Desmond Miles is the Animus user who relives Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's memories in the original Assassin's Creed.
Desmond is abducted by Abstergo Industries and forced to use the Animus, a machine that reconstructs ancestral memories through genetic memory. His first major historical session is experienced through Altaïr, an ancestor who lived during the Third Crusade. Desmond's modern-day perspective frames the historical gameplay and reveals the continuing Assassin–Templar conflict.
Desmond's story continues through several early main entries, including Assassin's Creed II, Brotherhood, Revelations, and Assassin's Creed III. William Miles is Desmond's father, while Warren Vidic is an Abstergo scientist involved in the Animus program. Daniel Cross is another character tied to the modern conflict, but he is not the original game's Animus subject.