Modern times

He who increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow. This article contains spoilers, meaning it has information and facts concerning recent or upcoming releases from the Assassin's Creed series. If you do not want to know about these events, it is recommended to read on with caution, or not at all. This template should be removed from the article three months after release.

Modern Times refers to the period between (and including) 1900 and 2012 CE. This era saw the overall decline of the Assassins and ascendance of the Templars, including Desmond Miles's capture for use in the Animus project.

Thefts and Murders

The Templars were able to recover several Pieces of Eden during this period, typically by murdering the previous owner. Amongst their victims were Harry Houdini, MK Gandhi and John F. Kennedy. Nikola Tesla also lost his Apple of Eden (but not his life) to the Templars; this motivated Tesla to help the Assassins in destroying The Staff (below).

The Staff

At some point before 1908, Grigori Rasputin stole The Staff of Eden from Czar Nicholas II of Russia. Without the Staff, Nicholas could not control his people and this ultimately led to the Russian Revolution. It is unclear if Rasputin himself was a Templar, but by June 1908 the Staff had been taken to a Templar research station in Tunguska. Before the Templars could take advantage of the artefact, however, the Assassins and Nikola Tesla destroyed the facility.

World War II

Main article: World War II

The Templars orchestrated Adolf Hitler's rise to power by granting him an Apple of Eden. Although the aim of Templar hegemony was accomplished, Hitler himself was killed by the Assassins.

The Fall

Main article: Fall of the Assassin Order

In November 2000, the Templars were able to plant a sleeper agent amongst the Assassins, who killed The Mentor of the order. By September 2012, the Templars had managed to locate and destroy virtually every Assassin encampment around the world.

Desmond Miles's Story

By 2012, Earth has already fallen to decay. A 'Second Plague' has struck Africa, leaving 96% of the population dead in a three month period, and the continent nearly uninhabited. Another e-mail states how illegal immigration into Mexico from the United States has become widespread. The motion-picture industry has collapsed, as the last film studio closed due to piracy, and the rising prominence of video games. The U.S. and E.U. are constructing jointly owned oil platforms in the Weddell Sea. 'Hurricane Season' has become a yearly occurrence, as hurricane duration, frequency, strength, and location have increased to the point where most coastal cities must live in constant fear of the fierce storms.

Assassin's Creed

In September of 2012, Abstergo Industries was being investigated for manipulating a small town's water supply, in order to test a synthetic drug referred to as New Fluoride. This has pressured Abstergo to launch their Eye-Abstergo satellite – secretly a Piece of Eden-powered mind-control device – on December 21st, sooner than planned.

The present-day segments of Assassin's Creed take place in Italy. However, most of the staff speak English with an American accent.

Assassin's Creed II

At the end of Assassin's Creed II, Minerva revealed that the Earth is going to experience a geomagnetic reversal in the near future, leading to a period where solar radiation could easily penetrate to the surface of the planet and cause severe catastrophe. It is possible that the Pieces of Eden will be used to thwart this disaster.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Using the Animus 2.0 to relive Ezio's time in Rome, Desmond and his team of modern Assassins finally discovered the location of the Sixth Apple at the Colosseum Vault in Rome, which they then tried to retrieve, to find the Temples of Those Who Came Before.

Eventually ending up in Santa Maria Aracoeli, Desmond found a secret entrance to the vault that was hidden beneath the church. Here, the Assassins found the Apple, that was left there by Ezio. When Desmond touched the Apple, everything around him seemed to freeze as his DNA activated it. Juno - one of Those Who Came Before - then took control of his body and forced him to stab Lucy in the abdomen. After this, both Desmond and Lucy collapsed; Lucy's blood pooling around her, Desmond having gone into shock.

Moments after this, William M. and an associate found Desmond's unconscious body, which they recovered and put back into an Animus at an unknown location. In this Animus, Desmond continued to relive Ezio's memories.

During this session, Ezio and Leonardo seemed to have discovered a smaller vault in Rome. Inside this vault, Ezio's DNA activated a projection of coordinates, that were intended for Desmond to see. However, after reliving more memories, Desmond's condition worsened, at which he slipped into a comatose state.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Comatose within the Animus, Desmond continued to relive the life of Ezio Auditore.

Characters

Assassins

• Paul Bellamy
• Rebecca Crane
• Daniel Cross
• Shaun Hastings
• William M.
• Bill Miles
• Desmond Miles
• Hannah Mueller
• Nikolai Orelov
• Subject 15
• Subject 16
• Lucy Stillman
• Aleksandr Ulyanov

Templars

• Jane Birkam
• Thomas Edison
• Harvey Firestone
• Henry Ford
• William Greer
• Adolf Hitler
• Aubrey Jacobs
• Lyndon B. Johnson
• John Pierpont Morgan
• James Morse
• Nancy Nilop
• J. Robert Oppenheimer*
• Lee Harvey Oswald
• Grigori Rasputin
• Richard
• Alan Rikkin
• Joseph Stalin
• Warren Vidic
• Abraham Zapruder

Unknown

• Erudito
• Leila Marino

* = Debatable