Character Breakdown: Ezio Auditore da Firenze

(Ezio Auditore and all associated artwork and names are copyright and trademarked to Ubisoft Entertainment)

Ever wanted to Fight Like Ezio Auditore?  Now you can, with the Video Game Combat Guide: Assassin's Blades!

Name: Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Game(s): Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and Revelations(not yet released)
Skills/Attributes:

• Athleticism
• Martial Arts
• Parkour
• People Skills
• Philosophical Thought
• Determination

Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! Ezio Auditore is one of the main characters from the Assassin's Creed series, and the main focus of Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood, and the announced-but-not-yet-released Revelations.  He's a pretty badass dude, which not many would contest, and capable of some pretty awesome feats and skills.  What's interesting to note is that while the games are fantastical in some respects, Ezio falls under the character classification of "realistic," in that most of the things he does in-game are possible for a highly trained real-life human being to do.

Ezio's story is one of tragedy, mostly.  He's motivated by the death of various members of his family at the hands of the Templars, the enemies of the Assassin's.  First his brothers and father, and then his uncle.  Despite this, Ezio is not a depressive character.  While motivated mostly by revenge, he shows a level of contemplation about his plight, remarking at one point that he is "past all this," that is, his motivation for revenge.  Throughout 2 and Brotherhood we see him still motivated by vengeance for the deaths of his family members, but choosing many times to work towards the greater good of the Assassin order, and the world in general, rather than his own personal motivations.

In addition to this cool-headed determination, Ezio features outstanding people skills, reffered to as "Virtù" from Machiavelli's seminal work, "The Prince."  That is, he embodies all the principal virtues a human should embody, and he exhibits these and uses them in dealing with people.  He is a strong and capable leader, who people want to listen to and follow.

Finally, we would be in the wrong to not mention his outstanding physical conditioning, parkour skills, and martial prowess.  Even in his advancing years(as seen in the Revelations trailer), Ezio can still kick ass and take names.

So over the course of the next few posts(possibly starting next week or this weekend, depending on how things go), we're going to be examining these different areas of Ezio's physique and psyche, and learning how we can become more like him.