History Main / TheMafia

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Although not obvious at first glance, Team Rocket, especially in the games (see below), may be based on the Mafia with {{Yakuza}} elements. It's masked by the fact that the [[GoldfishPoopGang three]] you see in the anime so often are the bottom rung of the team and none of the higher-ups really give a damn about them (in fact, in one episode another member tells them their memberships have all expired), though this is not applicable in the ''Best Wishes'' series. In the games, you break into their bases and disrupt or (more commonly) shut down several major operations, among them two hostage situations and a (quite popular) casino. Even in the anime, the protagonists occasionally stumble across a full-scale operation. Also, you know, Giovanni (although this name was deliberately given to him in the English version).

* ''Mafia'', the {{parlor game|s}}, which was later adapted for Western audiences as ''TabletopGame/Werewolf1986''. According to its creator Dmitry Davydov, its original ''mafioso'' theme was inspired by the Italian CrimeDrama ''La piovra'' (see above), which began airing in the USSR in 1986 -- the same year that the game was first played in public.

* ''Mafia'', the {{parlor game|s}}, which was later adapted for Western audiences as ''TabletopGame/{{Werewolf}}''. According to its creator Dmitry Davydov, its original ''mafioso'' theme was inspired by the Italian CrimeDrama ''La piovra'' (see above), which began airing in the USSR in 1986 -- the same year that the game was first played in public.

** [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Tommy Vercetti]] himself is a former capo for one of the other Liberty City families, the Forellis. They ultimately become the main antagonists and final enemies of the game.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' has Team Rocket. They're more based on the {{Yakuza}} in the Japanese version, but were [[CulturalTranslation adapted]] to be more like the Mafia in the international releases, as best evidenced by the name of their boss, Giovanni.
** We also have the [[{{Mons}} Mon]] Honchkrow, a crow that looks like it's dressed like a Mafia Don. Appropriately enough, Giovanni of Team Rocket uses one in his appearance in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver HeartGold and SoulSilver]]''.

* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', TV series director Dee Vasquez is known to have connections with the Mafia ({{Yakuza}} [[CulturalTranslation in the original Japanese version]]). She uses these connections to [[spoiler:make an attempt on Phoenix's and Maya's lives after they confront her with some crucial evidence, and it's only thanks to a BigDamnHeroes moment from Detective Gumshoe that she doesn't get away with it.]]

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' has the [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Robot]] Mafia, which is composed of [[TerribleTrio only three members]]. Passing mention is also made of "Sicily 8, the Mob Planet."

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' revolves around one Mafia family, the Leones, for the first portion of the game, and the group also shows up in important roles in the other parts of the series. In fact, ''Liberty City Stories'' has you ''play'' as a mobster who's of some importance in ''3''.

** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', by contrast, the families don't really show up until the latter parts of the game and are comparatively [[BigBadWannabe weak and racked by infighting]], ultimately being played for fools by [[BigBad Dimitri]].

** They're surprisingly absent in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''-the closest you get to encountering them is Enzo Bonelli, a mobster-turned-real estate tycoon who serves as the target of the final assassination mission. [[Rocco Pelosi returns from ''The Ballad of Gay Tony'', but he's left the mob and now works in show business.]]

* The Mafiosi are similar to the Mafia and play a somewhat major role in the first two ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' games as {{Mooks}}.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2008-10-26 the cartoon mafia]]

* ''Series/TheUntouchables'', once they took down Capone, encountered [[CouldSayItBut individuals of Sicilian extraction engaged in systematic illicit activities]] on a regular basis; so regular, in fact, that a pressure group called "The Federation of Italian-American Democratic Organizations" picketed the Creator/{{ABC}} network's headquarters. When sponsors stared abandoning the show, ABC and Creator/DesiluStudios worked with the "Italian-American League to Combat Defamation" and issued a formal manifesto that scrubbed this aspect of the show. It is, of course, [[ThereAreNoCoincidences just a coincidence]] that the "Federation" was led by Anthony Anastasio, mobster/union racketeer and brother to Albert Anastasia of MurderInc fame, and the "League" was founded by Joseph Columbo Senior, TheDon of the [[UsefulNotes/TheMafia family that bears his name.]] [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Completely a colossal coincidence.]] MoveAlongNothingToSeeHere, folks...

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'' injects the series's signature AgentPeacock design scheme into this trope, resulting in a ruthless Italian mafia whose super-powered assasins wear absurdly flamboyant outfits ripped straight out of a fashion magazine.

Hard-nosed, gun-toting, [[RambunctiousItalian take-no-prisoner Italians]] (and the ethnically and linguistically separate UsefulNotes/{{Sicil|y}}ians, but it's rare for gangster-centric media to make such a distinction). Part tight-knit community, part protection racket, these ''paesani'' live by a code -- which just happens to include ''vendetta'' (killing anyone who wrongs ''La Famiglia'') and ''omertà'' (going to your [[TheDon Don]], rather than the cops, when you have trouble with a fellow Italian or Sicilian). Classically known as ''Cosa Nostra'' ("[[BuffySpeak our thing]]") for the Sicilians, and also called "wiseguys". Although the power of the Mafia (at least, the American Mafia) has diminished sharply since such heights as the Prohibition Era thanks to most of its bigger players either getting stuffed into prison or simply becoming too old to participate in the game, the mystique surrounding these organizations is so strong that they have almost replaced other established historical figures, such as knights or cowboys, as [[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster carriers of a romantic ideal]].

* ''Series/LawAndOrderOrganizedCrime'':
** The fictional Sinatra crime family is set up as a recurring antagonist to the Organized Crime Control Bureau, which isn't surprising in New York City.
** Season Two adds two more groups, the Kosta Organazation (consisting of Albanian-Americans), and the Marcy Killers (a Black group). The Italian families are in disarray after Richard Wheatley's arrest.

* The original ''Film/{{Scarface|1932}}'' (1932) was about Tony Camonte, an Italian, and [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory to a certain extent based]] off the life of Al Capone.
* ''Film/TheUntouchables'' (1987) deals with the Capone organization in Chicago from the point of view of Eliot Ness, the Treasury agent who battles him. Even more VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory than the above-mentioned original ''Scarface''.

* The Mafia was the major villain in the early stories of ''Literature/TheExecutioner'' starring Mack Bolan. The first novel was specifically entitled ''War Against The Mafia.'' Bolan would be a [[{{Understatement}} major]] [[{{Expy}} inspiration]] for ComicBook/ThePunisher above.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderOrganizedCrime'': The fictional Sinatra crime family is set up as a recurring antagonist to the Organized Crime Control Bureau, which isn't surprising in New York City.

** The exact status of Stefania's father is left ambiguous in the show, but he is portrayed as an unsmiling impeccably dressed guy who is treated with great respect in New York's Italian community. He is certainly able to make Nemo an offer he cannot refuse, and take over his pizzeria.

* ''The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight'' by Jimmy Breslin is a satirical depiction of the [[MobWar turf wars]] within the Profaci/Colombo crime family. It was [[TheFilmOfTheBook made into a 1971 feature film]] with Creator/JerryOrbach playing "Kid Sally" Palumbo as a spoof character based on the real life mobster Joe "Crazy Joey" Gallo, who himself modeled his over-the-top persona after Tommy Udo, the BigBad of ''Film/KissOfDeath''. Since then, the term "gang that couldn't shoot straight" has come to define any organization that ends up dysfunctional due to general incompetence.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' episode "The Fundraiser", while Riley confronts a [[LondonGangster British crime boss]] who's attempting a hostile takeover of Riley's [[GRatedDrug chocolate]] [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything trafficking]] business, a bunch of Italian-American mobsters randomly show up [[spoiler:and they get into a deadly shootout with the British gangsters and the {{UsefulNotes/FBI}}.]] There's also this {{shout out}}:

* The Revache & Co from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesZeroNoKiseki''

* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' has the Mafia of Cooks, a [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily rather goofy example]]. They still rob people and punch seagulls who eat thir fish, though.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' has 4 different criminal families vying for control over [[WretchedHive New Reno]], with 2 based in family-owned casinos, one in a bar, and the last in an out-of-ways mansion overlooking the old railway station. You can do quests for more than one at a time, so long as they don't involve killing members of the other crime families you work for. Pledging your full allegiance with one by accepting a final quest to test your loyalty will have the others permanently gunning for you. Given that this last quest tends to involve eliminating a rival family wholesale, its not too big of a deal unless you're aiming for HundredPercentCompletion.
** Invoked by Mr House in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' when he made over a local tribe into the Omertas, who run the Gommorah casino. He states that he did so due to nostalgia for Vegas and a shady criminal element made New Vegas more authentic. Aside from being the chief supplier of vices in the Strip, [[spoiler:they are collaborating with Caesar's Legion to bring down Vegas from within]].

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}:'' has the Aspis Consortium, which is basically a combination of a fantasy Mafia and evil [[AdventureArchaeologist adventure archeologist]] group.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}:'' has the Aspis Consortium, which is basically a combination of a fantasy Mafia and evil [[AdventureArcheologist adventure archeologist]] group.