Agent 47

Vorlage:Notability Vorlage:Copy edit Vorlage:General VG character Agent 47 (usually referred to as "47" or "Mr. 47"; born 5 September 1964) is the main protagonist of the Hitman video game franchise, created by the Danish company IO Interactive. Currently, there are five "Hitman" video game titles in the series. Two novels, Hitman: Damnation by Raymond Benson and Hitman: Enemy Within by William C. Dietz were published by Mass Market Paperback in 2007 and 2012, respectively. Also in 2007, a film adaptation of the game was produced by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, with Agent 47 portrayed by Timothy Olyphant and a reboot titled Agent 47 portrayed by Paul Walker.

Origins of the name "Agent 47"

47 was born on September 5, 1964 in the Romanian asylum. He had the number 640509-040147 tattooed on the back of his head in the form of a barcode ("64-05-09" is his date of birth, "04" marks the Series IV, "01" is for what class he is and "47" is the order he was cloned as well as the name he is called), followed several years later by a UPC code when the technology was available.

In video games

Appearance

Agent 47's titular attire consists of an immaculate black suit, black leather gloves, white striped dress shirt and a red tie. As the Hitman video game series allows players the option of engaging in stealth-based strategy to avoid conflict, Agent 47 has the ability to change his stock costume with a wide variety of characters in the game to avoid detection - police, military, medical and culinary uniforms are all made available by disabling the relevant non-player character and 'stealing' their clothing.

In addition to the signature suit, alternative stock costumes (costumes assigned to Agent 47 at the beginning of a level or displayed in a cut scene) are occasionally provided. In Codename 47, he is seen wearing gorilla camouflage in the jungle, while in Silent Assassin Agent 47 wears a protective parka in the Japanese mountains and a blue turban in the Middle East. In a notable contrast to the black and red combination most commonly associated with the character, at the end of Blood Money Agent 47 wears an entirely white suit and white gloves while he is placed in a coffin on his funeral.

In addition to clothing, Agent 47's choice of distinctive weaponry plays an important role in his appearance. The trained assassin uses a pair of customized AMT Hardballers - a large silver pistol with a black grip frame, which is his trademark weapons. Following the third video game in the series, Hitman: Contracts, the Hitman symbol replaces the Hardballer logos that are typically printed on the side of the pistol's slide.

47's Barcode as based on images from Dr. Ort-Meyer's journal.

47 is completely bald. His skin is very pale and he has blue eyes with dark eyebrows. His 'ICA File' from Hitman: Absolution states his height as Vorlage:Height. In Hitman: Enemy Within his weight is given as Vorlage:Convert. Players of the video game series control the character from a third person perspective. As such, the barcode that is tattooed on the back of his head is starkly prominent. The barcode lists his date of creation and identification number 640509-040147.

47's barcode tattoo identifies him among other clones ("64-05-09" is his date of birth, "04" marks the Series IV, "01" is for what class he is and "47" is the order he was cloned as well as the name he is called), followed several years later by a UPC code when the technology was available. It acts as a security key to access areas of the facility where he was created and trained. 47's barcode is implied to be in Code 39; according to Dr. Ort-Meyer's journal, the barcode was added to the tattoo in 1975, one year after the code was developed. Curiously, the characters in the games appear oblivious to the tattoo (although fully visible and noticeable), including newspaper descriptions of 47 in Hitman: Blood Money which fail to mention it as a notable characteristic.

Character history

In the Hitman game series and the Hitman novel, 47 is a genetically-enhanced clone and the culmination of decades of secret research into gene augmentation. His creation was funded by a group of investors who donated their own DNA to the project. In the first Hitman game, five men of various nationalities served in the same unit of the French Foreign Legion. After their stint was finished, four of those men returned to their respective countries and founded their own criminal empires, becoming 4 of the biggest criminals in the world. The remaining one, Dr. Otto Ort-Meyer, ran a mental institution which he used as a cover for genetic experiments. In exchange for research funding, Ort-Meyer provided his former comrades with donor organs harvested from clone bodies, which significantly extended their longevity. In Hitman: Codename 47, each of Ort-Meyer's accomplices are said to be 60–70 years old but appear 10–20 years younger.

The men whose DNA contributed to 47's creation are often referred to within the series as the "Five Fathers", consisting of Dr. Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer himself, Lee Hong, Pablo Ochoa, Frantz Fuchs and Arkadij Jegorov. Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer is a discredited German scientist living in Romania, whose radical theories were deemed insane by his peers.

Ort-Meyer believed that genetic recombination and human cloning could be used to produce a perfected version of the human species, superior in strength and mind and unburdened by conscience. His ultimate goal, unbeknownst to his associates, was to create an army of flawless and unquestioningly obedient supermen as his personal army. When Ort-Meyer's associates become suspicious of his motives, he employs 47 to systematically eliminate each of them. When 47 discovers Ort-Meyer's plans, he manages to eradicate his latest series of clones, known as the Mr. 48s, and snaps Ort-Meyer's neck.

• Lee Hong is a Chinese crime lord. Hong eventually rose to the head of the Red Dragon Triad, becoming a powerful ganglord in Hong Kong. 47 weakens Hong's influence before assassinating him.
• Pablo Belisario Ochoa is a notorious Latin American drug dealer and formed his own drug cartel by violently eliminating his rivals. However, his methods earned him great animosity, and he was eventually forced to flee to a compound deep inside the Colombian rainforest. Pablo appears to be heavily-inspired by fictional character Tony Montana from the film "Scarface".
• Franz Fuchs is a former member of the Hitler Youth, apparently resenting the collapse of fascism. He developed a career as a professional terrorist-for-hire, organizing attacks such as the attempted chemical bombing of the G7 leadership. He works closely with his brother and partner, Fritz (therefore making Fritz 47's "uncle"). He also kills Fabian Fuchs, the youngest brother and "uncle". It isn't clear whether or not Fuchs is based on the real life Franz Fuchs, who was also a terrorist.
• The final person who contributed to 47's DNA was Arkadij "Boris" Jegorov. Jegorov was a staunch anti-communist who became a worldwide arms dealer and smuggled weaponry for his older brother, Russian mafia boss Sergei Zavoratko (making him another of 47's "Uncles"). At the time of his death, Jegorov was attempting to traffic nuclear weapons.

Ultimately Ort-Meyer managed to perfect the process enough to produce an assembly line of genetically augmented clones, including Mr. 17, the antagonist of the second Hitman video game. 47 belonged to Ort-Meyer's fourth series of clones, possessing a 47th chromosome which, combined with DNA harvested from the world's most dangerous criminals, endowed him with levels of strength, speed, stamina, and intelligence significantly above the human norm. In Hitman: Blood Money, it is explained that American interests had repeatedly attempted to replicate Ort-Meyer's success, but were largely unsuccessful. 47 represents the most successful result of Ort-Meyer's research. Other clones produced by Ort-Meyer were plagued by medical problems such as albinism and extremely short lifespans (before 47, other test subjects lived only 18 months). Ort-Meyer's research was distributed among many covert cloning labs, but is insufficient; a sample of 47's bone marrow is needed to fill in the DNA gaps, making him an extremely valuable specimen.

Early life and training

47 was born on September 5, 1964, in Romania, where he was raised with the other 50 "Series IV" clones by the cloning facility staff. From the beginning, Dr. Ort-Meyer identified 47 as his most promising creation. While maturing, 47 was quiet and showed little social behavior. In fact, 47's only display of affection was toward a runaway laboratory rabbit, which he adopted much to Ort-Meyer's displeasure. 47 also had a fairly negative relationship with the asylum staff, regular invasive medical tests and frequent painful injections fostered resentment. On one occasion, 47 stabbed a doctor repeatedly with several needles, prompting Ort-Meyer to increase the number of personnel assigned to control him and to take him for medical research.

47's training revolved around efficient killing techniques. Instructed in the use of rifles, sidearms, military equipment and machinery as well as knives, improvised weaponry and garrotes, 47 is competent with a variety of weapons. Advanced hand-to-hand combat training and his genetic advantages allowed 47 to excel in self-defense while facing multiple opponents, as well as murdering and rendering unconscious targets without the use of a weapon. During his training, 47 was noted for his exceptional marksmanship as well as for attacking the asylum staff with homemade slingshots.

When 47 was 30 years old, he found a gap in the security, therefore escaping the asylum, killing a security guard and escaping the premises. However, it was revealed that Ort-Meyer set him loose, wanting to test him in the world after his longtime training.

Employment

47 was soon employed by the International Contract Agency, a clandestine organization providing assassination and mercenary services. With a lifetime of training and genetically augmented physical abilities, 47 soon became the Agency's most effective employee. He briefly retired from the Agency between the events of Hitman: Codename 47 and Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, but returned to work for the Agency shortly thereafter. He enjoys his only notable human friendship with his manager-of-sorts, Diana. After the events of Hitman: Contracts, which resulted in a significant loss of influence for the I.C.A., 47 threatened to find a new employer.

Despite the threat, 47 continued with the I.C.A. until the events of Hitman: Blood Money, in which the organization is destroyed and 47 falsely believed Diana betrayed him. At the end of that game the I.C.A. is rebuilt, though Diana admits to a client that she currently cannot contact or employ 47 without further clarification. The last scene of the game shows 47 walking into a shop, using a fake name and asking what they have to sell, "preferably in the back" (suggesting obliquely that 47 has resumed working for the I.C.A. or a competing organized criminal organization).

In Hitman: Absolution, it is revealed that, although I.C.A was rebuilt, Diana betrayed the Agency. 47 was personally sent to execute her, and before she passed away in his arms, she gave him a letter asking to protect Victoria, who is revealed to be the female counterpart of 47. She was the first (and so far only) female assassin, and the only one who is not created by Ort-Myer. She was created by Benjamin Travis, the current Agency Director, who wanted to create his own league of assassins to ensure that the Agency's success would not depend on 47's actions. 47 killed Travis and rescued Victoria, whom he gave to Diana; 47 faked her death, feeling emotional towards her.

Personality

47 is an introverted character who almost always speaks without emotion in a calm, formal manner (with what might be considered a muted or blunt affect). His lack of empathy, emotion or excitement while committing acts of murder are defining characteristics of the character. One minor but notable exception to this is in one of the final cut scenes of Hitman: Blood Money, where he cursed at his I.C.A. handler, Diana, when she injected him from behind with a syringe. He also faked her death in Absolution; he felt emotions towards her.

47 once demonstrated a high degree of devotion to Father Vittorio, the Sicilian priest who provided him shelter in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, going so far as to rescue Vittorio from the Russian mafia even though there was no monetary reward in it (in fact, according to Vittorio, 47 donated a large percentage of his earnings from Hitman: Codename 47 to the Catholic Church). In the end, 47's work spilled over into the church, when his enemies located his hiding place in a Catholic monastery. This lead to an attack on the monastery and the murder of a number of priests before 47 was able to stop the attack. As a result of the incident, 47 has chosen isolation rather than risk associating with innocent people who might be targeted for retaliation.

47 places a significant measure of trust in his Agency contact, Diana Burnwood. She is the one character in the series that 47 has had constant contact with, and probably the closest thing he has to a friend. As a general rule, however, they never meet face-to-face. In Absolution, they met for the first time, but ironically, she was 47's target. He spared her, feeling emotions towards her, and left Victoria, a genetically created female assassin, to take care of her. During the Rosewood mission 47, while carrying Victoria in an attempt to flee from Blake Dexter's hired gun Wade and his henchmen, expresses his sympathy for her due to their similar origins.

On rare occasions, 47 can also show a warm side to his personality. When being raised by Dr. Ort-Meyer, he befriended a rabbit. Although he has no apparent interest in sex, he has shown considerable forbearance to a young prostitute named Lei Ling (renamed to "Mei Ling" in Hitman: Contracts). He rescued her from sex slavery in the first game in exchange for a safe combination, and can optionally rescue her again from exactly the same situation in the sequel, in return for a keycard that he presumably needs. In two other levels in the same sequel, the player can optionally rescue a prisoner being beaten by a couple of guards (in return, the prisoner tells 47 the location of his target) and a German ambassador about to be killed by a Spetsnaz agent. In "Absolution" 47 gives money to a homeless man, showing he has at least some empathy. In the same game, 47 can also rescue a prisoner being beaten by police officers in return for information, but reading his take on the situation (through the hint system, which gives 47's opinion on what is happening at the moment) he says he should save him in case he had information. In Hitman: Blood Money, 47 picks up a small canary during his travels. He and the canary appear to be fond of each other, with the latter showing a happy responsiveness to 47's playful hand gestures and even allowing 47 touch it in one scene. However, he later kills the bird to silence it when he hears an intruder approaching his position and does not show remorse afterwards.

Morality

Agent 47 is an antihero. His profession requires him to commit murder. However, his targets often consist of people who are themselves not in good moral standing. 47 can be seen as delivering 'justice' to the individuals who are either too powerful or well connected to be judged by the law, but still commits a sin to deliver it. In the trailer of the Hitman film, 47 is described as a "necessary evil".

47 will kill anyone he has been assigned to assassinate without any hesitation and with no exceptions. However, he has been known to spare individuals whom he has not been specifically ordered to kill (a few cutscenes in Hitman: Contracts show him knocking out rather than killing various henchmen and bystanders), and even to occasionally offer assistance to those in need. However, he has also demonstrated a cold willingness to kill innocents if they pose a direct threat to his mission. In Hitman: Blood Money, the game shows a more brutal 47. 47 murders an innocent mailman due to the CODE RED scribbled on the package. Blood Money's final mission also shows 47 executing an innocent priest and a reporter, both of whom knew his identity (besides, given the circumstances, it was impossible for him to know they were not hostile, especially in the case of Rick Henderson, who was standing next to Alexander Leland Cayne, the 'wheelchair guy' as 47 referred to him whom he knew for sure to be one of his greatest enemies; furthermore, if the player waits more at the beginning of the mission, there is an occasion to take the priest hostage, which the guards will carelessly kill in their attempt to kill 47). Throughout "Contracts" which shows a heavily wounded 47's recollection on his past missions, his subconscious changes the missions to be in a dreary and always raining atmosphere, showing that he had at Keats some regret over the things he has done.

When Diana states she does not have long to live, he gives his apology before calmly asking if she has his payment. The younger 47 was shown to be less violent, having befriended a rabbit. Though it is up to the player to decide how 47 will accomplish the missions he is given, the games generally encourage discretion; the more silent and unobtrusive the player is, the higher the reward. In Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, 47 confesses his sins to Father Vittorio, and performs an act of Catholic symbolism by making the Sign of the Cross before performing his first hit after coming out from retirement. His confession to Father Vittorio in the opening sequence hints that Agent 47 is not entirely devoid of a conscience.

Hitman: Absolution explored 47's conscience to a greater extent. In the opening mission, his handler, Diana, has betrayed the ICA, and 47 is sent to terminate her. His first shot does not kill her cleanly, and she is able to ask him to protect Victoria, a young girl that 47 was sent to retrieve for the Agency. 47 spends the remainder of the game carrying out this request. In addition, in one cutscene he has several flashbacks of shooting Diana, indicating genuine regret for his action. 47 even expressed his disgust for exploiting innocent people at one point in the game, specifically during a briefing for the Dexter Industries mission.

Abilities and reputation

While not superhuman, 47's physical capabilities are at the peak of human performance. As a class one type clone, 47 can be seen performing physical tasks much more efficiently than an average human. 47 has mastered the art of stealth, being able to sneak up on almost anybody and quietly neutralize them. 47 also has an expert level understanding in the use of disguises in order to access unauthorized areas of a location. He is physically strong - being able to climb pipes, move and dispose of bodies, and jump from balcony to balcony with minimum effort. 47 is noted to be a skilled driver, as he can be seen piloting airplanes and helicopters.

47's enhanced DNA also allows him to remain perfectly calm in any situation. He never shows any signs of fear or anxiety even when completely surrounded by enemies. This trait allows him to effectively disguise himself and enter restricted areas without raising any suspicion from nearby guards, even when they already suspect someone may have infiltrated their ranks. Whatever the odds, 47 never panics. He always keeps his composure and clear mind to the point of being perfectly aware of all his surroundings and constantly calculates his every action, never losing focus.

Trained extensively in armed and unarmed combat and in the use of improvised weapons, such as explosives, sniper rifles, automatic weapons and bladed weapons, 47 is fully adept at surveying his environment and using it to his advantage. He is also resourceful enough to maintain anonymity by avoiding leaving forensic evidence for law enforcement agencies to discover through various methods. 47 is skilled in infiltration, ex-filtration, and evasion, as well as the traditional art of assassination as seen when carrying out contracts. On site, he can slip past guards without arousing too much suspicion.

47 also has a detailed understanding of human anatomy and human nature, shown through his use of poisons, and sedatives, as well as striking vital points when strangling targets or using hand to hand combat. He also knows how best to move throughout an area without catching the attention of civilians or armed guards, being excellent in deduction and logistics, determing the best way.

Due to his successful track record, 47 is usually given the Agency's largest and most difficult assignments. 47 completes all of his assignments with unwavering accuracy, fulfilling all of his objectives and always eliminating his targets without hesitation. 47's stealth and cunning are legendary; he is regarded by the world as an urban legend, and few even know of his appearance (fewer even that he exists). The degree of 47's professionalism is such that in the trailer sequence that plays on the title screen of Blood Money, the speaker states that once a client has contracted 47 to perform an assassination, he cannot be called off and will fulfill the contract through to the end no matters what, even if the client changes their mind, meaning that the client must be absolutely certain of their desire to have the contract fulfilled before they contact The Agency and request 47.

Endurance

His physical strength does not by far exceed that of usual humans. In Hitman: Blood Money Prof. Ort-Meyer's research files of 47's creation are revealed to have been removed from the asylum after the professor's death and copied by organizations interested in creating clones with 47's abilities. It is presumable that these rival groups, due to their interest in removing the threat of 47 to make way for their own clones have explored possible ways to go around 47's advantages using Prof. Ort-Meyer's research files and to have discovered the gaps in 47's biological enhancements.

Most characters 47 encounters throughout the series lack such characteristics. Most are instantly killed by one shot if to the head or the heart and sometimes, especially in Hitman: Contracts, in cases when the injury is non-fatal, the character 47 has wounded collapses, screams in pain appearing to be in terror and gasping for air. However, two instances in Hitman: Blood Money hint towards the possibility of Agent 47 having some 'weak spots' that some who wish to hunt him down may know about: one girl apparently working for the Franchise tries to lure 47 into a room. If the player decides to follow her a cut-scene will show 47 being killed by her with one stiletto stab to the neck. A very similar event can take place with another female, apparently a singer and party entartainer who turns out to be an assassin known by ICA and simply referred to as 'Eve'. She is awaiting 47 and recognizes him despite the disguise. She kills 47 by stabbing him multiple times in the chest area (with a stiletto) after making him collapse with only one hit to the stomach. One situation showing 47 sustaining an injury critical to him is featured in Hitman: Contracts. In this sequel, 47 is revealed experiencing exhaustion, pain, difficulty walking from the wound and an altered state of consciousness. What turns out to have caused all this is only one bullet extracted from the stomach area by the medic the International Contract Agency has sent to 47's aid. In Hitman: Codename 47 47 encounters in the Colombian forest what Diana calls 'a very large jaguar'. On Normal difficulty and with a Kevlar vest, 47 can survive one attack from the large jaguar. Also, at the end of the game after 47 destroys the professor's latest creations, the Series 48 clones, in his secret underground laboratory, in order to reach the professor 47 attempts to go past a check-point where the doors are marked with 'Biological Hazard' and the bar code on the clones' back of the head is being checked by laser. When the laser detects 47's code a gas is released that makes 47 cough and temporarily collapse, then the doors open and 47 is standing again. Since Prof. Ort-Meyer was, at this point in the storyline clearly set to kill 47 and was taking this as a measure of precaution to keep 47 away from him, it can be presumed that this was in fact a toxic gas meant to actually kill which 47 however survived and quickly recovered from.

In film

In the 2007 Hitman feature film, Agent 47 is portrayed by Timothy Olyphant. His back story differs significantly from that of the video game. The organization he works for is renamed the International Contract Organization. Instead of clones, his employer takes in orphans and rejects and trains them as professional assassins. 47 is considered the best of them. 47's personality is generally consistent with the games as he displays the same emotional detachment and dedication to killing his targets, although most of his "hits" in the film are indicative of the kind of mission that most players try to avoid; nearly all of them would have received a "Mass Murderer" rating (the worst mission rating a Hitman player can get), had they taken place in the game. However, 47 retains his calm under pressure, as well as his disdain for killing or harming non-targets, especially innocents. The latter is demonstrated by his protection of a woman named Nika, as well as his decision to spare Interpol agent Mike Whittier, despite Whittier having seen his face.

On February 5, 2013, it was reported that the film is being rebooted with the title of the film being Agent 47. Paul Walker is attached to star with commercials director Aleksander Bach helming the project as his directorial debut. Screenwriter of the original Hitman film, Skip Woods wrote the screenplay with Mike Finch and filming is said to take place in Berlin and Singapore this summer.

Reception

Agent 47 has received positive critical reception. The prospect of a genetically advanced human clone used for assassination has been instrumental creating a fan following for the HITMAN Franchise. Agent 47's style, unmatched attitude, and love of professionalism have made him a popular protagonist in video games and film.

External links

• Official Hitman website