What makes an interesting target?

ken on his own certainly isn’t interesting, but as part of the tapestry of relationships that make up club 27’s story, he becomes interesting, and that’s a big draw for me.

good stories are driven by good characters, so i like targets to be fleshed out and have relatively deep relationships with each other that require multiple playthroughs to fully uncover. the more their story contradicts/expands upon given intel or defies player expectations, the better. i feel this all plays to hitman’s strengths, where the gameplay loop and level design support that kind of storytelling.

bangkok and marrakesh are good examples of this, but haven and mumbai are the absolute peak imo, though there is a lot of room to push this further in future instalments.

i like targets to have some level of cheeky or cartoonish satire too. off the top of my head, beldingford manor (from contracts) is a charming little dig at the british class system; blood money takes shots at iconic american institutions like playboy or the rehab industry; woa has expys of jared ‘jordan’ leto, ghislaine ‘dalia’ maxwell, richard ‘thomas cross’ branson, the bottled water scam, etc.

i also like targets with assassinations that play off of details in their intel or a character’s obvious idiosyncrasies. it’s pretty mean, but robert knox’s eye drops spring to mind. silvio’s mummy issues too.

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Yeah, i concur. For instance colombia while not the greatest of maps, it had good interactions between targets and side characters.
P-power tattoos, hippo whisperer, Hector delgado’s love letter / suicide potential.
Also 3) Andrea was stunning.

(Vidal is incredibly bland and boring, but then you see her bonding with diana and she deepens with every playthrough).

Exactly, or Abiatti’s confession booth scene.

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In the end, I felt empathy for Alexa seeing her self-pity in the red room. It was like it was time to end her grief. First time I had empathy for a target. Interesting.

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Not whatever Jordan Cross was. I get that he’s meant to be unlikable but he’s so pathetic that I feel like he’s below me as a target lmao

I guess good voice acting and unique mission stories? Some of the bios have typos which unfortunately ruins the immersion. I liked the Maelstrom and how mysterious he was. Random but I also liked Francesca De Santis for some reason, felt bad about killing her.

I feel like the targets were the best/ most memorable in blood money. Each target has a unique visual appearance, stand out from the crowd, and have some seriously fucked up backstory. For example, take a look at Mark Parchezzi the third, arguably the main antagonist of the game, has build up to him throughout the game. He was shown in earlier cutscenes as an ominous figure, and referenced in flatline. The targets in the game feel like the mission is built around them. They are probably the most important people in that location, showing their influence and importance.

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To be honest, i’m surprised ‘Dexy’ is still alive and kicking in Mendoza, when she herself could qualify for a target herself.

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He also voiced the Colombian Guards in Codename 47, btw.

But to answer topics question: for me a good Target needs a good backstory, personality and looks. I dont really care for routes or shit like that, my favorite Target sits around doing coke, waiting for you to show up so he can fill your ass with lead.

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a good target basically just consists of a good route, good kills, or interesting ways to do bland kills and a good backstory/place in the story.
You also wanna avoid the ken morgan situation where he has a great place in the lore as a character but as a target he just does a complete disservice to his character and backstory

I’m shocked no one mentioned Silvio Caruso yet. He is the definition of a good target to me. Interesting route with very neat kills. Very detailed and believable backstory which is seen back in the level. The whole drama with his family and mother, and how this is heard in every inch of his route. Unique look with that whole pink sweater thing, but still realistic. Very characteristic voice. With excellent voice acting during the therapy session or during the target lockdown. Silvio has it all. Not many come close to that.

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image

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I respect you for that sir :handshake:

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I also really liked that his guards would go looking for him if you managed to take him out without them noticing. It caught me off guard since I couldn’t remember that ever happening before and Victors personal guard would just immediately walk off as soon as you eliminate him. Even if he’s standing directly outside the single entry washroom he JUST SAW Victor walk into.

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Oh this is a very cool thread idea! Here are my two cents:

  • The most interesting targets I thought to be the ones that have some sort of presence around them when you are close to them ingame. Dalia wielding heir models like assets (I always felt her being an analogy for Diana, both handle very skilled people all over the world after targets), Dawood Rangan who casually talks about his influence in the indian underworld, the Washingtons who are seemingly very efficient and smart people, Vetrova who has this intense intrigue going on on the island, Vidal having this insane awarness about things going on around her. Those are things that cemented themself into my brain, and really made targets like these stood out compared to the others.

  • My favorite target is just as impossible to choose as my favorite unique kill, or location. Just to many are awesome. But even if alot of her is not so interesting, Id chose Vidal. Just because she is the only one that ever looked past 47, really did a backup check and confronts him with it.

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I know they’re the minority in this trilogy (and series) as a whole but I love targets that let you take their outfit as a disguise.

This was the gimmick of The Author and I loved that. It was also my favourite part of A House Of Cards. I wouldn’t want it to be the standard but I love it as a gimmick thrown in every now and then.

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You just want a Herald suit.

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I want to dress as Victor Novikov and look in the mirror and say “I am Victor Novikov.”

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Personally i want Helmut Kruger with makeup to be a permanent unlock, maybe have the option to walk like he does on the runway too.

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That would be way too OP in Paris, you would get access to everywhere but the attic instantly

Honestly I don’t think there are any bad targets. I find all of them interesting in their own way but there is room to improve. Be nice to see them exibit more traits from thier bios. For instance I recall at least one elusive target being a serial killer who’s weapon of choice was poison, yet you never see her actually murder anyone. Things like that I’d love to see.

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Well, maybe for a whittleton creek remake we can get the muffin lady to go on a rampant poison spree without Janus to keep her in check as a bonus mission.