He can be seen as very cruel and slightly sadistic, as he very rarely shows compassion for anyone. Rodrigo only cares about himself, his family and his allies. And even for his allies, he won't shed a tear if something is to happen to them. Nevertheless, as he believes he works for the betterment of humanity and wishes to put an end to war and violence, it shows he at least cares for humans in a general way- Even though he despises what they are and couldn't care less at the death of some as long as it means his objectives will be accomplished. He shows himself generous toward those loyal to him and will grant them their desires. However toward those who disappoint or betray him, he shows no mercy and will not hesitate to slay them personally.
His relationship with his family is similar to that with his allies. As with everyone else, he sees his own family as tools for him to accomplish his goals. He arranged marriages for his daughter in order to gain access to privileged positions. Once he reached papacy, gave the most important positions to people from his own family. The way he treats his children is disputable as well. While one of his sons seems to have been favored and well treated, his other son, Cesare, appears to despise him and will grow to be even more ruthless than his father (and in the future, will eventually become the de facto head of the Templars). However the affection his daughter bear for him indicates he is not a totally emotionless man and can have his nice moments.
In spite of having spent most of his life working hand in hand with the Christian Church, he does not believe in God. In fact he despises Christianity as well as every other religion. He does not care about notions such as morality, good or evil- He is a firm believer that the end justifies the means. In his eyes the religion is little more than a fantasy created by people to reassure themselves. A tool that has to be used by those enlightened in order to offer a reassuring illusion to the masses, to ease their pain. To give them the belief there is some greater purpose to their existence. To make them believe they are not meaningless. In the end religion makes it much easier for people like him to control the masses. Having become Pope, the highest rank in the Christian Church, he has then accomplished one of his objectives. He is effectively one of the, if not the most, influential leader in the world.
Because he is the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Rodrigo has numerous allies both within and outside of the Templar Order. He can quite easily make new allies to help him in accomplish his purpose, either because their beliefs are the same than his own or because he offers them lies and illusions to control them. A master in the art or corruption, Rodrigo can corrupt people even amongst his oldest enemies thanks to false promises or threats made to them and their family- Their friends. Any means to reach his objectives are good. And disposing of ancient allies as mentioned above does not seem to be a problem for him either.
Because he is such a manipulative character, most people think of him as a respectable man who worked very hard in his life. As the Pope, some people even venerate him. The only ones to see through his mask are the Assassins. However on the long-term his methods will draw the anger of the people- He is not perfect.
While his plans are carefully laid out and well thought out, more often than not they are flawed, which leaves an open window for his enemies to strike if they are clever enough to see the flaw in his plan. He is mostly a normal human being; and so he cannot predict every possible outcome to his plan. As such, his enemies successfully countered his plans on many occasions. Yet again he is a very intelligent character who can think on the fly and come with back-up plans quite easily. He rarely commits twice the same mistake, learning from them and improving himself upon them. He rarely does underestimate his enemies as well, he knows to recognize a threat, yet at the same time he is confident that they'll be dealt with in the end.
As a matter of fact, his arrogance would be his true character flaw: convinced to be the Prophet, convinced that in the end he will win. This will prove to be his undoing in the future, as once his dream will be shattered he will become little more than the shadow of his previous self, letting his grasp over Rome and the Templar Order slip into his son's hands.
While he clearly appears to be a courageous man taking risks to see his plans accomplished, not hesitating to step on the field and fighting assassins if necessary, he also has a cowardly side. On at least two occasions he fled from a battle against the Assassin Giovanni Auditore, once when he felt his life threatened by him and left his own men to be slaughtered by the assassin. The other time he confronted Giovanni on his own, but he had prepared an ambush. And as his men were defeated, he threw a knife to strike down Giovanni and ran away once more. On one hand standing against an assassin whom he knew he couldn't hope to defeat and would end up with his death would have been stupid. In that sense, he is realistic and makes the best choices to preserve his life. His allies would call it being strategic. On the other hand, running away and hiding while his men are fighting isn't exactly a symbol of courage. His enemies would call it cowardice.
Last but not least, under his rule the city of Rome fell in disarray as he put more emphasis on strengthening the Templar's hold on the city, rather than having the city prosper. On the bright side, Rodrigo encouraged new architectural designs and evolution. He has a genuine interest in all form of art and is known to have protected artists. He encouraged education and issued papal bulls that created new colleges. Rodrigo Borgia is clearly a character made of shades of grey, who is neither good nor evil.
[Canon] Rodrigo Borgia || Assassin's Creed || Reserved || 2/3
His relationship with his family is similar to that with his allies. As with everyone else, he sees his own family as tools for him to accomplish his goals. He arranged marriages for his daughter in order to gain access to privileged positions. Once he reached papacy, gave the most important positions to people from his own family. The way he treats his children is disputable as well. While one of his sons seems to have been favored and well treated, his other son, Cesare, appears to despise him and will grow to be even more ruthless than his father (and in the future, will eventually become the de facto head of the Templars). However the affection his daughter bear for him indicates he is not a totally emotionless man and can have his nice moments.
In spite of having spent most of his life working hand in hand with the Christian Church, he does not believe in God. In fact he despises Christianity as well as every other religion. He does not care about notions such as morality, good or evil- He is a firm believer that the end justifies the means. In his eyes the religion is little more than a fantasy created by people to reassure themselves. A tool that has to be used by those enlightened in order to offer a reassuring illusion to the masses, to ease their pain. To give them the belief there is some greater purpose to their existence. To make them believe they are not meaningless. In the end religion makes it much easier for people like him to control the masses. Having become Pope, the highest rank in the Christian Church, he has then accomplished one of his objectives. He is effectively one of the, if not the most, influential leader in the world.
Because he is the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Rodrigo has numerous allies both within and outside of the Templar Order. He can quite easily make new allies to help him in accomplish his purpose, either because their beliefs are the same than his own or because he offers them lies and illusions to control them. A master in the art or corruption, Rodrigo can corrupt people even amongst his oldest enemies thanks to false promises or threats made to them and their family- Their friends. Any means to reach his objectives are good. And disposing of ancient allies as mentioned above does not seem to be a problem for him either.
Because he is such a manipulative character, most people think of him as a respectable man who worked very hard in his life. As the Pope, some people even venerate him. The only ones to see through his mask are the Assassins. However on the long-term his methods will draw the anger of the people- He is not perfect.
While his plans are carefully laid out and well thought out, more often than not they are flawed, which leaves an open window for his enemies to strike if they are clever enough to see the flaw in his plan. He is mostly a normal human being; and so he cannot predict every possible outcome to his plan. As such, his enemies successfully countered his plans on many occasions. Yet again he is a very intelligent character who can think on the fly and come with back-up plans quite easily. He rarely commits twice the same mistake, learning from them and improving himself upon them. He rarely does underestimate his enemies as well, he knows to recognize a threat, yet at the same time he is confident that they'll be dealt with in the end.
As a matter of fact, his arrogance would be his true character flaw: convinced to be the Prophet, convinced that in the end he will win. This will prove to be his undoing in the future, as once his dream will be shattered he will become little more than the shadow of his previous self, letting his grasp over Rome and the Templar Order slip into his son's hands.
While he clearly appears to be a courageous man taking risks to see his plans accomplished, not hesitating to step on the field and fighting assassins if necessary, he also has a cowardly side. On at least two occasions he fled from a battle against the Assassin Giovanni Auditore, once when he felt his life threatened by him and left his own men to be slaughtered by the assassin. The other time he confronted Giovanni on his own, but he had prepared an ambush. And as his men were defeated, he threw a knife to strike down Giovanni and ran away once more. On one hand standing against an assassin whom he knew he couldn't hope to defeat and would end up with his death would have been stupid. In that sense, he is realistic and makes the best choices to preserve his life. His allies would call it being strategic. On the other hand, running away and hiding while his men are fighting isn't exactly a symbol of courage. His enemies would call it cowardice.
Last but not least, under his rule the city of Rome fell in disarray as he put more emphasis on strengthening the Templar's hold on the city, rather than having the city prosper. On the bright side, Rodrigo encouraged new architectural designs and evolution. He has a genuine interest in all form of art and is known to have protected artists. He encouraged education and issued papal bulls that created new colleges. Rodrigo Borgia is clearly a character made of shades of grey, who is neither good nor evil.