Alternative Character Interpretation in Hitman.
General
- Is Diana Burnwood a Well-Intentioned Extremist performing vigilante justice for the downtrodden due to her Dark and Troubled Past? A Punch-Clock Villain who simply wants a paycheck? A Sadist who enjoys guiding 47 through his murders? Or a mixture of the three?
Hitman (2016)
- Is Dalia Margolis’ offer to give the NOC List of MI6 agents working in the Middle East to Sheikh Al-Ghazali and Tren Po truly motivated by her simply wanting to see her merchandise put to good use? Or is it potentially an act of revenge against her father for disowning her for becoming a model?
- Is Silvio Caruso a Well-Intentioned Extremist intending to making the world a better place with his virus? Or a lunatic out to use it to destroy his old enemies? Or could he merely be a man who doesn't understand what his virus can truly do? He's frustrated that Ether plans to weaponize the virus, seeing it as a tool for the weak, yet intended to kill his childhood bullies despite them having become better people.
- Is Francesca De Santis a Properly Paranoid career focused woman trying to keep herself and her company safe? Or a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing actively spying on an evidently broken man?
- Is Jordan Cross remorseful over Hannah's death? Is he more upset that he needed his father's power to save him? Is he a Psychopathic Manchild who doesn't think the rules apply to him? All of the above?
- And what of his father, Thomas Cross? The little details we hear about him imply that he is cold, manipulative and immoral, and Jordan claims he's a control freak, but he's not exactly unbiased and Thomas genuinely seems to care about his son considering he ordered an extremely-specific cake for him and went to his funeral despite being a serial recluse. Ken Morgan believes that Thomas truly does love his son, but just has an odd way of showing it. In a conversation with his bodyguard, Morgan reveals that when he met with Thomas Cross after Jordan was indicted for Hannah's murder (one of the only two times he had personally met Cross face to face), Thomas looked genuinely panicked and told Morgan to make the charges go away "at any costs."
- Was Jordan’s desire to eventually ditch The Class to start his own solo career his plan from the very beginning of the band’s career? Or did he once genuinely consider Heidi and Quentin his friends, but grew more distant from them as a result of his accidental murder of Hannah Highmoore (and the stress that followed), as well as Dexy Barat’s growing influence? Or did his growing fame and ego, combined with his desire to establish his own independent identity from his father, slowly erode any positive attributes he may have once had and turn him into a complete Control Freak unwilling to share the spotlight with anyone?
- Was Heidi's catty personality (in turn, another possible reason to why Jordan wanted to go solo) in the mission a retort to Jordan's controlling personality, her suspecting Jordan of killing Hannah or was she always this much of a Jerkass to him?
- Was Jordan's disdain of his father (and Jordan's desire to cast his own shadow) due to his involvement in Providence? Aside from his sophomore album being named after the organization, when lured using the recording of Hannah's murder, he warns 47 that his father will send "very dangerous" people out to get him.
- Is Sean Rose simply just a sociopathic terrorist without a cause looking for a morally justifiable reason to blow things up? Or is he a deeply troubled man, who genuinely does want to try to make the world a better place, but, as a result of his upbringing and early life, is incapable of living a normal life and seeing just how horrific his actions are? Or is he both?
- Could Rose's OCD symptoms surfacing be due to lingering guilt over the Auckland bombing?
- In his phone call with Alma Reynard, Rose grumbles about Parvati sapping his authority and that he'll have to get rid of her. Did he mean that he'll have her reassigned away from the compound or does he mean that he will, either with or without the Shadow Client's permission, have her killed?
- In the same phone call, Rose mentions Graves "has potential" and that he wishes she could get past her "pedestrian sense of morality". This is quite different from his usual hostile behaviour towards her. Could Rose be developing feelings for the young Englishwoman, and acts aloof to her to cover them up?
- Rose's conflicts with Graves and Parvati, Reynard cheating on him with Orson Mills and Rose seemingly being a Disappeared Dad to Mercedes, could imply he has an aversion to women, or at least strong women.
- Is Penelope Graves’ growing sympathy towards Sean Rose and admitted admiration of his talents and dedication to his cause in her profile note recordings, a sign that she is starting to grow fond of him, her attempting to justify working with him to herself, or something else entirely?
- Additionally, is Rose right when he theorises that the only reason Graves was never able to track him down was because she didn’t want to? If so, could she have grown to sympathise with him, and potentially consider his dedication and methods more preferable and impactful compared to Interpol’s corruption, long before she defected and joined the militia? Given that Rose himself implies that him and Penelope aren't that different in a phone call to Alma Reynard, could she have potentially come to emphasise with him after learning of his past and studying the way he sees the world?
- How immoral is Graves? While her taking a stand against Interpol's corruption is noble, her joining a group of terrorists rather than resigning or whistleblowing is less so. Was the corruption at Interpol so horrendous (such as murder-for-hire or Human Trafficking) that the Shadow Client was the lesser evil, or was it something less terrible like bribery? If so, was Graves really concerned about morals and her ethics and ideals or was she outraged that Interpol shut down her investigation and betrayed them in revenge?
- Her official bio implies it was the former, while her dialogue while observing the plans for future militia operations and one of her conversations with Sean Rose give the impression that she had become aware of Providence's existence after being given information uncovered by the Shadow Client. While throwing her lot in with a group of terrorists might have been unwise and immoral, it's hard to completely fault Graves if she truly is acting against Providence, whose clearly corrupt actions we are made privy to in this game and its sequel.
- During The Audition opportunity, where 47 impersonates a militia member impersonating an Interpol agent and offers Graves a job to serve as a triple agent, Graves, rather than calling for her guards as she threatened, dismisses them and takes her time to talk to herself at the slurry pit. Was she actually considering betraying the militia to Interpol? If so, was it out of fear 47!Mole will kill her or a genuine near Heel–Face Turn? After all, she spent her time not deliberating on the morality on the militia and Interpol but rather monologuing on how she got to the militia camp. If she found it plausible that Interpol could have tracked her down, would she have betrayed the militia? If so, would she have switched sides or would she have secretly remained loyal to the Shadow Client and/or his ideals once she accepted the chance to rejoin Interpol?
- Is Ezra Berg a moderately moral and altruistic man who shares the title of Token Good Teammate with Penelope Graves, and whose chemical torture techniques are far less cruel than his coworkers methods? Or is he just as much of a self-righteous monster as Sean Rose, looking for any morally justifiable reason to experiment on people and learn more about the human mind? The fact that Mossad found his methods to be a bit too much for them, and the implication that he offered his services to whoever was paying once he left the organization to allegedly travel the world, only muddles things.
- Unlike the rest of the Colorado targets, who either attempt to justify their actions or cuss out 47, if held at gunpoint, Ezra Berg offers to help 47 with his mission. Is this a sign that he’s not truly loyal to the militia? Is he merely trying to negotiate with 47 to spare his life and convince him to let his guard down so he can make a run for it? Or, alternatively, does Berg see this as a potential opportunity to get rid of militia members he doesn’t trust (specifically Sean Rose with whom he has a bitter relationship and heavy dislike for)?
- Is Dino Bosco purely an egotistical, narcissistic Hate Sink? Or is he a truly passionate actor whose only real desire is to make his movies masterpieces, but is hindered by his perfectionism and drug and alcohol problems?
- Throughout Hokkaido, Diana repeatedly shows regret over having to assassinate Erich Soders. It could be that she still holds respect and gratitude for him saving her as a child and recruiting her into the ICA, possibly even seeing him as a father figure. The Constant bringing him up in the ensuing cutscene could be him attempting to push her buttons.
Hitman 2
- It's mentioned in a news report that Heidi Santoro, the former bandmate of previous target Jordan Cross and current solo act, condemned Monumental Records releasing a new Jordan Cross album as a "shameless cashgrab". Was she upset about the competition she will be facing, or was she genuinely appalled that the studio is making money off her dead friend?
- To what extent has the Maelstrom recovered from his mental breakdown? While he seems even-tempered and friendly, his long, vague speeches, his arrogant ranting should he be held at gunpoint and him putting out hits on Shah and Rangan show that there is still a dark side to him.
- Does Janus recognize Agent 47? If so, does this mean he's accepted his imminent death? Is he being Defiant to the End? Or is Janus simply speaking about something that he's unconsciously aware of, possibly even senile?
- Is Ljudmila Vetrova a Tragic Villain who is betraying Tyson Williams over his abuse of her? Or had she planned to betray him from the start?
Hitman 3
- Did Marcus Stuyvesant reunite with his daughter just to see her one last time or mainly to try and convince her to join Providence?
- How much does Alexa Carlisle really love her family? While she does return to Dartmoor presumably to make her goodbyes, at no point does she attempt to make amends with her children for her neglect and abuse or tell them that she loves them or how proud she is of them. In fact, the only ones she speaks to kindly are Zachary and Rebecca.
- Did Carlisle give 47 the file on Edwards in hopes that he would spare her, in hopes that he would spare her family or just so that Edwards will get what's coming to him?
- Does Emma Carlisle love Gregory, or does she only see him as a pawn to get closer to Alexa and Zachary? She expresses frustration with his tabloid reading and lax attitude, but cares enough about her son Patrick to worry about what he'll inherit.
- Does Jiao order a retreat upon the deaths of five agents out of care for her agents' lives or so that she would face less punishment from her bosses for her failures? An ICA guard in "End of an Era" says that three of the analysts were fired over the mission's failure, but Jiao's fate is left ambiguous.
- If 47 takes down all 11 ICA agents in Berlin, Jiao will congratulate him for a job "Expertly fucking done". Was she saying it in genuine awe, with carefully-contained rage or a strange mixture?
- Is Xu Junli an Affably Evil scientist who genuinely believes that the work that she does is for the greater good? Or a Faux Affably Evil madwoman who knows perfectly well how brutal Hush's experiments are and is happy to manipulate the subjects into participating?
- How much does Don Yates believe Diana is a traitorous mole, and how much is him just wanting to take revenge for Morgan and to consolidate his own power? He feels betrayed at Edwards' trust in Diana, but is willing to go against him by killing Vidal and Diana so he could become Constant.
- Does Tamara Vidal defend Diana due to putting Honor Before Reason to serve Edwards, or did she grow to genuinely like Diana and wanted to save her from Yates?
- After capturing him, the Constant tells 47 that Diana wanted 47 dead. Assuming the Constant wasn't lying, was Diana pulling Reverse Psychology on him, knowing the Constant doesn't want 47 dead, or did she actually intend for 47 to be killed?
- When hallucinating all his past targets under the serum, was 47 genuinely feeling remorseful over having killed them, or was he mostly fuming and mourning over Diana's betrayal being created as a killing tool? How much of the toxins were actually influenced by his fears?
- Should 47 choose to inject the memory serum into the Constant, is this 47 delivering Laser-Guided Karma to the Constant for planning to erase his memories or was it a show of mercy to a man he considered a Worthy Opponent?
- If Agent 47 injects himself with it, is it is because he realizes that he's utterly wasted his freedom being exactly the sort of killer Providence wanted him to be, guilt for all the people he's murdered, or just realizing that he would be happier without free will?
