Rodrigo Borgia

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"He is Rodrigo Borgia, one of the most powerful men in all of Europe, and leader of the Templar Order."

―Mario Auditore to his nephew, Ezio.

Rodrigo Borgia (1431 – 1503), born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja, was a Spanish Cardinal and the leader of the Templar Order during the Renaissance. He was the father of Juan, Cesare, Lucrezia, and Jofré Borgia, as well as grandfather to Giovanni Borgia.

Rodrigo was Pope from 1492 to 1503, and was known as Alexander VI. He was one of the most controversial Popes of the Renaissance, and his surname became synonymous for the corrupt standards of the Papacy in that era.

Legacy

During the 21st Century, members of the Templar inner circle thought of Rodrigo Borgia as a debased tyrant instead of a respected Grand Master. Instead of spreading knowledge to enlighten his fellow man and break down the boundaries that keep men divided, Rodrigo used his power and position as Grand Master to corrupt the Templar purpose into gaining infinite power by any means.

True Templar motives are questionable, but they intended to serve the greater good; Rodrigo however wanted power for the sake of it, and saw total domination over all as his prize. The Borgia's leadership over the Order would later be known as the "Dark Age of the Order."

Personality

"It's not approval I'm after. Just power."

―Rodrigo, while dueling with Ezio.

File:Rodriog Borgia ACII.jpg

Rodrigo challenging Ezio in the Vatican vault.

Initially an ambitious middle-aged man, Rodrigo was intent, as Cesare later would be, on taking Italy in the name of the Templar Order and exterminating the Assassins. After becoming Pope, his obsession not only with conquering Italy but also of realizing what he believed to be his true calling as the Prophet intensified. He actively sought to take the Apple from Savonarola, as demonstrated when he sent battalions of his family's soldiers to Florence to take it.

After his duel with Ezio in the Vault, and the shattering revelation that he was not the Prophet, Rodrigo was reduced to being an empty shell, and instead of continuing to pursue his dreams of infinite power and the extermination of the Assassin Order, he focused on maintaining his monopoly over Rome.

Final words

After Ezio's first assassination attempt.

• Ezio: I thought... I thought I was beyond this. But I'm not. I've waited too long, lost too much... Requiescat in pace (Rest in peace), you bastard.
• Rodrigo: I don't think so.

After Ezio's and Rodrigo's confrontation at the Vault.

• Rodrigo: You can't! You can't! It's MY destiny. MINE! I am the Prophet!
• Ezio: You never were...
• Rodrigo: Get it over with then.
• Ezio: ...No. Killing you won't bring my family back... I'm done. Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito. Requiescat in pace. (Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Rest in peace.)

Trivia

File:Blason famille it Borgia01 svg.png

The coat of arms of the Borgia, which can be seen on Rodrigo's personal guards.

• Rodrigo was called "the Spaniard" by the Assassins due to his Spanish origins.
• During some of Rodrigo's appearances, a dim red lighting effect can be seen on Rodrigo's hood and upper body, even though there is no source for this light.
• Historically, Pope Alexander VI ordered the execution of Savonarola, the mad monk of Florence.
• In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, while Ezio was disguised as a minstrel, he sang a song about Rodrigo before and after he became Pope.

Combat

• When Ezio entered the Sistine Chapel to assassinate Rodrigo, he was proclaiming the Nicene Creed in Latin to the congregation. Ironically, Rodrigo later stated that he did not believe the concept of the Nicene Creed, which confesses the wholeness of the Roman Catholic doctrine.
• It is possible to kill Rodrigo while in the Sistine Chapel if you poison him. After this, you can wield the Staff of Eden, although you cannot use any of its powers.
• Occasionally, during the fight with Rodrigo in the Sistine Chapel, he can be seen wielding a spear instead of the Staff.
• Although Ezio did not kill Rodrigo, he is listed as dead in the Animus' Conspirator Web after the player completes the main memories of Assassin's Creed II and re-enters the Animus.

Papacy

File:Papal Arms of Alexander VI.svg

Papal coat of arms of Alexander VI, which can be seen on his Papal Guard.

• Rodrigo was the first Pope to be elected from a conclave in the Sistine Chapel.
• In Rodrigo's assassination target video, there is a scene with Rodrigo in his Papal robes standing next to his fellow Templars, who are seated at a table. This is impossible, because by the time Rodrigo became Pope, Ezio had killed all the other Templars present. The Pazzi, the Barbarigo, and Carlo Grimaldi, for example, are shown at the table.
• In the assassination target video for the Orsi brothers set in 1488, in the Battle of Forlì DLC, Rodrigo is again shown in his Papal robes, even though he was elected Pope in 1492.

Death

• Rodrigo's fate in Assassin's Creed: Renaissance differs from that shown in Assassin's Creed II. In the game, after Ezio defeated and spared him, Rodrigo was left alone to come to terms with his misery as Ezio entered the Vault. In the novel, however, when Ezio emerged from the Vault, Borgia committed suicide with poison. His last act was to ask Ezio what he saw in the Vault, to which Ezio replied "Nothing. No one," leading Borgia to die believing everything he had done in life was for nothing.
  • In the novelization of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, however, Rodrigo evidently survived this suicide attempt, and Mario Auditore suggested that he had not taken enough poison, or that he had been faking.
• Rodrigo died in 1503 at the age of 72.

Gallery

• 
  Rodrigo hiding from Giovanni Auditore in Florence.
• 
  Rodrigo, before becoming Pope.
• Rodrigo's portrait at Tiber island.
  Rodrigo's portrait at Tiber island.

References

de:Rodrigo Borgia