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For others named Rodrigo Borgia, please see Rodrigo Borgia.
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Villain Overview

Are you so naive? I became Pope because it gave me access! It gave me power! Do you think I believe a single god-damned word of that ridiculous book? It's all lies and superstition. Just like every other religious tract written over the past ten thousand years.
~ Rodrigo denouncing the Bible to Ezio Auditore during their confrontation in the Vatican in 1499.

Rodrigo Borgia (born: Roderic Llançol i de Borja) is a major antagonist of the Assassin's Creed franchise.

He was the leader of the Italian Rite of the Templar Order during the Renaissance in Italy responsible for the execution of Ezio's father and brothers driving him to join the Assassin Brotherhood. He was one of the most powerful men in Europe during the Renaissance, and was elected Pope from 1492 to 1503 as Alexander VI. His enemies called him "The Spaniard" because of his Spanish origins, while his Templar followers called him Maestro, which is Italian and Spanish for master.

He was voiced by Manuel Tadros.

Biography[]

Assassin's Creed II[]

The Medici were the ruling family in Florence, but a conspiracy was being plotted in an attempt to overthrow the powerful Lorenzo de Medici, and Rodrigo Borgia was at the center of it. Rodrigo's men took down important leaders all over Italy, so they could seize control. He was the one that ordered the execution of the Auditore family, from which only Ezio, Claudia and Maria escaped. Two years later, Rodrigo attended a meeting with the Pazzi family under the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. There he reminded them to beware of the Assassins, and stated that the next day would be a new dawn for Florence.

After Ezio had thwarted the Templars in Florence, Rodrigo went to meet with the remaining conspirators in Tuscany. The Pazzi were going to ask for asylum in either Venice or Rome. But before the meeting could even start, most of the conspirators were killed by Ezio. Only Jacopo de Pazzi made it to the meeting. Rodrigo blamed him for the failure in Florence and stabbed him, leaving him to suffer. He then left, after sending his men to kill Ezio.

Borgia was later seen in Venice, planning with Carlo Grimaldi and the Barbarigos to murder the current Doge, and replace him with a Templar. He was angry with them for making their own plans, and appointed Marco Barbarigo as the new Doge. While Ezio was hunting the Barbarigo's in Venice, Rodrigo was tracking the location of a Piece of Eden in Cyprus. He planned to use the Piece of Eden to create a new world, with himself as its leader. He appeared in Venice, claiming the Piece of Eden, but Ezio attempted to kill him, resulting in Rodrigo to flee without the Piece.

Borgia was elected Pope in 1492 and established his power in Rome. Borgia's true intent however, was just to get in the vault that lays under the Vatican, where he believed to find God.

In 1499, Ezio chased him to assassinate him. Ezio sneaked into the Vatican and seemingly assassinated Borgia without being seen inside the Sistine Chapel. After Ezio spoke to Borgia, Borgia used the Staff of Eden to strike down everyone in the room, including Ezio. Ezio later managed to resist the power of the staff, and took out the Apple of Eden. Using the Apple of Eden, Ezio created 4 clones of himself, which aided him in his fight against Rodrigo. Rodrigo beat Ezio, and managed to combine the Apple of Eden with the Staff of Eden, making him very powerful. He stabbed Ezio, leaving him for dead, and entering the Vault. After awaking a short while later, Ezio made his way into the Vault and found Borgia furiously pounding the door to the inner chambers. Ezio challenged Borgia to a fight without any weapons, and he eventually won the fight. Rodrigo stated that he never believed in the Bible or in God, and only became Pope to get the Staff and access to the Vault. After beating Rodrigo, Ezio told him he was not the prophet, as Ezio was the prophet. Broken by this revelation and accepting defeat, Borgia told Ezio to kill him and put an end to it; however Ezio refused, saying that killing Borgia would not bring back his family. Besides, the knowledge that he was not the Prophet was an even sorer blow than anything else that Ezio could have thought of.

Assassin Creed's Brotherhood[]

In the sequel Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Rodrigo Borgia is still the Pope. Following his crushing defeat by the hands of Ezio, he decided to leave Ezio alone in peace, while he still remained in control of Rome. Unfortunately for him, his son, Cesare decides to take control of the Templars and attacks Monteriggioni to take the Apple, killing Mario Audiotre (Ezio's uncle) and many others in the process. This causes Ezio and the Brotherhood to retaliate, killing off the Templars of Rome to take control of the city. Rodrigo often chastises his son for his actions, stating that Ezio would've left them alone had he not attacked Monteriggioni. Seeing that his son will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, he tries to kill him by poisoning one of his apples. However, Cesare manages to survive due to training his body to resist poison and in a fit of rage, he kills Rodrigo by shoving the poisoned apple into his mouth, which he succumbed to. After seeing his corpse, Ezio proceeds to give him his last rites, before closing his eyes peacefully.

Personality[]

It's not approval I'm after. Just power.
~ Rodrigo, while dueling with Ezio.

Initially an ambitious middle-aged man, Rodrigo was intent, watchful, and circumspect, as Cesare later would be, on taking Italy in the name of the Templar Order and exterminating the Assassins. After becoming Pope, his obsession with not only conquering Italy but also realizing what he believed to be his true calling as the Prophet intensified. He actively sought to take the Apple of Eden from Savonarola, as demonstrated when he sent battalions of his family's soldiers to Florence to retrieve it. As he said while fighting Ezio in the vault, he didn't even believe in religion.

Rodrigo Borgia stabs Jacopo de Pazzi

Rodrigo Borgia stabs Jacopo de' Pazzi

After his duel with Ezio in the Vault, and the shattering revelation that he was not the Prophet, Rodrigo was reduced to being an empty shell, and instead of continuing to pursue his dreams of infinite power and the extermination of the Assassin Order, he focused on maintaining his monopoly over Rome.

He is ruthless with those who fail, painfully killing Jacopo de' Pazzi for his excuses. In the same way, he showed anger with arrogant comments, such as when he reprimanded Silvio Barbarigo for calling the Pazzi useless.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Swordsmanship: He was able to engage a very skilled swordsman Ezio and all of his assassin allies with some difficulty. He was even able to battle Ezio and his illusionary doppelgängers with the Staff of Eden.
  • Hand-to-Hand Combat: He was able to go toe-to-toe with Ezio in the temple entrance before eventually loosing to Ezio.
  • Master Strategist: He proved to be a very capable strategist, even predicting Ezio's moves and actions in almost every encounter they had. Eventually he became the head of the Vatican Church due to his schemes.
  • Resources: As the Grandmaster of the Templar Order and Pope of the Vatican Church, he had access to all the resources of Italia.
  • Influence: As the Pope of the Vatican Church, he was highly influential even without bribery.
  • Intimidation: Due to his strong devotions and beliefs, even members of the Templar Order are afraid of him.
  • Priesthood: He seems to have great deal of knowledge about christianity and possibly other abrahamic religions, even though he is an atheist only using such knowledge for sinister purposes. He even recites verses of the bible in the original Latin.
  • The Staff of Eden: Once he became the Pope, he had access to the Papal Staff which was actually one of the Staffs of Eden, an extremely ancient artifact of supernatural power.
    • Mind Control: He was abel to make the entire Vatican Church and the pilgrims in the church bow to him.
    • Invisibility: The Staff was able to render him invisible, so as to sneak up on Ezio and take the Apple of Eden.
    • Energized Strike: The Staff's energized strike allowed for him to deliver s superhuman blow to Ezio.
    • Telekinesis: He was able to lift Ezio off the ground and levitate Ezio in the air, restraining him as he delivered a fatal blow.

Quotes[]

Enough! We put our faith in your family and you repay us with inaction and incompetence?! Then when asked to account for your failures, you make excuses and insult us?! How do you expect me to respond?
~ Rodrigo to Jacopo de Pazzi before killing him
Your brothers didn't need to die, I just killed them to make a point. There is no mercy when you cross the Templars.
~ Rodrigo taunting Ezio while fighting him in Florence.
Ahh, always the fighter. Just like your father. Well – rejoice, my child – for you will see him again SOON! You WILL give it to me!
~ Rodrigo while battling Ezio in the Sistine Chapel.

Trivia[]

  • Rodrigo was called "The Spaniard" by the Assassins, due to his Spanish origins.
  • During some of Rodrigo's appearances, a dim red lighting effect could be seen on Rodrigo's hood and upper body, even though there was no source for this light.
  • Historically, Pope Alexander VI ordered the execution of Savonarola, the mad monk of Florence.
  • In the simulated training map of Castel Gandolfo in the Animi Training Program, portraits of Rodrigo could be seen on the walls of the location's interior.
  • In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, while Ezio was disguised as a minstrel, he sang a song about Rodrigo before and after he became Pope.
  • In the Revelations novel, Giovanni Auditore mentioned Rodrigo indirectly, implying him as the new Grand Master, "A man in Rome has taken command of our enemies who is perhaps the greatest power you and I will ever know."
  • Jeremy Irons, who plays Alan Rikkin in the 2016 movie, also portrayed another fictionalization of Rodrigo in "The Borgias".
Battling Rodrigo
  • When Ezio entered the Sistine Chapel to assassinate Rodrigo, he was proclaiming the Nicene Creed in Latin to the congregation. Ironically, Rodrigo later stated that he did not believe the concept of the Nicene Creed, which confesses the wholeness of the Roman Catholic doctrine.
  • It is possible to kill Rodrigo while in the Sistine Chapel, if Ezio poisoned him. After this, the Assassin could wield the Staff of Eden, although he could not use any of its powers.
  • Occasionally, during the fight with Rodrigo in the Sistine Chapel, he could be seen as wielding a spear instead of the Staff. This could be due to him using the other end of the weapon as a spear.
  • Although Ezio did not kill Rodrigo, he was listed as dead in the Animus' Conspirator Web after Desmond Miles completed the main memories of Assassin's Creed II and re-entered the virtual machine.
  • If you tried to kill Rodrigo in the battle in Venice or in the Sistine Chapel using the Hidden Gun, no damage would occur, nor would any sign of being hit be displayed. This is obviously so he does not die until near the end of Brotherhood.
  • Rodrigo was the first Pope to be elected from a conclave in the Sistine Chapel.
  • In Rodrigo's assassination target video, there was a scene with Rodrigo in his Papal robes standing next to his fellow Templars, who were seated at a table. This was impossible, because by the time Rodrigo became Pope, Ezio had killed all the other Templars present. The Pazzi, the Barbarigo, and Carlo Grimaldi, for example, were shown at the table.
  • In the assassination target video for the Orsi brothers set in 1488, in the Battle of Forlì DLC, Rodrigo was again shown in his Papal robes, even though he was elected Pope in 1492.
  • Rodrigo's fate in Assassin's Creed: Renaissance differed from that shown in Assassin's Creed II. In the game, after Ezio defeated and spared him, Rodrigo was left alone to come to terms with his misery as Ezio entered the Vault. In the novel, however, when Ezio emerged from the Vault, Rodrigo committed suicide with poison. His last act was to ask Ezio what he saw in the Vault, to which Ezio replied "Nothing. No one," leading him to die believing everything he had done in life was for nothing.
    • In the novelization of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, however, Rodrigo evidently survived this suicide attempt, and Mario Auditore suggested that he had not taken enough poison, or that he had been faking.
  • Rodrigo died at 72, a recurring factor in the Assassin's Creed series.

External Link[]

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Achaemenid Empire / Greek City-States: Amorges | Gergis | The Immortals | Artazostre | Dimokrates | Gaspar | Harpagos | Pithias | Phila | Augos | Megakreon | Nestor | Sophos | Nestor | Pactyas | Nestor | Akantha | Bubares | Echion | Konon | Phratagounè | Timosa
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Templar Order
Founder
Alfred the Great

Knight Templars
Crusades: Hugues de Payens | Bernard de Clairvaux | Robert de Sable | Maria Thorpe | Tamir | Talal | Garnier de Naplouse | Abu'l Nuqoud | William of Montferrat | Majd Addin | Jubair al Hakim | Sibrand | Haras | Basilisk | Basilisk's champion | Master of the Tower | Apprentice of the Tower | Roland Napule | Armand Bouchart | Armand Bouchart's agent | Frederick the Red | Shahar | Shalim | Isaac Comnenus | Jacques de Molay | Jacques de Molay's advisor | Geoffroi de Charney | Geoffroy de Charny

Mongolian Templars
M[[ngol conquests: Möngke Khan | Asutai | Bayan

Egyptian Templars
Bahri dynasty: Leila

Italian Templars
Italian Renaissance: Rodrigo Borgia | Ludovico Orsi | Checco Orsi | Jacopo de' Pazzi | Uberto Alberti | Francesco de' Pazzi | Vieri de' Pazzi | Antonio Maffei | Stefano da Bagnone | Bernardo Baroncelli | Francesco Salviati | Emilio Barbarigo | Marco Barbarigo | Carlo Grimaldi | Silvio Barbarigo | Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani | Gerolamo Olgiati | Carlo Visconti | Girolamo Riario | Juan Borgia the Elder | Juan Borgia the Younger | Lucrezia Borgia | Cesare Borgia | Octavian de Valois | Micheletto Corella | Silvestro Sabbatini | Malfatto | Ristoro | Lia de Russo | Auguste Oberlin | Fiora Cavazza | Il Carnefice | Caha | Cahin | Faustina Collari | Nicolaus Copernicus | Verulo Gallo | Ilario Lombardi | Il Lupo | Charles de la Motte | Baltasar de Silva | Rocco Tiepolo | Pietro de Galencia | Matteo Favero | Vittorio | Dei Petrucci

Spanish Templars
Granada War: Tomás de Torquemada | Ojeda | Ramirez

Byzantine Templars
16th Century Ottoman Empire: Prince Ahmet | Manuel Palaiologos | Shahkulu | Leandros | Cyril of Rhodes | Damat Ali Pasha | Georgios Kostas | Lysistrata | Mirela Djuric | Odai Dunqas | Vali cel Tradat | Anacletos | Fabiola Cavazza | Cem | Dulcamara | Eveline Guerra | Kadir | Samila Khadim | Andreas Palaiologos | Hasan Pasha | Oksana Razin | Seraffo | Scevola Spina

Chinese Templars
Ming Dynasty: Zhang Yong | Qiu Ju | Wei Bin | Yu Dayong | Ma Yongcheng | Gao Feng
Republican era: Sun Yat-sen | Soong Ching-ling | Stirling Fessenden | Tatsumi | Joffre | Coxworth

Japanese Templars
Sengoku period: Francis Xavier | Alessandro Valignano | Uesugi Kenshin | Mochizuki Chiyome

Caribbean Templars
Golden Age of Piracy: Laureano de Torres y Ayala | Woodes Rogers | Benjamin Hornigold | Josiah Burgess | John Cockram | Julien du Casse | Kenneth Abraham | Jing Lang | Hilary Flint | Lucia Márquez | Christopher Condent | Francis Hume | Mancomb Seepgood | John Barnes | Alejandro Ortega de Márquez | Alphonse de Marigot Charlie Oliver | Cuali | Felicia Moreno | Renardo Aguilar | Sylvia Seabrooke | Vargas

Portuguese Templars
16th Century: Francisco
18th Century: Manuel Pinto da Fonseca | Duarte Jorge Correia Pinto | Lourenço de Noronha

Louisiana Templars
18th Century New Orleans: Madeleine de L'Isle | Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer | George Davidson | Diego Vázquez | Antonio de Ulloa

Colonial Templars/American Templars
American Revolution: Haytham Kenway | Charles Lee | Nicholas Biddle | Benjamin Church | Shay Cormac | Thomas Hickey | John Pitcairn | William Johnson | Man O' War captain | Jack Weeks | Christopher Gist | George Monro | Edmund Judge | Coyote Man | Matthew Davenport | George Dorrance | Johann de Kalb | Eleanor Mallow | Gillian McCarthy | Federico Perez | Johann Rall | Gerhard von Stantten | Jonathan Trumbull | Victor Wolcott
Early 19th Century: Solomon Bolden | Jan van der Graff
American Civil War: William M. Tweed | A. Oakey Hall | Charles W. Sandford | Cudgel Cormac | Peter B. Sweeny | Richard B. Connolly
Late 19th Century: Alice
20th & 21st Century: Albert Bolden | Nelson W. Aldrich | Henry Pomeroy Davison | Thomas Edison | Harvey Firestone | Henry Ford | John Pierpont Morgan | Charles Norton | Ransom Eli Olds | Benjamin Strong, Jr. | Frank A. Vanderlip | Paul Warburg | Harry Dexter White | Buzz Aldrin | John von Neumann | William King Harvey | Lyndon B. Johnson | John Roberts

British Templars
Hundred Years' War: John, Duke of Bedford
Renaissance: Margaret of York | Perkin Warbeck
Golden Age of Piracy: Samuel Parris | William Stoughton | Benjamin Pritchard | Aubrey Hague | Henry Spencer | Emmett Scott | Wilson
Georgian and Colonial Era: Reginald Birch | Edward Braddock | Lawrence Washington | Samuel Smith | Emmet Scott | James Wardrop | Mrs. Carroll | May Carroll | Peter Carroll | Matthew Hage | Frederick Weatherall | Crimson Rose
Victorian Era: Crawford Starrick | Lucy Thorne | James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan | Philip Twopenny | John Cotton | Pearl Attaway | Malcolm Millner | John Elliotson | David Brewster | Rupert Ferris | Brinley Ellsworth | Reynolds | Cavanagh | Marchant | Robert Waugh | William Sleeman | Alexander Burnes | Walter Lavelle
Interwar Britain: Thaddeus Gift | Darius Gift | Ferris
21st Century: Graham Westerly

Parisian Templars
Hundred Years' War: Georges de la Trémoille | Jean d'Estivet | John II of Alençon | John II of Luxembourg | Philip III of Burgundy | Pierre Cauchon
Late-Renaissance: Alexandre de Hautecourt | François Ascair | La Morguy | Pierre de Lancre | Ermeline
French Revolution:
Radical faction: Francois-Thomas Germain | Charles Gabriel Sivert | Le Roi des Thunes | Frédéric Rouille | Marie Lévesque | Louis-Michel le Peletier | Aloys la Touche | Flavigny | Marcourt | Maximilien de Robespierre | Jean Gilbert | Denis Molinier | Duchesneau | Arpinon | Payen
Moderate faction: François de la Serre | Élise de la Serre | Chrétien Lafrenière | Comte de Choisy | Jean Burnel | Jean-Jacques Calvert | Le Fanu | Marquis de Kilmister | Magdelaine Lévesque | Marquis de Pimôdan | Julie de la Serre | Marquis de Simonon

Austrian Templars
19th Century: Julius Jacob von Haynau | Hennighan | Konstanze von Visler | Karl Mayr

Russian Templars
19th & 20th Century: Grigori Rasputin | Dolinsky | Yuri Dolinsky | Yakov Yurovsky | Yuri Petrovich Figatner

German Templars
18th Century: Johann Joachim Winckelmann
World War I: Erich Albert
World War II: Gero Kramer

21st Century Templars (Abstergo Industries, mainly)
Alan Rikkin | Warren Vidic | Daniel Cross | Juhani Otso Berg | Laetitia England | Simon Hathaway | Álvaro Gramática | Isabelle Ardant | Violet da Costa | Melanie Lemay | Dominika Wilk


Templar's Allies and Puppets
Xerxes I of Persia | Ptolemy XIII | Cleopatra | Al Mualim | Abbas Sofian | Richard I of England | Sixtus IV | Dante Moro | Paganino | Jiajing Emperor | Isabella I of Castile | Duncan Walpole | Laurens Prins | Vance Travers | El Tiburón | Jean-Jacques Blaise d'Abbadie | James Cook | Kanen'tó:kon | Jacques Roux | Maxwell Roth | Leon Trotsky


Others
Blume Corporation

Assassin Brotherhood & Their Allies
Colonial Assassins | Achilles Davenport | Hope Jensen | Adéwalé | Kesegowaase | Liam O'Brien | Louis-Joseph Gaultier, Chevalier de la Vérendrye | Le Chasseur | Basim Ibn Ishaq | Pierre Bellec

Bellatores Dei
Isidore Mercator | Ebels | Engelwin | Euphrasia | Gozllin


Girolamo Savonarola's forces
Girolamo Savonarola | Painter | Guard Captain | Nobleman | Priest | Merchant | Doctor | Farmer | Condottiero | Preacher

The Tyranny of King Washington
George Washington | Isreal Putnam | Benedict Arnold

Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper | John Billingsworth | Olwyn Owers

Mythological Creatures
Gorgon |Minotaur | Hecatoncheires | Sphinx | Cyclops | Cerberus | Living Mommies | Headless Horseman | Spring Heeled Jack
Miscellaneous
Gamilat | Isidora | Gennadios | Diovicos & Viridovix | Burgred of Mercia | Rued | Eadwyn | Patrick O'Hara | Enzio Capelli | Ivarr the Boneless | Ricsige of Northumbria | John Raymond | Modron | Charles the Fat | Ercole Massimo | Madame Lee | Peter Chamberlaine | Bartholomew Roberts | Pierre, Marquis de Fayet | Silas Thatcher | Philippe Rose | Fiend of Fleet Street

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