If you think a story from the Hitman games reminds you very strongly of another story in another form of entertainment media, share it here.
It occurred to me today that the WoA trilogy specifically has several shared traits with the story and characters of the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam; specifically, it’s spin-off series, Gundam Wing. How so? Let’s look at the story in broad strokes:
The story of Gundam Wing is basically a targeted rebellion against a political institution run by a cabal of the wealthy elite, using military might that they own to gain global domination, and the small group of specialized rebels needing to wipe out their operations to stop them.
Right from that alone, it sounds like a summary of WoA, with 47, Diana, and Lucas Grey’s militia serving the part of the rebels in question, seen in the anime as the Gundam pilots and the White Fang resistance group.
Providence is the political engine powering the global machine that’s controlled by the elite, through the use of the organizations they own, filling the role of the Romefeller Foundation and subsidies like Ether being the OZ military force in the anime.
The world governments and institutions as we know them, plus perhaps the ICA, stand in as the controlling status quo, filled by the United Earth Sphere Alliance in the anime, eventually overridden by both the cabal and the rebels.
As far as characters and other similarities, you’ve got 47 and Heero Yuy, two unstoppable determinators who quash their emotions and seek to fulfill their mission at all costs and above all concerns, who are the main hero but not the leader of the rebel efforts.
You have Lucas Grey, who represents pretty much the other Gundam pilots, being the leader, the tragic atoner, and the one who blames himself for the deaths of those around him. His organization is similar to the White Fang space colony rebels from the anime, in that they’ll kill to stop the controlling group and upset the entire order in doing so.
Diana fills the role of Relena, having a close, quasi-sexually tense relationship with the main hero without being a warrior herself, but using political and financial means to try to broker peace in the world, eventually offered to run and rule over the wealthy cabal that is the main antagonist, leading to its downfall, and is deposed from her position of power by the enigmatic puppet master that worked “for” the cabal.
The Partners fit the bill for Duke Dermail, the main guy in charge of the Romefeller Foundation, as pedigreed non-combatants thinking they know better than everyone else and that the world would be more desirable under their political, financial, and military rule, eventually deposed from top leadership by a combination of the rebel alliance and their own main enforcer turning against them.
The Constant fills the role of Treize, a cultured, soft-spoken puppet master who ultimately managed to take control of all the antagonist organizations by manipulating the heroes and his superiors alike, dying in the final battle with a sense of acceptance that it had all come to this and that he has done all he can to try to bring the world to peace.
Romefeller’ obsession with using the automatons called Mobil Dolls to remove human decisions from warfare altogether and just have obedient robotic soldiers to enact their will even reflects Providence’s desire to use the Ort-Meyer clones and the DNA-specific virus to eliminate opposition to their takeover.
You have to really know the whole detailed story of Gundam Wing for it to really hit home harder than I’m pitching it here, but I’m telling you, some of these characters and story beats were pulled right out of GW and plunked down into a Hitman game to fulfill the same role.