International Contract Agency

The International Contract Agency (also known as the "ICA" or "The Agency") was a global conglomerate of professional hitmen and assassins, whose services are extended to wealthy and influential clients around the world.

Background

The ICA is Agent 47's employer. It is a multinational, extremely well-funded neutral (yet criminal) organization independent of the world's governments, with ties to various groups and individuals, providing assassination and mercenary services. Credited assassinations have taken place in the Americas, the Pacific Rim, and Eurasia. The Agency enjoys the cooperation of affiliates such as the FBI, CIA, MI6, CSIS, NSA and even elements within the United Nations (UN). Although politically neutral and ethically amoral, the Agency avoids accepting hits ordered by enemies of its allies in government bureaus to ensure cooperation from their allies. In addition, most of 47's assigned assassination targets are professional criminals.

The Agency offers not only assassinations, but also intelligence on the suspects. The initial price for scheduled assassination depends on the target, the target's importance, the amount of security that the target enjoys, and the chosen asset, with 47 being the most expensive one. The Agency can be contacted by virtually anyone, from wealthy international companies and other agencies to even individuals seeking vendetta.

The Agency uses "handlers", such as Diana Burnwood, as the middle-man with its agents. They provide professional freelance operatives like 47 with electronic correspondence and mission briefings. Contractors also sell intelligence briefings on the subjects of missions to their agents for the fee of USD 1,500 per file. Controllers in the Agency are not supposed to liaise with their assets in person, however, Diana Burnwood has (repeatedly in the series) violated protocol by doing so. In Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Agent 47's registration number in the Agency is revealed as "BRO3886".

Even though the ICA has many assets and controllers all around the world, Agent 47 is the most valuable asset and achieved a Gamma rank after just one kill. He is provided with all the possible ICA weaponry (like ICA Silverballers) and he is given the most dangerous and impossible tasks. He is also the most expensive asset to order for a kill, but he is known for always completing the order with perfection and even scheduling it to be an accident. It's also worth mentioning that Agent 47 is paid thousands for each contract, but he still chooses to keep a humble approach to life, donating some of it and keeping the rest for the activities he indulges in his spare time, such as fine dining and expensive clothing, like suits.

Alternate Background (2007 Film)

In the 2007 film Hitman, which is set a universe parallel to the main series, the Agency is known as the "Organization". Like the Agency in the video games, the Organization benefits from ties to various government agencies, is neutral in global affairs and morality, and performs missions all over the world. Unlike the game, where the hitmen are contracted from a range of backgrounds, the Organization instead recruits orphans and trains them from an early age. When 47 ties FSB agent Yuri Marklov to a bathtub, and a clock ticks in a laptop, the name of the ICA is clearly visible in the laptop, confirming that 47's employers are the same organization as in the video games.

Organization

The Agency has ties to several major government agencies around the world, such as the CIA (via Agent Smith), FBI (prior to The Franchise taking it from them), MI5, MI6, and Interpol. They are especially friendly with the United Nations, after Agent 47 prevented a terrorist attack at their summit in 2000. 47 was later given strict orders not to kill any UN soldiers while on a mission in Afghanistan in 2002 - albeit the UN wanted to gain information from 47's target before he was sniped, showing that the Agency did not have a strict allegiance to the UN.

Later in 2002, the Agency made an exception to their rule of not killing former clients when the UN asked the ICA (namely Agent 47) to kill Sergei Zavorotko for his possession of WMDs. However, by the time 47 was sent many years later to kill former ICA client Silvio Caruso, Diana expressed few if any qualms about killing a former client.

The end of Hitman: Blood Money shows one of their offices, perhaps a headquarters, having a beautiful view of the river bay in Copenhagen, Denmark. At this point, Diana talks to an unknown character known only as 'Your Majesty', about the unknown location of Agent 47.

As for the ICA badge, the D.K. refer to Denmark whose national letters are DK.

History

During the events of Hitman: Blood Money, many ICA agents are killed by members of The Franchise, to the point where Diana says she and 47 are all that's left. The ICA's last hit is placed on corrupt CIA agent Anthony Martinez and grey market arms dealer Vaana Ketlyn, and Diana splits the remaining funds between herself and 47. However, once the Franchise is eliminated, Diana states that all the assets are back online.

Before the events of Hitman: Absolution, a secret ICA division led by Benjamin Travis secretly created a clone assassin of their own, a young girl named Victoria. When Diana learned of this, she flushed all ICA accounts, cut off all communication, and made the ICA publicly known. She then fled with Victoria and went into hiding. The ICA was reformed and a hit was ordered on Diana at her mansion near Chicago. However, once 47 shoots her and does not return Victoria, the ICA sent their forces after him. Later, "The Saints" (an elite all-female assassin team that Benjamin Travis formed) and numerous ICA soldiers attack the Waikiki Inn. Here the ICA is shown as ruthless, firing an RPG into the motel, and executing all of the witnesses. However 47 eliminated all members of the team. Later, the ICA besiege the town of Hope while searching for 47, in a plan named "Operation Sledgehammer". It is suggested that several civilians are killed as there is gunfire heard in the Hope fair; the ICA also causes a gasoline tanker to crash, setting fire to a large section of Hope. The third time the ICA appears is at the Burnwood family crypt in Cornwall, England; Travis used them to dig up Burnwood's crypt and used another team, the Praetorians, to protect himself. Nonetheless, 47 eliminates them both. In Hitman: Absolution's ending, Diana welcomes Agent 47 back, suggesting the ICA has rehired them both.

Personnel

Leadership

Hitman: Enemy Within describes their board of directors in detail. Their chairman is an unidentified male with a deep voice, who does not show his face (also demanding of middle management like Diana to show their faces as little as possible), and as of 2003 their board of directors consist of;

Aheem Shbot (Former Iraqi minister, with a stolen $25 million fortune from the war)
Jose Sosa (Venezuelan oil minister)
Frank Tang (High-ranking member of a Chinese tong, or crime ring)
Lalu Khan aka "King of Whores" (Leader of Asia's biggest prostitute network)
Dr. Natalia Luka (Arms dealer selling Russian nuclear weapons to the third world)
Hans Beck (German industrialist and aspiring politician)
Mary Minnarr (South African blood diamond mogul)
Mustapha Nour (Egyptian arms dealer, selling to terrorists)
Goto Osami (Japanese Yakuza member)
Aristotle Thorakis (Greek shipping mogul, who Agent 47 would later kill for selling information to their rival, the "Puissanze Treize".)

Joe Sosa and Aristotle Thorakis are known to use their board positions to request assassinations. More than one of Sosa's rivals have died in car accidents, while Thorakis ordered at least three hits - Jose Alvarez (a Mexican cruise line owner rivaling Thorakis, who drowned in his pool even though he was an Olympic swimmer 15 years ago. This was done by 47, who hid in his pool with scuba gear), Harry Meyers (a journalist who did an expose on Thorakis dumping toxic waste into the Atlantic, and seemingly killed himself two days before his wedding) and Countess Maria Sarkov (who was hit by a truck when walking the streets, after calling Mrs. Thorakis "an ugly pig" in a New York newspaper column).

In HITMAN™, former field agent and training director Erich Soders was a board member until, like Thorakis, he sold ICA information to a rival organization and was assassinated by Agent 47.

Angus Pritchard, a man affiliated with the board, can be found and disguised as in the Hitman 3 mission, End of an Era.

Agent 47 and Diana Burnwood

Agent 47 is recognized as being the Agency's most efficient killer, an "urban legend", that is frequently requested by name from clients. During the course of Hitman: Absolution Benjamin Travis and some ICA soldiers refer to Agent 47 as the "scalpel", calling him the Agency's most subtle and precise assassin. He is also one of their most expensive, charging anywhere from $100,000 (low-rate) to $600,000 (in the cases of difficult targets like Deewana Ji or Sheikh Al-Khalifa) for his services. Hitman: Enemy Within reveals that he personally kills only 3% of the Agency's targets, but makes them 37% of their income per year. It also shows that while Agent 47 has a number because of a previous institution, other agents are simply called by name.

Agent 47's main controller, Diana, is the voice heard almost exclusively from all the games. There is only one other voice in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, and that is Clera in The Graveyard Shift.

Numerous assassinations can be attributed to Agent 47. Being a member makes him an underground public representative. His success is their success, bringing more clients to them and himself. Such assassinations have come in the form of bombings, poisonings, strangulation, "accidents", on top of numerous more specific other public killings, making the Agency, and Agent 47, a highly sought after service and assassin that is known to get the job done.

List of All Known Personnel

Names	Rank	Units	Roles	Status
Aheem Shbot	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Jose Sosa	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Frank Tang	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Lalu Khan	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Dr. Natalia Luka	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Hans Beck	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Mary Minnarr	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Mustapha Nour	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Goto Osami	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Active
Aristotle Thorakis	Board Member	N/A	Board Member	Deceased
Erich Soders	Board Member	N/A	Agent (Formerly) Board Member	Defected/Deceased
Benjamin Travis	TETRA	The Saints Praetorians	Handler	Deceased
Diana Burnwood	TETRA	N/A	Handler	Defected
Agent 47	GAMMA	N/A	Agent	Defected
LaSandra Dixon	GAMMA	The Saints	Agent, Field Captain of The Saints	Deceased
Heather McCarthy	EAGLE (Possibly)	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Jacqueline Moorehead	EAGLE	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Agnija Radoncic	EAGLE	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Dijana Radoncic	EAGLE	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Jennifer Anne Paxton	EAGLE	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Marie Garnier	EAGLE	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Louisa Cain	EAGLE	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Boo	EAGLE	The Saints	Agent	Deceased
Jade Nguyen	Tritos	N/A	Analyst	Deceased
Clera	Unknown	N/A	Handler	Active
Birdie	Unknown	N/A	Agent (Formerly) Informant	Active/Non-Exclusive
Jack Aegis	Unknown	Praetorians	Agent	Deceased
John Hoplon	Unknown	Praetorians	Agent	Deceased
Carey Scutum	Unknown	Praetorians	Agent	Deceased
Tuulia Hernandez	Unknown	N/A	Agent	Deceased/Defected
Jiao	Unknown		Handler	Active
Agent Montgomery	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent, Leader of a hit squad	Determinant
Agent Banner	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Tremaine	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Thames	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Green	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Rhodes	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Swan	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Lowenthal	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Chamberlin	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Davenport	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Agent Price	Unknown	Unnamed Hit Squad	Agent	Determinant
Hush	Unknown		Cyber Security Specialist	Deceased
Imogen Royce	Unknown		Archivist	Deceased
Dolores Powell	Unknown		Handler	Active
Sharon Reed	Unknown		ICA Core Maintenance Engineer	Determinant

ICA Assets

Names	Organization	Occupation	Roles	Status
Carlton Smith	Central Intelligence Agency (Formerly) Interpol	CIA Agent Interpol Agent	Spy	Alive
Tommy Clemenza	Tommy Clemenza Sartoria	Tailor Tommy Clemenza Sartoria Owner	Supplier	Alive
Yurishka	KGB (Formerly) Russian Army	KGB agent (Formerly)	Spy	Alive
Afghan Agency Contact	N/A	Unknown	Courier	Alive
Indian Agency Contact	N/A	Unknown	Messenger	Alive
Knight	N/A	Contract Killer	Sniper	Alive
Stone	N/A	Contract Killer Convict (Formerly)	Sniper	Alive
Dave Ready	Kronstadt Industries	Kronstadt Industries Employee	Informant	Alive

Known Clients

Names	Organization	Occupation	Status
Miranda Jamison (Suggested)	Gorka Institute The Ark Society	Art Appraiser Director of Gorka Institute The Ark Society member	Deceased
Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer	French Foreign Legion The Five Fathers	French Foreign Legion soldier Scientist Providence Operative	Deceased
Unnamed Wealthy Romanian	Unknown	Unknown	Alive
Mr. Northcott	Northcott Family	Entrepeneur	Alive
Mayor of Rotterdam	Rotterdam Government	Mayor of Rotterdam	Alive
Sergei Zavorotko	N/A	Arms Dealer Terrorist	Deceased
Unnamed Wealthy Father	Unknown	Unknown	Alive
Margeaux LeBlanc	The Leblanc Drug Cartel	Cartel Boss	Alive
Blake Dexter	Dexter Industries	CEO of Dexter Industries	Deceased
Omid Maklouf	The Balkan Drug Cartel	Cartel Boss	Deceased
Taheji Koyama	CICADA - The Sarajevo Six	CICADA - The Sarajevo Six Logistics/Operation Coordinator (Formerly) Philanthropist	Deceased
Simone Larin	N/A	Owner of Palais de Walewska	Alive
Lucas Grey (The Shadow Client)	CICADA (Formerly) Milton-Fitzpatrick (Formerly) Private Militia (Formerly)	Mercenary CICADA Operative (Formerly) Milton-Fitzpatrick Head Security (Formerly) Private Militia Leader (Formerly) Assassin Terrorist	Deceased
Jackie Carrington	N/A	Sitcom Star (Formerly)	Determinant
Tommy "The Hammer" Stoakes	A London Street Gang	Gangster	Alive
Silvio Caruso	Ether Biotech Corporation	Ether Biotech Corporation Bio Scientist	Deceased
Dylan Narváez	Tobacco Company	Tobacco Company owner	Alive
Unnamed Major Ether Stockbroker	Ether Biotech Corporation	Ether Biotech Corporation Stockbroker	Alive
Arthur Edwards	Providence	Providence - Constant (Formerly) -Leader	Determinant
Locksley	Unknown	Unknown	Alive
Aleksander Kovak	The Yardbirds	Thief The Yardbirds Leader	Alive

Client by Organization

Names	Status
Central Intelligence Agency	Active
MI5	Active
MI6	Active
United Nations	Active
Federal Bureau of Investigation	Active
Interpol	Active
New York Mafia	Active
A Male Hygeine Product Company	Active
L'Avventura Pictures	Active
The Keeble Family	Active
Kronstadt Industries	Active
Hamilton-Lowe	Active
The Highmoore Family	Active
Providence	Active

Known Standard Weapons

Melee Weapons

Agency Tanto Knife

Handguns

Sub-Machine Guns

Shotguns

Assault Rifles

Agency ARZ 160

Snipers

Agency Kazo TRG

Thrown

Launchers

RPG

Misc.

ICA Units

Type	Roles	Images
Agency Heavy Troopers	Tactical Assault Unit	Add a photo to this gallery
Agency Soldiers	Assault Unit	Add a photo to this gallery
Agency Grunts	Low Level Combat Unit	Add a photo to this gallery
Agency Technician	Technician and Forensics	Add a photo to this gallery
The Saints	Experimental Wetwork Unit
Praetorians	Elite Security Unit

Trivia

It is also interesting to note that the Agency's logo itself is based on the original MI5 emblem, replacing, along with the images themselves, the characters in the three corners, originally M, I, and 5, from left to right with IOI, for IO-Interactive.
In the Saints ICA File trailer, it's mentioned in the documentation that the Agency apparently uses names of birds as ranks for its operatives. For example, the rank of some of the Saints is named as "Eagle" and documents suggest that one of the members, Heather McCarthy, should be hired as "rank Sparrow".
The Agency's motto, which is in Latin, "Merces Letifer" means "Lethal Trade".
Atop the Agency's logo resides the "all-seeing eye", frequently attributed to the Illuminati and Freemasonry. This can also be seen on the American dollar bill, though it is simply associated with the Christian Trinity.

Gallery

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