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| “ | We are the last bastion of civility in a cynical, confused age. We've chased them out of their dens and sent them scurrying. Now it's time to wipe them out. | „ |
| ~ Cross to Templar recruits. |
| “ | Let's not draw this out. You've got nowhere to go and I've got a gun. Speaking of which... it's the 21st century and you're still running around with only a tiny knife for protection? It's stupid. Alright, Desmond. Game's over. | „ |
| ~ Cross to Desmond Miles. |
Daniel Cross is the secondary antagonist in the modern day sections of Assassin's Creed III. While also being the protagonist of the Assassin's Creed comic stories, he is still evil in that he was a Templar who sought to kill the Assassin leader, succeeding. He was a member of the Templar Order who subconsciously infiltrated the Assassin Order as a sleeper agent to kill their Mentor. An ex-convict and recovering drug and alcohol addict, Daniel was the great-grandson of Nikolai Orelov, a prominent member of the Russian Assassin Brotherhood, and the grandson of Innokenti Orelov. He is the Desmond Miles's arch-nemesis.
Following a heavy night of drinking, Daniel was spirited away by Hannah Mueller, a member of the Assassins, and introduced to a new way of life. Curious about his constant visions of a past life, Daniel made it his mission to confront the Mentor of the Order, and find some meaning to his life. For 2 years, Daniel searched the globe, visiting every major Assassin camp in his quest to meet the Mentor, before he was finally granted an audience. It was during this meeting that a long-dormant trigger, implanted in his mind during his childhood, activated.
Daniel killed the Mentor, and fled the Assassins, returning to the only people he knew would accept him, Abstergo Industries. There, he joined the Templar ranks, becoming a Master Templar and a member of the Inner Sanctum by 2012. In mid-2012, Daniel captured former-Assassin Desmond Miles and brought him to Abstergo for participation in Warren Vidic's Animus Project. Following Desmond's escape and the failure of Project Siren, Daniel tracked down and confronted him numerous times around the world in an attempt to retrieve his Apple of Eden for Vidic. Ultimately, Desmond assassinated Daniel at an encounter in Abstergo's Rome facility.
He was voiced by Danny Blanco Hall, who also played Ike Sloan in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
Ancestry[]
| “ | He's a gift, Miss Clarke. A wonderful gift, delivered to us by Lineage Discovery and Acquisition. And now we're going to open him up and see what's inside. | „ |
| ~ Warren Vidic talking about Daniel, before experimenting on him in the Animus, 1983. |
Daniel's unique genealogy caught the attention of Abstergo Industries, and resulted in his capture by the company's Lineage Discovery and Acquisition division.
Daniel's only direct known ancestors were the Orelovs, a family closely tied with the Assassin Order. Daniel's great-great-grandfather, Andrei Orelov, migrated to Russia and joined the Narodnaya Volya, in order to help rid the country of Imperialism. His son, Nikolai, was forced to follow in his footsteps, and although dedicated, Nikolai was not so passionate in his devotion to the Assassins as his father was.
Nikolai eventually married Anna, a Russian woman, with whom he had a daughter, Nadya, while the couple resided in the country. Following this, in 1917, Nikolai and Anna emigrated to the United States to start a new life, where their son Innokenti, who would become the grandfather of Daniel Cross, was born.
Personality and Characteristics[]
| “ | I hear voices, but I don't understand what they're saying. It's all in European or something. [...] It's not always a vision... sometimes it just feels like I'm remembering how things used to be. | „ |
| ~ Daniel to his psychiatrist, 1998. |
During his formative years, Daniel suffered greatly from his perceived "hallucinations", none of which he understood; in actuality, these were a manifestation of the Bleeding Effect. From his arising confusion, Daniel became mentally and emotionally unstable, which often led him to be rude and anti-social, sometimes even going so far to have him resort to violence. Following his time with the Templars, Daniel often spent prolonged periods of time within the Animus so as to stymie his condition's effects.
As the years progressed, Daniel's hallucinations largely subsided, though he would enter into an intense relapse upon close proximity to a Piece of Eden, such as in late October 2012; when one was used upon him by the Assassins, and once again in December 2012, indirectly leading to his death.
Upon learning of the Mentor, Daniel became incredibly determined to meet him, traveling the world and refusing to listen to others' insistence that his goal was impossible. After the murder of the Mentor, Daniel was shocked at his own actions.
Knowing that he could not return to the Assassins, he ran in desperation to Abstergo. Initially, Daniel felt a longing for connection to something he could call family, and would often use the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestors, claiming it was "the closest thing to [one]" he had ever known. However, Daniel eventually grew to fit into his new home, as well as into the Templar Order.
Despite his eventual rise to the rank of Master Templar, Daniel continued to suffer from the symptoms of the Bleeding Effect. Unable (or unwilling) to help him, his fellow Templars learned to simply deal with it. By mid-November 2012, Dr. Sung had resorted to keeping Daniel inside the Animus for periods of 72 hours at a time, in the hopes that it might help his condition, though all medical reports filed suggested otherwise. William Miles later told Desmond that by 2012, Daniel was simply a symbol to Abstergo, rather than an asset.
By 2012, Daniel exhibited an intensely insecure and arrogant personality, being foolishly dismissive of Desmond Miles as a potential threat multiple times despite knowing of his extensive Animus training and him already having easily slaughtered a team of Abstergo agents previously. He showed himself to be generally dismissive of the Assassins in general, believing Abstergo's agents and resources to have surpassed the Brotherhood's despite his own experiences with what the Assassins could be fully capable of. He also was overly confident in firearms, believing that simply having one gave him an edge over Desmond despite likely knowing that a trained operative would know how to disarm him, and even mocked Desmond over it when confronting him in the Roman Abstergo offices, despite Desmond having already previously gotten the upper-hand on Daniel despite his hand gun being pointed at Desmond in point-blank range.
Abilities and Equipment[]
- Peak-Human Condition: Due to extensive training and reliving the memories of his Ancestor Nikolai Orelov, He gained peak physical levels of strength, speed, endurance, agility, metabolism and intelligence. He excelled in all of their training camps.
- Eagle Vision: He has Eagle Vision as well due to his part Isu ancestry.
- Bleeding Effect: Unlike most people, who'd require the Animus Technology to review their genetic memories, Daniel Cross could unconsciously view them as hallucinations. Something like this drove him to the brink of insanity. However, Abstergo provided him with medication designed to halt the affects temporarily. He can even halt these for a brief time by spending time in the Animus. However, being near a Piece of Eden can break through his therapy's efforts and unleash powerful hallucinations of the past.
- Master Templar: He is a highly accomplished assassin, having mastered and trained in almost all the Assassin camps around the world. He was even able to kill the Mentor of the Brotherhood, an act that turned him into a "Symbol" of pride for the Templars.
- Master Martial Artist: Once considered the Assassin, Cross was one of the most formidable and skilled agents among the modern Brotherhood, benefitting from both bleeding Nikolai Orelov's memories and the extensive training he was put through by the Assassins. Following his betrayal Cross was capable of overpowering the Brotherhood's best operatives, and helped train the first generation of Abstergo's Counter-Assassin teams. He was capable of overpowering pre-Animus trained Juhani Otso Berg, who had been former Special Forces, and was able to match Berg even after his Animus training, though Berg did eventually surpass him. He was capable of initially matching Desmond Miles on multiple occasions, an impressive feat considering the latter had the training of 3 Master Assassins and a Master Templar via the Animus, although Miles did defeat Cross in their final confrontation, to Cross' demise.
- Superior Athleticism:: Due to reliving past memories of Nikolai Orelov and rigorous Assassin training, he developed peak-physical agility, mobility, reflexes and equilibrium, being able to virtually balance himself on thin lines and move much faster as well. He is also very advanced parkour specialist, with his great speed and agility.
- Escape Artist He was able to easily escape the Dubai headquarters when he subconsciously struck down then Mentor of the Brotherhood.
- The Hidden Blade: When he was initiated into the Assassin order but the Mentor, he receive da hidden blade, something which he subconsciously struck down the Mentor with. However, that Hidden Blade was harvested by the Abstergo Scientists and they managed to create a more discreet and more effective variant of the Hidden Blade, given how he is skilled at wielding it.
- Resources: He has access to a lot of Abstergo's vast resources at his disposal. He also has a battalion of Abstergo Templar Soldiers at his disposal thanks to Dr. Warren Vidic. He also has an arsenal of weapons at his disposal.
- Tracking: He was even able to track down his great aunt Nadya Orelov in Moscow and took up her offer to visit her again, much to his pleasure.
- Firearms: He also has firearms for his missions.
Trivia[]
- "Daniel" is derived from the Hebrew name "Daniyyel", meaning "God is my judge".
- Daniel was given the surname "Cross" in reference to the Templar insignia.
- Daniel was one of eight known Assassins to be converted to the Templar cause, with the others being Haras, Harash, Masun, Jamal, Vali cel Tradat, Shay Cormac, and Lucy Stillman. However, Daniel was the only one to have held a connection to the Templars before ever joining the Assassins, albeit unknowingly.
- Daniel was the fourth known Templar to perform the Leap of Faith, the others being Francesco de' Pazzi, Vali cel Tradat, Haytham Kenway, and Shay Cormac.
- Daniel Cross was originally meant to have some dying words, pleading with Desmond to end his life after catching him, explaining that the pain of the Bleeding Effect had overwhelmed him.
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 Villains
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Isu Proto-Templar Organizations Cult of Kosmos (Peloponnesian War) Order of the Ancients
Knight Templars Mongolian Templars Egyptian Templars Italian Templars Spanish Templars Byzantine Templars Chinese Templars Japanese Templars Caribbean Templars
Portuguese Templars Louisiana Templars Colonial Templars/American Templars British Templars Parisian Templars Austrian Templars Russian Templars German Templars 21st Century Templars (Abstergo Industries, mainly)
Assassin Brotherhood & Their Allies Bellatores Dei Girolamo Savonarola's forces The Tyranny of King Washington Xiongnu Jack the Ripper Mythological Creatures Miscellaneous | ||