8. The Protagonist
Let's face it, Connor is a bit of a bore: he's a one dimensional character. One we've seen in hundreds of films before: the stoic do-gooding warrior type with his heart firmly on his sleeve, striding off to right wrongs and uphold justice.The problem with such heroes, is they often lack any real personality. Sure he can be brash, but having your village and loved ones wiped out while realising your daddy was partly involved, well that tends to make a man a little grouchy. But in almost every scene he's in, Conn0r has one demeanour - stern. As noble as he is, as conflicted as he is meant to be - he's just not that interesting a character. I never felt that he learned much, about the world - about himself. He stayed the same gruff warrior throughout. Ezio on the other hand, had a character arc. Like all well-written heroes, where he began and where he ended up were two completely different places. He began as a carefree teenager, casually getting into fights and wooing girls and shunning responsibility. By the end of AC2 he was no longer the callous teen, he was a man of the people. An Assassin. And you really felt he had earned that rank of Master Assassin - he sure did leave a trail of cold bodies behind long enough to make James Bond jealous. Added to that, he's just a damn fun character. He's witty, charming and full of fire and passion - it may be an Italian stereotype, but it was a well written, well performed one and that was enough to win us over. There is plenty of room left for Conn0r to grow and mature as a character. They clearly took the Ezio model and tried to give Connor a similar journey. But to paraphrase Jules from a certain beloved Tarantino flick - Ezio has personality, and personality goes a long way. Let's hope the next road in Connor's journey gives him room to become more than Conan with a tomahawk. I mean I liked Connor... but did anyone else feel that Haytham was a much more interesting character?