Lee Hong (Chinese: 李洪) is the leader of the Red Dragon Triad and one of 47's five fathers. He is the first main target of 47 and is successfully assassinated after a succession of false flag operations.
Background[]
Early Life[]
Lee Hong is the leader of the Red Dragon Triad. Probably born in 1930. Like his FFL comrades Ort-Meyer, Ochoa, Fuchs and Jegorov, he served in the French Foreign Legion from 1950-1955, during the Indochina War.
Two weeks after he returned from service, he poisoned his own uncle to take control of the Red Dragon Triad, earning him the nickname "The Man With No Conscience". He had been the unquestioned ruler of the Red Dragon Triads, and Hong Kong's criminal underground in general, since the early 1970s.
He became involved in Ort-Meyer's project, providing funding in exchange for spare organs (which is why he appears young and healthy for his age) and potentially having a clone assassin to help his operations (the real reason Ort-Meyer made clones, so they could become Providence assassins). This makes him one of 47's five genetic "fathers".
Downfall[]
By 1999 (the year of Hitman: Codename 47), he pulled his funding from Ort-Meyer's projects believing he had gone crazy. Ort-Meyer anonymously assigned 47 to kill him. As Lee Hong had become much too powerful to target directly early on, 47 began the process of isolating Hong by instigating a war between him and the Blue Lotus Triad, to weaken both his influence and manpower; by means such as lifting his police support by killing the Hong Kong Chief of Police. Agent 47 eventually kills him despite the odds, since Lee Hong still counted on his small private army of Red Dragon Triad, was armed with his poison-tipped sword, and still had his trusted personal bodyguard Tzun - who escorted him everywhere he went and even tasted his food. With Lee Hong dead and the Jade Figurine gone, the Red Dragon Triad collapsed into anarchy.
Mentioned[]
Lee Hong is mentioned in Shogun Showdown, the mission to kill Yakusa's kingpin, Masahiro Hayamoto. In Hayamoto's harem, Agent 47 encounters Lei Ling and will mention he saved her from Lee Hong and his triad.
In HITMAN™ 3, there exists an Escalation Contract called The Lee Hong Derivation. It seems like a combination of The Massacre at Cheung Chau Fish Restaurant or The Seafood Massacre with The Lee Hong Assassination or Slaying a Dragon, requiring the players to eliminating the targets in specific ways like those in Codename 47 or Contracts.
Abilities[]
Master Martial Artist: Hong is versed in both unarmed and armed combat. Those abilities were honed by his military training in the French Foreign Legion.
Master Swordsman: Hong is well-versed in swordsmanship and he's known to carry his poison-tipped Chinese Sword.
Military Training: His military training honed skills in martial arts, firearms, explosives, and warfare tactics.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
General
- His most valuable possession is the Jade Figurine, which he uses to legitimize his rule over the Red Dragons.
- It is mentioned that Lee Hong's appetite for women is one of his weaknesses that could be exploited. This is proven true as Lei Ling stole the combination to the safe from his trousers, perhaps after they had sex and he had fallen asleep.
- If 47 frees Smith, find and gives the jade figurine to the shop owner, frees Lei Ling, and kills every single guard in the level (minus the one hanging out at the boat), Lee Hong and Zhun will personally come to 47 to try and kill him themselves.
- He is one of the Five Fathers who is mentioned in Hitman 2:Silent Assassin. The other one is Boris Ivanovich Deruzka.
Hitman: Contracts
- In Contracts, Lee Hong carries with him a poison-filled Chinese sword that glows green due to the poisonous substance mixed with the blade. The sword is extremely powerful and can kill a person with a single stroke.
- If the player knocks him out and steals his sword, when he regains consciousness, instead of cowering, he will fistfight the player. One of the few Npcs to engage in unarmed combat.
- Lee Hong is the first of the Five Fathers that 47 eliminates in Codename 47, but he is the penultimate target in Contracts.