|
Assassin's Creed 2 - Characters (posted 8/27/2010)
I must confess to having never played Assassin's Creed II, and thus the above street scene may have naught in common with the esteemed game itself. Alas, yon characters 'twere based on pictures gathered from the treacherous depths of the World Wide Web.
Grieve not o'ermuch for our unfortunate guardsmen here, fodder for an assassin's blade, for they wield steel not in duty to God and country, but instead for mammon, the all-corrupting love of coin. At least, our humble author assumes they might, for in Italy at this time, mercenaries were the norm, led by the avaricious condottieri warlords. In the words of Niccolò Machiavelli: "Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy." - Machiavelli, The Prince (1532)
And here we have our Italian civilians. On the far right stands Ezio Auditore da Firenze, our protagonist, perhaps in simpler times. Beside him stands a priest - probably corrupt, if I may guess, considering the series we are discussing. Then there are male and female civilians and a... mercenary? Thug? Something along those lines. It looks as if he is about to ram a massive cheese-knife lengthways into an unsuspecting ribcage. Heroic work, judging by the game in question.
But as a Renaissance Italian, our Ezio naturally has a sense of fashion. Here are just a few of his many outfit colors. I must confess a bit of annoyance at one of the early trailers for Asassin's Creed 2, however... In one of them, we see Ezio stalking moodily about a masquerade party, in which all of the nobles are wearing their festive costumes and masks. Now, I ask you what better setting to carry out a discreet assassination than when everyone is wearing masks? But does our Ezio decide to change his dress just this once to seize such a golden chance? No, no - he just walks up and performs his murder in the same garish garb as always. One would think that, over the centuries, the guards would learn to just stab anyone with a beaked hood, large gauntlets, and a thick belt bearing an occult emblem oddly reminiscent of a staple remover.
*ahem* Anyway, here are a few more pictures of Ezio as compared to his predecessor Altair. I'm sure everyone has a favorite. Not me, I'm impartial. My favorite Assassin's Creed character is still King Richard.... but that's just me.
Decals
|
