In this game, the player will assume the role of a young nobleman-turned-assassin named Ezio Auditore di Firenze. In an interview with Patrice Desilets, the games creative director, it is revealed that the main character's family has been killed and that the essence of the plot is to get revenge on the rival families that killed them. Like the first game, Ezio is an ancestor of Desmond Miles, the modern day bartender who was captured by Abstergo, with Ezio himself being a descendant of Altaïr, who lived in the Holy Land.
He is shown to have dual hidden blades. In addition to the hidden blades Ezio is shown to have a firearm of some sort (most likely an early wheel lock firearm) concealed near his left hidden blade. The game is set to take place in Renaissance Italy in the year 1486, which is 295 years after the first game.
Like Assassin's Creed, characters based on historical figures will be present in the game including Leonardo da Vinci, Niccola Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, and Lorenzo de' Medici. Unlike Altaïr, Ezio has no removed fingers, and this innovation is primarily due to the technical advances brought on by Leonardo da Vinci, who helps Ezio throughout the course of the game.