Elusive Targets
These are targets that only last for a certain amount of real-world time before they disappear. 47 must fulfill the contract without dying in the mission itself; if he does, the mission is considered to be a failure and there is no restarting. You are free to restart in the mission, so long as you haven't completed any of the objectives, gotten killed, or have killed the targets. You also cannot save during an Elusive Target mission, making players be more wary of how they approach their target. Some of these targets were re-run in Hitman 3. In orderSee Hitman (2016)'s Elusive Targets for the Legacy Elusive TargetsIn order.
Hitman 3 would later reuse these targets as part of Elusive Target Arcade, which mixes these targets up with others from earlier and later in the series.
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In General
- Lighter and Softer: While The Censor is a firm exception, these targets seem to be more comedic and less despicable than previous elusive targets, who consisted of torturers, dictators, and the occasional Serial Killer.
- Loose Canon: Essentially what the canonicity of the targets boils down to; disconnected from the main story arc, but not entirely
Exiled from Continuity either. Some can easily be interpreted as taking place on a different day as main story events never interfere with the Elusive Target (The Undying/Returns, The Revolutionary, The Politician, and The Serial Killer don't reference the events around them), but some are explicitly part of the original story (The Undying/Returns is explicitly being held with the aid of Robert Knox). Unlike in (2016), none of them show up in Hitman 3's ICA sanctioned target files, despite Mark Faba being mentioned in Mendoza. And the rest are impossible to have happened due to where they're based (The Appraiser and The Stowaway take place on the Isle of Sgàil, a secret island Diana had only heard "whispers of" prior to this game) - Needle in a Stack of Needles: The targets do not show up on Instinct, and some can look pretty generic-looking and thus, blend into a crowd more. Part of the gameplay of an Elusive Target is to find them, and think on the fly as to how to eliminate them. Enforced with targets like "The Revolutionary", who will change his recording station with every restart.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Downplayed. They don't all have voice lines for when you bump into them, drop something in front of them, or if you do other specific weird interactions or odd things in front of them, sometimes falling back to a generic voice. It should be noted that this is target-dependant, as the voice actors are often shared between targets and NPC's anyway (Sean Bean actually recorded all of this "weird dialogue" to avoid this problem).
- Temporary Online Content: As mentioned in the blurb above, they are only around for a limited window of time. Once they're gone, that's it. If you die in the level, you cannot restart. And if you simply miss it, you'll have to wait for anything up to a year for them to even have a chance of returning, even if it means waiting for their return in Hitman 3 (And this is made more awkward with "The Undying" as that has an actual celebrity; Sean Bean, portraying a character, which no doubt will cause legal issues).
The Undying & The Undying Returns (Mark Faba)
Mark Faba
"You could say that spectacle is part of my signature."
The Undying...Returns.
Voiced By: Sean Bean
A former MI5 agent turned freelance assassin with a reputation for faking his own death at the hands of several ICA Agents.
You can view his reveal trailer here
, his first briefing here. You can view his second briefing over here.
- Actor Allusion: The mission briefings subtly reference several works that Sean Bean has been in and Mark Faba is an Expy of one of his previous roles (Alec Trevelyan comes to mind).
- Affably Evil: Faba is rather polite to people around him despite being a ruthless hitman.
- Ambiguous Situation: How he keeps coming back after being killed more than two dozen confirmed times is never explained. In a series where cloning technology is an integral part of the storyline, it could be as simple as there actually being multiple clones of Faba as a Mythology Gag. The fact that his deaths were listed as confirmed, as well as his in-game dialogue describing the things he’s survived, implies a combination of Super-Toughness and the use of body doubles.
- Arch-Enemy: Seems to pose as this for 47, at least for Elusive Targets.
- Assassin Outclassin': Murders his therapist at the end of his therapy session, who was implied to have been an ICA assassin planted to kill him and then taunts 47, who’s watching on CCTV, that they'll have to try better than that. 47 himself does this to him in his elusive target mission.
- Back from the Dead: Mark Faba was both the first Elusive Target to be released into Hitman 2, as well as the fifth, ainitially in time the Miami pack release. He keeps coming back from the dead, no matter who tries. The ICA, various groups, even Agent 47 can't keep him dead for long. Diana does point this out when a similar briefing is done for his second outing and Diana just seems exasperated throughout.
- Badass Normal: He's a highly successful assassin without needing to be a clone Super-Soldier like 47, 17, Subject 6, or Mark Parchezzi III.
- Blinded by the Light: Starting the hit on him has you unlock a toy robot, an impromptu flashbang that's legal to carry in any disguise, which made a cameo appearance as an Imagine Spot in the reveal trailer.
- The Bus Came Back: He holds the distinction of being the first ever celebrity-based Elusive Target to return in a later game, and is set to return on March 22nd, 2024 as part of the "Season of Undying", and will also feature in an Elusive Target Arcade contract; The Oroborus, that means you can repeatedly kill him forever.
- Canon Character All Along: Mark Faba is the only Elusive Target originating from Hitman 2 to be later mentioned in Hitman 3, and he's one of the few Elusive Targets overall to be referred to with in-game dialog outside of the Elusive Target mission. Faba shares this trait with 2016's Sergei Larin, Nne Obara, and Richard Ekwenski (the latter two know each other incidentally).
- Casting Gag: The Trope Codifier of the Chronically Killed Actor is cast as a former British spy known for escaping death. Sean Bean's involvement in Hitman 2 is also a casting gag in and of itself, as the voice and appearance of the Big Bad of this and the previous game, the Shadow Client, has often been compared to that of Bean himself (a comparison reinforced by what could be interpreted as a number of GoldenEye references in Hitman 2's main plot).
- Complexity Addiction: What you see of his plans for assassinations are absurdly, needlessly complex. Faba himself refers to it as "spectacle" when one of the scientists complains.
- Chair Reveal: If you meet up with Dave Ready and Mark Faba in the meeting room, as soon as you enter, Faba will spin around on his chair to greet you.
- Cutting Off the Branches: The return of Mark Faba in The Undying Returns has him wear an eyepatch, implying his eye was gouged out. One of the methods of killing him is stabbing him in the eye with a pen (see Eye Scream).
- Dramatic Irony: He and 47 can have a hypothetical discussion about the possible ways 47 could kill him. To make this even more ironic, Mark can be killed in all these ways.
- Evil Counterpart: Well, he's evil, but not really any eviler than 47. Nonetheless, he's a freelance assassin who favors many of the same methods as 47, such as blending into a crowd, using distractions and deception and using mundane objects as deadly weapons. He even favors a nice suit and leather gloves, though he doesn't wear a tie. You can even get his suit as a reward for completing 12 Elusive Targets.
- Eye Scream: One of the weapons Faba stops to observe in the first mission is an explosive pen. Guess how this can end for him. Oddly enough, this appears to be the canonical way he gets "killed" when he was first released as an Elusive Target, as his second release has him wear an eyepatch to cover his left eye.
- Failed a Spot Check: If he asks a disguised 47 about how he'd go about killing him, the fact that 47 gives very detailed and specific answers never really raises any personal alarm bells. Doubly so, considering this is his second outing to Miami and the second time 47 has had to take him out, so you'd think he'd be wary of bald people disguised as assassins, but apparently not.
- Fallen Hero: Used to be with MI-5 prior to being disgraced by his agency.
- Here We Go Again!: He successfully comes Back from the Dead and becomes the game's fifth Elusive Target, as well as the very first one the game had. Diana does point out that she's repeating herself twice in the briefing, though the briefing itself remains largely the same (His eyepatch is included in the visuals of Faba this time around and Diana has re-recorded her entire briefing).
- Improbable Weapon User:
- He's having the weapons developers at Kronstadt build him a pen that can be used as an explosive device, but is also sharp enough to kill a man. This is how he was "killed" by 47 the first time around.
- During his therapy session he muses about using these, including earbuds as an impromptu fiber wire, a toy robot filled with flash filament, and a fountain pen as a homemade explosive. He's also having the weapons developers at Kronstadt build him a pen that can be used as either a stabbing weapon or an explosive device. It's your reward for playing the hit.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Appropriately enough, he looks like Sean Bean, his actor, though is second outing adds an eyepatch (see above) attached to his right eye.
- Innocently Insensitive: He triggers 47's Berserk Button in one of their interactions by insulting all of 47's killing methods, especially the fiber wire that 47 is (in)famous for using. Of course, Faba had no way of knowing exactly who he was talking to.
- It's Personal: The ICA is livid at the fact they've never been able to kill him and even when 47 was sent to do the job to make sure he stays dead, he still comes back. This is lampshaded by Diana in the second briefing:Diana: 47, I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but please, make sure he doesn't come back... again.
- Made of Iron: He's come back from a dozen confirmed ICA assassinations. If you get into a conversation with him in the conference room, it's implied that he's not just a sleight-of-hand artist and actually has survived things like being drowned or thrown off a building. Averted in-game; he's no tougher than any other target and can be taken out in a variety of ways. Then played straight in that, regardless of how you killed him, he apparently survived and came back!
- Meaningful Name: Faba (or Fava) is Latin for bean, making his name essentially Mark Bean, which is Sean's birth name.
- Meta Guy: Very much so:
- Getting into a meeting with Faba has him ask you about three hypothetical ways to kill him (pushed off a ledge; poisoned, then drowned in a toilet; and a knife to the head) and claims to have survived two of the three suggested by 47.
- He seems to be similar to more violent players in the sense that he's said to dispatch his targets in the most spectacular, brutal and obvious ways possible, as opposed to the canonical portrayal of 47 who’s as quiet as possible.
- If you follow him around and listen to his conversations, his plan to assassinate the man he's being hired to kill comes off like a parody of the more over-the-top assassination methods in the Hitman series, apparently involving an exploding pen, a fake plywood book store and a remote-controlled elevator.
- Mythology Gag: While on a phonecall about setting up his hit, he mentions that "They fell for the Explosive Fire Extinguisher a few years ago" in response to the caller. This is a reference to the previous game, which was criticized by players for making the Fire Extinguishers being a very easy way to off someone, as they counted as an Accident Kill, all levels have them and they're not illegal to carry around with you on the normal difficulty. Hitman 2 did fix this, making them non-lethal.
- New Work, Recycled Graphics: Downplayed. The briefing video in his rerun is close to identical, only accounting for Faba's eyepatch, Diana's exasperated tone, and the entire mission being a repeat of the original.
- Nom de Guerre: "The Undying" is his codename, as well as what the ICA calls him, as they can't quite get rid of him.
- Noodle Implements: Faba's plan to assassinate Zhukov involves an explosive pen, aiding a second assassin, a pop-up bookstore, pyrotechnics and a remote-controlled elevator.
- The Pen Is Mightier: One of his upcoming schemes requires scientists to develop an exploding pen "strong enough to vaporize a man's torso." The explosives haven't been perfected to that level but the pen is strong enough to stab a man to death. This is how he was "killed" during the first time the ICA asks 47 to take him down.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Delivers one to his therapist at the end of his session, as befitting a former Bond villain.Mark: I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have. It's been good to... unload. [shoots "therapist"]
- Pride Before a Fall: He has not only notified the ICA of the exact location he would be at in advance, but also outright ignores warning signs of anyone being a potential assassin while there. Naturally, this is what gets him "killed". To be fair, he's survived a dozen "confirmed" assassinations from ICA alone, so he has reason to underestimate the thirteenth ICA assassin sent to kill him.
- Recurring Boss Template: "The Undying Returns" is literally the same as it was in "The Undying", minus one of Faba's eyes being gouged out.
- Refuge in Audacity: After being killed the first time in the first Elusive Target mission, he comes Back from the Dead and continues on working on his hit, like nothing ever happened. He also ignores warning signs of anyone being a potential assassin while there.
- Shout-Out: Mark Faba's backstory and character of being a former disgraced MI-5 agent is quite similar to Alec Trevelyan. Considering that Sean Bean is voicing him, it's very intentional.
- Shrouded in Myth: Refers to 47 as "him" in a phone call, questioning if he's even real and if he is, he'd very much like to meet him. In fact, he says he'd like to be killed by "the best in the business".
- Smug Snake: He's mocking the ICA by telling them exactly where he's going to be. This ultimately costs him his life.
- He's also extremely boastful about his achievements, bragging about his success and grandiose way of doing things.
- Too Dumb to Live: It's not a good idea to tell an international assassination group your whereabouts when you're already one of their targets for evading a previous hit, let alone twelve previous attempts.
- Unexplained Recovery: Played for laughs in the fact that he's somehow avoided death at the hands of various groups at least 25 times, including over a dozen ICA hits, seemingly through a combination of Faking the Dead and being Made of Iron. This even comes up in a gameplay sense, as he's the target in two separate Elusive Target contracts. You can do them both, even if you "eliminated" him previously.
- Uncertain Doom: Whether the second time truly put him down for good or not is unknown.
- Unstoppable Force Meets Immovable Object: Provides a variation of the trope when compared with Agent 47. In this case, it’s the assassin who can kill anyone meets the target who can’t be killed. Who wins? Technically, they both do.
- Why Won't You Die?: The ICA's reaction to him every single time one of their agents report his death, only for him to somehow show up on their radar.
- Worthy Opponent: Considers 47 to be one. He makes the comment that it’s inevitable for the ICA to send him and he wants them to, because of the following logic:Mark: If I'm gonna go, I want it to be at the hands of the best in the business.
- This is reflected by how if you corner him with a pistol, instead of begging, he'll just say "well played".
The Revolutionary (Vicente Murillo)
Vicente Murillo
"We shall show this lost continent how blinded they are by Socialism."
Voiced By: Ash Rizi
A Bolivian fascist militia leader prominent during The '80s, who has returned to Colombia to restart his revolution.
You can view his briefing here
- The Alcoholic: His recording studios are filled with bottles of wine and beer, and he drinks some of Don Delgado's wine after every broadcast.
- Born in the Wrong Century: He acts like the Cold War never ended, believing that communism is still a major threat to society. He doesn't seem to care for South America favoring economic democracy over fascist dictatorships, and laments the possibility of having to use "socialist media" to garner support.
- Been There, Shaped History: He was involved in Operation Condor, worked with Klaus "Barbie" Altman and Delle Chiaie, and helped bring Luis García Meza to power in the 1980 Bolivian coup d'état.
- Berserk Button: Never ever question his Multiple-Choice Past. When his cameraman does so, Murillo immediately threatens to make his family disappear for his lack of respect.
- Bilingual Bonus: In the mission briefing, he is shown shooting a propaganda video with the caption "Haz Que Colombia Sea Grande Otra Vez": "Make Colombia Great Again".
- Developer's Foresight: Standing in front of the camera Vicente is using gets you the same "You have been spotted by a security camera" message regular security cameras use. You can still destroy THE LIVE BROADCAST by destroying the security footage.
- Evil Cripple: An evil fascist who wears an eye-patch.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wears one over his right eye.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has some pretty jagged scars near his mouth.
- In-Universe Factoid Failure: Believes that cupcakes are a Scandinavian invention, despite them originating in the United States.
- Large Ham: He's loud and extremely bombastic, shouting a large portion of his dialogue.
- Laughably Evil: He's so bombastic and cartoonish that it's impossible to take him seriously. Even the people watching Murillo's broadcasts think he's a total joke.
- Meaningful Name: His name is a combination of that of two leading members of a Colombian right-wing, narco-trafficking paramilitary group, Vicente Castaño and Diego Murillo.
- Multiple-Choice Past: The mission briefing describes him as a pathological liar with various contrasting claims about his childhood and upbringing. During the mission itself, he first mentions a promise he gave his mother as a child, only to talk about how he never met his parents a few sentences later.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: Despite being treated as a total joke by almost everyone, he is still an aspiring dictator who could cause immeasurable harm if he wasn't killed.
- Obviously Evil: His eyepatch, scars and skull emblem on his hat don't exactly make him seem like the most trustworthy of people. That's probably because he isn't.
- Old Shame: An in-universe example; the client for this mission (implied to be an agent from a western intelligence service) is a former supporter and financier of Murillo's while he was active during the '80s. They now regard having once backed a fascist militia as a mistake and do not want that fact getting out.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He despises Scandinavians, whom he sees as filthy vikings and communists and shows disdain for South American countries taking on the Nordic model.
- Red Scare: Claims in his propaganda broadcast that he's trying to save Colombia and South America from the "terrible disease" of communism. Nobody takes takes him seriously because of this as communism isn't nearly as big a deal as it was in the '80s, so he's had to broaden his definition to include anything even remotely liberal.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Since he's still using the same anti-communist rhetoric that made him prominent in the The '80s during the Cold War, his broadcasts fail to get any support from the locals as communism isn't seen as a pervasive societal and ideological threat in the modern day.
The Appraiser (Miranda Jamison)
Miranda Jamison
"Hm, thematically it does resemble the early works of Unkei. Clearly isn't his work, but...well, I suppose it is if we say it is. That would make it much more collectable."
Voiced By: Rebecca Crankshaw
An appraiser who’s in charge of The Ark Society's various purchases and the largest art price fixing ring in the world.
You can view her briefing here
- Call-Back: To Paris in the briefing. Apparently various auctions are held on the top floor regularly, as that's where the IAGO Auction took place back in Hitman 2016, which includes an art auction Miranda has attended.
- Death from Above: An easy way to kill her is to drop a chandelier on her head while she's pacing around the art gallery.
- Driven to Suicide: Not herself, but three artists have killed themselves after being ruined by her auctions.
- Evil Brit: A greedy Englishwoman who has ruined the lives of several artists due to her price-fixing.
- Fetch Quest: Along with killing her, it's also necessary to take her journal that chronicles her misdeeds. Failing to obtain this journal will cause you to fail the mission.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: She wears glasses and has no concern for the well-being of people she screws over by fixing prices.
- Fur and Loathing: She's dressed in a white mink coat that makes her stand out in comparison to everyone else in the level. She's also an art thief who has driven people to suicide due to fixing the prices of their artwork.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: She is a heavily smoker and an utterly deplorable woman. Her smoking can be used to hasten her demise.
- Hate Sink: She has no love for her craft, being concerned more with making a profit than the welfare of the artists whose work she appraises. This shows by her callousness to everyone around her and her complete ambivalence to those whose lives she tears apart.
- Karmic Death: The hit on her is from the owner of a painting she had stolen.
- Kill It with Fire: She can be set on fire by using an oil drum she smokes by as a flammable object to bring about her death.
- Lack of Empathy: She has little care for the struggling artists who get short changed due to her manipulating the prices of their artwork. To her, all that matters is making a quick profit, even if it's at the expense of others.
- Light Is Not Good: Her fur coat is white in a direct contrast to her black heart.
- May–December Romance: Her bio states that she married her 62-year old mentor at the age of 28, eventually taking his place after his death 8 years later.
- Properly Paranoid: Randall Pryce, the owner of the painting she stole, is the one who placed the hit on her. Miranda occasionally checks up on a guard to make sure Randall hasn't arrived at the gathering.
- Rich Bitch: To the extent of being a head of a price fixing ring and selling off a stolen piece of artwork to Blake Nathaniel, just to spite the original artist.
- Social Climber: This is how she became such a recognized art appraiser. She plans to get close to Blake Nathaniel to get his associates as clients too.
- Too Dumb to Live: Smokes next to an oil drum. All it takes is a bullet or a wrench for 47 to Make It Look Like an Accident.
The Politician (Dame Barbara Elizabeth Keating)
Dame Barbara Elizabeth Keating
"Besides, worse comes to worst, I know how to clean up after myself, and I know how to clean up after others."
Voiced By: Rebecca Crankshaw
A New Zealand tycoon and the former Minister of Trade and Foreign Affairs, who was forced to resign after a charity she represented was found to be funneling charity donations into her offshore accounts. The blame was then put on Jacqueline Vicar, the head of the charity, and the client wants retribution for her death. She’s currently staying in a beach mansion in Hawkes Bay, preparing for a comeback PR tour.
You can view her briefing here
- Ambiguous Time Period: The level uses a reskinned version of the house from "Nightcall", just with some rearranged furniture (the projector is missing alongside the hostage bodies, kidnapping van and kerosene), less guards, and some different lighting. Of note is that this is the only Elusive Target mission where the main targets and specialized guards of the location are not present or alluded to in background dialogue (Alma Reynard, Orson, Gerard, and a few of the guards outside digging the trench), suggesting this is either one of the earliest missions in the trilogy (like with "A House Built on Sand", which also has a similar predicament), it simply represents a separate home further up the same beach, or it was purchased by Barbara after the events of "Nightcall". That is, if this mission is even canon at all. Judging by the tabloid title seen in the briefing, the mission takes place sometime after the 11th of December, 2018.
- Body Double: She has one serving as a non-target for her own protection.
- Easter Egg: The laptop Barbara reads from has the script of her upcoming campaign and eulogy... and by script, we mean the transcript of what she says as a character, complete with the pauses and contemplative thoughts that you hear in the game.
- Evil Brit: While a New Zealand politician, she spent her childhood in an English home and is flagrantly corrupt, given she was more than willing to throw Jacqueline Vicar under the bus.
- Fake Charity: Played with. She's the only one in the organization to have been involved in the scamming of Jacqueline Vicar; the charity simply deposited their funds to her instead of the charity.
- Figure It Out Yourself: You have to work out which is the body double and which is Barbara and only kill Barbara. Barbara is the one who types on a computer and occasionally goes to the balcony for a smoke break, whereas the body double spends most of her time downstairs reciting her notes.
- Frame-Up: To save herself, she used contacts in the tabloids to shift blame onto her charity's director; Jacqueline Vicar.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: While her briefing video shows that Vicar poisoned herself in her office, her description implies that her death was a case of Vehicular Sabotage.
- Gold Digger: She married a much older man for his wealth and connections.
- Grand Dame: Natch. Her name is one of the longest in the series because of her status.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Barbara smokes next to a patio heater after taking a phone call. One wrench and a loose screw is all it takes for Barbara to go up in smoke.
- Never Suicide: Implied to have had a hand in the charity director's murder, which seemed like a suicide given the timing.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Somewhat resembles Judith Collins, a real-life New Zealand politician.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted with her title of "The Politician", which was also given to Marco Abiatti.
- Overly Long Name: Downplayed. However, it's noteworthy that she has the longest name of any target in 2016, 2 or 3, and is only beaten out by Sheikh Mohammad Bin Faisal Al-Khalifa for any target in the Hitman games. Her target image shortens her name to Barbara E. Keating.
- The Perfectionist: Both she and her body double spend their time revising their notes meticulously.
- Properly Paranoid: Most politicians would not bother having a bodyguard (especially in a country like New Zealand where politicians are seldom victims of violent crimes,) though this turns out to be a wise decision as it complicates 47's plan to assassinate her. Her paranoia doesn't save her in the end.
- Purple Is Powerful: She seems to be going for this with her purple suit, highlighting her impressive status.
- Recurring Boss Template: Pretty much identical in premise to the "The Twin" Elusive Target from 2016, as well as The Maelstrom in Hitman 2's "Chasing a Ghost", in which you had to work out the correct target from a pool of people, and then kill the right person. However, unlike with The Twins, there is no stipulation that you need to only kill Keating to complete the contract; you can knock out and/or kill her Body Double with impunity.
- Rich Bitch: Siphoned homeless relief funds into her own account and used her media connections to blame it on the director, whom she may have murdered.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Has connections within the media industry that she uses to save her image from damage, and blame the head of the charity instead; Jacqueline Vicar.
The Deceivers - The Guru (Richard J. Magee) & The Congressman (Anthony L. Troutt)
Richard J. Magee & Anthony L. Troutt
The Deceivers.
Voiced By: Timothy Watson (Anthony L. Troutt, Richard J. Magee)
For character tropes applying to both characters that appear both here and in the Hitman 2016 game, which this game retcons to be the same contract, see Hitman (2016).
- Adaptational Villainy: Both of them are far worse than their original appearance.
- In his first appearance, Anthony Troutt was responsible for multiple friendly fire incidents which are ambiguous if they were deliberate or not. Now, he makes sure his political opponents are Driven to Suicide by allowing Richard Magee to rob them blind.
- Richard Magee is already a total Hate Sink in his original appearance, but his sole motivation was previously greed. Now, he knows his actions will drive these people to suicide due to how vunerable they are, making him an odd variation of a Serial Killer.
- Canon Discontinuity: Making two targets be in the same place at the same time, as well as having a new briefing with revised intel on the two targets counts as this. This Legacy Elusive Target Contract retcons the two target's own separate contracts from the 2016 game to not have happened as originally released. Speaking of which...
- Corrupt Politician: Troutt's willing to work with a con artist in order to move an election in his favor. He also uses dubious means to hide war crimes he has committed in the past.
- Retcon: One of the retcons was to a contract stipulation. Magee's victim; Keith Keeble, as well as his lawyer could not be harmed by 47 in any way, or the contract was deemed null and void. This has been removed this time around.
- Evil Old Folks: They're both aged and incredibly evil men.
- Hate Sink: With the revelations about Troutt, he now has nothing remotely sympathetic about him, now that he's confirmed to be a detestable person. Of course, Magee is already this, though these new additions to his character make him even more unlikable than before.
- It's Personal: When merged with Troutt, Magee's contract is by the father of one of Magee's clients who was driven to suicide by both of them, rather than from Keith Keeble's family.
- Serial Killer: In the Retcon, Magee helps Troutt by allowing his political opponents to be Driven to Suicide. He obviously knows that these people are vulnerable enough to consider suicide and is more than happy to give them the push to kill themselves, as long as he can rob them blind beforehand.
- Villain Team-Up: They're both working together to destroy Troutt's political opponents. This is the first time two elusive targets have been merged into one.
The Serial Killer ("Joseph Gorski" A.K.A. "The Censor")
"Joseph Gorski"
"I would never judge; I only grade."
Voiced By: Derek Hagen
A serial killer who grades his victims in how much they struggle while being killed.
You can view the briefing here.
- Abusive Parents: Theorized to have been raised by a critical, authoritarian single parent, which may have served as the inspiration for his serial killing.
- Ax-Crazy: He doesn't even hide it very well. Gorski is a murderous bastard who takes a sick pleasure in torturing and murdering random people.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: He's looking for someone who can fight back and kill him. 47 is more than happy to comply, even cheating Gorski's rules by not even letting Gorski torture him in the first place.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: In one conversation with party guests, The Censor mentions that he doesn't judge his victims, he only grades them.
- Brainy Brunette: He has brown hair and is an incredibly cunning man, able to create sadistic scenarios designed to inflict the most pain on his victims.
- Call-Back: In a news report on the TV, Dr. Oscar Lafayette is mentioned giving a brief analysis on The Censor. Lafayette was the therapist that Silvio Caruso was to see in his mansion in World of Tomorrow.
- Calling Card: Leaves post-it notes with his victims' grades at their corpses.
- Darker and Edgier: He's far more evil and sadistic than previous elusive targets, being a Serial Killer who tortures people to death rather than the Laughably Evil and Lighter and Softer people before him.
- Death Seeker: It's heavily implied that Gorski won't stop killing until he finds someone able to retaliate against him, something noted in a news report in the level.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Gorski looks rather meek and unassuming, despite being a ruthless serial killer.
- The Faceless: Most of this target's challenge is identifying Gorski amongst the other people in the level.
- Much like "The Black Hat" from 2016, his face is completely blacked out during the briefing because the ICA cannot verify his identity.
- However, a picture of him is available in a computer in the Schmidt's garden, by two of Cassidy's agents that are on the hunt for the Censor.
- Fatal Flaw: Gorski is extremely talkative and gives several thinly-veiled euphemisms for murder to his guests, making it ridiculously easy to identify him amongst the party.
- Figure It Out Yourself: Like in "Chasing a Ghost", you have to identify who The Censor is, similar to how you have to identify The Maelstrom in that mission.
- Foreshadowing: He's been foreshadowed as a target for an entire year, ever since the game came out, the Whittleton Creek level has had Pam Kingsley mention The Censor in a news report about them killing a fireman and rating him a B-.
- For the Evulz: While analysts think he has his own psychological reasons, Gorski doesn't have any actual motivation for killing people; he just does it for his own entertainment.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Gorski has glasses when you encounter him.
- Go-to Alias: In this case, Joseph Gorski. Whether or not it's his real name is unclear.
- Hate Sink: Gorski is by far the most unlikable out of all the elusive targets. He's a smug, condescending, murderous and utterly psychotic bastard who kills innocent people for no reason.
- Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: Nolan Cassidy's agents are on the hunt for him, watching the neighbourhood and having pictures of him.
- Mugging the Monster: Gorski isn't the most dangerous serial killer in Whittleton Creek.
- One irate party guest tells him not to piss off random strangers, as you never know if they might be a murderous psychopath. He's rather amused by this.
- He can propose 47 to "experiment".
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: You need to identify the target by looking around for clues to his identity. However, in comparison to the likes of Wazir Kale or Jimmy Chen, The Censor only has one fixed appearance (A brown-haired man with square glasses wearing a blue shirt with a green tie with slacks).
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: 47 can put him in his place in a conversation where the two of them are watching a newscast about The Censor. In a …But He Sounds Handsome moment, The Censor brags about his exploits and 47 matter-of-factly tells him that he's seen worse. The Censor is incredulous that there could be something worse that a serial killer who's killed 15 people. 47 tells him that he has no idea what he's talking about.
- Obviously Evil: Every interaction Gorski has with other characters is him not-so-subtly telling them that he plans to murder them.
- Serial Killer: He's known as The Censor due to his M.O. of "grading" his victims based on how they struggle for their lives. His recent murders are what helped the ICA pinpoint his next hunting ground: Whittleton Creek.
- Smug Snake: Gorski is very confident about his identity being hidden and constantly brags to his future victims without them having any idea about his true intentions. Unfortunately for him, he tries this on 47.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He speaks in a low, soft tone as he alludes to making people his next victims.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Gorski isn't particularly menacing looking.
The Stowaway (Jimmy Chen)
Jimmy Chen
"Remember when they told you Jimmy Chen was finished, a nobody, a hack, a washout? Well this story will make your heads spin, people."
Voiced By: Lance C. Fuller
A journalist who reports on celebrity culture, regardless of its validity and also furiously mocking those that denied his dream of being an actor. He’s also unscrupulous in the information he gathers, with him releasing news not when it breaks, but when it’s beneficial to him.
You can view the briefing here.
- Alone with the Psycho: Chen has a habit of being the victim of this trope. Despite being cautious of anyone getting close to him, his routine consists of walking into abandoned areas where he can easily be killed off without alerting anybody else.
- Bad "Bad Acting": His behavior during his mission shows just why he never made it as an actor, as he's an utterly terrible actor. He takes steps to be disguised and below notice, but he always does something boneheaded to blow his cover; when he's disguised, he regularly walks to a corner of a room, pulls out a dictaphone and then loudly talks about his new article. If he tries chatting with the members, he's quickly found out as a fraud. He literally can't lie convincingly to save his life, but the challenge is more about following him into restricted areas and cornering him in a discreet place than finding him.
- Blatant Lies: The Briefing mentions his top three news stories, two of which; "The True Identity Of The Himmelstein Shooter" and "Rico Delgado, A Man Of The People", are very obviously false in nature (47 canonically never leaves a trace that he was ever there and Rico Delgado is an Ax-Crazy drug cartel leader who has Villain with Good Publicity status, something Chen is perpetuating).
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a skilled investigative journalist despite being terrible at blending in with his surroundings. It's easy to forget he's actually had some genuine accomplishments, even if they're buried in amongst the myriad of lies he's published.
- Classic Villain: Envy. Chen is upset that other people didn't allow him to be an actor and dedicates his life to ruining those who are more successful than him.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: While his acting is dreadful, he appears to be a good investigative journalist, managing to find incriminating evidence on a company and infiltrating the extremely secretive Ark Society, both of which would make him a profit as a reporter. Instead he sits on stories and sensationalizes them.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: If confronted by 47, he'll say that his line of work requires him to be extremely cautious around other people. This is instantly after being accused of acting out of character while disguised as a waiter, a job that normally does not warrant that level of caution. Even Chen realizes that this was a dumb thing to say.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Chen ruins other people's lives because they are better than him.
- Driven to Suicide: He leaked information about a pharmaceutical company when they were at their lowest (as well as fabricating a lot of information, to further vilify them), causing a media frenzy. This led to one confirmed suicide, the client's sister.
- Evil Is Petty: He wishes to ruin the lives of many people due to his dreams being ruined due to him not being allowed to become an actor. Keep in mind that many of these people have nothing to do with his failures.
- Green-Eyed Monster: It's implied he targets celebrities and important public figures out of envy for being unable to become a successful actor.
- Hidden Depths: While described as tabloid trash, Chen has a knack for investigative journalism, finding incriminating evidence against a pharmaceutical company and infiltrating one of the most secret societies in the world. He would have made a brilliant Intrepid Reporter if he wasn't such a lowlife opportunist.
- Hypocrite: He exposes celebrities for their immoral deeds (even if they're not even true) despite being guilty of the exact same shortcomings that they are.
- Immoral Journalist: He started publishing slanderous articles on celebrities and is the object of a contract from someone angry with him sitting on information about the danger of an anti-depressant until a wave of suicides occurred, as opposed to releasing it when he found it out.
- Intrepid Reporter: Albeit a sleazy and amoral variation.
- Irony: An aspiring actor who’s ridiculously easy to identify due to being terrible at blending in with other people.
- Kick the Dog: Leaking information about a company when they're at rock bottom is a pretty shitty thing to do. Chen also has a habit of making up slander about his victims in order to get a good story for his tabloid.
- Mugged for Disguise: Either of his disguises can be taken after killing him.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Chen bears a passing resemblance to infamous journalist Andy Ngo. Ngo has been criticized for sharing fabricated and edited information, something Chen is noted to do. They both are of Asian descent and have a habit of inserting themselves into volatile situations by going directly into the heart of what they want to cover.
- Overt Operative: Nolan Cassidy is better at blending in with people than this guy.
- Pragmatic Villainy: He collated an exposé about a dangerous/ineffective antidepressant but published it after it caused the suicide of many, so as to capitalize off of the timing.
- Properly Paranoid: If Chen is followed into a room (i.e. when 47 can usually kill/knock out someone undetected), he will make a flimsy excuse about why he's in there and promptly walk out. He also changes clothes when moving across the map, possibly to throw potential enforcers off his trail. He also gets nervous if 47 gets too close to him, something that is completely reasonable considering that 47 is the deadliest assassin in the world (and an intimidating man at the best of times).
- Strawman News Media: Chen is a parody of sensationalistic and unscrupulous news sites that care more about stirring up controversy than anything else.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Chen wears the exact same outfit as waiters (and later VIP members) of the Ark society and sounds like regular male civilians, making it more difficult to pin him down. He also has no bodyguards, meaning there's nothing to give him away but his stupidity.
- Too Dumb to Live: Even in a mask and a waiter's uniform, Chen sticks out like a sore thumb. He takes a picture of one of the objects on display for his "personal files" (something rather unusual for a member of an extremely secretive organization to do), says his name out loud for everyone nearby to hear and promptly walks off into isolated areas when told off by 47. When disguised as an architect, he attempts to ask two members about how an already-finished project is coming along, only to rebuff himself by saying his boss supposedly needs blueprints to destroy (if he was an actual architect, he'd have access to those blueprints and wouldn't need to ask people for them).
- With Catlike Tread: Chen often speaks loudly into his dictaphone and gets cautious when approached, despite initially being disguised as a waiter. He'll change into an architect's disguise if his cover is blown, which ends up raising more suspicion because of the questions he asks.
- You ALL Look Familiar: Chen's facial model is shared with another waiter in the level (who is found next to the room he changes outfits in), though Chen's hairstyle is slightly different.
