Ezio Auditore da Firenze

"I have lived my life as best I could, not knowing its purpose, but drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon; and here at last, I discover a strange truth. That I am only a conduit, for a message that eludes my understanding."

- Ezio Auditore, on his role as "the Prophet".

Ezio Auditore da Firenze is one of the main protagonists of the Assassin's Creed video game series. He was a Florentine nobleman during the Renaissance, and, unbeknownst to most historians and philosophers, the Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins, a title which he held from 1503 to 1513. He is also an ancestor to William and Desmond Miles, as well as Clay Kaczmarek.

He is voiced by Roger Craig Smith, who also voiced Sonic the Hedgehog.

Personality
Ezio was raised as a young Florentine nobleman, living during the 15th and 16th century. He was brought up without knowing of the Assassins' existence, or of his heritage. A seducer of women and a playful man, Ezio possessed acrobatic skills far beyond those of his peers, barring his brother.

He also 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 the Chinese Assassin, he explained that he wanted nothing more to do with the Assassin Order out of fear that the Templars would endanger his wife and children, presumably stemming from the deaths of his father and brothers.

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

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.

Equipment, Powers and skills

 * "Despite its age, its construction is rather advanced."
 * ―Leonardo da Vinci, commenting on Ezio's Hidden Blade.
 * Seemingly Inhuman Condition: Due to the decades of him constantly going through rigorous training, specialized diets, meditation & his iron willpower, he is physically advanced to the point where where the only assassin to evolve to practically superhuman limits. These seemingly inhuman physical abilities were lost after a several years of retirement, likely due to him not keeping rigorously active anymore.
 * Superior Strength: His strength is such that he is able to harm armored templars by punching them o their armored suit as well. One strike on their armored suit even kills most of them.
 * Superior Mobility: He has shown a great deal of mobility, agility & speed, as he could easily take on an army of opponents all by himself.He was able to kill many of them before they could even see him coming to them, as he moves with such great speed.
 * Superior Durability: He also has a great deal of durability, as an arrow shot to the chest barely stunned him for a moment. He was even able to land on his feet, after falling from several storeys, without any sighs of struggle or lack of comfort. Greater extents of his durability were when Rodrigo Borgia stabbed him in the stomach ad he endured the physical trauma to keep on to fight the Borgia. He was even capable surviving being shot multiple times and falls from great heights.
 * Superior Stamina: He can even fight an entire army without showing any signs of fatigue.
 * Superior Metabolism: His metabolism is also superior, as he recovered from being shot in the chest with an arrow within several moments. This has also allowed him to retain his inhuman physical prowess in his advanced age as well.
 * Eagle Vision:  He was born with the ability to use Eagle Vision, a form of supernatural senses. With this, Ezio could instinctively differentiate friend from foe. He could even detect faint auras which have been there for weeks and even have a psychometric sense.
 * Master Assassin: Ezio was both a highly skilled Assassin and an adept Mentor. He learned and developed a vast array of skills, such as picking pockets, blending into crowds, armed and unarmed combat, alternative or multiple weapon attacks, stealth and public assassination techniques, free-running and long-range combat.
 * Martial Artist: Due to his many years of war against the templars, alone, his combat skills developed to the point that, when combined with his seemingly inhuman strength & speed he was able to take own legions of templars without effort. This was seen during his arrival at Masyaf, as he was able to kill so many templar soldiers, some of the best trained fighters, without any effort. He has also an profound swordsman & marksman, which combined with his highly developed senses, made him a one man army.
 * Superior Athleticism: Like any Master Assassin, he is a remarkable free-runner, parkour master & mountaineering expert. These abilities combined with his seemingly superhuman strength & speed, made his acrobatic prowess far more profound than all the other Assassins, before and after him.
 * Escape Artist: He was able to escape after being held hostage by a legion of templars and even from a noose tied to his neck.
 * Leadership: During the events of the Renaissance, he took unofficial command of the remnants of the Brotherhood and transformed it into a powerful organization bent on creating peace through free will and destroying the Borgia Family and their Templar allies. Such leadership rendered his followers to declare him the Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood.
 * Gadgetry: He was also able to use a variety of weapons and gadgets, including two Hidden Blades, a sword, throwing knives, smoke bombs, short blade and many more. 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.
 * The Hidden Gun: His most prominent weapon was the Hidden Gun designed for him by Leonardo Da Vinci using a decoded version of Altair's Codex.
 * Apple of Eden: The Apple of Eden, a near-arcane piece of technology, which allowed him a few supernatural powers, most commonly confused for witchcraft and arcane magic.
 * Mind Control: He is able to use the Apple of Eden to mentally command many of Cesare Borgia's men into fighting each other or committing suicide.
 * Illusions Generation: He is capable of creating doppelgänger illusions to aid him. When he combated Rodrigo Borgia, who was armed with the Staff of Eden, Ezio used the Apple of Eden to create several copies of himself.
 * Nexus Access: He has access to the Nexus, allowing him access to the future. He was able to force Cesare's escape from prison. He even saw and sent a message to his soon to be future descendant Desmond Miles.