Assassin's Creed: 10 Most Shocking & Heartbreaking Moments

Over the course of its near 15 year history, Assassin's Creed is a franchise that has continued - despite some technical misgivings at times - to entertain audiences and gamers with immersive worlds and epic storytelling.

While some entries have made more of an impact than others, there's no doubt that Ubisoft has a knack for telling tales of a cinematic quality within its gaming, and it is incredible how easy it is as a player to become so invested in the characters and their lives.

Of course, storytelling on this scale does lead to some incredibly emotional moments within the series, which have filled players with both excitement and rage (and sometimes both at the same time).

But which of these moments are the most heartbreaking? Which times have made us sit weeping at these characters for hours after watching their lives implode on screen?

There are many to choose from, but these are the key moments that were particularly gut-wrenching, whether it was due to a tragic death which came out of nowhere, relationship woes we felt along with the characters, or an ultimate betrayal from someone we loved.

Spoilers follow for the entire Assassin's Creed series so far.

While Unity is considered one of the lesser games in the main series, there's no denying one of the strongest elements in the story is the forbidden Assassin/Templar romance between playable protagonist Arno and his childhood sweetheart Elise.

Through the course of the game we see them put aside their respective differences and beliefs, and join forces to avenge the death of Elise's father and Arno's mentor. Because of the nature of Assassin's Creed games we know this can't have a happy ending, and yet a number of sequences through the game (including a brilliant air balloon chase mission) hint that there may be a chance for these forbidden lovers.

It is even Elise, and not the Assassins, who brings Arno back from the brink after he is cast out from the Brotherhood.

And so, her death at the climax of the game (effectively giving her life to complete her revenge mission) serves as a reminder that there are no proper happy endings in this series, and Arno is left a tortured man as a result of her death.