Desmond Miles

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Desmond Miles
Assassin's Creed character
Desmond Miles in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
First appearance	Assassin's Creed (2007)
Created by	Ubisoft Montreal
Voiced by	Nolan North
Motion capture	Francisco Randez
In-universe information
Occupation	Bartender (formerly) Assassin
Affiliation	Assassin Brotherhood
Family	William Miles (father) Unnamed mother
Children	Elijah (illegitimate son)
Origin	Black Hills, South Dakota, United States
Nationality	American

Desmond Miles is a fictional character from Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed video game franchise. Introduced as the protagonist of the modern-day portion of the first game, he has mentained this role for the next four installments, with his journey and development making up the frame story that unites the first five Assassin's Creed games.^[1][2][3] Desmond has also been referenced or featured in a smaller capacity in subsequent games and literary works within the francise. He is voiced by actor Nolan North^[4][5] and modeled after Canadian fashion model Francisco Randez.^[6] Desmond's character has received a mixed reception.

Desmond is a descendant of a long line of important characters throughout the series, including Adam,^[7][8] Aquilus,^[9][10][11] Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad,^[12] Ezio Auditore da Firenze,^{[13][14][15][16]} Edward Kenway,^[17][18] Haytham Kenway^{[19][20][21][22]} and Ratonhnhaké:ton / Connor Kenway.^[23][24][25] Born into the ancient Assassin Brotherhood and raised to continue his family's heritage as an Assassin, Desmond eventually runs away from home to seek a better life, and becomes a bartender in New York City. However, he is captured by the Templar Order, who force him to experience the memories of his ancestors, all of them Assassins throughout history, through a machine called the "Animus" so that they may locate powerful artifacts called "Pieces of Eden". After escaping from the Templars with the Assassins' help, Desmond learns about his destiny to save humanity from an impending solar flare, and continues to explore his ancestors' memories to find the technology of a precursor race called the Isu, who were wiped out by a similar disaster. Although Desmond sacrifices himself to stop the solar flare in Assassin's Creed III, his legacy plays a major role in subsequent games, and his mind is revealed to still be alive in a different plane of existence.

Appearances[]

Assassin's Creed[]

In the first game in the series, Desmond leads a simple life as a bartender in New York City.^[3] In order to hide his identity, he lives under assumed names and uses only cash to protect himself. However, because his ancestors were Assassins, he is eventually tracked down and captured by Abstergo Industries, a front for the modern-day Templar Order.^[3] Once inside Abstergo's facility in Rome, Italy, Desmond is forced to enter the Animus, which allows him to relive the memories of his ancestors stored in his DNA.^[3] It enables him to separate Desmond's consciousness from his body and to infuse his mind with his ancestors,^[3] all under the watch of Abstergo scientist Dr. Warren Vidic and his assistant Lucy Stillman.^[26] They explain that they are searching the memories of Desmond's ancestors, specifically those of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (1165–1257; Syria),^[3] for specific information, which they refuse to disclose.^[27] Without much choice, Desmond begrudgingly agrees to help them.

After recovering the information for which Vidic was searching, Abstergo's executives order Desmond to be killed. Lucy's quick thinking saves him; she persuades Vidic to keep him alive until they know he is of no further use. Upon returning to his room, Desmond, suffering from the "Bleeding Effect" due to prolonged exposure to the Animus, discovers he has gained Altaïr's "Eagle Vision". This allows him to discern friend from foe and to read cryptic messages written on walls and floors by Subject 16, the previous Animus test subject that Lucy and Vidic occasionally mention.

According to voice actor Nolan North, the original plan for Desmond would be that he would feature in six respective games acquiring the skills of his Assassin ancestors to become 'The Ultimate Assassin',^[28] and would be able to time-travel between different time periods. North became greatly interested in the concept but it was unfortunately scrapped. Adding upon this, North personally noted Desmond as a 'boring' protagonist who ultimately had no direction to go forward, describing the character as 'a fork in the road'. He has been defined as a MacGuffin: "he exists to move the story forward, but he provides little substance".^[3]

Assassin's Creed II[]

Assassin's Creed II continues from where the first game left off, as Desmond escapes from the Abstergo facility with the help of Lucy, who is an undercover Assassin in Abstergo. He enters the Animus 2.0, supervised by Lucy and her team of assassins Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, to be quickly trained as an Assassin via the Bleeding Effect. He relives the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze (1459-1524; Italy),^[3] his ancestor from the Renaissance. After successfully navigating Ezio's early memories, Desmond is extracted from the Animus to avoid the mental degradation that Subject 16 suffered as a side-effect of the Bleeding Effect. Shortly after extraction, Desmond flashes back to one of Altaïr's memories, despite not being linked to the Animus. Desmond learns of Altaïr's lover Maria Thorpe, a former Templar used as a decoy by Robert de Sablé. As Altaïr leaves, Desmond wonders why he is not following the Assassin; instead, he moves towards Maria and enters her womb, showing that Altaïr's child— another of Desmond's ancestors—has just been conceived.

After spending more time in Animus 2.0, Desmond begins to adjust to his newly developed skills and becomes agile and expert fighter, similarly to Ezio. The last segment of Ezio's memories brings an astonished Ezio and Desmond to a futuristic chamber underneath the Sistine Chapel, where a hologram of the goddess Minerva addresses Desmond by name and through Ezio warns him of an impending cataclysm with the potential to destroy all life on Earth. Desmond is pulled from the Animus as Abstergo discovers their hideout. The team escapes; Desmond using the skills acquired from the Bleeding Effect to repel Abstergo's forces. Desmond enters the Animus while in transit, knowing Ezio and perhaps Subject 16 may have the answers they seek.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood[]

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Desmond, Lucy, Shaun, and Rebecca arrive at Monteriggioni, where they set up a safe house in the Villa Auditore's sanctuary. Desmond re-enters the Animus 2.0 to discover the location of the Apple of Eden, one of the "Pieces of Eden" obtained by Ezio. Through Ezio's memories, Desmond and the others learn the Apple is hidden under the Colosseum. The Assassins find their way inside an ancient vault, where the Apple is located. Desmond takes the Apple, and through it, Juno takes control of his body and forces him to stab Lucy, claiming that she would have betrayed him if he allowed her to accompany him any further. Desmond then falls into a coma, and is placed back into the Animus by two unknown Asassins in a bid to preserve his consciousness.

Assassin's Creed: Revelations[]

In Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Desmond awakens within the Black Room, a "safe mode" area for the Animus. In the Black Room's "Animus Island", he meets the digital construct of Subject 16, Clay Kaczmarek, who explains that Desmond must find a memory that links him with Altaïr and Ezio so he can reintegrate his shattered subconscious and awaken from his coma. While in this state, Desmond can hear conversations between Shaun, Rebecca, and his father, William Miles. When the Animus begins to delete Animus Island, Clay sacrifices himself to prevent Desmond's consciousness from being deleted, but not before transferring his own genetic memories onto Desmond. After awakening from his coma, Desmond sees Shaun, Rebecca, and Bill around him. When William asks if he is alright, Desmond simply states that he knows what they have to do.^[29]

While in the Black Room, there are five sequences where Desmond talks about his life prior to being captured by Abstergo. In Desmond Sequence 1, he expresses regret for running away from "The Farm", where he grew up in secrecy among other Assassins, and also wishes that he could apologize to his parents. In Desmond Sequences 2 and 3, Desmond explains his early life on The Farm and the training he went through. He also describes his escape, which happened at the age of 16. He ran away into the Black Hills, before running into girls from Illinois who drove him to Chicago. After this, he moved to New York City. During Desmond Sequence 4, he talks of his life in New York, and the job he got at a high-end bar. In the last sequence, Desmond Sequence 5, Desmond describes how Abstergo found him at age 25 and how much he regretted not taking his parents' warnings and training more seriously, and finally accepts his role as an Assassin.

In The Lost Archive DLC, during his time in the Animus, Desmond unwillingly experiences Clay's memories prior to his death. He learns that Clay used to be an Assassin, and that he was tasked with infiltrating Abstergo to learn what Warren Vidic hoped to achieve by accessing the memories of different Assassins. Lucy, who had infiltrated Abstergo years prior, was to safely extract Clay after his mission was complete. However, Clay eventually discovered that Lucy had secretly betrayed the Assassins and joined the Templar cause, and that Vidic ordered her to take Desmond to a place where he would feel safe, so that she could analyze the memories of his ancestors and find an Apple of Eden; Abstergo would then steal the Apple from the Assassins and use it control the entire planet through a satelite. When Lucy discovered that Clay had learned about her treachery, she imprisoned him at the Abstergo facility, where Clay was eventually driven to insanity and took his own life.

Assassin's Creed III[]

In Assassin's Creed III, Desmond, who is noticeably thinner and frail after a long time in Animus, awakes from his coma. With the help of his father and friends, he relives the memories of his ancestor Ratonhnhaké:ton (1756–unknown; Colonial America),^[3] and he must find his way into the Central Vault and stop the world from perishing. Using the new Animus 3.0, Desmond begins to live another of his ancestor's memories: Native American (Mohawk) Assassin, Ratonhnhaké:ton, who fought during the American Revolution. After he relives the life of Ratonhnhaké:ton and kills Warren Vidic and Daniel Cross, he finds the key to the secret door. Desmond opens the door and speaks with Juno. Minerva suddenly appears and tells Desmond that while they were planning to save the world, Juno wanted to use the machines and set in motion her plans of global conquest and return of the old order.

Minerva warns Desmond that if he touches the pedestal, he will be destroyed, and Juno will be released, but the world will be saved. Juno shows Desmond how his divinity among the survivors of the catastrophe would end with the world going through another cycle of political and religious war. Desmond decides to use the device and save the world, believing it has a better chance of fighting Juno. While Shaun, Rebecca, and William exit the temple, Desmond touches the pedestal and releases Juno. He saves the world, but kills himself by releasing Juno.

According to lead designer Steve Masters, Desmond's story ends in Assassins Creed III: "What we're trying to do is bring some finality to Desmond's story. To actually wrap up what you've opened and experienced with him." the creative director of the series, Jean Guesdon, said that Desmond is an important character in the Assassin's Creed series, and will be playing a large part in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.^[30]

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag[]

Despite his physical death, Desmond is still a powerful asset for Templars and Assassins. Shortly after Desmond's death, a sample recovery team from Abstergo is sent to collect his body and samples for the new Sample 17. Desmond's DNA is stored in Abstergo Entertainment's servers, where a crew of analysts is tasked with reliving his copied genetic memories and learning about his ancestors. One of them, the player character, is tasked with reliving the memories of Edward Kenway, Ratonhnhaké:ton's grandfather, a pirate and later an eventual member recruited into the Assassin Order, collecting enough data to lead the Abstergo to the Observatory, a First Civilization's temple hosting an advanced tracking device and several vials of First Civilization's blood samples. This allows Abstergo Entertainment to fund its operations by writing a movie about the Golden Age of Piracy.

The analyst steals and sends back to the Assassins several recordings left by Desmond detailing his initial doubts of leaving the farm, his acceptance of the role he had been chosen to play, and his love for his parents. Because Abstergo can now collect anyone's genetic memories without having to use blood-related analysts, Desmond's body gives Abstergo full knowledge about his family life.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate[]

In 2015, a boy (Elijah Miles) was brought by his mother to an Abstergo clinic in New York City. Abstergo analysts discovered that the boy shared exactly the same patrilineal lineage of Desmond Miles, indicating that he may have been unknowingly conceived by Desmond a few years after the latter's escape from the Assassins. On top of that, it was also revealed that the boy is a Sage, a modern-day reincarnation of a First Civilization member. An Abstergo researcher then proposes to kidnap the boy and conduct vivisection on him. However, another researcher, Isabelle Ardant, opposed the idea, claiming that it would be better to abduct the boy when he is older and place him in the Animus for 50 years so that Abstergo can study his lineage.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla[]

Desmond's mind had spent eight years in the Grey. In his time there, he was transformed into a being of light, calling himself "The Reader". The Assassin Layla Hassan entered the Grey via the Isu simulation device the Yggdrassil Chamber to find a way to slow the magnetism of the global aurora borealis device. Layla showed the Reader more possibilities and calculations based on timelines he had not explored. The Reader then told Layla she had a minute to live as the radiation from the chamber was killing her physical body. Layla then decided to stay in the Grey with the Reader and explore more timelines.

Film[]

Michael Fassbender starred in and co-produced a film adaptation of the series, projected to be the first of several films.^[31] Initially thought to be cast as Desmond Miles, Ubisoft stated that Fassbender would play a new character, named Callum Lynch.^[32][33]

Reception[]

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Desmond Miles received mixed reviews from critics,^[34] primarily due to his uneven characterization and development.^[35] He was voted the twentieth top character of the 2000s by Game Informer readers.^[36] PlayStation Universe rated him as one of the PlayStation 3's worst characters, saying, "While voiced admirably by the ubiquitous Nolan North, it's impossible to shake the feeling of pure monotony when stepping into Desmond's shoes when all you want to do is hop back in time and stab people in the face".^[37] Desmond and his significance in video game culture is analyzed in the 2017 publication 100 Greatest Video Game Characters.^[3]

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