[Italy]]
|death = 21 June 1527 (aged 58)
|period = [[Renaissance]] (15th century)
|faction = [[Assassins]] [[Mercenaries]]
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''
|voice = [[Shawn Baichoo]]
}}
{{Quote|I am an Assassin. Trained in the ancient ways to safeguard mankind's evolution. Just like you, and each one of us here.|Machiavelli to Ezio upon their first meeting|Assassin's Creed II}}

'''Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli''' (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an [[Italy|Italian]] philosopher, writer, and is considered one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, musician, and playwright, but foremost he was a civil servant of the Florentine Republic. He was most famous for writing ''The Prince'', which lays out guides to achieving political power through, among other techniques, the art of deception and manipulation, establishing what would later be known as "Machiavellian ideas".

==Biography==
===Early life===
Niccolò was born in [[Florence]] as the third son of attorney Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli and his wife Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli.

Niccolò was trained and inducted into the [[Assassins|Assassin Order]] at an early age.<ref name="Assassin's Creed II">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>

===Acquiring the Apple of Eden===
At age 19, Niccolò and a group of other Assassins gathered in [[Venice]] to acquire the "[[First Apple|Apple of Eden]]" from [[Rodrigo Borgia]], the [[Grand Master of the Templar Order|Grand Master]] of the [[Templars|Templar Order]]. When the group arrived at Rodrigo's location, they found him fighting with [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze|Ezio Auditore]], the son of the the late Assassin [[Giovanni Auditore da Firenze|Giovanni Auditore]]. The other Assassins rushed to Ezio's aid, whereas Niccolò watched from the distance.<ref name="Assassin's Creed II"/>

After the group killed the guards and severely injured Rodrigo, the group revealed themselves to be Assassins to Ezio, which was previously unknown by him. They went on to a tall tower in Venice, where they inducted Ezio into the Order before one after the other performing [[Leap of Faith|Leaps of Faith]].<ref name="Assassin's Creed II"/>

===Balls===
Edit: Really dude... Balls?

===Bonfire of the Vanities===
In 1497, Niccolò met with Ezio again in Florence and informed him that Savonarola had taken control of the city by using the Apple. Ezio figured that if he killed all nine of Savonarola's lieutenants, his grip would weaken. Niccolò informed [[La Volpe]] and [[Paola]] of Ezio's plan and with each lieutenant killed, the three encouraged the people to stand up against Savonarola.<ref name="Assassin's Creed II"/>

When all the lieutenants were killed, an angry mob swarmed Savonarola's residence, the [[Palazzo Pitti]]. Savonarola tried to calm the crowd with the Apple, but Ezio knocked it out of his hand with a well-thrown knife and one of Rodrigo Borgia's men acquired it, causing Ezio to chase him down and retrieve it. Savonarola was then taken to be burned alive and the Assassins watched from the distance. Ezio figured that no one should die in such agony and killed him before the flames could reach him. After Ezio gave a speech to inspire the crowd to follow their own ways, the Assassins left the scene.<ref name="Assassin's Creed II"/>

[[File:Ezio and Niccolò.JPG|thumb|left|Niccolò and Ezio meet in Rome.]]
===War with the Borgia===
{{dialogue|Machiavelli|I intend to write a book about you one day.|Ezio|If you do, make it short.|Ezio and Machiavelli, after settling all their differences.|Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood}}
In December 1499, Niccolò, Ezio, [[Mario Auditore]], [[Bartolomeo d'Alviano]], [[La Volpe]], [[Antonio de Magianis]], [[Paola]] and [[Teodora Contanto]], some of the most high-ranking Assassins, gathered in the [[Villa Auditore]] in [[Monteriggioni]] to discuss the location of "[[the Vault]]". They came to the conclusion that the Vault was located in [[Rome]] and that Rodrigo Borgia had become Pope because the Papal Staff was the [[The Staff|second Piece of Eden]]. All of them left for Rome to distract the Borgia guards while Ezio infiltrated [[Vaticano District|the Vatican]].<ref name="Assassin's Creed II" />

Niccolò returned to Monteriggioni to listen to what Ezio had discovered inside the Vault. Upon hearing that Ezio spared Rodrigo, he furiously left for Rome to take down the Borgia once and for all. The following morning, Monteriggioni was [[Siege of Monteriggioni|attacked]] by the Borgia, under the command of [[Cesare Borgia]]. Niccolò's disappearance right in front of the attack aroused some suspicion with La Volpe, who thought that Machiavelli was secretly working for the Borgia. During the attack, Mario Auditore was killed and Niccolò took command over the chaotic Assassin Order, basing themselves on [[Tiber Island]] in Rome.<ref name="Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref>

Following the attack, Ezio left for Rome as well, but succumbed to a gunshot wound he received during the attack on his journey. Niccolò brought him to a woman living in Rome's countryside, who took care of Ezio's wounds. He also left Ezio a message to come meet him in front of the [[Mausoleo di Augusto]]. Upon meeting Ezio there, Niccolò informed him of Rome's corrupt state and lended him some money to buy himself some equipment. He also 'introduced' him to the [[Followers of Romulus]], who he expected to be working for the Borgia, and showed him a faster way of travelling via the city's sewer system, which they used to get back to their hideout. One of the Assassins' few allies, [[Fabio Orsini]], who had lent the hideout to the Assassins, was waiting for them there.<ref name="Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" />

In 1503, [[La Volpe]] believed he had gathered enough evidence that Niccolò was working for the Borgia and therefore told Ezio to "do what he had to do". As Ezio was sure that Niccolò wasn't a traitor, he did not kill him. Instead, La Volpe himself left for Tiber Island, ready to assassinate Niccolò. Ezio, however, found out that one of La Volpe's own [[thieves]] was the traitor and managed to inform La Volpe of this, seconds before he would kill Niccolò. La Volpe, pretending that nothing had happened, came back into contact with Niccolò afterwards.<ref name="Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" />

Over the course of three years, Niccolò began to realize that Ezio was the better leader, as he was the one who was actually leading the war against the Borgia and had revived the Order back to its former glory. Thus, after Ezio's sister [[Claudia Auditore da Firenze]]'s initiation into the Brotherhood, Niccolò placed Ezio at the head of the Assassin Order. When Ezio asked why he had a sudden change of heart, Niccolò admitted that he had always stood by Ezio and had helped him in various tasks, saying that he always had faith in him. Ezio in turn made Niccolò his "most trusted advisor". Niccolò planned to write a book about Ezio, with the latter asking that it be short before performing a leap of faith to finally kill the Borgias. Whether he ever did so is unknown, although it may be a reference to his notoriously short story "The Prince."<ref name="Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" />

===Florentine militia===
Shortly afterwards, between 1503 and 1506, Machiavelli returned to Florence, where he was responsible for leading the Florentine militia. Strangely, he noted on multiple occasions he distrusted mercenaries, while he in fact led the Florentine mercenaries. His militia managed to defeat [[wikipedia:Pisa|Pisa]] in 1509. However, in August 1512, they were defeated by the [[House of Medici|Medici]], aided by Spanish troops and [[wikipedia:Pope Julius II|Pope Julius II]]. Florence was dissolved as a city-state. Machiavelli was deprived of office in 1512 and arrested in 1513, accused of conspiracy. He was tortured in prison, though he denied involvement in any conspiracy. He was released and he retired to his estate in Sant'Andrea in Percussina.

===Later life===
During his stay at his estate, he wrote ''Il Principe'' ("''The Prince''"), which was one relatively short book, written in a few months. ''The Prince'' was written for a specific reason during a specific time in Italian history (a period when the Medici family had the opportunity to build a strong Italian state in central Italy and drive out the 'barbarians'). He also wrote the ''Discourses of Livy''. This thesis (which was written over a significant period of his life) reflected Machiavelli's more republican notions of government, and is a far more comprehensive thesis than ''The Prince''. Together the ''Discourses'' and ''The Prince'' show us that, in real life, he was an individual who preferred a republican government, but was prepared to accept a principality if it ensured the survival of the state.

Machiavelli died on 21 June 1527, aged 58. His final resting place is the [[Basilica di Santa Croce]] in Florence.

==Trivia==
*The fact that the in-game Machiavelli was the leader of Florence's [[mercenaries]] doesn't match with his real-life counterpart. In real life, Machiavelli was against the use of mercenaries, because he believed that they were unreliable. However, it is possible that mercenaries were meant to represent the Florentine militia, which Machiavelli commanded in real life. This is supported by the fact that he made complaints about mercenaries during the Bonfire of the Vanities.
*In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Renaissance]]'', Machiavelli himself tells Ezio Auditore that [[Christina Vespucci|Cristina Vespucci]] and her husband [[Manfredo Soderini]] were murdered by Savonarola's men, however in ''Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood'', Ezio manages to get to them both individually just moments before they both die and Machiavelli is not mentioned at all during this memory.
*Despite being only 19 when he first met Ezio Auditore, Machiavellli acted very mature towards his elder Assassin.
*If Ezio (via the player) chooses to do nothing during the moment where Savonarola tries to silence the crowd in Bonfire of the Vanities, Machiavelli himself will step in and be the one to throw a knife at Savonarola's hand.
*Historically, Machiavelli had good relations with the Borgia family. In 1502, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Cesare Borgia. He called Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander VI a very successful politician, because he was the prototype of a leader who has no scruples to reach his target, and historically, it is also said that Machiavelli greatly admired Cesare Borgia.
*In ''Brotherhood'', it is suggested that a few of [[Easter Eggs#Machiavelli's Works|Machiavelli's later works]] were inspired by his interactions with Ezio.

==Gallery==
===Artwork and portraits===

<center><gallery captionalign="left">
Image:AC2-M.jpg|Concept art for Niccolò Machiavelli.
Image:Machiavelli pose.jpg|Machiavelli with a longsword.
acbnm.png|Niccolò Machiavelli's database profile.
</gallery></center>
===In-game===

<center><gallery>
liuydsg.jpg|Machiavelli at Ezio's initiation.
Niccolo.jpg|Niccolò in 1500.
</gallery></center>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{ACII}}
{{ACBH}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machiavelli, Niccolò}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Characters]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Characters]]
[[Category:Assassins]]
[[Category:Historical Characters]]

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Animus Subjects

Niccolò Machiavelli