The Templars

[Alexander Barett]

"Even when your kind appears to triumph ... Still we rise again. And do you know why? It is because the Order is born of a realization. We require no creed. No indoctrination by desperate old men. All we need is that the world be as it is. And THIS is why the Templars will never be destroyed."
―Haytham Kenway
Assassin's Creed III

The Templar Order, also known as the Order of the Knights Templar, were a monastic military order-turned-corporate giant, which was formed during the prehistoric era. The Templars sought to create a perfect world, although the means by which they aimed to do so - through force, control and the destruction of free will - directly contrasted the ideals of their sworn enemies, the Assassin Order.

Because of this difference in ideology, the Templars became involved in a covert war against the Assassins, spanning centuries, with their opposition's motivating belief being that mankind should always have the ability to choose; to have the freedom of liberty, even if it meant accepting that humanity would always be flawed in their ways.

In 1937, the Templars founded Abstergo Industries, a secret company aiming to control capitalists and workers and neutralize communism. The Templars, who had previously created the capitalistic economic system, hoped to control the people through owning capitalistic companies, as opposed to having people own the companies. The company would go on to control a lot of corporations and organizations, including the Ford Motor Company, NASA, the CIA and BP.

"Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo da Gloriam.
(Not to us God, not to us, but to Your Name Give Glory.)"
―The motto, followed by the Templars, during the Crusades.

In the late 20th century, Abstergo began abducting people of Assassin descent to use them as subjects for their Animus project. In 1985, they captured a young American boy of Assassin descent who was named Subject 4; codename Daniel Cross. Doctor Warren Vidic used a "working prototype" capable of mimicking a Piece of Eden to plant an impulse into Cross' brain that would make him subconsciously infiltrate the Assassin Order and, when given the opportunity, kill the Order's Mentor. After the operation was successful, Cross was sent into the outside world.

By September 2012, sixteen test subjects had been "retired" before the company succeeded with the seventeenth – Desmond Miles, a descendant of both Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Upon being captured by Abstergo, and for seven days, Desmond Miles was forced to relive the genetic memories of his ancestor Altaïr in order to reach one specific memory the Templars were seeking. The memory that was valuable to Abstergo registered the moment his ancestor found a holographic map containing the locations of all Pieces of Eden scattered across the world. With the information they had long sought in hand, the Templars set about gathering the remaining Pieces to ensure "absolute peace", although they soon found themselves in a race against the Assassin Order to obtain the Pieces first. They planned to send a satellite with a Piece mounted on it into orbit, with the launch scheduled on December 21, 2012. Ultimately, Abstergo cancelled the launch of the satellite as they were unable to obtain the required Piece of Eden in time.