Altaïr

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• Age: 25
• Weight: 170 lb (77 kg).

Altaïr
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, as he appears in Assassin's Creed.
Game series	Assassin's Creed
First game	Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles (2007)
Information
Nationality	Palestinian
Affiliations	Hashshashin

Altaïr (الطائر in Arabic, full name: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, pronunciation: Al Ta-Ir) is the main character and protagonist in the Assassin's Creed series of video games.^[1] His full name is Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad. He is an ancestor of Desmond Miles, and his memories are encoded into Miles' DNA. Abstergo Industries abducted Miles in order to run the Animus on him, which would decode his genetic structure and extract vital information from the memories of Altaïr, in a project bent on New World Order (which will lead to taking over the world by Templar Order)

He is a master assassin, capable of extraordinary acrobatic feats, and a member of the Hashshashin sect (also known as the origin for the word assassin, even though there were many assassins before this time). During the beginning of the game, he is demoted to "uninitiated", so he loses most of his abilities. His objective is to kill nine men who are involved in a conspiracy against the Holy Land, however his master isn't telling him that there were actually ten men involved. If he succeeds, he will be redeemed. Altaïr travels between the game's four cities (Jerusalem, Masyaf, Damascus, and Acre) and kills his victims with a variety of weapons.

The name Altaïr is an Arabic word, which means "the flyer", "the flying one" or "the bird". In recent interviews, the game's producer, Jade Raymond has stated that while in mid-air, Altaïr's shadow resembles that of an eagle. This is because of the design of his attire, which includes a point at the front of the hood (to resemble a beak) and cuts through the back of the outfit (to resemble tail feathers). The second part of his name, Ibn-La'Ahad means 'son of no-one', reflecting his mysterious origins. It has been revealed by Raymond that his father was a Muslim and his mother a Christian. Altaïr's appearance is strikingly similar to Desmond's because it's Desmond's mind recreating the events, there fore his appearance is used for Altaïr's. No one actually knows what Altaïr looks like.

His rebellious nature would lead to his demotion to an initiate, and would regain his rank as assassin by killing a list of 9 corrupt men in order to stabilize the region.

A few pieces of dialogue within the game hint that Altair was potentially in a relationship prior to the game with a woman named Adra, but has since become single, possibly due to the woman in question either missing or having left him (its indicated that she left, but whether it was leaving Altair, or for a mission was made unclear). Although this could actually be heard Adha, which is the woman who Altaïr saves in Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles, which is a prequel to Assassin's Creed. At the end of the game he finally kills Lord Basilisk, but Adha is taken away on a ship, and Altair vows to find her. The point of the game is to find "The Chalice", and you learn late in the game that the Chalice is actually Adha - so Altair does not know of her for quite a long time.

[edit] Equipment

Altaïr's most interesting weapon is a concealed dagger similar to that of a Katar used for close-range assassinations. It is mounted on the inside of his left hand gauntlet, and when deployed, extends between his middle and little fingers through the space left by his amputated ring finger. This amputation was part of the initiation for becoming an assassin of the Hashshashin sect.

Altaïr also uses a combination of throwing knives, a sword, a small dagger, and his fists. The throwing knives are very useful when taking down archers as you approach an assassination target. The sword is slower than the dagger but when attacking is much more powerful. The dagger is fast and light and can be used in tandem with the knives. Altaïr's weakest weapons are his fists. Although they attack the slowest, and are the weakest, enemys cannot block against his fists unless using fists as well. However, Altaïr cannot block either unless his opponent is using his fists as well. Altaïr also uses a special ability called "Eagle Vision" that lets him see the "auras" of people and their intentions. Guards appear in red, allies in blue, citizens with information in white and assassination targets in gold.

[edit] Appearances

Altaïr is the protagonist of the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC versions of Assassin's Creed and the novelization of the game. He is also the playable character in the Chronicles release for the Nintendo DS and the game for mobile phones. It is as yet unknown if he will appear in the rumored sequels to Assassin's Creed. His costume is also featured as an unlock-able camouflage in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which was first demonstrated in a April Fools trailer.

[edit] References

1. ^ Ryan Perez, "Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles: The Altair up There," GamePro 235 (April 2008): 40.