Greek fire

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Ezio using Greek fire

Greek fire was a powerful Byzantine incendiary weapon that was a closely guarded military secret. Its true composition remains unknown to this day, despite multiple theories. Famously, it was reputed to burn more fiercely on contact with water, making it particularly valuable in naval warfare.

Greek fire was both used by ships, and in the struggles for control of Assassin Dens in Constantinople during the Ottoman Civil War.

History

Greek fire was first used by the Byzantine Emperor Leon III's army, when enemy vessels laid siege to Constantinople in the year 717. In the battle, the napalm-like substance burned through the enemy fleet, forcing them to call off their attack and flee west. ^{[citation needed]}

In 1511, the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore used Greek fire in order to destroy several ships preventing him from leaving the city. The Ottoman Assassins also mounted Greek fire weapons along the barricades they used to defend their dens from Templar attacks.

In 1725, the Chinese Assassins Xiao Han, Liu Qing and Xue Yan possessed a special type of grenades which produced Greek fire upon detonation. After they used these grenades during their boarding of the Fenghuang, the engineer Yun Pyeong-Gyu recognized the substance from the stories he had heard about it and instructed the ship's crew to use sand instead of water to extinguish the flames.

Trivia

• In the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novelization the defenders used Greek fire during the 1507 Siege of Viana.
• Greek fire is referenced in Assassin's Creed: Origins, during a side memory; in 47 BCE, the Medjay Bayek of Siwa is tasked by the architect Vitruvius to destroy the reserves of "a Greek Fire of sorts" that the Roman General Agrippa had had manufactured.
• In Assassin's Creed: Odyssey's downloadable expansion Legacy of the First Blade: Shadow Heritage, a flamethrower weapon akin to Greek fire called Chimera's Breath was introduced.
• Historically, the secret of Greek Fire was already lost by the Ottoman era and was never used by them.

Gallery

• 
  Concept art of the Greek fire cannon
• 
  Concept art of the Greek fire mechanism
• 
  Greek fire used during a Den Defense

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations
• Assassin's Creed: Origins
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple

References

pl:Ogień grecki zh:希腊火