Our Top Video Game Assassins

Assassins come in all shapes and sizes in the real world. Not only are the characters themselves larger than life, but they also manage to pull off contracts and assassinations that would make anything in this world seem feeble and just lame. So for that reason, take a few minutes to celebrate some of our favorite gaming assassins. Some are old, and some are new, and some are relatively unknown. But one thing is for sure: They are all assassins. And they are all deserving of their place on this list.


Ezio Auditore

Undoubtedly, if you ask a gamer to say the first thing that comes to mind when you say “video games” and “assassin,” they will blurt out Ezio’s name. He has quickly become one of the most popular assassins in gaming history. With three titles under his belt and a brotherhood of assassins at his back, Ezio is one of the greatest assassins to ever show his face, or try not to, in gaming. He uses everything at his disposal, from hand-to-hand combat techniques to the infant-stage inventions of none other than Leonardo DaVinci. His expertise with all manner of weapons and his acute use of stealth and subversion make him the top video-game assassin on our list.

Agent 47

Agent 47, the bald, barcoded enigma that he is, has a somewhat convoluted backstory. But it doesn't matter, because when you're setting up an elaborate barbecue-related accident in a suburban backyard, clones and mysterious agencies seem a bit irrelevant. A test-tube clone born in a Romanian mental institution that was hiding questionable genetics experiments, 47 is the culmination of the work of Dr. Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer. 47 was trained from birth to be an efficient killer with nearly any type of weapon (or with no weapon at all). His exploits with the I.C.A. (or The Agency, as it is called) are the stuff of legend. The one thing that sets 47 apart from all the other assassins in the gaming world is that he only ever has one healthy human relationship. But it is with his Agency handler, Diana–whom he is contracted to kill by the very Agency that they work for. 47’s kill count is innumerable, and he remains one of the best assassins in the business.

Corvo Attano

This royal-protector-turned-renegade has quickly become one of our favorite assassins in gaming. If you use your wits and all the assets at your disposal, you can make Corvo Attano a damn-near unstoppable force for change in the streets of Dunwall. The best part of it is that if you use your skills and weapons well, no one will even be aware of your existence at all…until the very last blow is delivered and the real enemy revealed. Oh, and you can mentally possess rats and make them do your bidding–including killing. How cool is that?

Thane Krios

It’s not everyday that you see an assassin praying, not only for himself, but also for his target, before an assassination. But Thane Krios believes himself to be an instrument or weapon and therefore feels no guilt at his profession. He even asks that if you use a gun to kill someone, do you hold the gun responsible? This is Thane’s justification for his career choice. Secretly lauded to be the greatest assassin in the galaxy, Thane prefers the personal touch of killing his marks up close and personal. His skills with weapons, martial arts, and biotics make him one of the greatest assassins to ever grace the Sol System of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Solid Snake

Born of the Les Enfant Terribles program, Solid Sanke was groomed to be the perfect soldier to carry on the legacy of Big Boss. He was trained by none other than Big Boss’ right-hand man, McDonnell “Master” Miller, to be a survivalist and expert infiltrator. After years of VR work, simulations, and real-life missions, Snake meets his greatest foe. He meets his brother Liquid Snake at an incident on Shadow Moses Island that throws him into the abyss of hunting down and killing hundreds of soldiers, PMCs, and high-value associates of Revolver Ocelot and Liquid Snake–all in the name of the denuclearization of the world. His sheer numbers on the kill-count leaderboard score him a spot on this list.

Altair

Ezio may be the talk of the town, but his predecessor Altaïr wrote the book on being an assassin. Quite literally, in this case, as Ezio often has to find pages of Altaïr's codex to uncover his secrets. Altaïr returns to the main Assassin's Creed series in Revelations, playable in flashback missions. He may not have the gadgets and sense of humour of his younger counterpart, but in his day Altaïr cut an imposing figure through the Holy Land. On the rare occasions he was seen, anyway.

HK-47

HK-47, the Sith assassin droid, was created to hunt Jedi. For this he uses his proficiency with weapons, his advanced programming, and his acerbic wit. Many Jedi fell beneath his barrage of gunfire, and even more still fell prey to his sharp tongue. Eventually teaming up with the player character in Knights of the Old Republic, HK-47's assassination days may be behind him, but his distain for organic life and lust for blood have never gone away.


Rikimaru/Ayame (Tenchu) 

Rikimaru and Ayame, the duo from the majority of the Tenchu games, lurk in the shadows and kill their victims from afar with blades, shurikens and deceptively tasty poisoned rice cakes. Rikimaru is head of the Azuma ninja clan, of which Ayame is a member. Both are adept at dispatching foes silently, skulking around like only a true ninja assassin can.

Cyborg Ninja

Cyborg Ninja stalks the corridors of Shadow Moses, dispatching soldiers and challenging Snake to a fist fight. Eventually it turns out he's there to help, and is in fact Gray Fox, a former FOXHOUND member whom Snake believed to be dead. The joyous reunion is cut short, however, when Gray Fox is crushed by a Metal Gear piloted by Liquid Snake. Ninja is armed with a high frequency blade and wears an armoured exoskeleton.