In Assassin's Creed III, the first modern-day playable character is Desmond Miles. Desmond uses the Animus to relive the memories of his ancestors, including the Assassin Connor, in an effort to stop an impending global catastrophe.
The modern-day sections continue the storyline established in the earlier games. Desmond travels with members of the Assassin team, including his father William Miles, and explores an abandoned First Civilization temple. His ancestral memories take him to the American Revolution, where he experiences events through Connor and interacts with historical figures.
Desmond had already been the modern-day protagonist in Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations. Assassin's Creed III concludes his central five-game arc. The game was released in 2012 and introduced the Animus interface's sixth-generation framing while expanding the modern-day story around the 2012 catastrophe.