help me work this out

I'm going to ponder this for a while, off the top of my head I'm thinking it's the sister or the assassin.

 

Abuse. Distance. A belief in the greater good.

Depends on what their relationship is, and what the assasin believes. Do you have a background for the characters yet?

ETA: And, as for why she needs to be killed, I'm a fan of the classics:

She may have ticked someone off, or is a political opponent, or perhaps she saw something that she shouldn't have, and is now going to talk.

 

It's difficult to know a motive without a setting.

Maybe she's become involved with a terrorist group who are planning to park a suitcase nuke in LA. Maybe she's pushing crack onto kids. Maybe she's an assassin herself who is after the prez or some other VIP.

Could you give us just a little more info?

 

Perhaps the sister had done something to the brother far off in the past that had not been forgiven by the brother. A bit cliche, but that's the best I've got without more info.

 

I think the concept of killing ones sister goes against human nature. However, if it is a hate vs hate relationship then it could work.

The greater good idea offered by Spherical Time is on the money. But, consider that perhaps the assassin does not realize that the mark is his own biological sister until it is done, or close to being done.

Maybe his handler, or the people he is working for have somehow hidden her true identity from him. And he is left to discover toward the end that she is indeed his sister. Perhaps something he has suspected all along. He then must decide whether to fulfill the contract or pass on it and face whatever consequences may follow.

 

I think it would be a great idea that he knows it's his sister. It will create a lot of dramatic tension in the protagonist that you can carry throughout the story.

Here's my two cents about his reasoning. Maybe his handler has a very good reason to kill her and maybe his brother agrees with it (she's a global terrorist, spy, etc.) but there might be a part of him that thinks he could change her so she wouldn't need to be assassinated. But he's reminded that others lives might just be better if she were dead. Like maybe she's a bad mother with temper issues and her young child is suffering. The brother knows if he kills his sister the child will lose a mother but he/she might grow up to a better life. Maybe make it a choice between sacrifice and redemption.

$.02 given

 

Maybe she's running for office, and is someone who the old guard doesn't want to let in, like a reformist. If there's too many hands in the pot, there'd be a lot of ruined careers on the line. Hope that helps a bit.

 

Considering that this sister character is a basically good person, perhaps you could simply make her a real good guy. He's in trouble, perhaps because his latest paycheck has failed to arrive . . . and his sister is the investigator who's got it locked up.

If only she were out of the picture, then he could bribe someone to release the account . . .

Of course, being a "good guy," she won't release the money for her brother.

I think the important thing in that kind of situation is to establish that she's a normal person. She goes to work, comes home. Maybe she's dating or she has a husband and kids.

Think about what kind of person she should be, what her job is, and what her relationship to her brother is will come out of that.

 

Well, maybe you could make the assasin slightly nicer, an evil rock hearted bastard but with love deep inside. Say he is working for a large company who set his sister up as being bad when in fact she is good but has some evidence on the company in a rather important court case (slavery?). THe guy working for them is still the stone hearted guy but he thinks he is serving his country.

How's that? It needs better developement but thats your job!
P.S. IF you really want it to be classic, make the sister a journalist.

 

hows this, he knows its going to happen if its him or another agent. But the other guy is a real sick S.O.A.B etc make it a mercy kill if you get me kill her out of compassion. Or she could leave lid off the Tomato Ketchup again and he just goes to hell with this BLAM!!

 

the sister might not even know the assasin (like when hes not assasinating)

but the brother knows the sister, and shes maybe like the only one who knows a secret about something??

maybe the whole assasination group is the family, but the sister wouldn't join?

good idea about the sister getting assasinated.

 

Perhaps he dosent need to intentionally kill her... Maybe he goes a drinkin one night, whoops, runs her over.

This will only work, of course, if the manner of death is not really so important, just that she dies/ and by his doing.

 

The way I would make it work is I would say the assasin's parents died and he/she blames it on his sister because there was a slight chance she coulda saved them. Then the assasination was well planned and after not seeing her for so many years he goes out to find her and ultamitly kill her. A quick unpainful death is never fun in this kind of story. So maybe she should die slowly. But I don't read much of that kinda stuff..but I hope I was of some help.

 

Following on from Felony's idea, have the sister put up a "valiant" fight and have the brother barely get away with his life after Police start showing up. Then you can have him running from his organisation or something because the Police found evidence of him and his boss doesnt want him to lead the Police to them.
So they try and kill him.
The brother begins to become human again (not the animal you described)
Then the brother finds the sister still alive and they run together and the organisation gets caught, but the sister dies from something anyway.

I knows Its not what you asked for, but hell, It could be useful?

 

I guess what Im thinking here is..

What the brother THINKS the sister is..doesnt necessarily have to mesh with what the READER thinks she is.

He doesnt concern himself with those types or morals or ethics..perhaps it can be justified for a "greater good"...I think its all subjective in relation to what kind of character the brother is.

As we all know, someones reason for committing murder may not be "reasonable" by our standards, but to them it makes complete sense.

The human brain rocks in its complexity

 

Religion. Brainwashing. Cult orders.
She tried to get him out of the cult and is therefore evil.
Mental Illness - the voices in his head made him do it!
If she's essentially good, then maybe she's onto something bad and must be destroyed before she shares her knowledge. His perception of good and bad must be skewed.

Scattered thoughts!

 

What about if he kills her just to prove a point.
To show his masters that there really is no line he isn't willing to cross. That emotion will never sway him from his goal.

 

I'd watch Alias. I think that series is a little unrealistic, but it does have a reason why people would try and kill family members and close friends.

Here's an idea, a bit cleche... but -- she doesn't remember who she is and thinks that by doing something completely off target will get her to remember who she really is. Possibly she's been doing it because she knew that before she got nocked out she saw something that she MUST remember. So after the main character kills her, he hunts down those that were usingher and possibly finds out what this deep secret is that she was trying to rediscover? Blah... I hate that idea...

Possibly he's a druggy and is behind in his payments with the Mophia. So the Mophia hires him to kill his sister. Possibly because one of these shady characters is pissed off because she refused to date him in the past or insulted him while she was just being a waiter for her brother and this man. What would possibly be a dark parrallel is if the employer raped her at some point in her past... maybe she's pressed charges agains Mr. Mophia and she's winning.

Possibly she's a happy person, but she's also in debt with these shady people, only she doesn't realize it.

Possibly it was identity theft. Someone has done something absolutely dark and terrible under her name and he's forced to kill her because of the actions of someone else.

I like gavtheevilgenius's idea. There are two assassins possibly hunting her down and he wants to give her a mercy killing before the second assassin kills her brutally and slowly.

I like Felony's idea that he blames his sister for not saving their dead parents.

Possibly he's drugged to be more willing to accept his orders. When he kills her or when he comes to the point to where he's about to kill her, the drug wears off.

I don't know... possibly a mixture of the ideas.

 

The sister is threatening to go public with her story of incest...maybe his story of incest...maybe she's going to blow the whistle on a dirty, long-kept family secret...maybe that would destroy the family business.

Public humiliation or loss of fortune are two things that might make a bro kill his sis.