History Characters / TheSopranosTheLupertazzisAndOtherCriminals

* EvilVirtues: In spite of being about as conniving, manipulative, cruel, and ruthless as most of his fellow mobsters, John does have a major redeeming feature in his completely genuine and deep love for his wife Ginny. He is notably one of the few faithful husbands in the show and is willing to [[HonorBeforeReason defend her honor at cost of everything else]].

* BadBoss: Phil somehow manages to be even worse than ''Tony Soprano'', which is no mean feat. When Phil declares a MobWar, he immediately goes into hiding, [[DirtyCoward disappearing from everyone]] including his own soldiers. He then sends his men out to do his bidding from afar, leaving it all for them to do, risking all their lives for him. [[FrontlineGeneral Tony]], on the other hand, goes to the mattresses alongside his soldiers, taking the same risks as them and arming up while proactively looking for ways to hunt down and kill Phil. Also, it is this tendency that convinces Butchie to turn against Phil, become TheStarscream, and end the war with Tony, after a lack of results in killing Tony leads [[UngratefulBastard Phil]] to issue an ImpliedDeathThreat against him for their [[YouHaveFailedMe failure]].

* AxCrazy: He is arguably one of the most brutal characters of the entire series. Not to mention that every time he kills, tortures, or intimidates anyone, he has a huge SlasherSmile.
* BadBoss: While Tony is no slouch in this department, and is hardly AFatherToHisMen, Phil is even worse than him. When Phil declares a MobWar, he immediately goes into hiding, [[DirtyCoward disappearing from everyone]] including his own soldiers. He then sends his men out to do his bidding from afar, leaving it all for them to do, risking all their lives for him. [[FrontlineGeneral Tony]] on the other hand goes to the mattresses alongside his soldiers, taking the same risks as them and arming up while proactively looking for ways to hunt down and kill Phil. Also, it is this tendency that convinces Butchie to turn against Phil, become TheStarscream, and end the war with Tony, after a lack of results in killing Tony leads [[UngratefulBastard Phil]] to issue an ImpliedDeathThreat against him for the [[YouHaveFailedMe failure]].
* BerserkButton: He's enraged by his cousin-in-law Vito's homosexuality. Also when anyone brings up his younger brother Billy's death by 'that motherfuckin' animal Blundetto.'
* BigBad: Of the final season. With all the resources of the Lupertazzi crime family at his disposal and a vicious streak comparable to that of Richie Aprile, he is by far the most dangerous adversary Tony encounters throughout the entire series.

* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler: How he dies in the series finale, courtesy of Walden]].

* BrutalHonesty: Combined with DeadpanSnarker for additional injuries.

* DirtyCoward: For all of Phil's bravado, when it comes time for violence he always only does or threatens it when he has a numerical advantage and/or is up against weaker victims who can't fight back for one reason or another. Whenever it comes time to test his mettle in an actual confrontation, he tends to reveal his true colors pretty quickly, such as fleeing from Tony when Tony comes to collect the debt Phil owes him. Most glaringly in the last scene together with Tony before Phil declares the MobWar, Phil doesn't even meet with Tony and Little Carmine despite inviting them over for a sit-down, instead having Butchie turn them away at the door. While the two are leaving [[EvilIsPetty Phil childishly]] shouts down at them and curses them out from the safety of his upstairs window, [[PsychopathicManchild like a kid]] hiding up in his tree house, refusing to come out and meet with them to negotiate peace, much to Little Carmine and Tony's exasperation. He seems to have gone through the effort of inviting them over [[IShallTauntYou just to yell at Tony from his house]].
* TheDon: He becomes acting boss of the Lupertazzis after Johnny Sack is arrested, then official boss after Johnny [[spoiler: pleads guilty and subsequently dies of cancer.]]
* DotingGrandparent: His final scene shows that he sincerely loves his grandchildren, and is generally soft with them.

** He views Tony as TheStarscream towards his uncle Corrado and is disgusted by the unceremonious initiation rituals of the Jersey crew and its overall laxitude.
** Initially, he also rejects whacking Tony because putting a hit out on another Boss is a step too far for him. He later [[SubvertedTrope reverses his stance]] when he orders a war against the Sopranos.

* EvilCounterpart: To Tony Soprano on a scale of BlackAndGreyMorality. In addition to being hot-headed yet decisive as leaders, both characters actively cultivate alpha-male personas for which they are widely respected and/or feared by their associates. Moreover, both view the current generation of wiseguys with disgust while looking back nostalgically on a bygone era when members of La Cosa Nostra strictly observed principles of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omerta ''Omertà']]' and held those within their ranks to high standards of masculinity.

* FinalBoss: He is the final antagonist of the entire series.
* {{Foil}}: In many ways, he is essentially Richie Aprile, if Richie had had the power to fully back up his sociopathy and agendas against Tony.

* HateSink: He was openly sadistic, volatile, brutal, and confrontational, utilized bullying and fear to his victims, [[spoiler: sets Vito up to be tortured and killed, ordered his henchmen to kill Bobby and Silvio, and before that, he threatened Blundetto to the cruelest possible death for him]]. His brutality makes Tony Soprano himself look like a sane boss in comparison. Even the usually stoic FBI agent Harris openly despises him: he cites Leotardo trying to set up a female agent for a rape and beating as proof of his monstrous nature, and why [[spoiler: Harris helps the Soprano crew locate him]]. If it wasn't for his [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes loved ones]], he would have arguably been a total Monster.

* {{Jerkass}}: Probably the most unpleasant, cruel, and unapologetic guy of the show, which is saying something; unlike other mobsters, he's not restrained by friendship or loyalty ties, and can back his bark with his bite without being put upon by anybody. It comes with the RuthlessForeignGangsters baggage.

* LackOfEmpathy: Leotardo personally carries out the murder of his cousin's husband without giving any thought to how this would affect her or her children. This is further shown when he attempts a "pep talk" with her son, choosing to shame him for his behavior as though he has no good reason to act out. He also balks at Johnny Sack for crying about being unable to see his granddaughter off during her wedding, [[MemeticMutation infamously]] saying that his estimation of the man plummeted and acting like he has no reason to be upset about this.

* ShadowArchetype: Phil represents the darkest aspects of Tony Soprano's personality cranked up -- whereas Tony is a deeply flawed {{Jerkass}}, and is particularly repugnant by season 6, he is still somewhat sympathetic, where Phil is unlikable, unpleasant, depraved, and a massive HateSink.

* VillainHasAPoint: Pops up now and again despite how much of an abrasive, petty, bitter jerkass he is, but especially his rant about giving up twenty years of his life for the likes of [[MisterBig Rusty Millio]] and [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating Doc Santoro]], not uttering a peep, with nothing to show for it in the end. He is also entitled to kill Tony B after he murdered his brother and tried to kill him, as unlike Blundetto, Phil is a made man, and the only reason this is not an act of war is that Tony B acted alone. And he ends up being proven entirely right about Johnny Sack potentially betraying Omertà after seeing him cry at his daughter's wedding over the Feds, despite how much of an asshole he is about it.

* ItsPersonal: Partially, in the end, the death of his brother is just one of many reasons for him.

* ThePeterPrinciple: Phil is a very senior made man whose ferocity makes him an excellent soldier and enforcer, but his warring, antagonistic, and prone-to-slights mentality doesn't fit well with the role of a boss, a leader who should navigate crises with diplomacy and forego feuds that are not good for the business.

* LaserGuidedKarma: He ultimately backs down from his war with Johnny Sack after the full scale of the death and destruction it was causing finally gets to his conscience, a move that is widely mocked by the other mobsters as cowardly and pathetic. By the end of the series he's one of the few named characters still alive and with their personal lives intact, with many of the mobsters who mocked his retirement as cowardly having either suffered humiliating and ignominious ends or left in personal ruin from the fallout of the [=DiMeo=]/Lupertazzi mob war.

* TooDumbToLive: He's rewarded with a knife to the belly after he repeatedly insults Carlo Gervasi, not taking Silvio's cues that he should leave.

* HappilyMarried: Prefers to enjoy the good life with his wife rather than wearing TheChainsOfCommanding.

** His page quote. The way he phrases it is quite confusing and weird, but the show makes it clear that killing people leads to further problems that can snowball out of control and ruin countless lives. For instance, many lives could have been spared if the Leotardos had never killed Angelo Garepe. On the flipside, many lives were spared because Carmine Sr. wanted to avoid violent conflict and preferred to get things done with restitutions and business settlements. Little Carmine avoided violence and handled sitdowns, he is alive and happy. Phil, Tony, and John on the other hand...

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: He's notably the only mobster who has the self-awareness to do this. After taking some harsh losses, he decides he's had enough of the Mafia power play and retires to civilian life, serving as a neutral mediator in mob conflicts. In doing so, he's one of the very few mobsters to make it out of the show intact.

* SilverFox: Frank Vincent's iconic, good-looking hair.
* TheSociopath: He's up there with the likes of Mustang Sally, Richie, and Ralphie.

* ArmoredClosetGay: It's heavily implied that Phil's extreme hatred of homosexuality is self-loathing due to him having had sex with men in prison. When rumors about Vito's sexuality surface, Phil immediately becomes obsessed with them and turns almost every conversation with Tony into an opportunity to throw slurs and death threats Vito's way. [[spoiler: When Vito is ambushed in a motel room by Phil's men lying in wait, Phil literally comes out of a closet to greet him, and is seen gripping the bed in a sexually suggestive manner while his men beat Vito to death. Creator/DavidChase eventually confirmed it on the ''Talking Sopranos'' podcast.]]

* ArmoredClosetGay: Creator/DavidChase confirmed on the ''Talking Sopranos'' podcast that Phil was a closeted gay, likely during his time in prison. Hence why he was so angry when his cousin in law Vito turned out to be gay.