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He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning recent or upcoming releases from the Assassin's Creed series. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. This template should be removed from the article three months after release.

Minerva is the only known representative of "Those Who Came Before"

Those Who Came Before were an ancient and incredibly advanced species on Earth who created the Pieces of Eden, as well as the human race itself. Exactly who they were, where they came from and when they disappeared is largely unknown. Although Some suspect that they are the annunaki as described on the Sumerian Tablets and have come from planet Nibiru. Minerva as described on the Sumerian Tablets, is a descendant of Enki and is part human and annunaki. It is heavily insinuated that ancient human cultures such as the Greeks and Egyptians mistook them for gods and worshiped them as such. The being known as Minerva said that they were not gods, but were a race more advanced in time that "simply came before."

Knowledge

Though various religious beliefs seem to have been based on aspects and misinterpretations of Those Who Came Before, their existence is largely unknown to humanity. As early as the 12th century, both the Assassins and the Templars believed that human religions were false, with miracles and other supernatural being dismissed as manifestations of the Pieces of Eden. However, it is unclear if the Assassins and Templars understood the origin of the Pieces at that time. By the 15th century, at least one Templar, Rodrigo Borgia, was aware of the existence, if not the nature, of Those Who Came Before; he mistakenly believed that The Vault underneath the Sistine Chapel housed a living God.

The first known instance of a human becoming aware of their existence following their disappearance occurred in 1499, when Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin, encountered a being calling herself Minerva in The Vault. While Ezio likely told his fellow Assassins of Minerva, it is possible they still did not understand her true nature; Ezio showed great difficulty in understanding Minerva's explanation of her existence.

By 2012, the Templars in Abstergo Industries had a full understanding of the true nature of Those Who Came Before. Whether they learned this information through the use of the Animus or had found evidence of it earlier is unknown. However, none of the Assassins seen in this time period indicated that they had previous knowledge of the existence of Those Who Came Before.

History

Creation

File:Zw-eden-slave.png

A frame from The Truth video, showing "Those Who Came Before" using a Piece of Eden to control humans

The origin of Those Who Came Before is unclear; Minerva simply states that they "came before." Thus, they may have naturally evolved on Earth or possibly originated on another planet and settled on Earth. Either way, Those Who Came Before were the creators of humanity, designing them as a slave race as shown in The Truth video. However, Those Who Came Before do not appear to be physically distinct from humans; Minerva appears to Ezio in human form, which supports her claim that humans were created in their image.

Various messages left in the Animus by Subject 16 further explain the development of humans by Those Who Came Before. An early evolutionary ancestor of humanity is shown being transformed by a Piece of Eden into a modern human, implying that Those Who Came Before found existing species on Earth and transformed them into a radically different more closely resembling themselves. An Abstergo memo from 1997 shown in another Subject 16 message supports this hypothesis, noting that no transitional forms between archaic hominids and modern humans had ever been found and that they would plant fake skeletons in Ethiopia to prevent the truth from becoming known.

The control of humans by Those Who Came Before appears to have centered around the Pieces of Eden, which gave them the power to dominate the minds of humans. The power of the Pieces is hinted in an article from a science journal provided by Subject 16. The article discusses the discovery of a neuro-transmitter in the human brain that has no counterpart in any other species. Scientists have failed to determine the role of the transmitter, as it does not respond to any known stimuli. From this, it can be inferred that the neurotransmitter was specifically designed by Those Who Came Before and is only activated by the Pieces of Eden, giving the possessor of the Piece control over any human's mind.

War

According to Minerva, her species and humans lived peacefully for some time, though whether this peace was genuine on the part of humans or a result of the Pieces' influence is unknown. Regardless, two humans, Adam and Eve, appeared to have been unaffected by the Pieces of Eden. Somehow, the two were able to steal a Piece of Eden from Those Who Came Before, possibly as an attempt to free mankind from the oppression of their masters.

While it is unknown what became of Adam and Eve following their attempt, humanity and Those Who Came Before soon found themselves at war with each other. While Those Who Came Before were more technologically advanced and powerful, humanity had the advantage of numbers. It is hinted that humans were somehow able to free themselves from the influence of the Pieces; an Egyptian hieroglyphic shown in The Vault during Minerva's description of the war shows a single God-like figure holding a Piece of Eden while a large number of armed humans advanced towards it unobstructed.

Catastrophe

At some point during this conflict, an unknown catastrophe devastated Earth, with Those Who Came Before too preoccupied with war to notice the signs of an impending danger from the "heavens." Shaun Hastings and Lucy Stillman hypothesize that this "danger" could have been a massive solar flare that would have had a catastrophic impact on the Earth's weakening magnetic field, reversing the polarity and making the planet geologically unstable. This hypothesis is supported by evidence from Subject 16. In one of his glyphs in the Animus, an image of the Sun is shown with four hidden messages:

• "Near the day of purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky. - Hopi"
• "A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans. - Hopi"
• "They died in the fire from the heavens."
• "Toba, 75ka was not a volcano."

The last message refers to the Toba catastrophe theory, which posits that a mega-colossal volcanic eruption occurred approximately 75 thousand years ago and killed off a significant proportion of life on Earth. Scientists have observed a thick buried layer of ash around the world attributed to this event. Thus, it can be inferred that this evidence is actually indicative of the solar flare that devastated Those Who Came Before and humans.

Aftermath

Both species were able to survive the catastrophe, as Minerva states that humans, having been made in the image of her own species, were "built...to survive." However, few members of both species remained, and both worked together to rebuild. However, humans remained too primitive to truly grasp the existence of Those Who Came Before and continued to see them as gods.

Though they survived, Those Who Came Before were unable to fully recover and began heading toward extinction. However, they knew that the same catastrophe would eventually reoccur and took steps to prevent a second wave of destruction. Minerva warns Desmond that to save the world, he and his comrades must find the Temples, described by Minerva as "built by those who knew to turn away from war".

It is likely that the date predicted for this recurrence is December 21, 2012, the final date of Mayan calendar and considered by many to be the end of the world. This date was likely first prophesied by Those Who Came Before in their warning to mankind, and over time the exact details of this date was lost. Ironically, this date is also the scheduled launch date for Abstergo's satellites containing Pieces of Eden.

When she spoke to Ezio in 1499, Minerva claimed that she was the last of her kind and disappeared following the deliverance of her warning. Thus, it is likely that Those Who Came Before are now extinct.

Characteristics

Those Who Came Before seem to possess some form of precognition. This ability is shown when Minerva told Ezio within the The Vault that he was simply a conduit and spoke directly to the invisible Desmond Miles, indicating that she knew that he would receive the message over 500 years into the future by viewing it through the Animus. Furthermore, Altaïr mentioned in The Codex that his Piece of Eden not only possessed a catalog of past events, but also future events, implying that the Pieces contain predictions made by Those Who Came Before.

Those Who Came Before also have connections with many of Earth's religions. Their history is very similar to that of the Sumerian gods, who were believed to have created mankind to serve the gods. Furthermore, Minerva also showed an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic of people rebelling against the Egyptian gods and referred to the Egyptian gods as "us."

Minerva is one of the 8 statuettes collected in Monteriggioni. Furthermore, Minerva mentions her former name and those of her compatriots; Menrva, Uni and Tinia, who were later known as Minerva, Juno and Jupiter, respectively. The former names correspond to the Etruscan Triad of Deities, while the latter are the names of their Roman counterparts, who make up the Capitoline Triad. This shift in names may be indicative why various religions have numerous similarities, as they are all based on the story of Those Who Came Before.

Bloodline

In one of Subject 16's glyphs, he can be heard saying, "Why is it we have these gifts, these abilities? Because it's in our blood!" Furthermore, various paintings of the mythological offspring of gods and humans are shown with the clue, "The seeds were planted as two world became one. Behold the Assassins, the children of two worlds!" It is possible that this means the original Assassins were the offspring of humans and Those Who Came Before.

This theory would explain the extraordinary abilities that Altaïr and his bloodline seem to share. Desmond, Subject 16, Altaïr and Ezio all possess Eagle Vision, while Ezio and Altaïr are both able to resist the Pieces of Eden. In addition, Ezio was able to use the Staff and the Apple to open The Vault, while Rodrigo Borgia could not. If they are indeed descended from Those Who Came Before, then this could indicate that the neuro-transmitters responsible for human susceptibility to the Pieces of Eden are either not present or non-functional in descendants of Those Who Came Before.

Trivia

• Though they play an important part in the plot of Assassin's Creed II, Those Who Came Before are first mentioned by Warren Vidic in Assassin's Creed. When talking to Desmond, Vidic claims that Abstergo is responsible for all major human technological advances in history, though he denies that the Templars invented them, calling them "gifts...from Those Who Came Before."