For as fun as the Assassin's Creed games have been, the main villains haven't always been the best. Many of the secondary antagonists feel like rather generic bad guys who do bad things because they are bad. A few of the primary antagonists fit in that mold as well, a good chunk giving the standard templar response of wanting to control the world.
However, they all aren't like this. There are quite a few that have a good bit of depth or, at the very least, have a valid reason for doing what they did. In most cases, that was revenge, but some of the villains are doing bad things for what are arguably the right reasons.
10 Uberto Alberti Betrayed The Auditore Family To Protect His Own Family
The start of Assassin's Creed II is fairly intense, and Uberto is at the crux of all of it. He betrayed the family he was once friends with because the Medici bank evicted him from his home. As part of his revenge, he tried to kill the entire Auditore family, succeeding with everyone save for Ezio.
While still very much a villain, his reasoning went beyond the standards of power-hungry Templar and made him relatable in a way. Everyone has felt the need for revenge at one point in their lives.
9 William Johnson Wanted To Protect The Natives
There's no debating that the way William Johnson went about things made him a villain, especially due to his connection to the templars. His role was to acquire the native Iroquois lands and give them to the templars, something he always tried to do with as little bloodshed as possible.
That said, he was also trying to subjugate them, so he wasn't some do-gooder either. What he was right about was the fact the colonists would eventually be a danger to the natives.
8 Haytham Kenway Wanted Order & Direction Above All Else
As far as antagonists go, few in Assassin's Creed match up to the greatness of Haytham Kenway. He had so much more depth than the typical Templar leader, wanting more than just ruling the world like a megalomaniac.
He even had an honor code to him, detesting the fact that Braddock would freely kill innocents, despite them both being on the same side. In the end, all he ever wanted was to give order to the world. It's what made him an equally interesting protagonist in Rogue.
7 Shay Cormac Cared More About The Safety Of The World Than Selfish Desires
Unlike other templars, Shay never cared about controlling the world, nor was he a zealot in his beliefs towards the templars. While he agreed with some of their goals, his main purpose in joining them was stopping his former mentor, Achilies Davenport, and the rest of the assassins that followed them.
He feared the earthquakes caused by Achilies and his men when they found ancient sites that were better left undisturbed. As with Haytham, he's one of the more well-rounded villains.
6 George Davidson Only Wanted His Freedom
Assassin Creed Liberation often gets lost among the sea of titles the series has, but it tells a good story with Aveline as much of her past slowly comes back to haunt her.
One such part of that past was George Davidson, a man who was saved by Aveline's mother and doctored into the templar faith. George never much cared about any of that. The only thing that was on his mind was his freedom, and if that meant working for the Templar then so be it.
5 Fiora Cavazza Was A Classic Case Of A "Street Rat" Trying To Be Something More
While many villains have grand designs for themselves, Fiora had a simple goal in mind, and that was making a name for herself. She wanted to get out of being a courtesan, to become more than someone who worked at a brothel.
She's a classic case of a street rat-type character trying to make more of themselves, making her acts more palatable since she was more a victim of her circumstance than having evil on her mind as most templars do.
4 Francois-Thomas Germain Was Right In His Assertion That Someone Else Would Pick Up Where He Left Off
If the Assassin's Creed games have taught anything, it's that there is no shortage of assassins and templar to fill the void in the age-old conflict between the two factions. While Germain's goals were anything but right, his assertion that someone else would replace him was dead on the money.
There was always going to be another and not just because he was a sage. There would always be someone out there that would thirst for power, willing to do whatever it took to get it.
3 Maximilien De Robespierre Was In Favor Of Societal Reform In France
The story of Assassin's Creed Unity had a lot of potential given the conflict it centered around. Maximilien is one of those types of antagonists who could have shined, had the game been a bit more polished on its release.
Instead, his character is oft-forgotten, despite how well-spoken and fervent his character was. He had a sense of zealotry towards getting societal reform to spread through France, tearing down the old monarchy.
2 Manuel Palaiologos Wanted To Bring Peace & Order To The World
Peace and order is a recurring theme with many of the templar, but few ever believe in the peace portion of the statement. They merely wanted control of everything, bringing order through tyranny.
Manuel was one of the few that believed in peace, that bringing back the former Byzantine Empire would help bring it through the land. To him, there could never be any peace if there was always war over who ruled what.
1 Liam O'Brien Wanted To Do Right By His Family & Was A Victim Of Circumstance
His role in Assassin's Creed Rogue wasn't as big as it should have been given his connection to Shay, but it did a good enough job of painting him as a man who only wanted to do right by his family.
Liam stole only so he could help take care of his sick mother or to rightfully distribute the wealth of his employers to the unpaid staff. Nothing he did was ever all that wrong either. He was merely a victim of circumstance in Shay's crusade to stop Achilies.