A new image reveals that Agent 47, the famously bald hero from the Hitman video games and movies, looks a lot different with hair on his head and face. Without his familiar gray suit, a red tie, and the trademark scowl, passersby might never even recognize the ruthless leading man who has turned the Hitman franchise into a global success.
The Hitman games date back more than 20 years to the original PC release in 2000. Since that wobbly but promising first entry, the series has seen numerous sequels developed by Io Interactive, which worked with (and in some cases was owned by) major publishers such as Eidos Interactive and Warner Bros. New entries generally do very well, and Hitman Absolution was one of the 5 best stealth games to turn 10 in 2022. A fresh trilogy kicked off in 2016 and brought the series new success as it proved once again that bald is beautiful.
Now, with an assist from FaceApp software, one fan on Reddit named Laenoric has provided a glimpse at what Agent 47 might look like if he had more hair (and a lot of it). A familiar image suddenly looks different as the assassin sports wavy hair and a bushy red beard closer to Kratos than the hairless hero fans know. This is fair play, though, as not too long ago the makeover went the other way around when a God of War Ragnarok mod removed Kratos' beard. What some artists give, other artists can take away.
A full beard might be a good look for Agent 47 on his next assignment. There is a long list of beloved game characters with glorious beards across the medium, including Zangief in the Street Fighter series and Dr. Light in the same developer's Mega Man games. Capcom tends to be beard-friendly in general, actually, but western developers like Blizzard and LucasArts have also proven that a little bit of beard can go a long way toward creating memorable characters across the medium.
Whether the globe-trotting character sports hair in a future game, it sounds like the upcoming Hitman TV series will show Agent 47 with a bit of hair for at least a while. Then again, there hasn't been a lot of information about that show in recent months, which suggests it may not actually see the light of day. Until something changes, the FaceApp version could be as close as fans get to seeing Hitman's Agent 47 with the audacious beard they always knew he deserved.
