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{{Era|ACAC|AC|ACBL|AC2|AC2D|ACB|ACR|AC3|AC3L|AC4|PL|2book|Bbook|Rbook|TSC|Forsaken|TF|TC|ACL|ACI}}
{{Era|Assassins|Templars}}
{{Quote|Find them, kill them. In doing so, you will sow the seeds of peace.|Al Mualim to Altaïr, 1191.|Assassin's Creed}}
{{Expand}}
[[File:IF 7.png|thumb|250px|Ezio Auditore da Firenze assassinating a target]]
{{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)}}
'''Assassination targets''' were individuals that the [[Assassins|Assassin Order]] – and in select instances, the [[Templars|Templar Order]] – deemed worthy of elimination. Over the [[Timeline|centuries]], the Assassins killed many individuals they believed to be corrupt and a danger to humanity, particularly Templars and their associates.
[[File:IF 7.png|thumb|250px|Ezio Auditore da Firenze assassinating Carlo Grimaldi]]
An '''assassination''' is the targeted killing of an individual by a sudden or secret attack, often for political reasons.<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. In the context of the Assassins, the term ''assassination'' has also been applied to techniques for killing a target stealthily in a hostile situation, regardless if they were the primary target of an operation.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref><ref name="ACB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref>


Below is a chronological list of notable victims, by faction and assassin responsible.
==Background==
The term ''assassination'' comes from the word ''assassin'', which in turn comes from the Arabic word "[[wikt:Hashshashin|حشّاشين]]" (''ħashshāshīyīn''), or "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]]'' – [[Layla Hassan's personal files]]: "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>


==Elimination by Assassins==
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, the [[Louisiana Brotherhood of Assassins|Louisianan 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 the [[American Rite of the Templar Order|Colonial Templar]] [[Shay Cormac]] would intercept Assassin contracts and prevent them from accomplishing their tasks.<ref name="Interception">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – Assassin Interceptions</ref> The [[Italian Brotherhood of Assassins|Italian Assassin]] [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze|Ezio Auditore]] prevented the Templars from killing high profile people such as astronomer [[Nicolaus Copernicus]]<ref name="Copernicus">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]] – [[Copernicus Conspiracy]] –'' [[False Censorship]]</ref> and then-prince [[Suleiman I]].<ref name = "Suleiman">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' – [[The Prince's Banquet]]</ref>
===Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad===
Around the time of the [[Third Crusade]], [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]] assassinated various individuals during his quest to find [[Adha|The Chalice]] in 1190. He later eliminated [[Hunt for the Nine|nine tyrannical public figures]] in an effort to restore [[Master Assassin|his lost rank]] and regain honor within the Assassin Order.


Following his ascension to [[Mentor]] of the Order, he carried out several assassinations to aid the [[Cypriot Resistance]] in 1192, and continued to eliminate notable targets throughout his life.
==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 of Persia|Xerxes I]] in [[Iran|Persia]].<ref name="Darius' Blade">''[[Assassin's Creed: Odyssey]] – [[Legacy of the First Blade: Hunted]]'' – [[Shadow of a Legend]]</ref> Centuries later, his Hidden Blade was passed on to [[Amunet|Aya]] by Queen [[Cleopatra]] of [[Egypt]], and she in turn gave it to her husband, the [[Medjay]] [[Bayek]] of [[Siwa]], to aid in their quest to [[Hunt for the Snake|eliminate]] the [[Order of the Ancients]] in Egypt.<ref name = "Bayek's Blade">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Aya (memory)|Aya]]</ref> The Hidden Blade would go on to become the signature weapon of the Hidden Ones, the organization co-founded by Bayek and Aya, and of their later incarnation, the Asassin Brotherhood, with virtually all of their field agents possessing one Hidden Blade.<ref name = "Page 13">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex]]: Page 13</ref>


<tabber>
The [[Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins|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", respectively.<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, to allow Assassins 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 techniques were taught to Assassin recruits,<ref name = "Shay Tutorial">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[Lessons and Revelations]]</ref> and became recognizable to the Templars.<ref name = "Edward Tutorial"/>
1189 – 1190=
*[[Haras]] – 1189<ref name="Revelations">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref>
*[[Tamir (1190)|Tamir of Damascus]] – 1190<ref name="Chronicles">''[[Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles]]''</ref>
*[[Alaat]] – 1190<ref name="Chronicles"/>
*[[Roland Napule]] – 1190<ref name="Chronicles"/>
*[[Master of the Tower's student|The Master's Student]] – 1190<ref name="Chronicles"/>
*[[Master of the Tower]] – 1190<ref name="Chronicles"/>
*[[Harash]] – 1190<ref name="Chronicles"/>
*[[Basilisk|Lord Basilisk]] – 1190<ref name="Chronicles"/>
|-|
1191=
*[[Tamir|Tamir the arms dealer]]<ref name="AC">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref>
*[[Garnier de Naplouse]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Talal]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Abu'l Nuqoud]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[William of Montferrat]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Majd Addin]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Sibrand]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Jubair al Hakim]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Robert de Sable]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Rashid ad-Din Sinan]]<ref name="AC"/>
*[[Fredrick|Frederick the Red]]<ref name="Bloodlines">''[[Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines]]</ref>
|-|
1192 – 1193=
*[[Moloch]] – 1192<ref name="Bloodlines"/>
*[[Dark Oracle]] – 1192<ref name="Bloodlines"/>
*[[Shalim]] – 1192<ref name="Bloodlines"/>
*[[Shahar]] – 1192<ref name="Bloodlines"/>
*[[Pirate Captain]] – 1192<ref name="Bloodlines"/>
*[[Armand Bouchart]] – 1193<ref name="Bloodlines"/>
|-|
1227 – 1247=
*[[Swami]] – 1227<ref name="Revelations"/><ref name="Secret Crusade">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade]]''</ref>
*[[Bayhas]] – 1247<ref name="Secret Crusade"/>
*[[Abbas Sofian]] – 1247<ref name="Revelations"/><ref name="Secret Crusade"/>
</tabber>


===Ezio Auditore da Firenze===
====Other variations====
During the [[Renaissance]], the Assassin [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]] assassinated various individuals in order to avenge the deaths of his family members, free the [[Spanish Assassins]], and liberate the [[Italy|Italian]] cities of [[Florence]], [[Venice]] and [[Rome]] from corruption.
During the [[Isu Era]], the [[Æsir]] [[Odin]] performed two unique assassination types in the dwarven realm of [[Svartálfaheimr]]: the "raven assassination" and the "teleport assassination", both of which were done with help of the [[Hugr-Rip]], a gauntlet Odin wore that allowed him to steal the powers of giant [[raven]]s and the ''[[jötnar]]''.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[Gift to the God]]</ref>


<tabber>
In the 5th century BCE, the ''[[Mercenary|misthios]]'' [[Kassandra]] used the [[Spear of Leonidas]] as a way to perform early assassinations, known as "stealth kills," in a similar fashion to the Hidden Blade. The spear, being an [[Piece of Eden|Isu artifact]], granted Kassandra a multitude of abilities, including "rush assassinations", in which Kassandra used her spear as a projectile and was teleported to her target.<ref name="ACO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Odyssey]]''</ref>
1476 – 1479=
*[[Uberto Alberti]] – 1476<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>
*[[Vieri de' Pazzi]] – 1478<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Francesco de' Pazzi]] – 1478<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Antonio Maffei]] – 1478<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Francesco Salviati]] – 1479<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Bernardo Baroncelli]] – 1479<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Stefano da Bagnone]] – 1479<ref name="AC2"/>
|-|
1480 – 1489=
*[[Jacopo de' Pazzi]] – 1480<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Emilio Barbarigo]] – 1485<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Carlo Grimaldi]] – 1485<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Marco Barbarigo]] – 1486<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Silvio Barbarigo]] – 1486<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Dante Moro]] – 1486<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Ludovico Orsi]] – 1488<ref name="AC2 - Forlì">''[[Assassin's Creed II]] - [[Battle of Forlì (DLC)|Battle of Forlì]]</ref>
*[[Checco Orsi]] – 1488<ref name="AC2 - Forlì"/>
|-|
1490 – 1499=
*[[Gaspar Martínez]] – 1491<ref name="Discovery">''[[Assassin's Creed II: Discovery]]''</ref>
*[[Pedro Llorente]] – 1491<ref name="Discovery"/>
*[[Juan de Marillo]] – 1491<ref name="Discovery"/>
*[[Painter|The Painter]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire">''Assassin's Creed II'' - ''[[Bonfire of the Vanities (DLC)]]''</ref>
*[[Guard Captain|The Guard Captain]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Nobleman|The Nobleman]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Priest (Savonarola's lieutenant)|The Priest]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Merchant (Savonarola's lieutenant)|The Merchant]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Doctor (Savonarola's lieutenant)|The Doctor]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Farmer|The Farmer]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Condottiero|The Condottiero]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Preacher|The Preacher]] – 1497<ref name="Bonfire"/>
*[[Girolamo Savonarola]] – 1498<ref name="Bonfire"/>
|-|
1500 – 1509=
*[[Il Carnefice]] – 1500<ref name="Brotherhood">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]</ref>
*[[Master of the Sacred Palace]] – 1500<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Malfatto]], via an [[Apprentices|apprentice]] – 1502<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Silvestro Sabbatini]], via an apprentice – 1502<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Luigi Torcelli]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Juan Borgia the Elder]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Lanz]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Auguste Oberlin]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Ristoro]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Gaspar de la Croix]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Lia de Russo]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Donato Mancini]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Octavian de Valois]] – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Ercole Massimo]] – 1506<ref name="Brotherhood - Da Vinci">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' - ''[[The Da Vinci Disappearance]]''</ref>
*[[Cesare Borgia]] – 1507<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
|-|
1511 – 1512=
*[[Leandros]] – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Halim]] – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Vali cel Tradat]], via an Apprentice – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Cyril of Rhodes]] – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Mirela Djuric]] – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Georgios Kostas]], via an Apprentice – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Odai Dunqas]], via an Apprentice – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Damat Ali Pasha]], via an Apprentice – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Lysistrata]] – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Tarik Barleti]] – 1511<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Shahkulu]] – 1512<ref name="Revelations"/>
*[[Manuel Palaiologos]] – 1512<ref name="Revelations"/>
</tabber>


===Edward Kenway===
In the early 1510s, Ezio Auditore used a Hidden Blade variant known as the [[Hookblade]] in [[Constantinople]] and made use of [[zipline]]s to perform "zipline assassinations" on targets, where he would slide down the line using the blade's hook and launch himself at his target just before reaching the line's opposite end.<ref name = "ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref>
[[Edward Kenway]], father of [[Haytham Kenway]] and grandfather of [[Ratonhnhaké:ton]], assassinated several individuals during the [[Golden Age of Piracy]] in his quest for riches and glory, and later in the service of the Assassin Order.


<tabber>
During the [[French Revolution]], the [[Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins|Parisian Brotherhood]] made use of the [[Phantom Blade]] to assassinate targets from afar via deadly bolts. The weapon could also be upgraded to shoot berserk bolts that caused targets to attack their allies and potentially eliminate each other.<ref name = "Dorian Phantom"/>
1715 – 1719=
*[[Duncan Walpole]] – 1715<ref name="ACBF">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''</ref>
*[[Julien du Casse]] – 1715<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Lucia Márquez]] – 1716<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Kenneth Abraham]] – 1716<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Laurens Prins]] – 1717<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Hilary Flint]] – 1717<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Vance Travers]] – 1717<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Jing Lang]] – 1717<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Peter Chamberlaine]] – 1718<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Josiah Burgess]] – 1719<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[John Cockram]] – 1719<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Benjamin Hornigold]] – 1719<ref name="ACBF"/>
|-|
1722 – 1723=
*[[Bartholomew Roberts]] – 1722<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[El Tiburón]] – 1722<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Laureano de Torres y Ayala]] – 1722<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Emmett Scott]] – 1723<ref name="ACBFN">[[Assassin's Creed: Black Flag (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Black Flag'' novel]]</ref>
*[[Wilson]] – 1723<ref name="ACBFN"/>
</tabber>


===Aveline de Grandpré===
===Poison===
[[Aveline de Grandpré]] assassinated various targets between the [[French and Indian War]] and [[American Revolutionary War]] in an effort to free [[New Orleans]] from Templar influence and liberate victims of the slave trade.
A slower method of assassination, but still widely used, was [[poison]]ing, 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> The [[Babylonian Brotherhood|Babylonian Assassin]] [[Iltani]] used poison against [[Alexander the Great]] in her quest to retrieve his [[Scepter of Alexander the Great|personal]] [[Staves of Eden|Staff of Eden]],<ref name = "Iltani's Poison">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India]]'' – [[Database: Iltani's Story 5]]</ref> and the [[Egyptian Brotherhood of Assassins|Egyptian 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'' (comic)]] – [[Assassin's Creed: Origins 4|Issue #04]]</ref>
[[File:AC2 Codex Poison Blade Schematic.png|thumb|left|250px|Altaïr's codex on poisons]]
At some point before 1191, the use of poison was forbidden among the Levantine Brotherhood, and it was not until 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 the 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>


<tabber>
Poison also allowed 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 administered 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 to the poison's effects.<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> The [[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 #3]]</ref>
1765 – 1769=
*[[Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie]] – 1765<ref name="AC3L">''[[Assassin's Creed III: Liberation]]''</ref>
*[[Baptiste]] – 1766<ref name="AC3L"/>
*[[Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer]] – 1769<ref name="AC3L"/>
|-|
1770 – 1784=
*[[Diego Vázquez]] – 1776<ref name="AC3L"/>
*[[George Davidson]] – 1777<ref name="AC3L"/>
*[[Madeleine de L'Isle]] – 1777<ref name="AC3L"/>
*[[Edmund Judge]] – 1784<ref name="ACBF"/>
</tabber>


===Ratonhnhaké:ton===
The Assassins and Templars made ample use of poisoned [[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]],<ref name = "Aveline Parasol">''[[Assassin's Creed III: Liberation]]'' – [[Prélude to Rebellion]]</ref> the Colonial Templar Shay Cormac used an [[air rifle]],<ref name = "Shay Rifle">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[By Invitation Only]]</ref> the French Assassin [[Arno Dorian]] used the Phantom Blade,<ref name = "Dorian Phantom">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]'' – [[The Kingdom of Beggars]]</ref> and [[Jacob Frye|Jacob]] and [[Evie Frye]] used their [[Assassin Gauntlet]]s.<ref name = "Frye Gauntlet">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – [[Cable News]]</ref>
Before, during, and after the events of the American Revolutionary War, the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton eliminated various Templars in order to protect his tribe and further the pursuit of freedom for the citizens of the thirteen colonies of the [[United States]].


Following a meeting with [[George Washington]], Ratonhnhaké:ton found himself in an alternate reality created by an [[Apple of Eden 3|Apple of Eden]]. He assassinated several individuals while experiencing the alternate timeline.
==High-profile assassinations==
In the 14th century, the Italian Assassin [[Domenico Auditore]] built a [[sanctuary]] beneath his [[Villa Auditore|villa]] in [[Monteriggioni]] and included seven statues to honor the memory of the Assassins "who guarded the freedom of humanity when it was most threatened". The seven individuals chosen to receive statues were [[Qulan Gal]], Darius, [[Wei Yu]], Amunet, Iltani, and [[Leonius]]—all of whom were thought to have performed high profile assassinations—and Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Accompanying the statues were [[Assassin Seals|seals]] engraved with their famed weapons.<ref name="Sanctuary">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[Floating conversations]]: "Unlocking Monteriggioni's Secrets"</ref> Although neither Qulan Gal nor Amunet were directly responsible for the assassinations attributed to them, they still played important roles in their targets' deaths.<ref name= "Qulan">''[[Assassin's Creed: Reflections]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Reflections 2|Issue #02]]</ref><ref name= "Amunet"/>


<tabber>
According to the descriptions that accompanied the statues:
1774 – 1179=
*Qulan Gal [[Assassination of Genghis Khan|assassinated]] [[Genghis Khan]] with a [[bow]] and [[arrow]].<ref name="Sanctuary" />
*[[William Johnson]] – 1774<ref name="AC3">''[[Assassin's Creed III]]''</ref>
*Darius assassinated Xerxes I with a Hidden Blade.<ref name="Sanctuary" />
*[[John Pitcairn]] – 1775<ref name="AC3"/>
*Wei Yu assassinated [[Qin Shi Huang]] with a [[spear]].<ref name="Sanctuary" />
*[[Thomas Hickey]] – 1776<ref name="AC3"/>
*Amunet assassinated Cleopatra with an [[Snake|asp]].<ref name="Sanctuary" />
*[[Benjamin Church]] – 1778<ref name="AC3"/>
*Iltani assassinated Alexander the Great with poison.<ref name="Sanctuary" />
*[[Nicholas Biddle]] – 1778<ref name="AC3"/>
*Leonius assassinated [[Caligula]] with a [[Short blade|dagger]].<ref name="Sanctuary" />
|-|
1780 – 1782=
*Haytham Kenway – 1781<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Charles Lee]] – 1782<ref name="AC3"/>
|-|
Alternate reality=
*[[Benedict Arnold]]<ref name="Infamy">''Assassin's Creed III'' - ''[[The Tyranny of King Washington: The Infamy]]''</ref>
*[[Israel Putnam]]<ref>''Assassin's Creed III'' - ''[[The Tyranny of King Washington: The Betrayal]]''</ref>
*[[John Fitzwilliams]]<ref name="Redemption">''Assassin's Creed III'' - ''[[The Tyranny of King Washington: The Redemption]]''</ref>
*George Washington<ref name="Redemption"/>
</tabber>


===Desmond Miles===
Other notable assassinations were the [[Assassination of Julius Caesar|assassination]] of [[Gaius Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]] engineered by the [[Roman Hidden Ones]],<ref name="Caesar">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another]]</ref> the assassination of [[An Lushan]] by [[Li E]],<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Finale: Assassination]]</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 [[United States]] President [[John F. Kennedy]] by [[Boris Pash]] and the members of his extremist [[Assassin cell]] [[Bloodstone Unit]].<ref name="Bloodstone 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone Book 1|Book 1]]</ref>
Following his kidnapping by [[Abstergo Industries]] and training with the Assassins, Desmond was forced by [[Juno]] to assassinate [[Lucy Stillman]] in the [[Colosseum Vault]]. He later infiltrated the Abstergo Industries headquarters in Rome and assassinated two prominent members of their Order.
 
<tabber>
2012=
*Lucy Stillman<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Daniel Cross]]<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Warren Vidic]]<ref name="AC3"/>
</tabber>
 
===Other Assassins===
Below is a chronological list of other notable assassinations, by century and, if known, Assassin responsible:
 
<tabber>
BCE=
*[[Xerxes I of Persia|King Xerxes I]], by [[Darius]] in 456 BCE<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Alexander the Great]], by [[Iltani]] in 323 BCE<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Qin Shi Huang]], by [[Wei Yu]] in 210 BCE<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Gaius Julius Caesar]], by [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]] and others in 44 BCE<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Cleopatra]], by [[Amunet]] in 31 BCE<ref name="AC2"/>
|-|
1st=
*[[Caligula]], by [[Leonius]] in 41<ref name="AC2"/>
|-|
3rd=
*[[Faustinus]], by [[Aquilus]] in 259<ref name="AC2A">''[[Assassin's Creed 2: Aquilus]]''</ref>
*[[Caïus Fulvus Vultur]], by Aquilus in 259<ref name="AC3A">''[[Assassin's Creed 3: Accipiter]]''</ref>
|-|
13th=
*[[Genghis Khan]], by [[Qulan Gal]] and [[Darim Ibn-La'Ahad]] in 1227<ref name="AC2"/><ref name="Secret Crusade"/>
|-|
14th=
*[[Bachir Al-Djallil]], by [[Numa Al'Khamsin]] in 1340<ref name="Hawk">''[[Assassin's Creed 4: Hawk]]''</ref>
|-|
15th=
*[[Yongle]], by [[Li Tong]] in 1424<ref name="DYL">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Discover Your Legacy|Assassin's Creed: Discover Your Legacy]]''</ref>
*[[Cem]], in 1495<ref name="Revelations novel">[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' novel]]</ref>
*[[Perotto Calderon]], in 1498<ref name="Project Legacy">''[[Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy]]</ref>
*[[Tomás de Torquemada]], in 1498<ref name="AC2"/>
|-|
16th=
*[[Agostino Barbarigo]], by [[Tessa Varzi]] in 1501<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Cahin]], in 1503<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Caha]], in 1503<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Rocco Tiepolo]], in 1503<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Baltasar de Silva]], in 1503<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Margaret of York]], in 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Isabella I of Castile]], in 1504<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Niccolò di Pitigliano]], by [[Francesco Vecellio]] in 1510<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Juan Ponce de León]], in 1521<ref name="DYL"/>
*[[The Viper]], by [[Giovanni Borgia]], in 1527<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Francisco Pizarro]], in 1541<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Mary I of England]], in 1558<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Ivan Ivanovich of Russia]], in 1581<ref name="AC2"/>
|-|
18th=
*[[Pierre, Marquis de Fayet]], by [[Adéwalé]] in 1737<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]'' - ''[[Freedom Cry]]''</ref>
*[[Richard Montgomery]], in 1775<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Johann Rall]], in 1776<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Friedrich Baum]], in 1777<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Carl Emilius von Donop]], in 1777<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[George Dorrance]], in 1778<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[John Boyd]], in 1779<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Hugh Jackson]], in 1779<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Johann de Kalb]], in 1780<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Hector McNeill]], in 1781<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Jonathan Trumbull]], in 1785<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Jeannot Bullet]], in 1791<ref name="Initiates">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]''</ref>
|-|
19th=
*[[Charles Leclerc]], by [[Eseosa]] in 1802<ref name="Letters">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' - [[Eseosa's Codex|Letters to the Dead]]</ref>
*[[John Wilkes Booth]], in 1865<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Alexander II of Russia]], in 1881<ref name="The Fall #1">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Fall]] #1</ref><ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Alexander III of Russia]], by [[Nikolai Orelov]] in 1894 (of wounds sustained)<ref name="The Fall #1"/>
|-|
20th=
*[[Dolinsky]], in 1908<ref name="ACTF2">''[[Assassin's Creed: The Fall]] #2</ref>
*[[Erich Albert]], in 1914<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Grigori Rasputin]], in 1916<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Khioniya Guseva]], by Nikolai Orelov in 1917<ref name="Project Legacy"/>
*[[Adolf Hitler]], in 1945<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Joseph Stalin]], in 1953<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[François Duvalier]], in 1971<ref name="AC2"/>
</tabber>
 
==Elimination by Templars==
Several assassinations similar to those carried out by Assassins were instigated by Templars at various points in history. The following is a chronological list of Templar assassinations by century and, if known, the Templar responsible.
 
<tabber>
15th=
*[[Galeazzo Maria Sforza]], by [[Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani]], [[Gerolamo Olgiati]], [[Carlo Visconti]] – 1476<ref name="Lineage">''[[Assassin's Creed: Lineage]]</ref>
*[[Giuliano de' Medici]], by Francesco de' Pazzi and Bernardo Baroncelli – 1478<ref name="AC2"/>
*[[Giovanni Mocenigo]], by Carlo Grimaldi – 1485<ref name="AC2"/>
|-|
16th=
*[[Francesco Troche]], by Micheletto Corella – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
*[[Rodrigo Borgia]], by Cesare Borgia – 1503<ref name="Brotherhood"/>
|-|
18th=
*Edward Kenway, by mercenaries in the employ of [[Reginald Birch]] – 1735<ref name="Forsaken">''[[Assassin's Creed: Forsaken]]</ref>
*[[Juan Vedomir]], by Haytham Kenway – 1747<ref name="ACF">''[[Assassin's Creed: Forsaken]]''</ref>
*[[Miko]], by Haytham Kenway – 1754<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Louis Mills]], by Haytham Kenway – 1754<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Cutter]], by Haytham Kenway – 1754<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Silas Thatcher]], by Benjamin Church – 1754<ref name="AC3"/>
*[[Edward Braddock]], by Haytham Kenway – 1755<ref name="AC3"/>
|-|
20th=
*[[Harry Houdini]] – 1926<ref name="Glyphs">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' - [[Glyphs]]''</ref>
*[[Mahatma Gandhi]] – 1948<ref name="Glyphs"/>
*[[John F. Kennedy]], by [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] – 1963<ref name="Glyphs"/>
</tabber>
 
==Survivors==
In carrying out their missions, some Assassins notably spared potential victims, or otherwise did not complete an assassination as directed. The following is a chronological list of targets known to have survived encounters with Assassin attackers:
 
*[[Maria Thorpe]] – spared by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, 1191<ref name="AC"/>
*Tomás de Torquemada – escaped from Ezio Auditore da Firenze, 1492<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed II: Discovery]]''</ref>
*[[Micheletto Corella]] – spared by Ezio Auditore da Firenze, 1503<ref name="Brotherhood">''Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood''</ref>
*[[Charles Vane]] – spared by Edward Kenway, 1719<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Woodes Rogers]] – survived attack by Edward Kenway, 1721<ref name="ACBF"/>
*[[Antonio de Ulloa]] – spared by Aveline de Grandpré, 1768<ref name="AC3L"/>
*[[Benjamin Franklin]] – spared by Ratonhnhaké:ton, in alternate reality<ref name="Infamy"/>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|2}}
[[Category:Assassinations]]
[[Category:Assassin Brotherhood]]
[[Category:Assassin Order]]
[[Category:Templar Order]]
[[Category:Templar Order]]
[[Category:Criminal practices]]
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Latest revision as of 03:07, 25 May 2026

Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service?
This article has a lot of room for expansion. Please improve it with additional information in accordance with the Manual of Style
"Find them, kill them. In doing so, you will sow the seeds of peace."
―Al Mualim conversing about assassination targets with Altaïr, 1191.[src]-[m]
Ezio Auditore da Firenze assassinating Carlo Grimaldi

An assassination is the targeted killing of an individual by a sudden or secret attack, often for political reasons.[1] Over the centuries, political organizations like the Templar Order and most prominently the Assassin Brotherhood have carried out innumerable assassinations of their enemies to advance their causes. In the context of the Assassins, the term assassination has also been applied to techniques for killing a target stealthily in a hostile situation, regardless if they were the primary target of an operation.[2][3]

Background[edit | edit source]

The term assassination comes from the word assassin, which in turn comes from the Arabic word "حشّاشين" (ħashshāshīyīn), or "Hash-Smokers". Historian Shaun Hastings argued that the Hidden Ones adopted the later name of Assassins as a mark of pride.[4] Both incarnations used contracts to outline targets, explain the reasoning for their targeting and even to specify manner of death at times.[5][6][7]

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, the Louisianan Assassin Aveline de Grandpré spared the life of Antonio de Ulloa,[8] and the Colonial Templar Shay Cormac would intercept Assassin contracts and prevent them from accomplishing their tasks.[9] The Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore prevented the Templars from killing high profile people such as astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus[10] and then-prince Suleiman I.[11]

Assassination techniques[edit | edit source]

Hidden Blade[edit | edit source]

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.[12] Centuries later, his Hidden Blade was passed on to Aya by Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, and she in turn gave it to her husband, the Medjay Bayek of Siwa, to aid in their quest to eliminate the Order of the Ancients in Egypt.[13] The Hidden Blade would go on to become the signature weapon of the Hidden Ones, the organization co-founded by Bayek and Aya, and of their later incarnation, the Asassin Brotherhood, with virtually all of their field agents possessing one Hidden Blade.[14]

The 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 codex: "from on high, from ledges, and from hiding places". These would later be dubbed "air assassinations",[15] "ledge assassinations", and "hidden assassinations", respectively.[16] Altaïr himself described these methods as basic, though critical.[14] In the same codex page, he introduced another improvement: the addition of a second, identical Hidden Blade, to allow Assassins to dispatch two targets at once.[14] This method was called a "double assassination".[2] All of these techniques were taught to Assassin recruits,[17] and became recognizable to the Templars.[16]

Other variations[edit | edit source]

During the Isu Era, the Æsir Odin performed two unique assassination types in the dwarven realm of Svartálfaheimr: the "raven assassination" and the "teleport assassination", both of which were done with help of the Hugr-Rip, a gauntlet Odin wore that allowed him to steal the powers of giant ravens and the jötnar.[18]

In the 5th century BCE, the misthios Kassandra used the Spear of Leonidas as a way to perform early assassinations, known as "stealth kills," in a similar fashion to the Hidden Blade. The spear, being an Isu artifact, granted Kassandra a multitude of abilities, including "rush assassinations", in which Kassandra used her spear as a projectile and was teleported to her target.[19]

In the early 1510s, Ezio Auditore used a Hidden Blade variant known as the Hookblade in Constantinople and made use of ziplines to perform "zipline assassinations" on targets, where he would slide down the line using the blade's hook and launch himself at his target just before reaching the line's opposite end.[20]

During the French Revolution, the Parisian Brotherhood made use of the Phantom Blade to assassinate targets from afar via deadly bolts. The weapon could also be upgraded to shoot berserk bolts that caused targets to attack their allies and potentially eliminate each other.[21]

Poison[edit | edit source]

A slower method of assassination, but still widely used, was poisoning, which allowed elimination of targets without the use of force.[22] The Babylonian Assassin Iltani used poison against Alexander the Great in her quest to retrieve his personal Staff of Eden,[23] and the Egyptian Hidden One Amunet gave Cleopatra a vial of poison she used for her suicide.[24]

Altaïr's codex on poisons

At some point before 1191, the use of poison was forbidden among the Levantine Brotherhood, and it was not until Altaïr became a Mentor that the prohibition was lifted.[25] In his codex, Altaïr reserved a section for instruction on how to construct an alteration to the Hidden Blade that allowed the poisoning of targets, as well as instructions on how to distill the poison.[26]

Poison also allowed 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 administered through her food, makeup, and pillow.[27] Queen Isabella I of Castile was slowly poisoned through her food until she succumbed to the poison's effects.[28][29] The 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.[30]

The Assassins and Templars made ample use of poisoned darts in their arsenal, regardless of the method of delivery: Aveline de Grandpré used both a blowpipe[31] and a parasol gun,[32] the Colonial Templar Shay Cormac used an air rifle,[33] the French Assassin Arno Dorian used the Phantom Blade,[21] and Jacob and Evie Frye used their Assassin Gauntlets.[34]

High-profile assassinations[edit | edit source]

In the 14th century, the Italian Assassin Domenico Auditore built a sanctuary beneath his villa in Monteriggioni and included seven statues to honor the memory of the Assassins "who guarded the freedom of humanity when it was most threatened". The seven individuals chosen to receive statues were Qulan Gal, Darius, Wei Yu, Amunet, Iltani, and Leonius—all of whom were thought to have performed high profile assassinations—and Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Accompanying the statues were seals engraved with their famed weapons.[35] Although neither Qulan Gal nor Amunet were directly responsible for the assassinations attributed to them, they still played important roles in their targets' deaths.[36][24]

According to the descriptions that accompanied the statues:

Other notable assassinations were the assassination of Julius Caesar engineered by the Roman Hidden Ones,[37] the assassination of An Lushan by Li E,[38] the assassination of Cesare Borgia by Ezio Auditore,[39] and the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy by Boris Pash and the members of his extremist Assassin cell Bloodstone Unit.[40]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Merriam-Webster dictionary. Assassination.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Assassin's Creed II
  3. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
  4. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Layla Hassan's personal files: "The Hidden Ones"
  5. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – A Brief History of the Hidden Ones
  6. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Layla Hassan's personal files – Files: "Session Report: SHastings"
  7. ↑ Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Overrun and Outnumbered
  8. ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – A Governor No More
  9. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Assassin Interceptions
  10. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Copernicus Conspiracy – False Censorship
  11. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – The Prince's Banquet
  12. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey – Legacy of the First Blade: Hunted – Shadow of a Legend
  13. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – Aya
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Assassin's Creed II – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 13
  15. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Unity companion app – Les Invalides: You'll Pay For This
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – Mister Walpole, I Presume?
  17. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Lessons and Revelations
  18. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Gift to the God
  19. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
  20. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Assassin's Creed: Unity – The Kingdom of Beggars
  22. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 2
  23. ↑ Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 5
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Assassin's Creed: Origins (comic) – Issue #04
  25. ↑ Assassin's Creed II – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 6
  26. ↑ Assassin's Creed II – Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex: Page 21
  27. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy – Contracts: London, England
  28. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy – Contracts: Barcelona, Spain
  29. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Ending Isabella
  30. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Templars – Issue #3
  31. ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – The False Mackandal
  32. ↑ Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Prélude to Rebellion
  33. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Rogue – By Invitation Only
  34. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Cable News
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 35.6 Assassin's Creed II – Floating conversations: "Unlocking Monteriggioni's Secrets"
  36. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Reflections – Issue #02
  37. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another
  38. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Finale: Assassination
  39. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – Pax Romana
  40. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone – Book 1
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