André Bolden

"The diamond might still be out there, but this ain't my war, Otso. I can't be a part of what you have to do. But if you want my advice, I think you're going to need this."

―André Bolden to Juhani Otso Berg, 2016.

André "Dre" Bolden (1944 – 2018) was an elderly Afro-American Vietnam War veteran from Baltimore. Hailing from the Bolden family, which counted several Black Crosses among its members, he was recruited by Abstergo Industries to explore the history of his family and search for the Koh-i-Noor.

After learning about the Assassin-Templar War and his Black Cross heritage, André befriended the Templar Juhani Otso Berg and decided to help him take up the Black Cross mantle. In 2017, he assisted Berg in investigating the Instruments of the First Will, a mysterious cult who had infiltrated Abstergo, until his capture and subsequent execution by the group.

Biography

Early life

A veteran of the Vietnam War, André received a Purple Heart but suffered from PTSD due to some actions he committed during the war. A decade after his return from the war, he fell in love with a woman and adopted her daughter, but because of his troubles they both eventually left him. By 2016, André had not seen either of them for ten years.

Approached by Abstergo

André meeting Berg and Caitlin

In 2016, André was approached by Abstergo Industries, who offered him an alleged treatment for his PTSD as part of their program to help war veterans. Accepting the offer, André was brought to Abstergo's facility in Philadelphia, where he was greeted by Juhani Otso Berg and his team, consisting of Violet da Costa, Caitlin Gift, and Freddy, before being put into an Animus.

After reliving the first meeting between Jan van der Graff and Solomon Bolden and their fight against pirates who attacked their ship, André woke up and realized he had been deceived. Experiencing the Bleeding Effect, he felt somewhat reinvigorated and easily neutralized two security guards before fleeing the complex.

Later, André was tracked down at his hotel room by Berg, who explained the Animus and the Bleeding Effect to him, and claimed that Abstergo was looking for an important item tied to André's family. The elderly veteran agreed to help on the condition that Berg not lie to him again.

Learning the truth

Berg convincing André to continue his session

André and Berg returned to the Abstergo facility, where they pieced the details together with Berg's team. They realized that Jan was André's ancestor and not Solomon as they had initially assumed, and considered abandoning the search due to the possibility of losing track of an entire Black Cross bloodline. However, since Jan was mentioned in the accounts of Tavis Olier, the Black Cross before Solomon, Berg's team realized there must be more to his story and had André return to the Animus to continue viewing his memories.

After witnessing Solomon's death and Jan's capture by Sultan Selim III's guards, André was pulled out of the Animus by Caitlin and allowed to take the rest of the day off. Needing some time to process everything, he headed to a bar and ordered a drink before being joined by Berg. Having heard mentions of a "diamond" in Jan's memories, André became upset and questioned whether Berg and his team were using his memories to find the jewel and sell it.

Berg replied that Abstergo was not interested in money but rather the very matter of life and death. He then proceeded to tell André the truth about the Templars, the Assassins, the Pieces of Eden, and the Black Crosses. He also revealed the "diamond" to be the Koh-i-Noor, a particularly powerful Piece of Eden that was of interest to Abstergo. In response, André called him "crazy", but Berg pointed out that, after everything the former had seen and experienced, this did not sound too far fetched.

André and Berg being attacked by unknown assailants

Having listened enough, André left the bar, with Berg following closely behind. A car soon passed right beside them, and its occupants opened fire, killing several civilians. Berg managed to pull André to cover, leaving both of them unscathed. He then jumped into the car and eliminated the occupants. Afterwards, André and Berg returned to the Abstergo facility, accompanied by Violet and Freddy, to discuss the recent events. As they checked on André, he replied that he was still shaken after the attack, but was ready to continue the Animus session.

During the session, André started screaming out in pain due to the fact that he was reliving Jan's torture by Selim's men. Thanks to Caitlin, who helped to skip past the memories to a few days forward, André was able to continue and witnessed Jan's meeting with the Black Cross Tavis Olier.

Completing the mission

After the session, André again visited the bar to get a drink, where he was found by Violet. She asked him about his encounter in the torture chamber, to which he replied that it felt like dying over and over. Violet then told André that she had spoken to Berg and that the information they had uncovered was not enough, but they could not force André to return to the Animus if he did not want to. When André claimed that he was still uncertain if the Templars were crazy or not, Violet replied that maybe they were, but they were not liars, before handing him a Templar pin once owned by the Black Cross Albert Bolden.

The two later returned to the facility, where they learned that Caitlin had been killed. When Berg asked André if he wished to stay, the latter replied that he was not going anywhere. He then volunteered to return to the Animus so Berg could complete his investigation. Through the last session, André and Berg learned that Jan had been trained to become the next Black Cross by Tavis Olier and that he had successfully retrieved the Koh-i-Noor, only to seemingly give it away to the Assassins.

André giving the Templar pin to Berg

With their investigation concluded, Berg and André discussed the Animus session at the bar. Berg apologized to André for everything that had happened, as they were still nowhere close to finding the Koh-i-Noor. In response, André smiled at him, revealing that Jan had tricked the Assassins and that he had actually left Libya with the Koh-i-Noor.

On the topic of his genetic memory, André told Berg that Jan had found a 'way' to keep his promise to Solomon and met his widow, with whom he conceived a child, continuing the Bolden bloodline. He then claimed that Berg's war was one he did not wish to be part of, as he had a promise to keep to his daughter, and handed Berg the Templar pin, convincing him to take up the Black Cross mantle.

Helping Berg

By 2017, André had started working with Berg, helping him in his secret role as the new Black Cross. In February, André was contacted by Berg, who was in Hong Kong investigating the aftermath of an Assassin raid on an abandoned Abstergo office. When Berg identified the weapons involved as Assassin weapons, André suggested the possibility of the Assassins and Templars working together, though Berg was unable to confirm this.

André posing as the Black Cross before the Inner Sanctum

The following month, André dressed up as the Black Cross to protect Berg's identity at the Inner Sanctum meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec. During the meeting, the Inner Sanctum questioned his identity, to which he replied that he was the Black Cross and that he knew all of their identities. André informed the members that Abstergo may have been infiltrated by a number of hostile fifth columns. Laetitia England asked for the proof, to which André responded with a middle finger, refusing to answer to the Inner Sanctum. Berg pretended to be enraged by the Black Cross' comments and jumped him, only to be thrown across the room. Affirming his independence and warning the members, André threw a smoke bomb and vanished.

André later returned to Berg's apartment in Montreal, where he was offered a drink by the Templar. André was amazed at how much the Black Cross suit weighed and wondered how Berg was able to move around in it. Berg responded that he had gotten used to it thanks to having worn kevlar vests during his time in the Utti Jaeger Regiment. He then asked André why he had given the Inner Sanctum the middle finger, to which the latter responded that he had gotten lost in the moment. Berg remarked that the Inner Sanctum was ruthless and that André should count himself lucky that he did not get lost in a landfill.

André with Berg in his apartment

As Berg thanked André for his help, he remarked that their ruse had been successful and no one suspected him of being the Black Cross, giving them free rein to continue their investigation. With that, the Templar revealed that he had tracked the origins of a pair of goggles found at the Hong Kong facility, and discovered they had been created by Skunkworks, an Abstergo subsidiary based in Berlin, Germany.

A few days later, after Berg returned from Berlin injured, André advised him to stop going after people and that, despite Abstergo's 'noble' cause, it had been infected by 'parasites' who were slowly taking over the company from within. He then informed Berg that he had left Abstergo's tax sheet open on the computer and departed, telling the Templar not to get his hopes up.

Death

Sometime later, André sent a sample of his blood to Berg so that he could relive the memories of Albert Bolden during the Spanish Civil War in search of the Koh-i-Noor. After Berg uncovered the location of the jewel, he contacted André and gave him the coordinates of Álvaro Gramática's secret laboratory in Australia, requesting him to keep a lookout for any signs of the Instruments of the First Will constructing a body for their deity, Juno.

André being held captive by the Instruments

Unbeknownst to Berg, however, André had been found by the Instrument Jasdip Dhami, who took him hostage and stood nearby as he spoke with Berg over the phone. After being taken to Gramática's lab, André was killed by the Instruments, having outlived his usefulness to them. Violet da Costa, who was secretly an Instrument herself, later told Berg about André's fate when he and the Assassins attacked the facility in an attempt to prevent Juno's resurrection.

Behind the scenes

In some panels of Assassin's Creed: Templars, artist Dennis Calero modeled André's appearance after actor Laurence Fishburne. ^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

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  André exiting the Animus
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  André conversing with Berg
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  André held hostage by Jasdip Dhami

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Templars (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising