Agent 47

Agent 47 is a fictional character and the protagonist of Hitman (video game series) franchise. The character was created by the Danish company IO Interactive.

Video games 
There are eight main titles featuring Agent 47. They are Hitman: Codename 47 (2000), Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002), Hitman: Contracts (2004), Hitman: Blood Money (2006), Hitman: Absolution (2012), Hitman (2016), Hitman 2 (2018) and Hitman 3 (2021).

Appearance 
Agent 47 wears a pure black suit, black leather gloves, a white dress shirt and a red tie. The Hitman video game series allows the player to engage in stealth (sneaking) mode strategy to not direct attention to himself. Agent 47 has the ability to change what he looks like by exchanging different costumes which can be stolen from enemies or from places to make the progression easier. The outfits can come from many different NPCs.

Agent 47 has no hair with very white skin and blue eyes. His ICA file from Hitman: Absolution states his height as 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m). In Hitman: Enemy Within, his weight is given as . Agent 47 has a bar code tattooed on the back of his head which was very prominent in all games except for Hitman: Absolution where the bar code was most of the time covered in order for the character to disguise himself after it was known that Agent 47 has this bar code that could get him more notoriety.

His bar code is considered as a security key to access areas of the facility where he was created and trained. Although, in Hitman: Blood Money game failed to mention the bar code as a notable characteristic.

Agent 47's facial features are quite imposing, with a long face, large cheekbones, prominent brow, recessed forehead and ice blue eyes. Early in Hitman: Absolution, 47 tries to remove his iconic bar code with a razor, but it remains visible at the end of the game.

Character history 
Agent 47 was born on September 5, 1964 in a Romanian asylum with the number 5-901234-123457 tattooed on the back of his head in the form of a bar code. "64-05-09" refer to his date of birth, "04" indicates Series IV, "01" documents his class and "47" is the order in which he was cloned. According to the Hitman game series and the Hitman novel, Agent 47 is a genetically-enhanced clone and the culmination of decades of secret research into gene augmentation whom is of English descent. His creation was funded by five criminal masterminds who donated their own DNA to the project. In Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Agent 47 decided to quit killing people for money and lived in a shelter provided by Vittorio, but had to change his mind after Vittorio got kidnapped. Eventually after many missions handled successfully by 47, Diana brought the Agency to its knees. She flushed all accounts, cut off all communication lines, exposed the Agency and used the confusion to vanish and 47 puts an end to Diana handling a hit on her.

Personality 
Even though 47 is meant to be an emotionless assassin, he shows signs of morality, seen in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin confessing his sins (killing people for money) to Father Vittorio. Subsequently, he is so depressed at the apparent loss of his spiritual guide that he agrees to take on the "suicide mission" of killing Deewana Ji. He is very quiet to the point of being socially awkward which is perhaps the biggest of his very weaknesses. He prefers to stay alone and he has admiration for few people he befriends, especially Diana and Vittorio.

Agent 47 approaches his assassinations with professionalism but will, however show no remorse or regression when it comes to killing or silencing witnesses. Agent 47 speaks in a very formal tone, a tone that shows no threat, rarely swearing or even raising his voice. Given his fees, 47 would have to be a multi-millionaire from his contract earnings but never stops going for new contracts. He only spends his money on simple things like food, suits, gear, and shelter, although he is also known to donate some of it to Father Vittorio.

Skills and abilities 
Agent 47 can take on hard tasks and perform physical tasks more efficiently than any average human. 47 has mastered the art of stealth. He knows how to efficiently and successfully sneak up to a victim and use his assassin fiber wire to eliminate the victim or an injection to poison the victim or knock him/her out. 47 being able to terminate multiple enemies in the same area one at a time and sneak up on almost anybody and quietly neutralize them. Agent 47 also has a lot of knowledge about disguising techniques and ways of accessing unauthorized areas of a location. He is physically strong even when compared to average adult males of his size and build; being able to climb pipes, move and dispose of bodies, snap necks, knock opponents unconscious and jump from a balcony to another balcony, spending a minimum effort. 47 also happen to be a skilled driver and seen piloting helicopters and planes.

Agent 47 has a special level of skill when it comes to using improvised weapons such as explosives, sniper rifles, automatic weapons and bladed weapons. Being able to hold dual pistols firing both of them at the same time whilst hitting the targets. He is a perfect marksman, so well that the newspaper in Hitman: Blood Money called him "Legendary Agent 47".

References 

Fictional characters introduced in 2000
Video game protagonists