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Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (Template:Lang-ar, meaning "The Bird, Son of No One") is a fictional character in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game series, a Syrian master assassin who serves as the protagonist of the games set in the late 12th and early 13th century. He first appears as the main playable character of the original Assassin's Creed game, which takes place during the Third Crusade in 1191. His later appearances include the spin-offs Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles and Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, and the sequels Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Revelations (in which he is playable only during cetrain sequences).

Altaïr is an ancestor (on the maternal side) of Desmond Miles, the protagonist of the modern-day portions of the first five main games. Born to assassin parents in 1165, he has been a member of the Assassin Order for most of his life, beginning his training at a young age and rising to the rank of master assassin by his mid-20s. While very arrogant in his younger years, Altaïr managed to overcome his flaws and become one of the most skilled and wisest assassins to have ever lived. After being forced to kill his mentor, Al Mualim, for betraying the assassins, he succeeded him as leader of the Assassin Order and worked to reform it. During his later journeys, Altaïr made several important discoveries that would benefit future generations of assassins, for which he would be remembered as a legendary figure within the Order. Near the end of his life, Altaïr built a vault underneath the assassin's base in Masyaf to store his knowledge, as well as his most powerful artifact, the Apple of Eden, before sealing himself inside with it. The vault and Altaïr's remains wouldn't be discovered until centuries later, in 1512, by the Italian assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

The character has been generally well received, with most of the praise directed at his skills as an assassin and growth throughout the series. However, some reviewers were critical of Philip Shahbaz's performance as Altaïr and the character's lack of backstory in the first game, which they felt made him two-dimensional and difficult to care about.

Fictional character biography

Altaïr was born in 1165 to Umar Ibn-La'Ahad, an Arab Muslim assassin, and his wife, Maud, who died of complications during childbirth. Umar was later executed by the forces of Saladin when he was revealed to have participated in a disastrous mission to assassinate the ruler, which resulted in Umar killing a nobleman who had caught him. He allowed himself to be executed and the last thing he heard was the voice of his son crying for him. It would later be revealed that another assassin, Ahmad Sofian, who had accompanied Umar, was to be executed in his place. Unable to live with the guilt of causing the death of a fellow Assassin, Ahmad apologized to Altaïr before committing suicide in front of him. Ahmad's son, Abbas, was led to believe that his father had left the Assassin Order, so when Altaïr eventually confessed the truth about what had actually happened, Abbas refused to believe him and grew distrustful of him.

After his father's death, Altaïr was taken in by Al Mualim, the Mentor of the Assassin Order, who raised and trained him at the Masyaf Castle, the Assassins' headquarters. By the time he was 24 in 1189, Altaïr had lost his ring finger (in accordance to the Assassins' creed) and was more skilled than most of his fellow assassins. A flashback from Assassin's Creed: Revelations shows the events leading to Altaïr's promotion to Master Assassin. In 1189, the Templars attacked Masyaf and took Al Mualim hostage, aided by an Assassin turncoat named Haras. Altaïr killed Haras and saved Al Mualim, earning his and the other Assassins' respect.

The mobile spin-off Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles takes place one year after this, in 1190, and depicts Altaïr's quest for an artifact called the Chalice, which is said to have the power to end the Third Crusade. During his journey, he discovers that "the Chalice" is in fact a woman named Adha, whom he had known and had feelings for, and that the Templars are also after her. Although Altaïr manages to kill the Templar leader, Lord Basilisk, he is unable to stop Adha from being captured and subsequently executed. Adha's death greatly infuriated Altaïr, and he swore revenge against everyone responsible.

In 1191, during the events of the original Assassin's Creed, Altaïr is sent on a mission to Solomon's Temple to recover a hidden artifact from the Templars: the Apple of Eden. The mission is a failure, and Altaïr breaks the tenets of the Order, leaving his fellow Assassins to face the Templars alone after a confrontation with the Templar grandmaster, Robert de Sablé. Altaïr flees to Masyaf to report his failure but is followed, resulting in Masyaf being attacked by the Templars. The Assassins are able to fend off their enemies, but Al Mualim opts to punish Altaïr by stripping him of his rank and sending him on a mission to assassinate nine Templars across the Holy Land. Altaïr successfully eliminates his first eight targets, but when attempting to kill the last, Robert himself, he is tricked with a decoy: a woman named Maria Thorpe. Altaïr spares Maria after she reveals that Robert is meeting with King Richard I to negotiate an alliance between the Crusaders and Saracens against the Assassins, and ultimately kills Robert, foiling his plan. Before dying, however, Robert reveals that Al Mualim betrayed the Assassins and allied with the Templars to obtain the Apple, only to then betray them as well in order to keep the Apple for himself. Returning to Masyaf, Altaïr is forced to fight through his fellow Assassin being controlled by the Apple before confronting Al Mualim, who tries to use illusions to fight him, but is ultimately defeated. With Al Mualim dead, Altaïr tries to destroy the Apple, but instead unlocks a map showing the locations of other Piece of Eden around the world.

In another flashback from Assassin's Creed Revelations, immediately after Al Mualim's death, Altaïr cremates his body and decides to take over as Mentor of the Assassin Order, hoping to fix the damage Al Mualim had done. However, Abbas opposes the idea and steals the Apple from Altaïr, but is unable to bear its power, forcing Altaïr to retrieve it before it kills him. After this, Altaïr convinces his fellow Assassins about his ability to lead the Order and is formally elected Mentor.

After these events, Altaïr eventually began to study the Apple, and recorded his findings in a journal known as the Codex. He also married Maria, after he convinced her to defect to the Assassins. He had two sons, Darim and Sef Ibn-La'Ahad. During this time, Altaïr used what he had learned from the Apple to create new techniques and innovations for the Assassins to use. He later journeyed in 1222 to Xingqing in Western Xia, China, with Maria, Darim and Qulan Gal to assassinate Genghis Khan. They returned ten years later to discover that Abbas, Altaïr's rival, had usurped control of the Order. Abbas tried to force Altaïr to give him the Apple, revealing that Sef had been executed and told that Altaïr had ordered it. Angered, Altaïr used the Apple but Maria told him to stop, resulting in her being stabbed by one of the Assassins loyal to Abbas. Altaïr and Darim fled Masyaf and Altaïr fell into a deep depression. Years later Altaïr retook the Order with the help of Assassins led by Tazim Al-Sayf, the son of Malik.

He began rebuilding the Brotherhood, splitting it up into small "guilds" located around the world and began construction of a large library hidden under Masyaf, sealed by five keys containing his memories. When Venetian explorers, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo arrived in Masyaf after they were invited by Altaïr and Darim, he told them of his experiences and put into action his idea of dividing the Assassins into smaller groups with their help. Later, Masyaf was attacked by Mongols and Altaïr helped the explorers escape by using the Apple to fend off the attackers. He then divided his books by giving some to the Polos and sending some to Alexandria. He also gave the Venetians the memory keys to the library, before sealing himself into the library along with the Apple after saying goodbye to Darim. While in the library, Altaïr recorded one last memory on a key he kept with him and died moments after. His remains were found centuries later by the 16th-century assassin, Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Other appearances

• In Academy of Champions: Soccer, Altaïr appears as a playable character.
• In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Altaïr's outfit is available with the "Lost Archive" DLC and he appears as a playable character in certain missions.
• In Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Altaïr's outfit is unlockable through a UPLAY download.
• In Assassin's Creed III, Altaïr's outfit is available by completing all of the constraints in the main story.
• In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Altaïr's outfit is unlocked by having Uplay data from one of the previous Assassin's Creed titles (it does not matter which previous AC title it is, only that there is Uplay data of a past Assassin's Creed game present). Altaïr's Swords, an Altaïr themed ship figurehead, and Altaïr themed sails can be obtained via the DLC "Crusader & Florentine pack". In the present day, an Abstergo Entertainment market analysis on Altaïr can be found via hacking computers. The Market Analysis reveals Abstergo was looking into the possibility of using Altaïr as a role model for Abstergo's outreach programs, but found his habit of flouting his cultures taboos (demonstrated by video of him burning Al Mualim's body) and passed on using Altaïr instead deciding to focus on fellow Assassin Abbas Sofian whose character they found more suitable for their purposes.
• In Assassin's Creed Unity, Altaïr's outfit can be unlocked using the mobile phone companion app to open a chest which has the outfit inside it.
• In Assassin's Creed Origins, Altaïr's outfit can be unlocked through as a UPLAY reward.
• In the video game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, player character Solid Snake can disguise himself with Altaïr's outfit.
• In the video game Prince of Persia (2008), Altaïr's outfit is unlockable for the Prince to wear.
• Altaïr's outfit also appears in the video game Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.
• In the video game The Saboteur, the player can obtain an Altaïr trophy.
• In the video game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, there is an Easter egg which shows a dead assassin (which resembles Altaïr) in a haystack.
• Altaïr's outfit appears as an outfit for Noctis in the "Assassin's Festival" DLC for Final Fantasy XV.
• Altaïr's outfit appears as a Mii Sword fighter costume available via DLC for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• Altaïr's likeness was used for a line of Assassin's Creed character-themed wine labels as part of a joint collaboration between Ubisoft and winemaker Lot18 in 2018; the full name of his label is "2017 Altaïr Ibn-La’ahad Loire Valley IGP Cabernet Franc".

Reception

The character was generally well received. In 2008, The Age ranked Altaïr as the fourth greatest Xbox character of all time, declaring "Not everybody was overly enamoured with Assassin's Creed, but we have nothing but respect for its protagonist ... If everything about the game he inhabited had been as polished and brilliant as him, we certainly would have felt very differently about Assassin's Creed." The 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition lists the character as the 30th most popular video game character. He was voted as the ninth top character of the 2000s decade by Game Informer's readers.

IGN nominated and gave the award Altaïr for their "Stars' 2007 Badasssss!" award. In 2008, Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar ranked him as the sixth best assassin in gaming, stating "Cool talents aside, Altaïr's a pretty compelling character in his own right, gradually growing out of his arrogant-prick phase to become more noble and altruistic. And as he does, he begins to actually question the morality of what he's doing, something few of the other assassins on this list ever do." That same year, IGN's Jesse Schedeen listed Altaïr as one of the fighters they would have in their ultimate fighting game, saying he was a slightly more realistic and efficient version of the Prince from Prince of Persia. In 2009, he ranked first on FHM's list of most memorable hitmen in gaming. Although Altaïr ultimately did not make the cut, Game Informer staff considered his inclusion in their "30 characters that defined a decade" collection, with Joe Juba saying, "Altaïr's rise to power is no less dramatic and impressive than Ezio's – it's just most of his transformation into a peerless master assassin took place off-screen."

On the other hand, Philip Shahbaz's vocal performance, particularly his American accent, was criticized. Hilary Goldstein of IGN, in her review of the original Assassin's Creed, called the voice acting for Altaïr "abysmal," going on to say that he "speaks with an American accent and sounds as if he is auditioning for community theatre." ZTGD's Joey Guacamole offered a similar opinion in his review of the game, calling it one of the worst voice acting performances of recent memory. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd was somewhat less critical of Shabaz's performance, writing that he did an "all-right" job as Altaïr, but still found him lacking compared to the other actors in the game. Some critics also took note of his undisclosed backstory in the original game. GameSpy's Will Tuttle, when comparing the character to Assassin's Creed II's protagonist Ezio Auditore, wrote that while Altaïr was "undeniably badass," the lack of any backstory or motives made him difficult to care about. IGN, using results from a reader's poll and comments, also listed Altaïr as the ninth most overrated video game character, calling him to a "poor man's Prince of Persia" and declaring him a two-dimensional, very formulaic character.

References

1. Bowden, Oliver (December 1, 2015). Assassin's Creed: Underworld. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 156. ISBN 9780698189263.
2. ^ Miguel, Urko (19 November 2017). "La saga Assassin's Creed cumple 10 años". Area Jugones (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
3. Mansilla, Chema. "La evolución gráfica de la saga Assassin's Creed en vídeo". 3djuegos (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
4. Alepitekus (16 November 2017). "Análise: Assassin's Creed Origins Cumpre o Prometido, mas Podia ter Feito Mais". Combo Infinito (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
5. Amalfitano, Ricccardo (13 November 2017). "Assassin's Creed festeggia il suo decimo anniversario". 4news (in Italian). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
6. Schubert, Martin (6 November 2017). "5 Dinge, die in Assassin's Creed Origins für frischen Wind sorgen". PlayStation Blog (in German). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
7. ^ Tzvetkova 2017, p. 312.
8. García Rosales, Omar (29 November 2017). "Assassin's Creed: Diez años de conflicto entre Templarios y Asesinos". La Voz de Durango (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 December 2017.
9. Lee, Patrick (15 November 2017). "Assassin's Creed Origins acknowledges and abandons the series' mistakes". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
10. Edginton 2017, p. 32.
11. Edginton 2017, p. 33.
12. Edginton 2017, p. 34.
13. Edginton 2017, p. 35.
14. Rositano, Joseph (September 22, 2009). "Academy of Champions Soccer Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014.
15. "Unlockable Altair, Ezio, and Connor Outfits". Ubisoft Support. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
16. "How do you get Altair's outfit after patch 5?". Ubisoft Forums. September 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
17. Brittany Vincent (November 16, 2018). "Ubisoft announces Assassin's Creed wine collection". Shacknews. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
18. "The Top 50 Xbox Characters of All Time". The Age. September 30, 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
19. Marchiafava, Jeff (February 16, 2011). "Guinness Names Top 50 Video Game Characters Of All Time". Game Informer. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
20. Vore, Bryan (December 3, 2010). "Readers' Top 30 Characters Results Revealed". Game Informer. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
21. IGN Stars (December 5, 2007). "Stars' 2007 Badasssss! Awards! Continue". IGN. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
22. Reparaz, Mikel (February 6, 2008). "The Top 7... Assassins". GamesRadar. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
23. Schedeen, Jesse (October 15, 2008). "Players Wanted: Ultimate Fighting Game, Part 2". IGN. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
24. Gonzales, Gelo (November 26, 2009). "The 5 most memorable hitmen in gaming". FHM. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
25. Bertz, Matt (November 19, 2010). "The Snubbed List". Game Informer. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
26. Goldstein, Hilary (November 13, 2007). "Assassin's Creed Review". IGN. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
27. Guacamole, Joe (January 17, 2011). "Assassin's Creed". ZT Game Domain. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
28. VanOrd, Kevin (November 13, 2007). "Assassin's Creed Review". GameSpot. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
29. Tuttle, William (November 17, 2009). "The Consensus: Assassin's Creed II Review". GameSpy. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
30. Schedeen, Jesse (April 24, 2009). "Top 10 Most Overrated Videogame Characters". IGN. Retrieved April 8, 2011.

Bibliography

• Bowden, Oliver (2011). Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade. Penguin UK. p. 464. ISBN 9780141966717.
• Bowden, Oliver (2011). Assassin's Creed: Revelations. Penguin UK. p. 528. ISBN 9780141966724.
• Tzvetkova, Juliana (2017). "Video Games". Pop Culture in Europe. ABC-CLIO. p. 414. ISBN 9781440844669.
• Edginton, Ian (2017). "Memory 2: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad". In Favoccia, Valeria; Sposito, Giorgia; López, Carlos; Williams, Tom (eds.). Assassin's Creed: Reflections. Titan Comics. pp. 29–35. ISBN 9781785862410.

External links

Media related to Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad at Wikimedia Commons

• Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad on IMDb

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