Editing Ezio Auditore da Firenze (section)

==Personality and characteristics==

Ezio was raised as a Florentine nobleman in the late 15th century, unaware of either the Assassins' existence or his heritage. Although Ezio lived a life of luxury, he did not exhibit the typical spoiled attitude of other Florentine nobles. He was a playful, charming, affable young man who did chores for his mother and father without question and often went out of his way to help others, especially his family.

Before he was chased out of Florence, Ezio was outgoing and had many friends, although he was initially shy and awkward around girls. Like his father, Ezio possessed almost superhuman acrobatic abilities, being able to climb skyscrapers, move swiftly across rooftops, and perform death defying leaps with relative ease. It is unknown if he learned these skills on his own, or if they were taught to him by Giovanni, Federico, or Mario. 

While a novice Assassin, Ezio was frequently blinded by rage, furiously stabbing Uberto Alberti to death and flying into an angry tirade after killing Vieri. But eventually, Ezio managed to gain control of his emotions and, by the time he had become a Master Assassin, could control them almost completely. However, Ezio was still prone to flying off the handle at the right trigger; in 1506, he beat up Duccio de Luca in a fist-fight after incessant provocation.

By the time Ezio confronted Rodrigo Borgia, he had become more dedicated to his role as an Assassin, ceasing to use revenge as a motivation. He became more focused on instilling a sense of fraternity among his apprentices, and a love of the cultures they would defend from the Templars. He also spared the lives of any targets that he concluded had no need to die, most notably Micheletto Corella (although this would prove to be a mistake).

Ezio was loyal to his family and was pained for the rest of his life after the Auditore execution. Although he was able to lay the bodies of his fallen family to rest, he continued collecting feathers throughout Italy in honor of his youngest brother. This feather collection helped cure his mother of the comatose state she had been in since her husband and children were murdered. Claudia thought Ezio a bit overbearing at times, as shown by her journal, but knew that he was trying to help regardless, and stood by her brother and the Assassins.

Ezio became more quiet and distant during his late 40s, reluctant to share information regarding his early life with associates such as Salaì, but also being more open with those he knew and cared for. Near the end of his life, Ezio was still as loving and passionate with his family but became more gruff towards strangers, such as Shao Jun. This was in part due to his old age, but also reluctance to involve himself any further with Assassin affairs, although he eventually warmed up to the Chinese Assassin. It could also be said that Ezio had grown paranoid of strangers since, in comparison to previous seasons, he had not hired any help for his vineyard's grape harvest despite his worsening condition. In addition, Ezio had become somewhat forgetful, possibly increasing his uneasiness with unknown people.

Ezio also seemed to be aware, or at least have a feeling, that his time was growing short, as evidenced by his confession to Sofia, "I knew I would not have time to do everything, now I worry that I don't have time to do anything," as well as his preparation of a final letter in the event of his death.

===Equipment and skills===

Ezio was both a highly skilled Assassin and an adept Mentor. He learned and developed a vast array of skills, such as picking pockets, blending into crowds, armed and unarmed combat, alternative or multiple weapon attacks, stealth and public assassination techniques, freerunning and long-range combat.

He was also able to use a variety of weapons and gadgets, including two Hidden Blades, a sword, throwing knives, smoke bombs, short blade and many more. Born with the ability to use Eagle Vision, Ezio could instinctively differentiate friend from foe and be warned about any oncoming danger or attacks, allowing him to dodge it upon realization. After talking to his captive father, he later inherited his father's Assassin robes, which he would upgrade with various armor and dyes throughout his life.

An explorer, throughout his quests, Ezio scoured the cities he visited in search of Codex pages and seals from the six Assassin Tombs spread across northern Italy. The Codex pages allowed Leonardo da Vinci to upgrade his weaponry, including the addition of a wheellock firearm and poison needle concealed beneath his left Hidden Blade.

By collecting the six tomb seals, Ezio gained access to the armor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad created, which was later lost during the Fall of Monteriggioni. He also collected capes that had helped him stay incognito to city guards. The only exception to this was the cape bearing the Auditore family crest, which made him easily recognizable, due to his family's history.

In 1500, during the Siege of Monteriggioni, Ezio lost most of his equipment but was able to keep his original Hidden Blade. His blade also underwent some alterations anonymously by Niccolò Machiavelli, though he merely replaced the former leather and metal bracer with a new, fully plated version bearing a different design. Also, the former blade was replaced with a newer one that bore a black tribal design running down the center of the blade.

During his time in Rome, Ezio's usual attire would be replaced by a new outfit based on elements from both his father's clothing and Altaïr's robes. He became an adept user of the crossbow, and also obtained the Armor of Brutus after stealing all the scrolls from the Followers of Romulus. In addition, Ezio also acquired poison darts and parachutes, courtesy of Leonardo da Vinci.

Ezio was a very skilled freerunner from a young age. He learned how to freerun under the tutelage of either his father or older brother, and was able to move quickly and efficiently in sprinting, climbing, and jumping. In addition, he was also an extremely enduring and strong athlete, being able to perform all these actions without being encumbered by his large variety of weapons and armor at all.

Despite his advancing years, Ezio Auditore's skill and speed as a freerunner increased significantly, being aware of all of his surroundings as well as planning his next move very quickly and carefully, as observed by younger Assassins such as Francesco Vecellio.

Ezio's speed and abilities gave him a legendary status among the Roman Thieves Guild, so far as going to convince some of the members to believe that Ezio's freerunning skills were exaggerated, and blatantly impossible for someone his age, forcing him to prove otherwise.

Ezio was also capable of tolerating and suppressing his own pain to a point where they would not prevent him from engaging in head-to-head combat if really needed. In 1500, during the siege of Monteriggioni, even after being shot by multiple arquebusiers in the chest area and then falling from a building because of it, Ezio was still able to fight guards with ease later on and even climb the Auditore Crypt walls without exhausting himself the least bit.

Ezio was also exceptionally durable for a man like him, brushing off direct cannonball hits that could easily destroy entire buildings in a single shot, twice in a row during the siege of Viana in a single shot and repeatedly surviving long falls from great heights which would generally be fatal even for the strongest of athletes. Ezio was also renowned for his superhuman strength and stamina, being able to fight with multiple heavily-armored enemies with his bare hands without showing any signs of fatigue, as seen when he effortlessly took out guards all by himself during the siege of Monteriggioni despite being shot and falling off a building not moments before.

By 1511, at age 52, due to him keeping himself rigorously active, Ezio had still retained his athletic and physical abilities as well as his skill in combat. His Eagle Vision had evolved into Eagle Sense, enabling him to track enemies, determine targets, diagnose the injured, detect scent vapors of poisons, detect imminent threats more precisely and faster, as seen when he was about to be attacked by stalkers, and find lost books around Constantinople. He acquired the hookblade from his fellow Master Assassin and close friend, Yusuf Tazim, and quickly mastered its utility in freerunning and combat.

He also made use of bomb-crafting after it had been introduced to him by Yusuf and Piri Reis. After discovering the ten memoir pages of Ishak Pasha scattered across Constantinople, Ezio explored the Hagia Sophia and recovered his armor.

After he retired, due to no longer keeping rigorously active, Ezio's age finally caught up to him and his physique degraded significantly. By 1524, Ezio's stamina and agility had decreased to the point where he could barely run across his own grape field, whereas before he could sprint for three-hundred meters uninterrupted. If not for neglecting his training, then Ezio's drastic physical deterioration was due to extreme old age and illness, though he retained his heightened sense of awareness, even at his death.

Even with his severe handicaps, Ezio was still able to overpower three Chinese swordsmen with only his fireplace poker. He was even able to use the poker as an improvised hookblade, using it to throw an attacker across the room before hurling it into his skull. However, Ezio was completely outmatched by the last enemy in terms of strength due to old age, and would have definitely been killed had the attacker not succumbed to the injuries inflicted by both Ezio and Shao Jun.

Ezio took quite a beating for a man his age during the assault on his Villa, and this may have contributed to his passing not long after Jun's departure, though it is more likely that his heart simply could not handle the amount of stress he had gone through.

===Romantic life===

Ezio was known for his good looks, flirtatious nature and predisposition for womanizing. Though the latter part of his life was centered around his hunt for Rodrigo Borgia, Ezio shared multiple romantic relationships with a number of different women.

By 1476, Ezio had had many encounters with various unnamed Florentine girls and courtesans before the execution of his family, insulting Vieri de' Pazzi by suggesting that his sister seemed quite satisfied with the "handling" he had given her earlier.

That year, Ezio was in a permanent relationship of sorts with Cristina Vespucci, though against the wishes of her father. Following his street brawl with Vieri de' Pazzi on the Ponte Vecchio, Ezio visited Cristina during the night, despite his brother's request otherwise. He was chased out by Cristina's father the next morning, and subsequently had to flee the city guards.

Two years later, when Ezio returned to Florence, Cristina was engaged to Manfredo Soderini, though she admitted to still loving Ezio. Eight years later, when Cristina and Manfredo travelled to Venice for Carnevale, Ezio, posing as her husband, wrote to her asking her to come to meet him, to which Cristina complied. As both wore Carnevale masks, she did not recognize him until he kissed her.

Cristina then removed his mask and asked Ezio how he dared kiss her like that, telling him she never wanted to see him again. When Ezio tried to stop her, she explained that if he really loved her, he would not simply have let Manfredo marry her.

When Ezio returned to Florence again in 1497, he learned from a wounded Manfredo that he and Cristina had been attacked by Savonarola's men. Ezio tracked down Cristina and killed her assailants. As he proceeded to take Cristina to a doctor, she died in his arms, after telling him that she wished that they could have had a second chance together. Ezio wrote years later that he felt something "withered" in him after her death.

Before meeting with Cristina during Carnevale, and while trying to find a way to Venice, Ezio accompanied his friend, Leonardo da Vinci, to Forlì. He was initially refused passage aboard the ship to Venice, but his fortunes changed after encountering Caterina Sforza, who had become stranded on a small island with no means of escape.

Ezio rescued her, and she repaid the favor by granting him passage to Venice. She also told him that the next time he returned to Forlì, it would "be her pleasure" to entertain him. Moments later, after Ezio revealed to his close friend that Caterina was a future conquest and his type of woman, Leonardo informed Ezio of the lady's identity and that she was married to the Count of the city.

Also, at some point during his time in Forlì, Ezio encountered a girl named Amelia. During this encounter, Amelia and two of her friends were discussing whether anyone could beat their record in a horseback riding race. Ezio took on the challenge in return for a "private riding lesson" with Amelia should he prove successful, which he was.

When Ezio arrived in Venice for the first time, an unknown young woman attempted to pickpocket him. Later the same day, Ezio witnessed the woman and a group of thieves attempting to scale the Palazzo della Seta. The attempt ended in failure, and the girl was shot in the leg by an archer.

Ezio intervened, defending her from Emilio Barbarigo's thugs. Upon helping her to get to safety, he learned that her name was Rosa, and that she was a member of the city's Thieves Guild. At first, Rosa's attitude towards Ezio was very aggressive and unfriendly, but after he saved her, she became much more amiable.

While trying to acquire the Golden Mask, Ezio was seen flirting with many of Sister Teodora's courtesans. After the Carnevale challenges, when Ezio went up to accept the Golden Mask as his prize for victory, he was accompanied by a courtesan. After assassinating Marco Barbarigo and seeking sanctuary in the brothel, Ezio flirted with Sister Teodora, who invited several of her girls to "comfort" Ezio.

Since their first meeting in Forlì, Ezio's feelings for Caterina Sforza developed, and in January 1500, Ezio had an intimate encounter with her, sleeping with her in the Villa Auditore before it was besieged by Cesare Borgia and his army.

After her capture, Ezio sank into a state of near depression, where his feelings for Caterina conflicted with his suspicion that she was merely using him. Despite this impression, Ezio was determined to rescue her from the Castel Sant'Angelo, disregarding the insistence of Niccolò that Cesare and Rodrigo Borgia should be the focus of his attention.

During their escape, Caterina hesitantly explained to Ezio that the night they had shared had only been in the name of politics, as she had needed his help in defending Forlì. Ezio continued to hope that his feelings for Caterina were reciprocated, though she soon informed him otherwise. Despite his subsequent decision to no longer pursue Caterina's affections, the two remained close allies for the sake of the Brotherhood.

In 1504, Ezio met Lisa del Giocondo, when the lady discovered him unconscious following an ambush by Borgia men and tended to his wound. Hiding in her father's barn for several days while he healed, the Assassin and the lady grew close. However, he left before anything could happen, respecting Lisa's faithfulness to her husband. Fifteen years later, Ezio remembered this day as one of the most bittersweet of his existence.

While on a ship arriving in Constantinople, Ezio briefly saw Sofia Sartor, who was traveling from Rhodes and returning to her bookstore. He attempted to talk to her, but she was too distracted to pay attention to him. Later, Ezio met Sofia again at her store while searching for the Masyaf Keys. The two worked out a bargain: if she helped Ezio track down the keys, he would retrieve and give her some of the books the Polos had hidden.

In an attempt to keep Sofia away from the Assassin and Templar fight, Ezio kept Sofia in the dark about the purpose of his search, and attempted to keep his relationship with her platonic. However, as time went on, Ezio grew to admire Sofia more, and would often linger at her shop to be with her. Sofia also came to adore Ezio as well, asking him to be her escort to Adrianople (which Ezio had to reluctantly decline due to his search). She also arranged a picnic for the two of them in a park near Hagia Sophia.

When Ezio left Constantinople to assassinate Manuel Palaiologos, he asked Yusuf Tazim to keep Sofia safe. However, the Templar Ahmet, knowing of their relationship, dispatched a group of soldiers to kidnap her. While Yusuf managed to hold back many of the soldiers, he was eventually killed, and Sofia was captured.

Upon learning this, Ezio flew into a rage and attacked the Arsenal in great force with the local Assassins. He eventually submitted to Ahmet's demands however, as he still held Sofia, and gave up the Masyaf Keys. However, after being rescued, Sofia helped Ezio chase after Ahmet and retrieve what had been taken.

Ezio and Sofia eventually travelled to Altaïr's library in May 1512. Once Ezio decided to retire as an Assassin, the two left Masyaf and wed each other, before the couple moved to a villa outside Florence, where they would eventually raise their son and daughter. In 1524, Ezio died of a heart attack, and his final words were in a letter addressed to Sofia, where he commented that the love he had for her and their children was what had kept him going in his old age.