The Templar Conspiracy: Every Famous Historical Figure Assassinated in the Assassin’s Creed Lore

The Assassin’s Creed franchise thrives on the premise of a “secret history,” where the gaps in the official record are filled by the eternal war between the Assassins and the Templars. This allows the games to feature the dramatic, often stylized, assassinations of countless real-world historical figures, reimagined as agents of the villainous Templar Order (or, occasionally, other enemy factions). Below is a comprehensive list of the most famous and significant historical personages whose deaths were orchestrated by an Assassin protagonist across the main series games, complete with the context of their in-game Templar identity.

Note: While the games often depict the targets dying in or around the historically accurate time and location, the method and Assassin involvement are fictionalized. Many secondary targets who were real people (e.g., members of the Pazzi family, minor conspirators) are omitted for brevity, focusing on the globally famous figures.

The Crusades Era (Assassin’s Creed I)

Playing as Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad, your targets were key figures of the Third Crusade, most of whom were Templars seeking a Piece of Eden to end the conflict on their own terms.

• William of Montferrat (d. 1191): A powerful Italian Crusader and Count. In-game, he is the Templar Master of Acre, killed by Altaïr.
• Sibrand (d. 1191): The Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. Assassinated by Altaïr in the port of Acre.
• Robert de Sablé (d. 1193): Grand Master of the Knights Templar. The main Templar antagonist of the game. Altaïr ultimately confronts and kills him, revealing his role in the war.
• Rashīd ad-Dīn Sinān (Al Mualim) (d. 1194): Known as “The Old Man of the Mountain,” the real-life Grand Master of the Nizari Ismailis (the basis for the Assassins). In the game, he is Altaïr’s mentor but is revealed to be a Templar who corrupted the Creed, forcing Altaïr to kill him.

The Renaissance (Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, Revelations)

Ezio Auditore da Firenze’s journey is a sweeping narrative of revenge and war against the powerful Borgia family and their allies across Italy and Constantinople.

• Girolamo Savonarola (d. 1498): A powerful and influential Dominican friar in Florence. In the game’s DLC, he seizes a Piece of Eden to become a totalitarian dictator. Ezio ends his reign, though historically, Savonarola was executed by burning at the stake.
• Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI) (d. 1503): Arguably the most famous target in the series. The real-life Pope Alexander VI is the Grand Master of the Templar Order and Ezio’s arch-nemesis. Ezio defeats him in a fistfight beneath the Vatican but chooses to spare his life—a decision he later regrets. Borgia dies in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, likely from poisoning, though not directly by Ezio’s hand.
• Cesare Borgia (d. 1507): Son of Rodrigo Borgia, an Italian condottiero and political figure. He takes over the Templar leadership. Ezio finally kills him by forcing him off the battlements of a castle in Viana, Navarre, Spain, a location near where Cesare historically died in battle.
• Manuel Palaiologos (d. 1512): A Byzantine nobleman who attempts to reclaim the Byzantine throne. In-game, he is a Templar killed by Ezio in Constantinople.

The Golden Age of Piracy (Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag)

Edward Kenway’s journey involves a rogues’ gallery of real-life pirates and colonial figures, many of whom are revealed to be Templar conspirators.

• Laurens Prins (d. 1719): A Dutch pirate. One of Kenway’s early targets, killed in Kingston, Jamaica.
• Benjamin Hornigold (d. 1719): A famous English pirate captain and co-founder of the pirate republic of Nassau. He later turns Templar hunter. Killed by Edward Kenway in the jungles of the Yucatán.
• Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts (d. 1722): One of the most successful pirates of the Golden Age. He is a key target and a crucial player in the game’s plot, eventually killed by Edward during a battle at sea.
• Woodes Rogers (d. 1732): A British privateer, Governor of the Bahamas, and Templar agent. He is a primary antagonist and his death is orchestrated by Edward Kenway in the game’s final act.

The American and French Revolutions (AC III & Unity)

The Revolutionary War and the Reign of Terror provided fertile ground for the Templar-Assassin conflict.

• William Johnson (d. 1774): A British official and influential figure among the Iroquois. Assassinated by Connor in the American Colonies.
• John Pitcairn (d. 1775): A British Marine officer killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. In-game, Connor kills him during the battle, though historically his death is less clear-cut.
• Charles Lee (d. 1782): A major-general in the Continental Army. The main Templar antagonist of Assassin’s Creed III. Connor ultimately tracks him down and kills him, though historically Lee died of a fever.
• Louis-Michel le Peletier, marquis de Saint-Fargeau (d. 1793): A French politician who voted for the execution of King Louis XVI. Assassinated by Arno Dorian in a Parisian restaurant, a scene that closely mirrors the historical event.

Ancient Egypt and Greece (Origins & Odyssey)

The “soft reboot” of the series returned to the roots of the conflict, with the beginnings of the Assassin Brotherhood (The Hidden Ones) and the Templar Order (Order of the Ancients).

• Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (d. 47 BC): Pharaoh of Egypt and brother of Cleopatra. Assassinated by Bayek of Siwa.
• Gaius Julius Caesar (d. 44 BC): The famous Roman general, consul, and dictator. In the game, he is secretly a member of the Order of the Ancients. His assassination is the pivotal historical event at the end of the main Assassin’s Creed Origins story, carried out by Bayek’s wife, Aya, during the Ides of March.
• Cleopatra VII (d. 30 BC): The final pharaoh of Egypt. Her death, while historical, is presented as a forced choice in the game. After she betrays the Hidden Ones for Rome, Aya confronts her and forces her to take her own life by poison, effectively an indirect assassination.
• Marcus Junius Brutus (d. 42 BC): One of Julius Caesar’s assassins. He and Cassius are depicted as conflicted members of the Order of the Ancients who helped set the stage for the Roman Empire. Aya hunts down both Brutus and Cassius, killing them shortly after their historical deaths at the Battle of Philippi.

Victorian London (Assassin’s Creed Syndicate)

Jacob and Evie Frye’s battle against the Templars in 19th-century London featured assassinations of several notable real-world figures.

• John Elliotson (d. 1868): A respected physician who taught at the University College London and was a proponent of mesmerism. Killed by Jacob Frye as a Templar doctor experimenting on people.
• James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (d. 1868): A decorated, though controversial, general of the British Army, famous for leading the Charge of the Light Brigade. Killed by Jacob Frye.