Master Assassin

The title of Master Assassin is one of the highest attainable ranks within the hierarchy of the Assassin Order, and those who hold it are presumed to have reached the peak of their training as an Assassin. The rank garners a large amount of respect from other members of the Order and indicates individuals who possess uncommon skill and talent, most often in the arts of stealth and assassination.

The title is regarded as a privilege reserved for the best and brightest Assassins; those individuals who have not only brought great contributions to the Order's cause, but also embodied the Creed: they have never harmed an innocent, always hid in plain sight, and never compromised the Brotherhood.

History[edit | edit source]

Origins with the Hidden Ones[edit | edit source]

Main article: Master

The title originated from that of Master, which was held by the most esteemed members of the Hidden Ones, the original incarnation of the Assassin Brotherhood. The earliest Hidden One known to attain the rank was Hakor, an Egyptian Hidden One active in the late 1st century BCE.^[1]

During the era of the Roman Empire, the Roman Hidden Ones operating in Britannia used the Latin title of Magister, but it held the same meaning. Between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE, several Hidden Ones rose to attain the rank, including Eghan, Khloe, Marcellus, Maya, Sebastos, and Vitus.^[2]

The earliest known use of the Master Assassin title was in the mid-8th century, when the Chinese Hidden One Li E attained the rank.^[3]

During the mid-9th century, two Master Assassins of the Alamut Brotherhood, Roshan and Fuladh Al Haami, sat on the council that governed over the branch. Roshan later trained Basim ibn Ishaq, who also rose to attain the rank while fighting the Order of the Ancients in Baghdad. However, Roshan eventually left the Hidden Ones after disagreeing with Mentor Rayhan over how to handle the revelation of Basim's true nature as an Isu incarnation.^[4] Basim himself would betray the Hidden Ones in 877 to pursue his own agenda and would become trapped for centuries within the Grey, losing his rank in the process.^[5]

Middle Ages[edit | edit source]

By 1176, Umar Ibn-La'Ahad and Faheem Al-Sayf held the title of Master Assassin within the Levantine Brotherhood. However, Umar later gave his life to spare the Brotherhood from a siege by Sultan Saladin's forces, in retribution for an assassination gone wrong.^[6]

In 1189, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad attained the rank of Master Assassin after saving his Mentor, Al Mualim, during a Templar attack on Masyaf.^[7] However, he lost it two years later, when he was demoted to a Novice following his failure to obtain the Apple of Eden beneath Solomon's Temple, along with his arrogance and disregard of the Creed's tenets. Altaïr regained his title through several assassinations in support of the Order's interests, and held it during the assassinations of Robert de Sablé and Al Mualim.^[8] Eventually, he became Mentor of the Levantine Brotherhood, leading it until his death in 1257.^[7]

In the early 13th century, William of Cassingham was active as a Master Assassin of the English Brotherhood and, unlike his brethren, favored King John's reign over baronial rule, leading him to operate independently from the Order.^[9]

During the early 14th century, Thomas de Carneillon held the rank of Master Assassin before becoming Mentor of the French Brotherhood.^[10]

Renaissance[edit | edit source]

In 1492, Aguilar de Nerha and María held the position of Master Assassins within the Spanish Brotherhood. Aguilar would later assume the mantle of Mentor,^[11] following his predecessor Benedicto's death that same year.^[12]

Around 1500, Ezio Auditore da Firenze obtained the rank, before rising to become Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood, following the liberation of Rome from the House of Borgia's grasp.^[13] Ezio's fellow Italian Assassins Lucas Bellini and Girolamo da Lucca, who accompanied him on his travels to Spain, also attained the rank at some point.^[11]

During the early 16th century, both Yusuf Tazim, the leader of the Ottoman Brotherhood, and Piri Reis, the famed Ottoman cartographer and bomb specialist, were Master Assassins, as were two of Yusuf's lieutenants, Dogan and Kasim.^[7]

Wang Yangming, the Mentor of the Chinese Brotherhood, was a Master Assassin, as was Zhu Jiuyuan, who briefly led the Brotherhood during Yangming's disappearance to escape the Great Rites Controversy. Their apprentice Shao Jun was elevated to the rank during her hunt of the Eight Tigers, and succeeded Yangming as Mentor after his death.^[14]

During the mid-to-late 16th century, the Japanese Assassin Fujibayashi Tsuyu, the leader of the Kakushiba ikki, held the title of Master Assassin.^[15] Two of her fellow Assassins, the ninja Momochi Sandayu and Hattori Hanzō, also attained the rank.^[15]^[9]

Age of Enlightenment[edit | edit source]

In the early 17th century, the Master Assassin Avicenne oversaw Assassin operations in southwest France, until his death in 1609 during an ambush by the Master Templar Pierre de Lancre's forces.^[16] By 1690, Maréchal was a Master Assassin of the French Brotherhood.^[10]

In the late 17th century, Thomas Stoddard, a member of the British Brotherhood renowned for his skills as a tracker of Pieces of Eden, held the title of Master Assassin.^[17]

In 1714, Duncan Walpole, a Master Assassin of the British Brotherhood, defected to the Templars, who promised him the glory and riches that he did not attain serving the Assassins. However, before he could meet with the West Indies Templars in Havana to officially join the Order, he was killed by the pirate Edward Kenway in 1715. After Edward joined the Brotherhood and returned to England years later,^[18] he would come to attain the rank of Master Assassin.^[19] Edward's friend Rhona Dinsmore, a member of the West Indies Brotherhood who led the bureau in Havana, also became a Master Assassin by 1751.^[20]

Achilles Davenport was a Master Assassin who founded the Colonial Brotherhood, leading it as its first Mentor. Following the near-complete collapse of the branch in 1763, Achilles removed himself from Assassin affairs, but eventually returned to prominence as the Mentor of the Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton.^[21] Ratonhnhaké:ton himself obtained the Master Assassin rank at some point in his life,^[18] and succeeded Achilles as leader of the Colonial Brotherhood.^[21]

By the late 18th century, the French Brotherhood was led by a Council, which consisted of four Master Assassins: Pierre Bellec, Sophie Trenet, Guillaume Beylier and Hervé Quemar, with the Mentor Mirabeau presiding over them. Arno Dorian, another notable member of the French Brotherhood, also attained the rank of Master Assassin at some point after being reinstated around 1794.^[10]

Industrial Revolution[edit | edit source]

In the early 19th century, the Master Assassin Hamid, who would later serve as the Mentor of the Indian Brotherhood, rescued a young Kashmiri thief named Arbaaz Mir and recruited him to the Order.^[22] By the 1840s, Arbaaz would come to attain the rank of Master Assassin for his efforts in keeping the Koh-i-Noor and other Pieces of Eden out of the Templars' reach.^[23]

Arbaaz's friend Ethan Frye, a member of the British Brotherhood, also attained the position during this period.^[24] Following Ethan's death from pleurisy in 1868, his twin children Evie and Jacob worked with Arbaaz's son, Jayadeep, to liberate London from the influence of the Templars, who had held dominion in the city for over a century. This allowed the Brotherhood to rebuild its presence in London and led to Evie, Jacob, and Jayadeep becoming Master Assassins.^[19]

Around 1867, the French Assassin Henri Escoffier attained the rank of Master Assassin and left for Zürich, Switzerland, to establish his own Brotherhood.^[25] His fellow Assassin Amira Benyamina also attained the rank at some point before 1869 and relocated to Cairo, Egypt, where she joined the local Assassin Council.^[26] By 1870, Michel Moulin had become a Master Assassin and the leader of the French Brotherhood.^[25] In 1873, Pierrette Arnaud was elevated to the rank of Master Assassin by George Westhouse upon her return to England from Egypt.^[27]

At the dawn of the 20th century, Nikolai Orelov, a member of the Narodnaya Volya sect of the Russian Brotherhood, was active as a Master Assassin.^[28] In 1918, Nikolai discovered the Assassins' plan to experiment on Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna and rescued her, betraying the Order and losing his rank in the process.^[29]

Modern times[edit | edit source]

By 2015, the latest Assassin known to have held the position of Master Assassin was Galina Voronina of the Russian Brotherhood.^[19]

Attire[edit | edit source]

Abbasid Caliphate[edit | edit source]

The Hidden Ones of Alamut wore different colored sashes to indicate their rank, with Initiates sporting blue sashes while Master Assassins wore red sashes.^[30] In some instances, a member of the Brotherhood may have received a new set of robes upon being promoted to the rank of Master, as was the case of Basim ibn Ishaq.^[4] However, by the 870s, this practice was seemingly abandoned, with Basim and his apprentice Hytham wearing near-identical robes, except for the aforementioned sashes.^[5]

Crusades[edit | edit source]

Like other Assassins of the Levantine Brotherhood, most Master Assassins possessed the eagle beak-like design upon their hoods, but their robes were generally longer, forming a bird-like "tail" that fluttered whenever they were in an area of strong wind. In addition, their leather belts were larger, their red sashes wider and longer, and they had permission to carry any weapon they desired.^[8]

Renaissance[edit | edit source]

When the order retreated underground after the Levantine Brotherhood's supposed collapse, a uniform guideline as to the attire of a Master Assassin no longer existed. The Master Assassins of the Renaissance in Europe were a small, underground group with broader access to knowledge and weapons. Most retained their freerunning, Hidden Blades and hooded traditions, though Master Assassins were the only ones permitted to wield dual Hidden Blades.^[31]

As Assassin Dens were erected within Constantinople, Ezio Auditore promoted several high-ranking Assassins to be Master Assassins who guarded the structures. These new Master Assassins would be trained specially by Ezio to be able to fulfill their role, and this extra training allowed them to hold the Dens against Templar attacks.^[7]