Charles Dorian

"Your father was an Assassin, Arno. He gave his life fighting for the liberty of all mankind."

―Pierre Bellec describing Charles to his son, 1789.

Charles Dorian (died 1776) was a member of the French Brotherhood of Assassins. Formerly apprenticed to the Master Assassin Pierre Bellec, Charles was entrusted with protecting an ancient artifact known as the Precursor box in 1776, but was assassinated shortly thereafter.

His son, Arno, later followed in his father's footsteps and became a notable figure of the Brotherhood during the French Revolution, eventually gaining the rank of Master Assassin himself. Through Arno, Charles is an ancestor of Callum Lynch.

Biography

Life as an Assassin

Charles: "Thank you, my friend."

Bellec: "Got to get you back to that boy of yours in one piece, don't we pisspot?"

—Charles and his mentor Pierre Bellec, during a mission.

Charles was born into a minor noble house and also an old Assassin family. Sometime before 1768, he married an Austrian woman named Marie, and the two eventually had a son called Arno. Like his ancestors, Charles joined the Assassin Order and was trained by Pierre Bellec, a future member of the French Assassin Council. During his training, he also learned of the Colonial Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton, who dealt a devastating blow to the Colonial Templars during the American Revolutionary War.

At one point while on a mission, Charles came into conflict with a Templar, who nearly overpowered him. Bellec came to his aid and killed the assailant, before returning Charles his pocket watch which had fallen, and telling him to go home to his son. However, once Marie discovered Charles' allegiance to the Assassins, she left him, leaving Charles to raise Arno by himself. During this period of Arno's early childhood, Charles took him traveling around Europe and North Africa.

Death

Charles: "You! You're the traitor."

Shay: "I'm just finishing old business."

Charles: "Old... Connor and his Assassins... The American Revolution undid your Templar business."

—Charles' dying words to Shay Cormac, 1776.

Shay assassinating Charles

In December 1776, Charles, accompanied by Arno, visited the Palace of Versailles for an Assassin meeting. Arno asked his father if he could come with him to the meeting, but Charles told him to stay put and wait for his return. Pretending to be wool merchants gathering for a business meeting, the Assassins entrusted Charles with protecting the Precursor box. However, as Charles searched for his son, who had gone "exploring", he was suddenly struck by the Templar Shay Cormac.

Recognizing Shay as the Assassin who had betrayed the Brotherhood two decades prior, Charles told him that the American Revolution had undone the Templars' work in the newly-formed United States of America. Shay suggested that the Templars could stage another revolution, in order to restore the balance of power between the two factions. As Shay disappeared from the scene, Charles collapsed onto the floor, dead.

Legacy

Charles: "Courage, my boy. You wait just here. I will return when this hand reaches the top. And Arno? No "exploring," hmm?"

Arno: "Yes, father."

—Arno reliving the last moments spent with his father, 1793.

Following Charles' murder, Arno was adopted by François de la Serre, who unbeknownst to him was the Grand Master of the Parisian Templars. In order to help Arno cope with the loss of his father, de la Serre suggested that the boy write letters to Charles.

Arno looking at Charles' pocket watch

In 1789, Arno, at the urging of Bellec, followed in his father's footsteps by joining the Assassins. During his initiation ceremony, he was required to consume psychotropic drugs and, under their influence, experienced a number of visions, including several of his parents. One vision depicted Charles' death at the hands of an unseen assailant; after eliminating the assassin, Arno saw his own face under the mask, representing the guilt he felt for his father's murder, which Arno blamed himself for.

Shortly before his death, Charles had given Arno his pocket watch, which his son continued to hold onto for the rest of his life as a memento. When the watch was briefly stolen by a gang of criminals in 1793, Arno went to great lengths to retrieve it, killing a number of gang members at the Palace of Versailles. In the process, he experienced a vision of his final moments with Charles at the palace sixteen years prior.

Behind the scenes

Charles Dorian is a character first introduced in the 2014 video games Assassin's Creed: Rogue and Assassin's Creed: Unity. He was voiced in both games by the English actor Stephen Beckett.

Charles is Shay's only assassination target in Rogue who does not share his last words with him in the Memory Corridor. Furthermore, he is one of two assassination targets who does not have a database entry in the game, the other being Le Chasseur.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Charles
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  Head sculpts of Charles
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  Charles and Arno arriving at the Palace of Versailles
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  Charles giving Arno his pocket watch
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  Shay with Charles in Versailles
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  Arno discovering Charles' body

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Unity novel
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion (mentioned in Database entry only)