The 2007 game Assassin’s Creed first introduced the modern-day Assassin Desmond Miles.
Desmond is the framing character for the original game. He is captured by the fictional company Abstergo Industries and connected to the Animus, a machine that lets him experience genetic memories inherited from his ancestors. The first ancestor he relives is Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, an Assassin active during the Third Crusade.
The game alternates between Desmond’s present-day captivity and Altaïr’s historical missions. This structure established one of the series’ defining ideas: the Assassin-Templar conflict continues across different periods, while the Animus links the stories. Desmond remains important in later titles, especially Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, Revelations, and Assassin’s Creed III.
A common mix-up is treating Altaïr as the series’ only protagonist. He is the playable historical hero of the first game, but Desmond is its modern-day viewpoint character. The original title was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released in November 2007.