André Bolden

**André "Dre" Bolden** (born 1944) is an elderly Afro-American Vietnam War veteran from Baltimore.

Hailing from the Bolden family which counted several Black Crosses, he was recruited by Abstergo to explore the history of his family and search for the Koh-i-Noor.

## Biography

### Early life

A veteran of the Vietnam War, Bolden received a Purple Heart, but suffered from PTSD due to some actions he committed during the war. A decade after his return, he fell in love with a woman and adopted her daughter, but because of his troubles she later left him with their daughter. By 2016, André hadn't seen either of them for ten years.

### Approached by Abstergo

In 2016, Bolden was approached by the Templars who lied to him, pretending to wish to cure him of his PTSD because Abstergo cared about the veterans while their true goal was to have access to his DNA. After he accepted their offer, the Templars brought André to their Philadelphia facility. André was greeted by Juhani Otso Berg and his team, consisting of Violet da Costa, Caitlin Gift and Freddy before being put into an Animus.

Now in 1805, André witnessed the meeting between Jan van der Graff, a Dutch agent of Napoleon Bonaparte and Black Cross Solomon Bolden aboard a ship sailing for Libya on the Barbary Coast. During the session, André witnessed the two men fighting against pirates sent after the Templar by the Sultan before they decided to make an alliance. The slaver would help van der Graff to accomplish his mission and the Dutchman would make him enter into the Sultan's palace.

Waking up and realizing that he had been deceived, Bolden, somehow reinvigorated by the Bleeding Effect neutralized two men before fleeting the complex. Later, Berg found his trace back into a hotel and convinced André to continue exploring the memories of his ancestor.

### Learning the truth

The two later returned to the Abstergo facility, where they pieced the details together with Berg's team. They realized that Jan is André ancestor instead of Solomon. To continue the investigation, he was later put back into the Animus.

Back in the Animus, André again relieved Jan's memories during his time in Libya. He witnessed Jan's meeting with his contacts in a tavern, Ahkbar and Edmund, who reveals to them a secret underground tunnel to the Sultan's palace. In the tunnel, André witnessed the both of them being cornered by Libyan Assassins, with Ahkbar stabbing Solomon from behind, killing him. Before being put from his session, André learns about the Koh-i-Noor, having heard it from the conversation between him and Ahkbar.

Needing some time to process, André visited a nearby bar to get a drink. Berg later arrived to join him and talk to him about their real objective of putting him in the Animus. Having known their objective, André became upset and questions whether Berg and his team were using his memories for the diamond or money. Berg replied that it wasn't for money, but rather life and death. He later told André about the Assassins, the Templars, the Pieces of Eden and the Black Cross. André however did not believe his words and called him crazy, to which Berg replied that, after everything André had seen and experienced, this did not sound too far fetched.

Having listened enough, André left the bar, with Berg following right behind. A car later passed by right beside them with its occupants firing at the both of them, killing several civilians. Berg managed to pull André to cover, leaving both of them unscathed. He later jumped into the car and eliminated the occupants. Both of them later went back to the facility in Philadelphia accompanied by Violet and Freddy to discuss the attack. When they checked on André, he replied that he is shaken, but is ready to continue the Animus session.

During the session, André started screaming out in pain, due to the fact that he was reliving Jan's memories during his time in the torture chamber. Thanks to Caitlin, who had helped to skip past the memories to a few days forward, André was able to continue. Through the memories, the team learned that during Jan's time in prison, he met Tavis Olier, the Black Cross before Solomon Bolden.

### Completing the mission

After the session, André again visited the bar to get a drink, where he was found by Violet. Violet asked him about his encounter in the chamber, which he replied that it felt like dying over and over. Violet told André that she had talked to Berg, saying that the information uncovered was not enough, but they couldn't force him to come back for another session and that he was right for telling André the truth about the sessions. As André told her that he still does not know whether they are crazy or not, Violet replied that maybe they are but they are not liars, before handing him a Templar pin which belonged to another Black Cross, Albert Bolden.

The two later returned to the facility, where they learned that Caitlin had been killed by someone in the facility. When Berg asked André if he wished to stay, André replied that he is not going anywhere. He decided to help Berg finish the session so that they can complete the investigation. Through the last session, André and Berg learned that Tavis trained Jan to become the next Black Cross. Jan was also able to escape the prison and confront Ahkbar, who had poisoned the Sultan, Selim III and recovered the diamond. Ahkbar used the diamond to create illusions, but was easily defeated and killed by Jan, who had seen through the illusions. The Assassins later arrived, having heard of Ahkbar's betrayal and surrounds Jan. When asked what he wished to do with the artifact, Jan replied that he had zero ideas of keeping the diamond to himself or the Templar Order and handed them a box, supposedly containing the diamond.

Having completed the last session, Berg and André discussed the session at the bar. Berg apologized to André for the things that had happened even though they were still not close to finding the Koh-i-Noor. André smiled at him, telling him that Jan had tricked the Assassins as the diamond was still with him as he left Libya. On the topic of André's genetic memory, André told Berg that Jan had found a 'way' to keep his promise to Solomon, and met Solomon's wife. Both of them had a child which would continue the Bolden family line. André later told Berg that he had a promise to keep to his daughter and hands him the Templar pin, which convinced him to take on the Black Cross mantle.

### Helping Berg

By 2017, André started working with Berg, helping him in his role as the new Black Cross. In February, André was contacted by Berg, who was in Hong Kong investigating the aftermath of an Assassin raid in an abandoned Abstergo Industries office. When Berg identified the weapons involved as Assassin weapons, André suggested the possibility of the Assassins and Templars working together, though Berg was unable to confirm it.

Sometime later, André dressed up as the Black Cross to protect Berg's identity as at the Inner Sanctum meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec. At the meeting, the Inner Sanctum questioned his identity to which he replied that he was the Black Cross and that he knows all of their identities. André informed the members that Abstergo may have been infiltrated by a number of hostile fifth columns. Laetitia England asked for the proof, to which André responded with a middle finger, refusing to answer to the Inner Sanctum. Berg pretended to be enraged by André's comments and jumped on him, only to be thrown across the room. Affirming his independence and warning the members, André threw a smoke bomb and left the meeting.

André later returned to Berg's apartment in Montreal, where he was offered a drink by Berg. André was amazed at how much the Black Cross suit weighed and wondered how Berg was able to move around in it. Berg responded saying that having worn kevlar vests during his time in Jaeger Regiment makes it normal to him. He asked André why he gave them Inner Sanctum members the middle finger, to which André responded he got lost in the moment. Berg remarked that the Inner Sanctum are completely ruthless so André should count himself to be lucky that he did not get lost in a landfill. He later thanked André as due to his actions, he had now the room to operate as both a member of the Inner Sanctum and the Black Cross. Berg then told André he was going to track down the goggles he had recovered from Hong Kong which came from an Abstergo facility in Berlin, Germany.

A few days later, after Berg returned from Berlin suffering injuries, André advised him to stop going after people and that despite Abstergo's 'noble' cause, it has been infected by 'parasites' who would learn to use it and that once they passed without being noticed, they would eventually take over. André then told Berg that he left the company's tax sheet open on the computer before leaving, telling him not to get his hopes up.

Sometime later, André sent a sample of his blood to Berg so that he could relive the memories of Albert Bolden during his time in the Spanish Civil War in search of the Koh-i-Noor. After Berg had found the location of the jewel, he contacted André and gave him the address of Álvaro Gramática's laboratory, requesting him to keep a lookout for any signs of them constructing a body for an ancient deity. Unbeknownst to Berg however, André was found by one of the Instruments, Jasdip Dhami, who had overheard everything.

## Trivia

* While being a member of the Bolden family, André is the descendant of Jan van der Graaf and not of Solomon Bolden.
* Bolden is a fan of Star Trek, often comparing the technology of Abstergo to the series'.
* In some panels of *Assassin's Creed: Templars*, artist Dennis Calero modeled Bolden's appearance after actor Laurence Fishburne.

## Appearances

* *Assassin's Creed: Templars* (first appearance)
* *Assassin's Creed: Uprising*