Assassin's Creed Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

Puppeteer

2016-03-08T01:19:57Z

72.213.222.137: /* Trivia */

{{Era|AC4}}
{{Quote|Eat your heart out... or I will.|The Puppeteer.}}
[[File:Puppeteer Render.png|thumb|The Puppeteer]]
The '''Puppeteer''' (harvested from: '''[[Felicia Moreno]]''') was an Animi Avatar used by the [[Abstergo Entertainment|entertainment branch]] of [[Abstergo Industries]], as part of their plan to influence the general public, via the console stage of the [[Animus]] technology. She used a dagger as her specialty weapon.

==Unique moves==
The Puppeteer had several unique moves:

'''''(Low Profile, Front)'''''

Facing her target, the Puppeteer savagely kicks their left leg. As they clutch their injured limb, the Puppeteer takes her dagger and slashes them across the side of the abdomen, before impaling their spine, sheathing her weapon as they collapse.

'''''(Low Profile, Back)'''''

Behind her target, the Puppeteer takes out her dagger and viciously stabs it into her victim in the back. Before her contract can react in any way, she spins and slashes the newly inflicted wound, severing their spine at the same time. Following this, the Puppeteer then sheathes her dagger, satisfied that her target is dead.

'''''(High Profile, Front)'''''

Facing her target, the Puppeteer grabs them by their left arm and roughly impales them in the stomach twice with her dagger. As her victim recoils back from being punctured with the blade, the Puppeteer releases her grip on them and watches as their body collapses to the floor.

'''''(High Profile, Back)'''''

Behind her target, the Puppeteer brutally kicks them in the back of the knee, painfully forcing them to kneel. Holding their chin upwards, she then exposes their neck, before taking out her dagger and slicing their throat. From there, her victim falls forward to the ground, dying of blood loss from their wound.

'''''(Personal High Profile, Front)'''''

Facing her target, the Puppeteer surprises them by running up their front acrobatically, before she savagely kicks them in the face, causing them to bend down. While her victim lays stunned on the floor, she skillfully lands on her feet and withdraws her dagger as she kneels, before slitting their throat with a diagonal swipe as she rapidly stands up.

'''''(Personal High Profile, Back)'''''

Behind her target, the Puppeteer bursts forward and rolls over their back with her legs extended in the air, before landing on her knees in front of them. While her victim is dazed on the floor, she quickly unsheathes her dagger and severs their neck to the bone, before standing to her feet and storing her weapon away.

'''''(Aerial Kill)'''''

Leaping from above, the Puppeteer unsheathes her dagger in mid-air, before landing on her target. As she crashes into them, she plants her blade into the side of their head, fatally impaling their brain. With her victim laying dead on the floor, the Puppeteer stands up and stores her dagger back at her waist.

'''''(Bench Kill)'''''

Grabbing her seated target's foot, the Puppeteer drags them off the bench until their head rests against it. Before her victim can do anything to defend themselves, she forcefully kicks them in the face, violently sending their head backwards and breaking her target's neck on the bench behind them.

==Taunts==
*''"Eugh!"''
*''"You are ghastly!"''
*''"Mind yourself!"''
*''"I'm too smooth."''
*''"Is that how you dance?"''
*''"You're too easily distracted."''
*''"Why do I even bother with you?"''
*''"Do you play with me?"''
*''"You are not worth my time."''

==Customization==
The Puppeteer could be customized in several ways:

Dyes:
*Basic: Dark red
*Extra 1: Orange-red
*Extra 2: Olive

Costumes:
*Pirate Costume
*Templar Costume
*Assassin Costume
*Alternative Costume 1
*Alternative Costume 2
*Warrior Costume
*Court Girl Costume
*Prestige Costume
*Viper Costume
*Lady Nero Costume
*Thespian Legacy Costume

In-depth customization:
*Heads:
**Tied Hair
**Strand of Hair
**Aristocratic Wig
*Gear 01:
**Red Cockades
**Feather and Cockade
**White Feathers
*Gear 02:
**Mask
**Eye-patch
**Goggles
*Gear 03:
**Utility Belt
**Knife Belt
**Jeweled Belt
*Scars:
**Scar 1: A single vertical line across the right cheek.
**Scar 2: A single vertical line ending just above the lips.
**Scar 3: A claw mark-like scar across the left cheek.
*War paint:
**War paint 1: Blush-esque paint accentuating the cheeks.
**War paint 2: Brightly-colored paint along the chin, jawline and upper neck, decorated with intricate patterns.
**War paint 3: Two horizontal streaks of paint on each cheek and a vertical streak along the chin.
*Tattoos:
**Tattoo 1: A black dot in the center of the lower lip.
**Tattoo 2: A band of fancy patterns around the neck.
**Tattoo 3: A complex set of lines and patterns, giving the face a skull-like appearance.

Main weapons:
*Daggers:
**Stiletto
**Dagger
**Fancy Dagger
**Mademoiselle
*Swords:
**Sword
**Thin Blade
*Hooks:
**Big Hook
**Intertwined Hook

Silent weapons:
*Hidden Blade
*Pike
*Short Knife
*Dirk

==Trivia==
*The Puppeteer shares her ''Personal High Profile'' kills with the [[Lady Maverick]], her first taunt animation with the [[Thespian]] and her second taunt animation with the [[Trickster]].
*For promotional purposes, the Assassin's Creed franchise decided to show a picture of the Puppeteer and Dandy and captioning it as "Harley Quinn and The Joker."

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" spacing="small" widths="180" orientation="none" position="center">
AC4MP-PuppeteerConcept.jpg|Concept art of the Puppeteer
AC4 Puppeteer Customizations - Concept Art.jpg|Concept art of the Puppeteer's customization options
ACIV - Puppeteer.jpg|Promotional art of the Puppeteer
AC4MP-Puppeteer.jpg|The Puppeteer in [[Saint Lucia]]
AC4MP-PuppeteerVAdventurer.jpg|The Puppeteer killing the [[Adventurer]]
AC4MP-PuppeteerVDandy.jpg|The Puppeteer killing the [[Dandy]]
AC4MP-DandyVPuppeteer.jpg|The Dandy shooting the Puppeteer from afar
AC4MP - Dandy vs Puppeteer.jpg|The Dandy rushing to kill the Puppeteer
AC4MP-Martinique Gunshot.jpg|The Puppeteer being killed by the [[Lady Black]]
AC4 - Navigator vs Puppeteer vs Firebrand.jpg|The Puppeteer, unaware of the [[Firebrand]] behind her, aiming a [[Hidden Gun|gun]] at the [[Navigator]]
</gallery>

==Reference==
*[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]
{{AC4}}
{{MPChars}}
[[Category:Animi Avatars]]
[[Category:Quaternary stage avatars]]

Agaté

2016-03-04T02:02:26Z

72.213.222.137: /* Trivia */

{{Era|AC3L|Assassins|Featured}}
{{Quote|It was your responsibility to know, as much as mine, Agaté. I was a child when you brought me into the Brotherhood and made me an Assassin. You pretended to protect me, to root out the enemy!|Aveline to Agaté regarding his position as Mentor, 1777.|Assassin's Creed III: Liberation}}
{{Character Infobox
|image = AgateDatabaseHD.png
|birth = c. 1722<br>[[Africa|West Africa]]
|death = 1777<br>[[Louisiana Bayou]], [[Louisiana|Spanish Louisiana]], {{Wiki|New Spain}}
|affiliates = [[Assassins]] <small>(1732 – death)</small>
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed III: Liberation]]''
|voice = [[Tristan D. Lalla]]}}
'''Agaté''' (c. 1722 – 1777) was the [[Mentor]] of the [[Assassins|Assassin Brotherhood]] in [[Louisiana]], operating from his [[Agaté's Hut|hideout]] in the [[Louisiana Bayou]].

[[Slavery|Enslaved]] from a young age, Agaté came into contact with revolutionary disruptor [[François Mackandal]], who taught him the ways of the Assassins. Following the death of his Mentor in 1758, Agaté traveled to Louisiana, a marked man, and hid in the bayou.

Agaté subsequently established the local Assassin guild, recruiting [[Aveline de Grandpré]] and [[Gérald Blanc]], whom he trained to be his agents in [[New Orleans]]. After the [[Templars]]' presence in the bayou notably increased in 1766, Agaté went further into hiding, constructing a hidout deep within the swamp.

Although Agaté cared for his students, he was quite secretive in his dealings with them. Due to Aveline's natural impulsiveness and disinclination to follow orders, Agaté clashed with her frequently and eventually began to doubt her loyalty to the cause. Over the years, their mutual distrust of each another caused the two to grow apart.

When Aveline returned to Agaté in 1777 to tell him that Louisiana's head Templar had been her own [[Madeleine de L'Isle|stepmother]] all along, Agaté attacked Aveline, believing her to have betrayed the Assassins. His student managed to prove victorious, however, causing Agaté, who was overwhelmed with humiliation, to leap to his death from the top of his treehouse.

==Biography==
===Early life===
{{Quote|He calls himself François Mackandal, my own mentor – the leader, the priest, the Brother, to whose cause I devoted my life. He was put to death by fire. I failed to prevent it.|Agaté on his Mentor, 1766.|Assassin's Creed III: Liberation}}
Born on the western coast of [[Africa]] around 1722, Agaté was captured by slave traders at the age of seven.<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref> Transported to the [[United States|Americas]], he eventually ended up on a [[Sugar plantations|plantation]] on [[Haiti|Saint-Domingue]]. There, he became acquainted with two other slaves, [[Baptiste]] and [[Jeanne]], and fell in love with the latter.<ref name="AC3L">''[[Assassin's Creed III: Liberation]]''</ref>

In 1732, the trio came into contact with the Assassin François Mackandal, who took them under his wing and taught them to read and write. Unlike Jeanne, who was kept in the dark about the Brotherhood, Agaté, along with Baptiste, was trained to become a full-fledged Assassin, receiving tuition in the use of poisons and weapons.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> When Jeanne found out about Mackandal's violent ways, she grew frightened of him, causing the relationship between Agaté and Jeanne to become strained.<ref name="AC3L"/>

In 1738, Agaté officially joined the Assassin Brotherhood, following which he escaped the plantation at Saint-Domingue with Mackandal and Baptiste; Jeanne refused to join them and stayed behind. For many years he fought alongside his Mentor, until a failed attempt to poison the colonists of Saint-Domingue resulted in the capture and execution of Mackandal in 1758. Abandoning Baptiste, Agaté tried to re-establish contact with Jeanne, whom he still loved, but found out she had been sold to a [[Merchants|merchant]] and taken to New Orleans.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/>

===Mentor of the Louisiana Brotherhood===
{{Dialogue|Agaté|What is an Assassin without discipline? You will regret your insubordination.|Aveline|I'll take that chance.|Agaté and Aveline during an argument, 1768.|Assassin's Creed III: Liberation}}
After he arrived in the city, Agaté soon learned that Jeanne had already left Louisiana, her destination unknown. Following his discovery that Jeanne had a daughter, Aveline, who still lived in the city, he decided to remain in New Orleans and keep watch over her. In 1759, Aveline took it upon herself to rescue a slave, but was caught in the act, prompting a swift intervention from Agaté.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/>

Impressed by her dedication to pursuing freedom and justice, he took Aveline on as his pupil and, following a few months of intense training,<ref name="ACI">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]''</ref> inducted her into the Assassin Brotherhood.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> That same year, Agaté also recruited Gérald Blanc, Aveline's childhood friend, and trained him to become a spy and information officer. In tutoring them both, Agaté became more of a Mentor for the Assassins than a warrior, which made him a target for the Templars, who were gaining power in the region.<ref name="AC3L"/>

Agaté subsequently hid in the Louisiana Bayou for safety, establishing a network of servant contacts and designating Aveline and Gérald as his agents within the city. When a nascent [[Baptiste's followers|cult]] came to the swamp in March 1766, Agaté, suspecting Templar influence, retreated further into the bayou and built himself a hideout. After he learned that the followers' leader was calling himself "François Mackandal", Agaté sent word to Aveline to come meet him.<ref name="AC3L"/>

[[File:The False Mackandal 2.png|thumb|250px|left|Agaté giving Aveline her blowpipe]]
Following the arrival of his student, Agaté informed Aveline of the situation and then assigned her the task of uncovering the false Mackandal's identity and affiliations. Before his student's departure, he handed her a [[blowpipe]], and recommended she seek out the smuggler [[Élise Lafleur]], who might be able to help Aveline in locating her target.<ref name="AC3L"/>

Some time later, Aveline returned to inform Agaté that the imposter, who had been working together with [[Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer]], had been eliminated. When her Mentor inquired further, Aveline remained deliberately vague; in actuality, she had discovered from the imposter, who had been Baptiste, that Agaté and her mother had known each other. The fact that Agaté had chosen to keep this connection hidden from his student strained the relationship between the two, with Aveline visiting less in the following years.<ref name="AC3L"/>

In 1768, Agaté sought to deal with the perpetrator of a rash of disappearances in New Orleans. Like Gérald, Agaté believed the Templar governor [[Antonio de Ulloa]] to be responsible and subsequently sent word to Aveline to meet him in [[Saint Peter's Cemetery]], his last safe haven within the city. There, he gave her the order to assassinate De Ulloa to prove her loyalty to the Brotherhood, as Agaté found his faith in Aveline to be faltering.<ref name="AC3L"/>

[[File:A Governor No More 8.png|thumb|250px|Aveline showing Agaté the Templar lens de Ulloa gave her]]
While Agaté remained in the cemetery, Aveline carried out her mission, setting up an ambush and then cornering the governor. However, she decided to spare his life in return for more information that could help her dismantle the Templars' slave trafficking operation.<ref name="AC3L"/>

Regardless of her success in procuring a valuable Templar lens and learning more about the Templars' machinations, Agaté lost faith in his student, as she had disobeyed his direct orders. When Aveline then expressed her intention of journeying to [[Chichen Itza]] to seek out the Templars, Agaté explicitly forbade her to go, though his student defiantly ignored this command and went anyways. In the years that followed, Agaté and Aveline began to grow apart even further.<ref name="AC3L"/>

During Aveline's absence, rogue [[Spain|Spanish]] soldiers began raising havoc in the bayou, intent on seizing control of it. In response, Agaté set up several voodoo signs near the swamp's only road, in an effort to scare away the troops. In 1771, Aveline returned from Chichen Itza, hoping to make amends, though Agaté refused to acknowledge her and only grew angrier when she presented him with a piece of a [[Isu|First Civilization]] artifact known as the [[Prophecy Disks|Prophecy Disk]].<ref name="AC3L"/>

[[File:Power of Voodoo 4.png|thumb|250px|left|Agaté telling Aveline of his plans]]
Agaté told Aveline that she should not have unearthed the relic, ordering her to remove it from his sight at once. As she put the object away, Aveline attempted to warn her Mentor of the troops that had been bribed by the Templar [[Diego Vázquez|Vázquez]], though Agaté replied that he was already well aware of their presence, having made plans to outwit them.<ref name="AC3L"/>

Aveline then offered her help in ousting the intruders from the bayou. Agaté begrudgingly accepted, instructing his student to silently poison members of a patrol as they passed his voodoo signs, thus making the troops believe they had fallen under a voodoo curse. Despite this brief success, Agaté and Aveline remained distant and would not meet again for several years.<ref name="AC3L"/>

===Confrontation with Aveline===
{{Quote|You would fit me a coward's slow, pointless death? As you did Ulloa? I will not live with the dishonor. I–|Agaté before committing suicide, 1777.|Assassin's Creed III: Liberation}}
In 1777, Agaté was visited at his hut by Aveline, who had discovered the identity of the Company Man, Louisiana's head Templar. However, embittered as he was by her long absences, Agaté was less than welcoming and, upon the revelation that the Company Man had been Aveline's own stepmother, came to believe she had been turned to the Templar cause. His paranoia pushing him into attacking her, he threw down a bomb of hallucinogenic poison, causing her to experience visions of the Templars she had previously slain.<ref name="AC3L"/>

[[File:Confronting Agate 8.png|thumb|250px|Agaté falling to his death]]
While Aveline was tormented by phantoms, Agaté ascended his treehouse and taunted his student as she attempted to chase after him. The Assassin eventually managed to see through the poison-induced illusions and followed her Mentor, trying to make him see reason and tell her what the shards of the Prophecy Disk were actually for.<ref name="AC3L"/>

Agaté refused to answer, however, and was eventually cornered at the highest point of his hideout. Despite Agaté's bitter raving, Aveline chose to spare her Mentor, ordering him to run and never return to New Orleans. Overcome with shame and humiliation, Agaté instead jumped from the treetop platform. Despite Aveline's attempt to save her Mentor, she was only able to grasp his necklace which snapped as he plunged to his death.<ref name="AC3L"/>

==Legacy==
{{Quote|Initial reports on Aveline de Grandpré led us to believe she would be too controversial and impulsive to appeal to a wide audience. Teenaged memories show her brainwashed and trained to kill political foes of her highly unstable Mentor, Agaté.|A biased market analysis of Aveline's memories.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
In the 21st century, the Templar-run [[Abstergo Industries]], a corporate giant, had one their [[Abstergo Entertainment|subsidiaries]] produce a [[Liberation|video game]] based on Aveline de Grandpré's [[Genetic memory|genetic memories]]. In it, Agaté was portrayed as an unpredictable psychopath that manipulated individuals such as Aveline and Gérald into doing his dirty work, glossing over his life as a slave and love for Jeanne.<ref name="AC3L"/>

==Personality and characteristics==
{{Quote|Mentor, do not force my hand! The Agaté who trained me is a man of truth and courage. I know he still lives within you. Let him out again!|Aveline trying to get through to Agaté, 1777.|Assassin's Creed III: Liberation}}
Suffering much abuse while he was on Saint-Domingue, Agaté's experiences on the island would severely scar him, both physically and emotionally. To cope, he dedicated himself to the teachings of Mackandal and spent the remainder of his free time in the company of Jeanne, whom he loved dearly. However, Agaté was eventually forced to cut ties with Jeanne to prove his commitment to the Brotherhood, a decision he would come to regret in his later years. Indeed, throughout most of his life, he would have trouble mentally processing their broken relationship.<ref name="AC3L"/>

[[File:Meet the Smugglers 1.png|thumb|250px|left|Agaté recommending Aveline seek out Élise Lafleur]]
Nonetheless, Agaté remained devoted to the Assassin cause, even after the death of Mackandal, establishing a guild in Louisiana and assuming the position of Mentor. Although a recluse, he appeared to be a very experienced and invaluable mentor to his students, as evidenced by his interactions with Aveline. With his stern nature serving to balance out the young Assassin's more impulsive tendencies, Agaté patiently trained Aveline and was not above offering her advice before she left on missions.<ref name="AC3L"/>

However, Agaté was also secretive, never telling Aveline of the past relationship he had shared with her mother. As well as this, he appeared dishonest at times, stating that the blowpipe he had given to Aveline had originally been Mackandal's. This claim was later contested by Baptiste, who said the blowpipe had been his originally, calling into question the veracity of Agaté's words.<ref name="AC3L"/>

Agaté's secrecy would eventually damage his relationship with Aveline, as his student would later find out about his connection to Jeanne by herself. Already suffering from paranoia due to the experiences he endured in his youth, Agaté believed her growing distance signaled a faltering loyalty to the Brotherhood. On one occasion he even admitted to having a dream of Aveline turning her back on the Order.<ref name="AC3L"/>

[[File:A Governor No More 9.png|thumb|250px|Agaté arguing with Aveline]]
As these feelings took root, Agaté grew harsher in his interactions with Aveline, openly calling her loyalty into question and insinuating she was conspiring with Gérald. Aveline's subsequent decision to spare governor Antonio de Ulloa, when Agaté had explicitly ordered her to kill him, shattered Agaté's trust in his pupil. Despite the fact that Aveline wished to pursue the goals of the Brotherhood by traveling to [[Mexico]], Agaté forbade her to go, his judgment clouded by his feelings of anger and betrayal.<ref name="AC3L"/>

When Aveline returned several years later, Agaté had grown so embittered he claimed he didn't recognize her and refused to acknowledge her successes. So resentful had he become of his student that he no longer wished to indulge her questions, as he might have done before, instead relishing in the lack of them.<ref name="AC3L"/>

In the end, Agaté's paranoia drove him to attack his student, after she had called him out on his failings - particularly, his tendency to inaction. Employing a hallucinogenic poison, he gained the upper hand and taunted her, his former affection for her having been twisted into hatred. When he was beaten, however, Agaté's lifelong frustrations, shame and self-doubt drove him to commit suicide.<ref name="AC3L"/>

===Equipment and skills===
{{Quote|No! It cannot be! Agaté... What have you done to me?|Aveline under the influence of Agaté's poisons, 1777.|Assassin's Creed III: Liberation}}
Agaté was a skilled [[Freerunning|freerunner]], being able to navigate the bayou's many trees with ease. Similarly, he constructed his hideout in such a way that it was only accessible to the most adept of climbers. On one occasion, Agaté requested his student to meet him in New Orleans' graveyard, and could subsequently be found perched on the roof of a chapel.<ref name="AC3L"/>

Agaté was also proficient in the use of poisons, making use of them on several occasions; he used them in conjunction with voodoo signs to make a patrol believe they'd fallen under a voodoo curse. When confronted by Aveline, he used a certain hallucinogen that hindered her ability to see and made lifeless practice dolls appear to be hostile and human, as well as creating the illusion that he could vanish and reappear a distance away.<ref name="AC3L"/>

==Trivia==
*Both Agaté and Baptiste considered the avenging of slaves by killing white colonists a life goal of theirs, even as Assassins, despite the fact that doing so would be tantamount to breaking [[the Creed]]'s first tenet.
*Agaté's battle with Aveline was similar to the one between [[Rashid ad-Din Sinan|Al Mualim]] and [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]], as both featured a Mentor figure summoning illusions of their pupil's former targets to defeat them.
*Agaté's relationship with Aveline also mirrored the relationship between [[Achilles Davenport]] and [[Ratonhnhaké:ton]], as both Mentors led guilds that were relatively small-scale or non-existent at all, with a headstrong Assassin under their tutelage. However, where Achilles steadily warmed up to Ratonhnhaké:ton, Agaté instead lost faith in Aveline, to the point of resenting her.
*Agaté was a practitioner of Voodoo, of which varying symbols could be spotted on his person and his hideout – his right bracer adorned the symbol of {{Wiki|Damballa}}, the door on his cabin's first floor displayed the symbol of {{Wiki|Papa Legba}}, while the second floor altar showed the symbol of {{Wiki|Baron Samedi}}.
*Concept art of Agaté could be seen hanging on the walls of [[Abstergo Entertainment]]'s offices in [[Montreal]].

* Agate is a gemstone renowned for its bright hues and fine grain. Agaté's name is also similar to the Greek form of the name Agatha, ''Agathe'', which is derived from the word ''agathos'' meaning "good".
* Agate is possibly derived from Agateophobia, the fear of insanity, this could correlate to him giving Aveline the berserk darts she uses early on in the story.

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
ACL CA SP 08 Agate.jpg|Concept art of Agaté
Agate Database.png|Agaté's appearance in the Vita iteration
The False Mackandal 1.png|Agaté telling Aveline of Mackandal's imposter
The Whole Truth 1.png|Agaté congratulating Aveline on her success
Power of Voodoo 3.png|Agaté dismissing Aveline
Confronting Agate 7.png|Agaté being confronted by Aveline
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{AC3L}}
[[Category:1722 births]]
[[Category:1777 deaths]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Africans]]
[[Category:Maroons]]
[[Category:Assassins]]
[[Category:Mentors]]
[[Category:Haitian Assassins]]
[[Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden]]

Edward Thatch

2016-02-11T22:44:12Z

72.213.222.137: /* Gallery */

{{Era|AC4|ACP|ACM|ACI|4book|LJ}}
{{WP-REAL|Blackbeard}}
{{Update|[[Assassin's Creed: Black Flag]] and [[Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Blackbeard - The Lost Journal]]}}
{{Quote|Caution's nothing without charisma! If a man plays the fool, then it's only fools he'll persuade. But appear to be the devil... and all men will submit.|Edward Thatch to Edward Kenway, 1718.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
{{Character Infobox
|image = AC4 Edward Thatch.png
|birth = c. 1680<br>[[United Kingdom|Kingdom of England]]
|death = 22 November 1718<br>[[Ocracoke]], [[North Carolina]], [[United States|British America]]
|affiliates = [[Royal Navy]] <small>(c. 1701 – 1713)</small><br>[[Nassau|Pirate Republic]] <small>(1713 – 1718)</small><br>Crew of the ''[[Queen Anne's Revenge]]'' <small>(1717 – death)</small>
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''<br>''[[Assassin's Creed: Black Flag ]]''<br>''[[Assassin's Creed: Pirates]]''
|voice = [[Mark Bonnar]]}}
'''Edward Thatch''' (c. 1680 – 1718), also known by the alias '''Blackbeard''', was an infamous [[United Kingdom|English]] [[Piracy|pirate]] captain who sailed the [[Caribbean|West Indies]] and the eastern seaboard of the [[United States|American]] colonies during the [[Golden Age of Piracy|early 18th century]], aboard the ship ''[[Queen Anne's Revenge]]''.

In 2013, his [[Genetic memory|genetic memories]] were used as an Animi Avatar by the [[Abstergo Entertainment|entertainment branch]] of the [[Templars|Templar]] company [[Abstergo Industries]], to influence the general public via the [[Animus]] game console, under the title of [[Blackbeard (Animi Avatar)|Blackbeard]].

==Biography==
===Early life===
Edward Thatch was likely born in [[Bristol]], England, in 1680. Little is known of his early years until the [[War of the Spanish Succession]] in 1701, when he served as a privateer for the [[Royal Navy]] in the Caribbean. During the war, Edward met [[Benjamin Hornigold]], [[Edward Kenway]] and [[Charles Vane]].<ref name="AC4">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref>

In January 1713, Thatch and his crew came to the rescue of the ''[[Amazon Galley]]'', a [[Ships|ship]] belonging to the [[East India Company]], when it was being boarded by the crew of the ''[[Emperor]]''. The pirates were soon overpowered by the privateers and the soldiers, and only two of them were left alive. [[Blaney]], one of the remaining pirates decided to join Thatch's crew, and asked if he could kill Edward Kenway, the other survivor. Thatch told them to have a [[Fists|fistfight]] instead, with Kenway emerging victorious. However, when Blaney attempted to cheat, he was shot by Thatch, and Kenway was recruited into Thatch's crew.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Black Flag]]''</ref>

With the advent of peace in 1713, Thatch was, like so many other privateers, denounced by his government and left to fend for himself. Eventually he turned to piracy to make his living, serving as Hornigold's quartermaster between 1714 and 1716.<ref name="AC4"/>

===Piracy===
{{Dialogue|Kenway|You don't do nothing subtle, do ya, Thatch?|Thatch|Legends ain't born from mildness.|Edward Kenway and Thatch, 1718.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
In 1715, Thatch, Hornigold and [[Mary Read|James Kidd]] met with Edward Kenway in [[Nassau]]. There, the four discussed their plans to free the city of its British garrison and turn it into their very own Pirate Republic. Thatch, with the assistance of Kenway, arranged for the capture and subsequent use of a [[Spanish Navy|Spanish]] [[Man O' War|galleon]], ''[[El Arca del Maestro]]'', as a fortified defense of one of the island's harbors, beaching it on nearby [[Abaco Island]].<ref name="AC4"/>

By 1717, having grown his beard to transform himself into the character of "Blackbeard", Thatch commandeered a ship called the ''Adventure'' - captained by [[Stede Bonnet]] - for himself. Allowing Bonnet to remain aboard as a protégé, Thatch commanded the ship for two months when he captured the [[France|French]] [[Slave ships|slave ship]] ''La Concorde''. Renaming her ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' in honor of the late {{Wiki|Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen}}, he armed the [[frigate]] with over forty [[cannons]], thereby becoming one of the most feared pirates in the West Indies.<ref name="AC4"/>

In early 1717, Thatch encountered three ships that belonged to his friend, [[Samuel Bellamy]], and his associates, [[Olivier Levasseur]] and [[Alonzo Batilla]], engaging in an uneven fight against the ''[[King George]]'', a British Man O'War led by the Templar Captain [[Francis Hume]] in the [[Grand Bahama]]s. Thatch decided to assist them by firing a broadside into the Man O'War, allowing Batilla to destroy the battered ship by shooting at its weak spots. Leaving as soon as he arrived, he was questioned by Batilla regarding his identity before leaving.<ref name="ACP">''[[Assassin's Creed: Pirates]]''</ref>

Later that year, he met Batilla again at [[La Boca del Diablo]], informing the pirate about Bellamy's death in a storm and seeing ''[[Le Postillon]]'', Levasseur's ship, wrecked. Informed of the Templars' attempt to rule the seas, he raced back to Nassau, and informing Batilla of a [[Forts|fort]] that held the island's name. It took him three months to reach Nassau, after he learned of Bellamy's demise.<ref name="ACP"/>

At the start of 1718, Thatch once again met with Hornigold and Kenway to discuss the stagnation in growth that had hit Nassau. They determined that the town needed medicines to survive, but that attacking British warships to obtain said medicine was likely to draw too much attention, especially given the Crown's renewed focus on eliminating the pirate threat in the Caribbean.<ref name="AC4"/>

Despite these circumstances, Thatch's displeasure with their immediate success, or lack thereof, spurred him into assaulting a British Man O' War to take its medicine supply. He subsequently had to be saved by Kenway, who helped him to capture the ship.<ref name="AC4"/>

[[File:The Siege of Charles-Towne 9.png|thumb|left|250px|Thatch and his prisoners at Charles-Towne]]
Thatch and Kenway traveled to the British colony at [[Charleston|Charles-Towne]] in order to procure a large amount of medicine, which had been sourced to the town by a box found in the captured Man O' War. By the time Kenway arrived, the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' had been blockading the town for seven days and had taken several hostages, encouraging Charles-Towne to surrender its medicine. To Thatch's disappointment, there had been no response, and the party he sent to bargain with the governor had not returned.<ref name="AC4"/>

With Kenway's arrival, they successfully procured the needed medicine. However, when Kenway suggested they return to Nassau, Thatch declined, saying he would be traveling north for business. Kenway inferred that Thatch had no plans to return to Nassau, which Thatch confirmed, saying that he intended to go into retirement.<ref name="AC4"/>

===Death===
{{Quote|In a world without gold, we might have been heroes!|Edward Thatch's final words, 1718.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
Thatch accepted a pardon from {{Wiki|Charles Eden (politician)|Charles Eden}}, governor of [[North Carolina]], but quickly resumed piracy to gather more funds for his retirement. [[Alexander Spotswood]], the governor of [[Virginia]], became aware of his continued piracies, and paid Lieutenant [[Robert Maynard]] to get rid of him.<ref name="AC4"/>

[[File:Do Not Go Gently 9.png|thumb|250px|Thatch fighting the British troops]]
After the blockade of Nassau by British forces, Kenway and Vane tracked Thatch down to [[Ocracoke]] to convince him to return, to no avail. While Vane swore him off, Kenway was more understanding, saying he did not begrudge Thatch his choice. In thanks, Thatch informed him that the [[Sages|Sage]] [[Bartholomew Roberts]] was rumored to be sailing on a slaver ship called the ''[[Princess]]''.<ref name="AC4"/>

Later that evening, two Royal Navy vessels under Maynard launched an ambush, destroying the small settlement as well as the ships anchored in the harbor, including the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'', which forced Thatch and Kenway to make their escape aboard the ''[[Jackdaw]]'', the only ship to survive the attack. The two soon realized, however, that they would need to capture the attacking Man O' War in order to leave safely, and subsequently boarded it.<ref name="AC4"/>

Despite their best efforts, the pirates were soon overwhelmed; surrounded and outnumbered, Kenway saw that Thatch was in danger and threw him a [[Firearms|pistol]], but Thatch was slain and decapitated after a prolonged and bloody engagement, though Kenway and Vane were able to escape.<ref name="AC4"/>

==Personality and characteristics==
{{Quote|That's some soft talk coming from a pirate. And as it happens... I mostly agree.|Thatch on [[Adéwalé]]'s desire to avoid attacking merchant ships.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
[[File:Diving For Medicines 10.png|thumb|250px|left|Thatch demonstrating his theatrics on Stede Bonnet]]
Thatch was a warm and avuncular man who despised the corruption of the British bureaucracy and cared deeply about building an independent state for dispossessed privateers like himself in Nassau. Although the Pirate Republic fell into squalor, he went to tremendous lengths to find medicine for his disease-ridden brethren, until the point he felt his age was catching up to him and left.<ref name="AC4"/>

The demonic persona of Blackbeard was crafted by Thatch to avoid actually using violence to intimidate his enemies. He bolstered his formidable image by performing stunts such as lighting fuses in his hair, pouring gunpowder in his rum, or forcing his crew to work below deck as he burned sulfur to prove he was the hardiest of all of them. He grew out his beard partly to make himself all the more iconic.<ref name="AC4"/>

Unfortunately, Thatch's fearsome reputation caught up to him when the British attacked and killed him, just as he was retiring.<ref name="AC4"/>

==Trivia==
*There was confusion as to Thatch's real name, with various historical sources spelling his surname as "Teach, Theach, Tache, Titche, Teatch [or] Tack". At least one Lieutenant referred to him as "Edward Teach".<ref name="AC4"/> The [[Database: Dead Chest Island|database entry]] for [[Dead Chest Island]] in ''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' uses the name "Edward Teach".<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref>
*Following his retirement, Edward Kenway took an Irish bloodhound as a pet, which he named Thatch.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Forsaken]]''</ref>
*In 2013, Abstergo Entertainment announced the possibility of a stage production, titled ''Blackbeard: The Musical'', to be in the beginning stages of development. This is a reference to a {{Wiki|Blackbeard (musical)|production}} begun in 2008.
*[[Mark Bonnar]] came up with Blackbeard's voice by browsing [http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices BBC Voices] and emulating the voices of older residents from Bristol. He expressed difficulty maintaining the accent, as sometimes he felt he sounded too [[Ireland|Irish]]. He also channeled his portrayal of the ape in a radio version of ''{{Wiki|The Murders in the Rue Morgue}}'' for the character's growls.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aSDSPQUSv0&feature=youtu.be YouTube: The Assassin's Den - ft. Mark Bonnar]</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
Edward Thatch concept.jpg|Concept art of Blackbeard
Edward Thatch rear view concept.jpg|Rear concept of Blackbeard
Blackbeard Pirates.png|Thatch as he appears in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Pirates]]''
ACIThatch.jpg|A painting of Thatch's final moments
AC4 Thatch Screamer.png|Thatch screaming at a British soldier
Now Hiring 4.png|Hornigold, Thatch and Kenway at Old Avery
Prizes and Plunder 8.png|Thatch, Edward and Hornigold on Nassau's beach
Raise the Black Flag 3.png|Thatch and the others in Salt Key
Proper Defenses 3.png|Thatch telling others about ''El Arca Del Maestro''
The Forts 10.png|Thatch meeting Rackham and Vane at Old Avery
Diving for Medicines 13.png|Thatch arguing with Vane over the king's pardon
Diving For Medicines 1.png|Edward meeting with Thatch in the Caribbean
Diving For Medicines 9.png|Thatch putting his fiery hat on
Devil's Advocate 7.png|Thatch talking with the dying British captain
The Siege of Charles-Towne 1.png|Thatch speaking to the hostages
Do Not Go Gently 3.png|Thatch with Kenway in Ocracoke
Do Not Go Gently 10.png|The soldiers killing Thatch
</gallery><gallery>
Assassin's Creed IV - Queen Anne's Revenge
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{AC4}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatch, Edward}}
[[Category:1680 births]]
[[Category:1718 deaths]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Englishmen]]
[[Category:Privateers]]
[[Category:Captains]]
[[Category:Pirates]]
[[Category:Quartermasters]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel]]

Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins

2016-02-09T00:26:45Z

72.213.222.137: /* Origins and appearance */

{{Era|ACB|PL|ACR|ACRG|ACU|Unovel|Assassins}}
{{Revamp}}
{{Faction infobox
|image = ACU French Assassins.png
|founder =
|headquarters = [[Paris]]
|locations = [[France]]
|related = [[Assassins]]
|hideh = yes
|formed =
|notable = [[Pierre Bellec]]<br>[[Guillaume Beylier]]<br>[[Thomas de Carneillon]]<br>[[Arno Dorian]]<br>[[Charles Dorian]]<br>[[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]]<br>[[Hervé Quemar]]<br>[[Sophie Trenet]]}}
The '''French Assassins''' were the Brotherhood of [[Assassins]] located in [[France]]. They were most notable for their involvement in the public disbanding of the [[Templars|Templar Order]] in 1307, preventing the Templars from infiltrating the Royal Court in the early 16th century, and a controversial attempt to end the [[Assassin–Templar War]] through an uneasy peace, before the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]].

==History==
===Destruction of the Templars===
[[File:Tragedy of Jacques de Molay 7.png|thumb|left|250px|Thomas de Carneillon during the attack of the Temple]]
Early in the 14th century, the Assassins manipulated King [[Philip IV of France]], in order to destroy the Templars. [[Guillaume de Nogaret]] the [[Mentor]] of the French Brotherhood and councilor of King Philip, poisoned the [[Papacy|Pope]] [[Benedict XI]] and replaced him by [[Clement V]], who unknowingly served the Assassins. Then the Templars were branded as heretics, and their [[Temple (Paris)|stronghold]] attacked by the King's forces in 1307 with the help of the Assassins disguised as Flemish mercenaries. During the attack, [[Thomas de Carneillon]] tried to steal the [[Codex Pater Intellectus]] and a [[Swords of Eden]] but was stop by a [[Jacques de Molay's advisor|Templar Knight]] who hid the two artifacts in the Jacques de Molay's vault before being killed by the Assassin.<ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref> The [[Grand Master]] of the Templars, [[Jacques de Molay]], was captured during the attack and put to death by fire, along with sixty other Templars. However, unbeknownst to the Assassins, nine Templar leaders had gone underground and continued their work in secrecy, despite the public disbanding of their Order.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' - [[Abstergo Files]]</ref>

===Working with the Italian Brotherhood===
In the early 16th century, [[Louis XII of France|King Louis XII]] left Paris and quarreled with [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand II]] over the ownership of [[Naples]], leaving his foreign ministers in charge. However, the King was unaware of their ties to the [[House of Borgia|Borgia]], and it allowed them to target the religious reformist [[Desiderius Erasmus]].

To escape the plague, Erasmus planned to hire a carriage out of town, though the Templars disguised themselves as travelers and offered him a ride. With Erasmus' life in danger, the French Assassins and a team of [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]]'s [[Italy|Italian]] [[apprentices]] tracked them down, and with coordinated shots, killed all of the guards. After rescuing Erasmus, he told them that the Templars were holding another Assassin captive.

Following this, the Assassins tried to find their Brother, who had been captured by the men working for the Borgia. A group of [[Italian Assassins]] sent from [[Rome]] by Ezio were able to receive information from corrupted ministers about the Assassin's whereabouts, and tracked down Archbishop [[Georges d'Amboise]], before interrogating him. He revealed the names of the ministers associated with the Templars, whom the Assassins later disposed of.

After that, the Italian Assassins rescued the French Assassin from the manor he was held in, but he eventually succumbed to his wounds. However, he informed his Brothers that he had only revealed false information to his torturers. He also warned his rescuers to be wary of the {{Wiki|Orsini family}}, who had ties to the Templars.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' - Contracts</ref><ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' - [[Contracts (Project Legacy)|Contracts]]</ref>

In 1511, King Louis XII acted on [[Marseille]]'s threats of secession motivated by the French Assassins, and ordered his army to banish all Assassins from the city. Aided by [[Turkish Assassins|Ottoman Assassins]] sent from [[Constantinople]] by Ezio Auditore, the combined Assassin force hindered the army's efforts, though without violence.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' - [[Mediterranean Defense]]</ref>

===Involving with the American Brotherhoods===
In the early 18th century, the [[Assassin Council]] was formed at some point where they became acquainted with the French Assassin [[John de la Tour]] whom they sent to the [[United States|Thirteen Colonies]] in order to spread the Assassin's influence. In 1740, de la Tour became acquainted with [[Achilles Davenport]], who was sent by the Mentor of the [[Caribbean Assassins]], [[Ah Tabai]].<ref name="ACRG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''</ref>

Together they worked to establish a new Brotherhood in the colonies which the French Council aided them in their efforts, they helped construct the ''[[Aquila]]'', a ship designed to serve as the Colonial Brotherhood's naval fleet. In 1745 during the Battle of Louisbourg De la Tour sacrificed himself to allow Achilles time to escape the battle whom then became Mentor of the growing [[Colonial Assassins]].<ref name="ACRG"/>

In 1749, the French Assassin [[Nicolas de Saint-Prix]] send a letter to Achilles Davenport to announced the construction of the ''Aquila'', which would became the flag ship of the Colonial Assassins.<ref name="ACRG"/>

[[Pierre Bellec]], a French colonial soldier who served during the [[Seven Years' War]] discovered his Assassin lineage and eventually joined the brotherhood in 1756. Around 1762 Bellec left the military and traveled to France only narrowly escaping the [[Colonial Assassin purge]]. He soon became a Master Assassin where he was tasked with training several new apprentices where eventually met [[Charles Dorian]] who had originated from an old Assassin family line whom he came to form a strong bond with. One one mission Dorian was attacked by a Templar fortunately to be saved by Bellec.<ref name="ACU"/>

During France's involvement in the [[American Revolutionary War]], the Assassin [[William de Saint-Prix]] was sent to aid the Thirteen Colonies.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' - [[Abstergo Story]]</ref>

[[File:The Kingdom of Beggars 1.png|thumb|250px|Mirabeau with the Council]]
In 1776, [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]], who would became a political leader of the French Revolution, joined the Brotherhood and effectively rose to the position of Mentor of the French Brotherhood where he became acquainted with Charles Dorian for a time. Mirabeau also took a seat as head of the Council, which was formed by four Master Assassins including Pierre Bellec, [[Sophie Trenet]], [[Hervé Quemar]] and [[Guillaume Beylier]].<ref name="ACU"/>

The same year, Beylier was contacted by [[Eseosa]] a Haitian Assassin who requested aid, however due to their present situation The French Branch were unable to provide reinforcement but maintained correspondence.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' - [[Eseosa's Codex|Letters to the Dead]]</ref>

Later Charles Dorian attended an Assassin meeting at the [[Palace of Versailles]] in order to conduct business with [[Louis XVI of France|King Louis XVI]] where Dorian was entrusted with safeguarding the [[Precursor boxes|Precursor box]], however moments later he was killed by the Master Templar [[Shay Cormac]] whom took possession of the artifact.<ref name="ACRG"/>

After Charles tragic death, Bellec spent several years investigating mysterious cryptic glyphs and hidden messages subsequently getting himself incarcerated in several prisons.<ref name="ACU"/>

===French Revolution===
====Assassin-Templar truce====
[[File:The Estates General 10.png|thumb|left|250px|Mirabeau meeting with Grand Master de la Serre]]
During the [[Estates-General of 1789]], the Grand Master [[François de la Serre]] sought to establish a truce between the [[Parisian Rite of the Templar Order]] and the French Assassins. The Assassin Mentor, Mirabeau, supported the idea, which led to a time of relative peace between two factions. However, the truce came to an end with the death of de la Serre at the hands of [[Charles Gabriel Sivert]] and the [[Roi des Thunes]], on the orders of a former Templar and a [[Sages|Sage]], [[François-Thomas Germain]]. De la Serre's adopted son, [[Arno Dorian]], was accused of the murder and imprisoned in the [[Bastille]], while Germain was elected as the new Grand Master, and began working with his supporters to stage a revolution in France.<ref name="ACU"/>

During his imprisonment, Arno met an Assassin, Pierre Bellec, who offered him a chance to settle the score with de la Serre's killers, by joining the Assassin Order. Following the escape from the Bastille during a [[Storming of the Bastille|storming]] of it by the citizens, Arno sought out the Assassins, and was inducted into the Brotherhood. At the beginning of the Revolution, the Assassins helped the people of Paris by providing access to food which was hoarded by [[Joseph Foullon de Doué]]. Later, in October, the Assassins protected [[Théroigne de Méricourt]] during the [[Women's March on Versailles]] from the Templars, who attempted to make the march more violent against the royal family. After the first months of the Revolution, Mirabeau negotiated with the King to maintain a peaceful revolution, and also allow him to pay of his debt. With the truce maintained by Mirabeau, the Assassins could only fight smugglers and thugs. Around 1790, Arno proceeded to loot the funds of [[Jacques Necker]] for the Brotherhood.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:Rebirth 29.jpg|thumb|250px|Arno's induction to the Brotherhood]]
In January 1791, Pierre Bellec and Arno Dorian eavesdropped on a reunion between Sivert and [[Arpinon]], who was extorting money from both the nobility and clergy. Bellec assassinated Arpinon and Arno proceeded to loot a book from his body revealing that Sivert would be at [[Notre-Dame]]. With this information, Mirabeau decided to end the truce and authorized Arno to assassinate Sivert. In the memories of his target, Arno saw that the Roi des Thunes participated in the assassination of de la Serre. After giving Arno the title of Assassin along with a [[Phantom Blade]], the Council sent him kill the Roi des Thunes. Arno learned that the killers of de la Serre worked for a Master and the only lead was a silversmith named Germain. After learning of this information, the Council permitted Arno to continue his investigation.<ref name="ACU"/>

When Arno met Germain, the Templar Grand Master faked imprisonment in his own shop and led Arno to believe that [[Chrétien Lafrenière]] was the new Grand Master of Templar Order. Without the permission of the Council, Arno destroyed Lafrenière's weapon and subsequently assassinated him. However, Arno learned that it was in fact Lafrenière who sent the letter which warned de la Serre from the treason. After learning that he had overridden the Creed, most of the members of the Council wanted to remove Arno from his investigation, except Mirabeau, who authorized Arno to pursue his lead into the Hôtel de Beauvais.

[[File:ACU Confrontation 2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Pierre Bellec's assassination]]
Inside the club, Arno eavesdropped on a reunion between the reformist Templars and learnt that they were planning to kill [[Élise de la Serre|Élise]], de la Serre's daughter. Arno intervened and saved Elise from the trap, and decided to bring her before the French Assassin Council, in order to gain information on Germain and try to re-establish a truce between the two factions. However, in his fanaticism, Bellec opposed the idea. He poisoned Mirabeau in an attempt to discredit Élise and prevent peace from being achieved. However, Arno discovered the deception and confronted Bellec at [[Sainte-Chapelle]], killing his former master after a duel. Following the death of two Master Assassins, the Council punished Arno, forbidding him from continuing his investigation into Germain and refusing to accept the truce with Elise.<ref name="ACU"/>

====The fall of Monarchy and the begin of Republic====
In the summer 1792, the people was starving because of the actions of the Templars [[Flavigny]] and [[Marie Lévesque]], who stole the food which enter in the city, with the goal to create riots in the city. Théroigne de Méricourt with the help of a team of Assassins found the food and distributed it to the people. The Assassins killed Flavigny and his thugs.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:The King's Correspondence 3.png|thumb|250px|Arno receiving his mission from the Council]]
On 10 August of the same year, the people stormed the [[Tuileries Palace]] after the announcement that the Austrian and the Prussian armies would help to restore the power of the king Louis XVI. The Council tasked Arno with infiltrating the Palace and destroying the correspondence between Mirabeau and the king, in fear that if someone published the letters, the Templars would strike the Assassins across France. Arno succeeded in his task and burnt the letters. He left the Palace by a secret exit with the help of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]. During their escape, [[Frédéric Rouille|Captain Rouille]], who worked for the Templars, entered the King's office in the search of the documents.<ref name="ACU"/>

On 2 September, at the beginning of the Republic, a spy ring led by the [[Comte de Gambais]] informed the Austrian forces about Paris' defenses with the plan to attack the capital and restore the Monarchy. One of the spies was trapped by Danton and several guards, but he succeeded to kill the guards and engaged Danton in combat. A team of Assassins saved Danton and killed de Gambais and his spy ring.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:ACU The Execution 2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Germain and the guards confronting Arno]]
During the same month, Arno and Élise continued their investigation into Germain without the knowledge of the Council. Arno killed Rouille in le [[Grand Châtelet]] during the [[September Massacres]], and learned that Marie Lévesque planned to incriminate the royals in the hoarding of food. Arno foiled her plans and assassinated her during a party in the [[Luxembourg Palace]]. His next target was [[Louis-Michel le Peletier]], who had condemned the King during his trial. When Arno killed him in the [[Palais-Royal]], he learned that Germain would be in attendance at the [[Execution of Louis XVI|Execution of the King]]. Arno and Élise confronted Germain at the execution, but he escaped in a carriage. Élise ordered Arno to follow Germain but the Assassin stayed behind to protect her from Germain's men. After they lost the Grand Master, Élise reproached to Arno that he preferred saving her than killing Germain and decided to leave Arno. When the Council learned what happened in the Place de la Révolution, they condemned Arno and expelled him from the Assassin Order.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:Bottom of the Barrel 1.png|thumb|250px|Trenet consulting Quemar regarding Arno's expulsion]]
During the 1793, France began to fall under the control of the Templars. In June, after an insurrection of [[Sans-culottes]] led by the Commander General of the Paris National Guard [[François Hanriot]], the [[Girondists]] were under house arrest. The Assassins rescued them and help them to leave the city. A month later, the Templar General [[Marcourt]] and fellow Templars planned a coup d'état in order to accelerate the revolution. But one of the conspirators, [[Thomas-Alexandre Dumas]], was in fact an ally of the Assassins and informed the Brotherhood about Marcourt's plan. Marcourt organized a tournament for recruiting men for the coup. A team of Assassins infiltrated the tournament to approached Marcourt and killed him and his conspirators in the Invalides. In August, the Assassins tried to rescued [[Marie Antoinette]] who was imprisoned in the [[Conciergerie]], but a Templar agent, [[Jean Gilbert]], revealed the plot. He would receive a recognition for his action, but was killed by an Assassin send by the Council.<ref name="ACU"/>

====Reign of Terror====
In September, Germain and [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] installed what which be called the [[Reign of Terror]] for eliminating all enemies of the Revolution and achieve the Great Work. In November, a Robespierre's spy, [[Didier Paton]], uncover the Templar Order and revealed to his master, unknowingly the fact he was also a Templar. Paton was condemned to death. The Assassins recover his notebook where many Templars were listed and saved Paton from the guillotine. Paton joined the Brotherhood. Later in February 1794, the Templars planned to use [[Jacques Roux]] and his Enragés to take Paris. A first team of Assassin was sent to kill Roux, who was imprisoned in the [[Salpêtrière Hospital]], but they failed and were imprisoned in the asylum. A second team of Assassins rescued the first team and succeed in killing Roux. Later on of [[Jacques Roux's lieutenant|Roux's lieutenant]] prepared a riot against the government. The Assassins killed him.<ref name="ACU"/>

On 5 April, Danton and other Indulgents were sent to the guillotine as traitor of the Nation. A team of Assassin wanted to rescue their ally but Danton accepted his fate and asked the Assassins to protected his friends who will be arrest by Robespierre's men. In May, the population of Paris wanted to remove the ashes of Mirabeau from the [[Panthéon]] after they learned that Mirabeau negotiating with the King. The Assassins, who feared that Templars would exposed the Brotherhood from the view of the population with the discover of an Assassin crypt, entered in the sanctuary and remove the relics of their Mentor.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:ACU The Temple 9.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Arno slaying Grand Master Germain]]
During this time, even if Arno was expelled from the Brotherhood, he continued with Élise to fight Germain. He killed [[Aloys la Touche]], who executed the population of Versailles. In his memories, he learned that Robespierre was a Templar and the two lovers planned to discredit Robespierre and when he will have no support, used him to find Germain. By 27 July 1794, the Convention wanted to arrest Robespierre and his followers. Arno and Élise interrogated Robespierre and learned that Germain was in the Temple. They left Robespierre to the justice. In the Temple, Germain used the sword of Eden which was hidden four centuries ago to fight the couple. During the battle, Germain killed Élise as Arno killed the Grand Master Templar. After the death of Robespierre, Théroigne de Méricourt and the Assassins stormed the [[Jacobins|Jacobin Club]] and killed the last Templars who were in the Club.<ref name="ACU"/>

====At the end of the revolution====
In 1795, the Assassins wanted to save [[Louis XVII of France]] who was an hostage of the Templars. Arno Dorian, who was reinstated in the Brotherhood, saved the hostage, who was in fact the servant of the Prince, who died in the Temple. In the late 1790's, the Templars infiltrated the Council of Five Hundred and wanted to continue the Terror. Arno Dorian killed the Templars in the government. Later, on 24 December 1799, a team of Assassins rescued Napoleon Bonaparte from an [[Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise|assassination attempt]] organized by royalist and killed their leader, [[François-Joseph Carbon]].<ref name="ACU"/>

==Origins and appearance==
At the beginning of the 14th century some French Assassins, like Thomas de Carneillon, wore robes similar to the Master Assassin robe of the [[Levantine Assassins|Levantine Brotherhood]], with some differences, like the color and with a leather hood. During the French Revolution, most of the Assassins, like Pierre Bellec, wore a white, yellow or black military uniform with a dark hood and a mask to hide their face. The female Assassins had shorter robes and, sometimes, wore masquerade masks. Other Assassins, like Master Trenet and Quémar, wore leather robes. Arno Dorian, in his early years in the Brotherhood, wore a blue robe and later wore different robes. The Master of the French Brotherhood received an honorific robe.<ref name="ACU"/>

Most of the French Assassins were French people but some Assassins had other origins, like John De La Tour and Pierre Bellec, who were Canadians, or Guillaume Beylier and [[Augustin Grisier]], who had African heritage.<ref name="ACU"/>

==Techniques==
The French Assassins were trained in stealth, combat and parkour and used most of the tactics created by the Levantine Brotherhood. Unlike the others branches, the French Assassins wore only one hidden blade but they developed a tactic for assassinating two targets with one blade. Also when an initiate became an Assassin, he received the Phantom Blade, a little crossbow incorporated in the Hidden Blade which could shoot blades or poison darts. The French Assassins used a variety of weapons, like [[swords]], maces, [[Long weapons|spears]], [[Heavy weapons|axes]], [[Firearms|pistols and muskets]]. Like the Turkish Assassins, the French Assassins used different kind of bombs to lure or cripple their enemies, like [[Bombs|smoke bombs]], [[cherry bombs]], stun bombs, money pouches or poisonous bombs.<ref name="ACU"/>

==Members==

<div style="float:left; width:48;">
*[[Julie d'Aubigny]]
*[[François Auverlot]]
*[[Louise Auverlot]]
*Pierre Bellec
*Camille Berteau
*Pierre Berteau
*Hubert Besy
*Guillaume Beylier
*Simon Bonhomme
*Guillaume Bourgeois
*Jacques Cagnard
*Thomas de Carneillon
*[[Louis-Dominique Cartouche]]
*Cartouche II
*Cartouche III
*[[Claude Chemin]]
*Charles Chevrier
*Geneviève Dalle
*Joseph Deshais
*Arno Dorian
*Charles Dorian
*[[Helene Dufranc]]
*Antoine Faroy
*Antoine Fieve
*Nicolas Fribourg
*Paul Ganchard
*[[Pierre Gard]]
*Alexandre Garnier
*François Garnier
*Jacques Girard
*Gabriel Godin
*[[Charlotte Gouze]]
*Anne Grelet
</div>
<div style="float:right; width:48%;">
*Augustin Grisier
*Pierre Guilbert
*Louise Harly
*[[Camille Hautcoeur]]
*Philippe Hélissant
*[[Marguerite Huet]]
*Claude Hure
*Catherine Imbert
*Charles Imbert
*Edmé Leblanc
*Simon Leblanc
*Laurent Lemaire
*Claude Lejeune
*Madeleine Leroux
*[[Louis-Joseph d'Albert de Luynes]]
*[[Maréchal]]
*Marguerite Mignot
*Mirabeau
*[[Mireille]]
*Paul Morot
*Guillaume de Nogaret
*Didier Paton
*Hervé Quemar
*Élisabeth Roger
*Laurent Rousseau
*Nicolas de Saint-Prix
*William de Saint-Prix
*Germain Savin
*Thomas Simon
*[[Le Téméraire]]
*Sophie Trenet
*Denis Varlet
</div>
{{-}}
'''Allies:'''

<div style="float:left; width:48;">
*Napoleon Bonaparte
*[[Jean-François Champollion]]
*Georges Danton
*Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
*[[Chevalier d'Éon]]
*[[Antoine Lavoisier]]
</div>
<div style="float:right; width:48%;">
*[[Marie Anne Lenormand]]
*Théroigne de Méricourt
*[[Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade]]
*Élise de la Serre {{C|Parisian Templar}}
*François de la Serre {{C|Parisian Templar}}
</div>
{{-}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACU}}
[[Category:Assassin branches]]

Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins

2016-02-09T00:23:46Z

72.213.222.137: /* Reign of Terror */

{{Era|ACB|PL|ACR|ACRG|ACU|Unovel|Assassins}}
{{Revamp}}
{{Faction infobox
|image = ACU French Assassins.png
|founder =
|headquarters = [[Paris]]
|locations = [[France]]
|related = [[Assassins]]
|hideh = yes
|formed =
|notable = [[Pierre Bellec]]<br>[[Guillaume Beylier]]<br>[[Thomas de Carneillon]]<br>[[Arno Dorian]]<br>[[Charles Dorian]]<br>[[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]]<br>[[Hervé Quemar]]<br>[[Sophie Trenet]]}}
The '''French Assassins''' were the Brotherhood of [[Assassins]] located in [[France]]. They were most notable for their involvement in the public disbanding of the [[Templars|Templar Order]] in 1307, preventing the Templars from infiltrating the Royal Court in the early 16th century, and a controversial attempt to end the [[Assassin–Templar War]] through an uneasy peace, before the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]].

==History==
===Destruction of the Templars===
[[File:Tragedy of Jacques de Molay 7.png|thumb|left|250px|Thomas de Carneillon during the attack of the Temple]]
Early in the 14th century, the Assassins manipulated King [[Philip IV of France]], in order to destroy the Templars. [[Guillaume de Nogaret]] the [[Mentor]] of the French Brotherhood and councilor of King Philip, poisoned the [[Papacy|Pope]] [[Benedict XI]] and replaced him by [[Clement V]], who unknowingly served the Assassins. Then the Templars were branded as heretics, and their [[Temple (Paris)|stronghold]] attacked by the King's forces in 1307 with the help of the Assassins disguised as Flemish mercenaries. During the attack, [[Thomas de Carneillon]] tried to steal the [[Codex Pater Intellectus]] and a [[Swords of Eden]] but was stop by a [[Jacques de Molay's advisor|Templar Knight]] who hid the two artifacts in the Jacques de Molay's vault before being killed by the Assassin.<ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref> The [[Grand Master]] of the Templars, [[Jacques de Molay]], was captured during the attack and put to death by fire, along with sixty other Templars. However, unbeknownst to the Assassins, nine Templar leaders had gone underground and continued their work in secrecy, despite the public disbanding of their Order.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' - [[Abstergo Files]]</ref>

===Working with the Italian Brotherhood===
In the early 16th century, [[Louis XII of France|King Louis XII]] left Paris and quarreled with [[Ferdinand II of Aragon|Ferdinand II]] over the ownership of [[Naples]], leaving his foreign ministers in charge. However, the King was unaware of their ties to the [[House of Borgia|Borgia]], and it allowed them to target the religious reformist [[Desiderius Erasmus]].

To escape the plague, Erasmus planned to hire a carriage out of town, though the Templars disguised themselves as travelers and offered him a ride. With Erasmus' life in danger, the French Assassins and a team of [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]]'s [[Italy|Italian]] [[apprentices]] tracked them down, and with coordinated shots, killed all of the guards. After rescuing Erasmus, he told them that the Templars were holding another Assassin captive.

Following this, the Assassins tried to find their Brother, who had been captured by the men working for the Borgia. A group of [[Italian Assassins]] sent from [[Rome]] by Ezio were able to receive information from corrupted ministers about the Assassin's whereabouts, and tracked down Archbishop [[Georges d'Amboise]], before interrogating him. He revealed the names of the ministers associated with the Templars, whom the Assassins later disposed of.

After that, the Italian Assassins rescued the French Assassin from the manor he was held in, but he eventually succumbed to his wounds. However, he informed his Brothers that he had only revealed false information to his torturers. He also warned his rescuers to be wary of the {{Wiki|Orsini family}}, who had ties to the Templars.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' - Contracts</ref><ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' - [[Contracts (Project Legacy)|Contracts]]</ref>

In 1511, King Louis XII acted on [[Marseille]]'s threats of secession motivated by the French Assassins, and ordered his army to banish all Assassins from the city. Aided by [[Turkish Assassins|Ottoman Assassins]] sent from [[Constantinople]] by Ezio Auditore, the combined Assassin force hindered the army's efforts, though without violence.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' - [[Mediterranean Defense]]</ref>

===Involving with the American Brotherhoods===
In the early 18th century, the [[Assassin Council]] was formed at some point where they became acquainted with the French Assassin [[John de la Tour]] whom they sent to the [[United States|Thirteen Colonies]] in order to spread the Assassin's influence. In 1740, de la Tour became acquainted with [[Achilles Davenport]], who was sent by the Mentor of the [[Caribbean Assassins]], [[Ah Tabai]].<ref name="ACRG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''</ref>

Together they worked to establish a new Brotherhood in the colonies which the French Council aided them in their efforts, they helped construct the ''[[Aquila]]'', a ship designed to serve as the Colonial Brotherhood's naval fleet. In 1745 during the Battle of Louisbourg De la Tour sacrificed himself to allow Achilles time to escape the battle whom then became Mentor of the growing [[Colonial Assassins]].<ref name="ACRG"/>

In 1749, the French Assassin [[Nicolas de Saint-Prix]] send a letter to Achilles Davenport to announced the construction of the ''Aquila'', which would became the flag ship of the Colonial Assassins.<ref name="ACRG"/>

[[Pierre Bellec]], a French colonial soldier who served during the [[Seven Years' War]] discovered his Assassin lineage and eventually joined the brotherhood in 1756. Around 1762 Bellec left the military and traveled to France only narrowly escaping the [[Colonial Assassin purge]]. He soon became a Master Assassin where he was tasked with training several new apprentices where eventually met [[Charles Dorian]] who had originated from an old Assassin family line whom he came to form a strong bond with. One one mission Dorian was attacked by a Templar fortunately to be saved by Bellec.<ref name="ACU"/>

During France's involvement in the [[American Revolutionary War]], the Assassin [[William de Saint-Prix]] was sent to aid the Thirteen Colonies.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' - [[Abstergo Story]]</ref>

[[File:The Kingdom of Beggars 1.png|thumb|250px|Mirabeau with the Council]]
In 1776, [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]], who would became a political leader of the French Revolution, joined the Brotherhood and effectively rose to the position of Mentor of the French Brotherhood where he became acquainted with Charles Dorian for a time. Mirabeau also took a seat as head of the Council, which was formed by four Master Assassins including Pierre Bellec, [[Sophie Trenet]], [[Hervé Quemar]] and [[Guillaume Beylier]].<ref name="ACU"/>

The same year, Beylier was contacted by [[Eseosa]] a Haitian Assassin who requested aid, however due to their present situation The French Branch were unable to provide reinforcement but maintained correspondence.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' - [[Eseosa's Codex|Letters to the Dead]]</ref>

Later Charles Dorian attended an Assassin meeting at the [[Palace of Versailles]] in order to conduct business with [[Louis XVI of France|King Louis XVI]] where Dorian was entrusted with safeguarding the [[Precursor boxes|Precursor box]], however moments later he was killed by the Master Templar [[Shay Cormac]] whom took possession of the artifact.<ref name="ACRG"/>

After Charles tragic death, Bellec spent several years investigating mysterious cryptic glyphs and hidden messages subsequently getting himself incarcerated in several prisons.<ref name="ACU"/>

===French Revolution===
====Assassin-Templar truce====
[[File:The Estates General 10.png|thumb|left|250px|Mirabeau meeting with Grand Master de la Serre]]
During the [[Estates-General of 1789]], the Grand Master [[François de la Serre]] sought to establish a truce between the [[Parisian Rite of the Templar Order]] and the French Assassins. The Assassin Mentor, Mirabeau, supported the idea, which led to a time of relative peace between two factions. However, the truce came to an end with the death of de la Serre at the hands of [[Charles Gabriel Sivert]] and the [[Roi des Thunes]], on the orders of a former Templar and a [[Sages|Sage]], [[François-Thomas Germain]]. De la Serre's adopted son, [[Arno Dorian]], was accused of the murder and imprisoned in the [[Bastille]], while Germain was elected as the new Grand Master, and began working with his supporters to stage a revolution in France.<ref name="ACU"/>

During his imprisonment, Arno met an Assassin, Pierre Bellec, who offered him a chance to settle the score with de la Serre's killers, by joining the Assassin Order. Following the escape from the Bastille during a [[Storming of the Bastille|storming]] of it by the citizens, Arno sought out the Assassins, and was inducted into the Brotherhood. At the beginning of the Revolution, the Assassins helped the people of Paris by providing access to food which was hoarded by [[Joseph Foullon de Doué]]. Later, in October, the Assassins protected [[Théroigne de Méricourt]] during the [[Women's March on Versailles]] from the Templars, who attempted to make the march more violent against the royal family. After the first months of the Revolution, Mirabeau negotiated with the King to maintain a peaceful revolution, and also allow him to pay of his debt. With the truce maintained by Mirabeau, the Assassins could only fight smugglers and thugs. Around 1790, Arno proceeded to loot the funds of [[Jacques Necker]] for the Brotherhood.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:Rebirth 29.jpg|thumb|250px|Arno's induction to the Brotherhood]]
In January 1791, Pierre Bellec and Arno Dorian eavesdropped on a reunion between Sivert and [[Arpinon]], who was extorting money from both the nobility and clergy. Bellec assassinated Arpinon and Arno proceeded to loot a book from his body revealing that Sivert would be at [[Notre-Dame]]. With this information, Mirabeau decided to end the truce and authorized Arno to assassinate Sivert. In the memories of his target, Arno saw that the Roi des Thunes participated in the assassination of de la Serre. After giving Arno the title of Assassin along with a [[Phantom Blade]], the Council sent him kill the Roi des Thunes. Arno learned that the killers of de la Serre worked for a Master and the only lead was a silversmith named Germain. After learning of this information, the Council permitted Arno to continue his investigation.<ref name="ACU"/>

When Arno met Germain, the Templar Grand Master faked imprisonment in his own shop and led Arno to believe that [[Chrétien Lafrenière]] was the new Grand Master of Templar Order. Without the permission of the Council, Arno destroyed Lafrenière's weapon and subsequently assassinated him. However, Arno learned that it was in fact Lafrenière who sent the letter which warned de la Serre from the treason. After learning that he had overridden the Creed, most of the members of the Council wanted to remove Arno from his investigation, except Mirabeau, who authorized Arno to pursue his lead into the Hôtel de Beauvais.

[[File:ACU Confrontation 2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Pierre Bellec's assassination]]
Inside the club, Arno eavesdropped on a reunion between the reformist Templars and learnt that they were planning to kill [[Élise de la Serre|Élise]], de la Serre's daughter. Arno intervened and saved Elise from the trap, and decided to bring her before the French Assassin Council, in order to gain information on Germain and try to re-establish a truce between the two factions. However, in his fanaticism, Bellec opposed the idea. He poisoned Mirabeau in an attempt to discredit Élise and prevent peace from being achieved. However, Arno discovered the deception and confronted Bellec at [[Sainte-Chapelle]], killing his former master after a duel. Following the death of two Master Assassins, the Council punished Arno, forbidding him from continuing his investigation into Germain and refusing to accept the truce with Elise.<ref name="ACU"/>

====The fall of Monarchy and the begin of Republic====
In the summer 1792, the people was starving because of the actions of the Templars [[Flavigny]] and [[Marie Lévesque]], who stole the food which enter in the city, with the goal to create riots in the city. Théroigne de Méricourt with the help of a team of Assassins found the food and distributed it to the people. The Assassins killed Flavigny and his thugs.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:The King's Correspondence 3.png|thumb|250px|Arno receiving his mission from the Council]]
On 10 August of the same year, the people stormed the [[Tuileries Palace]] after the announcement that the Austrian and the Prussian armies would help to restore the power of the king Louis XVI. The Council tasked Arno with infiltrating the Palace and destroying the correspondence between Mirabeau and the king, in fear that if someone published the letters, the Templars would strike the Assassins across France. Arno succeeded in his task and burnt the letters. He left the Palace by a secret exit with the help of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]]. During their escape, [[Frédéric Rouille|Captain Rouille]], who worked for the Templars, entered the King's office in the search of the documents.<ref name="ACU"/>

On 2 September, at the beginning of the Republic, a spy ring led by the [[Comte de Gambais]] informed the Austrian forces about Paris' defenses with the plan to attack the capital and restore the Monarchy. One of the spies was trapped by Danton and several guards, but he succeeded to kill the guards and engaged Danton in combat. A team of Assassins saved Danton and killed de Gambais and his spy ring.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:ACU The Execution 2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Germain and the guards confronting Arno]]
During the same month, Arno and Élise continued their investigation into Germain without the knowledge of the Council. Arno killed Rouille in le [[Grand Châtelet]] during the [[September Massacres]], and learned that Marie Lévesque planned to incriminate the royals in the hoarding of food. Arno foiled her plans and assassinated her during a party in the [[Luxembourg Palace]]. His next target was [[Louis-Michel le Peletier]], who had condemned the King during his trial. When Arno killed him in the [[Palais-Royal]], he learned that Germain would be in attendance at the [[Execution of Louis XVI|Execution of the King]]. Arno and Élise confronted Germain at the execution, but he escaped in a carriage. Élise ordered Arno to follow Germain but the Assassin stayed behind to protect her from Germain's men. After they lost the Grand Master, Élise reproached to Arno that he preferred saving her than killing Germain and decided to leave Arno. When the Council learned what happened in the Place de la Révolution, they condemned Arno and expelled him from the Assassin Order.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:Bottom of the Barrel 1.png|thumb|250px|Trenet consulting Quemar regarding Arno's expulsion]]
During the 1793, France began to fall under the control of the Templars. In June, after an insurrection of [[Sans-culottes]] led by the Commander General of the Paris National Guard [[François Hanriot]], the [[Girondists]] were under house arrest. The Assassins rescued them and help them to leave the city. A month later, the Templar General [[Marcourt]] and fellow Templars planned a coup d'état in order to accelerate the revolution. But one of the conspirators, [[Thomas-Alexandre Dumas]], was in fact an ally of the Assassins and informed the Brotherhood about Marcourt's plan. Marcourt organized a tournament for recruiting men for the coup. A team of Assassins infiltrated the tournament to approached Marcourt and killed him and his conspirators in the Invalides. In August, the Assassins tried to rescued [[Marie Antoinette]] who was imprisoned in the [[Conciergerie]], but a Templar agent, [[Jean Gilbert]], revealed the plot. He would receive a recognition for his action, but was killed by an Assassin send by the Council.<ref name="ACU"/>

====Reign of Terror====
In September, Germain and [[Maximilien de Robespierre]] installed what which be called the [[Reign of Terror]] for eliminating all enemies of the Revolution and achieve the Great Work. In November, a Robespierre's spy, [[Didier Paton]], uncover the Templar Order and revealed to his master, unknowingly the fact he was also a Templar. Paton was condemned to death. The Assassins recover his notebook where many Templars were listed and saved Paton from the guillotine. Paton joined the Brotherhood. Later in February 1794, the Templars planned to use [[Jacques Roux]] and his Enragés to take Paris. A first team of Assassin was sent to kill Roux, who was imprisoned in the [[Salpêtrière Hospital]], but they failed and were imprisoned in the asylum. A second team of Assassins rescued the first team and succeed in killing Roux. Later on of [[Jacques Roux's lieutenant|Roux's lieutenant]] prepared a riot against the government. The Assassins killed him.<ref name="ACU"/>

On 5 April, Danton and other Indulgents were sent to the guillotine as traitor of the Nation. A team of Assassin wanted to rescue their ally but Danton accepted his fate and asked the Assassins to protected his friends who will be arrest by Robespierre's men. In May, the population of Paris wanted to remove the ashes of Mirabeau from the [[Panthéon]] after they learned that Mirabeau negotiating with the King. The Assassins, who feared that Templars would exposed the Brotherhood from the view of the population with the discover of an Assassin crypt, entered in the sanctuary and remove the relics of their Mentor.<ref name="ACU"/>

[[File:ACU The Temple 9.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Arno slaying Grand Master Germain]]
During this time, even if Arno was expelled from the Brotherhood, he continued with Élise to fight Germain. He killed [[Aloys la Touche]], who executed the population of Versailles. In his memories, he learned that Robespierre was a Templar and the two lovers planned to discredit Robespierre and when he will have no support, used him to find Germain. By 27 July 1794, the Convention wanted to arrest Robespierre and his followers. Arno and Élise interrogated Robespierre and learned that Germain was in the Temple. They left Robespierre to the justice. In the Temple, Germain used the sword of Eden which was hidden four centuries ago to fight the couple. During the battle, Germain killed Élise as Arno killed the Grand Master Templar. After the death of Robespierre, Théroigne de Méricourt and the Assassins stormed the [[Jacobins|Jacobin Club]] and killed the last Templars who were in the Club.<ref name="ACU"/>

====At the end of the revolution====
In 1795, the Assassins wanted to save [[Louis XVII of France]] who was an hostage of the Templars. Arno Dorian, who was reinstated in the Brotherhood, saved the hostage, who was in fact the servant of the Prince, who died in the Temple. In the late 1790's, the Templars infiltrated the Council of Five Hundred and wanted to continue the Terror. Arno Dorian killed the Templars in the government. Later, on 24 December 1799, a team of Assassins rescued Napoleon Bonaparte from an [[Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise|assassination attempt]] organized by royalist and killed their leader, [[François-Joseph Carbon]].<ref name="ACU"/>

==Origins and appearance==
At the beginning of the 14th century some French Assassins, like Thomas de Carneillon, wore robes similar to the Master Assassin robe of the [[Levantine Assassins|Levantine Brotherhood]], with some differences, like the color and with a leather hood. During the French Revolution, most of the Assassins, like Pierre Bellec, wore a white, yellow or black military uniform with a dark hood and a mask to hid their face. The female Assassins had shorter robes. Other Assassins, like Master Trenet and Quémar, wore leather robes. Arno Dorian, in his early years in the Brotherhood, wore a blue robe and later wore different robes. The Master of the French Brotherhood received an honorific robe.<ref name="ACU"/>

Most of the French Assassins were French people but some Assassins had other origins, like John De La Tour and Pierre Bellec, who were Canadians, or Guillaume Beylier and [[Augustin Grisier]], who had African heritage.<ref name="ACU"/>

==Techniques==
The French Assassins were trained in stealth, combat and parkour and used most of the tactics created by the Levantine Brotherhood. Unlike the others branches, the French Assassins wore only one hidden blade but they developed a tactic for assassinating two targets with one blade. Also when an initiate became an Assassin, he received the Phantom Blade, a little crossbow incorporated in the Hidden Blade which could shoot blades or poison darts. The French Assassins used a variety of weapons, like [[swords]], maces, [[Long weapons|spears]], [[Heavy weapons|axes]], [[Firearms|pistols and muskets]]. Like the Turkish Assassins, the French Assassins used different kind of bombs to lure or cripple their enemies, like [[Bombs|smoke bombs]], [[cherry bombs]], stun bombs, money pouches or poisonous bombs.<ref name="ACU"/>

==Members==

<div style="float:left; width:48;">
*[[Julie d'Aubigny]]
*[[François Auverlot]]
*[[Louise Auverlot]]
*Pierre Bellec
*Camille Berteau
*Pierre Berteau
*Hubert Besy
*Guillaume Beylier
*Simon Bonhomme
*Guillaume Bourgeois
*Jacques Cagnard
*Thomas de Carneillon
*[[Louis-Dominique Cartouche]]
*Cartouche II
*Cartouche III
*[[Claude Chemin]]
*Charles Chevrier
*Geneviève Dalle
*Joseph Deshais
*Arno Dorian
*Charles Dorian
*[[Helene Dufranc]]
*Antoine Faroy
*Antoine Fieve
*Nicolas Fribourg
*Paul Ganchard
*[[Pierre Gard]]
*Alexandre Garnier
*François Garnier
*Jacques Girard
*Gabriel Godin
*[[Charlotte Gouze]]
*Anne Grelet
</div>
<div style="float:right; width:48%;">
*Augustin Grisier
*Pierre Guilbert
*Louise Harly
*[[Camille Hautcoeur]]
*Philippe Hélissant
*[[Marguerite Huet]]
*Claude Hure
*Catherine Imbert
*Charles Imbert
*Edmé Leblanc
*Simon Leblanc
*Laurent Lemaire
*Claude Lejeune
*Madeleine Leroux
*[[Louis-Joseph d'Albert de Luynes]]
*[[Maréchal]]
*Marguerite Mignot
*Mirabeau
*[[Mireille]]
*Paul Morot
*Guillaume de Nogaret
*Didier Paton
*Hervé Quemar
*Élisabeth Roger
*Laurent Rousseau
*Nicolas de Saint-Prix
*William de Saint-Prix
*Germain Savin
*Thomas Simon
*[[Le Téméraire]]
*Sophie Trenet
*Denis Varlet
</div>
{{-}}
'''Allies:'''

<div style="float:left; width:48;">
*Napoleon Bonaparte
*[[Jean-François Champollion]]
*Georges Danton
*Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
*[[Chevalier d'Éon]]
*[[Antoine Lavoisier]]
</div>
<div style="float:right; width:48%;">
*[[Marie Anne Lenormand]]
*Théroigne de Méricourt
*[[Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade]]
*Élise de la Serre {{C|Parisian Templar}}
*François de la Serre {{C|Parisian Templar}}
</div>
{{-}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACU}}
[[Category:Assassin branches]]

Shao Jun

2016-02-02T23:05:42Z

72.213.222.137: /* Equipment and skills */

{{Era|CC|Rbook|Embers|Assassins|Featured}}
{{Quote|She who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.|Shao Jun.|Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China}}
{{Character Infobox
|image = ACCC-Shao Jun Render.png
|affiliates = [[Assassins]]
|birth = 1505<br>[[Beijing|Peking]], [[China|Empire of the Great Ming]]
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]''<br>[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations (novel)|''Revelations'' novel]]<br>''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]''
|voice = [[Angela Galuppo]] <small>(''Embers'')</small><br>[[Annabelle Galea]] <small>(''Chronicles: China'')</small>}}
'''Shao Jun''' (1505 – unknown) was a member of the [[Chinese Assassins|Chinese Brotherhood]] of [[Assassins]]. A former concubine of the [[Zhengde Emperor]], she was rescued by the Assassins after the emperor's death, and devoted her life to the Order as a result.

During the interregnum following Zhengde's death, [[Zhang Yong]] - the leader of the [[Eight Tigers]], a Templar faction - ordered [[Great Rites Controversy|a purge]] of all those who opposed him, which included the Assassins. Jun and her [[Mentor]], [[Zhu Jiuyuan]], fled west to seek out the retired [[Italian Assassins|Italian Assassin]] Mentor, [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]].

Two years later, Shao Jun returned to China to take her revenge on those who previously destroyed the Brotherhood. Over the course of six years, together with a [[Master Assassin]] named [[Wang Yangming]], she successfully eliminated all of the Tigers, prevented a [[Mongol Empire|Mongolian]] invasion and, despite Wang's death, rebuilt the Chinese Brotherhood and spearheaded it as its new Mentor. By 1567, Jun devised a plan to poison the [[Jiajing Emperor]] by using the [[elixir of life]], which eventually claimed the life of the cruel monarch.

==Biography==
===Imperial Concubine===
{{Quote|You've come far for someone who was merely once a Concubine.|Gao Feng, 1526.|Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China}}
Jun was born into imperial captivity and was raised to become a concubine in the Forbidden City during [[China]]'s [[Ming dynasty]], under the lackluster rule of Emperor Zhengde.<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref><ref name="China">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]''</ref>

At first she was one of the lower ranking concubines who hoped to become Empress, a wife of the Emperor. To this effect, Jun was taught the traditional arts displayed by the ladies of the imperial court, such as embroidery, singing and reading, but showed exceptional talent for dance and music early on.<ref name="China" />

As a child, Jun witnessed [[Liu Jin]]'s execution and torture with the ''Ling Chi'' technique ("slow slicing", or death by a thousand cuts), a punishment for betraying the Emperor, which she would never forget.<ref name="China" />

Zhengde, known for his juvenile nature and lack of interest in the urgent matters that concerned his country, regarded Jun highly among his concubines after she had reached her teenage years, for her agility and cat-like discretion fascinated him. Living a decade of her life under Zhengde, he often used her as his spy or thief and to stage jokes against eunuchs and ministers.<ref name="Encyclopedia" /><ref name="China" />

By the age of thirteen, Shao Jun had risen to the rank of Imperial Concubine through her talents and Zhengde's affection. Along with her best friend [[Empress Zhang|Zhang]], she was poised to become Imperial Consort or even Empress. Jun always won her friendly competition with Zhang using her cat-like grace and talents against her foot-bound and breast-bound friend. Even then, Jun had never visited her Emperor's bed who preferred the intimate company of prostitutes and other ladies he invited in.<ref name="China" />

When Zhengde fancied himself as a warlord and went to fight the Mongols in the north, Shao Jun was one of the concubines he took with him. Jun traveled with him to his expeditions in various places and met many foreigners; to serve mostly as his spy, and finally, for his personal leisure.<ref name="Encyclopedia" /><ref name="China" />

===Joining the Assassins===
{{Quote|I was born into captivity. One of many Concubines. When the Brotherhood came for us, I saw freedom, I saw a future.|Shao Jun, 1530.|Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China}}
However, after Zhengde's death in April 1521, when Shao Jun was sixteen, the royal ministers fell into disarray and bickered over who should succeed the heir-less Zhengde; Jun realized that her opportunities to becoming an Imperial Consort would be lost, unless the new ruler took a liking to her. She used her spying talents to find a way to maintain her Imperial Concubine privileges, and uncovered a secret war between the Tigers which were working for the Templar Order and a Brotherhood of Assassins. Soon, Jun fathomed that the Tigers were plotting to control China by using their power to place their puppet on the throne. She saw a chance for freedom in the Assassins and since the Tigers already controlled the most influential people in the court, she decided to contact the Assassin Order through Wang Yangming and joined them. Shao Jun was rescued along with several other concubines after the Assassins broke into the royal palace.<ref name="Encyclopedia" /><ref name="China" />

Loyal immediately to those who rescued her, Jun dedicated her first years of freedom to serving the Brotherhood. Wang trained her in the Assassins' ways until she was an Initiate, and was rewarded with a Hidden Blade. However, Wang had to disappear to escape the Great Rites Controversy so Zhu Jiuyuan replaced him as Shao Jun's new Mentor. Under his wing, she reached the full rank of Assassin and took a [[Leap of Faith|leap of faith]].<ref name="Encyclopedia" /><ref name="China" />

Years after her rescue, Jun and her Mentor decided to save the remaining concubines whom she had grown up with. After breaking into the Imperial Palace, Jun discovered that most of her friends had been tortured and killed through the use of ''Ling Chi'', by order of Zhengde's cousin and successor, Jiajing. Jun and her Mentor then fled the palace.<ref name="Encyclopedia" />

[[File:An Old Friend China (4).jpg|thumb|250px|left|The Assassin Shao Jun and her concubine friend, Zhang]]
Before leaving, Shao Jun took the incredible risk of infiltrating the Forbidden City to free her friend Zhang. Although she knew the place by heart, the eunuch guards would have slaughtered her if she'd been caught. Fortunately, the level of security was lower than usual for Jiajing was often away in his own private palaces. Jun found Zhang and was astonished to hear that she wanted to stay, even if the Emperor was a brutal man. Zhang was lucky enough to please him and was now the Imperial Consort. She told her old friend to leave in peace, and did not want to hear about the Templars controlling the Tigers, even less of the man she'd expect to become her husband. Jun accepted Zhang's decision and remembered how important her career as a concubine was; she then left the Forbidden City for what she perceived to be the last time.<ref name="China" />

Jiajing sought to detain and execute any opposition or possible threats against his rule. The Assassins were some of the purge's most high-profile targets, and on Jiajing's orders, a majority of the Assassins in China were killed. The few who survived either went into hiding or fled westward.<ref name="Encyclopedia" />

===Time in Italy===
{{Dialogue2|Jun|I want to understand.|Ezio|Understand what?|How to lead, to rebuild my Order.|Jun asking Ezio for help, 1524.|Assassin's Creed: Embers}}
Isolated, Shao Jun and Zhu Jiuyuan despaired and finally decided to leave the country in order to seek the help of other Assassins, to the former [[Italy|Italian]] Mentor Ezio Auditore, whose reputation had spread all over the world, a suggestion of Zhu to which Shao agreed. It was a long journey, and neither of them spoke Italian, but it was their only hope. The pair traveled secretly to [[Macau]], where transportation was easiest towards Europe, in which they witnessed the crippled state of the Brotherhood's network in the country: most safe houses had been raided and no Assassin worthy of the name was left alive.<ref name="China" /><ref name="Embers">''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]''</ref>

[[File:EzioFlaviaJun.png|thumb|250px|Jun's first encounter with Ezio]]
By 1524, Jun and her Mentor were able to travel as far as [[Venice]], stashed aboard a Portuguese vessel transporting porcelain and silk. Once in Italy, the pair were oblivious to the fact that they were actually followed by Templar agents. Ambushed by elite soldiers armed with muskets, Zhu sacrificed himself so that Jun could escape alive.<ref name="Encyclopedia" /><ref name="China" />

Continuing onward, Jun arrived at Ezio Auditore's [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] villa, where she encountered Ezio's young daughter [[Flavia Auditore|Flavia]] and began speaking with her. Though Ezio initially saw Jun as a threat and fervently restrained her to protect his child, he released her after recognizing the [[Assassin insignia]] on the necklace she wore.<ref name="Embers" />

Later that day, Ezio and his wife [[Sofia Sartor|Sofia]] confronted Jun, who asked for aid in restoring her Order. Ezio, who had retired from his life as an Assassin, refused to associate himself with the Order again, and asked her to leave. However, Sofia, knowing that Jun had come a long way to meet Ezio, asked her to stay for the night. Jun thanked Sofia, and accepted her offer.<ref name="Embers" />

[[File:ShaoJunEzio.png|thumb|250px|left|Jun listening to Ezio]]
The next day, Jun came across Ezio's study and looked through some of the writings he had left on his desk. When Ezio discovered her, he furiously told her to leave, which Jun soon obeyed. He then demanded that Jun depart Italy entirely, stating that she had wasted her time looking for him. Jun, reciting a portion of Ezio's writing, responded that all she wanted was to understand the Order as he did.<ref name="Embers" />

Ezio finally admitted why he was so reluctant to help her, and invited her to accompany him to [[Florence]], where she could assist him with the harvesting of his vineyard. There, Jun observed the crowd as Ezio attended to his business. He then took her to the [[Palazzo della Signoria]], where half of [[House of Auditore|his family]] had been hung in 1476. Ezio taught Jun how the Assassins lived their lives: through pain, in order to end pain.<ref name="Embers" />

After the brief discussion, Ezio and Jun prepared to return to the villa. On the way back however, the two were intercepted by an Imperial soldier in an alleyway. Jun managed to kill the soldier, and quickly fled the city with Ezio.<ref name="Embers" />

[[File:Embers ShotBreakdown 01.png|thumb|250px|Jun and Ezio in Florence]]
On the way to Ezio's villa, Jun explained her plight, and informed him about those who were after her. Ezio told Sofia to bring their children to [[Niccolò Machiavelli]]'s home, as he suspected that the soldiers would pursue Jun to the villa.<ref name="Embers" />

That night, Ezio told Jun the story of how he had defeated the [[House of Borgia|Borgia family]] through fraternity and love, and how he had reformed the Brotherhood in both [[Rome]] and [[Constantinople]]. Jun then rested for the night while Ezio kept watch from the living room.<ref name="Embers" />

Soon enough, the villa was invaded by Imperial soldiers. The two Assassins fended off most of the attackers, with Ezio saving Jun from the shot of a [[Firearms|hand cannon]] held by a brutish soldier. Fleeing outside to avoid the devastating weapon, both Jun and Ezio worked together to deal with the last foe. Though the soldier charged Ezio and pinned him to a tree, the elder Assassin managed to stab his enemy with an iron poker that he wielded as a sword. Jun then helped Ezio recuperate from the unexpected exertion.<ref name="Embers" />

===Return to China===
{{Dialogue|Ezio|It is a long way home, no?|Jun|Much to see along the way. Thank you, Mentor.|Jun to Ezio, before departing for China, 1524.|Assassin's Creed: Embers}}
[[File:ACE-V 10.png|thumb|250px|left|Ezio handing Jun a small box during her departure]]
The following morning, Jun, with a renewed resolve, looked on to the horizon as Ezio approached her. Ezio stated that the trip back to China would be long, but Jun replied that it would be worthwhile, with so much to see along the way.<ref name="Embers" />

Before Jun left, Ezio gave her a [[Precursor boxes|small chest]] that contained something which could aid her in the future, stating that she should only open it if she were to lose her way. As government [[guards]] came into view on [[Horses|horseback]], Ezio bade Jun to leave and gave her his blessing before they arrived. Jun then departed Ezio's villa to return home to China.<ref name="Embers" />

Reaching China in 1526, Shao Jun used a network of old abandoned Brotherhood safe houses and eventually sought out Wang Yangming, where she told him about her travels, the death of her Mentor, and Ezio Auditore. The Chinese master had not seen her since he helped her escape the Forbidden City, and was impressed by the accomplishments of the former Concubine who had now become a skilled killer, not only trained by Zhu Jiuyuan, but now also by the Italian legend. Adding to her skills, Shao Jun had created an invention of her own – complimenting her cat-like agility – the Shéng Biāo, or [[Rope darts|rope dart]].<ref name="China" />

Further to their meeting, Jun passed on the small chest to her new Master Wang Yangming, who to his astonishment explained its relevance as a [[Isu|Precursor]] artifact. She then told Wang what Ezio had told her, in that she should only open the box if she lost her way. Jun confessed to being torn between the sacred mission to rebuild the Brotherhood and the burning desire to find and kill the Tigers who had murdered her friends. Thinking that the box would help her, she opened it, with Wang as her witness, but found out that it was empty; Wang then told her that the empty box was a message from an experienced man and that it was merely a tool she needed to fill herself, in order to realize her destiny.<ref name="China" />

But there was anger and rage in Shao Jun's heart. To recreate the Brotherhood, she would take the path of blood; the Tigers would have to perish by her hand, and on their very corpses would a new China flourish, free from the scheme of the Templar Order. She accepted Wang Yangming's instructions to use the Precursor box as bait to lure the Tigers out, and together with Wang, they planned the Assassins' revenge against the Templars to restore their fallen Brotherhood.<ref name="China" />

===Quest for vengeance===
{{Dialogue|Gao Feng|No wonder your kind fell so far.|Shao Jun|My 'kind' isn't done yet.|Shao Jun and Gao Feng, exchanging words during her imprisonment, 1526.|Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China}}
[[File:The Escape China (1).jpg|thumb|250px|Shao Jun questioned by Gao Feng during her imprisonment]]
In 1526, Jun used the box given to her by Ezio as bait and allowed herself to be imprisoned by [[Gao Feng]], one of the Eight Tigers. She was taken to an old Assassin stronghold turned Templar secret prison, the [[Maijishan Grottoes]], where Jun remained silent when Feng questioned her about the origins and purpose of the box and only replied that she was exactly where she wanted to be, to Feng's irritation. After escaping her cell, she freed the Assassin informant [[Hong Liwei]] and retrieved the remaining Assassin scrolls. Jun eventually killed Gao Feng and fled from the prison to meet her Mentor, Wang Yangming, who had also eliminated one of the Tigers, the torturer and "butcher" [[Ma Yongcheng]]. Though Jun was not able to retrieve the box, Wang told her not to worry for they would find it in time.<ref name="China" />

[[File:The Slaver China (2).jpg|thumb|250px|left|Shao Jun reclaiming the box after assassinating Yu Dayong]]
Some time after, Wang located the stolen box in Macau, in the hand of the third Tiger, [[Yu Dayong]]. Shao Jun infiltrated the city stronghold through the docks and quickly heard about three Portuguese merchants who suddenly became rich and important after helping the Tigers and killing her allies. She assassinated them along with their master Yu, freed his personal slaves, reclaimed the box, and escaped the fire set in retaliation by [[Qiu Ju]], the fourth Tiger. The fire had killed many innocents, much to Jun's dismay, to which she blamed her desire for revenge. Wang warned her about the vengeance she sought, although in line with the Assassin cause, he added that it was an endeavor that could not be put in her heart, just as Ezio had told her before.<ref name="China" />

[[File:Hunted China (6).jpg|thumb|250px|A grieving Jun beside her dying Mentor]]
Three years later, to get to the leader of the Tigers, Zhang Yong, Shao Jun traveled to [[Nan'an]] to kill the fifth Tiger, [[Wei Bin]], who had led the slaughter of the Chinese Brotherhood. The words of Wang still echoed in her mind and hatred was too strong in her heart. To leave room for peace, she decided to pay her respects in the shrines for her brothers who were murdered by the Snake. After crossing the guarded bridge of Nan'an, Jun killed three of Wei's bodyguards before assassinating him. As Wei Bin died, he told Shao Jun that Zhang was hunting Wang Yangming, who was also in the city to meet a contact able to study the box. Shao Jun immediately left to save her Mentor but arrived too late, witnessing Zhang killing Wang and claiming the box again. After killing the rest of Zhang Yong's soldiers, Jun apologized to her deceased Mentor and realized that there was no good in taking revenge if she kept losing those she cared for.<ref name="China" />

[[File:An Old Friend China (6).jpg|thumb|250px|left|Shao Jun, entrapped by Qui Ju and Zhang Yong through Zhang's betrayal]]
Now the last Chinese Assassin, Jun was contacted in 1530 by Empress Zhang, Shao Jun's former concubine friend, who had a lead on Zhang Yong's location. To meet her, Shao Jun infiltrated the Forbidden City and saved Zhang's concubines who helped her pass the information. Jun was horrified to find that Zhang Yong and Qiu Ju had threatened the Empress to set a trap, for which she forgave her friend and understood the risk Zhang had to take if she refused. The Templars mocked her, saying that the Assassins were too trusting, and that was how they had destroyed the Brotherhood and killed her Mentor. As Shao Jun dueled Qiu while Zhang Yong fled, lanterns dropped during the fight spread fire across the city. After killing Qiu, Jun was forced to escape with a leap of faith into a nearby river.<ref name="China" />

[[File:Vengeance China (6).jpg|thumb|250px|Zhang Yong's assassination]]
In 1532, Shao Jun pursued Zhang Yong, the last Tiger, to the Great Wall of China, where she learned his plans to let the Mongols of [[Altan Khan]] invade the country, in return for a seat in power after the outcome. In response, she killed the Mongol scouts and closed the Wall's gates, blocking the barbarians from entering her home. When Jun finally reached Zhang Yong, she learned that he had already sent the Precursor box to other Templars outside China, though she rebutted that retrieving the box was another Assassin's destiny, and hers was to eliminate him.<ref name="China" />

[[File:Vengeance China (7).jpg|thumb|250px|left|A vow of a new tomorrow made by Shao Jun]]
Among the chaos of bombardment from the infuriated Mongols, she eventually reached Zhang and assassinated him, eliminating the last Tiger and Templar influence in China. As Zhang Yong died, Jun realized that pursuing vengeance was pointless, and that she had found a better goal: the future. Shao Jun vowed to rebuild the Chinese Assassin Brotherhood and bring a new tomorrow for China and freedom for its people.<ref name="China" />

===Mentor of the Chinese Assassins===
{{Quote|I will undo all that you have done. I will rebuild the Brotherhood and recruit those who wish to make our land a place of freedom, those ready to die to fight men like you. Your Templar world will not happen. The Assassins will rise again.|Shao Jun to Zhang Yong, 1532.|Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China}}
[[File:Vengeance China (10).jpg|thumb|250px|An elder Jun serving as the Mentor of the Chinese Brotherhood]]
Shao Jun eventually succeeded in her reconstruction of the Chinese Assassins, recruiting new members and obtaining the title of Mentor. By 1567, she was a wise elder who shared her knowledge with the younger members of the Brotherhood while tasking others to accomplish various missions. As such, she planned the death of the Jiajing Emperor, sending Assassins to offer him the elixir of life, while in fact it was a lethal dose of mercury that brought about the opposite effect.<ref name="China" />

==Legacy==
{{Quote|A Sheng Biao - or rope dart, if you prefer. One of the many plans given to us by Shao Jun.|Achilles Davenport introducing the rope dart to his student, Ratonhnhaké:ton, 1773.|Assassin's Creed III}}
[[File:ACCC DB Shao Jun's Rope Dart.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Shao Jun's rope dart]]
Some time following her encounter with Ezio Auditore, Shao Jun introduced her rope dart to the Assassin Order, a weapon that allowed its user to hang foes from horizontal objects such as tree branches, as well as to yank those caught by it from their feet. Rope darts would eventually be used by Assassins during the 18th century, most notably by [[Edward Kenway]],<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref> [[Adéwalé]],<ref>''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' – ''[[Freedom Cry]]''</ref> [[Shay Cormac]],<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''</ref> and [[Ratonhnhaké:ton]],<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref> though they did not utilize the invention to the same manner of efficiency that Jun had, especially in traversal.<ref name="China" />

Moreover, she brought Ezio's Precursor box to China, where it remained for about a hundred years after her death. Her actions almost destroyed [[Chinese Templars]] and rebuilt the Brotherhood, bringing China under Assassins' influence.<ref name="China" />

==Personality and characteristics==
{{Quote|I want to understand, like you do. To help my people.|Jun speaking with Ezio, 1524.|Assassin's Creed: Embers}}
[[File:ACE-V 8.png|thumb|250px|Jun standing watch at Ezio's villa]]
Shao Jun had a strong desire for knowledge, specifically in learning about how the Assassin Order functioned and how its members lived their lives. She would search for information when none was given to her, even going against the wishes of others for her own clarity, as evidenced by her invasion of Ezio's study. Despite this, Jun was sincere about her interest to understand her Order, and took Ezio's lessons and lectures to heart.<ref name="Embers" />

She remained on-guard at all times, keeping a close eye on her surroundings for any possible threats. Because of this, she was somewhat restless, often staying up at night and preparing for an attack instead of sleeping.<ref name="Embers" />

She also loved to experience and learn from new cultures and societies, and was often excited about the opportunity to understand people of different nationalities than her own.<ref name="Encyclopedia" />

Even in training, Shao Jun seemed incapable of staying her hand when a Templar was in sight. During her quest of revenge against the Chinese Templars, she appeared colder and more vengeful, sometimes stabbing her targets multiple times with her {{Wiki|jian}} when assassinating them.<ref name="China" />

===Equipment and skills===
[[File:ACE-V 9.png|thumb|250px|Jun utilizing her Hidden Footblade|left]]
With maturity, Shao Jun adapted her techniques to her physical strengths and weaknesses. Unhappy with the wrist blade of the Assassins, she designed a lighter and more versatile one, better suited to the martial arts. Hidden under her left boot, the [[Hidden Blade#Hidden Footblade|Hidden Footblade]] allowed her to perform deadly kicks in the midst of a close combat. On the inner forearm, where the traditional hidden blade would be, her bracer held 6 throwable needles <ref>[3]</ref> as seen in the scenes of [[Assassin's Creed: Embers]] when Ezio Auditore da Firenze gives knowledge about how to rebuild the ''[[Chinese Assassins]] ''Order and when Shao Jun and Ezio fight in combat with a cannon-wielding brute. Jun wielded a Chinese jian as her primary weapon, and her sword skills were perfected in the dark alleys of the city, fighting off Templar agents. Accompanying this, she developed the rope dart after her journey to Italy, using it to swing across gaps or climb up to ceilings, and also employed [[firecrackers]], [[throwing knives]] and noise-creating darts to distract guards.<ref name="China" />

[[File:Chronicles-China 6.jpg|thumb|250px|Shao Jun crossing narrow pathways to reach another location]]
Jun was born with a gift of stealth and agility that made her stand out from all the other Concubines. Her talent for killing was as graceful as it was efficient, and the Master used to refer to her style as a "dance of death". She was extensively trained in combat by the Order, and was an adept and agile fighter. Her fighting style was heavily reminiscent of the Chinese martial art of {{Wiki|Chinese martial arts#Wushu|Wushu}}, which involves ample flexibility and knowledge in both unarmed and sword combat.<ref name="Embers" /> She also possessed [[Eagle Vision]] and used it to detect the path of guards, and the area of effect for [[dogs]], birds and wind chimes. She was also highly agile beyond the range of many Assassins, capable of dodging incoming gunfire, thrown weaponry, and crossbow bolts.<ref name="China" />

Shao Jun's arsenal of weapons were fitted for her style of combat, as they were light yet deadly. To lower suspicion in public areas, she concealed her weapons in her attire, save for her jian, which she kept sheathed across her back.<ref name="Embers" />

==Trivia==
*The ''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]'' stated that Shao Jun met Ezio in Florence. However, in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Embers]]'', Ezio's villa was located in the Tuscan countryside.
*Shao Jun had at least a basic grasp of Italian, being able to say "grazie" to Sofia after she was allowed to stay at the villa, and was also able to understand Ezio even if he spoke in the language.
*Jun was saved from being foot-bound by Zhengde so that she would not lose her dancing abilities. This, despite the fact that the act was an old tradition and was considered a key asset in becoming an attractive woman in feudalist China.
*The "Jun" in Shao Jun's name is mispronounced as "yoon" by Ezio Auditore in ''Assassin's Creed: Embers''. The name, which is romanized via the {{Wiki|pinyin}} system, would roughly be pronounced in Mandarin as "joon".<ref>[http://www.learnchineseeveryday.com/tools/pinyinchart.php Learn a Chinese Character a Day - Pinyin chart]</ref> The mistake was rectified in ''Assassin's Creed III'', where [[Achilles Davenport]] pronounced the name correctly with an English "j" sound rather than a "y" sound.
**In the Mandarin version of ''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China]]'', her name is given as Shao Yoon "少芸" meaning "young herb-of-grace". For this particular example, it would possibly mean that Ezio had pronounced her name correctly in ''Embers'', but then the romanization "Shao Jun" would be incorrect.
*Shao Jun's clothing was anachronistic during the Ming dynasty period, as the style worn by Shao first appeared during the {{Wiki|Manchu people|Manchurian}} {{Wiki|Qing dynasty}}.
*In the database of ''Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China'', it is stated that Shao Jun's Hidden Footblade was hidden underneath her left boot, unlike in ''Assassin's Creed: Embers'', where the blade was hidden under her right.
*[http://store.ubiworkshop.com/assassins-creed/accessories/jewelry/shao-juns-necklace/ A replica] of Shao Jun's necklace could be bought from [[Ubiworkshop]] for 24.99 US dollars. Some time after its release, [http://store.ubiworkshop.com/shao-juns-necklace-red/ red] and black versions were added for purchase.
*Jun has an entry in the [[Database|Animus database]] featured in ''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'', in which her concept art was used as her database image.
*"Shao" when written in Chinese as 少 means "lacking or owing somebody a debt" and also "young or youth" while the name "Jun" written as 君 means "respectable or honorable person" or "ruler, supreme one", or 筠 for "bamboo". "Jun" can also mean "falcon" if written as 隼 in Japanese kanji. Shao is possibly her surname, which in Chinese precedes the given name.“邵” Shao is a reasonably common last name and 君 as "respectable or honorable person" would be the most likely character to use for a girl's name.

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
Chronicles-China 7.jpg|Shao Jun
Shao Jun SS v.png|Jun's database photo
Demon Fire China (5).jpg|A closeup of Shao Jun
Shao jun hello UW.jpg|Artwork of Shao Jun
Shao Jun - Red Lineage Collection.jpg|Red Lineage Collection portrait of Shao Jun by [[Remko Troost]]
ACCC Shao Jun - Concept Art.jpg|Concept art of Shao Jun's appearance in ''Chronicles: China''
ACCC Shao Jun Model.jpg|Shao Jun's appearance in ''Chronicles: China''
Assassin's Creed Chronicles Promo Art.jpg|Promotional art of Shao Jun, [[Arbaaz Mir]] and [[Nikolai Orelov]]
ACCC Shao Jun.png|Promotional art of Shao Jun
ACE-V 6.png|Shao Jun's necklace
ACE-V 4.png|Shao Jun and Flavia Auditore, with Ezio running towards them
ACE-V 5.png|Shao Jun confronted by Ezio
Embers-Mysterious-Character.jpg|Shao Jun, before returning to China
ACE-V 11.png|Shao Jun departing from Ezio's villa
The Snake China (2).jpg|Shao Jun before taking a Leap of Faith
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACC}}
[[Category:1505 births]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Chinese]]
[[Category:Concubines]]
[[Category:Assassins]]
[[Category:Chinese Assassins]]
[[Category:Master Assassins]]
[[Category:Mentors]]
[[Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden]]
[[Category:Individuals with Eagle Vision]]