In Assassin's Creed II, what is the name of the Florentine assassin controlled by the player?

In Assassin's Creed II, the player controls Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Ezio is introduced as a young nobleman in Renaissance Florence. After members of his family are executed through a political conspiracy, he becomes involved with the Assassin Brotherhood and begins pursuing those responsible. His story covers much of his life and continues in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

The name is sometimes shortened to Ezio Auditore, but “da Firenze” identifies his Florentine origin. He is not the protagonist of the first Assassin's Creed, which follows Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Ezio's trilogy is set across several major Italian and Mediterranean locations, including Florence, Venice, Rome, and Constantinople.

Ezio became one of the franchise's most recognizable characters because his narrative follows his development from an inexperienced young man into a senior Assassin and mentor.