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| “ | Kovacs: Hello and welcome to you, Mr. Rieper - how may I assist you? Agent 47: That depends - are you the only Dr. Kovacs here? Kovacs: Yes, I am. Agent 47: Hey... I recognize you - you were the one with the needle. Kovacs: It wasn't me - I was hardly involved in the experiments. It was Professor Ort-Meyer, who was in charge - yes, yes, he's the one to blame, not me! |
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| ~ Agent 47 talking to Dr. Kovacs in his office, right before the latter is killed by the agent. |
Odon Kovacs is the secondary antagonist and a optional target in the 12th mission "The Setup" from the 2000 stealth-action game Hitman: Codename 47.
He worked as a doctor at the asylum in Romania and was the second-in-command of Dr. Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer's projects, taking part in his cloning experiments, which also seemed to include Agent 47's cloning.
Biography[]
In his past, according to Diana Burnwood's briefing, Dr. Kovacs had been working at the hospital ever since he finished his studies in medicine at the University of Bucharest. He had specialized in subconscious mind control and behavioral sciences, and went on to work upon psychiatric hospital subjects. Nothing was known about the past life of Dr. Kovacs between that and 2000, except he was the one in charge of taking care of Agent 47, including monitoring his health and injecting him, which instilled a fear of needles into the clone.
Sometime after the hit on Arkadij Jegorov, the ICA found out that the the main four targets were requested by one and the same person, Dr. Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer, an act that violated one of the Agency's rules of not getting involved in larger wars and only accepting one contract per customer. The Agency decides to violate this rule nonetheless, given their client's powerful connections, permitting him to request one more mission under the condition that a different agent would be sent on the assignment. The mastermind, however, declines the offer, explicitly stating that he will only accept 47. At first, his insistence seems reasonable due to 47's brilliant track record, but ICA still suspects that something isn't right and advices him to brace himself for a trap. The assignment itself is to eliminate a certain Odon Kovacs, working at the high-security mental hospital in Romania. ICA warns the agent that the facility is too well-guarded and prohibits him from equipping any weapons, even the fiber wire.
47 carefully enters the asylum's courtyard through the gate with a peculiar symbol on it and meets a seemingly well-meaning orderly at the front desk. He checks in under his usual alias to have an appointment with Dr. Kovacs and the orderly gives 47 the directions to the doctor's office. As he passes through the automatic doors that lock behind him as soon as he enters, the orderly, unbeknownst to the agent, promptly dials the number of Dr. Ort-Meyer to inform him about the protagonist's arrival. In turn, the scientist calls the special forces and summons them to the institution under the pretense of saving the staff from the visitor who's gone berserk. Needless to say, Dr. Kovacs is a mere decoy and the assignment was commissioned by Ort-Meyer to lure 47 into the facility and ambush him.
The agent makes his way to the second floor and through the operating theater, where the gibbering lunatics run amock, reaches the doctor's office and comes face to face with Odon Kovacs himself. At first, he inquires of the man if he's the only doctor going by the name of Kovacs, but then the painful memories associated with his childhood rush back and 47 recognizes him as the "one with the needle". Kovacs too realizes who's standing in front of him and tries to shift all the blame to professor Ort-Meyer in an attempt to buy himself more time. It doesn't help, as the agent is already set to complete the assignment anyway, even if he feels like sparing him. The agent can utilise a multitude of weapons stashed throughout the asylum to kill Kovacs, including a poison-filled syringe, which's an excellent method to get back at the doctor for the trauma and to avoid a mess. Once Odon is dead, the SWAT team summoned by Ort-Meyer storms the institution and begins searching for 47. He has a choice of either taking them head-on (gladly, the abundance of firearms around the facility makes this a viable option) or to take a less wasteful approach by concealing the doctor's corpse behind the office table and donning his uniform. Either way, 47 obtains Odon's master key that grants him access to the rest of the asylum. The corridors of the facility have no shortage of psychotic, yet cooperative patients, who, in return for their favorite toys, may guide the agent to various locations of interest, one of which is the TV room where 47 runs into the dazed and broken Agent Smith sitting on the chair in a drugged stupor, clad in a patient robe. Smith's treatment at the hospital was horrendous to such an extent he confuses 47 for an orderly (or even Kovacs himself) and implores the agent not to hurt him, then doesn't believe 47 for a moment when he assures Smith that he's in fact real and not a figment of his imagination. 47 asks him about the presence of a SWAT team at the scene of what was supposed to be a routine task, but Smith tries to stimulate his memory instead, alluding to the fact that 47 has already been at the asylum and mentions "experiments", "cloning" and "DNA" in his assorted ramblings. Clearly, he's in no shape to enlighten 47 and pleads for an antidote that will relieve him from his drug-induced stupor. 47 administers him the antidote and Smith suddenly brings up a hidden entrance to a certain basement, determined to show it to the agent. He leads 47 to the elevator and reveals to him that the clandestine entrance is at the bottom of the shaft. He takes the elevator up, which allows the agent to enter the basement to find all the answers there.
Appearance[]
Odon is a slightly overweight Caucasian male in his fifties, standing at 5'10 and weighing 180 pounds. He has grey hair with a widow's peak, long pointed moustache and a goatee beard. He wears a pince-nez on his nose and is dressed in a unifrom that consists of a turquoise lab coat, a dark blue button-up shirt, grey pants held by a leather belt turquoise shoes.
Personality[]
For the most part, Odon's past and intentions are shrouded in mystery. Nevertheless, the state of the hospital itself and its unhinged inhabitants point towards him being a shady individual with a questionable set of morals, since he chose to use his scientific acumen to experiment on the miserable, disabled people and perform illegal cloning, instead of applying his expertise for the greater good, be it for his personal gain or for the sake of advancing the science by any means. It's left ambiguous as to why 47 has developed a phobia of needles while interacting with Odon, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that the doctor wasn't particularly kind and gentle to the clone.
The notes and diagrams found on the blackboards around the asylum, as well as mini laboratories where nonedescript chemicals are brewing, along with the other unnerving items like human skulls and brains preserved in jars imply that the ultimate goal of the treatment that Odon inflicts on his patients doesn't have anything to do with healing them of their ailments, but on the contrary is designed with the express purpose of brainwashing them and bending their will to his or someone else's whims. This is further corroborated by the dialogue of certain lunatics, who claim to only have "a half of a brain" sometimes (though it could just be ramblings of a madman), possibly signifying that Odon's experiments have left their psyche with irreperable damage, and the fact that when Agent Smith was captured by the staff, presumably under the orders of Kovacs, he was tortured with painful drugs and "mind tricks", to the point where he could barely speak and couldn't tell illusions from reality.
Ironically, dealing with mental patients seems to have taken a toll on his own sanity. He can be seen rocking back and forth absentmindedly in his chair while alone in his office. Additionally, Odon might have a grandiose view of himself and takes great pride in his work, since the agent can stumble upon a statue built onto the fountain in his honor, that depicts him in a joyful pose, a golden syringe in hand.
In a stark contrast to his ghoulish crimes, Kovacs is a massive coward, who crumbles in a pile instantly after getting recognized by 47. He's not above pinning the blame entirely on Ort-Meyer to save his own skin, despite him being just as involved in the cruel experimentation and torture of the patients as his boss.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His name reveals that he descended from Hungarian origins. His original name would be "Dr. Kovács Ödön" using the eastern name order plus the accents.
- Judging by the security footage from the hospital that Sergei Zavorotko and the Mystery Man watch in the intro of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, 47 has canonically slaughtered all the staff and every SWAT team member instead of applying Odon's disguise, which's strange, considering it's much more difficult and impractical than changing into his clothes and avoiding direct confrontation. It could even imply that 47 has decided to spare Kovacs for one reason or another, although it's pretty unlikely, taking into account that he was never heard from again after the game's events and the agent's experience with the doctor.
- Even though he's 47's initial target, it's not necessary to kill him in order to accomplish the assignment and move onto the final level. Furthermore, Odon's uniform is not imperative in finishing the level stealthily, since the orderlies' and the patients' outfits can be utilised with the same result, so long as 47 hides the bodies from the SWAT team.
External Link[]
- Odon Kovacs - Hitman Wiki
