Arno Dorian

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This article is about the French-Austrian Assassin. You may be looking for the Tuscan waterway.

Arno Victor Dorian (1768 – unknown) was a French-Austrian Master Assassin active during the time of the French Revolution.

An orphan who blamed himself for the death of his tutor, Arno sought redemption by joining the Assassins in 1789 and working to expose the true instigators of the Revolution, whilst also avenging him in the process.

Biography

Early life

Born to Marie and Charles Dorian, Arno was raised in a noble household in Versailles. Due to his upbringing, he was well educated, having access to tutors and various books. At some point, Marie, having discovered the Assassin activities of her husband, fled and abandoned her family

In 1776, when Arno was eight, his father was murdered by Shay Cormac. He was adopted by François de la Serre, the Grand Master of the French Templars, out of respect for his enemy. He raised Arno alongside his own daughter, Élise. Wishing not to corrupt the memory of Arno's father and bring his pupil to the Templar Order, François kept his Templar involvement a secret from the young boy.

Thirteen years later, Arno found himself in no end of trouble, having lost his father's watch in a card game and stole it back. When his angry pursuers chased him back to the de la Serre mansion, François attempted to mediate the situation, assigning Arno to assist his butler, Olivier, with whatever chores he would assign, which was cleaning the horses for François' carriage ride to meet Élise.

But as soon as François set off, his servant, Perrault, tried catching up to him, revealing to have a letter of great importance, which Arno volunteered to deliver. Unfortunately, the same men who accosted him before he could reach François. Though he bested his attackers, he was forced to flee when guards found him. Returning to the mansion, Arno decided to slip the letter under the door to François' office.

Imprisonment

Arno later infiltrated a palace party held in Élise's honor, due to not being invited, and managed to steal a romantic moment with her, before being forced to sneak out when the guards came knocking. Unfortunately, Arno came upon two men mortally wounding François. One of the attackers, Charles Gabriel Sivert, called out to the guard, who immediately assumed Arno was responsible for François' murder and he was subsequently imprisoned in the Bastille.

After his first night in prison, Arno discovered that one of his fellow cellmates, Pierre Bellec, stole his watch and briefly dueled him for it, before drawing attention to mysterious drawings in the cell corner. Bellec then dragged him to the corner, realizing he possessed Eagle Vision. Once Arno introduced himself, Bellec revealed that his father was an Assassin, before returning the watch. Bellec spent two months training Arno in combat.

One day, the Bastille came under attack from a civil uprising, compelling Arno and Bellec to escape. Before parting ways, Bellec gave Arno a medallion, saying it would lead him to the Assassins, and took a leap of faith. Arno did likewise when a group of guards cornered him.

Arno later tracked down Élise, who assumed he was responsible for her father's death. Arno pleaded that he was innocent and tried to tell her about her father being a Templar, only to learn that she already known and she too was part of the Order. She then showed him the letter he was supposed to deliver. The anonymous sender, "L", was trying to warn François that someone within the Templar Order was planning on betraying him. A distraught Élise then sent Arno away.

Joining the Brotherhood

Wracked with guilt and blaming himself, Arno sought out the Assassins, discovering their headquarters underneath the Sainte-Chapelle. He was then inducted into the Brotherhood and vowed to hunt down François' murderers to redeem himself for his failures.

After assassinating Sivert and Le Roi des Thunes, Arno learned from Marquis de Sade of a silversmith who crafted the poisoned pin that killed de la Serre, named François-Thomas Germain. After tracking down the silversmith, Germain claimed that man named Lafrenière commissioned it.

Arno tracked down and assassinated Lafrenière, only to learn that he was the writer of the letter to de la Serre, warning him of a potential betrayal. Arno reported to the Council, who were outraged that he assassinated Lafrenière without their consent. When Arno mentioned that he was planning on attacking a hotel, not an Assassin base, the Council sent him to investigate the meeting.

Infiltrating the hotel, Arno eavesdropped on a meeting of a group of Templars, led by an unknown figure plotting to eliminate Élise. Arno escaped the hotel and managed to save Élise from the Templar ambush. Afterwards, the pair returned to Germain's residence, only to find it empty, as the man had anticipated that his deception wouldn't hold up. Élise informed Arno that Germain was exiled from the Order for his radical views and heretical notions about Jacques de Molay. Following this, Arno brought a blindfolded Élise before the Assassin Council.

Confronting Bellec

Later on, Arno planned to speak with Mirabeau, but he found the Mentor poisoned. Suspecting someone was attempting to pin the blame on Élise, Arno tracked down the poison seller and discovered that Pierre Bellec killed Mirabeau, believing that no peace could be achieved between the two factions, and that he was purging the Brotherhood to remake it into a stronger organization, similar to Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and Connor. He attempted to convince Arno to join his cause, but Arno refused, and was forced to kill his former teacher.

As a lesser punishment for allowing two Master Assassins to die, the Council assigned Arno to infiltrate Palais des Tuileries, in order to destroy Mirabeau's letters which could compromise the Brotherhood. It was then, that Arno met with Napoleon Bonaparte, who was in turn searching for an Apple of Eden. As the palace became swarmed with extremists, Napoleon and his soldiers helped Arno escape through a secret passage, but not before Arno noticed another Templar, Frédéric Rouille. After escaping the palace, Napoleon provided Arno with Rouille's location at the Le Grand Chatelet prison, allowing Arno assassinate him.

Execution of the King

Arno later joined with Élise to stop Marie Lévesque's plot of hoarding grain in order to turn the middle and lower classes against the King. After assassinating Lévesque, Arno and Élise managed to escape from the Templar extremists using a hot air baloon. Arno subsequently pursued Levesque's accomplice, Louis-Michel le Peletier and assassinated him, learning that he cast the 361st vote for the execution of King Louis XVI, and that François-Thomas Germain would be present for the execution.

On January 21, 1793, Arno confronted Germain as the execution was underway, with the latter proclaiming the rebirth of the Templar Order. Germain claimed to Arno that the reason for de la Serre's murder was to rid the Templar Order of corruption and bigotry, while also stating the murder was only the first phase of the Order's reformation, and that it would be truly reborn with the death of the King.

Germain revealed his plans as Louis XVI was placed at the guillotine. By ridding France's upper class and aristocracy of power, it would be much easier for the Templars to gain control over France, by granting the power to the people instead. Once the King was beheaded, François proclaimed that Jacques de Molay had been avenged, then made his escape, leaving Arno to deal with his subordinates. With Élise caught in the fighting, Arno focused more on defending her than pursuing Germain. This displeased Élise, who desired revenge and rejected any further aid from Arno.

Exile

Arno met with the Assassin Council to discuss his lead on the Templar Grand Master, however he was directed to the ceremony chamber. Arno attempted to update the council but they silenced him and cast judgment on him instead. The council did not approve of what they believed was a personal vendetta for revenge and his affiliation with Élise. They declared that Arno was banished from the Brotherhood and was no longer welcome, but that he was fortunate that they would not punish him further.

Arno left the Sanctuary and Paris to live at the de la Serre estate in Versailles, where he gained a reputation for being a drunk. In his stupor, he got into a bar fight, ending in his humiliating defeat and the loss of his watch to the gang leader. He tracked the gang to the Palais de Versailles, forced to face the terrible memories of his past, and killed the entire gang, only for Élise to turn up with his watch in hand.

Deducing that she wanted something from him, Arno furiously reopened old wounds from their last fight, stating that he cares more about her than killing Germain and that he wanted to assuage the guilt he felt for causing her father's death. When he allowed Élise to speak, she informed him that Paris had become more chaotic because of Germain. She encouraged him to be the man she loved and return with her to Paris. Arno agreed to come, but only after he assassinated Aloys La Touche.

Return to Paris

After Arno and Élise returned to Paris, despite the anarchy, the city was in the middle of a celebration. Élise revealed to Arno that the event was being hosted by Maximilien de Robespierre, one of the Templars who involved in killing Élise's father and a follower of Germain. Arno insisted on assassinating Robespierre, but Élise suggested a different approach. After discreetly infiltrating the celebration and locating Robespierre, Élise planned to discredit him in the eyes of the public, allowing her and Arno to kill him easily. Arno agreed and gathered incriminating evidence while Élise poisoned Robespierre's winery. After Arno planted the evidence on several people, the people turn against Robespierre and arrested him, much to Arno and Élise's surprise.

After tracking Robespierre down to a palace, Arno and Élise infiltrate it and corner him. As he refused to cooperate, Élise shot him in the jaw and he revealed that Germain was located in the Parisian Temple. Arno and Élise arrived at the Temple and infiltrated it, eventually finding Germain. Before Arno could assassinate him, however, Germain used the power of the Sword of Eden against the Assassin in combat, before using it to disappear from the chamber.

Arno subsequently managed to find Élise again, and together they entered the Templar crypt in the catacombs, where they once again confronted Germain. With Élise distracting Germain, Arno attempted to assassinate the Grand Master once more, but failed due to a shield projected by the sword. After three more attempts, Arno managed to break through, but the shockwave trapped him under the rubble. Élise came to Arno's aid, but noticed Germain attempting to escape. Despite Arno's protests, Élise left him behind to pursue Germain, but was no match for the Grand Master.

Élise's sword was broken during the fight, and the Sword of Eden's power was becoming unstable. Arno managed to free himself and rushed to help Élise, but was too late as the Sword of Eden exploded, killing Élise and mortally wounding Germain in the process. In an act of grief, Arno slowly assassinated Germain by stabbing him in the throat with the Hidden Blade. In a vision following his death, Germain explained his struggle of being a Sage, and his beliefs in de Molay's and Élise's unfortunate deaths.

Later life

After the death of Élise and Germain in the Temple, Arno lived in Versailles, out of sight of the Assassins. He continued to visit Élise's grave, and proclaimed himself redeemed of his previous mistakes. There, he was met by the outcast Assassin Bernard Ruddock, an acquaintance of Élise. Ruddock gave Arno a letter that Élise had written in the event of her death, explaining a number of her actions and directing him to find her chest of keepsakes. She only asked that Arno allow Ruddock to keep a pack of letters that she had been given by Jennifer Scott on her trip to London, which would allow Ruddock to gain favour with the Assassin Council and rejoin the Creed.

Arno agreed to honor her wishes, took Ruddock's address and told him he would be in touch once he had obtained the letters and Élise's chest, Arno also agreed that he would endorse any efforts he made to win favor with the Assassins. Arno traveled to the Maison Royale where he met Élise's teacher, Mr. Weatherall and was given the chest as promised, but the visit soon turned sour.

Ruddock had followed Arno and betrayed him, attempting to kill him on the order of the British Templars. However, Ruddock was killed by Mr. Weatherall before he could shoot Arno. Arno stayed with Élise's friends during the years following her death, having been invited to stay by her former maid out of respect to her mistress. He also rejoined the Brotherhood sometime afterwards.

Years after the confrontation with Germain, Arno entered the Temple once more, accompanied by Napoleon Bonaparte. There, they discovered Germain's corpse which had long since decayed. They then buried his skeletal remains in the Parisian catacombs.

Personality and characteristics

With his troubled past, Arno set out on a quest to find redemption, using this goal to help others in the turbulent time of the French Revolution. As a newcomer to the Assassins, he was prone to questioning their typical approach and age-old beliefs, but was aided in the field by his stealthy and ruthless nature.

Arno was witty and charismatic but also no-nonsense, which fed into his sharp sense of humor, falling back on it whenever he felt emotionally vulnerable. Due to the fact that he was well-educated, Arno often quoted classical books, though his noble upbringing did not prevent him from cheating at card games.

Equipment and skills

Arno often wore a dark blue hooded coat, waistcoat, and breeches with leather gaiters, rather than the stockings which were fashionably popular in his time, though he was not adverse to altering his outfit to blend in or gain an advantage in combat.

In regards to weaponry, Arno used the Phantom Blade, a Hidden Blade equipped with a wrist-mounted crossbow capable of firing a variety of darts, as well as a variety of different swords and a multi-barreled pistol. A dynamic leader and a skilled swordsman, he stopped at nothing to uncover the truth about the forces controlling the Revolution for their own gain.

Romantic life

Took as a ward in de la Serre Household, Arno grew up along with the former's boisterous daughter, Élise. Viewing her more as a friend than a sister, his feelings for Élise eventually graduated to a reciprocal love as they matured.

Trivia

• Arno's name is a derivative of German Arnold and French Arnaud. Its old German origin is Arenwald, meaning "eagle power", from arn "eagle" and wald "power" or "governing". Victor is Latin for "conqueror", while Dorian is a Greek name meaning "gifted".
• Arno is the third of four playable characters not to be related to Desmond Miles, with the first being Aveline de Grandpré, the second being Adéwalé and the fourth being Shay Cormac.
• Arno is also the second playable Assassin to develop a romantic attraction towards a Templar, the first being Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad with Maria Thorpe.
• Arno was mentioned in Assassin's Creed: Rogue in a message from Melanie Lemay to one of the Abstergo Entertainment employees regarding research into Arno's genetic memories.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Arno
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  Rear concept art of Arno
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  Concept art of Arno's customization options
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  Concept art of Arno by Remko Troost
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  Arno in the Raider Outfit as he appears in Dead Kings
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  Promotional art of Arno and Élise
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  Promotional art of Arno firing the Phantom Blade
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  Arno overlooking Paris
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  Arno killing a guard
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  Arno crouching on a rooftop
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  Arno stalking a target
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  Arno performing an air assassination
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  Arno utilizing the Phantom Blade
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  Arno engaging several guards with a lance