Mario Auditore

"It's-a-me, Mario!"

―Mario meeting Ezio

Mario Auditore da Firenze is the uncle of Ezio. He was trained with his brother to become an Assassin, but unlike his brother who likes infiltration and stealth, he prefers combat and group maneuvers. He has become a condottiere leading a sizable group of mercenaries to fight against the Templars (and their interests) hidden among the local nobility. He proves to be a formidable ally of his nephew, Ezio (who he refers to as 'nipote', which means nephew in Italian) throughout the course of the game, and trains him to improve his fighting skills. He is shown to be extremely proud of his Assassin heritage and storms off when Ezio announces his decision to take Maria and Claudia to Spain.

Gallery

• Mario (center) with Ezio and two mercenaries.
  Mario (center) with Ezio and two mercenaries.
• 
  Mario's concept art

Trivia

• After rescuing Ezio from Vieri de Pazzi, Mario identifies himself by saying "It's-a me, Mario!" This is possibly a reference to Nintendo's videogame mascot, Mario, and his first and most famous spoken line. It reinforces this reference because of both Mario's italian heritage.
• He has a scar on the left side of his face and has possibly lost the ability to use his left eye.
• If you look closely, on Mario's left shoulder pad, the logo of the Assassins is embroidered/stitched onto the leather. The Auditore coat of arms is also stitched onto the cape on his back.
• He is often referred as ubriacone ("drunkard" in italian) by his enemies, the Pazzi.