In Assassin's Creed II, the Medici family rules Florence when Ezio Auditore begins his journey. Lorenzo de' Medici, known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, is the city's leading political figure during the game's Renaissance setting.
The Medicis were a powerful Florentine banking family who shaped the city's politics, art, and diplomacy. In the game, Lorenzo and his circle become important allies as Ezio investigates the conspiracy that destroyed his family. The story uses real figures such as Lorenzo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Caterina Sforza alongside fictional characters and a fictionalized version of events.
The Borgia family is also central to Assassin's Creed II and its sequel, but the Borgias are associated mainly with Rome and the papacy. The Sforzas appear in the broader Italian setting, particularly around Milan and Forlì. The Medici connection is specifically tied to Florence, where Ezio's family lives at the start of the game. This mixture of documented history and invented personal drama is a defining feature of the series.