While combat is a very big part of the Assassin's Creed games, with each protagonist slashing through what feels like hundreds of enemies in each game, there are still a few targets who were much more satisfying to take down compared to the rest, and who a lot of the time are built up as one of the main antagonists of the story.
Most of the games will make the player wait a while before finally giving them the chance to take down an enemy, which is a great way to build suspense and make the kill so much more satisfying. Whether it's because of the heinous acts they have committed in the story, or simply due to how difficult they are to pin down in the mission, these are the targets that filled players with a massive sense of relief when they were able to finally finish them off once and for all.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
8 Crawford Starrick (Assassin's Creed Syndicate)
Crawford is the main antagonist of Assassin's Creed Syndicate, and he certainly gives the player plenty of reasons to hate his guts. He essentially acts as a Templar businessman who is able to control the entire City of London from the shadows, but as Jacob and Evie begin to unravel his plans, he starts acting more rashly, even randomly killing off his subordinates for the smallest of annoyances.
By the final act of the game, after already taking down so many of his cronies, many players simply wanted to get their hands on this cartoonish villain for themselves, and while the final fight itself is rather underwhelming, the final blow to Crawford was still one of the most gratifying moments in the entire game.
7 Francois-Thomas Germain (Assassin's Creed Unity)
The relationship between Arno and Elise is what drives a lot of the plot in Assassin's Creed Unity, with the two lovebirds finding out more about one another as the story progresses. It was therefore a shocking moment when Elise died at the hands of the cowardly French Templar, Francois-Thomas Germain, who kills her by wielding the Sword of Eden.
After witnessing all of this go down while trapped under some rubble, Arno finally frees himself and readies his Hidden Blade, killing the Templar without a moment of hesitation. Arno and Napoleon even travel back to the vault years later to uncover Germain's bones lying on the floor, ensuring that none of his Templar compatriots came to save him.
6 Berenike (Assassin's Creed Origins)
Also commonly referred to as "The Crocodile," Berenike is a ruthless member of the Order of the Ancients who willingly killed many people, including children, all in the belief that it would help the cause of Egypt, with one of her unfortunate victims being Shadya, an innocent child who she deemed it was "necessary" to kill.
This infuriates Bayek, with him promising to hunt down the evil Berenike so that she can pay for her crimes, and when he does finally reach her, he makes sure to scream out Shadya's name, reminding The Crocodile of the despicable acts she had committed throughout her life for the sake of the Order.
5 Fulke (Assassin's Creed Valhalla)
Despite being an ally at the beginning of the game, it doesn't take long for Fulke to lose her mind and become somewhat of a madwoman after betraying Sigurd due to him believing that he was a god, something that Fulke labeled as a "blasphemous belief." She even went as far as to amputate Sigurd's right arm, which she then kept in a box for Eivor and Basim to find, which had all but confirmed that she had truly become lost in her beliefs.
After continuing to mock Eivor from afar during the Siege of Portcestre, Fulke continues to run away from the Assassin in the hopes of escaping, but once she realizes she is completely surrounded by Eivor's army, she is forced to defend herself with a cross she digs out from the ground. While the final confrontation with Fulke is a lot more of a bloodbath than a stealth mission, considering how hard it is to finally track her down, it still retains that satisfying feeling that comes with assassinating a treacherous villain.
4 Bartholomew Roberts (Assassin's Creed Black Flag)
Often considered to be the most successful pirate of the Golden Age, Bartholomew Roberts was most definitely a pirate that no one should have taken lightly, but he also had a very witty and charismatic personality that helped him command every scene he was in throughout the story of Assassin's Creed Black Flag.
Part of the reason why Roberts is one of the most intriguing villains in the entire series is because in many ways, he embodies the kind of pirate Edward always wanted to be, with him being an icon in the pirate world who had already cemented his place in history as a thriving and highly successfully swashbuckling adventurer, but unlike Edward, he also had a very cruel heart and a skewed moral compass. Roberts essentially uses Edward throughout the entire game just to get to the Observatory, which only helped to fuel Edward's and the player's hatred for him as a double-crossing villain, making that final assassination all the more satisfying.
3 Charles Lee (Assassin's Creed 3)
While Haytham Kenway is presented as being the main villain for most of Assassin's Creed 3, by the end of the game, it's much easier to see how he viewed the world and why he acted the way he did, ultimately doing everything for the betterment of the colony, but Charles Lee is a whole different story.
Lee was a vicious, maniacal, and violent man who promised Connor that he would utterly destroy him, alongside making sure that he killed everyone who Connor held dear if he continued meddling in the Templar's plans. However, killing him becomes the main priority right at the end of the game when he is the last surviving Templar after the others are killed in the American Revolution. Without saying a word, Lee shares a drink with Connor, bows his head, and accepts that he has finally been caught as Connor plunges his Hidden Blade into Lee's chest.
2 Abbas Sofian (Assassin's Creed Revelations)
It's not until a flashback in Assassin's Creed Revelations that fans can finally see Altair assassinate his old friend Abbas after all the torment he had put him through. After trying to destroy the Assassin's Order from within, and enacting a coup d'etat which resulted in the death of Altair's son, Altair would finally get his sweet revenge after cornering Abbas in the Masyaf Fortress.
What made this assassination even more memorable and satisfying was the fact that it was the first time in the canon story that an Assassin had used the Hidden Gun, with the blast echoing throughout the castle as Altair pulled the trigger, confirming that the selfish and wretched Abbas had finally gotten what was coming to him for so many years.
1 Uberto Alberti (Assassin's Creed 2)
Assassin's Creed 2 marks the beginning of Ezio's journey to becoming a legendary Assassin, and while he does assassinate many Templars throughout each of his games, by far the most satisfying is eliminating Uberto Alberti, who sentenced Ezio's father and brothers to death after proclaiming they were part of a conspiracy.
This was a shocking reveal at the time, especially since Uberto seemed to be on very good terms with Ezio and his father Giovanni at the beginning of the game, and while Ezio isn't able to kill him at the public execution, he lets his frustration and lust for vengeance boil up until the time was right. After Leonardo repairs Ezio's Hidden Blade, the player must then carefully creep their way through the crowds until they can get close enough to deliver five stabs to Uberto's chest. While this may have happened early on in the game, it was still undoubtedly the most satisfying assassination to pull off, and in many ways was the event that kicked off the legendary story of Ezio Auditore.