Vito Scarlett (Mafia II)

Vito Scarlett, the protagonist of Mafia II and a minor character in Mafia and Mafia: Definitive Edition, is an emerging gangster in the Empire Bay criminal underworld who eventually becomes a made member of the Falcone Crime Family.

History about Vito life

Background

Vito was born into a very poor family in San Martino, Sicily, in 1925. When he was seven, his father moved the family to America in search of a better life. Unfortunately, they still faced poverty in Empire Bay. Witnessing his father work himself to an early grave, Vito decided that a lawful life wasn’t for him.

Growing up on the streets, Vito met Joe Barbaro, a loudmouthed bully who eventually became his best friend. Together, they were the brains and the brawn behind numerous petty crimes, all the while observing the neighbourhood’s wealthy gangsters and dreaming of a better life. Now an adult, Vito is determined to succeed at any cost.

Military Enlistment

In 1943, after being arrested, Vito is given the choice between jail and joining the U.S. Army. He chooses the Army and is assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. On July 11, 1943, while en route to southern Italy, Vito’s plane is hit by flak and crashes. Outnumbered and behind enemy lines, Vito and his squad join forces with the local resistance to liberate the town of San Celeste. During the battle, Don Calò, the head of the Sicilian Mafia, arrives and commands the Italian soldiers to surrender, which they do out of respect for him.

Returning home

After being wounded in battle, Vito spends time in an Army hospital and is later granted a one-month leave to return home. During this time, Joe arranges for forged discharge papers so Vito doesn’t have to go back to the Army.

Upon his return, Vito discovers that his father left the family with a $2,000 debt to a loan shark. Desperate for money, he turns to Joe, who introduces him to Mike Bruski, a junkyard owner who buys stolen cars. Meanwhile, Vito’s mother suggests he find work at the docks through Derek Pappalardo, where his late father was employed. After a short period stacking crates, Derek assigns Vito to collect a “barber’s fee” from the dock workers, for which he’s paid $100.

The next day, Vito and Joe are tasked with robbing a jewelry store owned by a man who borrowed money from Alberto Clemente and isn’t repaying it fast enough. The job quickly goes awry when Brian O’Neill and his gang show up to rob the same store. After a shootout with O’Neill’s gang and the police, Vito and Joe escape with the jewels, while the O’Neill gang is caught and arrested.

Having proven themselves, Henry enlists Vito and Joe to help kill Sidney Pen, who has stopped paying Don Clemente. The hit is complicated by Pen’s several dozen guards at his distillery in Sand Island, where the ambush is set to take place. Although the initial ambush fails, Vito and Joe ultimately kill Pen after a chase inside the distillery. Vito is paid $2,000 for his role in the hit and gives the money to his sister, Francesca, to pay off the family debt.

Jail Time

Vito is arrested and later sentenced to ten years in Hartmann Federal Penitentiary for his involvement in the ration stamp theft. Shortly after his arrival, he is confronted by a vengeful Brian O’Neill, who blames Vito for his own failed robbery at the West Side Mall. With no other options, Vito turns to Leo Galante, the Consigliere of the Vinci Crime Family, who is serving a five-year sentence for fixing fights. Recognizing Vito’s potential, Leo takes him under his wing and teaches him the art of boxing.

Vito eventually settles matters with O’Neill by killing him with his own knife during a fight in the prison gym. With O’Neill gone, Vito can relax and spends most of his time in Galante’s cell, becoming friends and learning the finer points of how the Mafia families in Empire Bay operate. The close bond they form serves Vito well, as Leo arranges for his early release from prison in April 1951.

Going back to Crime

Finally out of prison, Vito reunites with Joe and begins working for Eddie Scarpa, the Underboss of the Falcone family. After a confrontation with the Greasers over a destroyed truck full of stolen cigarettes, Vito receives his first major assignment: assassinating his old boss, Luca Gurino. This earns him the trust and respect of Don Carlo Falcone, and both he and Joe are inducted into the Falcone family as made men.

As Vito’s life improves, he and Joe are ordered to plant a bomb in a conference room at the Empire Arms Hotel, where Alberto Clemente is holding a family meeting. When the explosion fails to kill Clemente, Vito and Joe are forced to fight their way through Clemente’s men, eventually confronting and killing Clemente on the streets of Empire Bay, with Joe emptying his Thompson 1928 into him.

After the hit, Henry approaches Vito, expressing his desire to leave the crumbling Clemente family and join Falcone. Vito arranges a meeting for Henry with Eddie, who instructs Henry to prove his loyalty by killing Leo Galante. Vito, unwilling to take part in the assassination, helps Galante escape to Lost Heaven instead.

New Business

Vito’s past comes back to haunt him when he’s awoken in the night to find his villa engulfed in flames. The O’Neill gang, now led by Mickey Desmond, has set fire to his house in retaliation for Brian O’Neill’s killing. Barely escaping with his life, Vito meets up with Joe, and they exact their revenge on the Irish gang.

Now penniless and living in a rundown apartment in Oyster Bay, a desperate Vito agrees to a drug deal with Henry and Joe. After taking out a substantial loan to raise the money, they meet with the Empire Bay Triads and make the deal. Initially, the profits roll in, but Falcone discovers their side deal and demands a $60,000 cut. To make matters worse, the Triads find out that Henry is an FBI informant and brutally kill him in Lincoln Park, taking the money from the drug sale.

Enraged, Vito and Joe follow Zhe Yun Wong to his headquarters at The Red Dragon. Against Vito’s better judgment, they storm the restaurant, killing everyone inside. This incident sparks a war between the Triads and the Mafia families.

Going after Carlo Falcone

Needing to repay their loan to Bruno Levine, Vito and Joe take a hit contract from the Salieri Crime Family to kill a rat named Tommy Angelo. With that job under their belts, Vito goes to see Derek, who gives him a job to handle some striking dock workers. While breaking up the strike, Vito learns that Derek had ordered the murder of his father and goes on a rampage, killing Derek and his men and then helping himself to Derek’s retirement fund as he leaves.

With his share of the debt in hand, he goes to meet up with Joe, only to find out he’s been taken to be interrogated by Frank Vinci. Once he frees Joe from Vinci’s men, he takes their combined earnings and pays off the loan to Bruno. He then goes home to wonder how things got so far out of hand and what it’s going to take to straighten it all out.

Vito doesn’t have to wonder for long, as the next day he’s contacted by Leo Galante and told of the war that’s erupted due to his and Joe’s assault on the Triads and that his only chance at redemption is for him to kill Carlo Falcone. With no other choice, he heads to Falcone’s observatory to take him down.

After a lengthy firefight and some help from Joe, Falcone is finally dead. Exhausted by the stress of recent events, Vito and Joe leave the planetarium to find Galante waiting outside with a group of Vinci’s men. Galante announces that they will celebrate and invites Vito to join him in his limo while Joe is escorted to another waiting vehicle. As they drive away, Vito is informed that his deal only covered him. He watches helplessly as his best friend is driven away to meet whatever fate awaits him.