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The Mafia (also known as the Mob or La Cosa Nostra), is a real-life criminal secret society, which also appears in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Real-life Summary
The Mafia is a real-life secret criminal society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily, Italy. An offshoot emerged on the East Coast of the United States during the late 19th century following waves of immigration. In the United States, the Mafia often refers to Italian-American organized crime in general, rather than just Sicilian American organized crime. Each Mafia family is lead by a don, as well as the don's second-in-command, the underboss, and a consigliere.

The organization's name derives from the Italian adjective mafiusu, which roughly translates to swagger, boldness, or bravado. In the 19th century, when used to describe a man, the adjective could mean "fearless", "enterprising" or "proud", while in reference to a woman it would mean "beautiful" or "attractive".

Grand Theft Auto series
The Mafia has appeared in almost every game in the Grand Theft Auto series, usually as an antagonistic group. The Mafia organizations seen in the games are most often parodies of various pieces of media about the Mafia, such as the 1972 crime film ', or the 1999-2007 crime drama television series '.

Grand Theft Auto III
The Mafia plays a major role in the first half of Grand Theft Auto III. Upon Claude's escape from a long prison term, he begins taking jobs from Luigi Goterelli, a pimp operating from the Sex Club 7 in the Red Light District, as well as a high-ranking member of the Leone Crime Family. Through his connections with Luigi, Claude gets introduced to Joey Leone, the son of the Leone Family don. While working for Joey, Claude comes into contact with another Mafia family operating in Portland - the Forellis. Under Joey's orders, Claude blows up one of the remaining Forelli brothers, Mike Forelli, with a car bomb, and disposes of the body of a Forelli mobster that Joey previously killed.



Eventually, Claude is tasked with chauffeuring Toni Cipriani, the caporegime of the family, while Toni collects protection money in Chinatown. While collecting protection money, Toni gets ambushed and shot at by several Triad gang members. After this a series of back-and-forth attacks occurs, which eventually leads to an all out war between the Triads and the Leone family. As the war begins, the don of the family, Salvatore Leone calls a meeting between the highest ranking members and associates in the family, including Toni, Joey and Luigi, all of whom are driven to the meeting place by Claude. Upon their arrival Claude gets to meet Salvatore and eventually begins working for him as well.



Claude's jobs for Salvatore include chaperoning Salvatore's wife, killing a rat in the family, and blowing up a freighter, used by the rival Colombian Cartel to produce a new designer's drug - SPANK. After blowing up the freighter, Claude is told by Salvatore that he is in-line to become a made man, but he must complete a single last job before he is made. Salvatore tells Claude that a member of a rival gang has been killed and his body was left in a car in the Red Light District. Salvatore orders Claude to destroy the car before it is found by the police.

While approaching the car's location, Claude gets a pager message from Maria, Salvatore's wife, telling him that the car is a trap, and asking him to meet her at a slip in Callahan Point. Once Claude meets Maria, she tells him that she lied to Salvatore and said that she and Claude were lovers behind his back, which greatly angered him. Maria then introduces Claude to her old friend, the co-leader of the Yakuza in Liberty City, Asuka Kasen.



The three escape from Portland to Staunton Island via a boat, at which point Claude leaves his life with the Mafia behind and begins working with the Yakuza. As an initiation quest, Asuka tasks Claude with returning to Portland and assassinating Salvatore Leone when he will be leaving Luigi's Sex Club 7. Claude carries out this task successfully, which leads to him becoming a persona non grata in Portland. This is the last time the Mafia are encountered in the main storyline, as well as in the chronology of the 3D Universe.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City


The Mafia plays a smaller physical role in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, however, their influence remains large. Tommy Vercetti, the protagonist of the game, is a made man in the Forelli Crime Family and is sent to Vice City under orders from the Forelli family to buy cocaine from local drug dealers. However, the deal goes wrong, leaving Tommy's two bodyguards, Harry and Lee, as well as one of the dealers shot to death by three unidentified gunmen.



Tommy escapes without taking neither Sonny's money, nor the seller's cocaine, with him. Upon escaping, Tommy decides to call Sonny and tell him about the failed drug deal. However, Sonny thinks that Tommy is the one responsible for the deal going wrong and firmly believes that Tommy ripped him off. Shortly after the money and the cocaine is lost, Sonny's cousin Giorgio is tried for insurance fraud. Realizing the opportunity to get back into Sonny's good books, Tommy decides to intimidate the trial jury and get Giorgio's charges cleared that way. Tommy is successful in doing so, however, the outcome of the trial remains unknown.

During Tommy's search for the lost money and cocaine he befriends Lance Vance, the brother of the dealer killed in the ambush. Together, Tommy and Lance work their way up to the top of Vice City's underworld and eventually learn that Ricardo Diaz, the most powerful drug baron in the city, was responsible for the ambush. After gaining enough influence over the city, Tommy and Lance kill Diaz and take over his drugs empire, effectively taking back the drugs and money lost during the failed drug deal, however, Tommy does not return the money to Sonny, instead opting to use the money to benefit his and Lance's growing empire.

After Sonny first learns of Tommy's empire, he still trusts Tommy's promise to replace the lost money and drugs, however, after a significant amount of time has passed since Tommy's rise to power and he still hasn't paid back Sonny the lost money, Sonny grows impatient and sends mobsters to Vice City to tax Tommy's empire and take back the money by force. Upon becoming aware of the Forelli family's presence in Vice City, Tommy quickly kills the mobsters taxing his businesses, openly announcing his departure from working for Sonny.

Fooled and humiliated, Sonny decides to visit Vice City himself and confront Tommy at his rich estate. Tommy tries to fool Sonny again by handing him fake money, printed at a Print Works owned by Tommy, however, Tommy's plan is exposed by Lance, who betrays Tommy in hopes of taking over his empire after his death. After getting confronted about this betrayal, Tommy openly tells Sonny that he only intended to anger Sonny before killing him. A large gunfight ensues on the estate grounds, during which many members of the Forelli family get killed.



The gunfight culminates with Tommy and Sonny facing off in the main room of Tommy's luxurious mansion, which ends with Tommy's victory after a short struggle. Sonny's death greatly hurts the Forelli family and leads to their decline over the years that follow. The appearance of the Forelli family in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the first chronological appearance of a Mafia family in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The Mafia play no part in the first two quarters of the storyline of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, however, they are the main focus of the Las Venturas section of the game. They also appear in The Introduction - a short film that shows events leading up to the game's setting. In the film, the beginning of the partnership between the Sindacco, Forelli and Leone family is shown. Hoping to end any animosity between the three families, Johnny Sindacco approaches Salvatore Leone and offers him a stake in the Sindacco owned Caligula's Casino. Leone accepts the offer, under the condition that the casino would be controlled by a neutral party, not working for any particular family. To please Leone's wishes, Johnny has the current manager killed. Ken Rosenberg is offered to replace the previous manager and he accepts, thinking that he will be in full control of the casino. However, soon after Rosenberg accepts the offered position, Salvatore Leone visits the casino to see how Rosenberg is doing. After being held at gunpoint and threatened by Leone, Rosenberg realizes that he truly holds no power in the casino.



In the game, the Mafia is first mentioned by Wu Zi Mu during the mission Fender Ketchup, when he says that the Mafia families, who have been running Las Venturas' gambling scene for a while, are trying to tax the Triad owned Four Dragons Casino. As Wu Zi Mu tells this to Carl Johnson, his soon-to-be partner in the casino, a Triad henchman informs Wu Zi Mu of several Mafia thugs that have been caught trying to smash up casino delivers and says that they managed to capture one of the thugs. Although Wu Zi Mu orders the captured mafioso to be killed, Carl realizes the opportunity to find out which one of the three Mafia families operating in the city are trying to fight the Triad casino, and orders the captured mafioso to be spared.



Carl has the captured mafioso, who turns out to be Johnny Sindacco, tied to the hood of a Blade and attempts to intimidate him into telling him which Mafia family he is a part of. After some time, Carl manages to scare Johnny enough and make him reveal which family he is a part of. After finding it out, Carl has the Triads deliver the mafioso to a hospital, as Carl's intimidation tactics have shocked him into a coma. Some time after this event, Carl and Wu Zi Mu find out about the Sindacco family producing fake casino chips, that are being delivered to the Four Dragons casino. In response to this insult, Carl shoots up a Sindacco owned warehouse where the fake chips were being produced. Realizing that the Mafia won't rest until they force the Triads to pay taxes to them, Carl hatches a plan to carry out a heist on the Mob's biggest casino - Caligula's Palace.



Through a mutual friend, Carl becomes acquaintances with Kent Paul and Maccer, who in turn introduce him to Ken Rosenberg, the neutral manager of Caligula's Palace. Unaware of Carl's true identity, Rosenberg sends him to pick up Johnny Sindacco from the hospital he's been at before any rival families try to capitalize on the opportunity and kill him. Carl follows Rosenberg's orders and saves Johnny from a kidnapping carried out by the Forelli crime family, stealing the ambulance he was held in and delivering it to the Sindacco Abattoir, the Sindacco family's headquarters in the city. After Johnny rejoins his men in the Abattoir, Rosenberg, who realizes the need to leave the town before he ends up murdered, decides to visit Johnny in the Sindacco headquarters. However, Rosenberg asks Carl to accompany him to the Abattoir and then begs him come along with him to see Johnny, due to his fear of facing the mafioso alone. Upon seeing Carl, Johnny falls into panic and has a fatal heart attack. After this, Carl and Rosenberg are forced to shoot their way through the Abattoir as every Sindacco mobster in the building tries to kill them. Their attempt to escape is successful, however, Rosenberg realizes that Johnny's death is another obstacle on his way to leaving the mob life behind.



Shortly after Johnny's death, both Leones and the Forellis realize the opportunity to claim Caligula's Palace for themselves. Salvatore Leone manages to get the upper hand on the Forellis by arriving to Las Venturas first and keeping Rosenberg under close watch in his own office. Realizing that the Leones and Forellis fighting over the casino's control would be an obstacle in Carl's quest to carry out a heist on the casino, he decides to get involved in the conflict and offer his services to Salvatore Leone, using his former status as an employee of Salvatore's son Joey as a way to easily make Salvatore trust him. During their first meeting, Salvatore reveals that there's a Forelli hit squad travelling to the city right as they were speaking and tasks Carl with stopping the steadily approaching mobsters and killing them all. Carl manages to get into the plane the mafiosi were travelling on as it was closing in on the city and kills all people aboard, earning Salvatore's trust and respect in the process.



Annoyed by the Forelli hit placed on him, Salvatore decides to respond with a hit of his own. The next time Carl comes to see Salvatore at Caligula's Palace, he is tasked by Salvatore with flying to Liberty City and assassinating Marco Forelli. Carl accepts the job, but requests Salvatore to let him take Rosenberg, Kent Paul and Maccer as back-up. Salvatore agrees to grant this request, as he believes that Carl intends to murder them after leaving the casino. However, Carl uses the opportunity to free the three from being held hostage in the casino and tells them to leave the city, before going on to carry out the hit. Using a Shamal, Carl flies to Liberty City and storms Marco's Bistro, a Forelli hang-out, during a private function and assassinates Marco Forelli. After Carl returns to Las Venturas, he gets a call from Salvatore, who congratulates Carl on a job well done and suggests that Carl lays low while the heat dies down after the massacre at the restaurant. Having gotten Rosenberg, Paul and Maccer out of the way and having convinced Salvatore to trust him, Carl decides that it's the perfect time to carry out the Caligula heist.



Having acquired blueprints of the casino, stolen dynamite from a nearby quarry, gotten access to the city's electricity source, stolen police vehicles and manipulated a croupier into giving him a staff keycard, Carl decides that it's the perfect time to carry out the heist. With assistance from Wu Zi Mu and his Triads, as well as a technology expert, Carl breaks into and empties the money vault of Caligula's Palace. During the robbery many Mafia goons working as security in the basement get killed by the heist crew. Some time after the heist, which ends successfully, Salvatore, humiliated by Carl's betrayal, calls him and threatens to kill him, as well as his entire family. Carl, however, ignores Salvatore's threats and only makes fun of him. The call ends with Salvatore vowing to take revenge on Carl some day, however, whether Salvatore did take his revenge or not is unknown. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas marks the first appearance of the Sindacco crime family, that will go on to take a larger role in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

Mafia Structure

 * Don
 * Underboss
 * Consigliere
 * Caporegime
 * Soldato
 * Enforcer

Trivia

 * In GTA: San Andreas, all gangs have 3 models of gang members but the Mafia have 4 instead of 3.
 * In GTA San Andreas, one of the Mafia members would often comment about his appetite and gluttony.
 * In GTA San Andreas, there is code in the game that shows the Mafia was able to own gray-colored territory. They can still be made visible by using the Territory Glitch which may cause them to appear at random spots on the map. To be able to choose where their turfs are located, one could use Modifications such as a Save Game Editor or CLEO Modification. The Mafia patrol their turfs driving Admirals, Sentinels and Feltzers.
 * In most games, the mafia families often appear as an antagonistic gang toward the protagonist, with the exception of Leone Family in GTA San Andreas and Liberty City Stories, and The Commission in Grand Theft Auto IV, which all of them were neutral gangs.
 * Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is the only game which the player works for the mafia in the entire storyline, the Leone Crime Family.
 * The Italian Mafia is easily the most powerful gang in Liberty City, even surpassing the heavily armed Russian Mafia, having the largest amount of members and being very well armed, but not as well the Russian Mafia though. They are much better with their weapons, being surgically precise at almost any range. They are also better at fighting and in combat.
 * The first, third, and fourth members of a Mafia are also seen in Caligula's Palace as casino security guards. Like other casinos in Las Venturas, they are programmed to behave like police officers in which the player will gain one-star wanted level if they aim a weapon at them or fire a gun inside the casino while two if they continue to retaliate against security and kills them with a gun. They also hold their pistols with two hands, like police officers.

Mafia Cosa Nostra Мафия