Merchant
Merchants are citizens who sell various items in the many cities featured in each game, and beyond.
Assassin's Creed
The role of merchants in Assassin's Creed is simply to provide atmosphere and a handy "escape" option if you dive through them to avoid running through a crowd of citizens. In the PC version, there are also secondary missions called Merchant Stand Destruction in which you must destroy a set number of merchant stands in a set time limit, with the explanation being that the targeted merchants are selling products that are causing illness to the people buying them. In the Xbox 360 version there is an Achievement for diving through a certain number of them.
Assassin's Creed II
In Assassin's Creed II, the role of merchants is extremely different. Aside from being dive-through-able, you can now purchase various items from them.
- Blacksmiths: You can buy certain pieces of Armor, Weapons and Small Weapons from Blacksmiths. They also sell various ammunition and repair broken armor.
- Doctors: Doctors can heal Ezio's wounds for a small fee. Also, they sell Medicine vials and Poison for the Poison Blade.
- Tailors: Tailors sell pouch upgrades to increase Ezio's carrying capacity. They also allow you to customize Ezio's armor (except Altair's Armour) by dyeing it with different colors, but dyeing has no real function.
- Art Merchants: Art Merchants sell both Paintings, which increase Monteriggioni's value, and Treasure Maps, which specify where treasure chests can be found.
- Fast Travel Booths: Fast Travel Booths allow easy travel to different locations throughout Italy for a sum.
Trivia
- Merchant Stands in both games do not sell any food or drink.
- Merchant Stands can only be broken by throwing someone into them, killing them instantly. Vigilantes and Scholars do not die from being thrown into a merchant stand, as they can't die. Vigilantes (the big, strong, tough men) are easily scared by getting your sword out and swiping at them. This does not apply to the merchant stands that can be traded with.