I ask this because in Lego Batman 2 (which I know uses a newer engine than this game), the equivalents to this game's Hostages are called "Citizens in Peril". In Lego Harry Potter, you have "Students in Peril". In all three Lego Marvel video games, you have "Stan Lee in Peril". In Lego Batman 3, you have "Adam West in Peril".

I'm curious why this game uses the term "Hostages". Looking through the PDF of the manual (I've played this game through Steam as a digital copy, so I get a digital manual that still assumes it's a physical copy), there's no mention of Hostages by any term. And the icon the game uses to determine if you've rescued them or not doesn't use the term either. So did it come from a guide or something?

Runners have called them that since at least early 2019. I don't know if "hostages" is an official term the game uses.