Ezio Auditore da Firenze

Origin

Ezio was born on June 24, 1459 to Giovanni and Maria Auditore, while he appeared stilborn at first he began to cry after some encouragement from his father and was dubbed a fighter. Ezio’s family was a rich one so he lead a life of luxury. His father was a prominent banker in Florence and Ezio himself was an apprentice to the Banker Giovanni Tornabuoni in order to learn the trade and possibly one day take over the Auditore Bank. Ezio was not the only child to his parents, his older brother Frederico Auditore da Firenze was 3 years older and was admitted to the Assassins Guild before Ezio even knew of the Guilds exsistance. Their younger sister Claudia and brother Petruccio round out the 4 Auditore children. At a young age, he saw his two brothers, alongside his father, getting murdered. They were hung by Uberto Alberti, who betrayed Giovanni. He received his training from his Uncle Mario, and it was Mario that convinced Ezio to become an assassin.

Character Creation

Ezio is one of the main protagonist in the Assassin’s Creed video game franchise. He was developed Ubisoft Montreal’s creative team. Ubisoft’s Entertainment controls the distribution of the character, and other media he appears in such as comics, novels, and films

Character Evolution

After the betrayal and death of his father and brothers, Ezio takes up his father’s mantle as an assassin and carries out his revenge on those who all but destroyed his family. Ezio managed to gather his skills by getting trained by his uncle, Mario, who not only teached him his skills, but the history of the Assassins’ order, his father’s history and the most important one, the Templars. Ezio shared a relationship with the beautiful lady known as Christina at the age of 17. After receiving his training by Mario, he later came back to Firenze for a mission, but at the same time discovered that Christina was married away. When he was in Venezia, he shared another relationship with a thief named Rose. Ezio became the leader of a new order of Assassins and built up their order in Rome, and their sole objective was to protect the free will of mankind from the Templars whose desire was to instill and order into mankind and bring about peace through the destruction of free will. When in Rome, he saw other people who were not afraid of the Borgia, and they fought back. At the same time, Ezio and Machiavelli needed more men, Ezio saw these people as being useful. Alongside this, the Borgia had taken over parts of Rome by fear and intimidation. The Borgia’s symbols were presenting the Borgia, and by destroying these symbols, Ezio could free those parts of the city who were influenced by the Borgia. After destroying these symbols, Ezio could recruit the people who fought back, and through this, he made them assassins, and not only did these assassins help create Rome a better place, but they helped to free other cities under the influence of the Templars. Later when in constantinopolis, he did the same thing to the people who weren’t afraid of the Templars. During his time in constantinopolis, there was another Italian women who he fell in love with and got a child with, her name being Sofia Sartor.

After completing his final quest of searching for his ancestor’s, Altair Ibn-La’Ahad, lost library Ezio retired from the life of an Assassin. He settled down in Tuscany, and at the age of 65 he died leaving behind his wife and daughter. Centuries after his death his descendant, Desmond Miles, would relive Ezio’s memories through a simulation machine known as the Animus in a quest to stop the Templars from once again from finding artifacts left behind by a mysterious race known as the first civilization and stop them from bringing about the end of the world.

During his time as an Assassin Ezio assassinated notable historic figures such as Cesare Borgia, and was allied by other historic figures such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli, and a young Suleiman I.

Major Story Arcs

Assassin’s Creed: The Fall

A statue of him could be found in “The Mentor’s” Dubai facility in the 21st century, alongside with other prominent Assassins.

In the behind the scenes video and on Ubiworkshops website, an Ubisoft affiliate, a four page preview shows Ezio preforming an assassination, before escaping. In the video they discuss that originally that Assassin’s Creed: The Fall was meant to detail an untold part of Ezio’s life. Eventually they scrapped the idea and went with the idea to tell a story about a new character and new location.

Assassin’s Creed: Desmond

After Desmond relives the memories of Altair, and escapes Abstergo, he goes with the Assassin’s into a warehouse where they have and animus identical to Abstergo’s. While there and in the company of the other Assassin’s such as Lucy Stiliman, Desmond begins reliving the memories of his ancestor Ezio. Ezio’s character design makes a cameo appearance.

Powers & Abilities

Ezio was both a highly skilled Assassin and an adept Mentor. He learned and developed a vast array of skills, such as pick-pocketing, blending, armed and unarmed combat, alternative or multiple weapon attacks, stealth and public assassination techniques, free-running and long-range combat.

He was also able to use a variety of weapons, including two hidden blades, a poison blade, a sword, throwing knives, a hidden gun, poison darts, and many more. He managed to get most of his weapons by Leonardo Da Vinci helping Ezio to fix them such as his father’s hidden blades, his poison blade and the hidden gun.

Although Ezio doesn’t have any powers, he is considered to be a demon by many people. His speed and strenght has been given to him by years of training, and pushing his body past the limit. Ezio’s speed and strength have been described being “given to him by the Devil”, as he has performed superhuman feats, putting his stats up to superhuman.

Born with the ability to use Eagle Vision, Ezio could instinctively differentiate friend from foe. After talking to his captive father, he later inherited his father’s Assassin robes, which he would upgrade with various armor and dyes throughout his life.

An explorer, throughout his quests, Ezio scoured the cities he visited in search of Codex pages and seals from the six Assassin’s tombs spread across northern Italy. The Codex pages allowed Leonardo da Vinci to upgrade his weaponry, including the addition of a wheellock firearm and poison needle concealed beneath his left hidden blade.

By collecting the six tomb seals, Ezio gained access to the armor Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad created, which was later lost during the Fall of Monteriggioni. Ezio wears an arm bracer, capable of taking multiple hits from blades and such. He also collected capes that had helped him stay incognito to city guards. The only exception to this was the cape bearing the Auditore family crest, which made him easily recognizable, due to his family’s history.

In 1500, during the Siege of Monteriggioni, Ezio lost most of his equipment, but was able to keep his original hidden blade. His hidden blade also underwent some alterations anonymously by Niccolò Machiavelli, though he merely replaced the former leather and metal bracer with a new, fully plated version bearing a different design. Also, the former blade was replaced with a newer one that bore a black tribal design running down the center of the blade.

During his time in Rome, Ezio’s usual attire would be replaced by a new outfit based on elements from both his father’s clothing and Altaïr’s robes. He became an adept user of the crossbow, and also obtained the Armor of Brutus after stealing all the scrolls from the Followers of Romulus. In addition, Ezio also acquired poison darts and parachutes, courtesy of Leonardo da Vinci.

Ezio had been a very skilled free-runner from a young age. He learned how to free-run under the tutelage of either his father or older brother, and was able to move quickly and efficiently in sprinting, climbing, and jumping. In addition, he was also an enduring athlete, being able to perform all these actions without being encumbered by his large variety of weapons and armor.

Despite his advancing years, Ezio Auditore skill and speed as a free-runner increased significantly, being aware of all of his surroundings as well as planning his next move very quickly and carefully, as observed by younger Assassins such as Francesco Vecellio.

Ezio’s speed and abilities gave him a legendary status among the Roman Thieves Guild, so far as going to convince some of the members to believe that Ezio’s free-running skills were exaggerated, and blatantly impossible for someone his age.

By 1511, Ezio still retained his athletic abilities and skill in combat. His Eagle Vision had evolved into Eagle Sense, enabling him to track enemies, determine targets, and find lost books around Constantinople. He acquired the hookblade from his fellow Master Assassin and close friend, Yusuf Tazim, and quickly mastered its utility in free-running and combat.

He also made use of bomb-crafting after it had been introduced to him by Yusuf and Piri Reis. After discovering the ten memoir pages of Ishak Pasha scattered across Constantinople, Ezio explored the Hagia Sophia and recovered his armor.

After he retired, Ezio’s physique degraded significantly. By 1524, Ezio’s stamina and agility had decreased to the point where he could barely run across his own grape field, whereas before he could sprint for three-hundred meters uninterrupted. If not for neglecting his training, then Ezio’s drastic physical deterioration was due to old age and illness, though he retained his heightened sense of awareness.

Even with his severe handicaps, Ezio was still able to overpower three Chinese swordsmen, who were presumably in peak condition, with only his fireplace poker. He was even able to use the poker as an improvised hookblade, using it to throw an attacker across the room before hurling it into his skull. However, Ezio was completely outmatched by the last enemy in terms of strength, and would have definitely been killed had the attacker not succumbed to the injuries inflicted by both Ezio and Shao Jun.

Ezio took quite a beating for a man his age during the assault on his Villa, and this may have contributed to his passing not long after Jun’s departure, though it is more likely that his heart simply could not handle the amount of stress he had gone through.

Personality and Characteristics

“Requiescat in Pace”

-Ezio Auditore-

Ezio came from an affluent background and had many friends until the deaths of his father and brothers drove him out of Florence. Forced to protect his mother and sister, Ezio became an Assassin, exacting revenge on the conspirators who had betrayed his family and plotted to seize both Florence and Venice.

Initially, Ezio allowed his emotions to get the best of him, going so far as to disrespect the corpse of Vieri de’ Pazzi just after his death. However, Ezio did manage to gain control of his anger and, by the time he had become a Master Assassin, could control it almost completely.That said, Ezio was still prone to losing control of his emotions at the right trigger; in 1506, he beat up Duccio de Luca in a fist-fight, after the latter had insulted Ezio’s sister, Claudia, for her position as the Madame of the Rosa in Fiore.

However, by the time Ezio confronted Rodrigo Borgia, he had become more dedicated to his role as an Assassin, ceasing to use revenge as a motivation. He became more focused on instilling a sense of fraternity among his apprentices, and a love of the cultures they would defend from the Templars He also spared the lives of any targets that he concluded had no need to die, such as Micheletto Corella.

Ezio was also passionately loyal to his family, and was pained for the rest of his life after the Auditore execution. While he was able to lay the bodies of his fallen family to rest, he continued collecting feathers during his time in Italy, as a remembrance of his youngest brother. The feather collection was part of what helped his mother recover from her depression at the loss of her sons and husband.

Ezio always put protecting his mother and sister above his safety and his allegiance to the Assassins, quick to defend his sister’s honor from Duccio, and always ready to help his mother, even when she was helping her daughter lead the courtesans in Rome. Claudia thought Ezio a bit overbearing at times, as shown by her journal, but knew that he was trying to help regardless, and stood by her brother with the Assassins.

Ezio became more quiet and distant during his late 40s, reluctant to share information regarding his early life with associates such as Salaì, but also being more open with those he knew better and cared for.

Near the end of his life, although he was still as loving and passionate when talking to his family, Ezio was far more gruff towards strangers such as Shao Jun. Although Ezio eventually warmed up to Shao Jun, he explained that he wanted nothing more to do with the Assassins out of fear that the Templars would endanger his wife and children (this fear probably stemmed, in part, from the deaths of his father and brothers).

It can even be said that Ezio had grown paranoid of strangers since, in comparison to previous seasons, he had not hired any help for the grape harvest despite his worsening condition. In addition, Ezio was shown to have grown somewhat forgetful, possibly increasing his uneasiness with strangers.

Ezio also seemed to be aware, or at least have a feeling, that his time was growing short, evidenced by his confession to Sofia, “I knew I would not have time to do everything, now I worry that I don’t have time to do anything,” as well as his preparation of a final letter in the event of his death.

Other Media

Movies

Assassin’s Creed: Lineage – A series of 3 short films taht set the stage foe Assassin’s Creed II, Primarly focusing on Giovanni Auditore.

Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance – A short animated film set in-between Assassins Creed II and Brotherhood, delving into Cesare Borgia’s backround

Assassin’s Creed: Embers – An animated short film that details the final days of Ezio Auditore’s life, his meeting with Shao Jun, and his death in Florence at the age of 65.

Novels

Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance – The novelization version of the game Assassin’s Creed II.

Assassin’s Creed: The Secret Crusade – A novel focusing on the story of Altair narrated by Niccolo Polo, the father of famed explorer Marco Polo. It is revealed at the end that Ezio is reading Niccolo Polo’s journal on his way to Constantinople.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – The novel version of Assassin’s Creed Revelations

Video Games

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands – Ezio’s Assassin’s Creed II cloak is a downloadable costume for the Prince.

Soulcalibur V – Ezio will appear as a guest character in game. His stroy has Ezio during his time on Brotherhood gaining an artifact that transports him to the Soulcalibur universe. Ezio will have full use of his Hidden Blades, Hidden Gun, Sword, Dagger, Crossbow, and Smoke Bombs.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Ezio’s outfit from Revelations can be equipped to Noel Kreiss.