Our top 5 assassinations. SPOILER: They involve stabbing.
Assassin’s Creed is an incredibly unique video game series in the sense that it’s so closely linked with history. Every assassination target that finds themselves on the wrong end of your hidden blade is, or more appropriately was, a real person. Ubisoft smartly plucked figures from the depths of history who played influential parts in the crusades and the renaissance – less-than-pleasant people whose circumstances of death remain a matter of uncertainty. Enough uncertainty to float the idea that just maybe they were offed by certain hooded figures. With the release date of Assassin’s Creed 3 creeping ever closer, we take a look back at some of the coolest assassinations featured in the series yet.

Spoilers ahead, but if you haven’t played these games yet, where have you been!?

1. Garnier de Naplouse – Assassin’s Creed

Appointed as the 9th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller under Richard the Lionheart in 1190, we also discover that de Naplouse is a member of the Knights Templar, thanks to information from Master Assassin Al Mualim. Thrust into the trusty boots of Altäir, we’re tasked with hunting down the devious doc as he’s “tending” to his patients. Upon locating de Naplouse, we witness an escaped patient who’s been caught by guards screaming the disturbing truth –  to paraphrase, the doc’s bedside manner is a little off . Upon hearing this, de Naplouse demands the guards break the poor man’s legs, so that he can’t escape again, leaving us with no concern as to where to stick our hidden blade. Goodnight doc.

2. Sibrand – Assassin’s Creed

Master Sibrand was the leader of the Knights Teutonic: a military order that took part in the third crusade. He was also, as you may have guessed, a secret member of the Templar Order. Another name on Al Mualim’s list of rogues, we discover the paranoid military leader publicly accusing a priest of being an assassin: “You wear the same robes!”. After witnessing Sibrand casually slaughter the innocent man, we watch him march off onto his ship, as the body of the priest is callously tossed into the sea. As Altäir, we hop over rowing boats and wooden moorings, creeping unseen around the edges of guard-infested ships – it’s one of the trickier assassinations due to Altäir’s inability to swim. Eventually we reach our man wildly launching arrows, convinced you’re near. To be fair to him, he’s right, but he doesn’t get long to process it once his neck’s all filled with sharp metal.

3. Vieri De Pazzi – Assassin’s Creed 2

We first meet Ezio, the hero of Assassin’s Creed 2, scrapping on the streets against fellow young noble Vieri De Pazzi after De Pazzi tries to sexually assault a love interest – not a nice guy then. Tension builds up between the families of the two young men (Ezio’s father has incriminating evidence against Vieri’s father) and soon culminates into a street fight. Punches are thrown, and threatening exchanges are made before both gangs scuttle off into the night. Time passes as it so often does in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and, after the death of his father and two brothers at the hands of the Templars, Ezio discovers his true legacy: to become an assassin. Guess whose family turns out to be a bunch of evil Templars! 2 years later, as Vieri De Pazzi is left in charge of his mercenaries in San Gimignano, Ezio picks his moment to strike. Scrambling across the walls of the city, we find the coward shouting abuse but still in the protection of two guards. Ezio makes short work of them, and shuts the arrogant Vieri up once and for all – one of the more satisfying assassinations in the series.

4. Rodrigo Borgia – Assassin’s Creed 2 & Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Borgia is the main antagonist of Assassin’s Creed 2. The man who masterminded the framing of Ezio’s father, and the chief Templar, it’s obvious that he needs to be gotten rid of. After offing his allies throughout AC2, you finally get a chance to take down the newly crowned pope while he’s holding mass in the Sistine Chapel. Of all the people NOT to become pope, Borgia is top of the list, but hey, that’s history for you. A huge assassination pounce from the scaffolding above should see Borgia finished, right? Instead, thanks to his Piece of Eden (the Papal Staff) Borgia rises once more. Thus ensues an epic fight between Ezio & Borgia, which leads to Ezio’s Apple of Eden and Borgia’s Papal Staff combining to reveal the secrets of the vault to Ezio as Borgia escapes. Though technically not an assassination, Ezio still comes out on top and it’s a truly great moment in the series, so we’re counting it. Besides, Rodrigo Borgia eventually finds himself dead at the hands of our next target, his own son.

5. Cesare Borgia – Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

The son of Rodrigo Borgia, Cesare was also a Templar – like father, like son. After becoming Captain General of the Papal armies, the arrogant, power-mad Cesare planned to overthrow his father and take control of Rome. In 1500, he lead an assault on Monteriggioni, Ezio’s home and the assassin’s HQ. After killing Ezio’s uncle Mario, Cesare taunts him and tells Ezio he’ll be in Rome. On the hunt in 1503, Ezio witnesses the dispute between Cesare and his father Rodrigo Borgia, which ultimately ends in the death of Rodrigo.

It’s 4 years later that Ezio finally gets to exact his revenge at the Siege of Viana. After chasing Cesare through the battlefield and along the castle wars, we catch up with him. Fending off several guards that come to his rescue, we finally wear Cesare down and attempt to stab him with the hidden blade which, unfortunately, he dodges and snaps off. As the fight wears on we lose our second blade, and when we finally push Cesare to breaking point, Ezio tells him “I will leave you in the hands of fate”, before promptly pushing him off the castle wall to his inevitable death. More like leaving him in the hands of gravity there, Ezio, but hey -whatever you say, you’re the assassin.

So there’s our top 5. There have been countless other breathtaking assassinations in the series so far, and we could relive them all day.

Will Assassin’s Creed 3 live up to its predecessors and supply top quality asshole-killing at the hands of Connor Kenway? From what we’ve seen so far, the answer is a resounding yes.

Assassin’s Creed 3 is out on the 31st October on PS3 and Xbox 360, coming to PC and Wii U later.