Agent 47: Difference between revisions

'''Agent 47''' is the main [[protagonist]] of the ''[[Hitman (video game series)|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. A [[Hitman (2007 film)|film adaptation]] of the game was produced by [[Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation]] in 2007 where Agent 47 was portrayed by [[Timothy Olyphant]]. In 2013, Fox International Productions plans to reboot ''Hitman'' and change the title to Agent 47. In this reboot Agent 47 will be portrayed by [[Paul Walker]].

Agent 47's typical 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. There are a wide variety of costumes to choose from including police, military, medical and culinary uniforms that 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 ''[[Hitman: Codename 47|Codename 47]]'', he is seen wearing guerrilla camouflage in the jungle, while in ''Silent Assassin'' Agent 47 wears a protective parka in the Japanese mountains and a blue turban in India. In a notable contrast to the black and red combination most commonly associated with the character. At the end of [[Hitman: Blood Money|''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 Hardballer]]s - a large silver pistol with a black grip frame, nicknamed "Silverballers" which is his trademark weapon. 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 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 {{height|ft=6|in=2}}.<ref>Hitman Absolution: Trailer „ICA File 5 - Agent 47“; ([http://cdn-thumbs.viddler.com/thumbnail_2_6d7486f4_v3.jpg photo 1 from trailer], [http://i1-games.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/Hitman-Absolution-Agent-47-ICA-File-Trailer_1.jpg photo 2 from trailer]).</ref> In ''[[Hitman: Enemy Within]]'' his weight is given as {{convert|187|lbs|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref>William C. Dietz: ''Hitman: Enemy Within'', 2007, Del Rey Books, ISBN 978-0-345-47132-1, page 12.</ref> 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.

His barcode 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.

In the Hitman game series and the Hitman novel, 47 is a genetically-enhanced [[Human cloning|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.

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.<ref>'''Ort-Meyer:''' Man was made at the end of the week's work, when God was tired. I quickly improved on all of the built-in flaws. I'll show the whole world who's right - and decide who will be left! [[Eidos Interactive]] ''Hitman: Codename 47'' ([[United States]]) 2000-12-25.</ref> 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 [[List of Square Enix Hitman characters#Series 48 clones|Mr. 48s]], and snaps Ort-Meyer's neck.

Ultimately Ort-Meyer managed to perfect the process enough to produce an assembly line of genetically augmented clones, including [[List of Square Enix Hitman characters#Mr. 17|Mr. 17]], the antagonist of the second Hitman video game. 47 belonged to Ort-Meyer's fourth series of clones, possessing a [[Aneuploidy|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.