Almogavar

An Almogavar

The Almogavars were a class of soldiers employed by the Templars during their attempt to revive the Byzantine Empire in the Ottoman Empire in 1511 and 1512.

In Constantinople, the Almogavars mainly appeared in Byzantine-controlled districts. Roughly comparable to Italian Brutes and Colonial Grenadiers, they fought with heavy weapons, were rather slow compared to other enemies, wore thick armor, and could not freerun. Like the Varangians, the Almogavars were employed by the Byzantines. Due to their thick armor, they could not be killed with a single bullet or crossbow bolt.

Trivia

• Historically, the Almogavars were soldiers of Aragonese and Catalan origin. They were known to have worked as mercenaries for the Byzantine Empire. Furthermore, the real Almogavars were light troops rather than the heavy axemen depicted in game - this role was filled by the historical Varangians. For the purposes of the game, however, the two guard types were effectively reversed. 
• The Almogavars, like the Janissaries – except in some missions – were always found carrying the same weapon: the Almogavar Axe.
• The Almogavar Axe could also be used as a weapon, after completing "The Champion, Part 1" memory, or taking the axe from a dead Almogavar.
• Unlike Brutes in Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Almogavars could be killed with a counter if their attack was not the overhead smash while using a medium weapon or short blade.
• Almogavars appeared to have a unique weakness to Datura Bombs, as evidenced by both the memory "Piri Reis: Datura" and usual gameplay; the poison killed them about twice as fast.
• The etymology of Almogavar is likely to lie in Arabic, with both al-maghāwīr‎ (“scout”) and al-muqafir (“raider” or “devastator”) as suggested sources.

Reference

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations