Soldier
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A soldier is a combatant serving in a military. Their basic duties are to defend their community and conduct warfare against the enemies of their leaders. Prior to the widespread creation of police forces, civilian enforcers of the law, public order in cities were invariably maintained by soldiers, in which capacity they were commonly referred to as guards.[1][2]
Because they are almost always necessary to the survival of a people, soldiers have been ubiquitous throughout the history of civilization. In service to a state, in which case they constitute the state's military, they are the individuals entrusted with the legitimate use of force by the government. Not limited to national armies, they have also been recruited, trained, and fielded by unconventional groups with military arms, such as rebel factions and most prominently the transnational secret organizations of the Templar Order and the Assassin Brotherhood. It was not unknown for mercenaries, particularly during the Italian Wars, to form themselves into armies as well.
In response to the diverse demands of war, militaries throughout history have typically organized their soldiers into hierarchies with a clear chain of command along with specialized units suited to different combat situations. Aside from the broader categories of infantry and cavalry, common, narrower specializations prior to the advent of firearms included lightly armored skirmishers like the Athenian peltasts, powerful yet sluggish brutes, frontline pikemen, and professionally trained archers and crossbowmen. For the protection of the most vital people, like the state rulers themselves, special elite units of the highest calibre were frequently established, with infamous examples being the Swiss Guards of the Papal States and the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire.
The Assassins themselves classified enemies into basic archetypes, employing nicknames like "seekers" or "defenders" for polearm-wielding guards, "grunts" for the most mediocre soldiers, and "snitches" for non-combatant personnel likely to flee and call for reinforcements.
Common classifications
While soldiers across human history have varied immensely in their training, equipment, and technology, certain classifications have been employed almost universally.[2][3][4] Among these is the division between infantry, cavalry, and artillery, denoting footsoldiers, horsemen, and siege weapons respectively. Infantry, in turn, may take the form of close-ranged combatants, such as pikemen or swordsmen, or long-ranged support, such as archers, crossbowmen, and snipers.[5]
Militaries often categorized their infantry units into light, standard, and heavy infantry,[6] but the Assassin Brotherhood usually identified enemy soldiers as falling into the basic generalities of regulars, brutes, agiles, and seekers.[2][3][7]
Regulars
- Main article: Regular
Regulars are the standard unit of infantry in militaries. As the backbone of their forces, they constitute the average in their capabilities without any specialization and are serviced with the most standard equipment of their army, be it a sword, spear, musket, etc.[6][7][8]
Brutes
- Main article: Brute
The aptly-named brutes distinguish themselves with their particularly bulky, sturdy physique. Frequently utilizing heavy weapons like battleaxes or bastard swords, these combatants rely upon their great strength to overpower their enemies at the cost of speed and agility.[2][7] Brutes are not a uniform type of soldier but constitute a common stereotype of any non-elite, heavy infantry embodying these traits, with units as diverse as Spartan hypatists,[6] Byzantine Almogavars,[9] and British grenadiers falling under this label.[7]
Agiles
- Main article: Agile
Lightly armored soldiers serving as scouts or trackers are also known as agiles because they forsake standard military equipment for maximum mobility. In combat situations, they are trained to engage foes with flurries of swift attacks and rely on evasive manoeuvres to compensate for their little to no protection. Their survivability contingent on their nimbleness, agiles were almost always the most athletic of their forces, with some, as was the case among Borgia guards, even being trained in parkour.[2] While the relatively mundane British scout was a typical example of an agile,[7] ancient warriors like the fearsome Cult of Kosmos scions and the Ptolemaic predators also filled this role to an extent.[4][6]
Seekers
- Main article: Seeker
With stealth being a hallmark of Assassin operations, their agents frequently nicknamed enemy soldiers in charge of scouring hiding spots "seekers". Seekers throughout Assassin history shared little commonalities beyond this, varying wildly in their equipment and training. The seekers as classified by the Italian Brotherhood during the Renaissance were armored spearmen while those designated by the Chinese Brotherhood of the Ming dynasty wielded light swords and carried shuriken.[8][10][11] The trend continued into the 19th century, where the Parisian Brotherhood recognized experienced fencers equipped with crowd control tools like flash bombs as their enemy seekers.[3] Regardless, seekers have invariably been soldiers of greater martial skill and military authority than regulars, brutes, and agiles.[2][3][11]
Military ranks
Soldiers are normally organized into hierarchies within their militaries which define the chain of command.
Medieval armies
European and Saracen armies from the 12th century to at least the 16th century were roughly divided into four ranks signifying an increasing level of combat training and experience. Invariably, the higher-ranking soldiers were more heavily armored and better equipped than their subordinates regardless of the state fielding them. Even officers of the top tier, however, fell under the command of the noble, official, or private individual who either recruited them or that they were tasked to defend.[1][2][8]
Soldier
The vast majority of regular soldiers fighting in the Crusades lacked any commanding authority and were therefore commonly referred to simply as "soldiers" without qualification.[12] To avoid confusion, these soldiers were also called "Militia" by the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins during the Renaissance.[8] In essence, their rank was in not truly bearing one, and their inexperience and lack of discipline meant that they were especially vulnerable to deception and low morale. It was not uncommon for Militia to be led astray from pursuit or battle by the sight of loot on the ground, a weakness that was sometimes exploited by the Assassins.[2]
Given their low status, regular soldiers were provided with only the minimum standard of protection. Every Crusader soldier were equipped with chain-mail armor and a surcoat while their Saracen counterparts protected themselves with lamellar armor.[1] Likewise, European soldiers of the late 15th to early 16th century donned brigandines, yet in none of these cases were these regulars afforded helmets.[2][8]
Sergeant
Moderately better trained, sergeants were of a rank above regular soldiers and were normally not placed in charge of large operations. Instead, they might assume leadership of squads. Nonetheless, in one occasion during the Third Crusade, a Templar sergeant led a force of at least several dozen soldiers to sack a village by Alep.[13]
In addition to basic equipment, sergeants were serviced with light helmets, and it was by these that they could be identified. While more disciplined than the average soldier, sergeants were still often susceptible to breaking ranks at the sight of superiors being slain. Historically, the Assassins sometimes referred to soldiers of this rank as "Elites" despite them bearing a low rank and never constituting an elite force.[2][12]
Commander
Commanders,[12] also known generically as Leaders,[8][12] were among the most seasoned of soldiers. As the lieutenants of captains, they were entrusted with positions of command in their absence, and their presence could be vital for maintaining morale and discipline among their troops.[1][2][8] For identification, their enhanced armor were characterized by a fully enclosed helmet,[1][8] such as the iconic Crusader great helm.[1]
Captain
In the Middle Ages, captains were the officers with the greatest authority absent elite forces such as the Papal Guard and the Janissary.[8][9] At other times, they were themselves synonymous with the elite units of their military.[1][10] Although still subordinate to the individual they rendered service to, be that a state official or even a private individual,[8][10] they comprised the highest command of armies and could be called to a council of war by their commander-in-chief.[14]
Among Crusader armies in the 12th century, the role of captain was filled by full-fledged knights.[14] Such was the case among the armies of the Knights Templar. These knights were by far the most exceptional warriors of their society, having honed their swordsmanship through a lifetime of training, and could prove a match for even elite Assassins.[1][14]
Similarly, guard captains of the Italian city-states and Iberian kingdoms in the late 15th century were trained to be an indomitable force. Selected for their colossal stature, these soldiers were deployed by the Spanish Inquisition and the Spanish Rite of the Templar Order to lead campaigns, defend their palaces, and hunt their enemies with impunity. They clad themselves in full plate armor in the manner of knights and conventionally wielded greatswords. The Emirate of Granada also employed captains of this calibre, many of which protected the Alhambra, though their armor was comparatively light.[10]
Not all captains of this era were of this archetype, however. Those in service to the House of Borgia and the French Army were more standard, being of average size and strength. Though professionally trained, they did not eclipse their subordinate comrades in martial might to the extent that Templar knights and Inquisition captains did, posing little challenge for Master Assassins.[8]
When not commanding army divisions in battle, captains could be assigned to other duties, such as overseeing the defence of a military zone in a city.[8][14] Under the rule of the Borgia during the papacy of Alexander VI, Rome was divided into twelve districts, each under the supervision of a Borgia captain.[8] Historically, the Templars were known to even deploy their captains as independent agents on covert operations.[1][10]
Trivia
- The taunts Ezio said to Brutes were different from those he said to the other guards, mainly insulting them about their weight, as they were bulkier in stature.
- In the memory "Clothes Make the Man," Ugo told Ezio that the thieves were to impersonate the archers. Yet in the next memory, "Everything Must Go", after Ezio killed the archers on the rooftops, the thieves wore the armor of captain guards instead of archer armor.
- In the memory "Infrequent Flier", a Brute and a Seeker could be seen stationed on a rooftop, despite being the only guards who could not climb or free-run.
- In the memory "Play Along", Ezio assassinated an Agile so he could disguise himself as a guard, but instead of having an Agile's outfit, he wore the outfit of a Leader guard.
- Several other guard types were present only in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles, such as Shield Guards, Duelists, and Moloch's zealots.
- In the memory "French Kiss", Ezio killed twenty French guards of different archetypes to acquire their armor. However, in the following memories, Bartolomeo's mercenaries were equipped with only Leader armor, while Ezio wore armor similar to a Borgia Captain's.
- Additionally, though Ezio's Captain armor during the memory was in French colors, no such French guard could ever be encountered.
- In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, an extremely rare glitch could occur with a group of four guards. They would stand still and would not pay any attention to Ezio, even if he killed someone nearby. He was still free to attack them, in which case an execution would be performed, but it would not kill them, leaving them to simply stand up again.
- On PlayStation Home, the design of a Seeker can be purchased for an avatar. Similarly, on Xbox Live, it is possible to purchase the outfit of an Agile guard.
- In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, even after the completion of Sequence 8 and the liberation of all Borgia Towers, all of the guards in Rome would still wear the colors of the Borgia family as well as their coat of arms.
- In Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, guards could sometimes be heard whistling the "Ezio's Family" theme from Assassin's Creed II.
- In Assassin's Creed III, Patriot guards can be seen playing checkers. One of the guards will point at something, making the other guard look, and then moving pieces on the board.
- In Assassin's Creed: Rogue, French and British captains had striking similarities with the Jagers in Assassin's Creed III and fought at the same manner but they function only as officers.
- In Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India, guards could be heard talking about the events of Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China.
Appearances
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Assassin's Creed
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Assassin's Creed II
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Assassin's Creed: Unity
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Assassin's Creed: Origins
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Assassin's Creed III
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Assassin's Creed: Revelations
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Assassin's Creed II: Discovery
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Assassin's Creed: Official Game Guide
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles – Coming Home
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Cite error: Invalid
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