Assassin’s Creedhas been a force to reckon with in action-adventure video games. From the firstAssassin’s Creedin 2007, all the way toValhalla, the most recent addition to the series in 2020, fans go through multiple emotions as they navigate through different eras in amazing open worlds with possibilities to explore every little nook and cranny (quite literally in most cases).
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But it’s not all fun and games in this world. The franchise made sure to let gamers know that there is a dark side to everything, and sometimes, it’s so dark that not even the heroes in the shining armorcan help but avoid a sad sceneand fight some truly ruthless villains.
10Crawford Starrick - Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
Not only the owner of Starrick Industries but also the Grand Master of the British Rite of the Templar Order in London, Crawford isa villain fans love to revisit. He might be one of the few that are not based on a historical figure, but his ruthlessness is so well portrayed that he might as well have been.
His wealth was accrued due to the several factories that he owned in London, in which he also “employed” children to work. His gangs were notorious, making sure that everything runs smoothly for Starrick, while he continued his search for ultimate power by looking for the Shroud.
9Francois-Thomas Germain - Assassin’s Creed: Unity
During the French Revolution, this guy had a lot of work. He was a silversmith, a Sage, and the Grand Master of the French Templars. Impressive, to say the least. What wasn’t impressive, washow he manipulated both Arno and the Templarsto create absolute havoc during the Revolution, with an end game to completely abolish the monarchy in France.
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In his own words:“In the wake of revolution, the Order will adapt. They will retreat to the shadows, and we will, at last, be the secret masters that we were meant to be.”Talk about a god complex, right?
8Cesare Borgia - Assassin’s Creed 2
Even though hedidn’t give the players a challenging final battle, Cesare remains one of the top villains in the whole franchise, for the simple reason that he was the main antagonist to Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and, well… that he also plotted against his own father, controlled Rome though the Apple of Eden, and ordered for the Monteriggioni town to be eliminated. Small things like that.
A politician, a military leader, and a nobleman, he had the status and the skills to be cunning as cunning can be and used everything and everyone to succeed in gaining as much power as it was possible.
7Warren Vidic - Assassin’s Creed 1
If there ever was a man that was a control freak, it would be him. He didn’t only want to control people’s lives, he wanted to control their minds, because, of course, he knew better. As the head Researcher of Abstergo, Vidic looked for the pieces of Eden through his subject’s memories and was looking forward to the New World Order, as was promised by the Templars (don’t forget that he was a member of the Inner Sanctum).
Oh, and one more small detail: his subjects were, of course, abducted, and then used. Lovely man.
6Rodrigo Borgia - Assassin’s Creed: Lineage
He started off as friends with the Auditore family, but then… power happened. He simply just couldn’t say no. Rodrigo quickly switched sides and plotted to kill the men of the Auditore family. With friends like that, who needs enemies?
Interestingly, that’s not even the worst thing he did.As a member of the Templar Order, he pushed and pushed and finally managed to reign as Pope Alexander VI. Why would he want to do that, apart from the obvious power it gave him? How about gaining access to a vault of super-secret and super-ancient knowledge? He sure seemed to have his reasons.
5Aloys La Touche - Assassin’s Creed: Unity
He doesn’t make the villain lists very often, but he probably should. After all, it’s not every day that a tax assessor gains enough power to become a member of the French Rite of the Templar Order, nor is it every day that he uses that power to happily carry out mass executions and torture beggars.
Under the fatherly guidance of the Grant Master Francois-Thomas Germain (who also made this list),la Touche was encouraged to cripple as many people as he could so the Parisian people would pity them and give them money, which he, of course, collected after.
4Majd Addin - Assassin’s Creed
This once simple scribe became a Saracen regent of Jerusalem and a member of the Levantine Templars, and if players wonder why he made this list, the answer is simple: not everyone can handle power. This one definitely couldn’t. After he learned about thepieces of Eden and what they can do, he swore to protect them and their secrets, no matter what.
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Seems noble, but Addin chose to execute anyone who didn’t share his vision, and given that he had control over the whole of Jerusalem, this did not go very well.
3Charles Lee - Assassin’s Creed 3
Member of the Templar Order (no surprise there), a veteran of the Seven Years’ War, and a general in the American Revolutionary War, Charles Lee is one of the most villainy villains out there.
Almost a fanboy to Haytham Kenway, Lee has shown great moments of dedication and honor, but they don’t hold a candle next to his violent behavior towards almost everyone else, his clear anger issues, and, of course, let’s not forget all his murders in his pursuit of controlling the colonies.
2Alfred The Great - Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
This “Poor Fellow Soldier of Christ” as was his nickname, was neither poor nor a soldier. What he was, was a ruthless King, first of Wessex and then of the Anglo-Saxons, while also serving as the Grand Maegester of the Order of the Ancients.
Because he believed them to be sacrilegious to the one God preached by Christianity, Alfred sat back and watched as Eivor eliminated the Order’s members one by one.Like Eivor didn’t have enough problemsalready. Alfred despised the Vikings and the Druids and his only goal was to prove to everyone through manipulation that his god was the best god.
1Maxwell Roth - Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
The most memorable one out of Starrick’s seven henchmen must be Maxwell Roth. He incorporates perfectly the Shakespearean quote from Hamlet “Though this be madness, yet there is method in it”.
Roth first is loyal to Starrick, then he turns on Starrick and makes a team with Jacob, and then, you guessed it, turns on Jacob, because “Why not?” (wink, wink). And who can forget the poor baby crow that he raised as a pet and then killed and sent to Jacob as an invitation to a performance at Alhambra?
