History Characters / TheSopranosTonySoprano

* ArchEnemy: Of all of Tony's enemies, [[TheSociopath Richie Aprile]], [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Ralph Cifaretto]] and [[EvilerThanThou Phil Leotardo]] were his biggest headaches.

* ArchEnemy: Of all Tony's enemies, [[TheSociopath Richie Aprile]], [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Ralph Cifaretto]] and [[EvilCounterpart Phil Leotardo]] were his biggest headaches.

* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] at first, in that Tony's [[AbusiveParents far from a shining example of a parent]], but he nonetheless does a decent job of keeping his kids on the straight and narrow.
* BrilliantButLazy: Tony's high school guidance counselor tells his mother that he has scored very high on the Stanford I.Q. test, but doesn't get any grades higher than D+ because he doesn't apply himself.

* TheBrute: While Tony's main role is being the boss, he's also this. Due to his size, he's probably the physically strongest character in the series (along with Bobby), and he takes full advantage of it. Most of the time, there isn't any strategy to his fights, he just has to get his hands on his opponent and smash them around until they stop moving. [[spoiler:His fight with Ralph is a good example of this.]]
* TheBully: He's one towards his associates. Tony is a successful manager, but he verbally shreds his underlings on a regular basis.

* BreakTheBadass: He lets out a very vulnerable scream when his uncle shoots him by mistake and spends the first half of the sixth Season in a coma.
* CainAndAbel: The close relative variety with [[spoiler: Tony B and Christopher]].

* TheChainsOfCommanding: The hardships of being a boss is a central part of his character. In-universe, he fluctuates between DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster and BeingEvilSucks.
* CharacterDevelopment: Negative example. As the series progresses, he becomes more and more egotistical and self-centered, with his attempts to maintain some moral rectitude diminishing or disappearing completely, and abandoning many of his own standards and guidelines.

* TheCharmer: Downplayed. Even though most of his mob friends are just sycophantic yes men, Tony is shown to have a notable knack for charming people. It helps him at crucial moments like getting the other capos to side with him in the first season to convincing Agent Harris to save his hide during the war with Phil. It also explains why he's more successful with women than a guy [[KavorkaMan with a body and temperament like his]] would usually be.

* TheCorrupter: To Bobby near the end of the series. Knowing that he can't physically overpower him and is morally inferior to him, he decides to bring him down to his level by sending him out on his first hit.

** Chiefly, he's a devastatingly realistic portrayal of TheDon. Tony is very much ''not'' a ridiculously powerful kingpin with a great number of resources like most Mafia bosses in fiction (or even other bosses in the show, like Carmine or Johnny); what he actually has access to is much more limited. This makes sense, since the show is set in modern times, where tougher racketeering laws give Tony a lot of trouble. The crime family he leads shows that TheMafia today is at a downfall from informants, the government, infighting within the various families, and drugs. On top of this, the family he runs is located in [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]], meaning that he can't compete with the power of the major families [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity across the river]]. While those families work with him for mutual benefit and he is friends with a number of them, they tend to use their overwhelming power advantage to force better deals for themselves and, behind his back, they speak of him as a small fry. By the end of the series, this family is basically on its way to extinction, since they simply do not have the manpower to rebound from the MobWar they got involved in with the New York family.
*** Additionally, his personality is a far cry from the wise and honorable NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters like [[Film/TheGodfather Vito Corleone]]. Despite his [[FauxAffablyEvil occasionally friendly demeanor]], it's made '''very''' clear that at his core, Tony is a manipulative, childish narcissist who only gets worse over time, as all his various justifications for his lifestyle and his claims of honor are revealed as hollow or simply the excuses of a self-serving hypocrite.
** He's also one of the JustifiedCriminal archetype. Tony begins the series by going to therapy and expressing remorse over a lot of what he's done, but it becomes apparent as the series goes on that he's mostly looking for salvation without doing anything to actually earn it. Tony believes that since he feels bad about the things he's done, he deserves some form of redemption and is better than his contemporaries (despite being just as complicit as them, not to mention being ''the boss'' of his crew). As his therapist continually shuts down his NecessarilyEvil motivations, he mostly comes away from their sessions less with a desire to change his ways, and more armed with language to excuse the bad things he's done. This unwillingness to change is part of what eventually turns him into a full-blown VillainProtagonist.

** No matter how amoral he becomes and how much he whines about them, he truly does care about his children. [[spoiler:His reaction to AJ's suicide attempt is to drop whatever he was eating at the moment and rescue AJ from the pool and comfort him at the poolside all while calling him "baby" and at the verge of tears.]] And his reaction to a Lupertazzi mobster that's sexually harassing Meadow is to personally come to their territory and literally curb-stomp the mobster.
** His relationship with his uncle is complicated but he does care for Junior, He forgives him for the murder attempt (both of them) and is very supportive when "Uncle Jun" is diagnosed with cancer. He spends most of the last season angry with him but in their final scene, Tony desperately tries to make Junior remember his old life as he can't bear to see the old man like that and is brought to tears when he realizes his uncle is a shell of his former self.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: A major part of his character. Despite his profession, he does all that he can to prevent innocent people from getting hurt in the process, and was horrified at Ralph's brutal murder of the stripper he'd impregnated and tried to abandon. Similarly, he grows increasingly disgusted with his late father after learning of the extent to which he disregarded his family's needs and silently vows to never become like him. Ultimately [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that despite his attempts to do the noble thing, Tony repeatedly falls back into his destructive patterns and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil ultimately resigns himself to his true nature]] by the second half of Season 6.

* EvilFeelsGood: One of the reasons Tony never even considers the possibility of leaving his criminal life behind is because he ''likes'' being respected and feared, commanding power, and bending the law to his favor, such as being able to kill or beat up people he doesn't like with relative impunity. When he tries to actually ''be'' a waste management consultant in an episode to prop up a possible cover story, he's quickly bored to tears by even the glimmer of honest work and breaks out in a rash. Ultimately, it blinds him to the fact life as a mobster is self-destructive degradation, destroying both his body and soul, and that of those around him.

* BerserkButton: [[HairTriggerTemper He's never more than a moment away from lashing out regardless]], though a few things in particular REALLY set him off:
** Junior remarking that Tony "never had the makings of a varsity athlete" royally pisses him and he's angry every time someone brings it up.

** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] regarding his behavior towards A.J. and Meadow. While he genuinely loves and ultimately cares for their well-beings, he's emotionally and verbally abusive towards both of them (more-so the former) fairly often, has threatened physical violence towards them at least once, and generally does little to shield them from [[HairTriggerTemper his temper tantrums]], among other things. He's definitely a better parent to A.J. and Meadow than his own parents were towards him, but he's still ''very'' flawed.
* ActionDad: He's a family man and a ruthless, [[StoutStrength strong]], mob boss at the same time.

* ArchEnemy: Of all his enemies, [[TheSociopath Richie Aprile]], [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Ralph Cifaretto]] and [[EvilCounterpart Phil Leotardo]] were Tony's biggest headaches.

* AxCrazy: While he's not as psychotic as [[PsychopathicManchild Paulie]], [[TheSociopath Richie]], or [[BunnyEarsLawyer Ralph]], Tony still possesses a highly impulsive, homicidal personality which often leads him to make rash judgments with little forethought of the consequences. In fact, his anger [[spoiler: caused Ralphie's brutal death and has led to him seriously injuring other characters like Coco and Georgie. On another occasion, he was even willing to murder Paulie.]]

* BeingEvilSucks: For all the rush he gets out of being TheDon, it's made '''painfully''' clear throughout the entire series that it's destroyed him mentally and emotionally. And that's not even getting into [[BigScrewedUpFamily the mess that his immediately family is]].

* BerserkButton:

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Played straight then ultimately subverted across seasons. He genuinely loves his family and friends, and he really does make an effort to change his ways but is too long immersed in violence to do it. But as time goes on, he discards his virtues and becomes just as despicable as the mob bosses he rams heads with. He also ends up hurting the family and friends he claims to care about with his own selfish behavior and narcissism, as well as [[spoiler: murdering both his cousin and nephew]]. [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk By the end of the show, he possesses almost no redeeming qualities barring the love for his family and the fact that he's a frontline general, unlike cowardly Phil.]]

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: While Tony was always [[AxCrazy rather off-kilter]], some of his actions in the earlier parts of the series were at least understandable. Come the final season, [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk he does nothing to hide how warped he really is]].
* JustifiedCriminal: See FreudianExcuse for more details.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He does get away with a lot of bad things... [[spoiler: until Junior shoots him. The last scene of the series implies Tony might have been killed in front of his family, or not.]]

* KickTheDog: A central part of his characterization. Often his non-evil actions are followed by malignant and purely spiteful actions towards someone. Georgie, the bartender at the Bada Bing, is one of the frequent dogs and Christopher is usually not far behind.

*** [[spoiler: Tony's murder of Christopher, the same man who was like a son to him and saw Tony as a {{Mentor}} in earlier seasons.]]. He shows no remorse afterwards, only relief and satisfaction.
*** He desires to help [[spoiler: Vito's family]] with some good money so they can move on, but his own priorities interfere and finally goes with the cheapest, harshest option.

---->'''Tony:''' When I die you can live in a dumpster for all I care!

** By the time the viewer comes to accept Tony might actually be a piece of shit, the likes of Phil Leotardo are still around to show that Tony is not the worst of the worst.
** For how narcissistic Tony can be, even he doesn't hold a candle to Janice, who doesn't actually love her children and sees them more as her possessions.

* {{Manchild}}: There are several incidents throughout the show where he gets into arguments with his children, and they are much like schoolyard brawls. Tony's immaturity streak doesn't end there. He outright tells Valentina (one of his later goomahs) that what he finds funny are the same things an eight-year-old would find funny.

** For all his strong, silent type beliefs he wasn't afraid to shed tears when saving his son [[spoiler:from an attempted suicide.]]

* {{Narcissist}}: Despite displaying redeeming qualities such as a heartfelt concern for his family's well-being along with a childlike fondness for animals, he is portrayed throughout the series as an exceedingly vain and ruthless mobster who considers himself entitled to unquestioned respect or obedience from those around him. However, unlike most real-life narcissists, he demonstrates empathy for certain people in his life. He's aware of how his actions affect others and feels legitimately guilty when innocents end up in the firing line, as was the case when [[spoiler: Ralphie murdered Tracee.]] Nevertheless, he is too consumed by his own selfish desires to meaningfully change his ways. Ultimately it's left ambiguous as to what the precise nature of Tony's mental dysfunction is, and whether he's truly heartless...

* NobleDemon: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]]. It's clear from the get-go that Tony is not the best man, but he possesses a few altruistic qualities that set him apart from his underlings. [[PragmaticVillainy Although it's probably motivated more by pragmatism than a desire to do right]], he tries to keep his gang's activities discrete, quiet, and bloodless while minimizing the destructive excesses of his more unruly compatriots. More than anyone else in the family, he's horrified at Richie paralyzing Beansie and the brutal murder of Tracee. However, in Season 3, [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil he begins to compromise what few principles he has]] by assenting to the rise of Ralph Cifaretto, a depraved mobster whose wanton cruelty completely disgusts him. By the end of the series, [[VillainProtagonist he's resigned himself to being evil and given up on maintaining any kind of moral guidelines]]. The only features that save him from being utterly monstrous are [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his loved ones]] and the fact that his enemies are [[EvilerThanThou far more heinous and despicable than him]].

* NominalHero: Tony is hardly a model human being but he's [[ALighterShadeOfBlack generally better than most of his enemies]] and tries to avoid harming civilians or people not involved in the business. However, this is gradually subverted as the show goes on and by the end, he has barely any standards whatsoever and is just as ruthless as his enemies.

* ObliviouslyEvil: Played with. When asked, Tony doesn't think he or any other mobsters will go to Hell for what they've done, because they're "soldiers" and what they do is just business (as though they were all forced into this lifestyle), and because they follow "codes" it makes them moral (even though they frequently break these codes over the course of the series).
* OnlySaneByComparison: Played with. He's often clinically labeled as a sociopath by professional psychiatrists and law enforcement. However, the audience has the chance to see that many of his colleagues are even worse psychopaths, which often makes Tony appear balanced and rational by mere contrast.
* PapaWolf: He may not be the most morally upstanding of fathers, but one of his most consistently humanizing features is his sincere love for his children, Meadow and AJ. They may not always get along with their dad, but god help you if you insult, harass or endanger them (to give one example, when Coco drunkenly made vulgar sexual comments about Meadow, Tony beat, pistol-whipped, and curbstomped him). Additionally, one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the series is Tony's soliloquy in Dr. Melfi's office when he concludes that AJ has inherited his depression.
* ParentsAsPeople: He is a rough around the edges but ultimately loving father towards Meadow and AJ. He has slapped AJ once and otherwise demeaned his manliness but is otherwise caring and [[spoiler: tearfully held his son whilst he attempted to drown himself using bricks and a bag]]. And, while Meadow is occasionally a handful too and Tony doesn't hesitate to call her out when she is, it's obvious she is his little girl.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Some of his victims have done nefarious things to him or others, such as [[spoiler: Bevilaqua and Ralphie]]. {{ZigZagged|Trope}} in that most of these examples occur during moments where the characters are in a vulnerable or quasi-sympathetic position which makes Tony's retaliation against them sickening.
* PeerPressureMakesYouEvil: Shows more morals than his colleagues, but sometimes has to do the ''wrong'' thing because it's that is expected of a ruling mob boss.
* PetTheDog: A number of moments with his children, his love of animals loved ones and in extremely rare circumstances, acquaintances and strangers. Deconstructed in that this care and considerations usually conditional or invariably lead to more evil deeds.

* PhraseCatcher: "He got a lot on his mind"
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He has a rather derogatory, disrespectful viewpoint towards pretty much every group that isn't Italian, with ethnic minorities and gays, in particular, being a target. He frequently uses slurs quite arbitrarily and disparagingly, even disparages other Caucasians, calling Irish-Americans "Micks" at one point and often using the slur "medigan" for [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP Americans]]. Interestingly enough, despite referring to African Americans with various racist pejoratives (ditsoon, charcoal briquette, and mulignan), Tony never outright uses the N-word (in contrast to his fellow mobsters who show no hesitation).

* PsychopathicManChild: He shows various signs of this. He has anger issues and a lack of emotional control, displays a crude and juvenile sense of humor, shows deep-seated insecurity and a need to insult and belittle others, neglects the long-term consequences of his actions, and at times comes across as an overgrown, emotionally immature jock. Even Melfi mentions how childish Tony can be to her therapist.

* ReallyGetsAround: Has plenty of mistresses and one-night stands in spite of the fact that he's [[KavorkaMan not exactly catwalk material]].
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives these out like candy, and increasingly more often in later seasons. Individuals on the receiving end have included Livia Soprano, Richie Aprile, Jackie Aprile Jr., Jennifer Melfi, Johnny Sack, Artie Bucco, Anthony Jr. Soprano, Janice Soprano, and even Carmela Soprano.

* RedemptionRejection: He TookALevelInKindness after his AdventuresInComaLand, but TookALevelInJerkass hit him once more.

* SecretIdentity: A paper-thin one, he is a "waste management consultant" for Barone Sanitation and usually goes by the name of Mr. Spears in the civilian world. It doesn't fool anyone, but legally, he's untouchable.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: Tony was never an upstanding guy, but he still had some semblance of morality for most of the series. By the time he recovers from his coma and vows to treat every day as a gift, [[spoiler: he ends up becoming one of the most morally broken characters in the show. He insults his family behind their backs, becomes a wastrel with gambling, starts acting more aggressive and belligerent towards everyone, and considers killing some of his most loyal men (while actually offing one of them). The fact that he doesn't have any panic attacks after his recovery in the hospital shows that he's becoming more comfortable with who he truly is.]]
* TheSociopath: [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]], but ultimately subverted. While he displays some trademarks of sociopathy, including a grandiose sense of entitlement and [[HairTriggerTemper poor impulse control]], he is nevertheless revealed to be capable of experiencing genuine shame and remorse for his crimes as well as making sincere (albeit largely ineffectual) attempts to perform acts of genuine kindness for those outside his immediate family. However, his self-absorbed and covetous nature is entirely consistent with [[{{Narcissist}} narcissistic personality disorder]].

* TallPoppySyndrome: Tony often gets annoyed and at times even extremely jealous when people around him appear to be happier than he is, and often goes out of his way to take measures to drag them down to his level, making them as miserable as himself, even at times when it is outright detrimental to him. The crowning example being when Janice starts working on controlling her anger issues through anger management classes and actually shows some real progress (something Tony himself hadn't been able to achieve during his years in therapy). He decides to cruelly and smugly bully and antagonize her by repeatedly mentioning her disappeared son Harpo until her resolve finally gives out and she explodes at him.

* TookALevelInCynic: He was already quite cynical at the start of the show, but by the end he has become so cynical that he forgot the optimistic words he told AJ in the first season and thought it was a joke.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Seems to take a new level with each passing season. Reaches its peak in the second half of season 6 where his callousness and selfishness causes some of his long time underlings and associates to turn their backs on him for good.

* TragicHero: Assuming his eventual downfall or assassination, Tony Soprano is probably the biggest example of a tragic hero in modern television. He actually wants to be a good person, a good father, and a good husband, and he tries hard, even getting flashes where you hope he'll improve (such as when he realizes that the stripper Ralphie just murdered was the same age as his daughter), but is incapable of overcoming his own ego, shortsightedness, and lack of empathy. And the fact that he's, you know, a mob boss.

* TraumaCongaLine: It is easy to overlook that a lot of bad shit does happen to him. He has to take it in stride and remain a tough guy despite the following:

** [[spoiler:His son AJ tries to kill Junior and to commit suicide]], failing in both cases, as usual. The overall prospects of his children are negative, undesirable, uncertain or both.
** [[spoiler: His once beloved nephew dies, killed by Tony himself]], which ironically is a relief for Tony.
** [[spoiler: His brother-in-law is killed in a mob war, and his consigliere ends up in a coma]].
** [[spoiler: One of his capos is going to testify against him and is out of reach]], so Tony can't do nothing about it.
** Topping it all, [[spoiler:it's very likely that he is murdered at the very end of the series]].

* UncertainDoom: His final fate. [[spoiler: Either he was shot dead at the diner in front of his family or he wasn't but still got convicted and put in prison.]] It is something very controversial and continues to be so today. While David Chase has obliquely confirmed [[spoiler: his death]], he refuses to elaborate [[spoiler: when or how he died]] and what happened immediately after the cut to black at the end of the series finale.

* WouldNotHurtAChild: One of his better qualities, and one of the few virtues he keeps throughout the series, alongside his fondness for animals, Tony loves children immensely, not just his, and would never harm one. Case in point, while not strictly a "child" he considered Tracey basically one, and Ralph killing her makes him go ballistic (with the implication his brutal murder of him later was at least partially motivated by that action). In a seriously [[{{Deconstruction}} twisted example]] of this, [[spoiler: he only decided to off Christopher when he realized his daughter would have been killed in the car accident had she been in the car with them.]]
* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: When someone calls him "Anthony", it's a sign of something serious. Most of his underlings simply call him T. or Ton.

** Downplayed in his behaviour towards AJ, as he can be physically threatening when the boy becomes obstinate but otherwise is more supportive during times of depression. He has shown moments of emotional and verbal abuse towards him and Meadow, but it's clear that he cares for them unlike his own parents.

* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: While his kids have their SpoiledBrat issues, he made sure that their upbringing was a damn sight better than his.

* TheCharmer: Downplayed. Even though most of his mob friends are just sycophantic yes men, Tony is shown to have a notable knack for charming people. It helps him at crucial moments like getting the other capos to side with him in the first season to [[spoiler: convincing Agent Harris to save his hide during the war with Phil]]. It would also explain why he's more successful with women than a guy with a face like his should be.

* ConsummateLiar: His job requires him to look people in the eye and lie convincingly to them, often coming up with the lie right on the spot. A DrinkingGame for every time Tony tells a lie will kill all players by Episode 3. It's a major reason why his therapy is so ineffective, as he often reframes events to make himself look more steady, sympathetic, or beleaguered.

* TheCorrupter: To Bobby. Knowing that he can't physically overpower him and is morally inferior to him, he decides to bring him down to his level by sending him out on his first hit.

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Of what it means to be TheDon. Tony is not a ridiculously powerful kingpin with high resources like most Mafia bosses in fiction (or even other bosses in the show, like Carmine or Johnny). Sure, he has resources, but these resources are limited. This makes sense, since the show is set in modern times, where tougher racketeering laws give Tony nightmares. Besides, his crime family shows that TheMafia today is at a downfall from informants, the government, infighting within the various families, and drugs. On top of this, the family he runs is located in [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]], meaning that he can't compete with the power of the major families [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity across the river]]. While those families work with him for mutual benefit and he is friends with a number of them, they will use their overwhelming power advantage to force better deals for themselves and, behind his back, they speak of him as a small fry. [[spoiler:By the end of the series, this family is basically on its way to extinction since they simply do not have the manpower to rebound from the MobWar they got involved in with the New York family.]] Additionally, his personality is a far cry from the wise and honorable NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters like Vito Corleone. At his core, Tony is a manipulative narcissist who only gets worse over time as all his various justifications for his lifestyle and his claims of honor are revealed as hollow or simply the excuses of a self-serving hypocrite. All these attributes make Tony Soprano one of the most realistic representations of an American mob boss in the modern-day.
** He's also one of the JustifiedCriminal archetype. Tony begins the series by going to therapy and expressing remorse over a lot of what he's done, but it becomes apparent as the series goes on that he's mostly looking for salvation without doing anything to earn it. Tony believes that since he feels bad about the things he's done, he deserves some form of redemption and is better than his contemporaries (despite being just as complicit as them, not to mention being ''the boss'' of his crew). As his therapist continually shuts down his NecessarilyEvil motivations, he mostly comes away from their sessions less with a desire to change his ways, and more armed with language to excuse the bad things he's done. This unwillingness to change eventually turns him into a full-blown VillainProtagonist.
** Tony's parenting is also one for EvilParentsWantGoodKids. Thanks to his struggles with the morality of his criminal actions, coupled with the decline of the mafia lifestyle, Tony wants Meadow and AJ to avoid getting involved with the mob and become honest citizens. Unfortunately, the combination of Tony himself not having good role models to model his parenting after, his inability to hide what he does from the kids despite his best efforts, his own frequent ParentalHypocrisy, and constant pampering and nepotism he and Carmela bestow upon them has resulted in both Meadow and AJ becoming spoiled, materialistic brats with entitled attitudes, weak moral compasses, and poor work ethics. The few decent qualities they do have such as Meadow's academic success or AJ's abhorrence of violence are largely ''in spite of'' Tony's parenting and are still not enough to overcome the environment they grew up in. As a result, by the end of the series Tony has largely failed to raise his children to become good kids, with Meadow engaged to the son of one of Tony's soldiers and on her way to becoming a mob lawyer, while AJ's last chance of making something of himself is working a low level job at Little Carmine Lupertazzi's movie production company.

* TheDon: A relatively rustic one, as the New Jersey Mob plays in a minor league compared to the Five Families of New York.
* TheDreaded: He's this to an extent from the very beginning, but by the fourth season and onward, everyone in the Mafia is terrified of Tony. They know how unpredictable his temper is, especially after Tony's murder of Ralph, and go out of their way to avoid his wrath. If they're smart, anyway.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: A major part of his character. Despite his profession, he does all that he can to prevent innocent people from getting hurt in the process and was horrified at Ralph's brutal murder of the stripper he'd impregnated and tried to abandon. Similarly, he grows increasingly disgusted with his late father after learning of the extent to which he disregarded his family's needs and silently vows to never become like him. [[spoiler: Ultimately subverted in that despite his attempts to do the noble thing, Tony repeatedly falls back into his destructive patterns and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil ultimately resigns himself to his true nature]] by the second half of Season 6.]]

** When Pussy was suspected as a rat Tony made it clear to Paulie that he wasn't to be killed unless absolute proof of his betrayal could be found.
** Tony has a soft spot for animals. He is outraged to learn that Christopher drunkenly killed Adriana's dog, and he [[spoiler: kills Ralphie with his bare hands]] for killing a horse.
** Tony does provide for the family members of his men even if he is not above trying to find ways to spend less money on them like with Vito Jr.

** He is horrified when he learns one of Meadow's friends slept with their soccer coach and immediately wants to kill him for it.

* EvilFeelsGood: One of the reasons Tony never even considers the possibility of leaving his criminal life behind is because he ''likes'' being respected and feared, commanding power, and bending the law to his favour, such as being able to kill or beat up people he doesn't like with relative impunity. When he tries to actually ''be'' a waste management consultant in an episode to prop up a possible cover story, he's quickly bored to tears by even the glimmer of honest work and breaks out in a rash. Ultimately, it blinds him to the fact life as a mobster is self-destructive degradation, destroying both his body and soul, and that of those around him.

* FatBastard: Starts as a little overweight and gets fatter and more evil as the series goes on, in fact, bordering on being outright obese by the end.
* FatalFlaw:

* FauxAffablyEvil: He can be genuinely friendly and does make an effort to look out for those he cares about, but he gradually loses any real redeeming qualities. He will often act friendly to those he is just about to do something horrible to, like Jackie Jr and Phil Leotardo, just to taunt them. This is mostly relegated to people who piss him off, but Tony clearly gets a kick out of it.

* FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse: At the same time, however, it's shown that Tony did have people in his life who tried to steer him away from a criminal lifestyle, like his high school football coach, and even had the opportunity to earn a college degree at Seton Hall before pursuing a legitimate career path. Ultimately, he chose to enter the mob on his own volition despite being well aware of the immorality of the job because he wasn't interested in honest work and had numerous chances to go straight but refused to do so. In other words whilst his parents did warp his mindset, he still had every chance to escape the lifestyle but chose not to.

* TheGadfly: Sometimes Tony just likes screwing with people for the hell of it, such as when he mocks Junior's *ahem* ability to please his partners as well as getting Matt to sweep the floor while Sil is in a bad mood.

* GeniusBruiser: Undoubtedly a smart guy, although without much formal education (he never finished college). What book learning he has, he only really has a vague grasp of, although that's enough to set him apart from the others. He's particularly in tune with Sun Tzu's ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}''. And of course, he's a strong guy able to throw a person a few feet across the room.

* HairTriggerTemper: Tony becomes short-fused and impulsively violent by many of the things that anger him.

* HeroicBSOD: Every time he has his panic attacks.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: ZigZagged. Although he is aware that he chooses to surround himself with a bunch of murderers who might be gunning for his seat, and experience has taught him which of his family members (domestic and criminal) are blatant threats to his position (such as Feech La Manna, Richie Aprile, and Janice). However, he has a few standout cases of poor judgment of character:
** He completely fails to recognize the [[TheLoad total liability that Christopher is]], in spite of Christopher's chronic drug addiction, constant insubordination and blatant disrespect, and antagonism towards the other capos. He resists taking any decisive action until "Kennedy and Heidi", [[spoiler: when he's decided enough is enough and kills Christopher following a near-fatal drug-induced car crash]]. Apparently, this blind spot is because Christopher's father Dickie Moltisanti was an important mentor and father figure (moreso than Johnny Boy) to Tony himself.
** He is chronically prone to replicating his relationship with his mother in his extramarital affairs, dating manipulative, emotionally volatile, depressive, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking brunette]] women who are a constant threat to his actual marriage. Dr. Melfi tries to get him to see the pattern, but he never ''really'' catches on.
** He [[spoiler: keeps Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero around as a soldier and close confidant in his crew even in spite of significant evidence pointing to him as a federal cooperator]]. Looks exchanged by Silvio and Paulie indicate that they were aware that [[spoiler: Sal wasn't exactly out of the woods just because Jimmy Altieri "ate the pill" for him]], but didn't feel it was worth arguing with Tony [[spoiler: since at the time, Sal was out of the picture.]] 2x13, "Funhouse," implies that Tony had always been aware that [[spoiler: Pussy was a snitch]], but was unwilling to face it.
** Related to the above, [[spoiler: a significant number of Tony's capos turn out to be federal cooperators, including Eugene Pontecorvo, Carlo Gervasi, and Ray Curto. Not to mention that Adriana, whom he develops a soft spot for, is also a cooperating informant]]. Tony is completely unaware in most cases, to the point that [[spoiler:Eugene and Ray die without Tony ever discovering their betrayals]]. Even when he finds out, it's only after it's bitten him in the backside.
** Downplayed with respect to his mother, Livia. He originally denies that Livia is capable of any real harm and is unable to face her deep-seated emotional issues and the impact they have left on him. Eventually, with the help of therapy and [[spoiler: her attempt to have him whacked,]] he comes to face the fact that she was a deeply troubled woman who negatively impacted his childhood, but is unable to truly reconcile those truths about his mother with his NostalgiaFilter as well as his need to [[TheScapegoat displace all of his life problems on her]], as he is entirely unable to consciously face the impact that Johnny Boy Soprano left on him as a father.
** Believes his son AJ to essentially be a good person, with that being the excuse he presents for why AJ could never adopt the mafia lifestyle. This is after [[spoiler: AJ has attempted to murder Junior Soprano, admittedly in retribution for shooting his father and folding]], and not long before [[spoiler:AJ becomes complicit (albeit unwillingly and due to hanging out with the sons of Tony's fellow gangsters) in melting a college student's toe with highly corrosive acid over a gambling debt, and collaborates in an assault against another Somalian student over a bike accident.]]

** In the final season, Tony believes that Phil Leotardo is, at the end of the day, primarily motivated by {{Greed}} like all the other mobsters and he can be placated by good business deals. Unfortunately, it turns out that Phil is primarily driven by pride and his principles and he eventually decides to launch an all-out war between the [=DiMeos=] and Lupertazzis so he can get his revenge, business be damned.
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: By the last few episodes, Tony is king of a pile of ruins. All his best men are either dead, on death's door, or have clearly lost faith in his leadership. He's hiding in a dinky safehouse with RedShirts who also don't trust him, he has an indictment looming with Carlo turning witness, and he sleeps with a rifle from the sheer paranoia. If the possible hitman at the diner didn't get him, then the indictment likely will.

* {{Jerkass}}: Even without his stone-cold personality and ruthlessness, he is still a big, angry, racist asshole. He's rude and impolite in his interactions with basically ''everybody''. He seemed to have improved after being [[spoiler: shot by Junior]]; however, he eventually sinks back into jerkass mode by the end of the series.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Tony often manages to find a genuine point in his rants and grievances toward others, even if his reasons are self-serving and never fully justify his asshole behavior.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: While Tony was never a role model, his behavior wasn't completely unrelatable or uncalled for. Come the final Season (6B), he's shown as more spiteful and hateful than ever, being egotistic and mean without precedents to characters that served as his [[KickTheMoralityPet morality pets to some degree]], like Christopher, Carmela and Hesh.

* AffablyEvil: {{Zigzagged}} over the series, but he is capable of care and kindness toward the people he cares about. Despite being ruthless he is not sadistic. He's also generally friendly with his underlings and fellow gangsters, granted that they don't piss him off.

* AntiHero: In the first few seasons. He's a con artist, a thug, a murderer, an extortionist, and an adulterer. But he also has a genuine love for his family and close friends, wants to make sure his children are well provided for and remain unaffected by his Mob activities, tries to keep innocents and those not involved in the business out of harm's way, has moments of guilt and vulnerability over how he hurts others, and makes an effort to help out others or do the right thing occasionally. However, over time he becomes increasingly callous and self-centered as the stress and power of being TheDon goes to his head, and he loses almost all of his previous virtues and standards. By Season 4 he's become a full-on VillainProtagonist, and by the end of the series he's taken a ThenLetMeBeEvil attitude.

* BadBoss: Zigzagged. For a Mafia don, he's a very effective leader and fairly progressive. However, the nature of the business means that he often has to crack heads to get his men to follow his authority, and he takes it as a matter of principle that they kick up as much of their earnings as possible into his coffers. He's also perfectly willing to ignore his men's needs when they conflict with his personal desires and it often causes them to suffer, such as when Benny nearly gets beaten to death by Phil Leotardo because Tony refuses to give up his cousin to him.
* BadassBoast: "I'm the motherfucking fucking one who calls the shots! And you better pay me the respect, that I gave your brother. Or we're gonna have a problem... a bad one."
* BadassInANiceSuit: he frequently dresses in expensive suits to go to business meetings and fancy dinners.

* BeingEvilSucks: Most of the time, crime does not pay... or not enough. Too bad he thinks being good feels worse than being evil.
* BeingGoodSucks: He feels this way. As a result, he often makes little effort to change his ways as it is easier to stay as a jerk. When he does some sort of favor for Artie, a MoralityPet of sorts, Tony ends up rationalizing that NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished.
* BeingPersonalIsntProfessional: Charmingly summed up by his motto "I don't shit where I eat". He tries to isolate both spheres, failing more often than not.

** Although he's younger than Janice and they have their issues, laying a hand on her is ill-advised. In "To Save Us All From Satan's Power", when Tony sees that Janice is still suffering pain from the Russian mobster's retaliatory attack, he takes steps to hunt the guy down and, along with Furio, beat seven shades of shit out of him. When Janice finds out what Tony did, she is genuinely moved to tears. And Richie should have counted his lucky stars that Tony wasn't there when he hit Janice.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Two instead of one. He tries to unscrew 'em, often with backfiring results in the sense that, in one way or another he is one of the main problems.

* EvilGenius: [[DownplayedTrope Ok, 'genius' might be a stretch]], but Tony is observant, intelligent, and the StreetSmart brains behind the Jersey mob. He mentions once to Johnny Sack that he has an IQ of 136, which depending on the specific test could put him in the top percentile.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: By the last few episodes, Tony is king of a pile of ruins. All his best men are either dead, on death's door, or have clearly lost faith in his leadership. He's hiding in a dinky safehouse with RedShirts who also don't trust him, he has an indictment looming with [[spoiler:Carlo turning witness]], and he sleeps with a rifle from the sheer paranoia. [[spoiler:If the possible hitman at the diner didn't get him, then the indictment likely will.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: A defining part of his character.