Don Emilio Fratelli - The Phantoms of Piedmont

Don Emilio Fratelli:

Age: Late fifties. Nationality: Italian-American

Profession: Head of the Fratelli Crime Family

Also Known As: The Boss of Piedmont City, The Second Godfather.


Biography: For decades, the Fratelli Crime Family has held the majority of the Piedmont City underworld in its iron grasp, and their undisputed leader is Don Emilio Fratelli. Don Emilio succeeded his father, Vittorio Fratelli, who founded the Family over half a century ago. Don Vittorio taught his son the value of honour and respect in their line of business, and how these are a far more profitable currency than simply fear alone. Despite this, the Fratelli Family are not averse to using violence and intimidation to get what they want, and have forcefully driven off any rivals who dared encroach their territory in the past. As such, the Fratelli's remained the most powerful criminal syndicate in Piedmont City for a long time, with the majority of criminals at one point or another owing some fealty to the Family.

Emilio Fratelli's position as Don has earned him a taste for the high life, dressing in expensive of suits and smoking the finest Cuban cigars, all while commanding his illicit empire from a fortress-like compound in the wealthy neighbourhood of Ruby Rise. While the Don basks in his notoriety like a king, his men enforce his will on the streets, bullying storekeepers and small-timers into cooperation or paying protection money, all while his Family rakes in a fortune through their numerous racketeering ventures. Indeed, the influence of the Fratelli Family is felt on all levels, with police, city officials and, allegedly, even the Mayor on the Don's payroll. Despite his composed and businessman-like demeanour, Don Emilio's pragmatic manner hides an enormous ruthless streak, as well as intense phobia of masks, which he has harboured since childhood.

It was because of the Fratelli's blatant grasp on power in Piedmont that they became the first targets of The Gray Ghost, with their businesses, both illegal and legitimate, coming under fire from the vigilante. While Don Fratelli's sway over both politics and law enforcement ensured that his businesses recovered and his men were released from prison quicker than usual, it was apparent his grip on power was swaying. He had encountered a foe that couldn't be bought or intimidated into submission, let alone killed, and who seemingly wouldn't rest until his entire outfit was shut down and the Don and his subordinates were behind bars. As such, Fratelli ordered a clampdown, and his enforcers became more brutal in their methods. If the Ghost was going to damage his business, the Family would retort in kind on the City he was protecting. This would only serve to anger the people, however, who would only tolerate being bullied so much, as well as various members of the Piedmont City Police who had not been bought by the Fratelli's. Some of these even began to secretly work with the Ghost, despite the official stance on him being an illegal vigilante, in a bid to cripple – and eventually – free the City from the grip of crime.

Gradually, Don Fratelli became more and more desperate, hiring outside assassins and mercenaries in a bid to take down the Phantom of Piedmont. But as much has he tried, the Don always failed, and the Ghost always came back with a vengeance. It seemed that Fratelli's days were numbered, and while he remained king of the underworld, his throne would never be as secure as it once was. New criminals began to emerge, eager to snatch a piece of Piedmont City for themselves. Many of these new villains were far less conventional than was used to in the City, and wealth and power was not always their primary motive. On top of that, a large portion of these were what would become known as "costumed criminals", much to the horror of the Don, whose fear of masks became ever more apparent.

As these new criminals began to make their names known across Piedmont City – with some even eyeing the Don's once untouchable position – inter-faction conflict seemed inevitable. And like any king in a crumbling castle, Fratelli was determined not to lose his city without a fight…


References:

The Godfather: Every hero needs a nemesis, and The Ghost finds his in Emilio Fratelli. Don Emilio Fratelli is commonly referred to as "The Boss of Piedmont City", and it's not difficult to see why. Don Fratelli is rich, ruthless and powerful, with an army of made-men at his beckon call. On top of this, he has a large portion of Police and City Officials in his pocket, with his influence purportedly even reaching the Mayor. Most anyone that attempts to challenge the Family is either bullied into submission or "made an example of" by his enforcers. This, of course, all changes when The Gray Ghost emerges and begins to dismantle his criminal empire, piece by piece. Fratelli doesn't take this lying down, of course, and so begins a fierce struggle between the Don and the Phantom, which against all the odds stacked against him, the Ghost gradually begins to win.

Don Fratelli is essentially an amalgamation of various Mafia figures, both real and fictional, although large portions of his character and purpose can be traced back to Carmine Falcone, Gotham City's Mafia kingpin, as well as Arnold Stromwell, a powerful mob boss who appeared in The Animated Series. On top of this, his character also has elements of Vito Corleone from The Godfather series. (More on that in a moment…)

This Thing Of Ours: Don Fratelli and his retinue represent a classic staple in villainy, the American Mafia. Many cities in the United States, especially in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, had Mafia presences of some kind or another, most notably New York City, who's "Five Families" were dramatised in Mario Puzo's epic novel "The Godfather" and its sequels, as well as the film trilogy based off of them. It'd be a lie if I said I took no inspiration from these sources, so I won't. These materials are probably the most accessible gateway into the shady world of La Cosa Nostra, and sparked a fascination of the ways of the Mafia in huge amounts of people, myself included. Of course, the Batman franchise is no stranger to having a Mafia presence in its works, the most recognisable of these being the Falcone and Maroni Families, though these are often less observed than the numerous costume villains that inhabit Gotham City.

I felt that establishing a powerful criminal syndicate in Piedmont City, whose long existence in the settlement helped shape it, would make for the interesting clash, as the lone vigilante of The Gray Ghost faces off against a far larger and more dangerous beast. And of course, as the Don's initial dominance collapses, the resulting power-vacuum results in new criminals appearing, who of course clash with not only The Ghost, but the Fratelli Family as well. (A lot of these new villains are also of the "masked and costumed" variety, much to the distain of the Don. Why does Fratelli hate masks so much? Read on dear reader, read on…)

The Masklophobic: While it would have been easy to establish Don Fratelli as a one-dimensional "wealth-and-power-hungry-mobster-pulling-the-strings-but-gradually-losing-control" kind of villain, I wanted to make him a little more than that. The Don suffers from "Masklophobia" (a real name for a real condition, look it up!), being a deep-rooted and irrational fear of masks. While this of course would make for an interesting dynamic between him and The Gray Ghost, it's not just the vigilante who wears a mask. Masks are also the signature of a new brand of criminal. While Fratelli's dominance had kept the number of "freaks" in Piedmont to a minimum, the gradual collapse of his power led to more and more of these costumed criminals to spring up as sections of the underworld came up for grabs.

What's In A Name?: Up to very recently, I'd considered "Emilio Fratelli" to be a placeholder while I worked out a more fitting name, which I would eventually do a "Ctrl+F and Replace" job on when it came down to it. However, as I worked on this project, I found myself warming to the name significantly, and decided it would stay. The name "Emilio" was lifted from Don Emilio Barzini, the arch-rival of the Corleone's in The Godfather, while "Fratelli" was borrowed from the name of the criminal family in The Goonies. (Make of those choices what you will, but I think his name sounds kind of okay, despite how cheesy it sounds knowing what inspired it…)


Authorial Musings:
Good day to you! I'm back again, this time with a villain, and a pretty major villain at that! Meet Don Emilio Fratelli, Head of the Fratelli Crime Family and unofficial Boss of Piedmont City. What is there to say about him? Well, he's a Mafia kingpin, with an appearance that screams "Mafia Kingpin Stereotype". Eh, heeztha Don. Whatcha gonna do? (Note to Self: Never do that again...)

But yes, I'm kind of proud of how his suit turned out though, with what are essentially vertical lines making quite a nice pinstripe effect on his double-breasted jacket. Okay, okay, I know real pinstripes don't look like that, but too many would just be a visual overload, if you ask me. So I decided to keep it simple. (Just try and ignore them and question the rather jaunty angle of his cigar…) I also didn't want to go overboard with the design of this chap, as, believe me, there's far more intricate costumes to come…

I also had a bit of trouble deciding on the background for him, mostly because I can't do the standard daytime/nighttime alias/alter-ego thing because he doesn't have an alter ego. He's just the Don, and that's that. So I just went with nighttime because it looks more fittingly sinister or whatever.

Anywho, thank you very much for taking the time for looking at this! You're very kind! ^_^

And as always, stay tuned!