Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad
Altaïr, the protagonist of the first Assassin’s Creed, was the blueprint (derogatory) for how the franchise would portray its heroes. He was used to establish a format: a modern-day character uses the Animus, a virtual reality simulation, to view the memories of a historical ancestor. But in its first iteration, Assassin’s Creed seemed hesitant to make its hero more than an avatar for Desmond Miles, Altaïr’s modern-day descendant. He’s serviceable as a premise, but as a character? There’s probably a reason Ubisoft ditched him for Desmond’s far more popular ancestor, Ezio, in the sequel. — Kenneth Shepard
