The Templars are the organization the Assassins oppose throughout the Assassin's Creed series.
The conflict is built around competing ideas about human society. The Assassins generally defend free will and individual choice, while the Templars seek peace and order through control. The games present both groups through fictional organizations that operate across different historical periods.
The Templars descend from the historical Knights Templar only in the franchise's fictional mythology. In the modern-day storyline, their continuation is represented by Abstergo Industries, a powerful corporation that uses advanced technology to pursue its goals.
The opposing factions are not always portrayed as simply good and evil. Individual characters can have mixed motives, and some games explore cooperation, betrayal, or changing loyalties. Nevertheless, the Assassin–Templar struggle is the series' central recurring conflict.