History Headscratchers / Hitman2016

* If you leak evidence that Soders killed the chief surgeon's father and get him high, the man will storm to the operating room screaming that he'll kill Soders. WhatAnIdiot but that's not the point. Why aren't the other surgeons trying to stop him from killing their VIP patient?

** Foreplay, 47 even goes "but you will".
*** So you're saying Francesca was feeling horny and wanted to have the date as soon as possible?
*** Goes with the theme of giving the targets huge character flaws that explain how easy you can kill them following an opportunity. I mean Strandberg would probably have been harder to kill if he didn't let someone grab his neck in private when everyone wants him dead or Sean Rose's wouldn't leave his watch outside his bathroom if it wasn't from his disorder giving him really weird routine.
** As mentioned above, since almost no one in the game has a region-appropriate accent or language (most of the Italian residents of Sapienza don't sound Italian, for example), this is probably an element of GameplayAndStorySegregation. 47 is probably disguising his voice 'in reality', we just don't hear it in order to make it clearer that it actually is 47 speaking (since his back is turned most of the time when he talks and there are other ambient voices in the levels as well).

** Why would they? Every conversations are set to the player's language and not where they are and it wouldn't make sense either way: Zaydan studied at West Point, U.S.A, and Strandberg was doing business in Morocco for who knows how long he probably lost his accent years ago from doing business overseas and never talking to his family.
** GameplayAndStorySegregation. Almost ''no one'' in the game has a region-or-nationality-correct accent, and most of the EnemyChatter seems to be voiced by about three or four actors at most.

* Why is Graves a target? Sure, she's an Interpol traitor, but there's no evidence Interpol knew of her defection or put a hit out on her, and she's not even trusted by the militia, much less part of their leadership.
** Most likely Soders' doing. He's a Providence agent so it's clearly in his interest to wipe out the entire militia's leadership regardless of their role. It also wouldn't be hard to convince the ICA, since they're angry at having been duped by the Shadow Client and want to send a message.

That said, even if it's a full-on infiltration you're only given a superficially plausivle cover-identity and reason to be there which holds up as a way of getting you in there to begin with, but which falls apart when given any kind of close scrutiny since you're actually ''not'' supposed to be there.

** Probably because they're focusing more on stealth and that the dual pistols rarely get any use in a typical stealth playthrough.
** You can still take a Silverballer into levels as an optional piece.

** I think they have an even bigger agenda.
** Providence likely thought that staying hidden was more important than having their schemes potentially ruined by the infinitesimal probability of someone coincidentally having their agents killed for unrelated reasons and thus didn't place any agents inside the ICA. Once the Shadow Client's plan got rolling and they realized that someone was going after them and using the ICA to do so is what prompted them to turn Soders.
** The ICA has historically sought to remain neutral, and therefore avoids repeat customers. They don't like working for a specific group too often, since that makes unnecessary enemies and reduces potential clients. That's why Ort-Meyer, Sergei, and the Shadow Client all had to use proxies and pseudonyms to keep hiring them.

** With weight, toxicity resistance, what the poison was mixed with, same dose on different person takes different time.
** It could also be different lethal poisons each mission.
* It's probably just gameplay element but when you used the unlock starting position and you infiltrated the staff, why the staff reacts suspiciously? In the non infiltration it makes sense suddenly Chad is absent and some bald dude with a bar code replaces him without any heads up it's a disguise, but this is newbie Tobias Rieper who just got hired today, you're supposed to be there.
** My assumption for starting positions is that 47 starts the mission in the normal position, goes through the level Silent Assassin-style to get a disguise and get into position, and then control is given to the player. So basically normal gameplay things are done ahead of time for the player.
** Also, "Tobias Rieper" probably didn't formally apply for a job, provide a full resume and CV, submit to a official interview process, undergo a lengthy training session, sign a contract, fill in their HR and payroll paperwork, wasn't introduced to the management and the rest of the staff well in advance and so forth. When infiltrating the staff in a different starting position, you've probably been given some kind of cover-identity and reason to be there which holds up as a way of getting you in there to begin with, but which falls apart when given any kind of close scrutiny since you're actually ''not'' supposed to be there. ICA can create cover-identities and infiltrate hard-to-reach places but they can't rewrite people's memories; for all we know, at least one of the people with a dot above their heads is responsible for interviewing new staff who knows full well that she didn't interview this "Tobias Rieper" person.
* When you knock an NPC out, they will stay unconscious for the entire mission unless a guard comes along and wakes them up by yelling at them. I'm no paramedic, but shouldn't they need CPR or any resuscitation procedures?
** It's mostly psychological trauma, someone hit the back of your head with a hammer and you're still alive your body is probably in a deer in the headlights mode.
** Also, if we're being frankly honest, GameplayAndStorySegregation. Having to program in CPR and medical resucitation programs would likely take up memory space that could be devoted to something the player would find more fun to do. It's just a truncated version of events to let you get on with things.
* If 47 kills/ knocks out an NPC with glasses and takes his outfit, why does he also take the glasses? All it would do is screwing up his vision. It make sense if 47 tries to impersonate a certain person who wears glasses (like Dr. Oscar Lafayette) but not if it’s just one of many waiters, technicians or chefs.
** It is possible to wear glasses in such a way that you're subtly looking over the tops of the frames. Nudge them slightly down the bridge of your nose and tilt your head a little bit, and you're good.
** As for why, glasses can form a 'barrier' of sorts that can make it harder to recognise someone once they've taken them off (or, if you've seen them before without glasses, from recognising them with them on).

** [[OccamsRazor Messily, I imagine.]]

* So, how the hell does the head of an international intelligence-gathering network and a former spy miss that 47 isn't a Middle Eastern sheik or that Helmut Kruger, a long-time associate, has been replaced? She even sits down for a private meeting with both! Notable in that in Sapienza, Francesca De Santis picks up on the fact 47 isn't her lover as soon as he gets close. Hell, ''Viktor'' notices Helmut Kruger isn't Helmut Kruger if you get close to him.

** GameplayAndStorySegregation just like Hitman 47's MasterOfDisguise qualities make no sense given his distinct appearance but he remains mostly unrecognizable.
** Kruger is understandable in that he often wears extremely heavy makeup, which masks his features.
** It also seems to be suggested that Viktor is the "face" of Sanguine[=/=]IAGO while Dahlia masterminds things from the background; Viktor has encountered Kruger face-to-face more so recognises him, while Dahlia may have directly interacted with Kruger on a face-to-face level less frequently.
*** Yes but she had a phone conversation with Kruger, which is enough to notice that when he calls back he suddenly dropped his accent.
*** None of the locations in the game have particularly appropriate accents; one can assume that "in universe" 47 disguises his voice even if this isn't the case in actual gameplay.
** The whole point of the Helmut Kruger opportunity, let's not forget, is that he and 47 look almost exactly identical. We're asking why Dahlia doesn't notice that someone who looks almost 100% exactly like the person she's expecting isn't the person she's expecting. 47 is also wearing make-up at the time, which will further obscure any differences between them in Dahlia's eyes. As for why Viktor does recognise him, as mentioned above he deals with more of the Sanguine side of things first-hand, so has probably interacted with Helmut more.
** Dalia actually does recognise (and enter target lockdown) that 47!Helmut is not Helmut if he acts suspiciously around her (such as crouching down and bumping into her repeatedly).
** It's stated repeatedly that Helmut and 47 look ''remarkably'' similar. The guy in Situs Inversus who's getting plastic surgery to look like Helmut even accuses 47 of stealing his idea.
* Even though it's the first real mission and presumably they want to ease in the players, why isn't deleting/recovering the NOC list an actual objective? You'd think that would be a higher priority for [=MI6=] than simply killing Novikov and Margolis.
** [=MI6=] presumably had a plan to recover the list once Novikov and Margolis were eliminated, and only told the ICA what they needed to know. After all, 47 is an assassin, not a spy.
*** Most likely this, yes. The NOC list is ''extremely'' sensitive intel, so they wouldn't want it in the hands of anyone but themselves, especially not an amoral third-party like the ICA. They only hired the ICA to terminate IAGO because IAGO is based in France, which is well outside of their jurisdiction. Theft, however, is much more difficult to trace back to them, so they probably had a spy already present to swipe or destroy the NOC list once the shit hits the fan.

** Tying up loose ends, he doesn't want Providence to ask Novikov or his girl for a copy of the file they gave the Shadow Client. Since [=MI6=] knows about the ICA, most of the company's start up came from [=MI6=], they are the perfect moneyman to take care of the spies about to sell their secrets.

* Did IAGO seriously not have any backup plans in case Novikov and Margolis were assassinated? Did this powerful spy ring's entire leadership really consist of two people? No deputies or powerful agents to take over?

* Why is out of all the shadowy figures that IAGO had dirt on, the Shadow Client chose to leak the intel to [=MI6=]? Why not leak it to a mobster or corrupt businessman, who are less likely to have compunctions about ordering assassinations on civilian targets and less likely to instead kidnap the targets for interrogation? Granted, [=MI6=] did neither, but why did the Shadow Client risk it?
** Because [=MI6=] already had a vested interest in IAGO due to the NOC list, and they would have the connections and resources to hire the ICA. Your regular run of the mill mobster or businessman likely won't have that kind of cash on hand, or even know the ICA exists in the first place.
* Following on the above Headscratcher, why did [=MI6=] have Novikov and Margolis assassinated rather than kidnap and interrogate them? With all the connections and intel they have, the duo could take down tens of criminals if they turned witness to [=MI6=]. Why kill the golden goose?
** Most likely [=MI6=] concluded that both of them were too dangerous to keep alive, especially if they somehow obtained their NOC list without them knowing and were willing to sell it to the highest bidder.

** [[WildMassGuessing Alternatively, she's near-sighted and doesn't wear contacts.]]

*** None of the Frenchmen, Italians, Moroccans, Swedes or Japanese in the game have particularly appropriate accents; one can assume that "in universe" 47 disguises his voice even if this isn't the case in actual gameplay.

* Why is Silvio planning to kill Franscesca? I get he's afraid of women but it seems like an extreme reaction to someone just living in his house.

** The ends were still achieved, but it was the means by which Providence didn't agree with. Providence originally wanted Strandberg to subtly manipulate the Moroccan economy into crashing so that it looked like it would be the fault of the government. However, Strandberg's theft of the money put all of the attention on him, potentially exposing Providence, especially since they had to resort to bold mercenary attack in broad daylight to rescue him.

** Hamilton-Lowe probably [[ShamefulSourceOfKnowledge got the information from a criminal source]], like the Shadow Client. They don't want to be caught for their own criminal dealings, so they hired the ICA to deal with Zaydan's coup.

** They'd probably recorded enough takes of Jordan's vocals (and other contribiutions) to stitch into something that the rest of the band was able to finish off and release as a tribute.

* Yuki Yamazaki's blantant exposure of her tattoos is considered a cultural taboo in Japan. How are many of the GAMA staff not reacting in some revolted manner because of it?

* It doesn't seem in-character for 47- even though he was young and less skilled- to kill someone in the way he killed the Burnwood parents. He's always held himself to this ideal of no witnesses and as little collateral damage as possible, but Diana was in the bomb range and he didn't silence her afterwards, which implies she wasn't one of the targets. Either way, it seems a lot messier than he was conditioned to be.
** He might have been specifically instructed to make it loud and messy. The Burnwoods were killed after going against a company for dangerous waste disposal, so their murder could have also been orchestrated to send a message to anyone else who might have followed in their footsteps.

** Providence likely thought that staying hidden was more important than having their schemes potentially ruined by the infinitesimal probability of someone coincidentally having their agents killed for unrelated reasons and thus didn't place any agents inside the ICA. Once the Shadow Client's plan got rolling and they realized that someone was going after them and using the ICA to do so is what prompted them to [[spoiler:turn Soders]].

* It doesn't seem in-character for 47- even though he was young and less skilled- to kill someone in the way he killed the Burnwood parents. He's always held himself to this ideal of no witnesses and as little collateral damage as possible, but [[spoiler:Diana was in the bomb range and he didn't silence her afterwards, which implies she wasn't one of the targets]]. Either way, it seems a lot messier than he was conditioned to be.

* It doesn't seem in-character for 47- even though he was young and less skilled- to kill someone in the way he killed [[spoiler:the Burnwood family]]. He's always held himself to this ideal of no witnesses and as little collateral damage as possible, but [[spoiler:Diana was in the bomb range and he didn't silence her afterwards, which implies she wasn't one of the targets]]. Either way, it seems a lot messier than he was conditioned to be.

* For all his attitude about being sick of his father controlling him and wanting to be his own man, why is it when the minute things start going wrong for Jordan in the mission ([[spoiler:finding a recording of Hannah's death in his bedroom or pushing his lawyer out of a window]]), [[{{Hypocrite}} he immediately whips out his phone to beg his dad for help]]?

* Why does the screen in the operating room instruct 47 how to suck the blood out of [[spoiler:Soders]]?

* If you leak [[spoiler: evidence that Soders killed the chief surgeon's father and get him high]], the man will storm to the operating room screaming that he'll kill [[spoiler:Soders]]. WhatAnIdiot but that's not the point. Why aren't the other surgeons trying to stop him from killing their VIP patient?

** Soders, the ICA traitor, was in charge of the operation. Being the analyst, Graves likely had knowledge of his betrayal and Soders decided SheKnowsTooMuch.

** Dalia actually does recognise (and enter target lockdown) that 47!Helmut is not Helmut if he acts suspicious around her (such as crouching down and bumping into her repeatedly).

** This is a mission where ICA takes it personal (the Shadow Client is using them in a secret war they want no part in), so instead of just killing one person someone paid them to they'll clean up the whole organization leadership to avoid retaliation or reorganisation. Plus it's possible some of them were also already registered target that Soders asked to take as top priority.

** He was too occupied with how perfect his handiwork was and didn't notice it.

* Why would the Sapienza clergy let Craig Black rent out the church for a book reading? His books aren't religious in any way, just trashy romance novels.

* Following on the above Headscratcher, why did [=MI6=] have Novikov and Margolis assassinated rather than kidnap and interrogate them? With all the connections and intel they have, the duo could take down tens of criminals if they turned witness to MI6. Why kill the golden goose?