Harlequin

"Behind the gaudy costume and twisted smile lies the soul of a merciless assassin. You call yourself the Harlequin. Your victims will call you a walking nightmare."

―GameStop

The Harlequin (real name: Cahin) is an exclusive multiplayer character featured in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, available via pre-order on Gamestop.com, Play.com and Ubisoft.com. He is also available in the HMV Exclusive Edition and the Limited Codex Edition of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and is included in the The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC. A jack-in-the box of the Harlequin is also available to those who pre-order the Collector's edition of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood from GameStop.

On November 16th 2010, gaming website Kongregate held a contest for a copy of Brotherhood, which, to enter, you simply had to complete Level 3 of Ultimate Assassin 2. One lucky winner would win the game with the exclusive Harlequin character and an Xbox 360 to play it on, and several other contestants would receive a copy of the game with the exclusive character.

He uses two rondel daggers as his primary weapons. Another playable multiplayer character, known as the Hellequin, is confirmed to be his sister, as stated by their multiplayer character descriptions.

In Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy, Cahin and his sister Caha are first encountered by Fiora Cavazza as they perform together. The performance turns out to be a trap, however, with Cahin, Caha, and Fiora killing all the guests present. Fiora notes to herself that the siblings seem to be mad, yet fun. Later on, when Fiora changes sides and joins the Assassins in weakening Cesare Borgia's defenses, she aids in assassinating Cahin and Caha. The attack was successful, with the siblings dying together during the assault.

Collector's Edition Harlequin Jack-in-the-box

Unique Moves

The Killing Joke (Low Profile/Bench Kill) The Harlequin neatly stabs the target under the chest, flips over their back, then stabs the victim in the neck and to the right of the chest cavity, leaving them incapacitated and internally bleeding to death. When performing the bench kill the Harlequin does not stab them in the neck or chest.

Slaying Surprise (Low Profile) From behind, the Harlequin stabs the target's waist, making them fall. Right when they fall, he stabs their neck with the other dagger, then again with the other dagger, causing them to go limp. The body then falls to the ground as he withdraws the daggers.

Killing Wheel (High Profile) The Harlequin does a cartwheel, kicking his victim in the head and knocking them to the floor. He then quickly stabs his victim in the chest, and allows them to fall to the floor as he withdraws his weapons (as seen at 0:19 in the video below).

More is Merrier (High Profile/Aerial Kill) The Harlequin pushes his target down and stabs their torso maniacally several times. This can be performed running at or jumping on a target (as shown in the video below at 0:55).

Customization

Colors

• Basic: Green and Blue
• Extra 1: Red and Blue
• Extra 2: Purple and Blue
• Extra 3: Black and Blue

Gear

• Advanced: Added vest (affected by color), added golden buckles to boots, added golden trim to gloves.
• Superior: Added coat tails to vest and golden straps to the foot of his boots.
• Elite: Changed mask outlines from blue to dark gold.

Singleplayer locations

After downloading the "Da Vinci Dissapearance" DLC, five harlequins appear throughout Rome, usually balacing themselves with the hands in a trick or sitting. Beating them using nothing but your fists grants the "Clowing Around" Achievement. If one of them is killed with a weapon or falls in the water, he respawns in the same location a short time after.

• Near the bridge of Castle Sant' Angelo, to the east following the river in a staircase leading out of the water.
• To the west of a Doctor at the top of the map by the river in a staircase leading out of the water.
• Behind the Rosa in Fiore, in a staircase leading out of the water at south of the brothel.
• South of Tiber Island, under a bridge. This Harlequin only appears at night.
• West of the barracks, in a house with a tree near the large lake. This Harlequin only appears at night.

Gallery

• 
  Harlequin's gear in Multiplayer
• 
  Harlequin's colors in Multiplayer

• 
  The Harlequin assassinating the Executioner.
• Courtesan killing Harlequin
  Courtesan killing Harlequin
• Pariah killing Harlequin
  Pariah killing Harlequin
• 
  Harlequin on multiplayer trailer
• The Harlequin Outfit
  The Harlequin Outfit

Videos

thumb|300px|left|The Harlequin Reveal thumb|300px|right|Gamestop Harlequin Commercial

Trivia

• The Harlequin features in the release commercial of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, seen in the reflection of a man in a puddle of water.
• Cahin, along with his sister Caha, are both stated as being French in Project Legacy.
• Cahin's and his sister's names are based on the French phrase "cahin caha" meaning willy nilly.
• After downloading The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC, five Harlequins can be found at different parts of the city in Singleplayer, performing a handstand. If approached, they will attack on sight. Once all five Harlequins have been beaten up while unarmed, the player will gain the Clowning Around silver trophy/achievement worth 30G.
• The Harlequin seems to be based or perhaps inspired by a Detective Comics antagonist, The Joker. One of the Harlequin's signiture moves "The Killing Joke" may be an indirect reference to him, as one of his more popular comic stories shares the same name.