Zé Pequeno

. Zé Pequeno (translated as Li'l Zé and "Little Joe") was a drugs dealer that terrorized the city of Rio de Janeiro during the 70's and 80's, and a villain in the 2002 brazilian movie Cidade de Deus (City of God).

He was portrayed by Leandro Firmino da Hora.

History
When he was a kid, he was called Dadinho (Li'l Dice). Still a kid, he already wished to be the big boss of the organized crime in Rio. He and his best friend, Benny, hang around the Tender Trio (a group of thieves), which consists of Goose (Marreco), Clipper (Alicate), and Shaggy (Cabeleira). Dice proposes that the Trio rob the Motel Miami, a known brothel in the city. Outside the hotel, Shaggy hands Dice a revolver and orders him to watch out for the police. While the Trio is inside robbing the brothel, Dice shoots out one of the windows. As the Trio make their escape, Dice enters the brothel and guns down everyone inside in cold blood. The Trio is framed for the murder, while Dice gets away scot free. Knowing that Shaggy would never forgive him for this offense, both Dice and Benny leave the City of God. They return months later, where they run into Goose, who takes their money. As he is leaving, however, Dice kills him.

Over the years, Li'l Dice robs and kills numerous amounts of people. By the time they are 18, he and Benny are respected and feared in the community. Zé and his gang seize control of all of the rackets inside the City of God, killing off the drug dealers; he spares Carrot, however, because he is Benny's friend. Zé shakes down a local drug dealer named Blacky, telling him that he is no longer Li'l Dice, but Li'l Zé.

Without opposition, Zé grows rich. He even bribes the local police, allowing him to run his business without interference. It is here that both Zé and Benny's lives take different paths; Benny becomes a playboy and begins to date Angelica, while Zé expands his empire, becoming increasingly vicious.

Zé crosses paths with Mané Galinha (Knockout Ned), who was just a good-guy and ladies' man. Benny has decided to get out of the drug business and leave the City of God with Angelica. At his going-away party, Ned's girlfriend refuses Zé's offer to dance with him, so Zé snaps and forces Ned to strip naked at gunpoint, humiliating Ned. Shortly after, Benny is killed by a bullet that was meant for Zé. Zé becomes enraged by his only friend's death, and decides to finish off Carrot once and for all. On his way to Carrot, Zé runs into Ned's girlfriend, and later Ned himself. Putting his plans on hold, Zé and his gang assaults Ned, and forces him to watch as Zé rapes his girlfriend.

Later on, at home, Ned is sitting at a table, lamenting about what had happened to him and his girlfriend. Zé himself is thinking along the same lines, deciding to put Carrot on hold and finish off Ned. Zé arrives at Ned's home and calls him out. Ned, however, is restrained by his relatives while his youngest brother, Gerson, arms himself with a knife and goes outside to try and reason with Zé, who refuses to talk to him, demanding that Gerson brings out Ned instead. Gerson agrees, then attacks Zé, injuring him. Zé guns down Gerson and he and his gang open fire into Ned's home, however Ned's parents and himself survive the barrage, but his younger brother Gerson and his Uncle are not so lucky. Thinking that he's done enough damage, Zé and his crew depart. Minutes later, Carrot shows up and hands Ned a revolver. Zé is close by, getting his arm treated when Ned shows up, opening fire on them, killing one of Zé's followers, forcing Zé and his gang to retreat. Blind with rage, Zé kills one of his own men.

Carrot recruits Ned for his gang, believing his influence would be crucial against Zé. Ned disdaintfully accepts, only to exact his revenge on Zé. This start a bloody war between the two gangs, headed by Zé and Ned. In one of the shootouts, Ned himself is injured and gets his face in the newspaper, which infuriates Zé. He finds the camera and decides to have some pictures of himself taken to show the world that he is the true boss of the City of God. In his war against Carrot and Ned, Zé begins investing in firearms. When he doesn't get the weapons he wants from the arms dealer, he throws him out, but keeps his guns. Unbeknown to Zé, however, the arms dealer is working for the police.

While attending a cookout, Zé and his gang chase down a chicken that has escaped its bonds through the streets of the City of God. Zé gets into a standoff with the police, who quickly retreat (just watching as the two gangs kill themselves, the coming back later to get what's left of them). Then Ned and Carrot showed up. Armed with a carbine, Ned, Carrot and their gang open fire on Zé and his gang, while everyone else take cover. Knockout Ned is killed, while Zé and Carrot are captured by the police. The police take all of Ze's money for the weapons he stole from the dealer, and tell him he will owe them the rest. The Runts show up and Zé tells them that they may need to rob some people in order to get his business back to normal. However, the Runts knock Zé to the ground and kill him in retribution for their fallen friend.

Personality
Zé is completely cold, cruel and sadistic as well as vengeful. Killing for his is something as trival as breathing.