- "These bastards don't care if you starve, they don't care if you freeze, they don't care if you die! They're as bad as any king! Where is our food? Where is our bread?"
- ―Charles during a riot, 1790
| Charles Benedetto | |
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| Biographical information | |
| Died |
16 November, 1790 |
| Political information | |
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Charles Benedetto, aka. The Lion, was a French-Italian Assassin-turned-mercenary. He was a member of the Luxembourg fighters, a group of mercenaries that was hired by Templars during the French Revolution to carry out the latter's dirty-work.
Biography[]
Early life[]
As the only son, and the youngest after six older sisters, Charles Benedetto was raised to rule the lands of a county long away from Paris. He left at the age of 16 however, when the family tried to marry him away to a woman that would favor the parents and sisters – but not him personally. He robbed the family for its money, and chose to travel to Paris. Here he used them on gambling and women: resulting that he soon went bankrupt. He did therefore chose to hunt for law-breakers. Master of dual swords, Charles was impossible to fight, and every person who was to be killed or arrested by him, needed to watch out for the blades.
Ups-and-downs[]
Mirabeau saw potential in the man however, and decided to send some Assassins to make him come to their side in the Assassin-Templar War, using his skills to their advantage. Master Quemar found Charles as a terrible recruit to the Brotherhood however – seeing he was just interested in coins. After further investigation, Quemar found out that Charles had killed three Templars that had gathered at the Cimetière des Saints-Innocents to plan a conspiracy against François de la Serre. For choosing targets without the Council's permission, Quemar expelled him privately. The Council never learned of this fact, because Quemar explained Charles' disappearance as he was dead.
At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Charles were recruited into the fold of the Order of the Luxembourg Fighters in order to lead rebellions at the government in Paris. Following the induction of Assassin Angélique Ingur, she found out of the expelled Charles Benedetto, but she discovered that the Master Assassin Quemar had dealt with the problem without the Council's approval. Because the whole Council had not approved, the expulsion was not sufficient. Charles was offered a chance to return – an act that happened with Angélique's initiative – but he turned it down.
Turning back to his life of crime, Charles was soon targeted by the police and hunted for. However, his acolytes that supported him – soldiers of the Luxembourg fighters – protected him and so did the rioters. Because of his attention of the police, the Assassins learned through their ally Charles de Lapparent that Charles Benedetto was still alive. The Council set Angélique – who took the Étienne-siblings along with her – on the case to find and kill Benedetto. As for the Master Assassin Quemar, he was instructed to from now only participate in the Council's decision and meetings – but not involving in Assassin-affaires himself, only working at the Assassin library and guarding the robes of Thomas de Carneillon.
Death[]
Charles Benedetto was at some point contacted by Jacques Croix, a Templar, and was ordered to kidnap a merchant named Olivier Simon. Charles did as he was told, and with the help of his acolytes and the LF-soldiers, he managed to kidnap the man. He was paid and was then told to leave. He was contacted again later however by Kevin de Kilmister. Now he was ordered to attack the home of the merchant's family, killing his twin daughters.
Charles had lost his acolytes to the blade of the Parisian Brotherhood, so he had to carry out this order himself. Charles and his soldiers executed an attack on the building – sending in totally four waves of soldiers. At the last wave, Benedetto joined the fight. During this, he had to fight against the twins, plus two Assassins – one of whom he recognized as Angélique. When the wave was eliminated, Charles tried to flee from the fight. He was followed by the Assassins however and was quickly killed.
Gallery[]
Gallery of Charles Benedetto
Trivia[]
- Charles is coming from the Germanic name Karl, which was derived from a Germanic word meaning "man". However, an alternative theory states that it is derived from the common Germanic name element hari meaning "army, warrior".
- Benedetto is the Italian form of Benedictus, meaning "blessed".
- Because of Charles' last name, one can think one of his parents were Italian.
- Benedetto is however a name used by one of the characters created by Alexandre Dumas in his novel Count of Monte Christo.
- Jacques Roux's lieutenant used Charles' words in a speech he held at the Hôtel de Cluny