Riff (West Side Story)

"Hey you heard what that Lt. Shrank said, he? “We gotta make nice with them Puerto Rican’s or else”. We gotta let ‘me in and take it all away from us, right under our noses, or else? (Jets: No!) Damn Right No! So what are we gonna do, huh buddy boys? I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna speed back! We’re gonna move like lightning! We’re gonna clean them “Sharks” up once and for all, so they ain’t ever step foot on our turf again!"

- Riff revealing his plans to defeat the Sharks to the Jets.

Riff is the second leader of the West Side Street Gang known as the Jets. He is the true antagonist of the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story As well as it’s 1961 film adaptation. The musical is the modernized version of Romeo & Juliet, of which Riff is the equivalent of Murcutio. Despite Bernardo (The leader of the Sharks) being the equivalent of Tybolt (the original antagonist of Romeo & Juliet) Riff is the real villain of the story as it was his actions that began his feud with Bernardo. When Bernardo moved to New York Riff and the Jets jumped him becuase Riff did not like the idea of Latinos in his neighborhood, showing that Riff is in fact a racist and the true cause of Bernardo’s malicious actions.