Original artwork, not a still
Assassin Brotherhood maxim
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
— Assassin's Creed · 2007
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The game explains the line as a warning, not a licence: Ezio calls it an observation that society is fragile and that we answer for our own actions. Outside the games it has become a gamer's motto for scepticism and freedom, quoted far beyond the series and often misread as permission to do anything.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Assassin's CreedShow the scene
'Nothing is true, everything is permitted' is the maxim of the Assassin Brotherhood and the heart of the Assassin's Creed series, which began in 2007 with Altair in 1191. The games present it as the Creed's primary guideline, a sentence Assassins repeat from ancient Persia to the modern day. The phrase comes from Vladimir Bartol's 1938 novel Alamut, about Hassan-i Sabbah and the Hashshashin, which inspired the series; the same form also appears in William Burroughs's Naked Lunch.
Sources (3)
- The Creed (Assassin's Creed Wiki)The MaximReference checked
- Alamut (Bartol novel) (Wikipedia)Lead and LegacyReference checked
- Alamut (Britannica)InfluenceReference checked
Context reviewed