Hitman with a Heart: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

So, let's says there is this guy who happens to be [[Professional Killer|a hitman]]. Best in town. He will usually be an urban legend moving swiftly beneath the concrete jungle, leaving no evidence behind and fulfilling his jobs with the utmost care up to the point of perfection. Mossad? CIA? KGB? Doesn't matter, his targets drop like flies. No job is too hard and there is no one he can't kill. Or is there? For perhaps even this cold hearted killer [[Never Hurt an Innocent|can't bring himself to kill an innocent bystander]] (usually a [[Wouldn't Hurt a Child|kid]]). And not only does he not do his job, but he then turns against his employer to save the life of the very same person he was supposed to kill. This guy we're talking about? He's a [[Title Drop|hitman with a heart]].

 

A blend of [[The Atoner]] and [[Professional Killer]]. Frequently is a [[A Lighter Shade of Grey]]. May result from falling [[In Love With the Mark]]. If this trope comes in the backstory variety, it's a [[Sympathetic Murder Backstory]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Franca and Franco from ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]'', the latter more so than the former. They are very dicriminating about their targets and Franca refuses to kill children, in part because of the ideal she fights for in the first place, to the point where she'd rather let a mission be jeopardized rather than let Pinocchio kill his neighbor and would've tried to steer away from Rico had not Franco forced their car back and hit Rico.

* ''[[Golgo 13]]'' partially averts this trope; Duke Togo(Golgo 13 himself) is willing to take any assignment without any moral qualms or visible emotion. However, the stories present his victims as somewhat deserving of their fate (unless the victim [[Leave No Witnesses|is a witness, who Duke will kill just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time]]); also, Duke will occasionally go out of his way to put a job to a more morally tidy end.

 

 

* ''[[Ghost Dog]]: The Way of the Samurai''

* In ''Leon'' (AKA ''[[The Professional]]''), Jean Reno's hitman is almost childlike in his innocence and simplicity. He takes in a young girl after her family is killed by criminals, and has a strict code against killing women or children.

* Mr. Goodkat (also played by Bruce Willis) and {{spoiler|Slevin}} from ''[[Lucky Number Slevin]]''

* John Lee (played by Chow Yun-Fat) from ''The Replacement Killers'', who gets into trouble for {{spoiler|refusing to shoot a cop's kid. "That is how Mr. Wei deals with his enemies. Through their families."}}

* Il Duce from ''[[The Boondock Saints]]'', who has a very Leon-esque code concerning women and kids, and who turns out to be {{spoiler|1=the long-lost father of the McManus brothers}}.

** The McManus brothers as well, knocking unconscious the wife of one of their victims rather than killing her. They are also not pleased when Rocco wants to kill Smecker, who let them off at the beginning of the film--or when Rocco holds a gun to a priest's head.

* The film version of [[The Bourne Series|Jason Bourne]] is this trope played completely straight, with the added twist of [[Amnesiac Dissonance|amnesia]] ''caused'' by, among other things, his {{spoiler|unwillingness to kill a father in front of his children, which would force him to [[Leave No Witnesses|kill them all]]}}, despite [[Cursed With Awesome|training]] as an assassin and [[Mind Control|conditioning]] for obedience. When he is confronted with that situation, it results in a cognitive dissonance that effectively ''breaks'' his conditioning, resulting in amnesia exacerbated by two almost-lethal gunshot wounds.

* ''You Kill Me'' features Ben Kingsley as a mob hitman with the flaw of alcoholism- in a subversion, he has no moral qualms about killing (he likes it, as it the only thing he's good at) and just wants help with his drinking so he can go back to his job. He does, however, feel guilt because some of his targets died slower and more painfully due to his drinking problem, and tries to make up for it (it was with gift cards, but it's the thought that counts).

{{quote| To wit: Anyone worth Anhk-Morpork 10,000 or more was considered automatically capable of protecting themselves, or at least hiring people who could. Otherwise what was a person to do but sit with a loaded crossbow pointed at the door? }}

* Lawrence Block's Keller series focuses on a lonely, whimsical hitman whose favorite pastimes are walking his dog, doing crossword puzzles, and working on his stamp collection. Despite basically being a sympathetic loser prone to introspective fantasies, he doesn't have any scruples about who he kills--the target, assorted people who get in the way (even if innocent), and sometimes his clients are all fair game. Somehow, he still comes across as likeable.

* Fitzchivalry Farseer in the [[Robin Hobb|Farseer Trilogy]] works as assassin and diplomat for the Crown, as does his mentor Chade.

* A variant in [[Star Trek Forged in Fire]]. Klingon servitor Do'Yoj is tasked with killing the infant Qagh, so as to conceal the shame of his albinism from the Klingon Empire. She refuses to go through with it; she just leaves him in the mountains instead. Of course, she expects this will kill him anyway, but at least her knife isn't tainted with a child's blood.

* The titular hero of ''Callan'' played by Edward Woodward, better known as [[The Equalizer]].

* Subverted in an early episode of ''[[Criminal Minds (TV)|Criminal Minds]]''. The hitman felt extremely uncomfortable with killing women... didn't stop him from doing it, however.

* Richard Harrow from ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'' is a very interesting treatment of this trope. He's a horrifically scarred veteran of [[World War One]] who essentially got [[Facial Horror|half his face blown off]]. Combined with his crushing shyness and awkwardness, this makes him [[The Woobie]] and we feel our heartstrings tugged when he makes friends with Margaret's children and we see his dream of having his face whole again and being in love. Then when he shoots a 12 year old boy during a job or suggests wiping out an entire family in order to make some crooks come out of hiding, we get reminded that his job in the war was being a [[Cold Sniper]], and he still is one at times.