The Creed

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"Nothing is true, everything is permited."

―The Creed's maxim

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The Creed was the code and guiding philosophy of the Assassin's Order. Al Mualim, former Grand Master of the Assassins, once stated that these are rules, that "we are nothing if we do not abide by the Assassin's Creed." It restricts unnecessary slaughter of innocents, preserves the reputation of one's self and the order, and creates peace not only within the world, but within the individual. The Assassins have been handing the Creed down orally from generation to generation, ensuring the message the Creed brings is delivered to every member of the Assassin's Order.

The Three Tenets of the Creed

The Creed was an unwritten set of rules orally passed down from generation to generation among the brotherhood of the Assassin Order and known by every member. It mainly emphasises three simple memorable tenets that focused on a successful mission and ensured the safety of the brotherhood.

Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent.

"That man had no need to die!"

―Malik at Solomon's Temple

The goal of the assassins is to ensure peace in all things. The Assassins believe that political assassinations and the death of the corrupt will bring peace and a true sense of security to the common people. Slaying innocents and civilian bystanders who do not need to die goes a long way towards spreading strife and discord, as well as ruining the name of the Assassin Order itself.

Hide in plain sight.

"Let the people mask you such that you become one with the crowd."

―Al Mualim

Be unseen. The Assassins aim to get close to their target secretly, usually in public, to perform awe-inspiring assassinations. The greatest illusion from an assassination is when an Assassin seemingly materializes from nowhere, kills a corrupt leader, and vanishes into the darkness. If an Assassin is spotted stalking their target, the supernatural effect of fear is diluted, simply making it more difficult for the Assassin to reach his target.

Never compromise the Brotherhood.

The actions of one must never bring harm to all. If an Assassin fails, is captured, or is being chased, he must never commit an action or say anything that can be tied back to the Brotherhood or its base of operations. For example, in the videogame Assassins Creed, in the beginning of the game, Altair openly exposes himself to Robert de Sable and the other Templars and fails to assassinate him. This failure compromised the brotherhood which in turn lost the Assassin Malik his arm, and lost his brother Kadar and led Robert de Sable to gather the other Templars and attempt an attack on the Masyaf Fortress.

Assassin's Creed

During an extremely important mission at Solomon's Temple, Altaïr, a Master Assassin, believing himself with authority over the Creed, breaks all three tenets of it. He murders an innocent old man who he thinks could have alerted the guards; shows himself to Robert de Sable before he attempts to kill him; and he leads the Templars back to the location of the Masyaf headquarters. The breaking of the second tenet allows Robert de Sable to evade Altaïr and escape. The Templar Treasure they were all seeking seems lost forever—until a gravely wounded Malik shows up with it.

Believing that the failure was caused by his breaking of the tenets, Al Mualim strips Altaïr of all his weapons and equipment, demoting him to Novice rank. Altaïr then must earn his way back to the top of the order.

As Desmond relives Altaïr's memories, he must follow these tenets as well to stay synchronized with his ancestor's memories in the Animus. Making Altaïr break the first tenet in one way or another causes him to lose one-third or less synchronization. While there is no punishment for breaking the second tenet, there is an significant advantage to following it. This allows Altair to pull off easier assassination attempts at targets like Abu'l Nuqoud, who will run when Altair gets noticed by the guards. As for the third tenent, Altair will not be able to enter an Assassins' Bureau when under pursuit, as this would cause the guards to discover it.

Interestingly, the player can slaughter Masyaf guards with no special repercussions. These assassin guards have the same abilities as Saracen or Crusader guards despite the typical Assassin training being far more specialized than regular military ones.

Altair unknowingly breaks this tenet after dispatching eight of the higher ranked Templar members. Since they were from both Saracen and Crusader origins, their respective leaders, Saladin and Richard the Lionheart, would have been more willing to join together to combat a new threat, the Assassins. Robert de Sable, leader of the unknowingly corrupt Templars at that time, attempted to convince Richard of building up forces with Saladin and attacking Masyaf. It was all Robert's plan to take the Piece of Eden from Al Mualim's grasp. However, Altair suffered no repercussions from Al Mualim by indirectly causing this, since he stopped Robert's plot and since Al Mualim already revealed his true colors at Altair's return to Masyaf (during Memory Block 7).