The creators of Hitman drew inspiration from Coca-Cola and Quentin Tarantino to bring the character to life.

A new book by Kirk McKeand describes how IO Interactive designed the character for Agent 47.

Have you ever wondered how the Hitman saga was born or how celebrities came to be? agent 47? These questions and more are answered in Kirk McKeand’s new book on stealth video games, ‘The History of the Stealth Game’.

Besides talking in depth about franchises like Metal Gear or Splinter Cell, the author left us with a curiosity. IOInteractiveThe studio behind the Hitman franchise: They had the goal of “creating a brand that could hold up like Coca-Cola over time,” as we read in The Gamer.

Barcode made the character recognizableAnd why Coca-Cola? Branding was extremely important to McKeand, and creating a bald man in a suit wasn’t enough, because it could be anyone. Those responsible for Agent 47, as the Coca-Cola logo has the letter C and very recognizable colors decided to add the barcode as a distinctive element that will serve to quickly recognize the character. With this simple solution, they let us know it’s him, even if he’s wearing any suit.

But it didn’t end there, and art director Tore Blystad’s influences determined a large part of games like Hitman: Absolution. “Strongly Inspired by Quentin Tarantino moviesThe tone changed to lean more towards the show’s dark humor, and Chicago was chosen as the setting because of its urban diversity,” says McKeand.

The last major release in the series was Hitman 3, which has been available for purchase on nearly all platforms (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia) since 2021. To check out our colleague Carlos Gallego’s experience with him, we recommend that you read his analysis or take a look at the video analysis we’ve left for you below.