Editing Dart

{{Era|Weapons}}{{WP-REAL|Dart (missile)}}
{{Quote|A single dart, blown from a distance, will fell a man. You may use this to your advantage, if you approach in stealth.|Agaté gifting Aveline de Grandpré a blowpipe, 1766.|Assassin's Creed III: Liberation|The False Mackandal}}
[[File:AC4 Sleep Darts.png|thumb|250px|Sleep darts used by Edward Kenway]]
A '''dart''' is an airborne long-range weapon used to silently deal with targets. Depending on the type of chemical applied to the dart, these could be used to sedate (usually called '''sleep darts'''),<ref name="ACIV">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref> poison ('''poison darts''')<ref name="ACB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref> or cause hallucinations ('''berserk darts'''<ref name="ACO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''</ref> or '''hallucinogenic darts''')<ref name="ACS">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''</ref> on the victim.

Being both a subtle and long distance weapon allowed for its users to stay unnoticed by their targets, which made darts a weapon widely used by the [[Assassins]] and [[Templars]] throughout history, though methods of delivery differed: from [[blowpipe]]s<ref name="ACIV"/> to modified guns.<ref name="ACRogue">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''</ref>

==Usage and effects==
{{Quote|Take this. You'll attract no attention, and take fewer lives.|James Kidd giving Edward Kenway a blowpipe, 1716.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag|Overrun and Outnumbered}}
Sleep darts were used to temporarily incapacitate enemies without killing them, useful for infiltrators that wished to leave no evidence of their actions. On the other hand, berserk darts were used in order to make a target fight with others, be it with their own allies or with nearby [[civilian]]s, before the poison would kill them, both dealing with a target and causing a distraction if needed. Poison darts varied in their effects depending on the composition, from simply causing a slow death, like the darts used by [[Aveline de Grandpré]],<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III: Liberation]]''</ref> to a more complex three stage based poisoning, like the darts used by [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze|Ezio Auditore]]:<ref name="ACB"/>
#After being hit, the target would soon begin to clutch at their chest and struggle to remain standing, as the poison's effects set in.
#The poison began to have serious effects on the target. They began to flail helplessly in a circle, striking anyone who came within their reach. If they had a weapon, they may have drawn it and flailed it around as well.
#The target was overcome completely by the poison and fell on the ground, still experiencing the effects caused by the toxin running through their veins. After a short time; the target died, after the poison had sapped away all of their energy.

==History==
===Ptolemaic Egypt===
During the 1st century BCE, the [[Medjay]] [[Bayek]] of [[Siwa]], utilized two types of darts: a sedative that cause targets to fall unconscious for a while and a highly poisonous one that caused dizziness, nausea, and death.<ref name="ACO"/>

===16th century===
[[File:The Trickster P2 4.png|thumb|250px|Ezio firing a poison dart at Mirela Djuric]]
As a comission for his friend, the Assassin Ezio Auditore, [[Leonardo da Vinci]] fashioned a dart-firing upgrade for Ezio's [[Poison Blade]] while in [[Rome]]. These darts would use the same poison used in the blade, which prompted Ezio to purchase bigger [[pouch]]es for better capacity.<ref name="ACB"/> Ezio also procured some ingredients as a [[Shop quest|favor]] for the [[doctor]] of [[Tiber Island]], receiving in return a faster acting poison, capable of killing a target in roughly half the amount of time compared to the kind of poison he had been using.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood'' – [[Shop quest]]</ref> Ezio continued using poison darts later in his life, particularly during his travels in [[Constantinople]].<ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref>

===Caribbean sea===
[[File:Overrun and Outnumbered 3.png|thumb|left|250px|Mary Read giving a blowpipe to Edward Kenway]]
In 1670, the [[Mentor]] of the [[West Indies Brotherhood of Assassins]], [[Bahlam]], used an unusually potent sleep dart to subdue the [[Sage]] [[Thom Kavanagh]]<ref>''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' – [[Thom Kavanagh's letters]]: "14. THE ASSASSYN"</ref> before safely transporting him to the Assassin camp of [[Tulum]], where Thom awoke some days later.<ref>''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' – Thom Kavanagh's letters: "15. RESTE AND REPASTE"</ref>

In [[Golden Age of Piracy|early 18th century]] [[Caribbean]], the West Indies Brotherhood [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag)|crafted]] darts from animal bone for use in both sleep darts and berserk darts. [[Edward Kenway]] managed to enhance the effectiveness of both darts by crafting upgrades from the hides of different animals.<ref>''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' – [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag)|Crafting]]</ref>

===French and Indian War===
In July 1752, then-Assassin [[Shay Cormac]] discovered an [[air rifle]] while infiltrating [[Mount Vernon]]. Being surprised by a guard, Shay accidentally shot him with a sleep dart and, amazed with the weapon's silence, decided to take it for himself, using berserk darts against a number of guards in the way to finding [[Lawrence Washington]].<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Rogue'' – [[By Invitation Only]]</ref> He would also [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed: Rogue)|improve]] the effectiveness of both berserk and sleep darts,<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Rogue'' – [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed: Rogue)|Crafting]]</ref> as well as eventually use [[Grenade launcher|grenades]] with the same functions.<ref name="ACRogue"/>

===18th century Louisiana===
[[File:Power of Voodoo 6.png|thumb|250px|Aveline using her blowpipe to poison a patrol]]
In 1766, [[Agaté]] gifted [[Aveline de Grandpré]] the blowpipe of his former mentor, [[François Mackandal]], after discovering an [[Baptiste|impostor]] had been using Mackandal's name to gather followers in the [[Louisiana Bayou]].<ref>''Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'' – [[The False Mackandal]]</ref> A couple of years later, fellow Assassin [[Gérald Blanc]] built a [[Parasol gun|parasol]] capable of firing darts, which Aveline could utilise while dressed up as a lady without attracting any attention.<ref>''Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'' – [[Prélude to Rebellion]]</ref> Also in 1768, the [[Houngan (San Danje)|Houngan]] of [[San Danje]] gifted Aveline with a new poison he had been testing, one that would drive the victim momentarily hysterical, allowing Aveline the use of berserk darts.<ref>''Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'' – [[Vanishing Slaves]]</ref>

===American Revolution===
During the [[American Revolution]], Assassin [[Ratonhnhaké:ton]] [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed III)|crafted]] poison darts from [[Lead|lead ore]] and [[sulfur]] in the [[Davenport Homestead]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' – [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed III)|Crafting]]</ref> Besides its use on human targets, the poison darts were wuite useful for [[hunting]], as a great number of animals were weak to the poison's effect, be they predators, such as [[bear]]s,<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' – [[Database: Bear]]</ref> [[bobcat]]s<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' – [[Database: Bobcat]]</ref> and [[cougar]]s,<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' – [[Database: Cougar]]</ref> or prey, such as [[beaver]]s,<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' – [[Database: Beaver]]</ref> [[elk]]s<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' – [[Database: Male Elk]]</ref> or [[hare]]s.<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' – [[Database: Hare]]</ref>

===French Revolution===
The [[Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins]] used a miniaturized [[crossbow]] attached to the [[Hidden Blade]] to fire darts discreetly. The projectile mechanism was called the [[Phantom Blade]].<ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref> On 19 January 1791, [[Arno Dorian]] received his first Phantom Blade from [[Mentor]] [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Honoré Mirabeau]] in recognition of his successful assassination of the [[Templars|Templar]] agent [[Charles Gabriel Sivert]].<ref name="The Kingdom of Beggars">''Assassin's Creed: Unity'' – [[The Kingdom of Beggars]]</ref> Over the course of the [[French Revolution]], he made frequent use of it in his missions, as did those agents who accompanied him.<ref name="ACU" /> After October 1792,<ref name="Starving Times">''Assassin's Creed: Unity'' – [[Starving Times]]</ref><ref name="The Escape">''Assassin's Creed: Unity'' – [[The Escape (Unity)|The Escape]]</ref> he had it upgraded, allowing him to fire two darts without reloading and to launch berserk blades.<ref name="Ranged Skills">''Assassin's Creed: Unity'' – [[Skill Tree (Assassin's Creed: Unity)|Skill Tree]]: Improved Phantom Blade</ref>

===Victorian London===
[[File:ACS Hallucinogenic Darts.png|thumb|left|250px|Hallucinogenic darts used by Jacob and Evie Frye]]
In 1868 [[London]], [[Scotland|Scottish]] inventor [[Alexander Graham Bell]] adapted a dart mechanism to work with the [[Assassin Gauntlet]]s used by [[Jacob Frye|Jacob]] and [[Evie Frye]], attaching it to the top of their gauntlets, having had the idea after intercepting a message with the recipe for a powerful hallucinogenic serum.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Syndicate'' – [[Cable News]]</ref> The darts were also highly combustible, and would explode if launched into a heat source. This had the added effect of spreading the toxin over a wider area, affecting more than one person.<ref name="ACS"/> The twins later [[Gang Upgrades|invested]] money to bring down the cost of the dart<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Syndicate'' – [[Gang Upgrades]]</ref> and also [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed: Syndicate)|improved]] its capabilities after locating a couple of relevant schematics.<ref>''Assassin's Creed: Syndicate'' – [[Crafting (Assassin's Creed: Syndicate)|Crafting]]</ref>

==Trivia==
*In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'', firing a poison dart at a [[Horsemen|horseman]] would force him to dismount, and the effects would skip to the poison's third stage. In the game's  [[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (novel)|novelization]] the poison darts were thrown as opposed to being projectiles fired from the wrist.
*In-game files from ''[[Assassin's Creed III]]'' contained an unused description for the poison darts:
:''These highly toxic darts have their tips dipped in extract of Cicuta virosa - also known as Water Hemlock. This plant’s poisonous effects directly attack the nervous system, causing paralysis, loss of consciousness, and even death.''
*In ''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'', the effects of berserk darts would not wear off. In addition, firing a second dart at an already-poisoned target would cause them to collapse immediately.

==Gallery==
<gallery position="center" widths="180" captionalign="center">
AC4 Berserk Darts.png|Berserk darts used by Edward Kenway
By Invitation Only 4.png|Shay shooting a guard with a sleep dart
AC3 Poison Dart.png|Poison darts used by Ratonhnhaké:ton
ACLib Poison Darts.png|Poison darts used by Aveline de Grandpré
ACLib Berserk Darts.png|Berserk darts used by Aveline de Grandpré
ACRG Sleep Dart.png|Sleep darts used by Shay Cormac
ACRG Berserk Dart.png|Berserk darts used by Shay Cormac
ACS Assassin Gauntlet 1.jpg|The dart gun atop an Assassin Gauntlet
</gallery>

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed III: Liberation]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACB}}
{{ACR}}
{{ACIII}}
{{AC3L}}
{{ACIV}}
{{ACRG}}
{{ACU}}
{{ACS}}
{{ACO}}
[[Category:Hidden weapons]]
[[Category:Poisons]]
[[Category:1st century BCE weapons]]
[[Category:15th century weapons]]
[[Category:16th century weapons]]
[[Category:18th century weapons]]
[[Category:19th century weapons]]