History UsefulNotes / AlCapone

* ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure]]'': Capone is one of the many historical figures featured in this [[Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] game.

* ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure]]'': Capone is one of the many historical figures featured in this [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] game.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld'': In this UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 RPG, Capone has a [[MegaNeko giant talking cat]] [[DrunkenMaster martial artist]] under his employ.

!!Associated Tropes:
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Despite his disdain for the nickname, Al was said to have enjoyed ''Film/Scarface1932''. An apocryphal story has Capone sending hoodlums to the screenwriter, worried about a scandalous portrayal of himself, only for the screenwriter to tell the goons that while the name was based on Capone for publicity purposes, the actual events of the film were based on other gangsters. Both the leg-breakers and their boss apparently got a big kick out the fact that showbiz was another racket.
* TheAlcatraz: Where Capone went to prison, becoming one of the most famous "guests" there.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Capone was ultimately arrested, not for any of his gangster activities, but for not paying his taxes.
* BatterUp: One story about Capone is that one time, he discovered that three of his men were conspiring against him with a rival gangster to overthrow him. He arranged for the conspirators to dine with him and his bodyguards. Once they were drunk, Capone beat the men to within an inch of their lives with a baseball bat and then ordered his bodyguards to remove them and have them executed with bullets to the back of the head.
* BigBad: From 1925 to 1931, Capone was ''the'' crime lord of Chicago. He was so powerful, he had politicians, judges, and even the police in his pocket. Many of the gangland killings and racketeering were perpetuated by Capone.
* BribeBackfire: Like shown in the film ''Film/TheUntouchables1987'', Capone tried to bribe Elliot Ness and his team into silence with a promise of $2,000 a week (which was a Treasury agent's annual salary). Ness refused the bribe, and that was where his group gained their name "the Untouchables".
* BrieferThanTheyThink: He only was in charge of the Chicago Outfit for six years, from 1925 (when Torrio retired) to 1931 (when he was convicted for his tax evasion).
* BrooklynRage: Capone hailed from the rough parts of Brooklyn.
* DirtyCop: Capone bought off cops and Prohibition agents by the dozens, ensuring that investigations against his organization never went too far.
* DragonAscendant: Al Capone started as TheDragon for his mentor Johnny Torrio, until an assassination attempt almost ended his life. Seeing how brutal the underworld was becoming, Torrio [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere returned to Italy]], but not before handing over leadership of the South Side gang to Capone, and the rest is history.
** After his conviction, Capone was eventually succeeded by his own Dragon, Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti.
* DragonInChief: For his predecessor Johnny Torrio, who usually opted for diplomacy to prevent {{Mob War}}s, especially with the North Side gang. After Torrio almost got whacked, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he fled Chicago]] and left Capone in charge, who was more willing to resort to violence to get his way. The gangland killings and ruthlessness associated with organized crime quickly followed.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Capone ''hated'' the nickname "Scarface", because he was extremely self-conscious about his facial scars. Capone liked to claim that his scars were war wounds, but he really got them in a knife fight as a kid.
** Hilariously enough, the nickname that Capone WANTED to be known by? Snorky.[[labelnote:*]]To be entirely fair, in Capone's day snorky was actually a slang term that typically described something or someone trendy, stylish, or fashionable and was often used to refer to something that stands out in a cool or unique way.[[/labelnote]]
* ImprobableAge: Capone was only 26 years old when he took over the Chicago Outfit, and 32 when his reign ended with his conviction. He was only 48 when he died.
* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: Capone is probably the TropeCodifier for this. The government couldn't make the case that Capone was a crime kingpin, but they ''could'' point to his lifestyle and SuspiciousSpending habits and say he was earning money he hadn't paid taxes on. It was pointed out at the time that the government was consciously ignoring how Capone had earned the money (which they couldn't prove), and instead focusing on the fact that he had the money and owed taxes on it. It's also necessary to consider that when charged with other sorts of crimes, Capone usually got a "not guilty" verdict from the jury by having his men bribe or intimidate them. To make extra sure that Capone couldn't weasel his way out of the tax evasion charges, the non-corrupt judge, who anticipated that Capone would bribe the jury pool, switched the jury pool for his case at the last minute, and the trial was started before the jurors could be coerced.
* LandslideElection: Capone was behind the Pineapple Primary, wherein he ordered a man on his payroll named James Belcastro to carry out a bombing campaign against the opponents of Capone ally and Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson. He primarily attacked voting stations in Chicago wards where opinion was thought to oppose Thompson, killing at least 15 people.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: He was known for his love of the finer things in life such as expensive suits, attending the opera and theatre and dining at fine restaurants.
* MassivelyNumberedSiblings: He was one of nine children.
* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: During his initial incarceration in Atlanta, he was still able to run his empire in much the same way as before. This changed after he was transferred to Alcatraz.
* MobWar: Much of Capone's tenure as the big boss of Chicago was spent locked in a fierce turf war with the notorious North Side gang. Capone and the North Side leaders would put out hits to take each other out, and Capone's gang succeeded in wiping out most of their leadership until Bugs Moran was the last one standing.
* MysteriousPast: Virtually nothing at all was known about Capone's early life during his rise to power and reign as a mob boss, and it wasn't until his arrest and the subsequent interviews and evaluations he underwent during incarceration that any of it actually came to light.
* NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters: Capone donated to charities and sponsored a soup kitchen in Chicago during the Depression. Capone had a soft spot for children, once trying to see that they got good milk (this actually led to the creation of expiration dates on food) and telling a paperboy to take the day off before handing him a $20. Ironically, the supplies for Capone's soup kitchens were acquired by threatening bakeries, packinghouses and other food suppliers if they didn't meet the quota the gangsters demanded. Al himself also tried to endear himself to the public, such as paying the rents of poor tenants, and had a reputation for magnificent PR skills. He succeeded fairly well, and it appears that he actually enjoyed [[BecomingTheMask helping his city out]] when not ordering the assassinations of potential threats to him. However, following the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and the MobWar putting more and more innocent people in danger, public opinions turned against him.
* NonActionBigBad: Capone was always careful to insulate himself from his illegal activities, always having others do his dirty work for him.
* OlderSidekick: His right hand man, Frank Nitti, was thirteen years his senior.
* PhonyVeteran: He would often claim the famous scars on his face were received in combat during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. In reality, he never served.
* SiblingYinYang: His brother James became a prohibition agent under the name Richard Hart.
* TwoFaced: He only had his distinctive scars on one side of his face.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Capone understood there were benefits in cajoling the favor of the public, and would openly provide public services, like soup kitchens during the Great Depression or ensuring expiration dates on food and milk. This all went down the drain after the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Although Capone was never officially convicted for the hit, public favor turned against him as they began to recognize Capone's involvement in the MobWar with the North Side gang.

* Capone has been the subject of two theatrical-release biopics: ''Al Capone'' (1959), starring Creator/RodSteiger as the Big Fella, and ''Capone'' (1975), with Creator/BenGazzara as Scarface. He appears as a character in literally dozens of other movies, TV shows, and other media set in the period.

* ''Series/TheUntouchables'': The villain of two television shows and [[Film/TheUntouchables1987 a film]], all of the same name. In the film, he's played by Creator/RobertDeNiro.
* ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles''

* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Him and his gang are Kishin eggs, though the writer seems to have made the "mafia" mistake.
* ''The Night Chicago Died'': about a fictional account of Capone and his gang murdering at least 100 police but not including the narrator's father.
* ''VideoGame/EarnestEvans'': Shows up as one of the main villains, with his thugs appearing as some of the game's assorted {{Mooks}}. He and his minions later show up in the sequel, ''VideoGame/ElViento''. [[DubNameChange Later translations]] changed his name to Brady Tressider or [=Vincente DeMarco=].
* ''The Untouchables of Eliot Mouse'': a family-oriented animated series by BRB Internaciónal (of ''WesternAnimation/TheWorldOfDavidTheGnome'' fame) set in a version of Earth populated by cats and mice, and featuring a feline version named "Al Catone" ([[PunnyName get it?]]) who operates in "Cheesecago", is pursued by the Eliot "Mouse" of the title and has "Dog" Moran and his gang as his main rivals.
* ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure]]'': Capone is one of the many historical figures featured in this [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] game.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld'': In this UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 RPG, Capone has a [[MegaNeko giant talking cat]] [[DrunkenMaster martial artist]] under his employ.
* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': In "The Clownfather", Al Capone had his henchmen act as clowns for one of his children's (or grandchildren's) birthday party and had clowns running his criminal empire. When he learned how the clowns were doing it, he switched them back.

* ''Literature/BillibubBaddings'': Al Capone plays a semi-major role in the first book, ''The Case of the Singing Sword,'' and the conflict between him and "Bugs" Moran drives much of the plot.
* ComicStrip/DickTracy's first arch enemy was a Capone {{expy}} named Big Boy Caprice.
* ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' pits him against UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' features him leading a gang of demonic mobsters ruling another dimension that's a cross between Hell and Prohibition-era Chicago.
* ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' has Al Capone return from [[TheNothingAfterDeath The Beyond]] at the height of the [[ZombieApocalypse reality dysfunction]]. He effectively takes over a planetary government using the same brutal techniques he used to rule the Chicago underworld.
* ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' has the Legends help Ness take down Capone after another group of time travelers stops him from doing it on his own.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' had him [[https://youtu.be/Zf70ihqbDdw?t=9 dancing the Charleston]] [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext on top of a flagpole]] in a CutawayGag.
* The episode "The Motorcross Trap" of ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' has him and several other gangsters returns as zombies and fight the titular heroes. A later episode (" My Cheese Is Quick"), namedrops him when the BigBad Limburger gets in trouble from tax evasion.
* 2020's ''Film/{{Capone}}'' (where he's played by Creator/TomHardy) concerns his descent into dementia in the last years of his life.
* ''Series/PeakyBlinders''' fourth series has British gangster Thomas Shelby (Creator/CillianMurphy) making a deal with an [[TheGhost off-screen]] "Mr. Alphonse Capone" [[spoiler: to eliminate their mutual enemy, Luca Changretta (Creator/AdrienBrody).]] Capone is still an up-and-coming player by this point (early 1926), but already established as not someone you want to mess with, [[TheDreaded from the general reaction when his name is mentioned]].
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' had a story where Frank goes back in time and works for Capone, eradicating rival gang members with his usual level of violence. This leads to Frank being a participant in the dinner mentioned under BatterUp (where the others were there for betraying Capone, [[ShootTheDangerousMinion Frank was a]] [[OverzealousUnderling dangerous loose end]]), where he escapes from his bonds and kills Capone, ensuring organized crime never takes off in the U.S, meaning there's no Mafia shootout in Central Park decades later, meaning his family is still alive... and then he wakes up. The story's title is found at the very end: ''"When Frank Sleeps"''.
* The ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' Alternity special had Capone as the BigBad of one story with Dredd leading The Untouchables. His arrest file implies that he's Dredd's brother, Rico.
* In ''Literature/TheGodfather'' (the original book, not [[Film/TheGodfather the movie]]), it's part of the backstory that the Corleone Family are what kept Capone from expanding his interests into New York, when he briefly tried to use a war between the Corleones and the rival Maranzano Family as an opening. Don Corleone had Capone's hitmen killed with startling efficiency, and then sent him a sternly-worded letter advising him, as a Neapolitan, not to interfere in a matter between two Sicilian families. Capone, thoroughly impressed and intimidated, backed off immediately.
* In ''[[Literature/FightAndBeRight The World Of Fight And Be Right]]'', Al Capone's parents emigrated to France instead of the United States. As of 1940, he has recently been elected Chief of State of France.
* In ''Literature/TheFireNeverDies'', Capone turns against his fellow gangsters during their turf war with the IWW, betraying the Five Points Gang. During the [[SecondAmericanCivilWar Second American Revolution]], he leads a Red commando unit known as the Outfit.

Things started going downhill again when Capone had seven rival gangsters, mostly members of Moran's South Side Gang, killed in the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, bringing him unwanted national attention. While there is some speculation that [[NotMeThisTime he was innocent of that particular crime]], or that the killing was engineered by his subordinates without Capone's knowledge, a number of his henchmen (among them "Machine Gun" Jack [=McGurn=], Fred "Killer Burke" and John Scalise) were soon connected to the massacre through circumstantial evidence and their own, after-the-fact boasting. The brutality of the killings shocked the nation and Capone's reputation with both the press and public immediately nosedived.

Capone finally went to trial in 1931 and though he was able to avoid being tried for myriad crimes, the courts [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans ultimately convicted him for something he didn't see coming]] - [[IntimidatingRevenueService tax evasion]]. He couldn't fix ''that'' jury, owing to the judge on the case switching the jury pools at the last minute, preventing Capone's men from bribing or threatening them. After being convicted, Capone was imprisoned at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. During his imprisonment, a latent case of syphilis he had developed finally hit the tertiary stage, and the damage to his nervous system completely destroyed him. He was released in 1939; too ill to resume command of the Chicago Outfit, he retired to Palm Island, Florida with his family and died eight years later, eight days after his 48th birthday.

* EmbarrassingNickname: "Scarface", on account of the scars on his face. Capone liked to claim that his scars were war wounds, but he really got them in a knife fight as a kid.

* BribeBackfire: Like shown in the film ''Film/TheUntouchables'', Capone tried to bribe Elliot Ness and his team into silence with a promise of $2,000 a week (which was a Treasury agent's annual salary). Ness refused the bribe, and that was where his group gained their name "the Untouchables".

* Appears briefly in ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} Tintin in America]]''. Notable for being only real-life character in the entire series.

* ''Film/{{Scarface|1932}}'', the original B&W film from 1932, in which the protagonist, Tony Camonte, [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed was inspired]] by Al Capone. The first [[FilmOfTheBook adaptation of the novel]] ''Scarface''.

* ''Series/TheUntouchables'': The villain of two television shows and [[Film/TheUntouchables a film]], all of the same name. In the film, he's played by Creator/RobertDeNiro.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts: From the New World'': In this UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 RPG, Capone has a [[MegaNeko giant talking cat]] [[DrunkenMaster martial artist]] under his employ.

Torrio and Capone established a monopoly for illegal activities in the nearby town of Cicero, but their South Side Gang was still caught up in a mild turf war with Irish-American bootlegger Dion O'Banion and his North Side Gang. When O'Banion was murdered, all hell broke loose amongst the gangs in Chicago and a MobWar began as his subordinates sought revenge. Torrio, a pacifist who narrowly survived an assassination attempt during these events, finally opted to abandon Chicago and left all his operations to Capone.

Capone finally went to trial in 1931 and though he was able to avoid being tried for myriad crimes, the courts [[JusticeByOtherLegalMeans ultimately convicted him for something he didn't see coming]] - [[IntimidatingRevenueService tax evasion]]. He couldn't fix ''that'' jury, owing to the judge on the case switching the jury pools at the last minute, preventing Capone's men from bribing or threatening them. After being convicted, Capone was imprisoned at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco. During his imprisonment, a latent case of syphilis he had developed finally hit the tertiary stage, and the damage to his nervous system completely destroyed him. He was released in 1939; too ill to resume command of the Chicago Outfit, he retired to Palm Island, Florida with his family and died eight years later.

* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: Capone is probably the trope codifier for this. The government couldn't make the case that Capone was a crime kingpin, but they ''could'' point to his lifestyle and SuspiciousSpending habits and say he was earning money he hadn't paid taxes on. It was pointed out at the time that the government was consciously ignoring how Capone had earned the money (which they couldn't prove), and instead focusing on the fact that he had the money and owed taxes on it. It's also necessary to consider that when charged with other sorts of crimes, Capone usually got a "not guilty" verdict from the jury by having his men bribe or intimidate them. To make extra sure that Capone couldn't weasel his way out of the tax evasion charges, the non-corrupt judge, who anticipated that Capone would bribe the jury pool, switched the jury pool for his case at the last minute, and the trial was started before the jurors could be coerced.

Torrio and Capone established a monopoly for illegal activities in the nearby town of Cicero, but their South Side Gang was still caught up in a mild turf war with Irish-American bootlegger Dion O'Banion and his North Side Gang. When O'Banion was murdered, all hell broke loose amongst the gangs in Chicago and a MobWar began as his subordinates sought revenge. Torrio, a pacifist who narrowly survived an assassination attempt during these events, opted to abandon Chicago and leave all his operations to Capone.

Capone brought things under control with the murder of O'Banion's successor, Hymie Weiss, and set about establishing himself in the establishment of Chicago. While he encountered resistance from other gangland rivals, like George "Bugs" Moran (who inherited O'Banion and Weiss's North Side Gang) and his former mentor Frankie Yale (whom Capone's henchmen assassinated in New York in July 1928), by 1928 he largely dominated Chicago's rackets and began expanding his influence into other cities as well.

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone]] (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was one of the first iconic American gangsters of the 20th century. He was the fourth son of first-generation Neapolitan immigrants. Born in New York City on January 17, 1899, Al dropped out of school and let himself be caught up in street gangs. During his teen years, Capone received his famous facial scars during an altercation with a man whose sister he insulted. His brawling behavior as an adult brought himself to the attention of racketeers Frankie Yale and Johnny Torrio.

Torrio subsequently invited Capone to join him as a partner when he took over the businesses of Chicago crime lord "Big Jim" Colosimo and expanded his operations to take advantage of the lucrative market for bootlegging created by the passage of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, which banned the manufacture, importation, and sale of alcoholic drinks in the United States. After Colosimo's never-solved assassination in May of 1920 (many believe that Capone personally killed him), Torrio and Capone quickly established themselves as major players in Chicago's rising organized crime world.

Torrio subsequently invited Capone to join him as a partner when he took over the businesses of Chicago crime lord "Big Jim" Colosimo and expanded his operations to take advantage of the lucrative market for bootlegging created by the passage of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, which banned the manufacture, importation, and sale of alcoholic drinks in the United States. After Colosimo's never-solved murder in May of 1920 (many believe that Capone personally killed him), Torrio and Capone quickly established themselves as major players in Chicago's rising organized crime world.