Garnier de Naplouse

"Do you appease a crying child, simply because he wails? "But I want to play with fire, father." What would you say? "As you wish"? Ah, but then you'd answer for his burns."

―Garnier de Naplouse, criticizing the Assassins' fight for freedom, 1191.

Garnier de Naplouse (c. 1147 – 1191) was a doctor and the 10th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier in Acre. While appearing to serve the needy, he was a secret member of the Levantine Templars, using his medical authority to subject innocent citizens—many kidnapped from Jerusalem—to cruel experiments within the walls of the Hospitalier Fortress.

Garnier was the second target assigned to the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, in his pursuit of redemption, as part of a wider purge of all the Templar leaders. Like his fellow Templar brothers, his death was mandated by the Assassin leader Al Mualim, who sought to secure the Apple of Eden by eliminating those privy to the Templars' secret alliance and their attempts to simulate the artifact's power.

Biography

Grand Master of the Hospitaliers

Altaïr: "You truly believe you were helping them?"

Garnier: "It's not what I believe, it's what I know."

—Garnier's final words to Altaïr, 1191.

Garnier was the tenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier, a monastic order founded after the First Crusade, who established its first infirmary near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. At first, the order cared for pilgrims, but soon made sure armed guards prevented the pilgrims from being harmed. This escorting force was built up dramatically, and became a dominant Christian group along with the Knights Templar. Garnier began his service with the order in 1177, as a commander of the hospital in Jerusalem, and was promoted a decade later.

Garnier was exiled from France for the cruel and inhumane treatment of his patients, who he saw less as people, and more as experiments on whom to try the latest cures. The price of knowledge was never too high for him, even if it had to be paid with another man's blood. For a time, he was a resident of Tyre, but he quickly returned to his habits of human experimentation, eventually leading to his expulsion from this city as well. Since Garnier's family had contributed a significant amount of money to King Richard I's war efforts, he was thereafter harbored and protected in Acre.

Following the siege of Acre, Garnier was granted jurisdiction of the Poor District in Acre. There, he set up his base of operation at the Hospitalier hospital, and continued his brutal experiments. To mask the truth, a herald was tasked with proclaiming that the doctor was a peerless man of medicine who worked tirelessly to serve and save the people. This propaganda was specifically designed to keep the public from revolting by providing them with hope and making them eager for his treatment. Despite this propaganda, rumors of his horrific work spread throughout the city, causing civilians to fear and avoid the hospital as a place of suffering rather than healing.

Garnier de Naplouse commanded the Hospitalier fortress, surrounding himself with a cadre of loyal guards whom he claimed to have "freed" from the prisons of their own minds. In truth, these former madmen were subjects of his experiments, transformed into obedient servants through his chemical treatments. While Garnier permitted his patients to roam the halls of the fortress freely, he maintained strict secrecy over his personal workspace, granting access only to authorized scholars, while the rooftops were heavily defended by archers. To ensure total control and suppress dissent, he employed brutal methods of intimidation, such as ordering the legs of patients who attempted escape to be broken as a warning to the rest of the facility.

Secretly a member of the Levantine Templars, Garnier collaborated closely with his brethren to further their vision of a New World. He relied on the slave trader Talal in Jerusalem to provide a steady stream of subjects for his research, allowing the doctor to avoid arousing suspicion in Acre by experimenting primarily on foreigners kidnapped from another city. Additionally, his operations were sustained by arms and armor supplied by a merchant from Damascus, Tamir. Following the Templars' loss of the Apple of Eden to the Assassins, Garnier communicated his concerns to Grand Master Robert de Sablé, fearing their plans would be discovered before they had the chance to act. Deprived of the artifact, the doctor turned to local flora as a substitute, developing herbal mixtures to simulate the influence of the Apple of Eden. However, he noted that the effects were only temporary and subjects tended to develop a resistance, requiring increased dosages that eventually resulted in their deaths.

Death

Altaïr: "Let go your burden."

Garnier: "Ah, I'll rest now, yes. The endless dream calls to me. But before I close my eyes, I must know – what will become of my children?"

—Garnier to Altaïr, inquring about his patients' fates, 1191.

In 1191, the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad infiltrated the fortress to eliminate the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitalier. During the infiltration, a terrified patient attempted to flee the hospital, only to be apprehended by Garnier's guards near the entrance. Garnier personally intervened, initially attempting to soothe the man with calm words, but the patient had a violent outburst, accusing the doctor of "taking souls." Viewing the man's defiance as a sign that he was not yet "cured," Garnier ordered his guards to break the patient's legs to prevent any further escape attempts.

Altaïr assassinating Garnier

When Garnier dismissed the horrified crowd and returned to his work, the Assassin stealthily made his way inside the hospital, and located the doctor. Altaïr then took the doctor's life with his Hidden Blade. In his last moments, Garnier remained steadfast in his convictions, claiming he had acted out of love for his "children"—the dregs of society he had dragged from sewers, brothels, and prisons.

Garnier maintained that his experiments were a noble effort to repair damaged minds, utilizing herbal mixtures in the absence of the Apple of Eden. He pointed to his guards as proof of his success, asserting they were formerly madmen whom he had freed from the prisons of their own minds, and he lamented that they and the other patients would likely revert to their former madness upon his death. When Altaïr questioned whether he truly believed he was helping them, the doctor's final words were, "It's not what I believe, it's what I know." Following the assassination, Altaïr escaped the fortress and returned to the local Assassin bureau to report his success.

Personality and traits

"The doctor insisted his work was noble. And looking back, those who were supposedly his captives seemed grateful to the man. Not all of them, but enough to make me wonder. How did he manage to turn enemy into friend?"

―Altaïr reflecting on Garnier's work after his death, 1191.

Garnier talking to an escaped patient

Garnier operated under the firm conviction that he was a man of mercy, dedicated to the healing of those within his hospital. He did not perceive his experiments as cruel or unjust, instead viewing them as a necessary effort to repair minds he considered damaged or broken. Adopting the role of a benevolent father figure, he referred to his patients as his "children," comparing his brutal treatments to a father stopping a child from playing with fire; though the child might suffer or scream in the moment, it was for their own ultimate protection.

Despite the evident suffering within the hospital, Garnier maintained a twisted form of empathy, claiming in private correspondence that the loss of any patient "broke his heart." He remained convinced that he provided a sanctuary for the dregs of society, arguing that he had rescued his subjects from the indignity of sewers, brothels, and prisons, providing them with the only true "home" they could know. This conviction was so absolute that he faced his own death without fear, maintaining the righteousness of his work until his final breath. His methods of control were so effective that some of his subjects appeared to show genuine gratitude toward him, a phenomenon that caused even his assassin to question the nature of the doctor's influence.

He often wore black robes with an apron that was stained from the blood of the patients who had been involved in his experiments. He had a small leather belt around his waist, which held up a small pouch, and he usually carried his sword around with him for protection. He was of average height and weight, with signs of aging, such as wrinkles and balding being prominent in his appearance.

Trivia

• Garnier de Naplouse is a historical character in Assassin's Creed, in which he was voiced by French actor Hubert Fielden.
• Historically, Garnier fought at the Battle of Arsuf and died in 1192, while in the game, he dies before the battle takes place in 1191.
• The historical Garnier was about 45 years old at the time of his death, but in Assassin's Creed he appears to be much older, likely in his sixties.
• In the non-canonical Assassin's Creed mobile game adaptation, Garnier is depicted wearing full battle armor and a white surcoat with a red cross of the Templars, making no effort to hide his secret affiliation.
• In the mobile game, he must be defeated in a boss fight, during which he will swing on the ceiling with a grappling hook and occasionally drop down to try and impale Altaïr with his sword. If Altaïr successfully dodges his attacks, Garnier's sword will become embedded into the ground, giving the player a few seconds to attack him while he is preoccupied with pulling it back out. After losing more than half his health, he begins charging his attacks, such that each time he plunges it downwards, his sword unleashes a wave of destructive energy. Once his health reaches critical levels, Altaïr will wrestle with Garnier to slit his throat with his Hidden Blade. After his death, Altaïr obtains Garnier's grappling hook for his own usage.

Gallery

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  Altaïr witnessing Garnier's interrogation of a patient
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  Altaïr observing Garnier
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  Garnier's final moments

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed II (flashback only)
• Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade