Dante Moro

Dante Moro (1460 – 1486) was once the captain of the Venetian city guard, and was also an heir to one of the most prestigious and affluent families in Venice. However, after an injury left him with severe brain damage, he was convinced to become the personal bodyguard of the Templar, Marco Barbarigo.

Biography

Early life

Being the only son of Doge Cristoforo Moro, Dante was born into nobility, and was given advantages in life due to his social standing. Eventually, he would become the Captain of the Venetian Guard, and the sole heir of the prestigious Moro family. By the age of twenty-five, Dante was happily married to a woman by the name of Carlotta, and a close friend to Marco Barbarigo while in his position of Captain.

Betrayal

Desiring Carlotta for himself, Marco Barbarigo organized an attempt on Dante's life and sent his agents to kill Dante. Despite Dante being a proficient fighter, his assailants managed to stab him four times, three times in the body and once in the head. However, Dante miraculously survived this last wound that should have been fatal, but was left with severe brain damage and the mind of a child.

From there, Marco tricked Dante into annulling his marriage in Carlotta's presence, and as such, achieved the goal he had hoped for. Marco also convinced Dante to become his personal bodyguard, with Dante proving effective in his new employment.

Occupation as a bodyguard

"We should move a little faster. I feel eyes on us."

―Dante advising the Templars for their safety, 1485

Dante at the meeting, guarding his fellow Templars

On 14 September 1485, Dante, along with Marco, met with the Templars Silvio Barbarigo, Carlo Grimaldi, and Rodrigo Borgia in the Piazza San Marco. The meeting was held to discuss the plans to murder the current Doge, Giovanni Mocenigo.

Dante spoke little during the meeting, concentrating instead on keeping the Templars safe. More than once, Dante moved the group along to avoid prying eyes and ears, though it proved a futile impediment to deter Ezio Auditore from eavesdropping from the surrounding rooftops and crowds.

After Giovanni Mocenigo had been killed with cantarella, Dante met with Silvio at the Carnevale festivities, in which Dante fought Ezio hand-to-hand in order to win the Golden Mask—the Carnevale champion's reward which served as entry to the new Doge Marco Barbarigo's private party. Although the two fought fiercely, Ezio's skills proved better and Dante was bested. However, Silvio bribed the Master of Celebrations to award the mask to Dante instead, in an effort to keep Ezio away from his Templar master.

Despite this, while Dante was heading towards Marco's party, Ezio managed to distract him with the aid of Sister Teodora Contanto's courtesans, which provided Ezio enough time to pickpocket the mask from Dante. Upon discovering the loss of the mask, Dante hastily arrived at the party along with other guards.

Attempting to look for Ezio, Dante and his guards scoured the crowd of partygoers, though despite his best efforts, Dante failed, resulting in Marco's death at Ezio's hands. Subsequent to Marco's death, Silvio re-hired Dante as his own bodyguard, to which Dante helped his new master to occupy the Arsenale di Venezia.

Death

Dante and Silvo, assassinated by Ezio

Ezio planned to kill Dante and Silvio, and helped the condottiero Bartolomeo d'Alviano attack the Arsenale di Venezia in 1486. During the attack, Dante led the Templar-affiliated troops, where he fought with Bartolomeo and Ezio.

As Ezio and Bartolomeo's mercenaries arrayed against him, Dante and the Templar supporters were defeated. However, Silvio recalled Dante to the city docks and, as they were destined to board a ship, Ezio broke through and assassinated the two with his dual Hidden Blades before they could reach their vessel.

In his final moments, Dante disclosed to Ezio that the Templars meant to sail for Cyprus, right before succumbing to his injuries. Following Dante's death, Ezio recovered a letter by Carlotta from his corpse, in which she apologized for marrying Marco and told Dante she would try to find a way to restore his broken mind.

Personality and traits

"He's saved my life on two occasions, though he's not much of a conversationalist."

―Marco commenting on Dante, 1485.

Dante battling with Bartolomeo at L'Arsenale

Following the traumatic attempt on his life, Dante did not retain much of a personality. When he spoke, it was in short, gruff sentences that focused on a single task: the advancement of his master's goals. He followed orders unquestioningly, always obeying his master and any superiors in the Templar Order. He was extremely loyal and dedicated, constantly working to keep his master's fellow Templars safe, even putting his own life at risk for their wellbeing.

Dante was a capable and tough fighter, strong enough to wield a labrys in battle and able to hold his own against many attacks by Bartolomeo and Ezio.

Behind the scenes

Dante is one of the few Italian characters, alongside Silvio Barbarigo, who does not have an Italian accent. Instead, his accent is more Italian-American.

In the Assassin's Creed II novelization "Renaissance", Ezio shot Dante in the face with his Hidden Gun on the deck of the Templar ship. Despite this, the text of Carlotta's letter to Dante was reproduced in the novel as well.

Dante differed from other assassination targets in the Italian city-states in that he was not deliberately a Templar. Simple-minded, Dante would not be in control of his actions and therefore could not be held accountable for them. For this reason, assassinating him could possibly be considered a breach of the Creed's first tenet, though Ezio was not bound by them until he was officially inducted into the Assassin Order, which came after Dante's assassination. As well, Dante was the only assassination target in Assassin's Creed II who was younger than Ezio and did not have a portrait in the Villa Auditore's painting gallery.

The database entry for Chiesa di San Giobbe stated that Dante was the only son of Doge Cristoforo Moro, who supposedly disowned him in 1468 after losing his title as Venetian Captain of the Guard. This would be chronologically impossible however, as Dante would only have been eight years old in 1468. Also, when Dante was born, Cristoforo would have been nearly 70 years old.

If Dante confronted Ezio after he stole the mask, Ezio could not kill or disarm him aside from a smash attack from a heavy weapon. This was also the case if players had Ezio fight Dante at a nearby bridge after killing Marco at Carnevale, except that while Dante could be defeated by pushing him into water, he would still respawn at the Carnevale party.

Gallery

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  High resolution development artwork of Dante Moro
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  Dante Moro's bust model
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  Dante at the Templar meeting in 1485
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  Dante displaying the golden mask
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  Ezio fighting Dante hand to hand
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  Silvio giving Dante the golden mask
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  Dante at Carnevale
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  Dante engaging Ezio at L'Arsenale
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  Dante and Silvio fleeing L'Arsenale
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  Dante and Silvio's final moments

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Renaissance