In the original Assassin's Creed video game, which Assassin is controlled by the player?

The player controls Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad in the original Assassin's Creed video game.

Altaïr is a Syrian Assassin operating during the Third Crusade in 1191. After losing his rank because of a failed mission, he must complete a series of assassinations while rebuilding his reputation and learning more about the Brotherhood's principles.

The game alternates between Altaïr's historical missions and Desmond Miles's modern-day storyline. Altaïr's name is sometimes written with different transliterations because Arabic names can be rendered in several ways, but the English-language game commonly uses Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. He is not the same character as Ezio, Connor, or Bayek, who headline later historical settings.

Altaïr also appears in later Assassin's Creed lore, including sequences connected with the Masyaf archive. His role established the series' original recurring Assassin archetype before later games introduced different protagonists and time periods.