Editing Assassination

{{Era|Assassins|Templars}}
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{{Quote|Find them, kill them. In doing so, you will sow the seeds of peace.|Al Mualim conversing about assassination targets with Altaïr, 1191.|Assassin's Creed|Knowledge (Masun)}}
[[File:IF 7.png|thumb|250px|Ezio Auditore da Firenze assassinating a target]]
'''Assassination''' is the killing by sudden or secret attacks, often for political reasons or revenge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assassination|author=Merriam-Webster dictionary|title=Assassination}}</ref> Over the [[Timeline|centuries]], political organizations like the [[Templars|Templar Order]] and most prominently the [[Assassins|Assassin Brotherhood]], have carried out innumerable assassinations of their enemies to advance their causes.

==Background==
The term ''assassination'' comes from the word ''assassin'', which in turn comes from the Arabic word for "Hash-Smokers". Historian [[Shaun Hastings]] argued that the [[Hidden Ones]] adopted the later name of Assassins as a mark of pride.<ref name = "Hash">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[Shaun's notes]] – The Hidden Ones</ref> Both incarnations used [[Assassination contract|contracts]] to outline targets, explain the reasoning for their targeting and even to specify manner of death at times.<ref name = "Hidden Ones Contracts">''Assassin's Creed: Valhalla'' – [[A Brief History of the Hidden Ones]]</ref><ref name = "Old Contracts">''Assassin's Creed: Valhalla'' – [[Layla Hassan's personal files]] – Files: "Session Report: SHastings"</ref><ref name = "Black Flag Contracts">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]'' – [[Overrun and Outnumbered]]</ref>

Though precise in their methods, both sides of the [[Assassin-Templar War]] did not complete assassinations at times, due to choice or circumstance. For example, Louisiana Assassin [[Aveline de Grandpré]] spared the life of [[Antonio de Ulloa]]<ref name = "Ulloa">''[[Assassin's Creed III: Liberation]]'' – [[A Governor No More]]</ref> and Colonial Templar [[Shay Cormac]] would intercept Assassin contracts and prevent them from accomplishing their tasks.<ref name = "Interception">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[Assassin Interception (Scott Lawson)]]</ref> Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore prevented Templars from killing high profile people such as astronomer [[Nicolaus Copernicus]]<ref name = "Copernicus">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[Copernicus Conspiracy]]</ref> and then-prince [[Suleiman I]].<ref name = "Suleiman">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' – [[The Prince's Banquet]]</ref>

==Assassination techniques==
===Hidden Blade===
[[File:Zw-codex-13.png|thumb|250px|Altaïr's codex on Hidden Blade assassinations]]
The first recorded use of the Hidden Blade was dated from the 5th century BCE, when Darius used it to assassinate King Xerxes I in Persia.<ref name = "Darius' Blade">''[[Assassin's Creed: Odyssey]]'' – [[Legacy of the First Blade]]</ref> Centuries later, his hidden blade was given to [[Amunet|Aya]] by [[Cleopatra]] to aid in their quest to take down the [[Order of the Ancients]]. Aya would gift it to her husband, Bayek,<ref name = "Bayek's Blade">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Aya (memory)|Aya]]</ref> who would first use it against [[Eudoros]], a member of the Order.<ref name = "The Hippo">''Assassin's Creed: Origins'' – [[End of the Snake]]</ref> The use of the Hidden Blade would come to define both the Hidden Ones and their later incarnation, so great was their usage.<ref name = "Page 13">''Assassin's Creed II'' – [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex]]: Page 13</ref>

Levantine Assassins [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] and [[Malik Al-Sayf]] worked to improve the methods of assassination using the Blade, three of which Altaïr documented in his [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex|codex]]: "''from on high, from ledges, and from hiding places''". These would later be dubbed "air assassinations"<ref name = "You'll Pay For This">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity companion app]]'' – Les Invalides: You'll Pay For This</ref> "ledge assassinations" and "hidden assassinations".<ref name = "Edward Tutorial">''Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'' – [[Mister Walpole, I Presume?]]</ref> Altaïr himself described these methods as basic, though critical.<ref name = "Page 13"/> In the same codex page, he introduced another improvement: the addition of a second identical Hidden Blade for the Assassins that needed to dispatch two targets at once.<ref name = "Page 13"/> This method was called a "double assassination".<ref name= "AC2">''Assassin's Creed II''</ref> All of these were taught to Assassin recruits<ref name = "Shay Tutorial">''Assassin's Creed: Rogue'' – [[Lessons and Revelations]]</ref> and became recognizable to Templars.<ref name = "Edward Tutorial"/>

===Poison===
A slower method of assassination, but still widely used, was poisoning, which allowed elimination of targets without the use of force.<ref name = "Iltani's Assesment">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India]]'' – [[Database: Iltani's Story 2]]</ref> Babylonian assassin [[Iltani]] used poison against [[Alexander the Great]] in her quest to retrieve his [[Scepter of Alexander the Great|Staff of Eden]]<ref name = "Iltani's Poison">''Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India'' – [[Database: Iltani's Story 5]]</ref> and Hidden One Amunet gave Cleopatra a vial of poison she used for her suicide.<ref name= "Amunet">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins (comic)]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Origins 4|Issue #04]]</ref>
[[File:Zw-codex-21.png|thumb|left|250px|Altaïr's codex on poisons]]
At some point before 1191, the use of poison was forbidden among the [[Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins|Levantine Brotherhood]], and it was not before Altaïr became a [[mentor]] that the prohibition was lifted.<ref name = "Page 6">''Assassin's Creed II'' – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 6</ref> In his codex, Altaïr reserved a section for instruction on how to construct an [[Poison Blade|alteration]] to the Hidden Blade that allowed poisoning of targets, as well as instructions on how to distill the poison.<ref name = "Page 21">''Assassin's Creed II'' – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 21</ref>

Poison also allows for many different approaches in an assassination. The method used in [[Margaret of York]]'s death, for example, was to separate the compounds of the poison into harmless ingredients which were admnistered through her food, makeup and pillow.<ref name = "Margaret's Death">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]'' – [[Contracts (Project Legacy)|Contracts]]: London, England</ref> Queen [[Isabella I of Castile]] was slowly poisoned through her food until she succumbed.<ref name = "Isabella's Death PL">''Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy'' – Contracts: Barcelona, Spain</ref><ref name = "Isabella's Death Initiates">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[Database: Ending Isabella]]</ref> [[Black Cross]] [[Albert Bolden]] used a [[Templar pin]] with two types of poison, one that killed instantly and another that took one hour for its effect to take hold.<ref name = "Bolden's Poison">''[[Assassin's Creed: Templars]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Templars 3|Issue #03]]</ref>

The Assassins and Templars made ample use of [[poison dart]]s in their arsenal, regardless of the method of delivery: Aveline de Grandpré used both a [[blowpipe]]<ref name = "Aveline Blowpipe">''Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'' – [[The False Mackandal]]</ref> and a [[Parasol gun|modified parasol]],<ref name = "Aveline Parasol">''Assassin's Creed III: Liberation'' – [[Prélude to Rebellion]]</ref> Colonial Templar Shay Cormac used an [[air rifle]],<ref name = "Shay Rifle">''Assassin's Creed: Rogue'' – [[By Invitation Only]]</ref> French Assassin [[Arno Dorian]] used the [[Phantom Blade]]<ref name = "Dorian Phantom">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[The Kingdom of Beggars]]</ref> and the [[Jacob Frye|Frye]] [[Evie Frye|twins]] used their [[Assassin Gauntlet]]s.<ref name = "Frye Gauntlet">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – [[Cable News]]</ref>

==High-profile assassinations==
Italian Assassin Domenico Auditore built a [[sanctuary]] beneath his [[Villa Auditore|villa]] at [[Monteriggioni]] and included seven statues to honor the memory of the Assassins "''who guarded the freedom of humanity when it was most threatened''". These were the statues of [[Qulan Gal]], Darius, [[Wei Yu]], Amunet, Iltani and [[Leonius]]; who were thought of having performed high profile assassinations, and Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Accompanying the statues were [[Assassin Seals|seals]] engraved with the famed weapons. <ref name = "Sanctuary">''Assassin's Creed II'' – [[A Change of Plans]]</ref> Though neither Qulan Gal nor Amunet were directly responsible for the assassinations of [[Genghis Khan]] and Cleopatra (respectively), they were involved in their deaths.<ref name= "Qulan">''[[Assassin's Creed: Reflections]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Reflections 2|Issue #02]]</ref><ref name= "Amunet"/>
*Qulan Gal assassinated Genghis Khan with a bow and arrow.
*Darius assassinated Xerxes I with a Hidden Blade.
*Wei Yu assassinated [[Qin Shi Huang]] with a spear.
*Amunet assassinated Cleopatra with an asp.
*Iltani assassinated Alexander the Great with poison.
*Leonius assassinated [[Caligula]] with a dagger.

Other notable assassinations were the [[Assassination of Julius Caesar|assassination]] of [[Julius Caesar]] engineered by the Hidden Ones,<ref name= "Caesar">''Assassin's Creed: Origins'' – [[Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another]]</ref> the assassination of [[Cesare Borgia]] by Ezio Auditore<ref name= "Cesare">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' – [[Pax Romana]]</ref> and the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination]] of [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone]]''</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
[[Category:Assassin Brotherhood]]
[[Category:Templar Order]]