El Tiburón

"You humbled me once, and I took that hard lesson, and I bettered myself. Die knowing that for all of our conflict, you helped make a soldier out of a scoundrel."

―Edward Kenway to El Tiburón, as the latter lay dying, 1722.^[src]

El Tiburón (English: The Shark; unknown – 1722) was the mute personal bodyguard of Laureano de Torres y Ayala, the Grand Master of the Caribbean Templars. Although he was not a Templar himself, his unwavering loyalty to Torres made him an asset to the Order.

Biography

Merchant: "Good lord! Is that big brute your captain Mendoza?"

Soldier: "No, sir. He is El Tiburón. El Tiburón Governor Torres' man."

—A merchant and soldier discussing El Tiburón's vocation, 1715.^[src]

Very little is known of El Tiburón before he entered into Torres' service. As the governor's bodyguard, he gained a frightening reputation that soon spread throughout the Cuban capital of Havana. El Tiburón was also known to enjoy overseeing the hangings of criminals, which only added to his menacing character.^[1]

In July 1715, El Tiburón attended an execution, at which the pirate Edward Kenway was also present. Although they did not interact with each other then, they would later meet at Torres' mansion, where Kenway pretended to be the Assassin-turned-Templar Duncan Walpole.^[2] During the induction, El Tiburón kept an eye on Kenway, suspicious of the man's true motives.^[1]

The next day, El Tiburón accompanied the Templars to their meeting with Bartholomew Roberts, a Sage, and subsequently defended them from an organized group of Assassins who attempted to free Roberts. Thanks to his armor, which protected El Tiburón from the Assassins' poison darts, he was able to overcome the attackers, demonstrating his strength when he hurled his axe across a full meter into an Assassin.^[2]

Although the Sage was able to break free, he was soon recaptured by Kenway and imprisoned at the mansion for further interrogation. That night, Roberts broke free from his cell, with the Templars only finding Kenway in his place. Realizing he was an imposter, El Tiburón swiftly incapacitated Kenway and prepared to beat him up, but was stopped by Torres. After a short interrogation, during which it became clear that the Sage had escaped by himself, Kenway was taken hold of by El Tiburón and Julien du Casse, who sent him with the Spanish Treasure Fleet as a prisoner.^[2]

In 1719, he accompanied Torres to Kingston to meet with fellow Templar Woodes Rogers and his newest recruit, Benjamin Hornigold. Years later, after the assassination attempt on Rogers and the death of Roberts, El Tiburón was tasked with guarding a body double of Torres at the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta, in an attempt to delay Kenway from pursuing the governor to the Observatory. On the way to the fort, El Tiburón and his escort came across two pirates threatening a number of soldiers, who watched in awe as El Tiburón brutally dispatched both pirates with his axe.^[2]

When Edward assassinated the imposter at the fort, El Tiburón engaged him in combat,^[2] swiftly gaining the upper hand thanks to his training as a soldier.^[1] A number of Spanish soldiers joined the bodyguard in battle, but proved more of an obstruction than anything; whenever El Tiburón attempted to shoot Kenway, the pirate used a guard as a human shield. He was eventually killed by Kenway, who used pistols to penetrate his armor. As El Tiburón lay dying, Kenway paid the man his final rites.^[2]

Trivia

It is possible, though difficult, for Edward to kill El Tiburón through other means than just pistols.
Despite his death occurring in 1722, El Tiburón's database entry is never updated to include the date.
Due to El Tiburón's unwavering loyalty towards Torres, the Abstergo Entertainment employee that wrote El Tiburón's database entry speculated there might have been a familial connection between the two.
If Edward were to attempt to attack El Tiburón during the events of "...And My Sugar?" memory, he would kill Edward with a single blow.
It is possible to pickpocket El Tiburón in the "Mister Walpole, I Presume?" memory. Doing so grants only one Spanish reale, however.
He is the only Grenadier-like character who wields pistols as secondary weapons rather than grenades,like other Grenadiers do.
Originally, Edward and El Tiburón were planned to have a confrontation at the end of Sequence 2, which would end with Edward losing the battle. For gameplay reasons, the fight was cut during development, though Edward's final lines to El Tiburón still refer to it.^[3]
- However, this confrontation does appear in the novel Assassin's Creed: Black Flag.
Despite being the governor's personal bodyguard, El Tiburón was not by Torres' side during the latter's stay at Punta Guarico. As such, he was not present when the governor was interrogated by Edward and his crew.