We've seen a lot of Assassins spanning many different centuries within the Assassin's Creed franchise, but two, in particular, come to mind when we think of the best: Altair Ibn-La'Ahad of Levant, and Ezio Auditore da Firenze of Florence. Although the two men couldn't be any more different, both set a precedent for the strong bloodline of assassins that would come after them.
With the franchise reaching new milestones in recent releases like Origins and Odyssey, as well as the upcoming Assassin's Creed Valhalla, it's easy to forget just why Altair and Ezio drew us into this world of Templars and Assassins in the first place. Given that they're both legendary assassins, it can be difficult to say which one was the best between the two, but each has their own accomplishments that differentiate them not only from one another but any of the other Assassins that came after them.
10 Altair: First Assassin Fans Were Introduced To
No matter how many other assassins are introduced in Assassin's Creed's growing plethora of titles, Altair will always hold a special place in the hearts of many fans due to the fact that he was the very first assassin that they got to play as. In the beginning of Assassin's Creed 2, Desmond escaped Abstergo Industries, but it was the skills he inherited from Altair due to the Bleeding Effect that enabled him to do so.
9 Ezio: A Real Socialite
While Altair wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with, Ezio was something of a social butterfly during his time. He was no stranger to the beautiful women of Florence, and was friends with important historical figures like Christopher Columbus, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Italian statesman Lorenzo de' Medici. Besides Templars, there really wasn't anyone Ezio couldn't charm.
8 Altair: Endured The Death Of His Lover
Despite being affiliated with the Templars, Maria Thorpe later became one of the few people Altair ever spared, and soon after their first encounter, became his lover. During a coup against Altair, she was killed in his place. Despite having the Apple of Eden in his possession at the time of her death, Altair exercised great restraint, fleeing Masyaf without using the Apple's power to destroy everything around him. Not only did he understand that his actions fulfilled a bigger purpose, but he refused to descend into a spiral of rage and revenge the way that so many other assassins did when met with similar tragedies.
7 Ezio: Endured The Death Of His Family
While Altair was able to move on from the death of his lover, Ezio was forced to watch his fathers and brothers die. Though this set him on a quest for revenge against the Templar Order, he didn't allow his desires to consume him completely, and acted with both purpose & selflessness leading up to the moment in which he finally got to confront Rodrigo Borgia, the man who'd ordered the execution of his family members.
He refused to take Borgia's life, realizing that it wouldn't bring his family back, showing just how levelheaded he'd become as a result of his journey as an Assassin.
6 Altair: Redefined The Vision Of The Assassin Order
As Altair grew older, he sought to change the system that raised him. He set out to establish Assassin Guilds in other places, bringing him one step closer to creating an Order that lived amongst the people, protecting them from the Templar Order no matter where they reared their heads. Though he couldn't fulfill this vision in his lifetime, he served as the spark that led to the Assassin Order touching every continent by Connor's time.
5 Ezio: Impacted Many Countries
Given the fact that Ezio lived in a world that was more connected than Altair's, due to new developments in sailing technology, he was able to touch more nations besides Italy and the neighboring European countries. Most notably, he served as a mentor to the last remaining Assassin of the Chinese Brotherhood, Shao Jun, in her quest to not only restore her defunct order, but crush the Templars before they got the chance to cause more destruction across China.
4 Altair: Redesigned The Hidden Blade
While Assassins have used just about anything they can get their hands on as a weapon, their signature tool of choice is the Hidden Blade, which enables them to make swift kills without drawing too much attention to themselves. Originally, the Hidden Blade required an Assassin to surrender their ring finger to compensate for the blade's extension, but Altair redesigned it, ensuring that the Assassin Order tradition of nine-fingered Assassins would be a thing of the past.
3 Ezio: Gets More Playtime
Numbers don't lie, and in the case of Assassin's Creed, a series with over 30 games & counting (spin-offs and mobile titles included), it becomes a bit more important than usual to look at just who appears in these titles. Altair appears across many titles, like Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles, Bloodlines, Revelations, and briefly in Assassin's Creed II.
Ezio, on the other hand, puts Altair's appearances to shame. He's seen in Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed II: Discovery, Revelations, Brotherhood. Not only this, but he makes a guest appearance in Soulcalibur V, and even is the main character of the film Assassin's Creed: Embers, which revolves around Ezio's last days in retirement. There's a reason why fans were so willing to embrace Ezio's frequent appearances, as well as why Assassin's Creed: Ezio Trilogy was pushed out in order to give fans the full picture of this legendary Assassin's story.
2 Altair: Played A Role In Stopping Genghis Khan
Given that Assassin's Creed takes a huge amount of pride in its accurate depictions of the past, many Assassins interact with some of the most influential figures alive in their time, inserting themselves in a version of history that many fans definitely didn't learn in history class. In utilizing a Sword of Eden, Genghis Khan became an unstoppable force. If not for Altair and his allies heading out to stop him, he would've wreaked havoc with his establishment of the Mongol Empire.
1 Ezio: Spoke With Desmond
While Ezio accomplished much on his own, it wasn't long before he realized that his life served as a conduit for messages meant for Desmond. He understood that the Apple of Eden enabled the Assassins to communicate across centuries, and was able to address Desmond personally in a way Altair never figured out how to do. In a sense, he figured out his life's purpose, making all of the pain and suffering he endured worth it in the end.