Desmond Miles

*"In a few short months my life changed forever. I know my easiest days are behind me, but I don't want them back—not now. My name is Desmond Miles, and I am an Assassin. I am an Assassin."*
―Desmond Miles
**Desmond Miles** was an American Assassin and a descendant of numerous familial lines that had sworn an allegiance to the Assassins, including individuals such as Aquilus, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Edward Kenway, and Ratonhnhaké:ton. He was also the son of the Mentor William Miles and unknowingly the father of Elijah, a young Sage.

By age 16, Desmond became tired of living in hiding and aspired to pursue his own dreams. Using the minimal training of Assassin skills he had obtained from his father, Desmond fled from the Assassin compound he had grown up in and managed to travel from South Dakota to New York City, where he found employment as a bartender in the Bad Weather nightclub.

In September 2012, Desmond was kidnapped and incarcerated by Abstergo Industries, a Templar organization; designated as **Subject 17** and forced into a machine called the Animus to relive the genetic memories of his ancestor, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. It was Abstergo's aim to acquire a map that detailed many "Pieces of Eden" spread across the Earth, which Desmond was reluctantly successful in doing.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Eagle Vision:** Due to the First Civilization DNA, Desmond possesses Eagle Vision, a form of supernatural senses. With it he can differentiate friend from foe (though this can be fooled, as in the case of Lucy Stillman), and can track individuals with the Sight.
	+ **Telepathic Strenght:** Due to his First Civilization DNA, Desmond is highly resistant to the mind control properties of the Apple of Eden, although not immune, as shown in the Colosseum Vault.
	+ **Accelerated Learning:** Thanks both due to the bleeding effect and his genetic ancestry Desmond can learn new skills at an accelerated rate, such as being able to utilize a great deal of Ezio's fighting and parkour skills after only a few hours in the Animus, bypassing potentially decades of training.
* **Apple of Eden Capabilities:** He came in possession of the Apple of Eden which was sealed in Colosseum Vault in Rome, which granted him supernatural powers.
	+ **Mind Control:** Desmond was able to use the Apple's mind control properties in order to cause a guard to shoot Warren Vidic and then commit suicide himself. He even used it to cause every guard guarding the exit into committing suicide.

### Abilities

* **Gifted Intellect:** Even prior to entering the Animus Desmond was already a very gifted and intelligent man, although he had never truly used his intellect to its full potential. Desmond was clever and resourceful enough to avoid the detection of both the Assassins and Abstergo, successfully evading the notice of both orders for over a decade. After living through the most significant of his ancestors' memories, Desmond gained a large portion of their militant educations, notably in strategy, tactics, and investigation, although he is likely to have also gained much of their academic educations as well in science, mathematics, and languages.
* **Master Assassin:** Through his ancestors, Desmond gained an understanding of much of their techniques in assassination. He learned a vast array of skills in combat and stealth, such as picking pockets, blending into crowds, armed and unarmed combat, alternative or multiple weapon attacks, and numerous assassination techniques.
* **Master Martial Artist:** Following his repeated journeys into the Animus, Desmond became extremely skilled in combat, gaining much of his ancestors' weapons training and combat prowess. Although it should be noted that he appears not to have gained the full combined knowledge and skills of his ancestors, he did certainly gain at least a significant fraction of each's knowledge, which when combined together makes him a formidable warrior easily a match to any of his ancestors. After reliving the memories of Altair, Desmond immediately showed visible improvement to his combat ability, being able to effectively fight while unarmed against Abstergo guards while escaping the Rome facility with Lucy, showcasing strong punches and effective blocking. After experiencing Ezio's memories, Desmond's unarmed skills improved even further, allowing him to disarm an Abstergo guard of his combat baton and use it against him and his fellows with lethal skill, showcasing his newly gained weapon mastery. Following his journey into Haytham and Connor's lives, Desmond's skills truly reached a level comparable to those of his ancestors, allowing him to effectively wipe out a contingent of Abstergo guards in Brazil even while unarmed, and was able to outmatch Daniel Cross in their first and second encounters, albeit the first only being due to him managing to catch Cross off guard.
* **Sword Mastery:** In his youth at the farm, prior to abandoning the Brotherhood, Desmond was trained in fencing by his father and presumably became competently skilled. Considering that all of his ancestors were exceptional swordsmen, It can be assumed that Desmond is now also far more skilled with a blade, though this unconfirmed as he never had a chance to wield a sword personally before his death. It should be noted, however, that during Warren Vidic's raid on the Assassin Safehouse that Desmond was able to disarm one of the Abstergo guards of their collapsible combat batons and used it against them, and used it with the exact same animations as Ezio's swordplay style.
* **Master Acrobat:** Like his ancestors, he is a remarkable free-runner, parkour master & mountaineering expert. These abilities combined with his seemingly superhuman strength & speed, made his acrobatic prowess rare even among the Brotherhood.
* **Master Spy:** Even prior to entering the Animus, Desmond was a capable spy. He was able to avoid the detection of both the Brotherhood and Abstergo for over 10 years, despite the Assassins actively looking for him, an impressive feat in of itself. When a prisoner of Abstergo, Desmond was successfully able to gather information from his surroundings and from the offices adjacent to the Animus room, and even pickpocket an access key from Warren Vidic's pocket. He is also well adept in blending in his surroundings as well as sneaking around heavily guarded places. He could blend in with dense crowds and mimic their activities. He is extremely skilled in stealth, infiltration, thievery, and eavesdropping, and presumably more, though this is not shown.
* **Knife Mastery:** On the mission to the Rome Abstergo Facility, Desmond wielded a knife in his left hand opposite his hidden blade, due to Connor using his Pivot blade in that hand. Desmond was able to use the knife with formidable skill, effectively eradicating the Abstergo guards.
* **Staff/Stick Mastery:** During the Abstergo raid of the Assassin Safehouse, Desmond could potentially disarm one of the guards of his combat baton and use it with immediate mastery, being able swiftly outmatch the other guards.
* **Weapon Mastery:** It is highly likely that Desmond can competently use any weapon his Ancestors could, presumably with the same level of skill.
* **Master Marksman:** After living through Haytham and Connor's memories, Desmond became extremely skilled with firearms, being able to use a handgun taken off of Cross with lethal speed and skill. Considering his ancestors' preference for throwing knives, as well as Connor's expertise with archery, Desmond is hypothetically capable with both as well.

## Equipment

### Weapons

* **Hidden Blade:** Desmond was given a hidden blade by Lucy, originally with a leather bracer similar to Ezio's own, although Desmond later took the bracer off. After living Connor's memories, Desmond began wearing the blade on his right wrist rather than his left (as is traditionally Brotherhood custom) so as to wield a knife in his left instead, due to Connor's wielding of the pivot blade in that hand.
* **Knife:** After living through Connor's memories, Desmond began wielding a knife in his left hand, so as to emulate the Pivot hidden blade that Connor would wear in that hand.
* **Handgun:** Taken off of Daniel Cross' body, Desmond used this semi-automatic pistol with great efficiency, though only for a short period before gaining the Apple.

## Facilities

* **The Farm:** Desmond was born and raised in The Farm, an Assassin compound, being overprotected by his parents who wanted to train his as an Assassin. However, in 2003, Desmond escaped and managed to live his life while avoiding the Assassins and Abstergo.
* **Abstergo Industries Rome Facility:** Desmond was captured by Abstergo and sent to Rome in order to relive Altaïr's memories. However, he escaped with Lucy Stillman. A couple of months later, Desmond would return to save his dad from Warren Vidic.
* **Assassin Safehouse:** Desmond and Lucy arrived to this facility in Rome to hide from Abstergo. With the help of his friends Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings, Desmond would relive Ezio's memories to find another Apple of Eden. However, they had to escape after Abstergo raided the Safehouse.
* **Villa Auditore:** Desmond, Lucy, Rebecca and Shaun would go to Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni and use it as temporary headquarters while Abstergo kept looking for them. Desmond continued reliving Ezio's memories until he found the Apple of Eden at the Colosseum Vault.
* **Grand Temple:** Desmond, Rebecca, Shaun and William Miles would use the temple in New York as temporary headquarters while Abstergo kept looking for them. Desmond would relive Haytham and Connor Kenway's memories to find the key for the temple. Eventually, he would sacrifice himself to save the world, although he freed Juno in the process.

## Relationships

* Mother
* Elijah Miles - Son
* Clay Kaczmareck † - Distant Relative
* Umar Ibn-La'Ahad † - Maternal Ancestor
* Maud † - Maternal Ancestor
* Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad † - Maternal Ancestor
* Maria Thorpe † - Maternal Ancestor
* Darim Ibn-La'Ahad † - Maternal Ancestor
* Sef Ibn-La'Ahad † - Maternal Ancestor

Allies* Assassin's Creed - Colleagues
	+ Rebecca Crane - Friend
	+ Shaun Hastings - Friend
	+ Harlan Cunningham
	+ Layla Hassan † - Friend
* Minerva †
* Jupiter †
	+ Templar Order
		- Warren Vidic † - Attempted Killer and Victim
		- Alan Rikkin †
		- Lucy Stillman † - Former Friend and Unwilling Victim
		- Daniel Cross † - Attempted Killer and Victim
		- Juno †
		- Juhani Otso Berg

## Appearances

* *Assassin's Creed*

## Trivia

* A "missing-person" poster, purportedly made by Desmond's friends after his disappearance, gave Desmond's physical characteristics as "*Age: 25 - Height: 6' - Weight: 195 lbs - Brown hair - Brown eyes*".
	+ The medical report from Abstergo's evaluation of Desmond, dated 3 September 2012, described him as physically fit. His weight, however, was listed as 189 lbs.
	+ Yet another weight, 170 lbs, is given in the *Assassin's Creed* game manual.
	+ Also, while the poster stated that Desmond had brown eyes, his eye color has changed on multiple occasions. In *Assassin's Creed* they were golden; in *Assassin's Creed II* they were brown again; and in *Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood*, when he entered Subject 16's virtual maze, they were displayed as blue. The latter was best seen during the dialogue between him and Subject 16.
	+ According to the *Assassin's Creed* game manual, Desmond was an A+ blood type.
	+ Desmond's ancestors Altaïr and Ezio both possessed scars identical to Desmond's on their lips.
	+ In *Assassin's Creed* and *Assassin's Creed II*, Desmond's face model matched that of the game's respective protagonist.
		- In *Assassin's Creed: Revelations*, Desmond's scar had been removed, possibly due to an oversight. The scar on his lip was returned in *Assassin's Creed III*, however.
	+ Desmond possessed a tattoo on his left forearm, the top part of which resembled an eagle with its wings spread.