Hitman Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Hitman Wiki

Fugu Fish is the Japanese word for Puffer fish. It contains a paralytic in its liver as part of its defensive system and should therefore, be prepared carefully. Its poison can kill anybody within seconds.

Description[]

"Lagocephalus or fugu fish. It's poison can kill in a matter of seconds."

Fugu is the Japanese word for pufferfish. It is a popular dish in Japan, but needs to be carefully prepared due to the tetrodotoxin, a paralytic, found mostly in its liver, ovaries and skin.

Real life[]

In reality, farmers have recently started to breed non-poisonous fugu: most pufferfish species require a special diet of organisms in their natural habitat to produce poison and therefore pool-grown fish is (generally) safe. Still, for decades any chef wishing to serve fugu had to obtain a state license in Japan (and eat a fish they cooked themselves to prove their skill), and many restaurants outright refuse to cook and serve it. Before the twentieth century, there was even a custom for a chef to finish the meal should a client be poisoned.

Historically Japan tried to minimize the popularity of fugu, which some people believe must be eaten the "risky" way (with the poisonous parts in carefully calculated doses). Eating fugu was one of the ways of ritual suicide and even sometimes an equivalent of Russian Roulette, highly illegal to participate in (if a samurai died this way, their children would lose inheritance rights). The Japanese Imperial Family are prohibited to eat fugu at all, just in case.

The poison itself works by shutting down neural transmission, paralyzing all muscles except heart (which suffers other effects in return) and, if no medical help is provided, causing death by suffocation. No antidote is available, but none is required since tetrodotoxin effect wears off relatively quickly, and as long as life support is available, a patient will live and likely recover completely. Contrary to rumors, there is no proven hallucinogenic effect, the poison is tasteless and odorless, and provides no medical benefit if consumed (one of the reasons of its popularity is a rumor that it can restore masculinity).

The effect in Hitman series is greatly simplified, as using authentic fugu toxicology would make a very unreliable assassination method: even acute poisoning shows symptoms in no less than 10 minutes (normally 45+), and in Situs Inversus the episode literally takes place in a hospital, where medical aid would be available. It is possible, however, that 47 simply adds a catalyst to fugu poison to enhance and guarantee its effects while making death appear like an accident, effectively masking one poisoning with the other.

Location[]

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin[]

Hitman: Absolution[]

  • The King of Chinatown - On a cutting board at a kiosk opposite of the alleyway, in which the stall is located, where King can be seen tasting the food.

HITMAN™[]

  • Situs Inversus - In a walk-in freezer in the kitchen adjacent to the staff lounge.
Advertisement