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{{Era|Organizations|Abstergo|Templars}}
{Era|Organizations|Abstergo|Templars}}
{{Update|the [[Assassin's Creed (series)|''Assassin's Creed'' series]]}}
{{Update|the [[Assassin's Creed (series)|''Assassin's Creed'' series]]}}
{{Quote|You know them as Abstergo Industries. We know them as the Templars—as the enemy. We've been fighting them for thousands of years. Even longer if you believe the stories of their origins. I do. After all, I've seen the truth.|William Miles on Abstergo's origins, 2012.|Assassin's Creed III|21st century conversations}}
{{Quote|You know them as Abstergo Industries. We know them as the Templars—as the enemy. We've been fighting them for thousands of years. Even longer if you believe the stories of their origins. I do. After all, I've seen the truth.|William Miles on Abstergo's origins, 2012.|Assassin's Creed III|21st century conversations}}
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{{Quote|In 1937, we founded this company, this enterprise, with a purpose. The time to nurture it to fruition is upon us.|An Abstergo employee, in a message to Templars around the world, 1944.|Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Rifts}}
{{Quote|In 1937, we founded this company, this enterprise, with a purpose. The time to nurture it to fruition is upon us.|An Abstergo employee, in a message to Templars around the world, 1944.|Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Rifts}}
[[File:Ford Edison Firestone1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A group of Templars during Abstergo's formative years, including Henry Ford, [[Thomas Edison]] and [[Harvey Firestone]]]]
[[File:Ford Edison Firestone1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A group of Templars during Abstergo's formative years, including Henry Ford, [[Thomas Edison]] and [[Harvey Firestone]]]]
On the evening of 22 November 1910, several high-ranking Templars, including [[Henry Ford]], [[Ransom Eli Olds]], [[Paul Warburg]], [[Frank A. Vanderlip]], [[Charles Norton]], [[Henry Pomeroy Davison]], and [[Nelson W. Aldrich]], gathered on [[Jekyll Island Club|Jekyll Island]] off the coast of [[Georgia]], [[United States]]. They met to discuss the "[[Plan]]," a long-term strategy to consolidate power through capitalism and advance their vision of a [[New World Order]]. The Plan included creating the [[Federal Reserve System]] as the central American banking system (which they accomplished in 1913), establishing Abstergo Industries as a new front for the Templar Order, and initiating a World War in the late 1930s. This war would allow the Templars to reshape governments in its aftermath by leveraging their political influence.<ref name="ACB Rifts">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' – [[Rifts]]</ref>
On the evening of 22 November 1910, several high-ranking Templars, including [[Henry Ford]], [[Ransom Eli Olds]], [[Paul Warburg]], [[Frank A. Vanderlip]], [[Charles Norton]], [[Henry Pomeroy Davison]], and [[Nelson W. Aldrich]], gathered on [[Jekyll Island Club|Jekyll Island]] off the coast of [[Georgia]], [[United States]]. They met to discuss the "[[Plan]]," a long-term strategy to consolidate power through capitalism and advance their vision of a [[New World Order]].<ref name="ACB Rifts">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' – [[Rifts]]</ref>
 
The Plan included creating the [[Federal Reserve System]] as the central American banking system (which they accomplished in 1913), establishing Abstergo Industries as a new front for the Templar Order, and initiating a World War in the late 1930s. This war would allow the Templars to reshape governments in its aftermath by leveraging their political influence.<ref name="ACB Rifts"/>


Officialy founded in 1937, Abstergo Industries was actually one small part of the Templar scheme to control the world through capitalism and scientific progress. The company's establishment enabled the Templars to accumulate wealth and accelerate scientific progress, while keeping their true activities covert. Abstergo's largely anonymous leadership claimed that their duty was to "shepherd those beneath us through life, even if force is required".<ref name="ACB Rifts" />  
Officialy founded in 1937, Abstergo Industries was actually one small part of the Templar scheme to control the world through capitalism and scientific progress. The company's establishment enabled the Templars to accumulate wealth and accelerate scientific progress, while keeping their true activities covert. Abstergo's largely anonymous leadership claimed that their duty was to "shepherd those beneath us through life, even if force is required".<ref name="ACB Rifts" />  
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In parallel, Abstergo also financed the construction of seven underground structures throughout German-occupied [[Poland]], connected to each other via tunnels. Codenamed [[Project Riese]], its goal was to allow the Templars to create superweapons in secret, using knowledge gained from the Apple of Eden. However, the weapons did not function, and the underground structures were eventually abandoned.<ref name="ACCo" />
In parallel, Abstergo also financed the construction of seven underground structures throughout German-occupied [[Poland]], connected to each other via tunnels. Codenamed [[Project Riese]], its goal was to allow the Templars to create superweapons in secret, using knowledge gained from the Apple of Eden. However, the weapons did not function, and the underground structures were eventually abandoned.<ref name="ACCo" />


[[File:ACB - Mount Washington Hotel in 2008.jpg|thumb|230px|left|Mount Washington Hotel, the conference's location]]
From the 1st to the 22nd of July 1944, the [[Bretton Woods Conference]] took place in the town of Bretton Woods, [[New Hampshire]], to determine the international monetary system to be set up after World War II. 730 delegates from 44 countries were in attendance. Secretly, the conference also served as a cover for a meeting between the economic agents of the Templar Order, including [[John Maynard Keynes]] and [[Harry Dexter White]].<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
From the 1st to the 22nd of July 1944, the [[Bretton Woods Conference]] took place in the town of Bretton Woods, [[New Hampshire]], to determine the international monetary system to be set up after World War II. 730 delegates from 44 countries were in attendance. Secretly, the conference also served as a cover for a meeting between the economic agents of the Templar Order, including [[John Maynard Keynes]] and [[Harry Dexter White]].<ref name="ACB Rifts" />


[[File:ACB - Mount Washington Hotel in 2008.jpg|thumb|230px|left|Mount Washington Hotel, the conference's location]]
On the final day of the conference, a speech was delivered to Abstergo Industries employees, economists, and world leaders, outlining the formation of the "Plan" by Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds in 1910. The speech also addressed the threat posed by the communist system and the efforts of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin to create the "turmoil and fear necessary" for the implementation of the new economic system, capitalism.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
On the final day of the conference, a speech was delivered to Abstergo Industries employees, economists, and world leaders, outlining the formation of the "Plan" by Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds in 1910. The speech also addressed the threat posed by the communist system and the efforts of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin to create the "turmoil and fear necessary" for the implementation of the new economic system, capitalism.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
{{-}}


===Post-war domination===
===Post-war domination===
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Abstergo was also responsible for British mathematician [[Alan Turing]]'s criminal prosecution and possibly his death. In a phone recording dating to June 1954, two Templars known only by the initials "V" and "N" mentioned the need for Turing to be killed. They feared "mass unemployment" if the mathematician successfully developed robots, and that such an invention would threaten the progress of the Plan.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
Abstergo was also responsible for British mathematician [[Alan Turing]]'s criminal prosecution and possibly his death. In a phone recording dating to June 1954, two Templars known only by the initials "V" and "N" mentioned the need for Turing to be killed. They feared "mass unemployment" if the mathematician successfully developed robots, and that such an invention would threaten the progress of the Plan.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />


Abroad, Abstergo involved itself in foreign governments to ensure the spread of capitalism and Templar control. In 1953, Abstergo agents backed monarch [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah Pahlavi]], Tehran strongman [[Sha'baan Ja'fari]], and the National Intelligence and Security Organization, otherwise known as [[SAVAK]], against the democratically elected Prime Minister [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]].<ref name="ACB Rifts" /> Abstergo and the Shah removed Mosaddegh from power and placed him under house arrest, where Mosaddegh later died in his home in 1967.
Abroad, Abstergo involved itself in foreign governments to ensure the spread of capitalism and Templar control. In 1953, Abstergo agents backed monarch [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah Pahlavi]], Tehran strongman [[Sha'baan Ja'fari]], and the National Intelligence and Security Organization, otherwise known as [[SAVAK]], against [[Iran]]'s democratically elected Prime Minister [[Mohammad Mosaddegh]].<ref name="ACB Rifts" /> Abstergo and the Shah removed Mosaddegh from power and placed him under house arrest, where Mosaddegh later passed away in his home in 1967.


Internal memos stolen from Abstergo in 2012 implicated the corporation's involvement in the 1954 overthrow of [[Guatemala]]'s socialist President [[Jacobo Árbenz]] and installation of {{Wiki|Carlos Castillo Armas}} as his replacement. In both instances, Abstergo worked through the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], a branch of the U.S. intelligence community it had controlled since its inception.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
Internal memos stolen from Abstergo in 2012 implicated the corporation's involvement in the 1954 overthrow of [[Guatemala]]'s socialist President [[Jacobo Árbenz]] and installation of {{Wiki|Carlos Castillo Armas}} as his replacement. In both instances, Abstergo worked through the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], a branch of the U.S. intelligence community it had controlled since its inception.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
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===The endgame===
===The endgame===
By the final decades of the 20th century, Abstergo emerged from the shadows as a powerful corporation leading the way in pharmaceuticals, though it also engaged in research in other fields, such as communications. For example, in 1985, Abstergo's research division was secretly working on a device capable of imitating the mind-controlling properties of a Piece of Eden across a network.<ref name="ACB Rifts" /> That same year, Abstergo developed its first fully-functional [[Animus]] device and began to seek out appropriate test subjects.<ref name="AC1" />
By the final decades of the 20th century, Abstergo emerged from the shadows as a powerful corporation leading the way in pharmaceuticals, though it also engaged in research in other fields, such as communications. For example, in 1985, Abstergo's research division was secretly working on a device capable of imitating the mind-controlling properties of a Piece of Eden across a network.<ref name="ACB Rifts" /> That same year, Abstergo developed its first fully-functional [[Animus]] device and began to seek out appropriate test subjects.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref>
 
In 1991, Abstergo helped [[Boris Yeltsin]] to overthrow [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the legitimate head of state and reformer of the Soviet Union, after which Yeltsin introduced privatization of the massive state-owned industries. As such, these industries were quickly taken over by oligarchs, and by 1993, Yeltsin disbanded the Russian Parliament and Constitutional Court. After nearly 80 years of fighting against communism, Abstergo and the Templars had finally eliminated the largest obstacle to the global spread of capitalism. As a failsafe, Abstergo then made sure future leader [[Vladimir Putin]] would continue to push for capitalism just as his predecessor Yeltsin had.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
In 1991, Abstergo helped [[Boris Yeltsin]] to overthrow [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the legitimate head of state and reformer of the Soviet Union, after which Yeltsin introduced privatization of the massive state-owned industries. As such, these industries were quickly taken over by oligarchs, and by 1993, Yeltsin disbanded the Russian Parliament and Constitutional Court. After nearly 80 years of fighting against communism, Abstergo and the Templars had finally eliminated the largest obstacle to the global spread of capitalism. As a failsafe, Abstergo then made sure future leader [[Vladimir Putin]] would continue to push for capitalism just as his predecessor Yeltsin had.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />


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By 2011, Abstergo employed its considerable communications division to use closed circuit television to spy on civilians. In April, an individual named [[Mr. Jameson]] accidentally discovered this closed circuit on his television set, between channels 172 and 173. This hidden channel displayed the names of his family members, their credit card numbers, medical information, and their personal preferences. Confused, Mr. Jameson contacted his cable company, Comstatic, to complain and in response, Abstergo sent agents to "deal with" Mr. Jameson and his 12-year-old son, Paul.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
By 2011, Abstergo employed its considerable communications division to use closed circuit television to spy on civilians. In April, an individual named [[Mr. Jameson]] accidentally discovered this closed circuit on his television set, between channels 172 and 173. This hidden channel displayed the names of his family members, their credit card numbers, medical information, and their personal preferences. Confused, Mr. Jameson contacted his cable company, Comstatic, to complain and in response, Abstergo sent agents to "deal with" Mr. Jameson and his 12-year-old son, Paul.<ref name="ACB Rifts" />


In early 2012, the [[Alan Rikkin's predecessor|head]] of Abstergo ceded control of the company to [[Alan Rikkin]], shortly before his death. In a phone call, he warned his successor that if the free market failed, the civilian populace would turn against capitalism and Abstergo.<ref name="ACB Rifts" /> Abstergo also suffered a major setback in their [[Eye-Abstergo]] project when an [[DIA satellite accident|incident]] took place in [[Denver]] that led to a large loss of civilian life and key [[Apple of Eden 2|Abstergo equipment]].<ref name="Vidic's email">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Warren Vidic's email]]</ref>
In early 2012, the [[Alan Rikkin's predecessor|head]] of Abstergo ceded control of the company to [[Alan Rikkin]], shortly before his death. In a phone call, he warned his successor that if the free market failed, the civilian populace would turn against capitalism and Abstergo.<ref name="ACB Rifts" /> Abstergo also suffered a major setback in their [[Eye-Abstergo]] project when an [[DIA satellite accident|incident]] took place in [[Denver]] that led to a large loss of civilian life and key [[Apple of Eden 2|Abstergo equipment]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Emails]]: "Project Lead #9 email"</ref>


[[File:Desmond Recap 3.png|thumb|250px|Abstergo agents capturing Desmond Miles]]
[[File:Desmond Recap 3.png|thumb|250px|Abstergo agents capturing Desmond Miles]]
However, a great success in Abstergo's Animus Project offset the Denver catastrophe, and in September 2012, the [[Lineage Discovery and Acquisition]] department captured a new Animus subject, [[Desmond Miles]], to replace the deceased [[Clay Kaczmarek]]. Desmond, dubbed "Subject 17", survived the rigors of the Animus and was able to provide Abstergo with a holographic map detailing the locations of many Pieces of Eden,<ref name="AC1">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref> though he escaped soon after.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>
However, a great success in Abstergo's Animus Project offset the Denver catastrophe, and in September 2012, the [[Lineage Discovery and Acquisition]] department captured a new Animus subject, [[Desmond Miles]], to replace the deceased [[Clay Kaczmarek]].<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Warren Vidic's email]]: "Animus Functionality & New Subject"</ref> Desmond, dubbed "Subject 17", survived the rigors of the Animus and was able to provide Abstergo with a holographic map detailing the locations of many Pieces of Eden,<ref name="The Eagle and The Apple">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[21st century conversations#Assassin's Creed|Modern day]]: "The Eagle and The Apple"</ref> though he escaped soon after.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref>


In parallel, the head of the Animus Project, Dr. [[Warren Vidic]], launched a new initiative, the [[Animi Training Program]], to train Abstergo recruits through the use of the Animus. One of the program's most promising participants was [[Juhani Otso Berg]],<ref name="ACB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref> an ex-[[Finland|Finnish]] [[Utti Jaeger Regiment|special forces]] operative who had been personally recruited by Vidic in 2010, with the promise of receiving treatment for his daughter [[Elina Berg|Elina]]'s rare illness.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[Numbskull's personal files]] – Otso Berg's Profile: "Vidic's New Recruit"</ref><ref name="Otso Berg DB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – [[Database: Otso Berg]]</ref> Berg eventually rose through the Order's ranks and became a [[Master Templar]] and member of the [[Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order|Inner Sanctum]], being given command of Abstergo's elite task force, [[Sigma Team]].<ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref><ref name="Otso Berg DB" />
In parallel, the head of the Animus Project, Dr. [[Warren Vidic]], launched a new initiative, the [[Animi Training Program]], to train Abstergo recruits through the use of the Animus. One of the program's most promising participants was [[Juhani Otso Berg]],<ref name="ACB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref> an ex-[[Finland|Finnish]] [[Utti Jaeger Regiment|special forces]] operative who had been personally recruited by Vidic in 2010, with the promise of receiving treatment for his daughter [[Elina Berg|Elina]]'s rare illness.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]'' – [[Numbskull's personal files]] – Otso Berg's Profile: "Vidic's New Recruit"</ref><ref name="Otso Berg DB">''[[Assassin's Creed: Syndicate]]'' – [[Database: Otso Berg]]</ref> Berg eventually rose through the Order's ranks and became a [[Master Templar]] and member of the [[Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order|Inner Sanctum]], being given command of Abstergo's elite task force, [[Sigma Team]].<ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref><ref name="Otso Berg DB" />
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==Goals==
==Goals==
As the greatest industrial force the Templars owned, Abstergo Industries shared the same beliefs as the Templars: order and discipline through power and control. Some Abstergo employees were unaware of the Templar Order's existence and leadership over the company, but certain high-ranking operatives knew of the Templar cause, being members of the Order themselves.<ref name="AC1" /><ref name="Abstergo Files" />
As the greatest industrial force the Templars owned, Abstergo Industries shared the same beliefs as the Templars: order and discipline through power and control. Some Abstergo employees were unaware of the Templar Order's existence and leadership over the company, but certain high-ranking operatives knew of the Templar cause, being members of the Order themselves.<ref name="The Templars">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[21st century conversations#Assassin's Creed|Modern day]]: "The Templars"</ref><ref name="Abstergo Files" />


Since the [[Third Crusade]], the Templars started realizing the power that the Pieces of Eden had over [[human]]s, and so they began searching for them. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, they have used numerous subjects from the Animus Project to access the memories of their ancestors, in order to get hold of a map showing these artifacts. This goal later formed into total control and possession of all Pieces of Eden.<ref name="AC1" />
Since the [[Third Crusade]], the Templars started realizing the power that the Pieces of Eden had over [[human]]s, and so they began searching for them. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, they have used numerous subjects from the Animus Project to access the memories of their ancestors, in order to get hold of a map showing these artifacts. This goal later formed into total control and possession of all Pieces of Eden.<ref name="The Templars"/><ref name="The Eagle and The Apple"/>


The Templars' goals changed as they sought to unify the world using these artifacts, going from "lasting peace, no matter what the cost" to the "New World Order". To accomplish this, they had to reach their ultimate goal: launching a Piece of Eden into orbit around the Earth.<ref name="AC1" /><ref name="AC3" /> After this plan failed in 2012, the Templars shifted their focus to influencing humans through more subtle means as a way to control them, similarly to how they had done in centuries past.<ref name="AC4" /> Some of these new initiatives have also involved Pieces of Eden, as Abstergo's ongoing, primary goal remains the establishment of a New World Order.
The Templars' goals changed as they sought to unify the world using these artifacts, going from "lasting peace, no matter what the cost" to the "New World Order". To accomplish this, they had to reach their ultimate goal: launching a Piece of Eden into orbit around the Earth.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Lucy Stillman's email]]: "Deleted items"</ref><ref name="AC3" /> After this plan failed in 2012, the Templars shifted their focus to influencing humans through more subtle means as a way to control them, similarly to how they had done in centuries past.<ref name="AC4" /> Some of these new initiatives have also involved Pieces of Eden, as Abstergo's ongoing, primary goal remains the establishment of a New World Order.


===Mission statement===
===Mission statement===
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*[[Pierre-Louis Belanger]] – Project Director, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref>
*[[Pierre-Louis Belanger]] – Project Director, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="ACU">''[[Assassin's Creed: Unity]]''</ref>
*''[[Juhani Otso Berg]]'' – Operations, Director of Abstergo Medical, and leader of [[Sigma Team]]<ref name="ACR" /><ref name="ACT" />
*''[[Juhani Otso Berg]]'' – Operations, Director of Abstergo Medical, and leader of [[Sigma Team]]<ref name="ACR" /><ref name="ACT" />
*[[Jane Birkam]] – friend of Warren Vidic<ref name="AC1" />
*[[Jane Birkam]] – friend of Warren Vidic<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Warren Vidic's email]]: "Everything okay?"</ref>
*[[M.-O. Boudreault]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*[[M.-O. Boudreault]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*[[Jean-François Brunet]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="ACRG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''</ref>
*[[Jean-François Brunet]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="ACRG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rogue]]''</ref>
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*[[Cole]] – Head of security at [[the Aerie]]<ref name="TotK">''[[Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan]]''</ref>
*[[Cole]] – Head of security at [[the Aerie]]<ref name="TotK">''[[Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan]]''</ref>
*[[Christopher Darby]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*[[Christopher Darby]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*David – Acquisitions, Lineage Research and Acquisition.<ref name="AC1" />
*David – Acquisitions, Lineage Research and Acquisition.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Warren Vidic's email]]: "Additional Subjects?"</ref>
*[[Andrew Davies]] – Leader of [[Omega Team]]<ref name="Heresy" />
*[[Andrew Davies]] – Leader of [[Omega Team]]<ref name="Heresy" />
*[[Evan Dean]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" /><ref name="ACRG" />
*[[Evan Dean]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" /><ref name="ACRG" />
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*''[[Simon Hathaway]]'' – Historical Research Division<ref name="Heresy" />
*''[[Simon Hathaway]]'' – Historical Research Division<ref name="Heresy" />
*[[Ctibor Hašek]] – Psychiatrist<ref name="Desmond Files">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[The Desmond Files]]</ref>
*[[Ctibor Hašek]] – Psychiatrist<ref name="Desmond Files">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[The Desmond Files]]</ref>
*[[Aubrey Jacobs]] – Alan Rikkin's assistant<ref name="AC1" />
*[[Aubrey Jacobs]] – Alan Rikkin's assistant<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Warren Vidic's email]]: "Re: Case File #1394 [Leila Marino]"</ref>
*[[John Kane]]<ref name="ACO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''</ref>
*[[John Kane]]<ref name="ACO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''</ref>
*[[Milton Jones]]<ref name="Surveillance">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[Surveillance]]: "The Look of Love"</ref>
*[[Milton Jones]]<ref name="Surveillance">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[Surveillance]]: "The Look of Love"</ref>
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*[[Jason Kent]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
*[[Jason Kent]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
*[[Kamala Khatri]] – Scientist, [[Abstergo Industries London facility|London facility]]<ref name="Animus Handbook">''[[Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game]] – [[Animus Handbook]]''</ref>
*[[Kamala Khatri]] – Scientist, [[Abstergo Industries London facility|London facility]]<ref name="Animus Handbook">''[[Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game]] – [[Animus Handbook]]''</ref>
*''[[David Kilkerman]]'' – Research, Animus Project<ref name="AC1" /><ref name="ACTF" />
*''[[David Kilkerman]]'' – Research, Animus Project<ref name="The Eagle and The Apple"/><ref name="ACTF" />
*[[Gabriel King]] – Chief engineer of the Abstergo Foundation<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Layla Hassan's emails#Abstergo|Subject header: "Re: You're looking at it the wrong way"]]</ref>
*[[Gabriel King]] – Chief engineer of the Abstergo Foundation<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Layla Hassan's emails#Abstergo|Subject header: "Re: You're looking at it the wrong way"]]</ref>
*[[Robert Klein]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
*[[Robert Klein]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
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<div style="float:right; width: 48%;">
<div style="float:right; width: 48%;">
*[[Rodrigo Lima]] – Hacker and leader of the ''White Hats''<ref name="Heresy" />
*[[Rodrigo Lima]] – Hacker and leader of the ''White Hats''<ref name="Heresy" />
*[[Henry Liman]]<ref name="AC1" />
*[[Henry Liman]] – Associate of Alan Rikkin<ref name="Classified Information">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Warren Vidic's email]]: "Re: Classified Information"</ref>
*[[Jansen March]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
*[[Jansen March]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
*[[Thomas Marshall]] – Doctor, the Aerie<ref name="TotK" />
*[[Thomas Marshall]] – Doctor, the Aerie<ref name="TotK" />
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*[[Kama Neron]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*[[Kama Neron]] – employee of Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*[[Erica Nichols]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
*[[Erica Nichols]]<ref name="Abstergo.com" />
*[[Nancy Nilop]] – Human Resources<ref name="AC1" />
*[[Nancy Nilop]] – Human Resources<ref name="Leila Marino">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[Lucy Stillman's email]]: "Leila Marino"</ref>
*"[[Numbskull]]" – Research analyst, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="ACRG" />
*"[[Numbskull]]" – Research analyst, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="ACRG" />
*"[[Player Admin]]" – Administrator of ''[[Rebellion]]''<ref name="ACReb">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rebellion]]''</ref>
*"[[Player Admin]]" – Administrator of ''[[Rebellion]]''<ref name="ACReb">''[[Assassin's Creed: Rebellion]]''</ref>
*''[[Agneta Reider]]'' – CEO of Abstergo Financial<ref name="Heresy" />
*''[[Agneta Reider]]'' – CEO of Abstergo Financial<ref name="Heresy" />
*[[Richard]] – One of three men who threatened to kill Lucy Stillman, before being stopped by Vidic<ref name="AC1" />
*[[Richard]] – One of three men who threatened to kill Lucy Stillman, before being stopped by Vidic<<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[21st century conversations#Assassin's Creed|Modern day]]: "Guest of the Company"</ref>
*[[Sofia Rikkin]] – Head of the Abstergo Foundation<ref name="Film" />
*[[Sofia Rikkin]] – Head of the Abstergo Foundation<ref name="Film" />
*"[[Rothenburg]]" – Informant within Abstergo feeding information to the Assassins<ref name="TotK" />
*"[[Rothenburg]]" – Informant within Abstergo feeding information to the Assassins<ref name="TotK" />
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*[[Didier Hawking]] † – Animus user, renowned for his memory-hacking skills<ref name="AC Titan" />
*[[Didier Hawking]] † – Animus user, renowned for his memory-hacking skills<ref name="AC Titan" />
*[[Isaiah]] † – Director of the Aerie<ref name="ACLD" />
*[[Isaiah]] † – Director of the Aerie<ref name="ACLD" />
*[[Jenkins]] † – Member of Sigma Team<ref name="Numbskull" />
*[[Jenkins (Sigma Team)|Jenkins]] † – Member of Sigma Team<ref name="Numbskull" />
*[[Fahad Khan]] † – Employee of Abstergo Financial and Agneta Reider's right-hand man<ref name="ACG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Gold]]''</ref>
*[[Fahad Khan]] † – Employee of Abstergo Financial and Agneta Reider's right-hand man<ref name="ACG">''[[Assassin's Creed: Gold]]''</ref>
*[[John Maynard Keynes]] †<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
*[[John Maynard Keynes]] †<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
Line 245: Line 245:
*[[Zixuan Long]] † – Archaeologist and researcher<ref name="Forging History">''[[Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game]] – [[Forging History]]''</ref>
*[[Zixuan Long]] † – Archaeologist and researcher<ref name="Forging History">''[[Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game]] – [[Forging History]]''</ref>
*[[Zixuan Long's assistant]] †<ref name="Forging History" />
*[[Zixuan Long's assistant]] †<ref name="Forging History" />
*[[Leila Marino]] †
*[[Leila Marino]] † – former Abstergo employee and friend of Lucy Stillman<ref name="Leila Marino"/>
*[[Sebastian Monroe]] – Former researcher<ref name="ACLD" />
*[[Sebastian Monroe]] – Former researcher<ref name="ACLD" />
*"[[Noob]]" – Research analyst, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*"[[Noob]]" – Research analyst, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
Line 257: Line 257:
*''[[Otto Schmidt]]'' † – Operations, Lineage Research and Acquisition<ref name="AC3" />
*''[[Otto Schmidt]]'' † – Operations, Lineage Research and Acquisition<ref name="AC3" />
*[[Keith Scipione]] †<ref name="Holidays" />
*[[Keith Scipione]] †<ref name="Holidays" />
*[[Shimazu Sei]] – Doctor and supervisor, Archaeological Research Department<ref name="ACFT" />
*[[Shimazu Sei]] – Supervisor, Archaeological Research Department<ref name="ACFT" />
*[[Aidan St. Claire]] † – Project Manager, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="Employee Handbook" />
*[[Aidan St. Claire]] † – Project Manager, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="Employee Handbook" />
*[[John Standish]] † – Head of IT, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*[[John Standish]] † – Head of IT, Abstergo Entertainment<ref name="AC4" />
*[[Lucy Stillman]] † – Animus researcher<ref name="AC1" />
*[[Lucy Stillman]] † – Animus researcher<ref name="The Experiment Begins">''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' – [[21st century conversations#Assassin's Creed|Modern day]]: "The Experiment Begins"</ref>
*[[Alan Turing]] †<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
*[[Alan Turing]] †<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
*''[[Warren Vidic]]'' † – Research, Animus Project<ref name="AC1" /><ref name="AC3" />
*''[[Warren Vidic]]'' † – Research, Animus Project<ref name="The Experiment Begins"/><ref name="AC3" />
*[[Harry Dexter White]] †<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
*[[Harry Dexter White]] †<ref name="ACB Rifts" />
*[[Yu Shu Lien]] – Former security contractor<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game]]'' – Animus Training Program Quickstart: Character File Folios</ref>
*[[Yu Shu Lien]] – Former security contractor<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game]]'' – Animus Training Program Quickstart: Character File Folios</ref>
Line 274: Line 274:
Abstergo remains one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, with their primary focus being anti-depressants. Desmond Miles first saw the word "Abstergo" on a bottle of ibuprofen whilst he was still living on [[the Farm]]; according to his mother, "The average American household contains three dozen Abstergo-owned products at any given moment. If you tried to purge them from your life completely, it would be a full-time job."<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' – [[Training]]</ref>
Abstergo remains one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, with their primary focus being anti-depressants. Desmond Miles first saw the word "Abstergo" on a bottle of ibuprofen whilst he was still living on [[the Farm]]; according to his mother, "The average American household contains three dozen Abstergo-owned products at any given moment. If you tried to purge them from your life completely, it would be a full-time job."<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' – [[Training]]</ref>


It was also stated in an [[Warren Vidic's email|e-mail]] to Warren Vidic that Abstergo was secretly experimenting their products on people, and that one of their experiments had failed, poisoning an entire town. Information about this incident had partly been leaked, causing the whole pharmaceutical division of the company to be closed down for investigation. The product Abstergo was experimenting with was named "New Fluoride".<ref name="Vidic's email" />
It was also stated in an [[Warren Vidic's email|e-mail]] to Warren Vidic that Abstergo was secretly experimenting their products on people, and that one of their experiments had failed, poisoning an entire town. Information about this incident had partly been leaked, causing the whole pharmaceutical division of the company to be closed down for investigation. The product Abstergo was experimenting with was named "New Fluoride".<ref name="Classified Information"/>


Products sold in 2012 included [[Herne+]], the baby monitor [[Angelus]], the [[Bodyband]] exercise bracelet, Animus OS glasses, and the Animus game console with pre-packaged genetic memories.
Products sold in 2012 included [[Herne+]], the baby monitor [[Angelus]], the [[Bodyband]] exercise bracelet, Animus OS glasses, and the Animus game console with pre-packaged genetic memories.
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Revision as of 08:37, 4 May 2026

{Era|Organizations|Abstergo|Templars}}

Patience, brothers. Soon we will reveal the secrets of the Assassin's Creed series.

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"You know them as Abstergo Industries. We know them as the Templars—as the enemy. We've been fighting them for thousands of years. Even longer if you believe the stories of their origins. I do. After all, I've seen the truth."
―William Miles on Abstergo's origins, 2012.[src]-[m]

Abstergo Industries is a multinational corporate conglomerate, and the primary front for the modern-day activities of the Templar Order. One of the largest and most prominent corporations in the world, Abstergo and its predecessors were responsible for the majority of human technological development for the past millennia.

Despite genuinely contributing to the technological development of society, Abstergo Industries' primary mission, as dictated by its Templar members, was the destruction of the Assassin Order, the procurement of advanced technologies originally created by the Isu, and the establishment a New World Order.

By the year 2012, Abstergo Industries had expanded into various business sectors, setting up numerous subsidiary companies, such as Abstergo Entertainment. That same year, Abstergo came under investigation by the United States government for the "New Fluoride" experiment and was due to have its accounts frozen, prompting the company to hasten their planned Eye-Abstergo satellite launch.

After the failure of the satellite launch, Abstergo has devised various other initiatives to further the Templars' overarching goal of controlling humanity. While several of these initiatives have seen some success, Abstergo's overall agenda of establishing their New World Order remains a work in progress, due to constant interference and sabotage by the Assassins.

History

Foundation

"In 1937, we founded this company, this enterprise, with a purpose. The time to nurture it to fruition is upon us."
―An Abstergo employee, in a message to Templars around the world, 1944.[src]-[m]
A group of Templars during Abstergo's formative years, including Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone

On the evening of 22 November 1910, several high-ranking Templars, including Henry Ford, Ransom Eli Olds, Paul Warburg, Frank A. Vanderlip, Charles Norton, Henry Pomeroy Davison, and Nelson W. Aldrich, gathered on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia, United States. They met to discuss the "Plan," a long-term strategy to consolidate power through capitalism and advance their vision of a New World Order.[1]

The Plan included creating the Federal Reserve System as the central American banking system (which they accomplished in 1913), establishing Abstergo Industries as a new front for the Templar Order, and initiating a World War in the late 1930s. This war would allow the Templars to reshape governments in its aftermath by leveraging their political influence.[1]

Officialy founded in 1937, Abstergo Industries was actually one small part of the Templar scheme to control the world through capitalism and scientific progress. The company's establishment enabled the Templars to accumulate wealth and accelerate scientific progress, while keeping their true activities covert. Abstergo's largely anonymous leadership claimed that their duty was to "shepherd those beneath us through life, even if force is required".[1]

One of Abstergo's earliest known operations was their search for a Piece of Eden – a crescent amulet – which had been hidden in the sea near the Strait of Malacca two centuries prior. In the early 1940s, the SS Ourang Medan was dispatched to retrieve the artifact, but the mission ended in failure when the ship and its entire crew mysteriously vanished.[2]

World War II

"H. has [the Apple of Eden], so I assume the war will begin as soon as he can take over. We'll let him have his fun (Lord knows, that kind of purge will be good for Europe) and then end it with a bang, as planned. Out of the chaos of war a new order will emerge!"
―Henry Ford in a letter to Thomas Edison, 1930s.[src]-[m]

During World War II, Abstergo remained quiet, but kept track of the progress made abroad by Templar puppets "H" and "S" (Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin). In the United States, Abstergo and other Templar-controlled corporations ceded rights to its workers and their labor unions, but only as a means to tie the people closer to the Templar capitalist vision.[1]

Die Glocke

Since at least 1942, Abstergo secretly helped fund Die Glocke, a project masterminded by the German Templar and SS Obergruppenführer Gero Kramer, one of Abstergo's founders. Disguised as the Uranprojekt, the Nazis' attempt to develop nuclear weapons, Die Glocke was in reality an early Animus prototype built by Nikola Tesla, whom the Templars had kidnapped after staging his death.[3]

Kramer hoped to use the machine to explore the memories of past Assassins in search of Pieces of Eden that would allow him to establish a new order in Europe. However, the project was ultimately a failure due to the Brotherhood's interference, and Kramer was later killed on 15 July 1943 by the Assassins Eddie Gorm and Julia Dusk, in order to acquire his Apple of Eden for Boris Pash.[3]

In parallel, Abstergo also financed the construction of seven underground structures throughout German-occupied Poland, connected to each other via tunnels. Codenamed Project Riese, its goal was to allow the Templars to create superweapons in secret, using knowledge gained from the Apple of Eden. However, the weapons did not function, and the underground structures were eventually abandoned.[3]

Mount Washington Hotel, the conference's location

From the 1st to the 22nd of July 1944, the Bretton Woods Conference took place in the town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to determine the international monetary system to be set up after World War II. 730 delegates from 44 countries were in attendance. Secretly, the conference also served as a cover for a meeting between the economic agents of the Templar Order, including John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White.[1]

On the final day of the conference, a speech was delivered to Abstergo Industries employees, economists, and world leaders, outlining the formation of the "Plan" by Henry Ford and Ransom Eli Olds in 1910. The speech also addressed the threat posed by the communist system and the efforts of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin to create the "turmoil and fear necessary" for the implementation of the new economic system, capitalism.[1]

Post-war domination

Following the war, Abstergo controlled global, economic, and technological development, though it always remained behind the scenes. In 1948, Abstergo eliminated former Templar and renowned economist Harry Dexter White. White had helped organize the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, two organizations that allowed the Templars to spread their capitalist world vision. However, White was also passing information to the Soviets, and for his betrayal, Abstergo killed White and made it appear like a heart attack.[1]

Abstergo was also responsible for British mathematician Alan Turing's criminal prosecution and possibly his death. In a phone recording dating to June 1954, two Templars known only by the initials "V" and "N" mentioned the need for Turing to be killed. They feared "mass unemployment" if the mathematician successfully developed robots, and that such an invention would threaten the progress of the Plan.[1]

Abroad, Abstergo involved itself in foreign governments to ensure the spread of capitalism and Templar control. In 1953, Abstergo agents backed monarch Shah Pahlavi, Tehran strongman Sha'baan Ja'fari, and the National Intelligence and Security Organization, otherwise known as SAVAK, against Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.[1] Abstergo and the Shah removed Mosaddegh from power and placed him under house arrest, where Mosaddegh later passed away in his home in 1967.

Internal memos stolen from Abstergo in 2012 implicated the corporation's involvement in the 1954 overthrow of Guatemala's socialist President Jacobo Árbenz and installation of Carlos Castillo Armas as his replacement. In both instances, Abstergo worked through the CIA, a branch of the U.S. intelligence community it had controlled since its inception.[1]

Unreleased photo negative revealing Abstergo's involvement in the Apollo 11 mission

Abstergo's influence spread beyond the bounds of the Earth, as it helped establish and fund the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958. Ostensibly, NASA was a civilian branch of the U.S. government, but in reality, it was tasked with producing new space-going technologies for Abstergo and Templar use. After the Templars became aware of the existence of an Apple of Eden on the Moon's surface, they tasked NASA with working towards a mission to land on the Moon and retrieve the artifact.[4]

When President John F. Kennedy planned a joint lunar landing with the Soviet Union, the Templars decided to eliminate Kennedy,[4] and manipulated the Assassin Bloodstone Unit into killing the president and taking his Apple of Eden, which was then recovered by the Templar double agent William King Harvey.[5] Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson, a secret Templar, continued the push towards the Moon, and in July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon and retrieved the Piece of Eden.[4]

Firmly in control of the United States government, Abstergo continued its interference in other nations. In the 1970s, Abstergo focused on Argentina and Chile out of a recognized need "to ensure the company's success" and allow their agents "to move freely from country to country and maintain power within all of them".[1] In Argentina, Abstergo promised leading capitalists that they would pass their corporate debt to the Argentinian public, in return for the support of the ruling Junta and the elimination of the Argentinian trade unions. Consequently, the Junta remained in power, and at least 30,000 Argentinians disappeared over the course of the decade.[1]

In Chile, Abstergo planned to open up the markets and force the sale of all public companies to the private sector. They thwarted President Salvador Allende's efforts to socialize Chile's industries, and may have played some role in his 1973 suicide. In the aftermath, Augusto Pinochet seized power as a dictator. Following both Latin American cases, Abstergo successfully hid its involvement and instead left evidence that implicated the U.S. government.[1]

The endgame

By the final decades of the 20th century, Abstergo emerged from the shadows as a powerful corporation leading the way in pharmaceuticals, though it also engaged in research in other fields, such as communications. For example, in 1985, Abstergo's research division was secretly working on a device capable of imitating the mind-controlling properties of a Piece of Eden across a network.[1] That same year, Abstergo developed its first fully-functional Animus device and began to seek out appropriate test subjects.[6] In 1991, Abstergo helped Boris Yeltsin to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev, the legitimate head of state and reformer of the Soviet Union, after which Yeltsin introduced privatization of the massive state-owned industries. As such, these industries were quickly taken over by oligarchs, and by 1993, Yeltsin disbanded the Russian Parliament and Constitutional Court. After nearly 80 years of fighting against communism, Abstergo and the Templars had finally eliminated the largest obstacle to the global spread of capitalism. As a failsafe, Abstergo then made sure future leader Vladimir Putin would continue to push for capitalism just as his predecessor Yeltsin had.[1]

Abstergo employees monitoring raids on Assassin hideouts

At the end of the 20th century, Subject 4 of Abstergo's Animus Project, given the codename "Daniel Cross", infiltrated the Assassin Order as a sleeper agent and successfully killed its global leader, the Mentor. Cross then returned to an Abstergo facility in Philadelphia and provided the locations of Assassin training camps across the world that he had visited. Templar agents would raid these camps, eliminating their inhabitants or capturing them for use in the Animus Project. The operation, referred to as the "Great Purge", eradicated most of the modern-day Assassin Order, allowing Abstergo to continue its goals virtually unopposed.[7]

That same year, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and Templar puppet Antonin Scalia convinced Sandra Day O'Connor to retire. Scalia sent a letter to "S" in which he mentioned that "W" (George W. Bush) would restart animosities with Iraq, which in turn would give "C"'s (Dick Cheney) contractors more work. From there, the Supreme Court could dissolve standing campaign finance laws, which would allow Abstergo to effectively place anyone it chose in the Senate, House, and the Presidency.[1]

In November 2004, the American author Gary Webb was writing a book on the CIA, and through his research, he had discovered evidence that Abstergo had interests in every large company across the planet. Thanks to Templar intervention, however, Gary's book never saw the light of day.[1]

By 2011, Abstergo employed its considerable communications division to use closed circuit television to spy on civilians. In April, an individual named Mr. Jameson accidentally discovered this closed circuit on his television set, between channels 172 and 173. This hidden channel displayed the names of his family members, their credit card numbers, medical information, and their personal preferences. Confused, Mr. Jameson contacted his cable company, Comstatic, to complain and in response, Abstergo sent agents to "deal with" Mr. Jameson and his 12-year-old son, Paul.[1]

In early 2012, the head of Abstergo ceded control of the company to Alan Rikkin, shortly before his death. In a phone call, he warned his successor that if the free market failed, the civilian populace would turn against capitalism and Abstergo.[1] Abstergo also suffered a major setback in their Eye-Abstergo project when an incident took place in Denver that led to a large loss of civilian life and key Abstergo equipment.[8]

Abstergo agents capturing Desmond Miles

However, a great success in Abstergo's Animus Project offset the Denver catastrophe, and in September 2012, the Lineage Discovery and Acquisition department captured a new Animus subject, Desmond Miles, to replace the deceased Clay Kaczmarek.[9] Desmond, dubbed "Subject 17", survived the rigors of the Animus and was able to provide Abstergo with a holographic map detailing the locations of many Pieces of Eden,[10] though he escaped soon after.[11]

In parallel, the head of the Animus Project, Dr. Warren Vidic, launched a new initiative, the Animi Training Program, to train Abstergo recruits through the use of the Animus. One of the program's most promising participants was Juhani Otso Berg,[12] an ex-Finnish special forces operative who had been personally recruited by Vidic in 2010, with the promise of receiving treatment for his daughter Elina's rare illness.[13][14] Berg eventually rose through the Order's ranks and became a Master Templar and member of the Inner Sanctum, being given command of Abstergo's elite task force, Sigma Team.[15][14]

Following Desmond Miles' escape, Berg was tasked with capturing his father and the new de facto leader of the Assassin Order, William Miles.[15] Meanwhile, Daniel Cross, frustrated at Abstergo for losing Desmond, decided to track him down himself. When the Assassin attempted to steal a Precursor battery from an office building in New York City, Daniel confronted him, only to be knocked out by Desmond, who escaped with the battery. Later, Daniel tracked another battery to a mixed martial arts tournament in São Paulo, Brazil, and killed its owner, but Desmond again retrieved the battery after fighting and subduing Daniel.[16]

Desmond using the Apple of Eden against the Templars

After Sigma Team captured William in Cairo, Egypt, during his search for the third Precursor battery, they brought him to the Animus Project laboratory in Rome, where Warren Vidic intended to trade the captive Assassin for the Apple of Eden in Desmond's possession. However, Desmond stormed the facility, fighting his way through the security guards and Daniel, whom he killed inside the Animus Training Facility. He then confronted Vidic and his guards, using the Apple to force them to kill each other. With William rescued, Desmond escorted his father out of the facility, while the Templars were forced to cancel their planned launch of the Eye-Abstergo satellite due to failing to obtain the required Piece of Eden in time.[16]

Goals

As the greatest industrial force the Templars owned, Abstergo Industries shared the same beliefs as the Templars: order and discipline through power and control. Some Abstergo employees were unaware of the Templar Order's existence and leadership over the company, but certain high-ranking operatives knew of the Templar cause, being members of the Order themselves.[17][18]

Since the Third Crusade, the Templars started realizing the power that the Pieces of Eden had over humans, and so they began searching for them. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, they have used numerous subjects from the Animus Project to access the memories of their ancestors, in order to get hold of a map showing these artifacts. This goal later formed into total control and possession of all Pieces of Eden.[17][10]

The Templars' goals changed as they sought to unify the world using these artifacts, going from "lasting peace, no matter what the cost" to the "New World Order". To accomplish this, they had to reach their ultimate goal: launching a Piece of Eden into orbit around the Earth.[19][16] After this plan failed in 2012, the Templars shifted their focus to influencing humans through more subtle means as a way to control them, similarly to how they had done in centuries past.[20] Some of these new initiatives have also involved Pieces of Eden, as Abstergo's ongoing, primary goal remains the establishment of a New World Order.

Mission statement

We are committed to researching, developing, and providing high-quality products that enrich, entertain, and shape the lives of our customers. We build programs that reexamine the past, improve the present, and define the future.[21]

Divisions and subsidiaries

Abstergo Industries structure in 2012

Abstergo Industries maintains numerous offices in cities worldwide, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, Madrid, London, Paris, Osaka-Kobe, Shanghai, and Moscow.[22]

Divisions
Subsidiaries

Employees

Warren Vidic speaking to three Abstergo executives

The vast majority of Abstergo's employees were not aware of the company's Templar roots, and as such were not Templars themselves; this included its scientists, engineers, and several CEOs. Abstergo also had hundreds of corporate spies in companies around the world, including sleeper agents.[18] The company also employed a number of heavily armed security personnel at their sites; these individuals were skilled combatants, armed with both firearms and tasers.

Current employees

Italicized names indicate membership in the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order.

Former employees

Deceased individuals are marked with a cross. (†)

Projects

Products

"Guess the shit's really hit the fan this time."
―An Abstergo employee e-mailing Vidic about the Fluoride failure.[src]-[m]

Abstergo remains one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, with their primary focus being anti-depressants. Desmond Miles first saw the word "Abstergo" on a bottle of ibuprofen whilst he was still living on the Farm; according to his mother, "The average American household contains three dozen Abstergo-owned products at any given moment. If you tried to purge them from your life completely, it would be a full-time job."[62]

It was also stated in an e-mail to Warren Vidic that Abstergo was secretly experimenting their products on people, and that one of their experiments had failed, poisoning an entire town. Information about this incident had partly been leaked, causing the whole pharmaceutical division of the company to be closed down for investigation. The product Abstergo was experimenting with was named "New Fluoride".[45]

Products sold in 2012 included Herne+, the baby monitor Angelus, the Bodyband exercise bracelet, Animus OS glasses, and the Animus game console with pre-packaged genetic memories.

Sophia Project

The Sophia Project studied cellular information and the means by which information was passed genetically. The end goal was to be able to manipulate genetic information for medical purposes.[18]

Animus Project

Main article: Animus Project
An Animus in the Rome facility

Abstergo began their Animus Project in September 1985, with Dr. Warren Vidic as the head operative.[12] The project initially relied on psychoanalysis, hypnosis and chemicals to unlock genetic memories in their subjects, though it all changed with the invention of the Animus, which enabled subjects to synchronize with their ancestors' memories in a virtual reality environment.[18]

The Lineage Research and Acquisition department acquired subjects to farm memories, which were later implemented into Project Legacy for Abstergo recruits to decode the memories without requiring a descendant to relive them in the Animus.[55] However, it was put on hold after the collective known as Erudito began hacking into the Project and giving recruits access to memories that Abstergo did not want them to see.[18]

The Animi Training Program was also launched some time in 2012 to train recruits into becoming lethal agents, by having them synchronize with the skills of great Templar agents and non-Assassin individuals from centuries before.[12][15]

Archeology

Abstergo has performed archeological excavations in various locations around the world, secretly in search of Pieces of Eden and vaults built by the Isu. However, while they successfully uncovered a number of vaults and recovered the artifacts they housed, the vast majority of Isu temples remain hidden.[18]

Akashic Satellite Plexus

Early ASP model

The Akashic Satellite Plexus was launched in 2008, and on 21 December 2012, Abstergo intended to launch its cornerstone, the Eye-Abstergo satellite. On the surface, it was a collection of communications, weather and observation satellites, though the Eye-Abstergo addition was intended to amplify the powers of an Apple of Eden.[18]

While the Assassins believed Abstergo would use it to control the world, this was denied in their internal documents for their top agents. Emphasis was placed on the "ASP" becoming able to locate "individuals with potential", and was heavily shielded and presumed to be operational in the face of even the worst predicted solar flares.[18]

Baseline Study

The Baseline Study

On 24 July 2014, The Wall Street Journal announced that Google had organized a medical and genomics project called the Baseline Study, which would collect genetic information from various people. This caught the attention of the Initiates, who revealed that the project was secretly run by Abstergo.[63]

Phoenix Project

Main article: Phoenix Project

The Phoenix Project was a secret initiative launched by Abstergo in late 2013, which had the goal of sequencing the Isu's triple-helix genome in order to better understand and master the Pieces of Eden. To this end, Abstergo searched for genetic records of Sages both past and present, hoping to use their high concentration of Isu DNA as a basis for cloning the Isu back into existence. The project was led by Dr. Álvaro Gramática who, following an Assassin attack on his laboratory in Paris in October 2014,[29] relocated to a remote facility in Australia.[28]

Phoenix Project logo

By August 2018, Gramática, using a Precursor box and Shroud of Eden recovered by the Templars, had succeeded in sequencing the Isu genome, though his research was soon hijacked by the Instruments of the First Will, who sought to resurrect their mistress Juno. The procedure was successful, allowing Juno to be reborn in the physical world, albeit only for a short time, as the Isu was killed when the Assassins and the Master Templar Juhani Otso Berg stormed the Australia facility to stop the Instruments' plans.[28]

Trivia

Gallery

External links

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 Assassin's Creed: BrotherhoodRifts
  2. Assassin's Creed: Forgotten TempleEpisode 74
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Assassin's Creed: Conspiracies
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Assassin's Creed IIGlyphs
  5. 5.0 5.1 Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone
  6. Assassin's Creed
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Assassin's Creed: The Fall
  8. Assassin's CreedEmails: "Project Lead #9 email"
  9. Assassin's CreedWarren Vidic's email: "Animus Functionality & New Subject"
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Assassin's CreedModern day: "The Eagle and The Apple"
  11. Assassin's Creed II
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
  13. Assassin's Creed: RogueNumbskull's personal files – Otso Berg's Profile: "Vidic's New Recruit"
  14. 14.0 14.1 Assassin's Creed: SyndicateDatabase: Otso Berg
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Assassin's Creed: Revelations
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 Assassin's Creed III
  17. 17.0 17.1 Assassin's CreedModern day: "The Templars"
  18. 18.00 18.01 18.02 18.03 18.04 18.05 18.06 18.07 18.08 18.09 Assassin's Creed: RevelationsAbstergo Files
  19. Assassin's CreedLucy Stillman's email: "Deleted items"
  20. 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 20.11 20.12 20.13 20.14 20.15 20.16 20.17 20.18 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
  21. Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment - Employee Handbook – Employee Files (Robert Fraser)
  22. 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 22.11 22.12 Abstergo.com
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 23.7 Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
  25. 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 25.7 Assassin's Creed film
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Assassin's Creed: Templars
  27. Assassin's Creed: Initiates – The Rosenburg Letters, III of VII
  28. 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 Assassin's Creed: Uprising
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 Assassin's Creed: Unity
  30. Assassin's CreedWarren Vidic's email: "Everything okay?"
  31. 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 Assassin's Creed: Rogue
  32. Assassin's Creed: InitiatesSurveillance: "Noob Alert"
  33. 33.00 33.01 33.02 33.03 33.04 33.05 33.06 33.07 33.08 33.09 Assassin's Creed: Heresy
  34. 34.0 34.1 34.2 Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Tomb of the Khan
  35. Assassin's CreedWarren Vidic's email: "Additional Subjects?"
  36. Assassin's Creed: Memories
  37. 37.0 37.1 37.2 Assassin's Creed: InitiatesThe Desmond Files
  38. Assassin's CreedWarren Vidic's email: "Re: Case File #1394 [Leila Marino]"
  39. 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 Assassin's Creed: Origins
  40. 40.0 40.1 Assassin's Creed: InitiatesSurveillance: "The Look of Love"
  41. 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 41.4 41.5 Assassin's Creed Unity: Abstergo Entertainment - Employee Handbook
  42. Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun
  43. Assassin's Creed Roleplaying GameAnimus Handbook
  44. Assassin's Creed: OriginsSubject header: "Re: You're looking at it the wrong way"
  45. 45.0 45.1 Assassin's CreedWarren Vidic's email: "Re: Classified Information"
  46. 46.0 46.1 Assassin's CreedLucy Stillman's email: "Leila Marino"
  47. Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
  48. Assassin's CreedModern day: "Guest of the Company"
  49. 49.0 49.1 Assassin's Creed: The Chain
  50. 50.0 50.1 Assassin's Creed: RogueNumbskull's personal files
  51. 51.0 51.1 51.2 Assassin's Creed (Titan Comics)
  52. Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR
  53. 53.0 53.1 Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
  54. 54.0 54.1 54.2 Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants
  55. 55.0 55.1 55.2 Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
  56. 56.0 56.1 Assassin's Creed: Project LegacyHolidays: Chapter 1 – Ghosts of Christmas Past
  57. Assassin's Creed: Gold
  58. Assassin's Creed: InitiatesSurveillance: "Abstergo's Lost Genius"
  59. 59.0 59.1 59.2 Assassin's Creed Roleplaying GameForging History
  60. 60.0 60.1 Assassin's CreedModern day: "The Experiment Begins"
  61. Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game – Animus Training Program Quickstart: Character File Folios
  62. Assassin's Creed: RevelationsTraining
  63. AC Initiates (@acinitiates) on Twitter "Collecting "genetic" info. What exactly is Google working towards with the Baseline Study? on.wsj.com/VqpJn5 pic.twitter.com/y1zak49pZU" (screenshot)
  64. Data Dump Scanner (@datadumpscanner) on Twitter
  65. Penrose triangle on Wikipedia