El Tiburón

They call me many things: Murderer. Cutthroat. Thief. But you may call me El Tiburón. This article is about a subject that lacks an official name and is known only by its nickname, title, or alias.

"You humbled me once, and I took that hard lesson, and I bettered myself. Die knowing that for all of our conflict, you helped make a soldier out of a scoundrel."

―Edward Kenway to El Tiburón in the latter's final moments, 1722.

El Tiburón (English: The Shark; died 1722) was the mute personal bodyguard of Laureano de Torres y Ayala, Grand Master of the Caribbean Templars. Although he was not a Templar himself, his unwavering loyalty to Torres nonetheless made him a valuable asset to the Order.

Biography

Serving the Templars

Merchant: "Good lord! Is that big brute your captain Mendoza?"

Soldier: "No, sir. He is El Tiburón. El Tiburón, Governor Torres' man."

—A merchant and a soldier discussing El Tiburón, 1715.

Very little is known of El Tiburón before he entered into Torres' service. As the governor's bodyguard, he gained a frightening reputation that soon spread throughout the Cuban capital of Havana. A great, hulking brute of a man, he wore an old-fashioned armor for the time, and was known to enjoy overseeing the hangings of local criminals, which only added to his menacing character.

In July 1715, El Tiburón attended an execution in Havana, at which the pirate Edward Kenway was also present. Although they did not interact with each other then, they would later meet at Torres' mansion, where Edward pretended to be the Assassin-turned-Templar Duncan Walpole. During the meeting, El Tiburón kept a close eye on Edward, suspicious of the man's true motives.

El Tiburón and the Templars with a captured Roberts

The next day, El Tiburón accompanied the Templars to their meeting with Bartholomew Roberts, a Sage, and subsequently defended them from an organized group of Assassins who attempted to free Roberts. Thanks to his armor, which protected El Tiburón from the Assassins' poison darts, he was able to overcome the attackers, demonstrating his strength when he hurled his axe across a full meter into an Assassin. Although the Sage was able to break free, he was soon recaptured by Edward and imprisoned at the mansion for further interrogation.

That night, Roberts escaped from his cell, with the Templars arriving to find only Edward in his place. Realizing he was an imposter, El Tiburón swiftly incapacitated Edward and prepared to beat him up, but was stopped by Torres. After a short interrogation, during which it became clear that the Sage had escaped by himself, Edward was taken hold of by El Tiburón and Julien du Casse, who sent him with the Spanish Treasure Fleet as a prisoner.

In May 1719, El Tiburón accompanied Torres to Kingston to meet with fellow Templar Woodes Rogers and his newest recruit, Benjamin Hornigold. After discussing the whereabouts of Roberts, who had been spotted near Príncipe, an island in Africa, the Templars departed Kingston, leaving Hornigold's associates Josiah Burgess and John Cockram to handle the capture of the Sage. The following year, in November 1720, El Tiburón was again present when Torres and Rogers arrived at Port Royal to interrogate an imprisoned Edward Kenway for the location of the Observatory, to no avail.

Death

"This again, eh? You're too skilled for swordplay. How about a little gunplay?"

―Edward during his fight with El Tiburón, 1722.

In August 1722, El Tiburón was tasked with guarding a body double of Torres at the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta in Havana, in an attempt to delay Edward, by now an Assassin, from pursuing the governor to the Observatory. On the way to the fort, El Tiburón and his escort came across two pirates threatening a number of soldiers, who watched in awe as El Tiburón brutally dispatched both pirates with his axe.

Edward shooting El Tiburón

When Edward assassinated the imposter at the fort, El Tiburón emerged and threw a blow at the Assassin, who dodged in the nick of time. The bodyguard then engaged him in combat, swiftly gaining the upper hand thanks to his training as a soldier. A number of Spanish soldiers joined the bodyguard in battle, but proved more of an obstruction than anything; whenever El Tiburón attempted to shoot Edward, the pirate used a guard as a human shield.

El Tiburón was eventually defeated by Edward, who used his pistols to penetrate his armor. As the bodyguard lay dying, Edward gave the man his last rites and thanked him for humbling him in the past, claiming that he had taken that hard lesson to heart and it helped him better himself.

Trivia

• El Tiburón wears a stylized barbute helmet.
• Despite his death occurring in 1722, El Tiburón's database entry is never updated to include the date.
• Due to El Tiburón's unwavering loyalty towards Torres, the Abstergo Entertainment employee that wrote El Tiburón's database entry speculated there might have been a familial connection between the two.
• It is possible to pickpocket El Tiburón in the memory "Mister Walpole, I Presume?", though doing so grants only one Spanish reale.
• Originally, Edward and El Tiburón were to have a confrontation at the end of Sequence 2, which would end with Edward losing the fight. For gameplay reasons, it was cut during development, though the fight appears in Black Flag's novelization, and Edward's final lines to El Tiburón still refer to it.
• Despite being the governor's personal bodyguard, El Tiburón was not by Torres' side during the latter's stay at Punta Guarico. As such, he was not present when the governor was interrogated by Edward and his crew.

Combat

• During his boss fight, El Tiburón behaves similarly to the Grenadier-type enemies, though he wields pistols as his secondary weapons rather than grenades.
• It is possible, though difficult, for Edward to kill El Tiburón through other means than just pistols. However, he cannot be disarmed, knocked down or harmed by darts. The game may glitch and allow a regular counter as if he was attacking with another weapon. This can be used to disarm him, and the same glitch can then be used on normal in-game brutes, often.
• If Edward were to attempt to attack El Tiburón in the memory "...And My Sugar?", he would kill Edward with a single blow.

Gallery

• 
  Concept art of El Tiburón without his armor
• 
  El Tiburón during the Templars' meeting
• 
  El Tiburón after subduing Edward
• 
  Edward facing El Tiburón in combat
• 
  El Tiburón's final moments

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed: Memories