Fist

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The Animus' icon for fists

A fist is a hand which has its fingers and thumbs retracted by curling them into the palm. Forming a hand into this shape displays the knuckles thereby augmenting the injury one inflicts by thrusting one's hand forward, a maneuver known as punching. As a result, using fists is one of the most rudimentary forms of combat and the basic means by which a human individual can fight unarmed.

With sufficient force and intensity, a individual may beat another to death with his own fists by inflicting blunt force trauma. However, unarmed combat is also among the most non-lethal means of combat; street fighters and Assassins who do not wish to deal permanent harm to their adversaries may defer to pure fisticuffs to knock them unconscious instead.

Description

As a natural part of the human anatomy, hands taking on the form of fists are the bare minimum of self-defense that an individual can use to fight, and can always rely on even in the event they have no other weapons available. Fists can be augumented with various tools to enhance their offensive power, with cestuses and brass knuckles being two such examples.

Emmanuel Barraza blocking Kiyoshi's Hidden Blade with his bare hand, resulting in it being impaled

However, as the human body is not physically capable of safely absorbing lethal blows, unarmed individuals have considerably little to no meaningful defense against opponents armed with weapons. Fighters that attempt to take up a defensive stance to directly block a weapon strike with their forearms would end up getting wounded from their flesh being cut from of a bladed weapon such as a sword, or their bones broken from a blunt weapon. As such, unarmed combatants would have to resort to dodging attacks to completely avoid their opponent's weapon from hitting them. Unarmed individuals would also have a disadvantage in effective range, as their fists cannot reach as far as a weapon could.

Additionally, as armed combatants are a ubiquitous force throughout the world, especially during warfare and in the defense of cities and important locations, various factions and individuals throughout history tended to not favor the usage of unarmed combat in a battle, as fists lack the lethality and intimidation that a proper weapon can provide. Some individuals who were otherwise skilled with weapons, such as the Hidden One Basim ibn Ishaq or the French Assassin Arno Dorian, were largely inept at unarmed combat.

Combat techniques

Disarm

Individuals skilled enough in unarmed combat can perform a technique where they can intercept an opponent's attack and wrest their weapon right out of their hands. They can then opt to follow up with killing their defenseless adversary with their own weapon. In 1478, before setting off to San Gimignano to hunt down the remaining Pazzi conspirators following their failed attempt to usurp control of Florence, Ezio's uncle Mario Auditore would teach his nephew how to disarm opponents, granting his unarmed fighting style a lethal option. The young Assassin would find such technique extremely useful when encountering opponents wielding long or heavy weapons, whom he struggled to counterattack with a medium-length weapon or short blade.

Sand throw

A pragmatic method of disorienting opponents, a combatant can gather up bits of sand and debris from the ground and throw them forward. The cloud of rock grains would get into the eyes of unsuspecting opponents, temporarily blinding them and leaving them open to attack. This technique, however, requires time for the user to gather enough sand to create a debris cloud large enough to stun and to set up a throwing posture, leaving them open to attack.

History

Islamic Golden Age

During the 9th century, Basim ibn Ishaq was completely unarmed when he had to survive as a thief in his youth, and would not be serviced any weapons when performing assignments for Dervis. He can use his fists to fight, but due to his complete lack of combat experience against the more seasoned and equipped soldiers of the Abbasid Caliphate, he would stand no chance against them as his unarmed blows are not strong enough to deal meaningful injuries to such opponents. As his training with the Hidden Ones did not include unarmed martial arts in any capacity, he would remain incompetent at fistfighting and would always favor dual-wielding a sword and dagger in the event of a confrontation. However, his physical prowess is decent enough that he can stealthily incapacitate unaware guards with his bare hands.

Middle Ages

Altaïr fighting a herald

In the 12th century, novice-ranked Assassins of the Levantine Brotherhood are not permitted to carry weapons. As they lack any means of self-defense, they are required to avoid fights; in the event that they must defend themselves, they would resort to using their fists. Higher-ranked Assassins also used unarmed fighting to subdue a target before interrogation, or after being caught by thugs while attempting to pickpocket throwing knives from them.

The city guards during the 12th century appear to be relatively lenient when witnessing an unarmed brawl, as they do not perceive such scuffle as a threat to the safety of their city. However, in the event they themselves get physically assaulted by the aggressors, or catch them drawing a weapon in the fight, they will intervene.

Up to the Assault on Masyaf, the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad was proficient enough in hand-to-hand combat that he can easily take down well-equipped Templar knights with his bare hands and deprive his opponent of their weapons. However, after having been granted the rank of Master Assassin, his competency in fist-fighting waned as his arrogance and confidence in his abilities increased, to the point that, throughout the remaining duration of the Third Crusade, Altaïr is no longer a capable unarmed combatant, at most only able to fight on an equal level with unarmed civilians.

In the aftermath of the Retaking of Masyaf, due to the tense situation of needing to diffuse hostilities from antagonistic Assassins without harming them, Altaïr would instinctively learn how to disarm opponents again, allowing him to make the hostile Assassins that tried to kill him instead surrender upon losing access to their sword. By the Decline of the Levantine Assassins in the 13th century, Altaïr's fist-fighting capabilities would return to the same level it was prior to becoming a Master Assassin. When Altaïr returned to Masyaf in 1247 to retake the Brotherhood from Abbas' control, he would disarm hostile Assassins of their weapons without using lethal force, resulting in them switching sides and joining him.

Renaissance

Ezio fighting a Cento Occhi thief

Ezio Auditore da Firenze was highly skilled in fist-fighting, and was likely taught by his brother, Federico. The two were once embroiled in a brawl against Vieri de' Pazzi and his men, where all present used only their fists. Throughout the month of December in 1476, Ezio would occasionally engage in unarmed brawls when encountering thugs supporting the House of Pazzi, who were on the lookout for the young Auditore. During that same month, Ezio would be left without a weapon in the aftermath of the execution of his father and brothers, leaving him with only his bare hands as a last resort option for self-defense until Leonardo da Vinci helped repair the Hidden Blade for him.

From that point onwards, Ezio would not commonly utilize his fists to fight armed soldiers, as even the lowest-ranked militia soldier are skilled enough to often parry his unarmed strikes. As such, he typically only fights unarmed in situations where he is expected to not use a weapon or if his opponents are similarly unarmed combatants, such as beating up unfaithful husbands throughout Italy, participating in a fighting competition during Carnevale, and interrogating Duccio de Luca for the locations of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings.

At some point after his assassination of Francesco de' Pazzi in 1478, Ezio can find a glove called the Metal Cestus being sold among the wares of blacksmiths. He would purchase one, and would find that the metal plating on the glove gives his fists an increase in impact. While not enough to outclass a proper weapon, it proves useful for him in situations where he is required to fight unarmed.

Throughout his youth, Ezio is proven to be nimble enough that he can safely avoid weapon strikes from enemies while maintaining an unarmed defensive stance by simply adjusting his posture to allow their attacks to miss him while his position remains stationary. However, upon being stabbed by Rodrigo Borgia in their duel in the Vatican, the injuries in combination with his advancing age hinders him from performing this maneuver to safely avoid weapon strikes while unarmed, with this handicap continuing to affect him whenever he decided to use his fists to fight, necessating he jump out of harm's way to dodge attacks.

Golden Age of Piracy

Between 1715 and 1722, Edward Kenway would fight several brutes present at local taverns and bars throughout the West Indies in order to gain access to the establishment's bartender, who would then provide him with information concerning naval convoys or hidden treasure maps.

Seven Years' War

During the Seven Years' War, Shay Cormac similarly had to defeat several gang members inside taverns throughout the North Atlantic, River Valley, and New York City in order to be able to speak with the bartender and uncover the locations of naval convoys.

American Revolution

Ratonhnhaké:ton fighting an opponent

Haytham Kenway and Ratonhnhaké:ton were skilled fighters, although their styles were different from Ezio's or Altaïr's. They would frequently use the environments to their advantage, such as glass bottles and breakable barrels. Unlike Ezio, who had a more elegant style to his fist-fighting, Haytham and Ratonhnhaké:ton fought with a more ruthless and powerful form. They were more than capable of snapping bones, as well as knocking people to the floor.

Ratonhnhaké:ton was invited to join a fight club known as the Boston Brawlers, who were having a tournament at the time. Throughout several fights around the colonies, he ranked higher and higher until he was allowed to participate in the competition. At the end, Ratonhnhaké:ton became the new champion of the Boston Brawlers, but did not participate in their fights following.

French Revolution

Due to the violence and bloodbath among the cities of France being prevalent during the French Revolution, unarmed combat as a fighting style became unviable and nonexistent, as every abled fighter during this era had a weapon on hand, with even common blacksmiths and rebellious vigilantes carrying a sword on their person for self-defense.

In July 1789, during the Storming of the Bastille, two of the prisoners, Pierre Bellec and Arno Dorian, knocked out the guards investigating their cell with their bare hands, before confiscating their swords for their own usage.

Victorian era

Due to strict regulations on open possession of weapons, the majority of conflicts between criminal gangs were drawn out with fistfights; many combatants opt to incorporate brass knuckles to augument their punches.

The Assassin twins Jacob and Evie Frye participated in fight clubs run by the bookie Robert Topping. After winning all of the rounds at each location, as well as completing Robert's races, he rewarded them with some powerful cane-swords.

Modern times

Desmond and Lucy fighting off Abstergo guards

Upon escaping Abstergo Industries with Lucy Stillman, Desmond Miles did not wield a weapon and was forced to fist-fight the Abstergo security guards attempting to detain him.

Though his abilities were initially limited, over time he was able to gain Ezio's fist-fighting skills through the Bleeding Effect. After this, he would be able to counter-attack and disarm his enemies.

Later, after reliving the memories of Ratonhnhaké:ton, Desmond's fighting style began to closely mimic his new ancestor's. He would fight with much more strength and could take down several guards quickly and fluidly.

Abstergo recruits who participated in the Animi Training Program can punch other participants while transposed onto Animi Avatars within the simulated environment of the Animus. Such technique is done to non-lethally subdue a pursuer hunting down their target.

Behind the scenes

General

Despite seemingly lethal actions, such as those that appear to break the enemy's neck, targets defeated with fists will often appear to be simply knocked out and were not counted by the games as dead.

Up until Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, titles that provide fists as a possible combat option gave it a dedicated slot in their respective weapon menu. From Odyssey onwards, using fists merely requires the player character to unequip their weapon.

Gameplay as Ezio Auditore

The achievement "Messer Sandman" could be earned by throwing sand at four guards at once; a skill that Ezio could learn from the instructor at Monteriggioni.

When Ezio successfully disarmed a guard and continued to use his weapon, the bottom-left hand of the Animus display remained as the fist icon, unless the Assassin had no weapon of his own. In this case, Ezio would confiscate the guard's weapon for himself.

Fists are the only melee weapon in Ezio's arsenal that cannot chain together kill streaks.

While Ezio nominally does not learn how to disarm enemies until the memory Evasive Maneuvers, he can disarm Brutes wielding heavy weapons even before that point.

During memories where a full synchronization objective requires Ezio to not kill anyone, using fists to non-lethally defeat enemies will count as a kill. Inversely, for Guild challenges that require Ezio to kill certain enemy archetypes, using fists to defeat them will not register them as kills.

Gameplay as Haytham Kenway and Ratonhnhaké:ton

In Assassin's Creed III, it is inconsistent on whether or not fists are registered as a kill by the game; while enemies defeated with fists will always be knocked out in most circumstances, performing corner-assassinations while unarmed will count as killing them. Similarly, counterattacking two simultaneously attacking enemies will always result in killing them, even with fists.

When Haytham Kenway infiltrated Edward Braddock's camp, using fists to knock guards out would not ruin the synchronization constraint of not killing guards; the same applied to the achievement "Prince of Thieves". However, in memories such as "Bridewell Prison" or "Laid to Rest", when Connor knocked guards out using his fists, it would count as a kill.

Unlike Ezio, fists can perform kill streaks much like every other close-ranged weapon.

Some of the unarmed takedowns in Assassin's Creed III were choreographed by mixed martial arts fighter Andrew Montanez. Mixed martial arts were incorporated into Connor's unarmed animation set, much like those featured in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Gameplay as Arno Dorian

While Assassin's Creed: Unity does not feature fists as a selectable weapon option for combat, Arno Dorian can sometimes punch his opponents in certain parrying animations.

Gameplay as Basim ibn Ishaq

Basim can only use his fists during gameplay sections where he does not have a weapon, or is required to temporarily discard his weapons when donning disguises in certain memories. The player cannot manually unequip his sword or dagger in any capacity during regular gameplay.