Leonardo da Vinci

"Ezio, my friend! How may I be of service?"

―Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer in the Renaissance. He is generally considered the most talented person who ever lived and in Assassin's Creed 2 he is Ezio Auditore de Firenze's best friend who helps him throughout the game.

Biography

Born as an adopted person to a middle-class poor family, he spent 5 years in the countryside before he moved to the small village of Vinci, Florence. Very little is known so far about his early life. By the age of 14, he took up painting and was rather successful in getting his paintings published throughout the world today. In 1472, he enrolled at Guild of St Luke, where he recieved a master degree in Medicine and Botany. After university, his father set up his workshop, where Leonardo would work. Many political figures and armies would often call for his help to design various items and buildings. His most famous painting is the Mona Lisa, which was taken with him when he retired to France in 1513. He died of Blood Gout in 1519. He was convicted of Sodomy in 1476.

Assassin's Creed II

Leo's concept art

He and Ezio meet for the first in the beginning of the game during one of Ezio's errands. Ezio carries a few of his paints for him back to Ezio's house and the two became friends quite fast after this. They don't see eachother again until after Ezio becomes notorious throughout Florence. Ezio showed him one of the codex pages to show how to fix the Hidden Blade, which he does. Leonardo is then questioned by guard and beat up by him until Ezio came and saved him using his new hidden blade. After this Leonardo and Ezio don't see eachother much unless you bring him codex pages to decrypt for you and to upgrade your hidden blade into the dual version. A few years later he meets up with Ezio who helps Leonardo get through the mountains safely from the attacking Templars. Leonardo is then taken to Venice and is escorted to his new home and given a tour of the city with Ezio. Leonardo stays at Venice for the remainder of the game and still does very little except for decrypting codex pages for you. He does not have another role for a while until Ezio asks to use his prototype flying machine to break into the doges palace in an attempt to save him. At first it only flys for a short time but than he gets an idea of making fires across Venice to lift the machine higher into the air. This works until it is shot down just as Ezio got into palace. A few years later he saw Ezio once more during the carnival season and built him the Hidden Gun and gave him a mask to wear while out in the city. This is the last of his important roles throughout the game except for decrypting codex pages for you, but after that you are unable to see him again in the game. 

Hidden Blade upgrades

• Hidden Blade
• Dual Hidden Blade
• Poison Blade
• Hidden Gun

Gallery

• Ezio having a chat with Leonardo
  Ezio having a chat with Leonardo
• Leonardo in his workshop
  Leonardo in his workshop

Trivia

thumb|left|250px|Leonardo Da Vinci - Genius Inventor

• All of Leonardo's modifications on previously existing assassin gear are designs created by Altaïr. Leonardo just follows the designs detailed in Altaïr's codex, which only he and Giovanni Auditore can decipher and translate.
• Leonardo, like some of the main characters, doesn't seem to experience any changes for the 23 years of the game he appears, from their first encounter to the decoding of the the Codex in the villa in 1499. (1476-1499).
• Unless it is a codex page important to the story, such as the design for two hidden blades, the cutscene is the same when Ezio visits Leonardo each time (even after Leonardo's move to Venice).
• Leonardo's last name isn't actually da Vinci, he was the bastard son of a courtesan, and Vinci being the town he was born in, he took on the name, Leonardo da Vinci