James Wardrop

"We bring order from the chaos. If everything is permitted, no one is safe."

- James Wardrop's last words James Wardrop (1705-1754) was a merchant, politician, and Templar during the Seven Years' War. He was the one to succeed Lawrence Washington, as Grand master of the Templar order, and the true main antagonist of the first 2 sequences of Assassins Creed: Rouge. He is portrayed by Vincent Hoss-Desmarais.

Biography
James Wardrop was born to a family of Templars in 1705. Following in his father's footsteps, he was brought into the Templar order in 1720. His job in the order was to secure land and wealth, and slowly and surely build the foundation for the fledgling Colonial Rite.

In 1744, Wardrop built a trade network for the Order that ran from the Colonies to the West Indies. By 1750, he worked with Christopher Gist in order to acquire North American land for the Templars. This was found out and reported by the Wolastoqiyik assassin, Kesegowaase, who told every Native tribe about Wardrop's intentions, and how he evicted many natives from their ancestral lands in the process. The Assassin Brotherhood held proof that he was the one responsible for most massacres.

Wardrop Sought to make the colonies stay loyal to Great Britain, but wasn't above using his bureaucratic position to acquire profits for himself. When his position denied him to achieve his goals, he used his connections to change it. Gist also claimed that Wardrop "Could not hold his liquor," and that he ran into trouble getting along with fellow Templar, Jack Weeks.

Translating the Voynich Manuscript and Wardrop's Death
At the time of the 1751 earthquake at Port-Au-Prince, Grand master Templar, Lawrence Washington, took the Precursor Box and Voynich manuscript from Assassin Mentor, François Mackandal. Washington entrusted the Precursor Box to fellow Templar, Samuel Smith, and entrusted Wardrop to translate manuscript. In 1752, Wardrop, Smith, and Weeks met with Washington, who was dying from Tuberculosis, in Mount Vernon. Wardrop and the others ensured Lawrence that his younger half brother, George Washington, would be kept away from any Templar business, Wardrop also reported that he was close to translating the Manuscript. When the Templars departed, Shay had killed Washington, giving the other Templars a running start.

Upon the death of Washington and Smith, Wardrop eventually rose to the rank of Grand Master. Wardrop was present in Albany, during its congress. afraid for his life after Smith had been assassinated, and the box being stolen from him, Wardrop hid in Fort Fredrick. During the meeting, fellow Templar William Johnson was about to give the Box and Manuscript to Benjamin Franklin. Wardrop, however, refused, claiming that the risks in doing so were too high. Still in the fort, Wardrop sent a captain to tell this to Johnson. Enraged, William sent the captain back to fort Fredricks with the demands to hand the manuscript over. Present in the Congress, Assassin Shay Cormac killed the captain and infiltrated the fort to air assassinate Wardrop.

When Shay retrieved the Manuscript, insisting that in doing so, he was keeping the people free from the Templars' control. With the colonies entering the Seven Years' War with France, Wardrop retorted that the Templars maintained order and kept the territories from descent into anarchy. Wardrop then succumbed to his wounds and died.