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The Enforcer Tactical Gauntlet with Hidden Blade - Steel OTF Dagger. 4.3 ( 8 reviews ) Your Price: $79.99. In Stock - Ships Today! Add to Cart. + Add to Wish List. Integrated Knife: A 6" razor-sharp, dagger-style blade with partial serrations and a piercing point, adjustable via a push-button slider.
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Weight. Properties. Hidden Blade. 20 gp. 1d6 piercing. 1 lb. finesse, glove, hidden, special, light. A small blade, mounted to the forearm. Thanks to the mechanism covering the wrist-mount, the blade is capable of freely extending and releasing itself, but it is still small enough to be well disguised under a cloak.
- Overview
- Design
- History
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- Other users
- Upgrades and adaptations
- Replicas
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Hidden Blade
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―Leonardo da Vinci, regarding the Hidden Blade, 1476.-[m]
As its name implies, the Hidden Blade is a concealable weapon that is composed of a narrow blade set into a channel on the underside of a bracer or gauntlet. Controlled by a spring-loaded mechanism, the blade can spontaneously extend and retract from its position. While this mechanism has differed between models over the centuries, the one in use by the Alamut Hidden Ones employed a leather patch over the amputated finger stump and tied to the blade. This string, when tugged by extending the finger alongside a simultaneous flicking of the wrist, activated the mechanism and unleashed the blade. The successive early Levantine Brotherhood would instead use a ring looped around the little finger for the same effect.
The use of the Hidden Blade initially required the amputation of a ring finger as a means of allowing the blade to be extended should the user clench their fist. However, this is not to say that the blade itself was inoperable without the sacrifice, as individuals like Bayek, Layla Hassan, and Kassandra were capable of using the blade by simply flicking their wrists. As the blade's size allowed it to fit neatly through the resulting gap, when an Assassin clenched their fist, the weapon essentially functioned as an extension of the Assassin's own spirit and body—a literal replacement for the lost finger. In this way, the sacrifice demanded with the use of the Hidden Blade was meant to demonstrate the absolute commitment of the one wielding it. This custom first began when Bayek accidentally severed his ring finger during his assassination of the Order of the Ancients member Eudoros.
Nevertheless, the custom proved to be a handicap, as the early Levantine Assassins could be recognized by their missing fingers. To rectify this, the blade's mechanism was modified in the 13th century by the Levantine Mentor Altaïr Ibn-la'Ahad—as outlined in his Codex—so as to no longer require such an extreme sacrifice and to keep Assassins from being identified so easily. Instead, from the time of this reform until at least the early 20th century, Assassins who still chose to physically mark their devotion to the cause used a variety of options, such as branding their left ring finger during their initiation into the Order or having it tattooed. However, some more traditional-minded guilds like the Spanish Brotherhood retained the practice of the finger sacrifice until as late as the 15th century.
Early use
The first recorded use of the Hidden Blade was in ancient Persia during the 5th century BCE, when Darius forged and used it to assassinate King Xerxes I. After fleeing Persia to escape the Order of the Ancients, Darius continued to rely on his Hidden Blade as his primary weapon of choice. He took the weapon with him to the Greek world, where he joined forces with the mercenary Kassandra and fought off the invading Order of the Ancients at the height of the Peloponnesian War. He would subsequently take it with him to Egypt. By the end of the Peloponnesian War, Kassandra had acquired a Hidden Blade of her own. Unlike her former compatriot Darius, she wore it under her left forearm and, unlike later users of the weapon, did not have to lose a finger to operate it. The Hidden Blade's history of use was extended further in Egypt during the Ptolemaic Kingdom when Darius' Hidden Blade was given to his descendant Aya by Queen Cleopatra to aid in their quest to take down the Order of the Ancients; Aya in turn later gave it to her husband, Bayek. It was the accidental severing of Bayek's ring finger that began the custom of removing said finger as well as wearing the blade on the anterior forearm. In 870, the Viking Sigurd Styrbjornsson killed the Hidden One Ammon in Bulgar, as revenge for slaying his cousin Knud. After defeating his opponent, Sigurd severed Ammon's wrist with an axe and took his Hidden Blade for himself, though he later gifted it to his adopted sister Eivor Varinsdottir upon his return to Norway. Much to the protestations of the visiting Hidden One Hytham, Eivor unknowingly wore the weapon like Darius had, with the blade on top of the wrist rather than below it, though her justification was that she had no wish to hide the exquisite weapon. She continued to sport it this way for years up until her death. By the 12th century, Assassins were regularly outfitted with a Hidden Blade as part of their equipment. The blades saw a wide and extensive use for assassinations, as they could be easily kept out of sight and allowed for quicker and stealthier eliminations. Following his rise through the Levantine Brotherhood's ranks to become their Mentor in 1191, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad was inspired by the Apple of Eden to redesign the Hidden Blades so that they could be used without the removal of the ring finger, a construction that became common thereafter.
Advancements in design
―Leonardo da Vinci studying the Hidden Blade. By the 15th century, the updated Hidden Blade design was dispersed throughout the Old World. The mechanism no longer required a wrist "flick" to release the blade, allowing the user to extend or retract it without any hand movement. Additionally, the weapon could be used with a clenched fist; Giovanni Auditore was one of the few known Assassins to use it in this manner. Through studying pages from Altaïr's codex, Leonardo da Vinci was able to provide Ezio Auditore with a variety of upgrades, such as the addition of a second Hidden Blade, a concept first conceived of by a 9th-century Ottoman Hidden One in Constantinople that still required severing his other finger. The right to bear two Hidden Blades was thereafter reserved for those who had earned the rank of Master Assassin. Later innovations to the weapon's design included: a hook, most common to the Ottoman Assassins; a blade hidden under the foot, utilized by the Chinese Assassin Shao Jun; and a blade that could pivot and be used in a manner similar to a dagger, utilized by the Japanese Assassin Fujibayashi Naoe. By the 18th century, use of dual blades had become more common, as suggested by a large number of such weapons collected by the Templar Julien du Casse. Slight structural changes had also emerged, with the blades used by the Caribbean Assassins, and the Colonial Assassins prior to the purge in 1763, being wider than those seen in 16th-century Europe. At some point in time, the Colonial Assassins' Mentor Achilles Davenport acquired a Pivot Blade similar to the one wielded by Fujibayashi Naoe two centuries prior and, in 1770, passed it to his apprentice Ratonhnhaké:ton, who often wielded it in conjunction with his tomahawk. During the French Revolution, the French Assassins utilized Phantom Blades, which could fire silent bolts via a crossbow-like mechanism attached to the gauntlet. Similar modifications to the Hidden Blade had been made previously by Leonardo da Vinci for Francesco Vecellio in the early 16th century, and by Yun Pyeong-Gyu for Edward Kenway in 1725. In the mid-19th century, the Indian Assassin Arbaaz Mir utilized a Hidden Blade in the form of a trident, composed of three blades.
Modern times
During the late 19th and early 20th century, the Hidden Blade was still a part of standard Assassin attire and continued to be commonly used in close combat. However, they began to decline in usage shortly after and were retained largely only by high-ranking Assassins, such as Paul Bellamy, for purposes of tradition. They were also used as part of initiation ceremonies, such as when Daniel Cross was gifted with a Hidden Blade by the Mentor in 2000. Regular use of the Hidden Blade, while uncommon in the 21st century, is still practised in some regions. In 2013, members of the Onmoraki-Gumi, a yakuza branch taken over by the Japanese Brotherhood in Osaka, wore Hidden Blades that were concealed by the long sleeves of their suits. By the 21st century, the Indian Assassins once again used a new design of this iconic weapon, one that incorporated an explosive device. This mechanism could be remotely activated by a touch screen on another wirelessly connected Hidden Blade and served as a means to dispose of the body of a fallen comrade. When Jasdip Dhami activated the weapon of his dead sister Siobhan in 2013, the explosion was so powerful that it destroyed an entire floor of a building. Aside from this, this particular model shifted the blade to the side, defying the usual custom of hiding it beneath the wrist.
As its main purpose was for stealthy assassinations, the Hidden Blade could only be used in combat under certain conditions, and could not block any attack. Altaïr was only able to assassinate a guard who had fallen to the ground or became inattentive. Altaïr could also use the Hidden Blade in a counterattack; however, the time frame was extremely short in comparison to that of his sword and dagger. Successfully intercepting an attack enabled one of several different—and always lethal—counterattacks.
The Hidden Blade became more useful in combat due to upgrades over time. The mounting of a metal plate on the opposite side of the blade allowed it to be used defensively. In terms of an offense; when used together, the dual Hidden Blades were swift but less damaging in comparison to a sword, with more utility in suppressing enemy attacks. In addition; every counterattack with the Hidden Blades resulted in an instant kill, with only the narrow timing window as a disadvantage.
Despite it being their primary and most recognizable feature, the Hidden Blade's use has not always been exclusive to the Assassins, with some even falling into the hands of the Templar Order. Several Assassins who betrayed their order and joined the Templars were known to keep their Hidden Blades rather than dispose of them, understanding their usefulness. Vali cel Tradat and Shay Cormac were both examples of this, and both actively used them to hunt down and kill many of their former brothers and sisters.
Other Templars were known to take Hidden Blades as trophies from Assassins they had encountered; Haytham Kenway, Julien du Casse, and Francis Cotton were examples, with Haytham's left Hidden Blade being taken from the British Assassin Miko after a duel and later being taken in turn by his son Ratonhnhaké:ton as a memento. Daniel Cross also possessed a Hidden Blade which the Assassins' Mentor gave to him immediately before Daniel used to kill him; he then turned this blade over to his superiors at Abstergo, who studied and heavily modified the original design. Finally, the French Templar Julie de la Serre, the wife of the French Grand Master François, used a blade hidden under her shoe.
Modifications by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
―Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex, page 13. In his studies of the Apple of Eden, Altaïr envisioned several upgrades for the Hidden Blade which he recorded in his Codex, and which were implemented under his Mentorship. Centuries later Ezio acquired these Codex pages over his travels, and Leonardo da Vinci recreated the improvements detailed within when Ezio presented him with a page. The first of these improvements was the provision of a metal plate on top of the primary blade's bracer. This allowed one to safely deflect enemy attacks with the blades and also made the blade more durable in combat. Most critically, the entire weapon was redesigned so as to eliminate the necessity of removing the ring finger for an extension. The third yet most simple was the provision of a secondary Hidden Blade; attached to the user's other arm and identical in every way to the first, allowing an Assassin to kill two targets, one beside the other, at once, whether on the ground or from the air.
Poison Blade
In a break from the prohibitions of his predecessor Al Mualim, Altaïr created the Poison Blade, a supplement to the Hidden Blade that is hollowed within to harbour poison that was injected when the blade was stabbed into a target. Because of its exceedingly thin profile and the requirement of a hollow chamber, the Poison Blade risked being particularly brittle, and in his Codex, Altaïr cautioned that deviations from his exact schematics would likely produce a blade that could easily fracture. Intended as an even less conspicuous weapon, the Poison Blade was not designed for high-profile assassinations, but to silently prick enemies and leave them to die slow deaths that occasionally serve as diversions for other enemies.
Hidden Gun
An invention that was far ahead of its time, the Hidden Gun was a portable firearm built into the Hidden Blade's bracer which acted as a ranged counterpart to the usual blade. While its ammunition were shots typical of the pistols that were standard until the end of the early 19th century, its wheellock mechanism was far more sophisticated than the flintlocks of later centuries. Unlike later ranged variants, the Hidden Gun was as loud and disruptive as any typical firearm and emitted a cloud of smoke upon firing and consequently was not ideal for stealth; when Ezio used it to assassinate the Templar Marco Barbarigo, he timed his firing with the explosion of fireworks at the Carnevale to disguise the noise. Nevertheless, as a concealed, ranged weapon, it was an effective and deadly tool for surprise assassinations, discreet up until the instant after its execution. The first recorded victim of the Hidden Gun was Abbas Sofian when Altaïr shot him in 1247.
―Fiora Cavazza observing an Assassin's technique.-[m]
In their study of the Assassins' methods and weaponry, several members of the Templar Order created their own variations of the Hidden Blade, though the mechanism and appearance often differed. Additionally, the practice was not exclusive to the Order, some existing instances have been taken into account.
Anglo-Saxon England (9th century)Spanish Renaissance (15th century)Colonial Louisiana (18th century)Design
and early concept art for Assassin's Creed II show Ezio possessing three Hidden Blades; one on his right, and two on his left. The original design of Ezio's second Hidden Blade in Assassin's Creed II is displayed as a brown glove. However, in-game it is replaced with a second bracer. This was reverted in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, however, where his second Hidden Blade included a glove until a bracer had been purchased. Concept art for the Hidden Blade's modern form of the "Shock Blade" is shown in the Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia. box art, its E3 Trailer, and other official media including the opening cinematics for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed III depict Ezio with a secondary Hidden Blade bracer that is identical to his primary one even though no such second bracer exists in-game. The same occurs with Ratonhnhaké:ton on the "Ignite the Revolution" poster and in the box art for Assassin's Creed III. In early concept art for Assassin's Creed III; rope darts were integrated onto the Hidden Blade's bracer, envisioned as the "Chain Blade". This concept was later modified to be closer to reality, resulting in the "Chain Blade" being scrapped for a more reasonable alternative. This ultimately developed into a grappling hook for the Hidden Blade in Assassin's Creed: Syndicate used by the twins Evie and Jacob Frye. However, in the comic Assassin's Creed: Templars, a similar weapon is used by the Black Cross Albert Bolden. The second Hidden Blade is marginally longer than the primary one in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Early images of Assassin's Creed: Revelations show Ezio with a Hookblade on his left arm rather than on his right. In these, the hook was incorporated directly into the blade, rather than as a separate function. The actual hook of the Hookblade resembles the head of an eagle, a bird frequently associated with the Assassin Order. In a 2011 IGN interview, Ubisoft Montreal's then-Creative Director Alexandre Amancio described the Hookblade as a "more fluid, faster, and more fun" way to travel intended to increase navigation speed by a factor of 30% in Revelations, in comparison to previous instalments of the Assassin's Creed series. The Hookblade was also considered for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, but the game's lead writer Darby McDevitt objected, wanting to dispel the stereotype of hook-handed pirates. Unlike the Hidden Gun and Poison Blade, the Hookblade supplemented Ezio's secondary Hidden Blade, rather than his primary one. One concept art by Martin Deschambault for Assassin's Creed II shows two unimplemented Hidden Blade upgrades; a retracting arrow-shaped blade, and a retracting trident-ended blade for parrying weapons and disarming enemies. His art also shows two designs of the blade itself, a feather-like look and a normal blade with designed holes. Noticeable similarities with this concept and that of the Trident Blade aesthetically suggest that the design may have been used to create Arbaaz Mir's Hidden Blade. In Deschambault's concept art for Assassin's Creed: Origins, it shows how the original Hidden Blade from Persia in 500 BCE was originally worn above the right forearm rather than under the left wrist and did not require the sacrifice of the user's ring finger. This was later shown in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey with Darius wielding the first Hidden Blade above his right forearm whilst keeping all ten fingers. Additional concept art for Bayek's Hidden Blade differs from its final in-game design, in which the blade was hollowed out in the center, unlike the final design. However, a Hidden Blade with a hollowed out center resembling the concept art is used for the third, fourth, and fifth Hidden Blade upgrades in-game.
Mechanism
In Assassin's Creed's 2006 E3 teaser trailer, as well as in certain concept art, Altaïr can be seen pushing a button to operate his Hidden Blade. In-game, however, no such button or other trigger mechanism existed. In the Assassin's Creed: Renaissance and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novels, unleashing the Hidden Blade required the use of a button, via a certain muscle on the forearm being flexed. The same mechanism also triggered the Hidden Gun when Ezio's thumb was pushed to the left. In an Assassin's Creed developer diary video, Jade Raymond spoke about the lack of Altaïr's ring finger and the Assassins' initiation ceremony. The Hidden Blade is a crafted item in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy. The materials for its construction are 2 Coils; 1 Iron, 1 Hide and 1 Box of Components. The latter in turn is crafted using 3 Gears; 3 Screws, 1 Chain and 2 Sprockets. In Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade, the trigger mechanism is depicted as a ring worn around a pinky finger. Movement of that finger causes the blade to extend or retract. Custom dictates that the Hidden Blade usually be worn on the left hand, as demonstrated by all Assassins who wield only one Hidden Blade. The closest novel adaptation of the Hidden Blade to the in-game version appears in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, wherein Edward Kenway stated he had activated the blade by the tensing of a muscle that comes from the upper arm as well as the forearm, and a simultaneous flick of the wrist. This is much unlike the ring-triggered or button mechanisms as mentioned in previous novels, thus more like the in-game Hidden Blade. However, this mechanism comes with the dangerous risk of accidentally activating the Hidden Blade while flicking the wrist unintentionally, which can result in the death of a person or the wielder themselves. This is acknowledged in Assassin's Creed: Underworld where, at one point, Ethan Frye rests his chin on his left hand while wearing a Hidden Blade, with the blade itself less than an inch from his throat.
Miscellaneous
In Assassin's Creed, despite being equipped with a Hidden Blade, some Assassins, such as Malik Al-Sayf, retained all fingers. This error was later corrected in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. However, the game presented another error, as Assassins would retain their amputated ring fingers even after Altaïr had changed the design of the blade so that amputation was no longer necessary. In Assassin's Creed, the Hidden Blade is used in every major assassination. Even if an Assassin begins by attacking their target with a sword, they always finish them off with the Hidden Blade. Later games, however, changed so that the player can use any weapon they wish for major assassinations. In Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, if the PlayStation Portable was linked to Assassins Creed II, Altaïr's Hidden Blade can be upgraded to be able to block light and heavy attacks, as along with a variant of the Hidden Gun that fires throwing knives instead of bullets. In Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles, Altaïr can only use the Hidden Blade when standing directly behind an enemy for a low-profile assassination if that enemy is not a story-designated target. If the enemy is a specific assassination target; however, the player receives a prompt to high-profile assassinate from any position. There is a glitch in the Assassin's Creed II memory "Practice What You Preach" wherein if Ezio purchases the Leather Vambrace armor from a blacksmith, instead of practicing the new assassination techniques, he acquires the second Hidden Blade before Leonardo has even made it for him. The Hidden Blade can be used in Valve's Team Fortress 2 by the Spy class under the name "Sharp Dresser". It was available for those who pre-ordered Assassin's Creed: Revelations on Steam before 2 December 2011. In Assassin's Creed: Unity, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, and Assassin's Creed: Origins, the Hidden Blade is restricted to stealth assassinations only, and is no longer selectable as a weapon to use in open combat. This is likely due to the removal of combo kills and counterattacks, which did not depend on a weapon's stats. That said, Jacob and Evie sometimes use the Hidden Blade in conjunction with their equipped weapon during kill animations. Usage of the Hidden Blade in combat returns in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla; however, this requires Eivor to not wield anything in her off-hand, and can only be used in certain special attacks as opposed to being a selectable weapon in-game. In Assassin's Creed III and Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, some British, Continental, and Spanish troops, more specifically the scouts, can perform an animation that is similar to the hook and run which would temporarily disorientate Ratonhnhaké:ton and Aveline. There are several cutscenes in which Ezio's Hookblade is not actually on his wrist. Examples include his conversation with Yusuf in "Setting Sail" and whenever he recruits an Assassin. In the Origins memory "End of the Snake" when Bayek assassinates Eudoros with the Hidden Blade, it always appears in its initial form, even if the player has upgraded the weapon.
Non-canonical appearances
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Aug 2, 2021 · Typically attached to the underside of the left wrist, Assassins throughout history employ the hidden blade for numerous reasons, but mainly as a stealthy, effective means of eliminating high profile targets. When not in use, the blade retracts inside of its casing - usually some form of bracer.
- Editor
Top of wrist hidden blade questions. Wouldn't it not work as well because your hand would be blocking the blade from entering? How would be it activated with a string, a flex, or what? Would there be any advantage to wearing it on top of wrist instead of bottom? (I guess less chance to lose a finger from it) I cant think of anything else right now.
Wrist blade, iconic in Assassin’s Creed, evolves across eras with diverse designs. Its modifications include Hidden bolt, Phantom Blade for lethal bolts, Hook Blade for speed, and Poison Blade for a slow demise. Variations include Hidden gun, Dart launcher, Hidden foot blade, Composite Blade, Two-Pronged Blade, Shock Blade, and Pivot Blade.
Jan 11, 2020 · The Assassin's Creed franchise's most iconic weapon is the Hidden Blade, and it has a more lore-heavy history than one might expect. ... though the wrist flick was still a common method of ...
