Leap of Faith
The Leap of Faith is an acrobatic move in which Altaïr, Ezio, or another Assassin dives from atop a high structure to land, unharmed, in a conveniently placed pile of hay (or other soft landing material in Assassin's Creed II). The Leap is performed by Free Running at a ledge under which is located the target that will break your fall. The Leap of Faith is used to descend from View Points, each of which always provides a suitable safe target for a Leap. However, it can be used to jump down from anywhere, if, of course, there is a safe target below.
Leaps of Faith prove useful for quick descents, and are commonly used after climbing View Points. The Leap of Faith is also handy in losing pursuers, as climbing to the top of a view point usually results in the pursuers to lose sight of the player. Then all he must do is perform a Leap of Faith and he will be at street level and hidden in the target that he landed on.
In Assassin's Creed II, Ezio can perform a Leap of Faith to dive into the water in addition to jumping into piles of hay. Hay has also been expanded into other piles of soft material, such as piles of leaves. You can also perform a Leap of Faith when you are in the location of where pigeons mingle. When Ezio joins the Assassin Order he performs a Leap of Faith as one of the requirements.
In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, in the commented multiplayer demo it is shown that players can also perform a Leap of Faith. Since the players play as Templar characters, these are new examples of non-Assassins performing a Leap of Faith. Until this revelation, the only non-Assassin Leap of Faith was commited by Francesco de' Pazzi, trying to escape from Ezio.
Trivia
- Near the beginning of the game, when Masyaf is attacked by Templars, three assassins display their devotion and faith by performing Leaps of Faith from a cliff. This is based on a real life incident involving the Hashshashin, in which their leader proclaimed that his followers were more devout than any, and would follow all commands he gave. As shown in the game, he ordered several men to jump from a cliff to their deaths, which they did. Unlike in the game, however, they died.
- There is actually nothing coincidental about the placement of the bales of hay, their locations are entirely intentional. During the game, it is explained that the bales of hay and the birds that denote the location of a View Point have been programmed into the memory by Lucy as a way to help out in the navigation of the memory.
- In addition to pigeons marking a spot to perform a Leap of Faith, in Assassin's Creed II there is a white mark on the edge where the pigeons are perched. This is likely because when you get near the pigeons, they fly away, meaning the location would otherwise no longer be marked, as what happens in the original game. The "mark" is actually hay from the hay bale below. The birds were using it to construct a nest before the incoming Assassin scared them off. Either that or it's dung.
- When being pursued by Ezio, Francesco de' Pazzi leaps off the Palazzo della Signoria into a haystack for a quick escape. This is the only known example for a non-Assassin committing a form of a Leap of Faith.
- To achieve the "High Dive" achievement/trophy you must perform a Leap of Faith from Giotto's Campanile in Florence.
- Like Altaïr, Ezio's shadow looks like an eagle while performing a leap of faith.
- In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Big Boss (and the soldiers he has recruited) can perform Leaps of Faith into straw boxes called "Assassin Straw Box" in the style of Ezio and Altaïr complete with the eagle cry. Jumping inside the straw box also prompts Big Boss' second-in-command to provide trivia about the the box's history, remarking it was once used by Assassins of the Third Crusade, which is a direct reference to Assassins Creed.
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