| “ | It's all a matter of perspective. There is no single path through life that's right and fair and does no harm. Do you truly think the Crown has no cause? No right to feel betrayed? You should know better than this, dedicated as you are to fighting Templars - who themselves see their work as just. Think on that the next time you insist your work alone befits the greater good. Your enemy would beg to differ - and would not be without cause. | „ |
| ~ Church's dying words to Connor. |
Benjamin Church is a major antagonist in the videogame Assassin's Creed III. He is a member of the Templar Order and served as Surgeon General of the Conintental Army during the American Revolution, until he betrayed both the Continental Army and the Templars to join the British Empire.
He was voiced by Harry Standjofski.
Biography
By 1775, Church joined the Continental Army, commissioned as Chief Physician and head of the medical wing. By then, he was very wealthy and owned a mansion that was later seized and ransacked in order to pay for the Continental Army's war drive.
Church was caught spying for the British. However, Church insisted that he was innocent by claiming that he gave falsified information to British to deter their attacks. Church was imprisoned and upon his release he abandoned both the Continental Army and Templar Order. Church, and a group of other defecting Templars, stole a large supply of weapons and medicine from a convoy for the Continentals and intended to defect to the British Empire.
Church suspected that Haytham Kenway, Grand Master of the Order and the man who originally recruited him to the Templars, would kill him for this betrayal, hence ordered several men to help guard and escort the stolen supplies out of Valley Forge as well ambush and kill Haytham. However, Church was also pursued by Connor, a member of the Assassin Brotherhood, who had formed a temporary alliance with Haytham, his father, in order to kill Church and retrieve the supplies for George Washington that Church had stolen.
Haytham and Connor tracked Church to a warehouse in New York, only to realize that they were set up by a decoy and into a trap. They defeated the guards before the impostor told them that the real Church had fled to Martinique aboard the naval ship Welcome before he was killed by Haytham.
Despite being a few days ahead, the Aquila, captained by Connor, was able to catch up to the Welcome, finding it abandoned. A Schooner vessel then lured the Aquila into open waters and into an ambush, while Church attempted to escape aboard another Man-of War. However, the Aquila destroyed the escorts and disabled Church's ship by destroying the ship's mast.
Haytham then took control of the Aquila, forcing it into the Man-of-War in order to board the ship. Haytham caught up with Church below deck and proceeded to brutally beat to death as punishment, enraged by his betrayal. Connor intervened and swiftly ended Church's life by impaling him through the chest. After first refusing, Church revealed the location of the supplies, stashed on a nearby island. Church died rebuking Connor with his final words, arguing that there is no such thing as a righteous cause.
Personality
Church was an intelligent, resourceful and cunning man and a highly valued member of the Templars. To support this, Charles Lee described Church as "a finder and fixer".
However, Church was a highly self-serving and duplicitous man, despite his years as a surgeon and as part of the Templar Order, Church's only motivation was personal gain. Church pursued a career as a surgeon believing it to be the most profitable profession and that people would pay any price to ensure their lives and health. He had little to no actual concern for the well being of his fellow man and was quick to dismiss those who could not afford his services, fulfilling the unethical doctor stereotype by ignoring his Hippocratic oath. Church was also married but neglected his wife and pursued another woman.
To further support his treacherous nature, Church played both sides of American Revolutionary War, but even betrayed his true loyalties to the Templars. His final words to Connor suggest that he ultimately became disillusioned with the Templars' cause and saw neither side of those fighting in the Revolutionary War as just.