User:Sol Pacificus/Manual of style
A pistol, also known as a handgun, is a firearm designed to be portable enough to be operated in one hand. Sometimes distinguished from a revolver by having a chamber integrated into the barrel, pistols have developed over the centuries from single shot single shot weapons to semi-automatic guns and are widely employed as side arms by soldiers, Templars, Assassins, and police alike.
Description
Pistols, being firearms small enough to be wielded and fired in one hand, are ranged weapons that launch projectiles via the ignition of gunpowder. Advancement of pistol technology paralleled that of their longer variants, the musket and rifle, with the pistols throughout the 18th century, from the War of Spanish Succession to the French Revolution, utilizing a flinklock ignition mechanism and lead shots as ammunition.[1][2][3][4][5] Because the flintlock design did not permit the chambering of more than one round, pirates of the early 18th century resorted to carrying as many as four pistols on their body at any given time.[1] A solution offered by gunsmiths later in the century involved incorporating multiple barrels into one pistol, as seen with the Double-Barrel Pistol, the Pepperbox Pistol, and the Duckfoot Pistol, a handheld volley gun.[3][4][5]
During this time, some manufacturers instead favored the more sophisticated wheellock mechanism that was initially used by the Assassins for their Hidden Gun,[1][6] but owing to the complexity and costs of this superior mechanism, standard pistols were of the flintlock design.[1][3]
By the latter half of the 19th century, innovations in firearm technology led to the emergence of semi-automatic pistols that fire multiple rounds without needing to be reloaded and which automatically load new rounds upon firing.[3][7] While many modern pistols carry multiple cartridges in a single chamber,[3] there are also revolvers which utilize a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers and in this regard are sometimes considered distinct from pistols.[7][8][9]
Like all firearms, pistols emit a loud, explosive sound upon firing and are therefore not ideal for stealth operations without a suppressor that reduces the noise.[3] Because of this, the Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins developed the Phantom Blade, a wrist-mounted miniature crossbow, while the vast majority of Assassins continue to rely on traditional throwing knives as ranged weapons even to the present day.[7][10]
History
For human civilization, firearms small enough to be equipped in one hand were first utilized by the Assassin Brotherhood in the form of the Hidden Gun, an invention of the Mentor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad who himself divined it from his Apple of Eden.[11][12] Unlike true pistols, the miniature Hidden Gun was crafted as a ranged parallel to the Assassins' iconic Hidden Blade used for assassinations and thus were concealed in their wrist bracers.[6][11][12]
The wheellock mechanism of the Assassins' Hidden Gun would not become public knowledge until at least the time of the Renaissance in Italy.[6] While the Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci rediscovered the Hidden Gun for his friend, the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze,[6] an ornate wheellock pistol served as the personal weapon of the Templars Octavian de Valois.[13] Papal Guards in service to the House of Borgia during Rodrigo Borgia's tenure as Pope wielded similar side arms,[13] as did the Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire in the same period.[12]
By the beginning of the 18th century, single-shot flintlock pistols had become widespread throughout Europe and the European colonies in the Americas.[1] Aside from serving as common weapons for officers, they were commonly sold in shops throughout North America.[1][3] In the West Indies during the Golden Age of Piracy, they were particularly popular among pirates. Skilled pirates such as Edward Kenway could operate four pistols in rapid succession in the heat of battle.[1] By the time of the Seven Years' War, pistols were standard for Assassins and Templars alike,[2] a trend that would continue into the 19th century and onward as swords and other melee weapons became increasingly obsolete.[7]
In the 21st century, pistols remain a universal side arm for combat personnel across the world ranging from the police, national militaries, mercenaries, criminals, and Assassin and Templar agents.[3][7][10][14][15]
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- Assassin's Creed: Rogue
- Assassin's Creed: Unity
- Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
- Assassin's Creed: Initiates
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Assassin's Creed: Rogue
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Assassin's Creed III
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Assassin's Creed: Unity
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Assassin's Creed II
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
- ↑ Revolver. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Accessed 22 September 2017.
- ↑ Pistol. Dictionary.com. Accessed 22 September 2017.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Assassin's Creed Volume 3: Homecoming
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Assassin's Creed: Revelations
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Volume 2: Setting Sun