Where Would the Stereotypical Hitmen Fall on the Character Chart?

questions
#1

I have been pondering this a number of times. Dramatica positions character traits in relation to the story’s goal. Certain thriller/adventure genre films often have, besides a top villain, the hitman or stalker chasing the protagonist. They’re chasing the protagonist through the entire story, firing weapons, etc. following orders from on high. I have been categorizing them as sidekicks because of their “support” trait. They are supporting the top villain.

Now I think about this in relation to the protagonist’s effort to achieve a goal. These hitmen are actually countering the protagonist’s mission. Where would they fall typically in the Dramatica character chart, because they no longer seem actual “support” characters defined by the protagonist’s story goal?

The Contagonist is a separate issue. This is usually a prominent henchman of the villain who screws up (“hinders”) efforts of both the protagonist and antagonist. Example: Emil Muzz in “Dragnet”. Darth Vader in “Star Wars”. Walter “Dickless” Peck in “Ghostbusters”.

#2

I think in a lot of stories they would be extensions of the Antagonist, not really separate characters on their own.

This is spelled out really well for Star Wars in the theory book, with the Antagonist actually named as the Empire (which includes the stormtroopers who I think fit your stereotypical “hitmen”):

The Empire itself, embodied in the Gran Mof Tarkin and his troops, is the force diametrically opposed to the story’s goal … and is therefore the Antagonist.

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#3

I don’t know that you can generalize all hitmen as Support characters in relation to the goal in every story. If the goal is to elect a particular candidate to a certain office, couldn’t these hitmen represent Oppose rather than Support if they were trying to take out this candidate and his supporters?

#4

This begs the question is there a ‘stereotypical’ Hitman? The character introduces anticipation and mystery into any story because of so many possibilities the character would be doing in the story. Wasn’t Alan Ladd’s character Hitman the first to bring this delightful nuance to storytelling?

#5

Is the villain the protagonist of the story? If so, then his goal IS the story goal, and his henchman functions as a support character in pursuit of that goal.

If a different character is the protagonist, and the villain is acting in direct opposition to him, then his henchman would probably be a contagonist of sorts, hindering the protagonist’s (NOT the Villain’s) efforts to achieve the overall story goal.