The Assassin’s Creed series has moved toward making its open world the main selling point in recent years, but the stories have still been worth following. The games have offered memorable heroes such Ezio Auditore, Altair, Connor Kenway and Kassandra, among others, all of whom benefited from quality villains to struggle against.
In the Assassin's Creed franchise, villains have typically been part of the Templar Order, opposing the protagonists based on their quests for Pieces of Eden or personal vendettas. With the series now more than a decade and a half old, it’s worth looking at the best villains so far and why they qualify as such.
Prince Ahmet (Assassin's Creed: Revelations)
Although Prince Ahmet played into some cliches found in the Assassin’s Creed series like his tendency to go on monologues, he was a worthy final adversary to Ezio. Ahmet’s power-hungry ways made Ezio realize that going after things like the Apple of Eden only gave way to temptation, leading him to retire from the Assassins.
Ahmet’s taste for the theatrical was entertaining in its own way, as he tended to make a big show out of threatening the likes of Ezio and his nephew, Prince Suleiman. He also provided players with an intense climactic showdown that was the best way to finish off the Ezio Trilogy.
Crawford Starrick (Assassin's Creed Syndicate)
No one could chew the scenery quite like Starrick, whose entire persona was about showing off his inherent villainy. He was after the Shroud simply for evil purposes, intending to claim all of England for himself through the Templars’ influences while having no compunctions about how many died.
Starrick didn’t want redemption nor did he have any empathy, which made him the best villain for Jacob and Evie Frye because they found a foe that got the twins on the same page. Starrick also represented a return to form for the series that had been flip-flopping on villains for the past few years by that point.
Basim Ibn Ishaq (Assassin's Creed Valhalla)
In a pretty good twist, a Hidden One was shown to be the villain, as Basim turned out to be the reincarnation of Loki. Although he was shady right from the get-go, Basim’s motives came to light by the end when he revealed that he, Eivor, and Sigurd were all sages of the Isu.
Basim became a layered character after his backstory of Loki was detailed, where he wanted to be reunited with his children. There’s potential for more to follow if the series chooses to expand upon the way he double-crossed Layla, which would make Basim one of the rare repeat villains.
Deimos (Assassin's Creed Odyssey)
Odyssey remains one of the best Assassin’s Creed games to be released, as players connected with the theme about family. Deimos was Kassandra’s corrupted brother, who was raised by the Cult of Kosmos as their weapon and turned him vengeful to the point where he wanted to slay his own mother and sister.
Of course, it also ended up making Deimos a tragic villain and many players opted to rehabilitate him rather than claim Deimos’ life. He could be a bit much with his explosive rage, but there was enough backstory to go on for Deimos to be fleshed out as a character.
Cesare Borgia (Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood)
Cesare was an entitled brat by personality, but he was a force to be reckoned with. He was responsible for a number of events like bringing Rome to its knees through the Apple of Eden and spearheading the destruction of Monteriggioni to antagonize the Assassins.
The downside to him was that a lot of Cesare’s attributes were informed rather than shown, as his cunning ways weren’t all that apparent. Still, he brought big losses to Ezio, such as killing the latter’s uncle and forcing him to go into hiding. Cesare’s god complex was also a good way to establish that Templar ideals were never right, no matter how much they justified them.
Charles Lee (Assassin's Creed III)
Connor Kenway spent the majority of his life hunting down Charles Lee under the belief that he had killed his people. Even though Lee wasn’t the guilty party there, he was responsible for eliminating a number of targets for the Templars and personally antagonized Connor for the fun of it.
It was interesting to see two sides of Lee, as presented a subservient attitude towards Haytham while he was a fiend to those he deemed to be lower than him. Following about two decades of Connor’s life to get to Lee made his eventual assassination all the sweeter to finally put an end to his villainy.
Warren Vidic (Desmond Saga)
He was the leader of Abstergo, but Vidic was the one who revealed everything to know about the Assassin’s Creed after he abducted Desmond for the Templars’ benefit. He was a looming presence during the original saga, during which he used Lucy as his mole to spy on the Assassins.
Vidic was a despicable person who found pleasure at the idea of killing Desmond when the Templars had extracted all the knowledge they needed from him. He didn’t really care about the order that the Templars seemingly sought, with Vidic mainly in it for the power.
Al Mualim (Assassin's Creed)
The first villain of the series, Al Mualim played straight into the Templars’ ability to control and manipulate anyone, having fooled Altair into eliminating all the other men standing in his quest for power. He was Altair’s teacher who was corrupted by the power the Apple of Eden brought him and the effects of his betrayal can still be felt.
The franchise hasn’t had too many solid villains like Al Mualim, who tricked players into a false sense of security by trusting Al Mualim until the bombshell of his true nature. Al Mualim’s use of the Apple remains the best way anyone’s harnessed it yet, which is pretty incredible since it was over a decade and a half ago.
Haytham Kenway (Assassin's Creed III)
The third mainline entry isn’t the best Assassin’s Creed game out there, but it has arguably the most layered villain yet. Haytham is the player character for the first three sequences and was so close to being a good guy that his true identity as a Templar wasn’t apparent until the reveal arrived.
Fans appreciate his role as a sarcastic, quick-witted, and ruthless individual, who is as close to exemplifying the few valid points the Templar ideals have as anyone could be. Haytham’s negative aspect comes from the fact that he never truly warmed up to Connor, so his death brought a sense of relief for putting him down before he could end the Assassin Order completely.
Rodrigo Borgia (Assassin's Creed II)
Rodrigo was the all-powerful, heartless, and conniving villain that an underdog like Ezio needed to be on the map as the most beloved hero. On the other end, Rodrigo became the most memorable antagonist, having led the Templars for decades in his bid for the Apple of Eden.
He was a contrast to Ezio, with Rodrigo using his power and influence to eliminate people in his way while Ezio looked to save them. Rodrigo had both a maniacal and charismatic quality that enabled him to shine equally in subtle sequences as well as intense ones. His villainy was so effective that he was brought back for Brotherhood, where he almost claimed Cesare’s life to usurp him.