The Creed
- "Nothing is true, everything is permited."
- ―The Creed's maxim
The Creed was the code and guiding philosophy of the Assassin's Order. 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 creates 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 was 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 emphasises 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.
- "That man had no need to die!"
- ―Malik 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.
Hide in plain sight.
- "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 Assassins Creed, in the beginning, Altair openly exposes himself to Robert de Sable and the other Templars and fails to assassinate him. This failure compromised the brotherhood, which in turn cost the Assassin Malik his left arm, and his brother Kadar and led Robert de Sable to gather the other Templars and lay siege to Masyaf.
Assassin's Creed
During an extremely important mission at Solomon's Temple, Altaïr, a Master Assassin, believing himself with authority over the Creed, breaks all three tenets. He murders an innocent, who he thinks could have alerted the guards; reveals himself to Robert de Sable before he attempts to kill him; and he leads the Templars back to the location of Masyaf. The breaking of the second tenet allows Robert de Sable to deflect Altaïr's assassination attempt and escape. The Templar Treasure they were all seeking seems lost forever—until a gravely wounded Malik shows up with it.
Believing that the failure was caused by his breaking of the tenets, Al Mualim strips Altaïr of all his weapons and equipment, demoting him to Novice rank and forcing him to earn his way back into the brotherhood.
As Desmond relives Altaïr's memories, he must follow these tenets as well to stay synchronized with his ancestor's memories in the Animus. Making Altaïr break the first tenet in one way or another causes him to lose one-third or less synchronization. While there is no punishment for breaking the second tenet, there is an significant advantage to following it. This allows Altair to pull off easier assassination attempts against targets like Abu'l Nuqoud, who will run when Altair is exposed by the guards. As for the third tenet, Altair will not be able to enter an Assassins' Bureau when under pursuit, as this would compromise the brotherhood.
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.
Altair unknowingly breaks this tenet after dispatching eight of the higher ranked Templar members. Since they were from both Saracen and Crusader origins, their respective leaders, Salah Al Din and Richard the Lionheart, would have been more willing to join together to combat a new threat, the Assassins. Robert de Sable, leader of the unknowingly corrupt Templars at that time, attempted to convince Richard of building up forces with Saladin and attacking Masyaf. It was all Robert's plan to take the Piece of Eden from Al Mualim's grasp. However, Altair suffered no repercussions from Al Mualim by indirectly causing this, since he stopped Robert's plot and since Al Mualim already revealed his true intentions at Altair's return to Masyaf.