As the Vatican elects a new Pope, Assassin’s Creed players recall the time they threw hands with one in the Sistine Chapel. Yes, really.

While the world watches history unfold in Vatican City, welcoming the freshly elected Pope Leo XIV, some of us, specifically the Assassin’s Creed diehards, are suppressing an all-too-familiar muscle memory: the urge to square up with the Pope. Respectfully, of course.

As people learning papal trivia about Robert Francis Prevost, gamers everywhere are instinctively scanning the Sistine Chapel for hidden entrances and bracing themselves for a surprise boss fight. Once you’ve knuckled up against a Pope in the virtual Vatican, the conclave just hits different.

The world welcomes a new Pope, but gamers are still mentally in 1499

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Following Pope Francis’s passing on April 21, the Catholic Church embarked on its honored tradition of electing a new Pope. Recently, it was announced from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica that at the age of 69, Robert Francis Prevost will ascend as the 267th occupant of the throne of St. Peter, adopting the papal name Leo XIV.

It’s a historic moment around the globe, but for Assassin’s Creed 2 (set in 1499 in Rome) veterans, their minds can’t help but wander back to the late 15th century, when they (as Ezio Auditore) faced off against Pope Rodrigo Borgia in an absolutely unhinged fistfight.

Not in some alley, mind you, but right inside the Sistine Chapel. With ancient alien artifacts in hand, the two men simply threw hands over the fate of humanity. It was, as it seems, chaotic, audacious, and completely unforgettable.

Sure, today’s conclave is solemn and reverent, but back then (in video game land), it was more like, as Ezio actually says before challenging the Pope to a fist fight: “No more tricks. No more ancient artifacts. No more weapons. Let us see what you are made of, old man.“

Players are having a collective chuckle as they remember just how wild video game worlds can be. After all, where else but in gaming do you go from Renaissance art appreciation to laying smackdown with a Pontiff? It’s the kind of surreal thing that only happens in Assassin’s Creed.

When Assassin’s Creed made the Vatican a boss arena

New Pope? Cool. We’ve been there, dodged that staff swing. | Image Credit: Ubisoft

For those who haven’t parkoured across rooftops in a while, Assassin’s Creed 2 didn’t throw players into a papal brawl just for shock value. The series has always thrived on blending real history with secret societies, ancient artifacts, and world-shifting conspiracies.

In the game, Rodrigo Borgia, the historical Pope Alexander VI, is reimagined as the Grand Master of the Templars, determined to use the Apple and Staff of Eden to unlock a hidden vault beneath the Vatican and claim ultimate power. Naturally, this sets him up as the ultimate antagonist to Ezio’s Assassin ideals.

By the time Ezio confronts Borgia in the Sistine Chapel, it’s the culmination of years of betrayal, revenge, and philosophical warfare between Assassins and Templars. So, the one-on-one fistfight in one of the most iconic holy sites on earth wasn’t just dramatic, it was poetic.

And true to Ezio’s growth as a character, he ultimately chooses mercy over vengeance, sparing Borgia’s life despite their history. It was peak Assassin’s Creed: historical settings meticulously recreated, real-world figures reimagined, and gameplay moments so over-the-top you can’t help but grin.

So yes, while people are celebrating the election of Pope Leo XIV, a subset of gamers are quietly reminiscing about the time they had to punch a Pope to save the world. No offense meant, Your Holiness, it’s just that once you’ve squared up in the Sistine Chapel, the news hits slightly differently.