Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad - the First Assassin

"When I was very young, I was foolish enough to believe that our Creed would bring an end to all these conflicts. If only I had possessed the humility to say to myself, I have seen enough for one life, I've done my part. Then again, there is no greater glory than fighting to find the truth."

―Altaïr to his son Darim during the 1257 Mongol attack on Masyaf.

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (1165 – 1257) was a Syrian-born member of the Levantine Brotherhood of Assassins, and served as theirMentor from 1191 until his death in 1257. During his tenure as Mentor, Altaïr made several discoveries and inventions that greatly helped the Order's progression, and his leadership saw to the spread of the Assassins' influence in the Old World. He was an ancestor to Desmond Miles.

Raised to be an Assassin from birth, Altaïr obtained the rank of Master Assassin by the age of 24. However, following his failure to obtain an Apple of Eden from Robert de Sable in early 1191, and subsequently allowing the Templars to attack the city of Masyaf – headquarters to the Order of Assassins – he was demoted to the rank of novice and sent on a quest for redemption.

Tasked with the deaths of nine individuals, who, unbeknown to him, made up the ranks of the Templar Order in the Holy Land, Altaïr began a quest to change his ways and liberate the Kingdom from the corruption of the nine. During his quest however, Altaïr learned of a plot far more sinister than originally believed. Completing his mission to kill the nine targets, and cleansing the Order of its treacherous leader Al Mualim, Altaïr rose to the rank of Mentor, taking the Assassins into a new, more secretive direction.

With the Apple in hand, Altaïr changed the ways his Order lived their lives; writing the details in his fabled Codex for later generations of the Order to read. Altaïr's vision of the Assassin Order was for them to be spread across the world, living among the people, to which he began establishing many more Assassins Guilds during his tenure as Mentor. Throughout his travels, Altaïr strengthened his Order, stopping various Templar plots over the years as well as halting the inexorable march of Genghis Khan.