Hitman

A hitman is kind of like an assassin. The term is a bit sexist, since other races and genders can perform the duties of a hitman just as effectively as anyone with an XY chromosome. Yes, the term applies equally to hitwomen and hitmonkeys. One of the things that differentiates a hitman from an assassin, is that hitmen are typically aligned with a particular organization, whereas assassin are generally contract killers for hire. Hitmen are often employed by criminal cartels and their primary job function is to murder, or "whack", some poor bastard who probably doesn't even deserve it. Hitmen are often seen in crime drama fiction as well as the more insular gangster films subgenre.

In film

 * Pulp Fiction: The 1994 action movie Pulp Fiction focused on the day to day lives of two hitmen named Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield. In addition to carrying out the orders of their employer, Marsellus Wallace, Jules and Vincent spent time discussing various aspects of their lives including cultural differences between the U.S. and Amsterdam, internecine organizational gossip and even comparing giving someone a foot massage to cuninlingus.