Warren Vidic

Warren Vidic (c. 1940s–2012) was a member of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order and the Director of the Animus Project at Abstergo Industries. His latter position was acquired as the world's leading pioneer of research on genetic memory and the inventor of the Animus. For decades, he was in charge of finding new subjects for the Animus, through which he could explore their genetic memories to uncover vital intelligence on both the Assassins and the Pieces of Eden.
His advances in the realm of genetic memory, spanning from the 1970s to his death in 2012, was characterized by sabotage of competitors such as Aileen Bock of the Surrogate Initiative and coercion of individuals against their will to serve as his subjects for the Animus. Although he himself was designated as Subject 2, a vast majority of his subjects were obtained via abductions, most notably the Assassin descendants Daniel Cross, Clay Kaczmarek, and Desmond Miles.
For his part in twisting Cross into a sleeper agent, Warren was a major catalyst of the Great Purge of 2000, whereby the Assassins were almost annihilated across the world due to Cross's assassination of their leader, the Mentor, and his subsequent flight back to Abstergo with knowledge of their bases.
As one of the nine members of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order, Warren was party to the full extent of the Templars' plots for their New World Order, which they hoped to achieve by launching the Eye-Abstergo, a key component of the Akashic Satellite Plexus that would entail world domination. To that end, he was assigned the critical mission of locating a Piece of Eden to power the Eye-Abstergo especially in the aftermath of the Denver International Airport incident that destroyed the Apple of Eden 2.
In September 2012, after Clay Kaczmarek, known as Subject 16, was driven to suicide from the Bleeding Effect, Warren replaced him with Desmond Miles, the descendant of legendary Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. While he was able to force Desmond into reliving Altaïr's memories until he witnessed a map detailing the sites of Isu temples, he nevertheless allowed Desmond to be rescued by the Assassins in the hopes that his double agent Lucy Stillman could subsequently steal whatever Piece of Eden they discovered through Desmond's willful cooperation. Ultimately, this scheme, termed Project Siren, was foiled when Desmond killed Lucy while under the control of the Isu Juno just after he had acquired another Apple of Eden.
This setback did little to discourage Warren, who in the meantime operated the Animi Training Program to flash-train new recruits such as Juhani Otso Berg, a Finnish mercenary who would become the Order's deadliest field operative. Through Juhani, Warren was able to facilitate the capture of Desmond's father, the Assassin leader William Miles on 12 December 2012, whom he was confident could be ransomed to the Assassins in exchange for Desmond's Apple of Eden. His prediction proved to be wrong when two days later, Desmond stormed his facility in Rome and used the Apple to force his own guards to kill him.
==Biography==
===Early life===
A former professor of ill repute, Warren Vidic was disgraced and facing possible jail time over numerous ethical violations from his scientist days. He was given a second chance at Abstergo Industries however, though with a few restraints. Working for the company since at least 1964. He was often said to be unpleasant to work with, and was constantly engrossed in his work, concentrating on the progress that he and his employees made.Assassin's Creed 
In 1964, the young Templar was onboard the USS Maddox near Vietnam, where under the orders of William King Harvey, a CIA director and a high ranking Assassin who was in fact a double agent of the Templars, he took charge of the pregnant and seriously injured Assassin Zenia. Unable to save the mother, Vidic nevertheless managed to save the child, whom her father, the Assassin Boris Pash, named Nathalia. Harvey then informed Pash, that "Nathalie" would be raised by Vidic to ensure that Pash would now serve the Templars and ordered him to give all his researchs on the Bluebird Project to the young prodigy who was impatient to study the concept of Genetic Memories uncovered by Pash.Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone – Book 2
During the following years, Vidic raised the young Nathalie while expanding his understanding of the genetic memories to the point where he was able to create the early prototypes of what would one day become the Animus. However around 1977, Vidic made the mistake of using Nathalie as his test subject, who through the memories of her father discovered that she was in fact a hostage of the Templars. Decided to take her revenge, the thirteen years old girl somehow gave a copy of the Animus blueprints to William Miles before fleeing Vidic's lab with the Apple of Eden that Pash used as a bargaining chip to save the life of Zenia and their child back in Vietnam.
===Developing the Animus===
Vidic's development of the Animus was in fierce competition with the Surrogate Initiative, spearheaded by his colleague Aileen Bock. In order to ensure that his project would keep the upper hand between the two, Vidic secretly wiretapped the offices, laboratories, and phones of Bock and her co-workers. Vidic later transferred countless hours of these illegal recordings onto a set of 160 reel-to-reel tapes and kept them in his home. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
It was his ideas and theories that allowed for the creation of the Animus, though he left the assembly and engineering of the created Animi to his co-worker, Lucy Stillman, as well as several other Abstergo engineers. Nevertheless, Warren oversaw the entire Animus project upon its inception. It was around this time that Vidic himself took part in the Animus Project, as Subject 2, and viewed among others the memories of one of his ancestors, Geoffroy Thérage, the executioner of Jeanne d'Arc.
Sometime before this, Warren had recruited Lucy into working for Abstergo. Though Lucy was attempting to finish her doctorate in the university she studied at the time, her professors disliked the subject of her doctorate, calling it a "pseudo-science" that would discredit and embarrass them if she were to pursue it.
From there, Lucy approached several other universities and companies afterwards, receiving the same reactions ubiquitously, until she eventually received a letter from Warren. He claimed that he had been following her work since she was an undergraduate, and that he found great promise in it, as well as her. Flattered and being left with little other choice, Lucy accepted the position she was offered at Abstergo. Later though, she wondered whether Abstergo had been behind the widespread rejection of her theories from the beginning.
Warren kept a close eye on Lucy when she joined the Animus project, and once rescued her from an attempt on her life by three men, who were her co-workers. After Warren saved her, he promised her that they would never bother her again.
===Early subjects===
In 1983, Warren began to experiment on Subject 4, a young boy who would later be named "Daniel Cross." Placing Daniel in the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestor Nikolai Orelov, Warren also experimented on him using a replicated Piece of Eden. Before setting him free, however, Warren embedded Daniel with a subconscious impulse to assassinate the Mentor of the Assassin Order if he would ever meet him.Assassin's Creed: The Fall
In 2010, Vidic was already laying the groundwork for the experimental Animi Training Program, recruiting promising subjects such as Juhani Otso Berg. One night, Vidic led an Abstergo strike team into Berg's home, where he supplied Abstergo-brand medicine to Berg's ailing toddler, Elina. Promising more of the medicine to help cure the girl, Vidic was able to convince Berg to join the program.Assassin's Creed: Rogue
Together, Warren and Lucy both worked on Subject 15, who was a pregnant woman. Their experiments did have difficulties with the Animus though, which began reading the genetic memories from both Subject 15 and her baby's father, stemming from the .Assassin's Creed II
Over time, Warren soon grew impatient with how long it took for his subjects to gain enough synchronization with their ancestors and access further memories. This, along with receiving much pressure from his superiors, led him to ignore Lucy's warnings and force Subject 16, Clay Kaczmarek, into the Animus for days on end.Assassin's Creed - Warren Vidic's e-mail
As a result, Clay began to suffer severely from the Bleeding Effect, which caused him to hallucinate and confuse the lives of his ancestors with his own. This eventually led him to a mental breakdown, wherein he had to be restrained by several Abstergo employees and injected with .
It was too late however, as Clay had come into contact with a member of the Isu named Juno during his hallucinations, and was later successful with a suicide attempt, after installing an electronic imprint of himself onto the Animus and inscribing several cryptic messages on the wall of his room using his own blood, before passing away.
Afterwards, Warren requested Lucy to assign a linguist and a historian to research and decipher the messages Subject 16 had left behind.
===Subject 17===
In the year 2012, Warren authorized the capture of the seventeenth test subject, a bartender named Desmond Miles from New York City. After his retrieval, both Warren and Lucy personally oversaw Desmond's interactions in the Animus at the Abstergo laboratory in Rome, Italy. At first, Warren found the new test subject both unwilling and subconsciously insecure enough to explore his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's memories. He only managed to gain his cooperation after threatening to medically induce a coma, force Desmond into the Animus, and then discard his body afterwards.
However, despite Desmond's cooperation, progress was slow. After Clay had committed suicide, Lucy was overly protective of Desmond's health, and insisted on short sessions within the Animus to avoid the Bleeding Effect. Though irritable about the deadline the two had, and after a brief argument between him and Lucy, Warren consented to her requests. 
As the week went on, though, and as Desmond made progress within the Animus, Warren's mood swung from short-tempered to calm and collected. During one such day, whilst looking out over the skyline outside his laboratory, Warren deliberately left his access pen in plain sight in his pocket, allowing Desmond to steal it "without him noticing".
At the beginning of each day, Warren was often the one to wake Desmond and order him into the Animus. At these times, Warren would also converse with Desmond, speaking a little about the Templars' achievements, and their pursuit of a New World Order.
Towards the end of the week, as Desmond began to approach the conclusion of his journey within his ancestor's memories, Warren started to become much more eager and insistent on a quick closure. After witnessing the death of Al Mualim, and the activation of the Apple of Eden in Desmond's genetic memories, Warren recorded the map displayed within the memory, commenting triumphantly, "We've got it."
As Desmond awoke, he saw three suited individuals in the laboratory's conference room. The three begun discussing the session results with Warren, and insisted upon Desmond's immediate termination. Though Warren agreed, Lucy interrupted, claiming that Desmond could still be of use to them.
She and Warren argued to the point of Warren claiming that Lucy was undermining his authority, though he eventually consented to "leave nothing to chance". Ordering Desmond back into his room, Warren left the laboratory.
Soon after this, realizing the threat on Desmond's life, Lucy revealed herself to be allied to the Assassins, and helped Desmond escape Abstergo, though this was also one of Warren's plots in order to take Desmond to a more comfortable environment.
===Pursuing Desmond===
The next day, Warren received word of Desmond's escape, and Lucy's "betrayal". Abstergo quickly started tracking the Assassins down, and within three days, Warren led an assault on the Assassins' warehouse hideout.
Accompanied by a contingent of Abstergo security guards, Warren attempted to apprehend Desmond and Lucy, arriving just as Desmond finished exploring the memory of another of his ancestors, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, after the conflict at the Vatican Vault and Minerva's message. Warren attempted to coerce Desmond into coming peacefully, whilst berating Lucy for turning on him.
Both Assassins rejected his offer, and so Warren ordered his guards to take them by force, while he himself merely watched from the open back of a truck. Minutes later, however, following the death or incapacitation of his men, Warren was confronted by Desmond.
Desmond challenged Warren to face him, but Warren only told him that it was a matter of time until he and Lucy were "both back where they belonged." Then, after commenting that the Assassins should enjoy their temporary victory, he fled.
However, the true intention behind the attack was to obtain the tapes of Desmond Miles' Animus sessions that were intentionally left at the Assassin hideout by Lucy Stillman.Assassin's Creed: Revelations – The Lost Archive Following the attack, Vidic maintained contact with Lucy via e-mail, using the name "William M." as a pseudonym. He reminded her to not let her friendship with Desmond jeopardize the Templars' plans.Assassin's Creed: Initiates
===Animi Training Program===
Upon his return to Abstergo, Warren began to lead a mass training of several of Abstergo's loyal agents, using Animi in the same way as the Assassins had trained Desmond. Purposefully using the Bleeding Effect, he began to infuse them with the skills necessary to track down and defeat the Assassins.Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Impressed by some of the recruits, Warren progressed them to the next training program and awarded them with wealth and a privileged status in society. He even appeared to Juhani Otso Berg with a toast upon arriving at their new mansion. Berg was eventually inducted into the Inner Sanctum, and was soon sent after the leader of the Assassins, William Miles, who had finally been located.Assassin's Creed: Revelations
===Death===
When the Templar agents successfully captured William Miles in December 2012, Vidic sent Desmond Miles and his team a video proposing his demands: Give him the Apple of Eden and William would be returned to them safely. Despite the fact that William would tell the team to forget him, Desmond decided to rescue his father.Assassin's Creed III
Once Desmond arrived at the Abstergo facility in Italy, Vidic ordered him to come in peacefully. Desmond refused, killing any security guards who crossed his path. In retaliation, Warren sent Daniel Cross to deal with the Assassin. But once Cross had Desmond cornered, he began to suffer from the Bleeding Effect and fled trying to deal with his mental breakdown.
Vidic, frustrated with Desmond, stated that he was no longer an asset to Abstergo and authorized the guards to kill him on sight. Meanwhile, Desmond pursued Cross through the Animus Training Facility and killed him. Vidic was furious at Cross's death, screaming that the Assassins only took while Templars gave the world order and peace.
Eventually Desmond reached Vidic's office, where his father sat surrounded by armed guards. Vidic demanding Desmond to hand him the Apple. Desmond reached out with the Apple in his hand, but instead of giving it to Warren, used its power to manipulate the security guards in the room. As Vidic pleaded for the last time, Desmond influenced one of guards to turn his weapon on Warren and kill him.
===Legacy===
After his death, Abstergo discovered the hidden set of tapes concerning the Surrogate Initiative in his home. The tapes were transferred into Abstergo's mainframe and a select few were accessed via hacking by the research analyst "Noob" working for Abstergo Entertainment in 2013.
After killing Vidic, Desmond asked William whether Vidic's death would have dealt a major blow to the Templars. William responded that it was unlikely, as Abstergo still had others just as capable as Vidic. Nonetheless, Vidic's death threw the Inner Sanctum intro disarray; his replacement and rival, Álvaro Gramática, was unable to unify the Templars towards a common goal like Vidic had.Assassin's Creed: Syndicate – Database: Álvaro Gramática
==Personality and traits==
Warren Vidic was a hardened scientist and fanatical member of the Templar Order who did all he could to make progress in his work, even if it meant undermining others, as evidenced in his illegal tapping of the Surrogate Initiative's phones. Although he was an intelligent man, he was also somewhat absent-minded, and often needed reminding of passcodes. He was also careless with his access pen, which he often allowed to hang loosely out of his pocket; this resulted in him losing it once in the parking lot, and again, far more seriously, to his test subject Desmond in the Abstergo laboratories.
His total devotion to scientific breakthroughs to further the Templars' cause resulted in exceptionally poor bedside manners for a doctor. Once when trying to coerce Desmond into complying during his captivity, Vidic made a crude attempt at empathy by comparing him to a criminal struggling to reform who would be gladly accepted by the Templars. Ultimately, however, Vidic saw Desmond as clumsy and impatient, qualities which he thought meant that he would never be able to adapt to the Brotherhood, especially not after having abandoned them in his youth.
As an atheist, Warren lacked belief in any god, asserting that many religious artifacts such as the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Apple were simply technology left behind by Those Who Came Before. Ruthless, yet clumsy, he had a short temper and showed little care for the welfare of his test subjects. However, Warren could be devious, orchestrating a plan with Lucy Stillman for her to take Desmond away from Abstergo and retrieve the Piece of Eden when it had been discovered by her and her Assassin colleagues, Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings, dubbed "Project Siren".
While Warren may be unrelenting, he was not entirely without compassion or compromise. He approached Juhani Otso Berg with a generous offer into Abstergo in exchange for further medical treatment for the latter's daughter; he even accepted Berg's request to let him kill the guard who upset young Elina. Warren had grown fond of Lucy Stillman and Daniel Cross. After convincing Lucy to defect from the Assassins, he took her into his confidence, teaching her the Templar ways. Unlike with most of his subordinates, he was willing to grant whatever requests Lucy made, if it would help serve the mission. Likewise, Warren expressed great pride in Daniel,Assassin's Creed: The Chain considering him as a sort of son, albeit a "sickly son." Both Lucy and Daniel's deaths hit Warren hard, and he would not rest until they were avenged.
==Trivia==
*Warren is a name related to the word warden via the Germanic root *war-, meaning "to protect, to defend, to guard": the word's sense of "enclosed area" comes from the Gaulish word varenna, of the same meaning.
*An e-mail from Alan Rikkin confirmed that Warren was in possession of a Crystal Skull.
*In the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer, Warren features in the introductory video, and as the narrator for the training program.
*A letter within the Cluster puzzles, discussing the partial reproduction of the Pieces of Eden's mind control signal over a television network, was signed with the initials W.V.
*In Assassin's Creed, Warren Vidic has a pin on the left side of his coat that was identical to the cloak clasps worn by Robert de Sable in Jerusalem, featuring a variant of the Templar insignia.
*Vidic was part of the development team for Abstergo’s Liberation video game.
==Gallery==
Warren V.png|Concept art of Warren
Warren vidic 1985.JPG|Warren Vidic's I.D
AC1 Vidic Desmond Talking.png|Warren talking with Desmond
AC1 Vidic Phone Convo.png|Warren receiving a call about the Assassin raid
AC1 Rikkin Report.png|Warren reporting the progress to three Abstergo executives
AC2 Vidic Hideout Escape.png|Warren escaping the failed raid on the hideout
ACB Vidic Animi Room.png|Warren briefing the Animi Training Program recruits
ACR Vidic Animus Speaking.png|Warren speaking to Juhani Otso Berg
ACR Vidic Toast.png|Warren toasting Juhani Otso Berg
ACR Vidic Laetitia Inner Sanctum.png|Vidic and Laetitia England briefing the Master Templars
AC3 Vidic Captive William.png|Warren holding William Miles captive
AC3 Vidic Apple Demand.png|Warren demanding the Apple from Desmond
ACI Vidic.jpg|Vidic's memorial message
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed 
*Assassin's Creed II
*Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
*Assassin's Creed: Revelations
*Assassin's Creed III
*Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag 
*Assassin's Creed: Rogue 
*Assassin's Creed: Heresy 
*Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization 
*Assassin's Creed: Bloodstone
==References==
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ru:Уоррен Видик
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Category:1940s births
Category:2012 deaths
Category:Individuals
Category:Americans
Category:Scientists
Category:Medical doctors
Category:Abstergo Industries employees
Category:Animus Subjects
Category:Templars
Category:Master Templars
Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden
Category:American Templars
Category:Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order
Category:Impersonators