Premise The Assassin's Creed games primarily revolves around the rivalry between two ancient secret societies:

the Assassins and the Knights Templar, and their indirect relation to an ancient species pre-dating humanity, whose society, along with much of Earth's biosphere, was destroyed by a massive solar storm. The games' real-world chronological setting is the year 2012, and feature Desmond Miles, a bartender who is a descendant of several lines of prominent Assassins; though raised as an Assassin, he fled his nomadic family to seek out a more common lifestyle. He is initially kidnapped by the megacorporation Abstergo Industries, the modern-day face of the Knights Templar, who are aware of Desmond's lineage. Desmond is forced to use the "Animus", a device that allows him to experience hisancestral memories. Abstergo is seeking to discover the location of several artifacts, or "Pieces of Eden", that hold great power, to control mankind and alter its fate, bringing humanity into a single unified group. Desmond also encounters a small team of modern-day Assassins; agreeing to work with them, Desmond uses their version of the Animus (the Animus 2.0) to continue to experience the memories of his ancestors to discover the locations of additional Pieces of Eden so they can be recovered before Abstergo can do so. While experiencing these memories, some of their abilities are genetically leaked into Desmond, known as the Bleeding Effect, giving him some of the Assassin skills of his predecessors at the cost of living with multiple sets of memories and personalities in his mind. Within the Animus, Desmond explores the memories of a number of Assassins, includingAltar ibn-La'Ahad, an initially disgraced Assassin working to redeem himself during the Third Crusade; Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th centuries of the Italian Renaissance, and Ratohnhak:ton, otherwise known as Connor, a half-Mohawk, half-British Assassin during the American Revolution. Throughout these events, Desmond learns of allusions to the prophetic end of the world in 2012 from a former Animus test subject, Subject 16: the event turns out to be a repeat of the disaster which wiped out the ancient civilization, and he finds out that his memories hold the key to Earth surviving the second storm. During his experiences, Desmond is aided by holographic projections of three of the ancient race's rulers: Jupiter, Minerva and Juno. After Desmond dies to ensure Earth's survival, his memories, which have survived in cyberspace,[4] are accessed by Abstergo, which hires a new subject to enter the Animus. The new subject relives the memories of Edward Kenway, Conner Kenway's grandfather and a privateer-turned-pirate during the British colonial years.[5]

Assassin's Creed Main article: Assassin's Creed (video game) Desmond is captured by Abstergo and forced to use a machine called the Animus to explore Altar ibn-La'Ahad's memories during the time of the Third Crusade. Desmond begins to witness events after Altar breaks all three tenets of the Assassin Brotherhood while attempting to stop Robert de Sablfrom taking a Piece of Eden. Al Mualim, the Brotherhood's leader, demotes Altar to Novice and tasks him with assassinating the nine Knights Templars, including de Sabl, to regain his former status. Altar's quest eventually leads him to face de Sabl in the presence of King Richard I of England warning the King of de Sabl's plot to kill him. Altar defeats de Sabl, but with his last words, de Sabl reveals that there were ten Templars, the last being Al Mualim, who now holds the Piece of Eden. Altar returns to face Al Mualim, struggling to fight through the illusions created by the Piece, but eventually kills Al Mualim. When Altar recovers the piece, heand those watching the Animuswitness a holographic map showing locations across the globe where other artifacts are located. Desmond is pulled from the Animus, and was going to be killed, but his life is spared by Lucy Stillman, an Assassin working as a mole within Abstergo, as she claims they might need to further examine his memories later. He comes to learn that a former test subject had left messages only Desmond can see, foretelling of the end of the world in 2012. The first Assassin's Creed introduced elements that would remain cornerstones of the rest of the series. The game attempts to create historical versions of Masyaf (the Brotherhood's location), Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, and incorporates a number of documented historical figures into the story. The virtualized Animus system, free running, climbing, stealth, and parkour elements were all present in this title, as well as the initial formulation of the combat system. The player would have to complete a number of side quests before they would be able to obtain an assassin quest from a local Brotherhood guidemaster in each city, though future games would abandon this prerequisite. Assassin's Creed II Main article: Assassin's Creed II Lucy returns and breaks Desmond out of Abstergo, taking him to an Assassin safehouse and introduced to Shaun, a historian, and Rebecca, their technical support. Using an improved version of the Animus, Desmond takes witness to Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young nobleman from the late 15th Century in Florence, shortly before the execution of Ezio's father and brothers by order of a corrupt official working for the Templars. He and his mother and sister take to hiding at the Monteriggioni villa owned by his uncle Mario, who helps to train Ezio in the ways of an Assassin. Ezio and Mario discover that Rodrigo

Borgia is the figurehead of a number of Templars all who were accomplices in the execution of his family, and with help of allies like Leonardo da Vinci, methodically assassinate the lower-ranked Templars, while learning that Borgia has acquired a Piece of Eden called the Apple. Eventually, Ezio corners Borgia, who hands over the Piece and flees; Ezio is inducted into the ranks of the Brotherhood and believed to be a prophet based on their codex. A decade later, the Brotherhood learns that Borgia has since become Pope Alexander VI, using the Church's influence to strengthen the Templars. Ezio invades Vatican City and confronts Borgia, discovering that the Papal staff is also a Piece of Eden. Defeating Borgia but sparing his life, Ezio uses both the Apple and the Papal staff to reveal a chamber of ancient technology. Inside, he is addressed by a hologram of a humanoid female that calls herself Minerva who speaks directly to Desmond through Ezio. Minerva explains how her society had pre-dated humanity's, but a great disaster nearly wiped them out, and warns that another event is due to occur soon, putting the fate of humanity in Desmond's hands. At this discovery, Desmond and his allies find the safehouse has been compromised by Abstergo and flee. Similar to the first game, Assassin's Creed takes place in historical recreations of Venice, Florence, Forl, San Gimignano, and the Tuscan countryside, and incorporates events during that period as part of the story. Missions are divided into main story missions, themselves divided into memory sequences reflected points along Ezio's life, and side missions which can be accomplished at any time; this approach to mission structure remains consistent in the other games in the series. The Monteriggioni villa provides several functions which can be expanded on by paying money for upgrades of surrounding buildings, or by purchasing artwork, weapons, and costumes for the villa; in turn, the villa will generate wealth for the player at a rate influenced by the upgrades and acquisition of these items. Additional quests involve locating secret Assassin seals, and finding hidden marks left by "Subject 16", a former Animus user, that hint at the nature of Minerva's society.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Main article: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Desmond and his allies retreat to the ruins of the Monteriggioni villa, and Desmond reenters the Animus to continue Ezio's memories, specifically to identify the location of the Apple. After facing against Rodrigo Borgia, Ezio returned to Monteriggioni, but the villa is soon attacked by forces under the command of Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo's son. Mario is killed and the Apple is stolen. Ezio vows revenge by helping to free the people of Rome from the Borgia family. As Ezio works covertly to turn the city against the Borgias, he gains followers that want to join his cause, and Ezio trains them in the

way of the Assassins. In an attempt to assassinate Cesare and Rodrigo at the Castel Sant'Angelo, Ezio instead witnesses Cesare forcing his father to eat a poisoned apple that Rodrigo had prepared to kill his son. Ezio chases down Cesare and eventually captures him and recovers the Apple. Cesare is taken to prison in Viana, Spain but manages to escape with help of his allies. The Assassins lead the fight against Cesare and the remaining loyal Borgia troops, and eventually Ezio throws Cesare from the castle walls, killing him. With no perceived further threats, Ezio takes to hide the Apple under the Colosseum. In the present, Desmond is able to navigate through the underground chambers beneath the Colosseum to locate the Apple. As he picks it up, Desmond is witness to another hologram figure, calling herself Juno, and who controls Desmond to stab Lucy (because Lucy has defected to the Templars) before he falls into a coma. Brotherhood shares many of the same features as the previous game though it takes place primarily in Rome. Similar to the villa, the player is able to spend money to buy and upgrade shops and other facilities throughout the city as to increase revenue they can collect from it; however, the player will be required to destroy Borgia towers that control various sections of the city before they can do so. The Brotherhood of Assassins is introduced, by which, after saving citizens from certain events, the player can invite these citizens as Assassins; they can then be dispatched to remote locations across Europe to gain experience and money, or can be called in to help the player directly in a mission. For the first time in the series, the game features online multiplayer. Players play as Abstergo employees, who, through the use of the Animus, take on the genetic memories of Renaissance Templars in various game modes.[6]

Assassin's Creed: Revelations Main article: Assassin's Creed: Revelations Desmond comes to consciousness in a virtual area within the Animus, the Animus Island, where he meets the digital personality of Subject 16. Subject 16 explains that from the trauma of stabbing Lucy, Desmond must complete the memories of both Altar and Ezio to be able to separate his mind from theirs and to allow him to come out of his coma; however, doing so will destabilize the island as the Animus recovers that memory segment and at one point Subject 16 sacrifices himself to allow Desmond to continue. Desmond rejoins Ezio's story many years after Brotherhood, where Ezio is curious to the Assassin's origins and has traveled to Masyaf to locate their original headquarters. He finds Altar's library, though it is locked by five keys which the Templars are also seeking, believing there to be great power within it. Ezio travels to the Ottoman-era Constantinople where

the keys are said to have been hidden by explorer Niccol Polo, and finds the city embroiled by the feuding brothers Selim and Ahmet vying for the Sultanate, the Templars secretly behind the battle. While searching for the keys, Ezio meets and falls in love with Sofia Sartor. Eventually, Ahmet is revealed as the agent for the Templars, and is killed by Selim, who thanks Ezio for his help but banishes him from the city for his own good. Ezio - and through him, Desmond - uses the keys to witness Altar's memories following the death of Al Mualim. These show Altar having lost his wife and youngest son in the midst of acoup d'etat within the Assassins followed by a twenty-year self-imposed exile. Eventually, Altar returned to Masyaf, killed the usurper, and retook control. Near death, Altar inscribed the keys with his memories and gave them to his friend Niccol to hide at a distant location, before disappearing into his library forever. In Ezio's present, he and Sofia go to Masyaf and open the library to find Altar's corpse and the Piece of Eden he possessed. Ezio leaves the Piece as well as his assassin tools, and speaks directly to Desmond, knowing he was only a conduit for him, and hopes he finds the answer he needs. Desmond is then approached by another holographic figure, Jupiter, who explains that their society had tried to use technology to stop the destruction of the earth's surface by a massive solar flare but failed, but they had stored their repository of knowledge in several vaults linked to a central vault which Desmond must use to stop another similar flare that will occur soon; Desmond recognizes the location in New England. Desmond wakes up from his coma, finding Rebecca, Shaun, and to his surprise, his father William, there. After learning that Lucy died from his stabbing, he informs of the location in New York, the Temple that will save humanity. Revelations includes many new systems, including additional weapons. Bomb-crafting is now available, allowing the player to create explosive, distraction and tactical bombs, using materials found throughout the world and on Assassin's Guild missions. As the player progresses through, Ezio can train new recruits to defend "dens" (Assassin HQs) and an upgraded Assassin's missions section called "Mediterranean Defense" in which the player works to strip control of various cities from Templar hands. The hookblade is also introduced, which can be used in free-running (to travel along zip wires and climb more easily) and in combat (to manipulate enemies). Eagle Vision has been upgraded to Eagle Sense, which allows Ezio to not only see where his enemies and targets are but where they have been and where they are going to be. The multiplayer mode returns in Revelations, this time with more characters, modes, and maps, and by advancing up through levels of experience, the player learns more about Abstergo's history.

Assassin's Creed III Main article: Assassin's Creed III Desmond and his allies arrive at the Temple entrance in a cave in the New York area on October 31, 2012, and open its door using the Apple Of Eden, discovering a larger chamber of Precursor technology behind it, including another door requiring a key. Desmond suddenly falls into a fugue state, and is put into the Animus. There, he experiences the memories of a halfMohawk, half British man named Ratonhnhak:ton (/rdunhedun/; "Ra-doon-ha-kaydoon"),[7] later dubbed Connor (Achilles calls him this in memory of his dead son), who lived through the American Revolution, as well as Connor's father, Haytham Kenway, who is later revealed as a British agent of the Templars. Kenway had gone to the Colonies in America with a stolen medallion, recruited Templar allies including Charles Lee, and worked to gain the trust of the Mohawk people to get them to show him the location of the Temple, but to his annoyance, the medallion did not open the Temple for him. Connor, as a young boy, witnesses Lee and his troops set fire to his village, killing his mother; years later, he is shown a Piece of Eden, through which Juno speaks to him and instructs him to get training from Master Assassin Achilles Davenport. Achilles takes Connor and teaches him about Assassins and introduces him to Patriots in the Revolution, through which Connor stops several Templar plans to disrupt their efforts including an assassination attempt against George Washington. During these memories, Desmond does recover from the fugue state, and helps his allies to recover power sources to power the Temple scattered about the globe, including one held by Abstergo. Connor eventually encounters his father, but Kenway offers a cease fire, as he is also after Benjamin Church for usurping his authority. During their investigation, Kenway warns Connor that the Patriots, worried of the allegiance of the various tribes to the British, are seeking to remove Connor's people from their lands. Connor eventually hunts Lee down and kills him, taking the medallion and ending the Templar threat. He is despondent to find his tribe's village abandoned save for the Piece of Eden; through it, Juno tells him to bury the amulet. As December 21 approaches and signs of the solar flare begin to ensue, Desmond and his allies find the buried medallion, and use it at the inner Temple door, behind which is a control sphere. Juno appears and encourages Desmond to touch it, but Minerva appears and warns him to stop it, warning that this will release Juno as an entity that may protect against the solar flare but will be a threat to mankind in the future. Juno counters, explaining that Minerva would rather have most of humanity wiped out, with Desmond safe in the Temple to emerge as a religious figure to lead the survivors but ultimately leading into conflict. Desmond opts to release Juno, believing humanity will have a better chance fighting Juno. As his body is wracked by energy from the control

sphere, an aurora surrounds the Earth and protects it from the solar flare. Juno tells the now fallen Desmond that his work is now done, and now it is time for her to do her work. Assassin's Creed III is structured similarly to the previous games, with missions taking place on an open-world map based on Colonial Boston and New York, and offers a large wilderness area, the Frontier and in the Davenport Homestead, where the player can hunt animals for materials, which then subsequently can be used to construct goods to be traded and sold throughout the colonies. Naval battles were introduced, wherein the player must steer a warship named Aquila in dangerous waters and perform ship-to-ship combat with cannons and mounted guns. In Assassin's Creed III there are a large assortment of mini missions to play and many different outfits to purchase as the player progresses through the game. The modern-day aspects of the story were also significantly expanded, and featured missions taking place in, among other locations, Manhattan, Rome and Brazil.