Mafia

Mafia
Weapons	Baseball Bat, Sawed-Off Shotgun, Tommy Gun, Molotov Cocktail, Ice Pick
Origin	Italian-American (originally from Sicily)
Activities	Organized crime (racketeering, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, extortion, fencing, illegal gambling, blackmailing, carjacking, prostitution, loan sharking, murder and various other crimes)
Service	1920s-Present
Battle Status	Won vs. Yakuza
Experts	Joe Ferrante (Mafia Weapons Expert) Thomas Bonanno (Mafia Descendant/Historian)

"To be in the Mafia, you must be one hundred percent Italian, and your bloodlines have to relate straight back to the old country, to Italy, to Sicily, for you to even be a made man."
-Joe Ferrante, Mafia weapons expert.

The Mafia, deadly enforcers on the mean streets of New York.
vs.
the Yakuza: cruel warlords of Japan's underworld.

Stats

• Year - 1929
• Height - 5' 10"
• Weight - 170 lbs
• Armor - none
• Gear - 10 lbs
• Symbol - Palm Blood Oath (Part of the Initiation into the Mafia)/Black Hand

Mafia Symbol

History

Cosa Nostra (translated to 'Our Thing') originated from the Italian island of Sicily. In the 1861 Expedition of the Thousand; the once independent island of Sicily was added to the new Kingdom of Italy. Sicily saw an increase in agricultural production as a result, but also an increase of thieves and saboteurs attacking the farms for profit or to weaken competition. The Italian government did little to combat this crimewave, so Sicilians hired local gangs as bodyguards. The gangs used brutality to scare away these bandits. However the reputation and the size of these gangs grew as a result; allowing the gangs to flourish by extorting Sicilian civilians. The gangs justified this extortion by claiming that they were protecting their clients from violence; when most of the time, this violence would be caused by the Cosa Nostra against those who rejected the extortion. Politicians and police were easily dominated by the Mafia; allowing their activities to continue without government crackdowns. At their peak, the Cosa Nostra controlled about half of Sicily's political and economic power: as the group had partial or total ownership over most of the businesses within their territory (sabotaging any businesses that try to resist).

The Cosa Nostra arrived in America in the late 1800s as immigrates from Sicily were moving to America. Many immigrants joined the Italian underground to defend themselves or to get a job. There they faced competition from the Irish Mob, the oldest organized crime figure in American history, so the Italian Mafia used their violent nature to their advantage to dominate early 1900s America. Recessions in Italy beginning in the 1880s, World War I and the rise of Benito Mussolini made many Italians immigrate to the United States, and Mussolini's crackdown of crime forced many Mafia families to move as well. (By the late 1920s Mussolini was able to slow down this immigration with his repression and personality cult making Italians stay in Italy.) The large number of Italians made them outnumber other immigrant populations (today, Americans of Italian ancestry are the nation's fifth-largest ethnic group.), and with the Sicilian mafia having centuries of experience at home, they were able to control much of the criminal underground. They dominated until government crackdowns in the 1960s and 1970s weakened the Mafia. They still exist today, but their downfall as the dominate gang has created a power vaccum. In this vaccum, street gangs like the Crips and Latin Kings now control much more territory and members.

The Cosa Nostra was the dominant Italian organized gang until the 1990s when they were weakened significantly by international crackdowns (one reason was their close links to the Medellin Cartel, who were also targeted by government crackdowns at this time). Cosa Nostra was also weakened by internal conflict known as the Mafia Wars (primarily in the 1960s and 1980s). On 30 January 1992: the Maxi Trial concluded with 360 Mafia officials arrested (most life imprisonment). The Mafia attempted retaliation against the Italian government, but was too weak to recover from such a loss.

Since the 1990s, Cosa Nostra is still active but has been overshadowed by the 'Ndrangheta Family: estimated to control 3% of Italy's GTP (80% of this fueled by cocaine).

Organized crime is still significant; with one of the most noticeable newcomers being the Russian Solntsevskaya. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian gangs flourished under the weakened and corrupt Russian Republic: able to assassinate in open public with little retaliation.

Weapons

Weapon	Kills	Mafia
Close Range:	23	Baseball bat
Mid Range:	38	Sawed - Off Shotgun
Long Range:	499	Tommy Gun
Special Weapons:	24	Ice Pick
Explosive Weapons:	2	Molotov Cocktail

Note:Mafia also used Stilettos and Pineapple Bombs

Battle

Mafia

Yakuza

The battle begins with a group of five Yakuza members entering a hotel. A nearby man and his wife checking into the hotel look on with nervousness as they see five Mafia members turn the corner and run into the Yakuza. Both gangs stare each other down until one Mafia gangster pulls out a Molotov Cocktail. Another one takes out a lighter and lights the rag on the bottle. One of the Yakuza gangsters realizes that they're preparing a bomb, and alerts his fellow teammates. A Yakuza member fires his British Sten machine gun, killing the man's wife as well as the Mafia gangster with the Molotov. He falls to the floor and drops the Molotov, rendering it useless. The Mafia boss pulls out his Sawed-Off Shotgun and aims at the Yakuza boss, who draws his Walther P38 and uses it to take the husband hostage and use him as a shield. The Mafia boss changes his mind and instead shoots the Yakuza member with the British Sten, throwing him behind a couch and killing him.

The Mafia and Yakuza members scatter out in different directions, with one of the Mafia members jumping behind the check-in counter. Another Mafia thug fires his Tommy Gun and kills a Yakuza member and the man the Yakuza boss was using as cover. Another Yakuza member lights a Ceramic Grenade and throws it. It lands behind the check-in counter and explodes, killing the Mafia gangster behind it. At this point, the Mafia has already retreated to different parts of the hotel, so the remaining Yakuza members go further into the hotel to hunt them down. The Yakuza boss finds a Mafia member trying to escape in an elevator. He runs and gets caught in the elevator's doors. The Mafia man inside desperately tries to load ammo into his gun, but the Yakuza boss manages to get inside the elevator first. He grabs the Mafia man and shoves him into a wall, forcing them both to drop their guns. The Mafia member pulls out a switchblade knife and the Yakuza boss draws his two Sai. The Mafia member tries to stab the Yakuza boss, but is countered with a swift punch to the side. The Yakuza boss swings his Sai and slashes the Mafia member's face. The Mafia member tries to get a blow with his knife, but the Yakuza boss grabs him and stabs him in the stomach. The Mafia thug falls to the floor, allowing the Yakuza boss to grab his Walther. He fires two bullets into the Mafia man just as the elevator doors open.

He steps out, looking for any more Mafia members. Meanwhile, the Mafia boss and his last henchman make their way down a flight of stairs. The henchman tells his boss to continue on, and then kills one of the oncoming Yakuza members with his Tommy Gun. However, another Yakuza gangster follows up and kills the Mafia thug with his Walther P38 and then continues down the stairs. In the basement, the Mafia boss hides behind a locker door and attempts to reload his shotgun. However, he is so nervous that he accidentally drops the bullet. Just as he is about to go to pick it up, he hears the Yakuza thug enter the room. As the Yakuza man is examining the lockers, the Mafia boss finds a Bat in the locker he is hiding in. Just as the Mafia boss is about to be caught, he jumps out and hits the gun out of the Yakuza member's hands and then hits him in the stomach with the Bat. The Yakuza man pulls out his Nunchaku and begins to show off in an attempt to scare the Mafia boss. However, this only angers him as he tries to furiously swing with the bat. The Yakuza man swings with his Nunchucks, but the Mafia boss ducks and strikes him in the groin. The Yakuza man flinches and is then hit in the head by the bat. He falls to the ground, allowing the Mafia boss to continuously beat him to death with the Bat.

After fixing his collar and jacket and reloading his shotgun, he makes his way to the boiler room. As he enters, the Yakuza boss jumps out and tries to shoot him with his Walther P38. The Mafia boss fires back with his shotgun, but neither one manages to hit the other. Eventually, the Mafia boss runs out of ammo again and tries to reload. However, the Yakuza boss catches this and puts the gun to his head. He pulls the trigger, only to find that his gun is out of ammo as well. Relieved, the Mafia boss swings his shotgun and hits the Yakuza boss in the stomach. The Mafia boss discards his gun in favor of his switchblade and icepick, while the Yakuza boss pulls out his Sai again. The two begin to vigorously swing at each other, keeping their distance to avoid getting hit by the other's weapon. The Yakuza boss kicks the Mafia boss into a boiler and charges at him, but the Mafia boss kicks back and pushes him away. The two recover and briefly glare each other down before they begin to fight again. Eventually, the Mafia boss shoves the Yakuza boss into the boiler and tries to stab him. The Yakuza boss jumps out of the way, and the Mafia boss winds up puncturing a pipe that spews steam. The Mafia boss' knife is stuck in the pipe, which allows the Yakuza boss to grab the Mafia boss without fear of getting stabbed. However, just as the Yakuza boss is about to stab him with the Sai, the Mafia boss uses his Icepick and stabs the Yakua boss in his arm, causing him to drop one of his Sai. The Mafia boss then grabs the Yakuza boss by his hair and slams his head into the punctured pipe, burning his face. He then brings the Yakuza boss close and pulls his head to the side, exposing his neck. The Mafia boss slowly drives the Icepick into the Yakuza boss's neck. He pulls out the Icepick and watches the Yakuza boss slump to the ground. The Mafia boss throws away his Icepick and pulls out a cigar. He lights it and begins to smoke it in celebration before stepping over the body and walking away.

Expert's Opinion

While the Yakuza had better discipline and training in martial arts, the Mafia won due to the effectiveness of their weapons. For example, the Mafia's baseball bat was quicker than the nunchaku, and provided far more force and killing potential.

Back for Blood

The Mafia was considered for the Back for Blood Modern matchup, but was dismissed due to the fact they weren't "professional" warriors and much of their arsenal was improvised and used against common criminals. Armand Dorian also commented that while a baseball bat can cause trauma, it's useless when there's bullets flying around.

Trivia

• The Italian Mafia is the second-oldest major organized crime group in United States that is still active today, after the Irish Mob.
• The scene where a man fires upon a group of gansgters from a balcony with a Tommy Gun is based on New York Irish gangster Jimmy Coonan trying to kill Irish mob boss Mickey Spillane.
• Mafia expert Thomas Bonanno claimed that the Germans had a mafia. While in post-WWI era, there were some criminal gangs called Ringvereine ("Ring Clubs"), but they weren't as powerful and organized like the Italian Mafia. However, like La Cosa Nostra, they did follow certain rules and a code-of-conduct, including wearing rings.
• The CIA recruited the Mafia to attempt to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
• The Beati Paoli was a secret group of medieval Knights who existed in the underground of Sicily. Modern Mafia families claim links to this past organization.
• Many Italian and Jewish Mafias, including those affiliated with Lucky Luciano, allied themselves with the US military during WWII. Jewish Mafias were hostile to Nazis and Nazi sympathizers for obvious reasons. Also many members of the Jewish and Italian Mafias were refugees who escaped the fascism of Hitler and Mussolini, allowing these members to supply US intelligence with recent and accurate maps of Italy and Germany.
  • The CIA used the Mafia to destabilize the Cuban communist government and even attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro.
• The Mafia have been known to clash with the Ku Klux Klan, due to the Klan's hatred of both catholics and immigrants and their support for Prohibition. As a resault the FBI sometimes allied themselves with the Mafia to fight the KKK.
  • Gregory Scarpa was considered one of the Mafia's most successful assassins with 100-120 confirmed kills. After the Mississippi civil rights workers murders, the FBI recruited Mafia boss Gregory Scarpa to gain information from suspects as to were the bodies were through illegal techniques. Scarpa kidnapped a klansman from his TV store and pistol-whipped him into revealing where the bodies were.
• The Mafia is actually a very democratic organization; electing all of their dons and officials by popular vote and allowing 'fair' trials for members accused of committing crimes against the family. However secrecy, honor and loyalty are strict.
• During their peak, the Mafia had much influence through corruption, with links to the police, politicians, business executives, judges and even federal agents. The Mafia often had hundreds, even thousands, of ties to people in positions of power.
• Omerta is the code of silence for the Mafia. Breaking it is considered one of the worst crimes within the family. Mafia members within the same family can only be introduced to each other by a 3rd member that knows both members beforehand.
• Some Roman tax collectors used groups similar to the later Italian Mafia to better collect taxes; and to threaten civilians refusing to pay.