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* ''Franchise/StarWars'': bounty hunters fill this niche in the Star Wars universe, the most famous of them being Jango Fett in the prequel trilogy, and his clone and successor Boba Fett in the original trilogy. They can be hired to capture people, but they can also be hired to kill people, and quite a few employers aren't particular about whether their target is brought back dead or alive. Old and new expanded universes alike sometimes created characters who were more traditional assassins, but none that ever quite displaced the bounty hunters.
* ''Literature/JackRyan'':
** Discussed in ''Literature/WithoutRemorse'', when an up-and-coming mobster believes he's being targeted by "a professional" and asks his contact in TheMafia about it. The contact reflects that this is mostly a Hollywood created illusion. The Mafia doesn't ''have'' some class of elite killers - it remembers which of its members are good at killing, or more precisely those who aren't bothered by it, but those people don't do it for a living, and spend most of their time doing more mundane and profitable work. He doesn't want to explain any of this to an outsider, though, so he simply says "it isn't one of mine." Of course, the first criminal is more right than he knew, as the person targeting him is in fact...
** John T. Kelly, Vietnam veteran and former Navy SEAL, with quite a bit of covert reconnaissance and enemy kills under his belt. When his girlfriend, a former prostitute, is murdered by her old pimp after he finds her again, Kelly decides to put his military experience to use and starts killing the members of the criminal network that enslaved her one by one. The Baltimore PD eventually catch on to him, but by this point he's also been taken on by the CIA as a consultant for some unrelated work (due to his Vietnam experience), and they're impressed enough by him that they're willing to take him on full time, helping him fake his death and arranging a new identity ("John Clark"). For the next thirty years, he's basically the CIA's in-house hitman. Downplayed in that, like the Mafia's killers, this isn't his primary job: he's mostly a field intelligence officer, i.e. a spy. However, on those rare occasions when the CIA has a job that requires killing, he's the one they turn to.
** The extreme-left terrorist underworld serves this purpose for the Soviet Bloc. Most Western nations have a "revolutionary" cell active within it, like the Red Army Faction in Germany or the Red Brigades in Italy, who're ostensibly trying to lead a communist revolution. However, the reality is that these organizations are mostly tiny, having only one or two dozen members, and completely divorced from the public in the societies they're trying to "liberate." As a result, they're completely dependent on the Soviets, their East European client states, and their allies in the third world such as Libya or Syria, who basically treat them as unofficial death squads providing them with PlausibleDeniability. With the collapse of the communist bloc, these people lose their main base of support, but some people still manage to find a use for them: in ''Literature/RainbowSix'', a former KGB officer who's gone freelance is able to reactivate some of them and use them as killers on behalf of his new employers.
** Discussed in ''Literature/WithoutRemorse'', when an up-and-coming mobster believes he's being targeted by "a professional" and asks his contact in TheMafia about it. The contact reflects that this is mostly a Hollywood created illusion. The Mafia doesn't ''have'' some class of elite killers - it remembers which of its members are good at killing, or more precisely those who aren't bothered by it, but those people don't do it for a living, and spend most of their time doing more mundane and profitable work. He doesn't want to explain any of this to an outsider, though, so he simply says "it isn't one of mine." Of course, the first criminal is more right than he knew, as the person targeting him is in fact...
** John T. Kelly, Vietnam veteran and former Navy SEAL, with quite a bit of covert reconnaissance and enemy kills under his belt. When his girlfriend, a former prostitute, is murdered by her old pimp after he finds her again, Kelly decides to put his military experience to use and starts killing the members of the criminal network that enslaved her one by one. The Baltimore PD eventually catch on to him, but by this point he's also been taken on by the CIA as a consultant for some unrelated work (due to his Vietnam experience), and they're impressed enough by him that they're willing to take him on full time, helping him fake his death and arranging a new identity ("John Clark"). For the next thirty years, he's basically the CIA's in-house hitman. Downplayed in that, like the Mafia's killers, this isn't his primary job: he's mostly a field intelligence officer, i.e. a spy. However, on those rare occasions when the CIA has a job that requires killing, he's the one they turn to.
** The extreme-left terrorist underworld serves this purpose for the Soviet Bloc. Most Western nations have a "revolutionary" cell active within it, like the Red Army Faction in Germany or the Red Brigades in Italy, who're ostensibly trying to lead a communist revolution. However, the reality is that these organizations are mostly tiny, having only one or two dozen members, and completely divorced from the public in the societies they're trying to "liberate." As a result, they're completely dependent on the Soviets, their East European client states, and their allies in the third world such as Libya or Syria, who basically treat them as unofficial death squads providing them with PlausibleDeniability. With the collapse of the communist bloc, these people lose their main base of support, but some people still manage to find a use for them: in ''Literature/RainbowSix'', a former KGB officer who's gone freelance is able to reactivate some of them and use them as killers on behalf of his new employers.
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* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': A MasterOfDisguise features in "The Assassin." There was also Axminster in Season 1, and Deborah later on in the series. And there's the BigBad of the series, Murdoc, who eventually turns out to be part of a fraternity of assassins named HIT ("Homicide International Trust").
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* ''Series/MacGyver1985'': Quite a few of them, including the BigBad. Given that the show's protagonist was a MartialPacifist who would never kill, they made thematically appropriate villains. To list them mostly in chronological order.
** Piedra, from season 1, is an assassin hired to kill a Central American bishop advocating for peace. AMasterOfDisguise WalkingArsenal who carries weapons and tools in the most unlikely places, helping him to not only kill people but disguise himself and break out of prison.
** Axminster, also from season 1. It's implied that he's a political terrorist rather than a contract killer: he's sicced on [=MacGyver=] in retaliation for his destruction of a nuclear reactor in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. He's decidedly less impressive, managing to track down Mac at his grandfather's home, but only to then be led on a merry chase through the Colorado wilderness and eventually caught by the two of them. He also doesn't work alone, having a posse with him instead, and is taken down with relative ease once his men have been neutralized.
** Jimmy "the Eraser" Kendall from Season 2 is an unusually sympathetic example. A mob hitman who's gotten old and wise enough to realize how little his life is leaving him with, he bonds with [=MacGyver=] over their love of baseball while pursuing the same criminal. Mac doesn't initially realize what he is; when he finally does finds out, he's able to talk him into letting the target go, then helps him fake his death and reappear under a new identity.
** Deborah, from seasons 3 and 4. Possibly the most efficient one portrayed on the show: instead of going in guns blazing when contracted to kill [=MacGyver=], she instead researches him thoroughly, then inserts herself into his life by meeting him through one of his volunteer activities, and they begin dating after finding how much they have "in common." When her attempt to kill him fails and finally exposes her, she's also smart enough to give up everything on the people who hired her in exchange for a reduced sentence. Suffers heavily from VillainDecay after her release, however, when none of this intelligence is on display, and ends up dying.
** Bobby Lee and his cousin Willy, from season 7. A pair of hitmen from Texas, heavy on the cowboy image, not terribly bright, caught and imprisoned by the end of the episode.
** In an unusual example, the season 5 premiere featuresin "The Assassin." There was also Axminster in Season 1, and Deborah later on in ''the'' [[TheHashshashin Assassins]] (yes, [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed those ones]]) as secondary villains - but [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything they don't assassinate anyone]]. Instead, they've partnered with the series. And Von Leer brothers in their search for the Holy Grail.
** Finally, of course, there's theBigBad arch-villain of the series, Murdoc, who eventually series: Murdoc. The world's greatest contract killer, he's never failed to carry out a job - except when [=MacGyver=] got involved. He also has more lives than a cat, improbably surviving several apparent deaths from causes that should have killed a Terminator [[JokerImmunity so he can return in the next season.]] He also gets a decent amount of character development: his first few appearances had him as a one-dimensional revenge-driven killer, but the later ones have him trying to give up the life, as well as revealing that he has a sister he supports in secret. He also turns out to be part have been the star member of a fraternity an entire organization of assassins named HIT ("Homicide such killers, Homicide International Trust").Trust, who turned against him when he tried to retire.
** Piedra, from season 1, is an assassin hired to kill a Central American bishop advocating for peace. A
** Axminster, also from season 1. It's implied that he's a political terrorist rather than a contract killer: he's sicced on [=MacGyver=] in retaliation for his destruction of a nuclear reactor in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. He's decidedly less impressive, managing to track down Mac at his grandfather's home, but only to then be led on a merry chase through the Colorado wilderness and eventually caught by the two of them. He also doesn't work alone, having a posse with him instead, and is taken down with relative ease once his men have been neutralized.
** Jimmy "the Eraser" Kendall from Season 2 is an unusually sympathetic example. A mob hitman who's gotten old and wise enough to realize how little his life is leaving him with, he bonds with [=MacGyver=] over their love of baseball while pursuing the same criminal. Mac doesn't initially realize what he is; when he finally does finds out, he's able to talk him into letting the target go, then helps him fake his death and reappear under a new identity.
** Deborah, from seasons 3 and 4. Possibly the most efficient one portrayed on the show: instead of going in guns blazing when contracted to kill [=MacGyver=], she instead researches him thoroughly, then inserts herself into his life by meeting him through one of his volunteer activities, and they begin dating after finding how much they have "in common." When her attempt to kill him fails and finally exposes her, she's also smart enough to give up everything on the people who hired her in exchange for a reduced sentence. Suffers heavily from VillainDecay after her release, however, when none of this intelligence is on display, and ends up dying.
** Bobby Lee and his cousin Willy, from season 7. A pair of hitmen from Texas, heavy on the cowboy image, not terribly bright, caught and imprisoned by the end of the episode.
** In an unusual example, the season 5 premiere features
** Finally, of course, there's the
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* ''Series/StargateSG1'': Taking its cue from Star Wars, this universe mostly uses bounty hunters in the role that other franchises would give to assassins.
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* In ''ComicBook/DeadMansParty'', the enigmatic hitman known only as Ghost is an incredibly lethal assassin who is forced to put a contract out on himself.
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* In ''ComicBook/DeadMansParty'', the ''ComicBook/DeadMansParty'': The enigmatic hitman known only as Ghost is an incredibly lethal assassin who is forced to put a contract out on himself.
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* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' offers the [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold curiously downbeat]] Thugboy. Rarely seen without some sort of gun-themed t-shirt, he is known (although not by his present circle) to have taken part in a [[NoodleIncident cape-killing spree]] and is occasionally seen exercising dispassionate lethal violence -- when Ninjette is ambushed by another clan in the park, he methodically goes around shooting them all in the head afterwards, just to be sure. He also takes over Single Action's plasma pistols in the "Capeys" fight, which are presumably lethal.
* The main character of ''ComicBook/IKilledAdolfHitler'', living in a world where murder is legal. His last contract is the Fuhrer.
* The aptly titled ''Le Tueur'' (''ComicBook/TheKiller'') centers around one. He's characterized as a stoic, reflective sort of person with deeply misanthropic tendencies, although he does object to killing people for any reason other than money.
* The main character of ''ComicBook/IKilledAdolfHitler'', living in a world where murder is legal. His last contract is the Fuhrer.
* The aptly titled ''Le Tueur'' (''ComicBook/TheKiller'') centers around one. He's characterized as a stoic, reflective sort of person with deeply misanthropic tendencies, although he does object to killing people for any reason other than money.
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* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'': The comic offers the [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold curiously downbeat]] Thugboy. Rarely seen without some sort of gun-themed t-shirt, he is known (although not by his present circle) to have taken part in a [[NoodleIncident cape-killing spree]] and is occasionally seen exercising dispassionate lethal violence -- when Ninjette is ambushed by another clan in the park, he methodically goes around shooting them all in the head afterwards, just to be sure. He also takes over Single Action's plasma pistols in the "Capeys" fight, which are presumably lethal.
* ''ComicBook/IKilledAdolfHitler'': The main characterof ''ComicBook/IKilledAdolfHitler'', living lives in a world where murder is legal. His last contract is the Fuhrer.
* ''ComicBook/TheKiller'': The aptly titled''Le Tueur'' (''ComicBook/TheKiller'') comic centers around one. He's characterized as a stoic, reflective sort of person with deeply misanthropic tendencies, although he does object to killing people for any reason other than money.
* ''ComicBook/IKilledAdolfHitler'': The main character
* ''ComicBook/TheKiller'': The aptly titled
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Edited link so that it locates to the Video Game section of Golgo 13.
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* ''Manga/Golgo13'': There was a 1988 NES game based on the manga and anime (see Anime & Manga above), called ''Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode''.
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* ''Manga/Golgo13'': ''VideoGame/Golgo13'': There was a 1988 NES game based on the manga and anime (see Anime & Manga above), called ''Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode''.
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** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'': One of the killers from ''Adventures'', [[spoiler:Jezaille Brett]], is revealed in ''Resolve'' to have been [[spoiler:Asa Shinn, an infamous assassin hired by the BigBad to tie up the loose ends of a GovernmentConspiracy]] and [[spoiler:murder Dr. John H. Wilson]].
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** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'': One of the killers from ''Adventures'', [[spoiler:Jezaille Brett]], is revealed in ''Resolve'' to have been [[spoiler:Asa Shinn, an infamous assassin hired by the BigBad to tie up the loose ends of a GovernmentConspiracy]] and [[spoiler:murder Dr. John H. Wilson]]. Ironically, [[spoiler:she ends up dead in the following game as a murder victim.]]
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* ''VideoGame/TheOutfoxies'': All of the 7 playable characters are contract killers. The whole plot revolves around them attempting to fulfil their latest contract -- by killing the other 6.
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** ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'':
*** Victim Mack Rell was described as a "hitman" who was brought down to the precinct numerous times. Unlike de Killer, though, Rell was reckless, unrefined and unprepared (hence why he was caught easily).
*** ''Gyakuten Kenji 2'' (''Ace Attorney Investigations 2'') has Ryōken Hōinbō (or Sirhan Dogen in the FanTranslation), a blind assassin who used knives and his large dog to carry out hits before getting imprisoned.
*** Victim Mack Rell was described as a "hitman" who was brought down to the precinct numerous times. Unlike de Killer, though, Rell was reckless, unrefined and unprepared (hence why he was caught easily).
*** ''Gyakuten Kenji 2'' (''Ace Attorney Investigations 2'') has Ryōken Hōinbō (or Sirhan Dogen in the FanTranslation), a blind assassin who used knives and his large dog to carry out hits before getting imprisoned.
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** ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'':
***''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'': Victim Mack Rell was described as a "hitman" who was brought down to the precinct numerous times. Unlike de Killer, though, Rell was reckless, unrefined and unprepared (hence why he was caught easily).
*** ''Gyakuten Kenji 2'' (''Ace Attorney Investigations 2'') ** ''VisualNovel/GyakutenKenji2'' has Ryōken Hōinbō (or Sirhan Dogen in the FanTranslation), a blind assassin who used knives and his large dog to carry out hits before getting imprisoned.
***
