Which Renaissance-era Italian Assassin is the central hero of Assassin's Creed II?

Ezio Auditore is the central hero of Assassin's Creed II.

Ezio is a Florentine nobleman whose life changes after members of his family are executed as part of a political conspiracy. He becomes an Assassin and spends the game pursuing those responsible while uncovering a much older conflict involving the Templars and the Isu.

Assassin's Creed II is set during the Italian Renaissance, beginning in Florence in 1476 and moving through locations such as Monteriggioni, Venice, and Forlì. Ezio's story continues in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, forming the series' first major character trilogy.

The surname Auditore is sometimes omitted because the character is widely known simply as Ezio. He should not be confused with Altaïr, the protagonist of the first game, or with Giovanni Auditore, Ezio's father, whose execution motivates the opening of his journey.