Duccio de Luca

Duccio de Luca is a recurring antagonist from the Ezio Auditore trilogy of the Assassin's Creed video game franchise. He made appeared in Assassins Creed II, AC: Brotherhood and AC: Revelations.

Although neither a Templar nor a greater scope villain, Duccio was loathed by both Ezio and the other members of the Auditore family after breaking Claudia Auditore's heart in 1476. From that point onwards, any encounter between Duccio and Ezio ended with the latter being either severly beaten up or knocked unconscious.

He was voiced by Shawn Baichoo in all three of his appearances.

History[]

Assassins Creed II[]

Duccio de Luca was born in Florence, Italy in 1462, at the height of the Italian Renaissance. By 1476, at the age of 14, Duccio was engaged to Claudia Auditore da Firenze, the younger sister of the future assassin Ezio Auditore. However, not long after their engagement, Claudia got word from the other girls that Duccio was cheating on her. In 1511, Ezio would claim that Duccio was having an affair with at least six other women at the time. No matter how many women were involved, the revelation about her fiances infidelity left Claudia distraught.

When Claudia relayed what the others had told her to Ezio, her enraged brother decided to see for himself whether or not the rumors were true. Heading into the city, Ezio eventually found Duccio outside the Duomo (Cathedral) in the company of another woman. There, he witnessed Duccio give this unnamed woman an engagement ring and openly flirt with her. When asked about his engagement to Claudia, Duccio was dismissive, claiming that his father had said he could "do much better than an Auditore."

Unable to contain his anger any longer, Ezio made his presence known as he stormed towards the couple. Duccio tried to play innocent, but it was already too late. Having seen and heard everything, Ezio punched his prospective brother-in-law in the face, before confronting him for his infidelity. Unconcerned about the pain he had caused her, Duccio tried to turn the blame upon Claudia, saying that it was her fault for not giving in to his advances, before raising his fists. The two men engaged in small scuffle, but Duccio's bark proved to be far worse than his bite. He was beaten into submission by Ezio, who then ordered him to stay away from his sister. After that, Duccio never saw Claudia Auditore again.

Assassins Creed Brotherhood DLC[]

Ezio met Duccio again 30 years after their altercation in Firenze. The two encountered each other near the docks of Rome in 1506. By this point Duccio owned a small merchant company, transporting goods (both legal and otherwise) across the various cities of the Italian penninsula. Ezio on the other hand was the Mentor (i.e. leader) of the Roman Bureau of the Assassin Brotherhood. If Duccio had known this and how many people Ezio had killed by this point, he would have been very wary.

As it was, the completely oblivious Duccio, having clearly not forgotten or forgiven Ezio for what he did to him in the past, decided to taunt his former attacker. Ezio himself had merely come to enquire about some paintings taken by the Borgia family from his friend Leonardo da Vinci and had no wish to fight, telling him that they are not children anymore. That all that changed when Duccio decided to taunt his family. The merchant rudely proclaimed how low the Auditore had fallen, given how they were now living in a "third-rate city" like Rome instead of "beautiful" Firenze. Despite his frustration, Ezio nevertheless gave Duccio a final warning, subtely telling him to back off and not test his patience. Ignoring this warning, Duccio once again mocked Claudia, stating how ironic it was that his supposedly virtuous former fiance was now the "Madame of Roma".

This was the final straw for Ezio and he punched the fellow Florentine in the face. Furious, Duccio stood up and called his henchmen forwards, ordering them to help him beat up Ezio in retaliation. This proved to be a big mistake for the merchants, who were little more than petty thugs. In contrast, Ezio was a highly trained killer with years of combat experience behind him. Although he did not draw his weapons (since his creed forbade it), Ezio proceeded to pummel all of Duccio's men into submission. Following the defeat of one set of goons, Duccio would run to another location in the harbor where more of his allies were waiting for him. With each defeat, Duccio continued to insult Ezio and his relatives.

Only after Ezio had beaten up all of his help, did the defeated merchant finally give in. Grabbing his tormentor by the scruff of his jacket, Ezio demanded to know the location of the Da Vinci paintings. Taking the hint, Duccio said that he still possessed one of the paintings but that the other two had been recently sold to a cardinal for an art show. Ezio demanded to know how to get into the exhibition, but Duccio did not know. Although the assassin was more than content to let him go at this point, Duccio, still refusing to learn his lesson proceeded to taunt Ezio one last time. He suggested that the assassin ask his sister, since she was probably well "acquainted" with the man in question.

Having had enough of Duccio's insults, Ezio delivered a final punch to his face, knocking the merchant out cold. Despite his hatred for the man, Ezio let him live and went on his way. He left Duccio lying unconscious on the street, next to his men.

Assassins Creed Revelations[]

Ezio Auditore met Duccio de Luca one last time in 1511. Whilst visiting the Italian District in Constantiople, Turkey, Duccio spotted fellow Italian and local bookshop owner Sofia Sartor. Approaching the woman, he tried to flirt with her, but his attempts only left Sophia disgusted. Before Duccio could say or do anything else, a mans voice interrupted the conversation. Frustrated, Duccio turned to confront the man, only to find himself face to face with Ezio once again. Terrified, the merchant demanded the assassin to stay away from him, despite Ezio's amicable attitude. Knowing that an altercation between them would end badly for him, Duccio fled, yelling at Sofia to run from the "devil". Confused, the woman asked about Duccio and was notified about his past by Ezio. After that Duccio never bothered either Sofia or Ezio again.

Note
Although Duccio and Ezio never spoke again following this brief encounter, in the game, Ezio can find Duccio hanging around the Italian district. In each encounter, the Florentine merchant will be on his own and drunk. The player has the option to attack Duccio, which will unlock an achievement appropriately named Bully.

Final Fate[]

Centuries after the events of Ezio's life, the Assassin analyst and historian Shaun Hastings was eventually able to discover what became of Duccio de Luca. Despite his affluent start in life and reasonable prosperity in the early 1500's, Duccio was never able to make a successful career as a merchant. Although he did undertake some profitable ventures, Duccio's ships and merchant fleet were simply too small to make any affluential associates or long term business partnerships. In the end, his company fell through, leaving Duccio bankrupt.

In a fitting act of karma, Duccio spent the last few years of his life in abject poverty. With no other relatives or resources to fall back upon, by 1520, Duccio, despite his earlier mockery of Ezio and the Auditores, was himself living in Rome destitute. Later that same year, the man who once could have been Claudia's husband and Ezio's brother-in-law met an ignominious end. Through means unspecified, the fallen merchant contracted rabies, with Shaun suspecting that he was bitten by a rabid dog. With no cure available to him, Duccio de Luca died alone and homeless on the streets of Rome without a penny to his name. It is not known what happened to his body, but ultimately, the man who cheated on so many people would die unmourned and unloved.

Trivia[]

It is not known if Duccio ever officially ended his engagement with Claudia, but given the Auditore's arrest and downfall not long afterwards, it did not matter.
In AC Revelations, during his infiltration of the Tokapi Palace, Ezio will disguise himself as a singer in order to locate and prevent Templar agents from assassinating Prince Suleiman. As part of his cover, he will sing a number of songs at the guests. One of them will be a mocking serenade about Duccio and how every time they met, Ezio's fist would "always find his face."

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