The Animus is the device that lets users relive ancestral memories in the Assassin's Creed video game series.
In the original game and later entries, the Animus is presented as advanced technology that translates genetic memories into an interactive experience. Modern-day characters enter the machine while its software reconstructs events experienced by their ancestors. This framework allows the games to move between historical settings and a contemporary storyline.
The Animus does not literally send characters into the past. Instead, it provides a simulation based on inherited memories, which is why players can explore historical events while controlling a modern user’s ancestor. Abstergo Industries develops and uses the technology, while the Assassin Brotherhood seeks to turn it against the Templars.
The term is sometimes confused with Helix, a later entertainment platform associated with Abstergo. Helix is a commercialized successor-style system, but the classic memory-reliving machine is called the Animus.