In Assassin's Creed Rogue, Shay Cormac joins the Templar Order after leaving the Assassins.
Shay begins the game as an Assassin operating in the North Atlantic during the eighteenth century. After a disastrous mission connected with an Isu artifact and a devastating earthquake in Lisbon, he becomes disillusioned with the Assassin leadership and its willingness to pursue powerful ancient objects.
Shay is later recruited by Achilles Davenport's Templar rivals, especially Haytham Kenway. He adopts the Templar cause and hunts former Assassin allies, making Rogue notable because its protagonist fights from the opposing side of the long-running conflict.
The Templar Order is not the same as the Abstergo corporation, although Abstergo is a modern organization descended from Templar interests in the series' present-day storyline. The game also connects Shay's story to characters and events from Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.