The Creed

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

―The Creed's maxim

The Creed is the code and guiding philosophy of the Assassin's Order from the Middle Ages until modern days. Al Mualim, former Grand Master of the Assassins, once stated that these are rules, "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 is meant to create 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 is 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 emphasizes three simple moral tenets that focused on a successful mission, mastery of self-emotions, and ensured the safety of the brotherhood.

Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent

"I would not have drawn attention to us. I would not have taken the life of an innocent.

"

―Malik Al-Sayf 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 in addition to ruining the name of the Assassin Order itself.

Always be discreet

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

―Al Mualim

Be unseen. The Assassins aim is to get close to their target stealthily, usually in public, to perform awe-inspiring assassinations. The greatest illusion from an assassination is, an Assassin seemingly materializes from nowhere, kills a corrupt public figure, and vanishes into the depth of the crowd or environment. If an Assassin is spotted stalking their target, the supernatural effect 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 Masyaf. For example, in the original Assassin’s Creed, in the beginning, Altaïr openly exposes himself to Robert de Sable and the other Templars and summarily fails to assassinate him. This failure compromised the brotherhood, which in turn cost the Assassin Malik his left arm, his brother Kadar his life, and led Robert de Sable to gather the other Templars and lay siege to Masyaf.

Penalty for Disobedience

When Altaïr breaks all three tenets during an extremely important mission at Solomon's Temple, he is stripped of all his weapons and equipment, demoted to Novice rank and must earn his way back into the brotherhood. By murdering an innocent (an old man who he thought could have alerted the guards), revealing himself to Robert de Sable, and leading the Templars back to the — until then, secret — location of Masyaf, he jeopardizes not only his own safety, but the livelihood of the entire brotherhood. Al Mualim executes him for treason, based upon the severity of these crimes, but Altaïr mysteriously finds himself later alive.

Assassin's Creed

As Desmond relives Altaïr's memories, he must follow these tenets as well to stay synchronized with his ancestor's memories in the Animus. Breaking the first tenet — never kill an innocent person — by killing anyone other than a guard or an assassination target, will cause him to lose one-third or less synchronization. While there is no punishment for breaking the second tenet — hide in plain sight (though following it will allow Altaïr to assassinate targets more easily); targets like Abu'l Nuqoud, who will run when Altaïr is exposed by the guards. As for the third tenet — never compromise the Brotherhood — Altaïr will not be able to enter an Assassins' Bureau when under pursuit, as this would compromise the brotherhood.

Altaïr unknowingly breaks this third tenet after dispatching eight of the higher ranked Templar members. Upon deducing his mission, Robert de Sable hoped to trick Altaïr into inadvertently allying the opposing Crusader forces; since the targets were from both Saracen and Crusader origins, their respective leaders, Saladin and Richard the Lionhearted, would have been more willing to join together in order to combat a considerable new threat: the Assassins. Robert attempted to convince Richard to join forces with Saladin and attacking Masyaf. During the attack, he planned to recover the Piece of Eden lost to Al Mualim at the Temple of Solomon. However, Altaïr's subduing of Robert in front of Richard convinced Richard not to attack the Assassins, and Altaïr went unpunished for this transgression.

Assassin's Creed II

When Ezio kills Vieri de' Pazzi, he shows disrespect to his corpse, cursing him and calling for his everlasting suffering. Seeing this as a violation of the creed, his Uncle Mario intervenes, chastising the young assassin for his vengefulness; vengeance goes against word of the creed, and prevents either victim or assassin from finding the peace that all assassinations through the order wish to affect.

Throughout the game Ezio follows his uncle's example, showing respect for the dead by closing their eyes and saying "Requiescat in pace"(Latin for "Rest in peace"). In the ancient Codex, Altaïr states that the creed cannot be killed, even if all of its followers are.

Trivia

• 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 in close combat than regular military training.
• After completing the main storyline of Assassin's Creed, the player can kill civilians without losing sync with their ancestor.
• The Creed's Maxim, that nothing is true and everything is permitted, has a somewhat disputed history, occasionally being incorrectly attributed to Fyodor Dostoevsky, although the idea, if not the exact phrase forms a very crucial part of the philosophical backdrop for his "Brothers Karamazov". Intriguingly, one of the characters in this novel postulates what is essentially the Templar mindset in the "the grand inquisitor parable" although Dostoevsky clearly is critical himself of this mindset, and attempts throughout the novel to refute it, like the Assassin's, seeing free will as a fundamental quality of humanity.
• "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" is taken from the novel Alamut, by Vladimir Bartol, a book that served as a primary inspiration for Assassin's Creed. In it, the maxim is the highest truth of the Ismailis, the sect of Islam that gave rise to the historical Hashashins.