Eagle Vision

"Why do we have these gifts? Because it's in our blood."

―Subject 16 about the eagle vision

Eagle Vision is a supernatural ability that certain lineages of Assassins possess, such as the bloodlines of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and Marcus Junius Brutus. The user is able to instinctively sense how people and objects relate to him or her, which manifests as a colored glowing (much like an aura would in a person's mind's eye). This ability is known to be accessible only to the descendants of the humans who interbred with Those Who Came Before.

Assassin's Creed

File:Eagle vision.jpg

Desmond identifying Lucy as an ally, and Vidic as an enemy through Eagle Vision.

By using the Animus to follow the memories of his ancestor, Altaïr, Desmond Miles also gained the ability to use eagle vision, likely as a result of the Bleeding Effect. Through it, he was able to see Lucy Stillman (a fellow Assassin) glowing blue and Warren Vidic (a Templar) glowing red.

He was also able to use this ability to see the cryptic messages Subject 16 had written in the Abstergo laboratory with his own blood.

Legend

Color	Representation
Red	Enemies/Blood
Blue	Allies
White	Sources of Information/Hiding Spots/Points of Interest
Gold	Targets/People of Interest

Assassin's Creed II

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Ezio finding one of the glyphs.

During his escape from Abstergo, Desmond discovered a new application of his newly-acquired power. Much like thermal vision, he used it to discover the code of a keypad, by seeing the heat signature or fingerprints left upon the correct numbers.

Ezio Auditore, much like Altaïr, was also able to use eagle vision. It is thought that La Volpe also possessed an advanced form of the skill as well, as it is claimed he could "look through walls."

In a video clip hidden within one of his Glyphs (which may only be scanned with eagle vision), Subject 16 states "Behold the Assassins, the children of two worlds! Why do we have these gifts? Because it's in our blood." This implies that, because Altaïr, Ezio, Desmond and Subject 16 all have Eagle Vision, their bloodline is connected to Those Who Came Before. This theory is supported by the fact that both Subject 16's and Ezio's blood glow when seen with eagle vision.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

The Harlequin using Templar Vision to find his target in the crowd.

Subject 16 also hid several Rifts throughout Ezio's memories in Rome, which (unlike the Glyphs) may be seen exclusively through eagle vision.

Abstergo trainees using Animi to hone their skills are also granted an ability called Templar Vision. The ability grants the user approximately 3.5 seconds of eagle vision. Targets are marked with blue, neutral personas and hiding spots are white, and pursuers are red.

Trivia

Assassin's Creed

• An Assassin guard in the Kingdom can be seen as glowing red, but reacts as all other guards do. This guard was originally supposed to have been Jamal, an Assassin who aided Masun in betraying the Brotherhood; however, the sequence where Altaïr assassinates him was cut from the final game, leaving him as a minor Easter egg.
• In the original Assassin's Creed, movement was prohibited while using eagle vision, and the player was required to be at maximum synchronization. This was changed, however, in succeeding games.
• Assassin's Creed states that the eagle vision ability is actually just the Animus' visualization of the Assassin's observational skills. However, as Juno later refers to Assassins seeing "the blue shimmer," the backstory for Eagle Vision was likely changed to be a real-world ability.

Assassin's Creed II

• Giovanni Auditore tells Ezio to "use his talent" to find a hidden door in his office, showing that Giovanni was aware of his son's ability.
• When using eagle vision, Ezio himself is marked with blue, indicating him as an ally to any others with the ability.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

• When traveling through Rome, eagle vision can be used to mark any flag, or feather on the map.
• Whilst using eagle vision and roaming Monteriggioni as Desmond Miles, a red trail is visible leading from the fountain with the Assassin insignia, until the door to Mario Auditore's study. The trail is colored similarly to the blood glyphs of Subject 16, and seems to be made up of many footprints that form a double helix (or DNA strand).
• When outside of the Animus, there is sometimes a pause that causes allies to glow gold for a few seconds.
• Unlike in Assassins Creed II, enemies and allies do not glow their standard colors after they die, and will just appear grey like civilians.
• When eagle vision is activated in some memories, water is shown to be glowing white like hiding spots.

Others

• A mini-game in the Assassin's Creed room of PlayStation Home features an eagle vision puzzle that, when completed, opens up the Hideout.
• In Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy, Giovanni Borgia also displays this ability, and uses it to locate Francesco Vecellio. Francesco referred to it as using his "other eyes."

Gallery

• Altaïr's target, Al Mualim, is shown in gold, and his duplicates are shown in red.
  Altaïr's target, Al Mualim, is shown in gold, and his duplicates are shown in red.
• Comparison of eagle vision to a normal view.
  Comparison of eagle vision to a normal view.
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  Eagle vision used on the Codex Wall.
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  Giovanni Borgia using eagle vision.