Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (الطائر بن لا أحد, meaning "The Bird, Son of no one") is a fictional character in the Assassin's Creed series. He serves as the protagonist of Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles, and Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines. He also appears as a playable character in Assassin's Creed: Revelations and some other games. He was named after the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, which was known symbolically as "The Eagle."

In the Assassin's Creed series
Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles takes place during the year 1190 and the Third Crusade, which sees the Crusaders armies clash with Saracens for control of the Holy City. The game takes place before the events of the original Assassin's Creed. Altaïr is tasked by Al Mualim to find and retrieve a sacred object: The Chalice. It is said to have the power to unite under one flag all the factions of whatever side possesses it – either the Crusaders or the Saracens – and end the Third Crusade in victory for one side or the other. But the Chalice is too powerful an object to be left in the hands of men alone – it must be found and destroyed quickly. After learning that the Chalice is kept in Jerusalem, Altaïr manages to arrive before the Templar leader, Robert de Sable. There, he successfully rescues the Apple of Eden from a group of Templars. There it is revealed that the Chalice is a woman named Adha, the woman Altaïr knew and had feelings for before the events of game. From her, he learns that the Templars have paid off Harash, the second-in-command of the Assassins, to betray the Brotherhood. Altaïr then plans to attack Alep (the assassin fortress), kill Harash, and run away with Adha – but after making his way through Harash's assassin guards and killing him, Adha is kidnapped by Robert and taken to the Templars' port in Acre.

Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines takes place between the events of the original Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II. The game is set on the island of Cyprus, taking the player to two of its cities, Limassol and Kyrenia. Altaïr has traveled to Cyprus from the Holy Land (the setting of the first game) in order to assassinate the last remnants of the Templars. Bloodlines includes more face time with Maria, the female Templar that was spared by Altaïr in Assassin's Creed. Altaïr captures Maria as a prisoner, but she escapes, before being captured again by Altaïr. In the novel Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade, Altaïr and Maria's relationship is more fully explored. They are married and have two sons: Darim and Sef.

In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Altaïr creates a massive library hidden beneath the Masyaf fortress that supposedly has information that can tilt the scales in the war between the Templars and the Assassins. Ezio discovers that that five locks seal the door to the library, and that five 'Masyaf keys' must be found in order to open the library. Whenever Ezio finds a Masyaf key, he inadvertently accesses one of Altaïr's memories – deliberately stored inside each key. As Ezio discovers more keys, the memories inside them are further along in Altaïr's life; for example, in the final key, there is a memory of Altaïr in his early 80s, returning to Masyaf to kill Abbas. When Ezio finally enters the Masyaf library, however, there are no books or writings in the library. There is only the skeleton of Altaïr, holding the sixth Masyaf key, and the Apple of Eden on a pedestal at the back of the room. Ezio chooses to leave the apple, having "seen enough for one life".

Other appearances

 * In Academy of Champions: Soccer, Altaïr appears as a playable character.
 * In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Altaïr's outfit is available with the "Lost Archive" DLC and he appears as a playable character in certain missions.
 * In Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Altaïr's outfit is unlockable through a UPLAY download.
 * In Assassin's Creed III, Altaïr's outfit is available by completing all of the constraints in the main story.
 * In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Altair's outfit is unlocked by having Uplay data from one of the previous Assassin's Creed titles (it does not matter which previous AC title it is only that there is Uplay data of a past Assassin's Creed game present).
 * In the video game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, player character Solid Snake can disguise himself with Altaïr's outfit.
 * In the video game Prince of Persia (2008), Altaïr's outfit is unlockable for the Prince to wear.
 * Altaïr's outfit also appears in the video game Rayman Raving Rabbids 2.
 * In the video game The Saboteur, the player can obtain an Altaïr trophy.
 * In the video game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, there is an Easter egg which shows a dead Altaïr in a haystack.

Reception
In 2008, The Age ranked Altaïr as best character on Xbox consoles. In 2011, Altaïr was named as the 1st top video game character by the Guinness World Records.

IGN nominated and gave the award Altaïr for their "Stars' 2007 Badasssss!" award. In 2008, Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar ranked him as the best assassin in gaming. That same year, IGN's Jesse Schedeen listed Altaïr as one of the fighters they'd have in their ultimate fighting game, saying he was a slightly more realistic and efficient version of the Prince from Prince of Persia. In 2009, he ranked first on FHM's list of most memorable hitmen in gaming.

IGN, using results from a reader's poll and comments, also listed Altaïr as the most overrated video game character, calling him to a "poor man's Prince of Persia" and declaring him a two-dimensional, very formulaic character.