- "Do you really think I give a damn about Downcastle? Ha! All I care about is bringing death to all of God's enemies, and you sinners are the worst of all!"
- ―Ivan to his killers, 1794
Ivan Bogodan (1758-1794) was an Ukrainian member of the Parisian Templar Rite as well as a high ranking Priest of the East Orthodox Church. Ivan was active during the French Revolution and became the Templar's best weapon against the Assassins.
| Ivan Bogodan | |
|---|---|
| |
| Biographical information | |
| Born |
October 31, 1758 |
| Died |
December 5, 1794 |
| Political information | |
| Affiliations |
East Orthodox Church |
| Real-world information | |
| Appears in | |
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Ivan was born on October 31, 1758, to a family of painters. Ivan's family was never wealthy and due to their financial status, held religion in a special place in their hearts. Ivan was taught from birth to always accept that God was right and that it was his destiny to spread the word of God and punish anyone who resisted. Eventually, when he was 12 years old, Ivan's family sent him to become a priest of the East Orthodox Church. Ivan would read and study the Bible like no other book he'd ever read in his life, in an effort to train his mind to follow God's word. Ivan also spent time taking sword fighting classes, as he knew that some heretics and sinners would try to kill him and he knew he needed to defend himself. Eventually, when Ivan reached the age of 28, he had become a full-fledged priest and began to do missions for them. When Ivan was 31 years old in the year of 1789, the Church decided to send him on another mission, this time to France as there was a revolution going on there, and they wanted Ivan to make sure that the citizens still followed the word of God. Ivan accepted the mission, stating that he would succeed and left for France.
Joining The Templars[]
Ivan arrived in France on November 4, 1789, and began his work. Ivan would spend the day preaching in the streets, urging people that only God was right and that he would save any sinners who wished to join Ivan in the path of Holy cleansing.Just as he expected, not everyone agreed with Ivan's teachings and would resent him for it, but if they publically opposed Ivan then they would soon disappear and would never be seen again. Ivan's strong belief in following God's word no matter what caused him to indeed kill anyone who opposed God's will. Eventually one day in 1792, Ivan noticed two individuals in hooded robes, similar to the ones he always wore and decided to approach them, it had been awhile since he had seen another priest. Ivan approached them and greeted them before asking how their missions had been going. The two priests said that they had successfully intercepted the message. Ivan was confused as to what he was talking about so he corrected them by asking them how their church mission had been going. The two priests responded with confusion as they all said that they didn't believe in a God. Ivan's rage surged inside him, but outside he was calm and said that he must've confused them with someone else. The two men agreed and said their goodbyes, but Ivan didn't let them go without asking them why they didn't believe in God. The two men simply responded that they personally didn't think that there was enough proof that one existed. That comment pushed Ivan over the edge and he pulled out his sword and swiftly killed the man closest to him. The second man was too shocked to stop Ivan from charging at him and stabbing him in the stomach and then strangled him to death. Ivan got up satisfied, he had just rid the world of two non-believers. Ivan walked away and didn't encounter the hooded individuals again for a time. Then on September 4, 1794, Ivan spotted another person walking around in hooded robes and immediately walked after her. Ivan eventually got close enough and grabbed the individual, turned them around and began to strangle them. Ivan realized that the person was another man as he was close to killing him, but before that happened, the man extended blades from his wrist and swung it at Ivan. Ivan got back just in time and pulled out his sword and killed the man as he was catching his breath. Ivan sheathed his sword when he noticed another man near him clapping. Ivan took note of the man, he wore a red coat and military hat and looked as though he wanted something from him. The man introduced himself as Frederick Downcastle, a Templar who hated the Assassins, the people who wore the hooded robes. Ivan spent the next few minutes listening to Frederick explaining the motivations and goals of both Assassins and Templars, and Ivan found himself believing in the Templar's ideology. Even though most Templars were atheistic, he decided to accept that and began his life as a Templar.
Life as a Templar[]
Ivan spent the next few months serving the Templars loyally and became their best weapon to use against the Assassins, whom Ivan had dubbed as "sinners". One of Ivan's significant missions happened on November 8, 1794. Ivan was in the streets on the hunt for the sinners while still preaching the word of God. After a few hours, Ivan was all alone in an alleyway, or so he thought. Suddenly, he was surrounded by six men and women in hoods and armed. Ivan knew this would come, it was time to kill God's enemies. Ivan drew his sword and got into a ready stance and waited. One of the sinners lunged at Ivan with his spear and Ivan swung his sword to the spear to redirect it. Almost immediately after the first attack, the ax of another sinner was making its way to Ivan's head, but he dodged it just in time. Ivan took the opportunity to bury his sword in the side of the axman, killing him. One sinner used her hidden blades to try to kill Ivan from behind, but he was too smart for that. Ivan turned around and in one swift motion, but the arms off of the sinner. Ivan then stabbed the woman in the head to make her passing easier before turning around to face the four remaining Assassins. This time, all four of them attacked all at once, but Ivan was more elusive than they thought. Ivan moved out of the way of most of the Assassin's weapons, but at a price. Ivan got several cuts and stab wounds before he got completely out of the way. Ivan took advantage of the situation by stabbing one of the Assassins in the back, leaving only three left. Ivan looked at the three left and decided to go on the offensive, he charged at them and swung his sword at their heads in one huge motion. His attempt came up short and one of the Assassins was able to stab Ivan in the stomach in the confusion. Ivan recovered surprisingly quickly with new found strength from rage. Ivan turned to the Assassins and waited for their onslaught. Two of the assassins both swung their swords at Ivan and he countered them with ease, then Ivan was able to kill one of them with a slash to the back. The third Assassin charged at Ivan with a spear at the ready, Ivan relaxed and waited. The Assassin got close enough and thrust his spear to Ivan's throat, but Ivan ducked and jabbed his sword into the man's stomach. Ivan turned to the last remaining Assassin whose eyes were full of fear, Ivan felt no pity for the Assassin though, he knew what he had to do. Ivan approached the Assassin, who offered no resistance. The Assassin removed his hood and Ivan found the face of a young man, not even 20 years old and the Assassin dropped to his knees, clasped his hands together and pleaded for his life. Ivan hesitated for a second, if the others saw the kid in this state, he'd be shunned for weakness in their despicable Order. However, Ivan decided to carry out his work for God and the Templars, and slashed the Assassin through the heart, killing him instantly.
Death[]
It was December 5, 1794, and Ivan had just got done visiting Frederick Downcastle, the two had been discussing how his work benefitted the Templars. Downcastle gave Ivan high praise for all the Assassins he had killed, there were at least nine Assassins tied to his name. Ivan accepted the praise and after discussing the Order's future when Downcastle would eventually become Grand Master, Ivan left and began his journey back to his quarters. Ivan walked for a few blocks down the street when he noticed something strange. One person walking in the crowd in front of Ivan wore a straw hat, and the way he walked made it seem as though he didn't want someone to notice him. Ivan dismissed these thoughts, people in France always wore strange clothes. However, Ivan couldn't shake those thoughts from the back of his head and eventually, he realized the truth. Ivan knew this man was an Assassin and decided to do something about it and approached the Assassin with the intent of killing him. Just as Ivan was about to get close enough for the kill, a hand was put over Ivan's mouth and Ivan then felt a stabbing pain in his back. Ivan fell to the ground and looked into the eyes of both Louis la Mort and Pierre Étienne. The three exchanged a few words before Ivan eventually passed from this world.
Last Words[]
Ivan: "Ahh, you sinners never learn do you?"
Pierre: "Oh but we have, mon ami (my friend), we've learned your whereabouts and what you'd been doing, have we not? We've also learned that you are a Templar, and that you've killed nine of our brothers – including a child! That Assassin hadn't even reached his 20th birthday!"
Louis la Mort: "Speaking of all the victims, why did you kill so many of us? Why did you give no mercy to the Assassins? Even Downcastle would take at least one prisoner, but not you! Why is that?"
Ivan: "(laughs) Do you really think I give a damn about Downcastle? Ha! All I care about is bringing death to all of God's enemies, and you sinners are the worst of all!
Louis la Mort: "So you don't really care about the Templars do you?"
Ivan: "No, I do not."
Pierre: "Then why would you stay with them and stay loyal to them, despite the fact you don't care about them?"
Ivan: "Oh, those Templars. Germain, Downcastle, de Bullion, they can tell me all about their ideals of peace and order. I didn't give a damn about any of it, they had no place for God in their world. I only joined them because they shared a hate for you Assassins. They could point me in the direction of God's enemies, so I tolerated their non-believing ideology. That's the only reason!"
Louis la Mort: "You joined a group of people who would rob humanity of it's freedom, just so you could find more of us to slaughter?!?!"
Ivan: "Of course I did!"
Pierre: "Well then, I can now see what you truly are. And I don't see the need to keep you alive anymore. (Stabs Ivan)
Ivan succumbed to his wounds
Louis la Mort: "Imbécile."
Trivia[]
- Ivan is the newer form of the old Slavic name Іѡаннъ (Ioannu), which was derived from Greek Ioanne.
- Ioanne comes from the name John, meaning "Yahweh is gracious"
- Bogodan is inspired from the Russian name Bogdanov, meaning "son of Bogdan".
- Bogdan means "given by God" from the Slavic elements bogu "god" and dan "given".
- Ivan was born on 31st October, hinting to his brutal and crucial behavior