Baptiste

Baptiste (1725 – 1766) was the Saint-Dominguan voodoo leader of a cult of former slaves active in the Louisiana Bayou during the mid-18th century. He was also an ancestor of Moussa, a 21st-century Assassin and prisoner of Abstergo Industries.Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization – Regressions – Subject: Moussa
Originally a member of the Saint-Domingue Brotherhood of Assassins alongside his friend Agaté, Baptiste was trained in the Assassin ways by the Mentor François Mackandal. However, when Mackandal was killed in 1758 and Agaté subsequently journeyed to Louisiana for personal reasons, Baptiste felt betrayed and abandoned the Brotherhood, gathering followers to form his own Maroon secret society.
In 1766, Baptiste made a deal with the Louisiana Rite of the Templar Order to force Agaté out of hiding, in exchange for a position within the Order. He and his followers subsequently moved to the Louisiana Bayou, where they made plans to usurp the local smuggling ring and poison the nobles of New Orleans. However, Baptiste was killed by the Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, Agaté's student, before he could put his plans in motion. 
In 2012, the Templar front company Abstergo Industries used his genetic memories as the basis for the Animi Avatar called the "Zealot", which appeared in Abstergo Entertainment's geosimulation workspace on the portable Animus Omega.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Baptiste was born in 1725 on a plantation in Saint-Domingue, where he became acquainted with his fellow slaves Agaté and Jeanne, befriending the former. Around 1732, the three of them met the Maroon leader and Assassin Mentor François Mackandal, who took them under his wing and taught them how to read and write; Baptiste and Agaté also learned how to craft poisons and wield weapons. Unlike Agaté, Baptiste disliked Jeanne, causing tensions between them.Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Jeanne's diary pages: Entry 5
In 1738, Baptiste and Agaté were officially inducted into the Assassin Brotherhood and escaped the plantation with Mackandal, though Jeanne declined to join the Brotherhood and remained on the plantation. For many years, the two men fought alongside their Mentor, until a failed attempt to poison Saint-Domingue's colonists resulted Mackandal's capture and execution in 1758. Still in love with Jeanne, who had since been relocated to Louisiana, Agaté journeyed there to find her, leaving Baptiste behind.Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia
Baptiste, feeling betrayed by his friend and brother-in-arms, turned his back on the Brotherhood and formed his own group of followers. He still followed the teachings of Mackandal, but also developed new principles and core values to suit his own agenda. Shortly after Mackandal's execution, Baptiste deliberately amputated his own arm in order to impersonate him.
===Alliance with de Ferrer===
By 1766, Baptiste had begun using his deceased Mentor's name as an alias to gather even more recruits for his cult.Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – The False Mackandal Traveling to the bayou near New Orlean, Baptiste secured a deal with a local Templar named Rafael Joaquín de Ferrer to locate Agaté and force him out of hiding, so that he could be delivered to de Ferrer. In return, Baptiste would be inducted into the Templar Order. Additionally, Baptiste sought to continue his Mentor's work by poisoning the nobles of New Orleans, thus avenging the slaves.Assassin's Creed: Rogue – Numbskull's personal files: "Berg's Inspiration: Baptiste" 
Having established a base deep in the bayou, Baptiste ordered his followers to set up encampments throughout the swamp, hoping to locate Agaté's hideout and flush him out. Continuing the recruitment of slaves, Baptiste frequently sent messages to his faithful acolytes to find more men for the cause. Consequently, many denizens from San Danje, a settlement within the bayou that functioned as a safe haven for escaped slaves, came to join the cult.Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Meet the Smugglers
Over the next few months, Baptiste's influence in the swamp grew and eventually began to encroach on the territory of a smuggling ring led by Élise Lafleur and Roussillon, whom he subsequently tried to force out. However, the smugglers ignored the ultimatum set by some of Baptiste's envoys, causing a fight to break out. Aveline de Grandpré, Agaté's disciple, then arrived, rescuing the smugglers from the cultists.
After forming an alliance with Élise and Roussillon, Aveline attempted to track down Baptiste on the orders of her Mentor by eliminating some of his encampments, hoping to find more information there. Through these efforts, she discovered evidence of a "sacred ceremony" that Baptiste aimed to hold on the Eve of Saint John. Aveline then consulted the bayou's houngan to determine the ceremony's exact location.Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – The Second Camp
===Death===
On the Eve of Saint John, Baptiste met with de Ferrer to discuss their plans for New Orleans, unaware they were being eavesdropped upon by Aveline and Élise. Once their conversation was over, de Ferrer departed, while Baptiste officially commenced the ceremony and joined in with the festivities. As he celebrated, Aveline neared him by blending in with his followers before attempting to eliminate Baptiste with a poison dart. However, her approach had not gone unnoticed, causing Baptiste to dodge her dart and hit her with one of his own.Assassin's Creed III: Liberation – Eve of Saint John
To Baptiste's surprise, the poison failed to kill Aveline, as she had ingested an antidote beforehand in preparation to face him, allowing her to recover. The voodoo leader subsequently sent his men after her, but the Assassin easily dispatched them. Following this, Baptiste came down to face Aveline herself with his machete, but was defeated in battle, thus ending his plans for Agaté and the city of New Orleans. 
In his final moments, Baptiste, recognizing Aveline's locket, revealed to the Assassin that Agaté and her mother Jeanne had known each other. This would subsequently cause Aveline to lose trust in her Mentor, as he had kept this information hidden from her.
===Legacy===
By 2014, the Master Templar Juhani Otso Berg had come to regard Baptiste as one of his main sources of inspiration, and viewed the path taken by the voodoo leader as an illustration of the Templar ideology's inherent superiority over what Berg described as "Assassin terrorism".
At some point during his life, Baptiste fathered at least one child, who became an ancestor to the Assassin Moussa. By 2016, Moussa had been kidnapped by the Templar company Abstergo Industries and taken to the Abstergo Foundation Rehabilitation Center in Madrid, Spain, where the Templars forced him to relive his ancestor's genetic memories in the Animus in the hopes of learning more about Baptiste's life.
==Behind the scenes==
Baptiste is a character introduced in the 2012 video game Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, where he was voiced by the Canadian actor Kwasi Songui.
In the memory "Eve of Saint John", Baptiste claims that Aveline's blowpipe had once belonged to him, but this directly contrasts the story told to her by Agaté, who had instead said the blowpipe had previously been Mackandal's. While this account may be contentious due to Baptiste's imitation of Mackandal, it may also be true due to Agaté's secrecy when dealing with Aveline.
==Gallery==
Baptiste concept art.jpg|Concept art of Baptiste
ACinitiates - Baptiste's death.jpg|Initiates art of a defeated Baptiste
Eve of Saint John 3.png|Baptiste meeting with de Ferrer
Eve of Saint John 5.png|Aveline attempting to poison Baptiste
Eve of Saint John 8.png|Baptiste's final moments
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed III: Liberation 
*Assassin's Creed: Initiates 
*Assassin's Creed: Rogue 
*Assassin's Creed film 
*Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization
==References==
ru:Батист
Category:1725 births
Category:1766 deaths
Category:Individuals
Category:Haitians
Category:Maroons
Category:Smugglers
Category:Assassins
Category:Haitian Assassins
Category:Assassin turncoats
Category:Templar allies
Category:Ancestors of Moussa
Category:Animus hosts
Category:Impersonators