What is the name of the Assassin's Creed series' first game's protagonist?

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad is the protagonist of the first Assassin's Creed game.

Altaïr is a Syrian Assassin active during the Third Crusade. At the start of the game, he loses his rank after a failed mission and is ordered by his mentor, Al Mualim, to assassinate a sequence of targets across the Levant.

His missions take him to Masyaf, Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem. As the story develops, Altaïr questions the motives behind the targets and discovers that the conflict involves the Templars and the Apple of Eden.

Altaïr's story later receives further development in Assassin's Creed: Revelations and the novel Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade. He is distinct from Desmond Miles, the modern-day character whose genetic memories allow players to experience Altaïr's life.