| “ | You know nothing of schemes. You are but a puppet. He betrayed you, boy, just as he betrayed me. But now you've taken my life...and in the process, ended your own! | „ |
| ~ Robert de Sable's last words. |
Robert de Sable is one of the two main antagonists along with Al Mualim of the video game Assassin's Creed. He is the Grand Master of the Templar Order and the commander of the Crusaders during the Third Crusade. He is Altaïr's ninth target, and he is also a lieutenant in the army of King Richard the Lionheart.
He was voiced by Jean Philippe Dandenaud.
Biography
Robert de Sable was the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and he therefore had a similar goal to that of the Assassins. They both want to end the war in the Holy Land. The Assassins have no objections against his goals, but against the way they try to reach their goal. The Templars tried to force their "peace" upon the citizens, while the Assassins want the citizens to find peace themselves. Altaïr first encounters Robert at Solomon's Temple, in the beginning of the game. There lied the piece of Eden which the Templars want to use to enslave mankind. However, the Assassins escape with the piece of Eden, and Robert and his army attack their hometown, Masyaf. The attack fails and Robert decides to find other ways to conquer the Holy Land. While his Templar "Brothers" were assassinated, he convinced King Richard to join up with Saladin and destroy the Assassins that way. King Richard only believed Altaïr's good intentions when he killed Robert de Sable, claiming that "God was on his side".
Personality and characteristics
Robert was a manipulative individual, who was able to recruit various members to the Templar cause by offering them power in the New World. At the same time, Robert gained King Richard's trust, despite secretly plotting his downfall.
He was also an ingenious strategist, turning Al Mualim's plan to kill his supporters into a trap to destroy the Assassin Order. Robert was a supreme fighter as well, able to almost match Altaïr in battle, and he was also able to easily stop Altaïr from assassinating him with a Hidden Blade inside Solomon's Temple.
However, due to his disregard for the Templars' rule to not consort with women, Robert was not held in high regard by all of his fellow Templars, among which was his own successor, Armand Bouchart.
Trivia
- Robert de Sable is the in-game counterpart to the real world, historical Robert de Sablé - 'Sablé' referring to the French commune of the same name. In game, however, he is named as "de Sable" (sans "é"), which when translated into French means "of Sand".
- In Assassin's Creed, Robert was in his mid-30s when he was killed by Altaïr. Historically, however, he was relatively old around the time of his death. Additionally, Robert died in 1193, and not during the battle of Arsuf.
- Robert appeared to have one of the largest physical builds in Assassin's Creed, being a head taller than Altaïr and physically stronger.
- Robert was one of four Templar Grand Masters depicted in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, in a collection of modern-day portraits titled "Great Minds of History". In his portrait, he is seen wearing black, similar to his concept art from Assassin's Creed.
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