Nolan North provided the voice and performance for Desmond Miles in the original Assassin's Creed.
Desmond Miles is the modern-day protagonist of the first game. He is forced to use the Animus, a machine that allows ancestral memories to be experienced, so the Abstergo organization can investigate his ancestor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Nolan North performed Desmond's dialogue and character performance for the game.
Altaïr is voiced by Philip Shahbashian in the original Assassin's Creed, so Desmond and Altaïr should not be confused when identifying the cast. The two characters occupy different narrative periods: Desmond lives in the contemporary framing story, while Altaïr's memories form the historical gameplay sections.
Nolan North became associated with several major video-game roles, but his work as Desmond belongs specifically to the early Assassin's Creed storyline. Desmond continues to be important in later entries, although the structure and modern-day cast evolve across the series.