Rodrigo Borgia

2010-05-08T15:47:42Z

92.4.78.211: /* Trivia */

{{Era|AC2|Templars|Ren}}
{{WP-REAL}}
{{Character Infobox
|name='''Roderic de Borja i Borja'''
|image=Zw-rodrigoborgia.png
|faction=[[Templars]], [[Papacy]]
|imgdesc=Rodrigo Borgia's database picture
|home=[[wikipedia:Xàtiva|Xàtiva]]
|birth=1 January 1431
|death=18 August 1503
|appear=''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'', ''[[Assassin's Creed: Lineage]]''
|period=Italian Renaissance (15th Century)
|voice=[[Manuel Tadros]]
}}

{{quote|He is Rodrigo Borgia: one of the most powerful men in all of Europe, and leader of the Templar Order.|Mario Auditore}}
'''Rodrigo Borgia''' (1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503), born '''Roderic Llançol''', later '''Roderic de Borja i Borja''', was the Grand Master of the [[Knights Templar]] during the Renaissance in Italy. He was elected [[wikipedia:Pope|Pope]] from 1492 to 1503 as [[wikipedia:Pope Alexander VI|Alexander VI]]. His enemies called him "'''The Spaniard'''" (due to his Spanish origins) while his Templar followers called him "'''Maestro'''" ("Master" in Italian and Spanish). He was one of the most controversial of the [[wikipedia:Renaissance|Renaissance]] popes, and his surname (Italicized as ''[[wikipedia:Borgia|Borgia]]'') became a byword for the debased standards of the papacy of that era. He is the main antagonist of Assassins Creed II.

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

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

The night before the trial of the [[House of Auditore|Auditore]] family, Rodrigo was at Uberto's house. Ezio came by to give Uberto his father's letters which would prove him not guilty. Ezio noticed the hooded man [Rodrigo] behind Uberto, but paid no further notice to him. The following morning, Rodrigo attended the judgement of Giovanni and two of his sons. Years later, he would state that Ezio's brothers did not need to die, but he had them killed anyway to make a point to the assassins and to Ezio. Two years later, Rodrigo went to a meeting with the [[Pazzi]] family in [[San Gimignano]] and with the [[Templars]] in a catacomb under the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. There he reminded them to beware the assassins, and stated that the next day would be "a new dawn for Florence".

After Ezio thwarted the Templars in Florence, Rodrigo was to meet with the remaining conspirators in Tuscany. The Pazzi were going to ask for asylum with Rodrigo in either Venice or Rome. But before the meeting could even commence, most of the conspirators were killed by Ezio, one by one. Only Jacopo de' Pazzi actually made it to the meeting alive. There Jacopo claimed that the blame rested with his nephew, Francesco, for his impatience and with [[Emilio Barbarigo]] for supplying the Pazzi troops with sub-standard weaponry. Enraged by Jacopo's snivelling excuses, Rodrigo lectured his subordinate on his failure, then stabbed him, aided by an all-too-eager Barbarigo. Ignoring Jacopo's pleas for mercy, Rodrigo stabbed him in the neck, then called out Ezio who had tailed Jacopo to the meeting. Sarcastically apologizing for killing Ezio's target for him, Rodrigo mocked Ezio; saying that he had been doing "this" for far longer than the novice assassin. He ordered his men to kill Ezio and left without bothering to make sure the deed was done. He might have guessed that Ezio would escape, and chose not to stick around for it.

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

Rodrigo found out that the Assassins planned to take the Apple to [[Caterina Sforza]] in the [[Rocca di Ravaldino]] in [[Forlì]]. He wanted to re-acquire the Apple, and therefore he hired the Romagna noblemen [[Checco Orsi|Checco]] and [[Ludovico Orsi]] to do so. Unfortunately for him, Ezio managed to kill both of the Orsi brothers, though the Apple eventually came into the hands of [[Girolamo Savonarola]], an arch-enemy of Rodrigo.<br />
With the Apple, Savonarola took control over Florence. Rodrigo repeatedly kept sending his men to Florence in the hopes of acquiring the Apple.

In the following years, Rodrigo fooled the Spanish Inquisitor General [[Tomas Torquemada]] into capturing and killing Assassins in [[Spain]]. Tomas, who thought Rodrigo was as much as a believer of God as he was, blindly followed his orders. He also found out about [[Christoffa Corombo]]'s plans to sail west. Rodrigo knew of the presence of [[wikipedia:America|America]] and the treasures that lay there, and did not want anybody to find it before he would. Therefore he arranged a meeting with Christoffa in Venice. Christoffa's friend [[Luis Santangel]], in secret an Assassin, suspected a trap and called for the aid of Ezio. Ezio successfully rescued Christoffa, and eventually Christoffa did set sail west.

Borgia was elected Pope in 1492 and established his power in [[Rome]]. Borgia's true intent however, was just to get in the vault that lays under the Vatican, where, according to himself, God rested.

In 1498, Rodrigo was responsible for the execution of Girolamo Savonarola, but was unable to acquire the Apple as the Assassins had already obtained it.

Rodrigo offered his daughter Lucrezia to Caterina Sfora's son [[Ottaviano Riario]]. Rodrigo figured that with a son-in-law like Ottaviano, he could control the regions of Forlì and Imola. Caterina declined the offer, as she knew of his plans and that Lucrezia 'never stayed married for long'. This enraged Rodrigo, and his son [[Cesare Borgia|Cesare]] began an assault on Forlì.

[[File:Borgia.jpg|thumb|Pope Alexander VI, with the Staff of Eden.]]
In 1499, Ezio chased him to assassinate him. Ezio sneaked into the Vatican and seemingly assassinated Borgia without being seen inside the Sistine Chapel. After Ezio finished speaking with Borgia he left only to see him rise from the ground and use his Piece of Eden, the Papal Staff, to strike down Ezio and everyone else in the room. However, he was surprised to see that Ezio was able to resist the power of his staff, Ezio brought out his own Piece of Eden: The Apple that Altaïr took from [[Al Mualim]]. Ezio then summoned four clones of himself to assist him in his battle against Borgia, eventually defeating him. But Borgia tripped Ezio with the staff, and snatched The Apple from his hands, and combined it with The Staff to open up the door to The Vault, which had been underneath Rome the whole time. Ezio tried to stop him, but he was lifted into the air by Borgia, unable to resist two combined Pieces of Eden. Borgia stabbed Ezio with a dagger and left him to die on the floor of the Sistine Chapel before escaping into the Vault. Though injured, Ezio eventually made his way to the Vault, with Borgia furiously pounding the door to the inner chambers. Ezio dropped down into the pit where Borgia was, and challenged him to one last fist fight, with no more weapons, no more plots, and no more decoys. Borgia accepted and the two had one last battle. During the battle, Borgia stated that he never believed in The Bible or in God, and only became Pope to get the Staff and access to the Vault, wanting to unify Italy under the Templar rule. Ezio defeated Borgia, holding the Pope at blade-point and telling him he was not the Prophet: he never had been. Broken by this revelation and accepting defeat, Borgia told Ezio to kill him and put an end to it: however Ezio refused, saying that killing Borgia would not bring back his family. Besides, the knowledge that he was not the Prophet, as he had believed, was an even sorer blow than anything else that Ezio could have thought of.

In 1500, Rodrigo and his son Cesare took Caterina Sforza prisoner, and the two apparently raped her. This was one of the reasons that made Caterina's daughter [[Bianca Riario]] decide to commit suicide.

=="Final Words"==
(First assassination attempt by Ezio)

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

'''Rodrigo:''' ''I don't think so!''

(Second "death scene" with Rodrigo)

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

'''Ezio:''' ''You never were.''

'''Rodrigo:''' ''Get it over with then...''

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

==Trivia==
[[File:Blason famille it Borgia01_svg.png|thumb|Coat of arms of the Borgia. Can be seen on Borgia's personal guards (in black with red strip outfit) with slightly different colors.]]
*As Ezio enters the Sistine Chapel to assassinate Borgia, he is proclaiming the Nicene Creed to the congregation. It is befitting and dramatic irony that he is assassinated as he proclaims this, as the Nicene Creed confesses the wholeness of the Christian doctrine, which Borgia later states in the final battle that he does not believe in.
* Although Ezio did not kill Borgia, he is listed as dead in the Animus' Conspirator Web after the player completes the game and re-enters the Animus. This may be due to Ezio simply listing off Rodrigo as a target.
* While it is known that Rodrigo would go on to have the most debauched bloody papacy in human history what occurs between of him and Ezio is completely unknown as Rodrigo dies of a fever 4 years later in 1503 leaving ample time to wage a sizeable campaign against the Assassins himself.
* Throughout the entire game, Rodrigo is always wearing something that covers his head. Not once is he without a hat or a hood.
* Rodrigo's cloak from before his rise to Pope resembles Al Mualim's robe from [[Assassin's Creed]].
* Rodrigo is the only assassination target Ezio has had to fight repeatedly as well as one that he spared (other being [[Tomas Torquemada]]). He is also the most formidable fighter in-game.
* Rodrigo uses a [[Swords and Maces|Schiavona]] for his and Ezio's first fight. He then uses the Staff of Eden as Pope. It is interesting to note that he is the only opponent that can stab people when they are knocked down. In Lineage, he used a throwing knife to nearly kill Giovanni. He is also seen using a Dagger when he stabbed Jacopo de' Pazzi in the chest at the third Templar meeting, and when he stabbed Ezio in the right side during their fight in the Vatican.
* It is possible to kill Rodrigo while in the Sistine chapel if you poison him. After this you can wield the Staff of Eden. Unfortunately, you cannot use any of its powers.
* It is possible to alter one of the final Roman Cutscenes. First, at some point earlier than beginning the mission, buy training for ‘Two-Handed Weapon’ special attacks. Then, go to Rome. Make your way to the Chapel where the Spaniard is conducting a sermon. When you see Borgia, he is at the other end of a long hall filled with Knights and Monks. Climb down the ladder on your left and onto the ground. Make your way through the doorway into the main area of the hall. Make sure you stay blended in the crowd and move towards Borgia’s right. Poison the third Knight from the doorway. With haste, move back through the doorway and turn left. Climb up the wooden tower, back up to the assassination path. Step onto the tightrope and watch the Knight dance. Note where he flings his Two-Handed Weapon. Continue along the tightrope and jump on Borgia.
After the following cut scene (Which shows Ezio making numerous copies of himself) go out of Fight Mode and go towards the dead Knight’s Two-Handed Weapon. Pick it up and re-enable Fight Mode. Head towards Borgia and hold down Square. Ezio will swing the Axe back. Hold it until A. Ezio stops holding back and B. Borgia is in front of Ezio. Release Square and Ezio will perform a disarming motion, the same motion that a Florentine Knight used on you when Borgia killed Ezio’s family (NOTE: you cannot disarm Borgia using fists alone). Drop the Axe and pick up the Staff of Eden. (It is used like a lance (The weapon Seekers carry)). Defeat Borgia and a cut scene will play, but, Borgia will not be holding the Staff of Eden, but simply clenching his fists. You may pick up the Staff again during the objective “Recover the pieces of Eden”.
* Rodrigo's fate differs in the novel, Assassin's Creed: Renaissance to that shown in the game: in the game, after Ezio defeats and spares him, Borgia is left alone to come to terms with his misery when Ezio enters the Vault: he is not seen again and it is presumed he still lives. In the novel, however, when Ezio emerges from the Vault, Borgia commits suicide with poison. His last act is to ask Ezio what he saw in the Vault, to which Ezio replies ''"Nothing. No one"'', leading Borgia to die believing everything he has done in life was for nothing.

==Gallery==
[[Video:Assassin's Creed 2 - Targets: Rodrigo Borgia 3/9|thumb|400px|left|Database entry.]]
<gallery>
Image:Rodrigolineage.png|Borgia's appearance in Assassin's Creed: Lineage.
Image:Rodrigo acii.png|Borgia's appearance in Assassin's Creed II.
</gallery>

{{ACII}}
{{ACIIDiscovery}}
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Characters|Borgia, Rodrigo]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Assassination Targets|Borgia, Rodrigo]]
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II: Discovery Characters|Borgia, Rodrigo]]
[[Category:Templars|Borgia, Rodrigo]]
[[Category:Historical Characters|Borgia, Rodrigo]]

Dante Moro

2010-05-08T15:03:28Z

92.4.78.211:

{{Character Infobox
|name = Dante Moro
|image = Zw-marco-and-dante.png
|imgdesc = Dante Moro (right) in the Animus Database.
|faction = Barbarigo family, [[Templars]]
|appear = [[Assassin's Creed II]]
|period = Italian Renaissance (15th century)
}}

{{quote|I feel eyes on us.|Dante Moro at the [[Carnevale|carnival]]}}
[[File:Dantemoro.png|thumb|left|Dante at the Venetian carnival.]]'''Dante Moro''' (1460-1485) is a [[Templar]] and personal bodyguard of [[Marco Barbarigo]]. He was previously the captain of the city guard and an heir to one of the most prestigious families in Venice.

Marco desired Dante's wife [[Carlotta Moro|Carlotta]], so he hired a hit on Dante. During the attempt on his life Dante is stabbed 3 times in the body and once in the head. While he miraculously survives the attack, Dante is left with severe brain damage and the mind of a child. After Marco coerces Dante into annulling his marriage to Carlotta, Marco makes Dante his personal slave.

He is first seen in [[Venice]] with Marco, [[Silvio Barbarigo]] and [[Carlo Grimaldi]] plotting to kill the Doge. He is next seen in the carnival with Silvio, where he fights Ezio in hand to hand to win a golden mask. He and Silvio cheat to win the mask and prevent Ezio from entering Marco's private party and killing him. Ezio then steals the golden mask from him and attends the party. Dante shows up and tries to look for Ezio, but fails, resulting in Marco's death. Dante goes with Silvio and escapes to a different part of [[Venice]]. Ezio finds them and kills them both when they are heading for a ship. Ezio asks them where they were going, and Silvio says he will not tell. Dante, however, says they are going to Cyprus, and is about to tell Ezio what for, but died before he could say anything else. After the assassination of Dante Moro, Ezio recovers a letter intended for Dante from his ex-wife Carlotta. Which reads:

''My love, ''

I wonder if ever the day will come when these words might make sense to you once more. I am sorry for what I've done - for what you and I have both become. Though we could not be together , just knowing you were near was enough. And now, with Marco dead, I may yet find a way for us to be joined again.

But do you even remember me? Or were the wounds too grave? Do my words stir- if not your memory, then your heart? It doesn't matter what they say- I know you're still in there, somewhere.

I will find a way, my love. To remind you. To restore you...

Love always,

Carlotta

This letter can be found in the [[Animus]] database in ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' and also in the novel ''[[Assassin's Creed: Renaissance]]''.

==Final Words==
'''Dante: '''Cyprus is their destination. They want....they....want...

'''Ezio:''' ''Non temete l'oscurità - accettate il suo abbraccio. Requiescant in Pace.<br />''(Fear not the darkness - but welcome it's embrace. Rest in Peace.)'' ''
[[Video:Assassin's Creed 2 - Targets: Marco Barbarigo and Dante Moro 4/9|thumb|300px|left]]

==Trivia==
*Dante wields an axe, much like the ones that [[Brutes]] carry and fights like one of them.
**Due to him fighting similarly to a Brute, he is sometimes able to disarm Ezio's weapons.
*Despite Antonio telling you not to do so, the player will not fail the mission if they kill Dante after stealing the mask from him and he will still appear at the party later.
*If confronted by Dante after the player steals the mask, the player cannot kill him, nor disarm him (unless you use a Two-Handed weapon's Special Attack), even if his heath bar is all the way down. This is also the case after the party where Marco is killed, him being located on a bridge nearby. The only way to defeat him is to make him fall in the water. Even if the player do so, in the next missions he will be alive.

{{ACII}}
[[Category:Assassin's Creed II Assassination Targets|Moro, Dante]]
[[Category:Templars|Moro, Dante]]

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Rodrigo Borgia

Dante Moro