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. 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 of Faith. However, it can be used to jump down from anywhere, if, of course, there is a safe target below. The Leap of Faith is also handy in losing pursuing guards on rooftops, as leaping down to street level automatically causes the Assassin to leave the pursuers' line of sight.
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. In addition to hay, other piles of soft material can also be used, such as piles of leaves or flower petals. Pigeons usually perch on areas from which a Leap can be performed. When Ezio joins the Assassin Order, he performs a Leap of Faith as one of the requirements.
In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, several Templar multiplayer characters are now also able to perform the Leap of Faith. Also, whenever an Assassin recruit reaches the highest rank of Assassino, he or she must perform a Leap of Faith from the top of the Tiber Island hideout into the Tiber River below.
Trivia
- Near the beginning of Assassin's Creed, when Masyaf is attacked by Templars, three Assassins display their devotion 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.
- The incident is also depicted in the novel Alamut, by Vladimir Bartol; though only one man leaps from a tower, while another kills himself with a dagger.
- There is actually nothing coincidental about the placement of the piles of hay. During the first 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 Stillman, 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, the position is also marked by some hay on the ledge.
- Like Altaïr's, Ezio's shadow looks like an eagle while performing a leap of faith.
- When being pursued by Ezio, Francesco de' Pazzi leaps off the Palazzo della Signoria into a haystack for a quick escape. This was the only known example for a non-Assassin committing a form of a Leap of Faith, up until Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
- To achieve the "High Dive" achievement/trophy in Assassin's Creed II, you must perform a Leap of Faith from Giotto's Campanile in Florence.
- Ezio can perform an alternative leap of faith by dangling from a ledge or View Point and falling backwards onto a safe spot, as long as he is high enough and the safe spot is directly below him. He is forced to do this at least once, in Assassin's Creed II, after speaking with his father during the Jailbird sequence.
- Desmond Miles performs his first Leap of Faith in the run-down, modern Monteriggioni, after witnessing (thanks to the Bleeding Effect) Ezio climbing up to a View Point, saying that "it just felt natural."
- 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 into 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 Assassin's Creed.
Gallery
-
Ezio performing a leap of faith off the Santa Maria del Fiore.
-
Ezio performing a leap of faith off a tower in San Gimignano.
-
The Mercenary, a multiplayer character from Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, performing a Leap of Faith.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||