History Characters / TheGodfatherCorleoneFamilyAssociates

* YouOwe: He's on the receiving end of this as his request for justice leaves him indebted to Vito Corleone, something that makes him fearful that he would be forced to help cover up murders, until Vito calls him to perform the embalming of Sonny and makes him presentable for an open casket and for Vito's wife to see her son.

* IOweYou: His request for justice leaves him indebted to Vito Corleone, something that makes him fearful that he would be forced to help cover up murders, until Vito calls him to perform the embalming of Sonny and makes him presentable for an open casket and for Vito's wife to see her son.

* GoodParent: He clearly loves his daughter Maria dearly, and did everything to raise her correctly and gave her much freedom.

[[folder: Willie Cicci]]
[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/willie_5.png]]
->''"The family had a lot of buffers."''
->'''Portrayed By''': Creator/JoeSpinell

Another Corleone soldier who becomes Frank Pentangeli's aide in ''Part II''. Like his boss he testifies before the Senate committee investigating Michael, albeit without providing useful evidence.

[[folder:Paulie Gatto]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pauliegatto_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:320:''"Thirty, forty grand. In small bills cash, in that little silk purse. Madon', if this was somebody else's wedding, sfortunato!"'' ]]

->'''Portrayed by''': John Martino

A ''soldato'' (button man) under Clemenza who serves as Don Corleone's chauffeur.

* BodyguardBetrayal: [[spoiler:He helped set up Don Corleone for the assassination attempt.]]
* DoubleTap: [[spoiler:Rocco shoots him three times in the back of the head.]]
* FamilyBusiness: His father was a button man for the Corleones.
* {{Greed}}: [[spoiler:His want for money drives him to sell out Don Corleone to The Turk. Clemenza uses it to his advantage by telling him that they are going to the mattresses, knowing that Paulie's excitement at the idea of the money Sollozzo would give him for such information, would cause him to drop his guard and to be gunned without suspecting that his betrayal had been discovered.]]
* KickTheSonOfABitch: He's responsible for beating up the two men who assaulted Bonasera's daughter.
* TheMole: [[spoiler:Betrayed Don Corleone to Solozzo.]]
* PlayingSick: [[spoiler:Pretended to be sick the day of the assassination attempt, leaving Don Corleone to have to be defended by [[NonActionGuy Fredo]].]]

[[folder: Peter Clemenza]]
[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/clemenza.png]]
[[caption-width-right:243:''"You know, you gotta stop them at the beginning. Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for trouble."'']]
->"''[[MemeticMutation Leave the gun]]. [[ThrowItIn Take the cannoli]]''."
->'''Portrayed By''': Richard Castellano (''The Godfather''), Creator/BrunoKirby (''Part II'')

One of Vito's caporegimes, who helped initiate Vito's criminal career and became one of his most trusted advisers; Serves as a mentor to Michael and other members of the Family.

[[folder: Luca Brasi]]
[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/luca_25.png]]
[[caption-width-right:243:''"Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home today on the day of your daughters wedding... and I hope that their first child, be a masculine child."'']]
->"''Yes... he's a very scary guy.''"
--> -- '''Michael Corleone'''
->'''Portrayed By''': Lenny Montana

Vito's feared bodyguard and personal hatchet man.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: In the novel Luca was infamous for his violence and cruelty with a number of incredibly brutal murders (including that of his own newborn infant child) to his name. Even the Corleone family fears him, and his allegiance to them isn't as guaranteed as much as they'd like. The film omits many of his harsher actions, including the infanticide, and on the whole his major scene of him at the party serves to humanize him as a somewhat dim but still affectionate follower of Vito's. Similarly, the Corleone family is at the very least confident in his loyalty, and there's never any real fear of him turning on them.
* AxCrazy: Very literally in the book.
* TheDragon: He is the Corleone family's most trusted bodyguard, though he's also TheBrute.
* TheDreaded:
** In the novel even Vito is afraid of him, to the point of being apprehensive when he has to receive Brasi's congratulations on his daughter's wedding day despite Brasi being the only one of these visitors not to impose a favor along with the congratulations. [[spoiler: When Sollozzo's men make it clear to the Corleones that they have killed Brasi, the Corleones are relieved to know that Sollozo had not turned him and that he isn't coming after them.]]
** As [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20096_6-iconic-movie-scenes-that-happened-by-accident_p2.html this]] Cracked article notes, the movie inverts this; the fact that the huge and terrifying Brasi is seen nervously reciting his speech to Corleone only to awkwardly stutter through it and mess it up when actually in the Don's presence makes it clear exactly who the ''really'' scary one in this version is. Although even then, the Don is uncomfortable around him, as evidenced by him asking Tom if it's necessary for him to meet with Luca that day.
* DumbMuscle: He would often have to rehearse what he said to someone before speaking with them.
* EloquentInMyNativeTongue: Clearly seen struggling with English during his introduction at the wedding, but has no problems using colloquial Italian later.
* FakeDefector: Don Corleone sends him to infiltrate the gang of Sollozzo to garner information, but Sollozzo is wise to the plot and Luca ends up sleeping with the fishes.
* HairTriggerTemper: To extreme levels.
* HiddenDepths: The movie doesn't make him look particularly intelligent, but the book explains how part of what made him so dangerous was his ability to commit murders all by himself; most enforcers need backup on a hit. And when you commit a murder by yourself, there's no one to tell the police what happened.
* InformedAbility: None of the brutality that he is supposedly capable of is seen on screen, but everyone talks about it. The only story told about Brasi is fairly meek compared to the on-screen action: Michael tells Kay that [[spoiler:Brasi once pointed a gun to a music director to extort him to sign Johnny Fontane away.]] When Don Vito gives Brasi the task of [[spoiler:pretending to go work for Sollozzo, Brasi fails and gets killed before doing anything.]] The book is more explicit about Brasi's savagery although always as OffstageVillainy in the distant past.
** Justified thematically in that Luca, like Vito, is getting older and his GloryDays (such as they were) are behind him.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's a bumbling thug in the film who is revealed to be a horrible human being in the novel.
* MoreDespicableMinion: Don Vito Corleone is an AffablyEvil Mafia leader, caring for his family and friends. In contrast, his henchman Luca Brasi is a sadistic brute he employs for his pure brutality and who, in the book, once burned alive his own baby because he didn't want [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain a half-Irish child]].
* NoDeadBodyPoops: [[spoiler:Averted in the book when he's strangled.]]
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Brasi was mostly based on Willie "Moore" Moretti, Frank Costello's right-hand man. He also had some elements of Albert Anastasia, a vicious mob boss, and Carmine Galante, a violent hit man and underboss to Joe Bonanno.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: In the book, he has his half Irish illegitimate baby killed because he believes "None of that race should live."
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Went on one after an attempt on Vito's life in the Olive Oil War. It took Vito recovering and personally calling him off to avoid Luca dropping enough bodies to make peace impossible. [[spoiler: The Turk has him killed before they attempt to kill Vito to avoid this happening to him.]]
* TheSociopath: More evident in the novel than the film.
* TheWorfEffect:
** [[spoiler:Established as Don Corleone's most fearsome right-hand man at the beginning of the first film, but then is quickly taken out by the Tattaglia family to show the grave danger the Corleones are facing.]]
** In the film, his nervousness around Vito helps establish the Godfather as a legendary crime boss that even hardened killers are afraid of.

[[folder: Genco Abbandando]]
->'''Portrayed By''': Franco Cosaro (''The Godfather'' [[note]]deleted scenes[[/note]]), Frank Sivero (''Part II'')
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unnamed_0212.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:in his youth]]
->''"If I had a wartime consigliere, a Sicilian, I wouldn't be in this shape! Pop had Genco, look what I got!"''
-->-- '''Sonny Corleone''', unfavorably comparing '''[[TheConsigliere Tom Hagen]]''' to Vito's second

The first ''consigliere'' to the Corleone family, and a friend of Vito's from childhood. The Corleone's front company Genco Pura Olive Oil is named for him.

* AscendedExtra: While relegated to a single deleted scene in the first film, he becomes a more prominent character in Vito's story in ''Part II''.
* TheConsigliere: The Corleone family's first one.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Vito in ''Part II''. The two became fast friends when Vito came to work for Genco's father and when Don Fannuci forced Vito out so Fannuci's nephew could be hired, Genco offered to steal for Vito to help him.
* ToughActToFollow: In-universe, his abilities as a 'wartime consigliere' makes Tom's job more difficult because Tom has to deal with a MobWar right after Genco dies.

[[folder: Aldo Trapani]]
->"''Everybody loses something''."
->'''Portrayed By''': Andrew Pifko (''[[VideoGame/TheGodfather The Godfather]]'' [video game]), Creator/RickPasqualone (''[[VideoGame/TheGodfather The Godfather II]]'' [video game])

The protagonist of the first film's 2006 video game adaptation. A young Corleone recruit who can rise through the ranks of Mafia hierarchy.

%%* AlmightyJanitor
* AscendedExtra: Aldo's film counterpart (the unnamed man who helps Rocco kill Tattagalia) only has a few seconds of screen-time.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: He is responsible for helping Rocco in removing Khartoum's head and placing it in Woltz's bed, beating the two kids who tried to rape Bonasera's daughter, assassinating both Paulie Gatto and Salvatore Tessio for betraying the Family, hiding the pistol Michael would use to kill Sollozzo and [=McCluskey=], and participating in the assassination of the heads of the Five Families.
%%* CanonName
* DarkAndTroubledPast: He witnessed his father getting killed when he was only 12.
* DeathByCameo: [[spoiler:He's shot in the neck after escorting Michael and Fredo to safety in ''Part II'']].
%%* DragonInChief
%%* MagneticHero
* {{Retcon}}: It's a goal to become "Don of New York" in the game, with a cinematic showing it is exactly what it sounds like as he oversees Manhattan in a high rise building with Mafia dons as his lackeys. Come to "Part II" and he's a capo with no hints of having rose anywhere above it.
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: Briefly appears in ''Part II''.
* VillainProtagonist: While he certainly is better than his enemies, and maintains a good relationship with everyone he meets, he still beats and maims shop owners for protection money and dives head-first into the Mafia lifestyle with no hesitation.
* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler:He guns down Barzini at the steps of the City Hall]].

[[folder: Al Neri]]
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mv5bzgi3oty0ztqtzdlmni00oda1ltgzowutm2e2zmizyzywntu2xkeyxkfqcgdeqxvymtiwodk1ntq_v1.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:"''Look! I'd love to smack Joey Zasa and then whack the bag, Okay? But it's impossible. He's always mingling with people. In front of TV cameras, in his own neighborhood, it's impossible.''"]]
->''"I trust these men with my life, Senator. To ask them to leave would be an insult."''
-->-- '''Michael Corleone''', referring to '''Tom Hagen''' and '''Al Neri'''
->'''Portrayed By''': Richard Bright

A former NYPD cop expelled for PoliceBrutality, he was taken in by the Corleones as a hitman. Eventually became Michael's right-hand man and his most trusted bodyguard and advisor.

* AscendedExtra: By the second film, he becomes one of Michael's most trusted subordinates. And by the third, he's next to Connie in terms of power in the Family.
* CoDragons: With Rocco, for Michael.
* CowboyCop: What got him fired from the Force and into the Family.
* DistractedByTheSexy: One of his few emotive moments is when he's checking out the dancers in Vegas.
* TheDragon: He and Rocco take over as Michael's main enforcers and gunmen. [[spoiler:Al also survives the second film unlike Rocco which leaves him as the sole Dragon]].
* TheDreaded: One assumes this after Tom says of him to Michael "Now you've got your Luca."
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He doesn't understand why his wife became terrified of him because of his brutality, and chose to take her distances from and eventually divorce with him, believing that it was unjustified due to him having never hit her.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: A small moment, but you can see that he looks down after Michael orders him to kill Fredo with just a look.
* GeniusBruiser: Genius might be an overstatement, but Al is very intelligent and Michael seeks and trusts his input.
* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: He does this in order to [[spoiler:assassinate Barzini]].
** In the books, Al Neri was previously an actual police officer until he killed a perpetrator while on the job rather than arresting him. The Corleones took a look at the circumstances and decided to provide him a high-powered defence to get him off the hook at the later trial, after which he came to work for the family.
* KickTheDog: To blackmail Senator Geary in ''Part II'' the Mob kills an innocent hooker and positions it near him as he sleeps to make him think he did it. It's implied that Al was the one who killed her.
* LawmanGoneBad: In the novel, he is revealed to have been an incorruptible but ferocious cop, until [[PayEvilUntoEvil he beat a pimp to death for harming a little girl]] and winds up convicted of manslaughter. Michael gets him off with a suspended sentence and in gratitude, he becomes Michael's most trusted bodyguard and ProfessionalKiller.
* MookPromotion: He goes from a "Button Man" to Michael's trusted caporegime.
* MoreDespicableMinion: He's a former cop with a violent streak, dismissed for PoliceBrutality after he had beaten a suspect to death, who harbors racist ideas and will have even fewer restrictions on his innate violence now he belongs to the mob. Michael Corleone looks nice compared to him.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Loosely based on Carmine Galante, a vicious hitman and underboss to Joe Bonanno.
* PoliceBrutality: When he was a cop, he frequently patrolled the streets with a large flashlight which he used to great effect, either cracking up the foreheads of Italian youths that ran with street gangs or shattering the windshields of diplomats who showed no regard for traffic laws.
* TheQuietOne: Says nothing in the first film, and only a few scattered lines in the second and third films.
* TheStoic:
** In the first, the closest thing he exhibits to an emotion is concentration when preparing to [[spoiler:kill Barzini]]. He also visibly smiles for a brief second [[DistractedByTheSexy when he's checking out the girls Fredo invited]] to Michael's meeting with Moe Greene.
** The second film has two examples, both relating to Fredo:
*** He isn't sure how to respond when Fredo makes eye contact with him and wordlessly approaches him at the funeral.
*** He is visibly glum when Michael non-verbally orders him to kill Fredo.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Rocco Lampone in the second as Michael's top two enforcers, sharing the screen on multiple occasions.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Michael.
* WouldHurtAChild: In the novel it's revealed that he beat his SpoiledBrat nephew for having talked in a very rude way to his mother, Al's sister. While it looks like his nephew started behaving better after, his wife was understandably horrified and grew distant of him, until eventually divorcing of him.

[[folder: Rocco Lampone]]
[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rocco.png]]
[[caption-width-right:243:"''These things happen, nobody's perfect.''"]]
->''"Difficult, not impossible."''
->'''Portrayed By''': Tom Rosqui

A Corleone soldier who works his way from hitman to trusted advisor.

* AscendedExtra: Like Neri, has much more screen time and importance in ''Part II'' than the original.
* CoDragons: With Neri, for Michael.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Kills [[spoiler: Roth]] before being gunned down.
* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and was sent home with a Purple Heart after having his leg crippled due to a shattered kneecap.
* HandicappedBadass: In the novel, Rocco suffered a crippling knee injury during World War II, which didn't prevent him from being a tough and efficient assassin. This backstory isn't revealed the film, but his character does walk with a limp.
* MookPromotion: He goes from a "Button Man" to Michael's caporegime.
* RiteOfPassage: Killing [[spoiler: Paulie]] is how Rocco 'makes his bones.'
* ThoseTwoGuys: He and Al Neri are Michael's top enforcers in the second film, and regularly appear together.

[[folder: Frank "Frankie Five Angels" Pentangeli]]
[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fiveangels.png]]
[[caption-width-right:243:"''Your father did business with Hyman Roth, your father respected Hyman Roth, but your father never trusted Hyman Roth!''"]]
->''"Those were the great old days, you know. And we was like the Roman Empire. The Corleone family was like the Roman Empire."''
->'''Portrayed by''': Michael V. Gazzo

Clemenza's successor running the Corleone family's New York operations, he's quick-tempered and spoiling for a fight with Hyman Roth and his allies, the Rosato Brothers. He's eventually trapped into informing on Michael, and his incriminating testimony to the Senate becomes a major plot point.

* BathSuicide: In ''Part II'', Tom Hagen visits him in prison and talks about this practice in the Roman Empire, hinting that if he does this his family will be spared. [[spoiler:He does, and they are. The camera shot depicting the outcome is a ShoutOut to the painting ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Marat The Death of Marat]]'']].
* BewareTheSillyOnes: He's initially introduced as a goofy comic relief character who tries in exasperation to get the Communion band to play a Tarantella. It's worth remembering that he's a high ranking lieutenant in the Corleone family, and, in ''Part II' proper, he becomes extremely dangerous by initially being willing to testify as to Michael's criminal activities; unlike Willi Cicci he would have been able to implicate Michael directly.
* BullyingADragon: Pentangeli is perfectly willing to openly call out Michael for his dealings with Roth, and is not shaken when Michael tries to cite his superiority.
* CassandraTruth: He warns Michael early on that Roth is behind his trouble with the Rosato brothers. Michael ignores him, to his peril.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Slits his own wrists after Tom Hagen pays him a visit, with the consigliere strongly insinuating that by doing so his family will be spared and looked after.]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The appearance of his older brother at Michael's trial (flown in from Sicily by the Corleones) compels him to change and outright refute his own previously given testimony.
** The implied promise that his family will be taken care of after [[spoiler: he dies compels him to take his own life]] in atonement for betraying Michael.
* TheGadfly: He adopts this attitude during his testimony, outwardly appearing to simply be jerking them around. In reality, he's backtracking due to the veiled threat Michael makes by bringing Frank's brother to the trial.
* GratuitousItalian: Peppers his speech with various Italian phrases.
* HeelFaceTurn: Subverted, [[spoiler: Pentangeli]] is put under WitnessProtection and is going to testify against the Corleone family. Michael and Tom Hagen find a way to prevent him breaking the ''omertà''; his brother shows up the day he has to testify. It's not stated if they stop [[spoiler: Pentangeli]] by shaming him in front of his old-school brother, or if there's some kind of ImpliedDeathThreat going on. [[note]] Earlier drafts of the script had Michael explaining that said brother was the custodian of Pentangeli's [[IHaveYourWife illegitimate children]] back in Sicily; his showing up delivers an [[ShameIfSomethingHappened unambiguous message]].[[/note]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:The Family wants him dead, but Tom Hagen tells him that if he kills himself, the Corleones will provide for his surviving family from that point on.]]
* HiddenDepths: Demonstrates a knowledge of history, when he references the practice of attainted Romans committing suicide so that their families would be spared the Emperor's wrath. This is exactly what he [[BathSuicide does]] to atone for his betrayal.
* HotBlooded: He'd much rather kill the Rosatos than talk with them.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Reportedly a composite of crime boss Joe Profaci (founder of the Colombo crime family and a notoriously greedy boss), Carmine Persico and informant Joe Valachi. The Rosato brothers' hit on Pentangeli resembles a similarly botched attack on Larry Gallo, down to the policeman interrupting.
* OhCrap: The look on his face when he shares a look with his brother before the hearing, realizing what will happen if he violates the omertà (potentially to his family in particular).
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Cites the Rosatos hiring blacks and Hispanics as one reason he hates them so much. His comments towards Roth drip with thinly-veiled anti-Semitism, wondering how Michael could trust a Jew against "his own blood."
* RememberTheNewGuy: A classic example, with Fredo gushing over Frankie as a long-lost friend we'd never seen before.
* TheStoolPigeon: With Willie Cicci after he mistakenly assumes Michael put a hit out on him. [[spoiler: He recants at the last minute when his brother pays him a surprise visit, courtesy of the Corleones]].
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Pentangeli was written to replace Clemenza when Castellano didn't return for ''Part II''. Nevertheless, he remains fairly distinct by being something of a GenkiGuy compared to Peter's more laid-back personality, and he's also more HotBlooded and insolent as well.
* TragicVillain: He's essentially a pawn in Michael and Roth's conflict, becoming an antagonist [[DrivenToVillainy through no fault of his own]]. He only turns against Michael after he's convinced that Michael tried to kill him.

[[folder: Senator Patrick Geary]]
[[quoteright:243:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/geary.png]]
->''"I despise your masquerade, the dishonest way you pose yourself. You and [[PrecisionFStrike your whole fucking family]]."''
-> '''Portrayed by''': G.D. Spradlin

A crooked Nevada politician in ''Part II'', whom Michael blackmails into supporting him.

* BullyingADragon: He tries to extort and bully Michael for a gambling license, [[UnderestimatingBadassery thinking]] that he's safe from Michael's criminal enterprise as a political leader. A nonchalant Michael bides his time and turns the tables with a cold {{frameup}}.
* CorruptBureaucrat: He tries to extort and bully Michael... and not out of greed but because he's a racist spiteful bastard.
* DisposableSexWorker: How Tom blackmails him.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Calls Michael and the Corleone family two-faced scum for pretending to be decent people while actually mobsters, while he himself happily extorts them for racist reasons while pretending to be a friend of the family and an upstanding citizen.
* MaliciousMisnaming: He publicly mispronounces "Corleone," only to pronounce it accurately in private conversation.
* TheMole: He's part of the Senate committee investigating Michael while being blackmailed by the Corleones.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Based on real-life Nevada Senator Patrick [=McCarran=], to the point where he was even named [=McGarry=] in an early script draft until Coppola decided it was too on the nose. Like Geary, [=McCarran=] was long rumored to have ties to the Las Vegas mob, and also called for harsh restrictions on immigration to the United States, invoked here by Geary's insults towards Michael's heritage. Today he's probably best-remembered for his role in the RedScare of the early '50s, and because of the Las Vegas airport which used to bear his name until it was renamed for another Nevada senator, Harry Reid, who helped purge the mob from Las Vegas.
* NoPartyGiven: Several passages in the script strongly imply he's a Democrat,[[note]]Specifically, there's a throwaway line that names him as being in the same party as another Senator who represents Tammany Hall (New York), which would make both men Democrats. In the earlier drafts of the script, when Michael's story extended in the '60s, it's even more explicit as Geary becomes an advisor to President Kennedy. His real-life inspiration, as noted above, was also a Democrat (albeit a very Conservative one)[[/note]] but these aren't present in the movie.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Drops some savage anti-Italian slurs in conversation with Michael.
* ReallyGetsAround: Hookers, night club singers, he's a womanizer and proud of it.
* SleazyPolitician: Corrupt, in bed with the Mafia and cavorts with hookers. He's this trope to a T.
* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: His over-the-top defense of Italian-Americans at the Senate hearings.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: "I remember she was laughing."

[[folder: Joey Zasa]]
[[quoteright:241:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zaza_4.png]]
->''"As for Don Corleone, he makes it very clear to me today, that he is my enemy. You must choose between us."''
->'''Portrayed By''': Creator/JoeMantegna

A flamboyant captain of the Corleone family, trying to gain power in New York City. Michael and the other crime bosses consider him an embarrassment for his media grandstanding.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: ''Everyone'' hated him and was happy to see him go. The only person with any problem with his death was Michael, and that's only because he was upset Vincent and Connie ordered the hit without his permission.
* ArchEnemy: Makes a massive one out of Vincent, constantly badgering him and even ordering a hit. Vincent ends up winning their rivalry by being the one to personally gun him down.
* AssholeVictim: Executed in cold blood, but he's one of the worst mobsters in the trilogy, so there are no tears shed.
* AttentionWhore: One of the reasons everyone hates him. His constant need to grandstand to media caused even his bosses to loath him.
* BigBadWannabe: As a whole, he's not really as powerful as his boss, Altobello, and Michael and the Commission don't take him seriously.
* BullyingADragon: You think after biting his ear off he'd back off of Vincent, but he orders a hit instead. Vincent’s growing hatred of him leads to him being the one to personally execute the cowardly Don.
* DirtyCoward: Runs for the hills when he realizes a hit has been placed on him. Vincent gets him, anyway.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Of ''Part III''. In fact, the real BigBad is relieved to see him go!
* DudeWheresMyRespect: His rant to the Mafia commission complains about no one taking him seriously. Michael [[ShutUpHannibal tells him it's own fault for being so flamboyant]].
* EqualOpportunityEvil: He recruits blacks and Latinos into his organization, which shows he "has a good heart". That's just about the only good thing Michael has to say about him, but it's likely only a case of PragmaticVillainy rather than any sincere acceptance and tolerance (i.e. [[WeHaveReserves having more soldiers and grunts]]).
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He rudely interrupts a Corleone family gathering, the entire party coming to a dead halt until picking back up when he leaves.
* HatedByAll: Even civilians wanted this guy dead for selling drugs to their children.
* {{Jerkass}}: The man ''sells drugs to children''.
* LargeHam: Especially while playing himself up for media.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: He likes to be known for his well dressed style and as a champion of Italian-American heritage. It doesn't exactly endear him to his fellow mafiosi.
* NeverMyFault: Seems unable to understand everyone hates him for being a grandstanding {{Jerkass}}, instead blaming Michael for how everyone views him.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: A thinly-veiled [[TakeThat up-yours]] against Joseph Colombo, from his personality to the Italian-American heritage organization Zasa fronts, resembling Colombo's Italian-American Civil Rights League which caused Coppola headaches [[RealitySubtext during the first film]]. His over-the-top, media-friendly persona also recalls John Gotti, Carmine Persico, Paul Castellano and "Crazy" Joe Gallo.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: While seemingly a small fish in a big pond, he did still orchestrate a slaughter of the mob families.
* RememberTheNewGuy: As with Pentangeli in ''Part II'', a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot. Originally Zasa was to be Willie Cicci, but Joe Spinell's death forced Coppola to rewrite his storyline for a new character.
* SmugSnake: Sees himself as top dog, but Vincent and Connie remind how low on the totem pole he his with their hit.
* TheSociopath: Joey is a man of no morals. He takes no responsibility for his actions, feels nothing for the people he slaughtered, and is so morally bankrupt he'd sell drugs to children.
* TheStarscream: He is hinted as wanting to take over Altobello's plan so he can be Don.
* UndignifiedDeath: Spends his last moments screaming at a locked door before being executed by Vincent.
* WouldHurtAChild: As mentioned before, he sells drugs to children.

[[folder: Don Tommasino]]
->'''Portrayed By''': Corrado Gaipa (''The Godfather''), Mario Conote (''Part II''), Vittorio Duse (''Part III'')

An old friend of Don Corleone's in Sicily. When Michael flees to Sicily after killing Solozzo and [=McClusky=], he is put under Tommasino's care.

* CoolOldGuy: By ''Part III'', he's nearing 90 but is still pretty sharp as he quickly recognizes [[spoiler:Mosca]] as an assassin. [[spoiler:It doesn't save him though.]]
* TheDon: Of the town of Corleone in Sicily after Vito murders Don Ciccio.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Assisted Vito's revenge on Don Ciccio in the hopes of taking over Corleone himself.
* EvilCripple: A Don who needs to use a wheelchair to move around after getting shot in the spine.

[[folder: Calò]]
->'''Portrayed By''': Franco Citti

A bodyguard of Don Tommasino's who protects Michael in Sicily.
----
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Has no distinguishing traits in the first film besides his tendency to [[ParrotExposition repeat the last thing someone says to him]] and is clearly the less active of the two bodyguards; come ''Part III'' he's not only left in charge of Tommasino's operations, he executes one of the most graphic kills of the series.
* DragonInChief: By ''Part III'', Don Tommasino's health is failing so Calò has taken over much of his operations.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Kills the BigBad of ''Part III'' by ''stabbing him in the jugular with his own glasses'' before being gunned down by the man's bodyguard.
* TheQuietOne: Rarely speaks.
* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Described as a dab hand with a lupara shotgun.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: His novel counterpart was killed in the car bomb that killed [[spoiler:Apollina.]]
* SuicideMission: Knew he wasn't coming back from his mission to kill Don Licio Lucchesi, but took it to avenge Tommasino.
* TakingYouWithMe: Dies stabbing Lucchesi's neck with his own glasses.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Don Tommasino, to the point that [[spoiler:he happily accepts a SuicideMission in the hopes of avenging his boss.]]
[[/folder]]

** In the film, his nervousness around Vito helps establish the Godfather as someone to be feared.

* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Established as Don Corleone's most fearsome right-hand man at the beginning of the first film, but then is quickly taken out by the Tattaglia family to show the grave danger the Corleones are facing.]]

* TheStoic: In the first, the closest thing he exhibits to an emotion is concentration when preparing to [[spoiler:kill Barzini]]. In the second film, he is visibly glum when Michael non-verbally orders him to kill Fredo.

->'''Portrayed By''': Joe Spinell

* AnAxeToGrind: In the book. Chops up a couple of gunmen that Al Capone sends to interfere in the Olive Oil War. This is the kind of thing that made him TheDreaded.

* EqualOpportunityEvil: He recruits blacks and Latinos into his organization, which shows he "has a good heart".

[[caption-width-right:243:"Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home today on the day of your daughters wedding... and I hope that their first child, be a masculine child."]]

[[caption-width-right:243:"You know, you gotta stop them at the beginning. Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for trouble."]]

->"''Yes...he's a very scary guy.''" - Michael Corleone

->''"If I had a wartime consigliere, a Sicilian, I wouldn't be in this shape! Pop had Genco, look what I got!"''- Sonny Corleone, unfavorably comparing [[TheConsigliere Tom Hagen]] to Vito's second

->"[referring to Tom Hagen and Neri] ''I trust these men with my life, Senator. To ask them to leave would be an insult.''"
-->-- '''Michael Corleone'''

* IllBoy: By the time of the first book[=/=]film, he is stricken with cancer and cannot fulfill his duties. He passes away with Don Corleone at his side.

* AdaptationalVillainy: The book makes it much clearer that his betrayal of the Corleone's comes down to Michael and Vito seemingly hanging him, Clemenza and all their men out to dry with their move to Las Vegas and refusal to let them recruit more men or retaliate in the face of encroachment of the Barzini and Tattalgia families onto their territories [[note]]which was actually designed to lull the Barzini and Tattalgia families into a false sense of security for a killer blow later, but Michael and Vito chose to keep this to themselves[[/note]]. In fact Michael and Vito even ''expected'' someone to betray them and Michael was not surprised that it was Tessio, simply because it was the most logical move considering the situation Michael himself had put him in. From a certain point of view, it was Michael who betrayed ''Tessio''.

* AdaptationalVillainy: The book makes it much clearer that his betrayal of the Corleone's comes down to Michael and Vito seemingly hanging him, Clemenza and all their men out to dry with their move to Las Vegas and refusal to let them recruit more men or retaliate in the face of encroachment of the Barzini and Tattalgia families onto their territories (which was actually designed to lull the Barzini and Tattalgia families into a false sense of security for a killer blow later, but Michael and Vito chose to keep this to themselves). In fact Michael and Vito even ''expected'' someone to betray them and Michael was not surprised that it was Tessio, simply because it was the most logical move considering the situation Michael himself had put him in. From a certain point of view, it was Michael who betrayed ''Tessio''.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: ''Everyone'' hated him and was happy to see him go. The only person with any problem with his death was Michael, and that’s only because he was upset Vincent and Connie ordered the hit without his permission.

* AssholeVictim: Executed in cold blood, but he’s one of the worst mobsters in the trilogy, so there are no tears shed.

* BullyingADragon: You think after biting his ear off he’d back off of Vincent, but he orders a hit instead. Vincent’s growing hatred of him leads to him being the one to personally execute the cowardly Don.

* TheSociopath: Joey is a man of no morals. He takes no responsibility for his actions, feels nothing for the people he slaughtered, and is so morally bankrupt he’d sell drugs to children.

* {{Greed}}: [[spoiler:His want for money drives him to sell out Don Corleone to The Turk. Clemenza uses it to his advantage by telling him that they are going to the matresses, knowing that Paulie's excitement at the idea of the money Sollozzo would give him for such an information, would cause him to drop his guard and to be gunned without suspecting that his betrayal had been discovered.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:The Family wants him dead, but Tom Hagen tells him that if he kills himself, the Corleone's will provide for his surviving family from that point on.]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Pentangeli was written to replace Clemenza when Castellano didn't return for ''Part II''. Nevertheless, he remains fairly distinct by being something of a GenkiGuy compared to Peter's more laid-back personality, and he's also more HotBlooded and insolent insolent as well.

* WouldHurtAChild: In the novel it's revealed that he beat his SpoiledBrat nephew for the having talked in a very rude way to his mother, Al's sister. While it looks like his nephew started behaving better after, his wife was understandably horrified and grew distant of him.

* {{Greed}}: [[spoiler:His want for money drives him to sell out Don Corleone to The Turk.]]

* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Kills the BigBad of ''Part III'' by ''stabbing him in the jugular with his own glasses'' before being gunned down by the man’s bodyguard.

* SuicideMission: Knew he wasn’t coming back from his mission to kill Don Licio Lucchesi, but took it to avenge Tommasino.
* TakingYouWithMe: Dies stabbing Lucchesi’s neck with his own glasses.

%%* TheQuietOne