What is the name of the Animus user who frames the first Assassin's Creed game?

Desmond Miles is the Animus user who frames the first Assassin's Creed game.

In the original game, Abstergo Industries abducts Desmond and uses the Animus to access his genetic memories. Desmond experiences the life of his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, allowing the company to search the past for information it needs in the present.

The modern-day sections establish the franchise's central premise: descendants can relive ancestral memories through inherited genetic information. Desmond's perspective also gives players a consistent viewpoint between historical missions and helps reveal the conflict between Abstergo and the Assassins.

William Miles is Desmond's father and a later modern-day Assassin leader, so the two names are easy to confuse. Clay Kaczmarek and Daniel Cross are also important modern-day figures, but neither serves as the first game's primary Animus subject.