In Assassin's Creed II, which Italian Assassin becomes the game's main protagonist?

In Assassin's Creed II, the Italian Assassin who becomes the game's main protagonist is Ezio Auditore. He begins the story as a young Florentine nobleman whose family is destroyed by a political conspiracy.

Ezio's journey takes place during the Italian Renaissance, including major sections set in Florence, Monteriggioni, Venice, and Forlì. After learning the truth about his family's execution, he is introduced to the Assassin Brotherhood and gradually becomes one of its most capable leaders.

Ezio is not the same character as Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the protagonist of the first game. The two are connected through the series' ancestral-memory storyline, but they live centuries apart. Ezio's story continues in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, making him the central figure of the series' Renaissance trilogy.