The Assassin Brotherhood vs The Templar Order: Which Side Is Humanity's Best Hope?

The Assassin Brotherhood vs The Templar Order

Caitlin Johnson

Welcome to MojoPlays, and in this instalment of versus, we’re seeing which side is really humanity’s best hope: the Assassins, or the Templars.

Round 1: Allies

“Assassin’s Creed” is well known for its cameos from many historical figures. The day’s famous faces frequently show up to help or hinder our protagonists depending on which side they’re on. The Assassins count a lot of significant people among their allies, though: Leonardo da Vinci, Suleiman the Magnificent, George Washington, Blackbeard, Charles Dickens, and many more. And in some ways, some of the series’ most capable protagonists – namely, Kassandra and Eivor – are allies of the Assassins, since they never join the Brotherhood. You certainly wouldn’t want those two as your enemies.

The Templars, meanwhile, make far fewer allies. They have many historical figures actually in their ranks – like Charles Lee, George Monro, and Alfred the Great – but they certainly make fewer friends. They can be found manipulating people, like Robespierre and other revolutionaries in “Unity”, but they’re not exactly friends; even Julius Caesar was really just a pawn of Flavius and Septimius. The Templars are so cagey about their true goals that it makes sense that they’d be more careful with their allegiances, while the Assassins make it clear that they’re fighting for freedom, which generally appeals to people more – though, we’ll talk more about this later.

This is an easy win for the Assassins; they’re much more agreeable and helpful, and therefore manage to make inroads with powerful people despite their limited means.

WINNER: Assassins 1 / Templars 0

Round 2: Technology

There are two pieces of technology that are vital to “Assassin’s Creed”: the Animus, and the Hidden Blade. The Animus has been invented by the Templars not once, but twice; the first time was in the ninth century, when the Order of the Ancients built the Alruh in Baghdad, an early Animus that likely killed its subjects. But a non-lethal version was finally developed by Abstergo in the 21st century. While it wasn’t directly fatal, it did run the risk of driving people mad due to prolonged use. We see this happen to Subject 16, and in later games, Layla Hassan clearly suffers physically because she’s overusing it. Regardless, the Animus is the most important device in the franchise, and it was made by the Templars and only reverse-engineered and iterated on by the Assassins.

The Hidden Blade, meanwhile, was created by proto-Assassin, Darius. Darius is an ancestor of Aya in “Assassin’s Creed Origins”, and is referenced in the Sanctuary in “Assassin’s Creed II” as the assassin of Xerxes I of Persia. We didn’t get to encounter him ourselves until “Odyssey’s” “Legacy of the First Blade” DLC. While he technically isn’t an Assassin because the Hidden Ones haven’t been founded yet, and wouldn’t be for another five hundred years, the technology behind the Hidden Blade has remained in Assassin hands. It’s also rare that they give the Blade to non-Assassins, with Eivor being one of the only non-Assassins to have it that we know of. But unsurprisingly, the Templars use the Hidden Blade, too – notably, Haytham Kenway. But they still prefer other methods of murder.

For the technological wonder of the Animus, this one has to go to the Templars, even though the Hidden Blade has been more resoundingly useful to the Brotherhood for most of its history.

WINNER: Assassins 1 / Templars 1

Round 3: Leaders

This one’s a little trickier, because generally, the leaders of the Assassins are our heroes, while the leaders of the Templars are the villains. For the Assassins, we have iconic characters like Altaïr and Ezio running the show, and later on Jacob Frye takes a leadership role with the Rooks and the entire London Brotherhood by the time of the “Jack the Ripper” DLC. Eivor’s also a very strong leader and while they’re not officially an Assassin, they do keep an Assassin bureau run by Hytham in Ravensthorpe and are responsible for eradicating the Order in England. Bayek and Aya also lead the Hidden Ones in Egypt and are capable, beloved characters.

The Templars, meanwhile, don’t have that many memorable leaders and frequently have weak villains – Germain and Starrick chief among them. There’s Alfred the Great again but he’s the one feeding Eivor information about the Order so that they can kill them. Septimius is reprehensible and a very strong leader for the group, and Cesare Borgia remains a stand-out villain – but he’s more concerned with building his own power than unlocking the secrets of the Isu. There is, of course, ONE Templar leader that we all know and love: Haytham Kenway, Grand Master of the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order. Alas, Haytham never got his own game, though he did show up as a major character in “Assassin’s Creed Rogue” as well and was just as enjoyable there.

Ultimately, though, this is a numbers game, so it’s a win for the Assassins. Haytham may be one of the most effective leaders in the entire franchise, but he’s still only one man.

WINNER: Assassins 2 / Templars 1

Round 4: Power

Despite their many friends in high places, the Assassins are always the underdogs. It’s the Templars who live and breathe power, infiltrating the highest levels of society. Kings, popes, presidents, ultra capitalists – they’ve all been beholden to the Templars at one point or another. And the Templars are so powerful that when they do get monarchs they can’t manipulate, they may back a violent revolution and execute them – as in the case of Louis XVI. The Templars are even involved in helping Britain win the Seven Years’ War, giving the Royal Navy control of the seas for hundreds of years. They’re always in power and the Assassins are always trying to dismantle these structures.

On the other side, the Assassins DO, again, have powerful allies; they befriend the Medicis in Florence and, much later, Queen Victoria asks the Frye twins for help. But the Assassins wield the most power before the Seven Years’ War and during the French Revolution, when Mirabeau brokers a temporary truce with the Templars. Otherwise, they’re always getting left in the dirt. This makes for a better and more interesting story, as we work to dismantle the Order’s influence piece by piece, but it does mean that the Assassins are always on the backfoot no matter how much work they do. Of course, a lot of that is also because of what they ultimately believe…

In the end, the Templars always have all the power, and always come back with their unscrupulous ways, so they win this round.

WINNER: Assassins 2 / Templars 2

Round 5: Ideology

Just what does each side believe? Both sides are aware of the Isu and the Pieces of Eden and want to take those Pieces of Eden either to use to control people or to lock away forever. The Assassins have their famous Creed, “nothing is true, everything is permitted”, which Ezio explains more thoroughly than any other Assassin in “Revelations”. The Assassins believe that humanity needs to be free, that’s why they date back, in some form or another, to Adam and Eve freeing humankind from the control of the Isu and the Apples of Eden. They want to keep the Isu technology previously used to control us away from people who might misuse it – except in “Rogue”, where the Templars are the ones warning people of the dangers of precursor relics.

The Templars, meanwhile, believe that the true road to lasting peace for humanity is through total control. They believe that human nature is violence, and that by controlling people, they can unify our species. Sometimes they want access to Pieces of Eden to do that, but more pragmatic Templars like Haytham see the flaws in both sides and know that the Pieces of Eden are just too dangerous for any humans to be trusted with. But they ARE similar enough that, from time to time, the groups work together to prevent a greater evil; Haytham and Connor team up during “Assassin’s Creed III”, while Arno and Élise also manage to put their different beliefs aside.

If it’s a choice between flawed freedom and peaceful slavery, we choose freedom any day; and if the Isu couldn’t control humanity, the Templars trying to do so are just as doomed.

WINNER: Assassins 3 / Templars 2

After all that, while the two groups are more similar than they’re not, it’s definitely the Assassins that win. They have their hypocritical moments – wanting peace through murder, for instance – but they believe that humanity deserves to be free to make its own choices and face the consequences.

Let us know in the comments which side you’d pick to join in the real world.