While many will understandably point to the Assassin Brotherhood as being one of the most memorable factions in the Assassin's Creed franchise, the sinister Templar Order are just as important. The main antagonist force driving the core conflict for most of the series, it is no wonder why the Templars are so highly regarded amongst fans.
That being said, the Templars of Assassin's Creed did not always go by the moniker that they are most associated with. The Templars formed from a historic group known as the Order of the Ancients, who themselves were embroiled in conflict with the precursor group to the Assassin Brotherhood.
The Order of the Ancients
Like the Assassins, the Templars can trace their origins back to Ancient Egypt, with the Order of the Ancients being originally established in the year 1334 BC. A religious cult-like organization, the Order of the Ancients were founded by a desire of influential figures of power to covertly spread worship of the Ancients, otherwise known as the Isu. The Isu are an ancient civilization of advanced god-like beings in the Assassin's Creed lore, responsible for the creation of the human race.
Through their shared power, the main goal of the Order of the Ancients was to foster a global society dedicated to Isu reverence, doing so with the use of the all-powerful Pieces of Eden that feature within many Assassin's Creed titles. Despite their international reach amongst many societies and their most important institutions, the influence and sway of the Order began to wane as new civilizations formed with their own unique and popular religions.
The effective end of the Order of the Ancients was showcased within the story of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with the growing dominance of Christianity in Medieval England making the Order appear sacrilegious even to its most dedicated and powerful members. Unbeknownst to them, Eivor of the Raven Clan wiped out most of the Order within England, allowing King Alfred of Wessex to reshape the Order into a more Christian-centric faction known as the Templar Order.
The Templar Order
The Order of the Ancients was remolded into the Order of the Knights Templar during this time, with the Hidden Ones having already evolved into the Assassin Brotherhood centuries prior. The Templar Order would maintain the same model of power as the Order of the Ancients, using influential figures across different nations to subtly herald a New World Order of peace through control and subjugation.
While essentially abandoning their worship to the Isu gods, use of their artifacts was still very much a core tenet of the Templar Order, who became as much of a militaristic organization as well as a political one. Due to their plans for global domination and ultimate control, the Templar Order became the main antagonistic rivals of the Assassin Brotherhood, an equally historic group dedicated to preserving the free will of the human race.
The Templar Order, like the Assassin Brotherhood, would go on to be a very longstanding organization, existing in the same powerful capacity all the way up until the present day. As shown in Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the Templars would effectively use the Industrial Revolution and the wide reach of capitalism to further extend the scope of their power and presence. As evidenced in the Templar-backed creation of the sector-dominating Abstergo Corporation within the modern day, the threat that the Templar's pose to humanity is still very much present within the franchise timeline. Despite the fact that the group acts as the antithesis organization to the beloved Assassin Brotherhood, the history and depth behind the Templar Order makes it a fascinating aspect of Assassin's Creed.