Shout Out / Hitman

aka: Hitman Contracts

Due to Wiki limitations, all the shoutouts for the Hitman Franchise are on this page.

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Hitman: Codename 47

• "The Massacre at Cheung Chau Fish Restaurant" is a big one to the meeting between Michael Corleone, Virgil Sollozzo and Mark McCluskey in The Godfather. 47 has to kill a corrupt police chief (McCluskey is one in the film) during a peace-making meeting at a restaurant between the two triads. To do so, he can hide a gun in the toilets of the restaurant before the meeting, like Michael does in the film.
• The mission "Say hello to my little friend" is titled after the famous line from Scarface, and Pablo Ochoa is super-coked up and defends his office with More Dakka just like Tony Montana.
• In "Traditions of the Trade", 47 can obtain a box of roses with a shotgun hidden inside. The T-800 used this very trick in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

• The Villa Borghese from "Anathema" is essentially the producer's house from The Godfather.
• The "sniping from an apartment building" in "St Petersburg Stakeout" is a reference to Point of No Return.
• At the top of the table in Charlie's room is a Dopefish (Easter Egg), a reference to the Commander Keen video game series developed by id Software in the early 1990s.
• The title of the "Shogun Showdown" mission is a pun on Samurai Shodown.
• In "Basement Killing", you can deploy a smoke bomb into a duct which will lead to the fire department rushing into the lower levels. 47 can dress up as a fire fighter to infiltrate as a result. This is similar to the infiltration of Langley in Mission: Impossible due to the ultimate objective of enabling the downloading of data from an isolated computer in the proceeding mission.
• The mission to neutralize a doomsday cult in India appears to be a nod to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. This group is more dangerous as they've acquired a nuclear device.

Hitman: Contracts

• The "HELLO POKEY" easter egg is a reference to Pokey the Penguin.
• The Cardboard Tube is a reference to the Cardboard Tube Samurai from Penny Arcade.

Hitman: Blood Money

• Once you cross the West Wing roof, eavesdrop on those Secret Service guys in that little security room right by the door (the one where the Janitor and SS guy come out to have a smoke occasionally). In the back room, the guards mill around and do stuff, and one of them goes to the other and they say something along the lines of:
  "Hey, come check this out."
  "What is it? More midget porn?"
  "Nah, It's Pokey the Penguin."
• In the newspaper article after "The Murder of Crows", the police chief investigating the murders is named Police Chief Wiggum. If you've been running around, going postal, blowing up crowds, and generally being visible, he STILL doesn't get a fix on who you are.
• "The Murder of Crows" has a bar called the Blues Oyester. Remember the movie Police Academy? Well, there's a bar called the Blue Oyster in that film, and it's a gay bar.
• The newspaper at the end of "Death On The Missisippi" (the Lousiana Mail) has a headline at the top that says "Janitor burned to death" and says that he died on the following date: "Smach". This is a Groundskeeper Willie reference from the "Treehouse of Horror VI" episode, which itself was a reference to Freddy Krueger, of course.
• When talking to the bride (Margeaux) 47 uses the alias 'Jacob Leiter'. "Leiter" being the German word for "Ladder", it's most likely a reference to the film Jacob's Ladder or the biblical ladder to heaven.
• Carmine Desalvo, one of the wiseguys in "Flatline", is a character from Walker, Texas Ranger.
• The bat on the wall in "Death of a Showman" has Dolph written on it. The bat is, of course, Dolph's (the Blue Hippo) weapon of choice. One of the french quotes in the newspaper is another tribute to Dolph.
• The catering van in "A New Life" is called Wong Wei Dung. Wong Wei Tung is a Chinese actor, specializing in action (and especially assassin) type movies.
• "Death on the Missisippi" may be a reference to the 1937 detective novel Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie.
• The Silverballer can be configured in longslide with laser sighting. Bonus points for the weapon from both being an AMT Hardballer.
• "A Dance With the Devil" This title pun is a reference to a quote from The Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film.
• In "Curtains Down", one can drop a chandelier on Richard Delahunt. The fact that this takes place in the famous Paris Opera brings to mind The Phantom of the Opera.
• 47's pet bird seems to be one to LeSamourai, which features a similarly lonely, unaffected Hitman living in a sparse apartment, his only companion being a small bird he takes care of.

Hitman: Absolution

• There is a small level, in which the sole objective is to "Suit up". Barney learned from the best... Bonus points for the picture accompanying the objective.
• There is also features a level called Blackwater Park.
• Two of your targets in the "Death Factory" level are named Dr. Valentine and Dr. Ashford.
• In "Blackwater Park" level, two mooks can be heard discussing rumors of 47, with one saying "If Roy's right, we are in short supply of kryptonite".
• There are conversations about "Sanchez" and "The Patriot", a nod to the rivalry between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, who had as a quarterback at the time... Mark Sanchez.
• The Polycount pin from Team Fortress 2 appears as graffitti in one of the levels. You'd recognize it from the Polycount Pack or if you participated in the contest to make items for the Mann Co. update.
• One of the challenges in Chinatown (tricking Bill into committing Suicide by Cop) is named for the movie Bad Lieutenant.
• The "Bullets Over Main Street" challenge in "Shaving Lenny" is a riff on Bullets over Broadway. Also, "The Shock Doctrine" (electrifying a fence just as Gavin tries to pass through it) is named for Naomi Klein's expose on the media.
• The homeless man being interviewed by police in the cutscene to the level "Skurky's Law" is wearing Jayne Cobb's very nice hat.
• Kane & Lynch has a few shout-outs
  • A man who looks like Kane appears in Welcome to Hope, he's notable for taking down multiple guys in a fight if 47 shuts off the jukebox and for taking more button presses to knock out than any other character besides Sanchez.
  • Someone who looks Lynch is seen shooting garden gnomes in Birdie's Gift
  • If you set off the nuke in Dexter Industries the game cuts to Lynch sunbathing with two girls while the bomb goes off in the background.

Hitman: Sniper

• The "Jackal" rifle that you can unlock and use is a homage to the custom-built rifle used by the titular assassin in The Day of the Jackal, down to the resemblance to a crutch.
• The "Aria" Sniper Rifle variants are in reference to a type of solo voice work done in an opera. While this may sound irrelevant when you first see this, this was actually referring to the M.O of Alvaro D'alvade from Blood Money mission: "Death of a Showman". A method of killing him was timing the gunshot shown onstage with a sniper shot from up in the viewing box; the W2000 being the rifles one would use to achieve this, and the one named "Aria" here.

HITMAN (2016)

• The game has numerous shout-outs to past Hitman games. Here are a few examples.
• James Bond is referenced in several levels:
  • An opening cutscene of 47 being tested in an interrogation room is a direct homage to a similar scene in Skyfall, where Bond is being tested by a therapist while M looks behind some tinted glass.
  • If 47 is dressed in the Tuxedo on the Paris map and approaches some guards protecting the routes to restricted areas, they will make snide remarks and make several references to the James Bond films.
  • In Marrakesh, throwing Reza Zaydan into the printing press results in bloody posters spewing out. It's a shame the challenge for it wasn't called "They'll print anything these days."
  • The whole Marrakesh level is one to The Living Daylights. There's a moroccan city, climbing across the roofs is a thing, the protagonist wears a beige suit with a dark blue shirt beneath and there's a rogue general who's also a Smug Snake as one of the antagonists. He even resembles the film's Big Bad visually.
  • If you do the "Fade to Black" opportunity on the Bangkok map, when 47 plays the audio clip of Hannah Highmoores death and waits for Jordan Cross in his room, the scene is a near perfect homage to a similar scene from Dr. No.
  • The GAMA facility (an extremely upscale clinic located in a mountain top) reminds one of a Japanese take of the clinic seen in Spectre.
  • One of the patients, Jason Portman, is clearly based on Angelo Palazzi from Film/Thunderball; he too is in bandages and a robe.
• Kane & Lynch
  • One of the images on the tablets used by the bidders in the auction seen in "The Showstopper" shows a promo image of Kane & Lynch.
  • In "Freedom Fighters" the hackers in the house are playing Kane & Lynch:Dead Man on a games console, and a poster for the game is on the wall near the TV.
  • In "Situs Inversus," one of the high scores on the Doki Doki Pow Pow! game was made by James Seth Lynch.
  • The Bookkeeper Elusive Target has the head hacker telling the Bookkeeper he is justified in his expenses cause he needs a "killer gaming rig to play K&L."
  • The Bad Boy Elusive Target has the main target playing Kane & Lynch on a games console in the Gelato Shop and praising the games authenticity and action.
• In "The Showstopper", 47 learns that IAGO's operations hinge on using models as spies and assassins. Where have we heard that one before?
  • And when you disguise yourself as a certain supermodel, NPC's will ask you to do the "Blue Steel"!
  • Walter Willaims, one of Paris' Elusive Targets, loosely resembles Zoolander.
• In the Sapienza Map, there are two plumber brothers that bear similarities to a certain other pair of plumber brothers. Red and Green clothing? Yep. Named Mario and Luigi?, Indeed they are. Brothers who are plumbers? Definitely. Mario even makes comments about liking mushrooms and collecting coins.
  • Approaching the front gates of Villa Caruso while wearing the Plague Doctor costume will make the guards ask if you've been playing too much Assassin's Creed. Likewise, approaching the same guards in the Hippie disguise makes them think it's Willie Nelson and ask for a blunt.
  • Three references are made to the Breaking Bad franchise in the map. One challenge is called "Heisenberg," where 47 must dump a body in a container of acid. The lawyer's name in the Landslide mission is Salvatore Bravuomo, which is a literal Italian translation of Saul Goodman's name from Better Call Saul. One poster seen at the harbor for Salvatore's services is somewhat inspired by similar billboards Saul uses in the TV show to advertise his services.
• The titles for Escalation Mode's contracts wouldn't sound out of place on Robert Ludlum's bibliography.
• In "A Gilded Cage", 47 can drop a huge model moose on Strandberg. The achievement for doing so? "A Room with a Moose".
• "Club 27" contains many song references, especially in the challenge names:
  • Getting Jordan Cross to push Ken Morgan out of a window unlocks "Oops! I Did it Again.
  • Killing both targets while dressed as the stalker unlocks Smooth Operator.
  • Putting the topper on Jordan Cross' cake unlocks "It's My Party." In the same vein, destroying 18 elephant statues and making other elephant statues cry blood unlocks "I Will Cry if I Want To".
  • While wandering around the hotel, you might hear a sleeping guard muttering "Redrum" over and over again.
• "Freedom Fighters".
  • The mission itself shares the name of another IO Interactive property.
  • During the mission briefing, a looping GIF of a big-headed Olivia taunting the viewer can be seen on her laptop, exactly like the one created by Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park.
  • Ezra Berg wears a mask nearly identical to the one worn by Michael Myers.
  • The "Taste of Your Own Medicine," "They Scream, They Cry," and "Lighten Up" challenges are references to Batman Begins. Fittingly, these challenges can only be completed with 47 dressing up as a creepy scarecrow.
• In "Situs Inversus", 47 can sabotage an overseer AI with a circular avatar by pulling out blades from their mainframe, causing their voice to grow increasingly distorted. This earns him the Achievement "Daisy, Daisy".
  • And if you stay in KAI's room after sabotaging her, she complains about not getting cake.
    • Speaking of Portal, there’s an Easter Egg where 47 can find KAI’s prototype, a Cloudcuckoolander AI named Ayakashi who inhabits a spherical construct. This is an obvious reference to Wheatley from Portal 2.
  • The VIP patient Jason Portman is a walking Shout-Out. Not only do his bandages remind people of Hush, the Mummy and the Invisible Man, he hopes that he could have Wolverine's healing abilities.
  • According to Diana's intel, Jason Portman is the son of the CEO of Quantum Leap. Whether it's a company with the same name as the show or the actual Quantum Leap Project is unknown.
  • Somebody mixes up Helmut Krueger with Freddy.
  • 47 can find and wear a distinct black and yellow track suit (with motorcycle helmet), as well as wield a katana. Killing a target with the katana in that outfit completes the challenge "The Groom".
• "Holiday Hoarders" has a pair of burglars named Marv and Harry who try to commit a crime during the Christmas season. One of them insists on flooding the sinks. Sound familiar?
• When guards see something suspicious, question and exclamation marks appear above their heads. For added bonus points, the virus from "World Of Tomorrow" is basically FOXDIE.
• You can eliminate Marco Abiatti by slamming his head onto a desk and stabbing him in the eye with a pen. The challenge that requires you to do so? "How About a Magic Trick?".
• In "The Icon", one of Dino Bosco's many insults to his crew is claiming that he saw better production values while he was working for Jess Franco.
• Occasionally, an NPC with their phone out will make remarks showing that they're playing Pokémon GO.
• Rat poison with the brand name "Ratapewie".
• Posters and merchandise for the Pixelvisions film Courage.^note Though the main character in the poster bears more of a resemblance to Elsa if not for the red hair.
• In the Escalation mission "The Holmwood Disturbance", 47 is required to wear a vampire costume while killing the target. 'Holmwood' is the surname of one of the vampire hunters in Dracula.
• If one puts 47 in the Requiem Suit, many an NPC will comment upon it as he walks by. One possible remark mentions Armando Perez.
• The chess game in "The Final Test" is from the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match.

HITMAN 2

• One challenge for killing Sierra Knox in Miami is called "Days of Thunder".
• One scientist on the rooftop of the expo center in Miami is named Levi Akerman.
• The challenge of disguising yourself as the sheikh is named "Sheikh Zanzibar, I Presume?", referencing the nickname Giant Bomb gave the Sheikh character during one of their many videos highlighting the first game.
• The Aquarium contains a cleaning sponge adjacent to a pineapple inside one of its tanks, along with a starfish.
• According to nearby intel you can pick up, the chief scientist of the Kronstadt robot soldier was building a fembot on the side called Dolores, and asked to stop.
• An escalation for the Miami level is called "The BigMooney Flamboyancy", a shoutout to a popular Hitman Youtuber of the same name, who helped designed this escalation..
• A whiteboard in the medical bay in Miami shows patients named J. Doug, A. Farrant and M. Channel. These are referring to Jane Douglas, Andy Farrant and Mike Channel of Outside Xbox, who have done a lot of Hitman Let's Plays. Their particular playstyles are also referenced in racing / medical terminology terms (Andy couldn't be diagnosed^note Because he nearly always got a Silent Assassin rating, Mike has burns, possibly from an explosive duck^note Mike is very fond of explosives, especially the rubber duck, and Jane needs re-hydration^note Because she keeps dumping bodies into the waters).
  • In addition, the Colombia level has three NPCs named after them, and two more named after Ellen Rose and Luke Westaway, the presenters of sister channel Outside Xtra.
• Rico Delgado keeps a golden gun in his safe, he calls "El Matador".
• One of the unique NPCs in the Sgail level, "Blake Nathaniel", is a very unsubtle nod to Nathan Drake, whose parent series itself references Indiana Jones constantly. Hearing him recount his exploits is basically him describing the plot to an Uncharted game.
• A mission story revolving around Blake Nathaniel's activities is titled "It Belongs in a Museum", an Indiana Jones quote, and includes a recounting of an expedition that sounds very like the opening of (appropriately for the Ark Society level) Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Society's shock troops-cum-treasure hunters are even called Raiders.
• The Sgàil level and the Ark Society as a whole feel like a love letter to the Deus Ex games. Ark's members discuss various things we've seen in the Deus Ex series, such as brain uploading and clone bodies, and you can even obtain a Killswitch. The society consists mainly of people who wish to extend their lives or ensure their survival if a world-ending scenario were to happen, so Bob Page would fit right in. The stage in the public bar also uses the triangle-y aesthetic prominently featured in Mankind Divided. The first escalation there is actually called "The Aelwin Augment". Considering the important role bio-augmentations play in the DE universe, the chances of it being a coincidence are pretty low.
• The Ark Society's masks, fancy costumes, and blindfolded musicians are clearly inspired by Eyes Wide Shut. One member even wonders if the musicians think they are "somewhere with a lot more nudity". Despite only being blindfolded, musicians have curiously poor hearing and will not react to gunfire or NPC panic in kill 'em all runs.
• The Ark Society and the concept behind it seems to essentially be a more financially sensible version of Richmond Valentine's plan in Kingsman: The Secret Service. Both are deeply socially Darwinist ploys to rescue the global elite in the event of an apocalyptic catastrophe, and both are run by (in the case of the Society, the daughters of) a private sector giant. And if the presence of the Nabazov Manifesto from the Patient Zero campaign on the Island is any indication, much like Valentine and his associates, the Ark Society isn't willing to merely wait to become useful.
• In Golden Handshake, Freedom Fighters is being played on the TV in the IT Office by both technicians, a shout out to the game itself, and also a shout out to a similar gag where the hackers in the Colorado level in 2016 play Kane and Lynch, with the Colorado mission itself being called "Freedom Fighters".
• The achievement for locating the IT Office is called "The IT Individual".
• The "Space Conflict" movie posters have a Darth Vader Expy in the background and a Composite Character of Luke Skywalker and Star-Lord in the foreground.
• Breaking Bad:
  • Jorge Franco, one of the targets in "Three-Headed Serpent", is a former high school chemistry teacher with an obsession for creating high-quality drugs, much like Walter White. His cocaine's name, White Stallion, is named after White's product, Blue Sky.
  • One of the houses in Whittleton Creek has a pizza thrown onto the roof.
• Some NPCs in New York will compliment 47's outfit by saying "Suits you, sir."

HITMAN 3

• "Death in the Family" features a few references to Knives Out:
  • The circumstances around Zachary's fake suicide are similar to the movie's plot, in that he was poisoned.
  • The window outside Mr. Fernsby's room in Dartmoor has a cricket ball near outside the window.
  • Thornbridge Manor was clearly named after the Thrombeys Family, who want to own the estate seen in the film.
  • Alexa also has to deal with her losing the Manor due to The Constant taking it away from her when he gained access to Providences' assets; rather similar to the ending of the film where the Thrombey family have to deal with being written out of the will that had them own the estate.
• One challenge in Berlin is called "Waaagh!".
• Another challenge in Berlin is named "How the Turntables"
• The nightclub in Berlin has signs around the back saying "Zutritt Verboten" ("No Entry"); two of them have a graffitied addition of the "no geese" sign from Untitled Goose Game.
• In Berlin one of the challenges is to dress as a biker and kill targets with a shotgun. It's name? T-47.
• One of the lines from a civilian seeing you as a DJ is to quote Daft Punk's Giorgio by Moroder; "Once you free your mind about the concept of harmony and of music being correct, you can do whatever you want".
• In Chongqing, 47 can infiltrate a secret research base disguised as a scientist, which can lead to a dialogue exchange homaging the "Doctor? Doctor" scene from Muppets from Space (when the Muppets infiltrate a secret research base disguised as scientists).
• The sign outside Don Archibald Yates' villa in "The Farewell" reads "No Admittance Except on Party Business".
• The phone number on Elusive Target Joanne Bayswater's business card (212-555-6342) is the same as the number of the brokerage firm that Patrick Bateman works at.
• One of the songs that plays in Mendoza is titled "They Would Always Have Mendoza".

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