Joseph "Joe" Barbaro is one of the deuteragonists of the video-game open Mafia video-game series
He is a minor antagonist in the Epilogue of the 2002 videogame Mafia: City of Lost Heaven, it's 2020 remake inclued in the Mobile video game, he is the deuteragonist of the 2010 videogame Mafia II and titular main protagonist of its spin off DLC Joe's Adventures, and also minor character in the 2016 video game Mafia III.
Joe is the best friend of the main protagonist Vito Scaletta, and together they work their way up in the criminal underworld, and later become soldiers in Carlo Falcone's crime family in 1951. But their luck soon runs out as their careless actions lead to a gang war against the Triads throughout Empire Bay, with major consequences for both Joe and Vito.
He is voiced by Robert Costanzo, who also voiced Derek Pappalardo in the same game.
Biography[]
Joe and Vito met each other in their youth when growing up in the same poor neighbourhood in Empire Bay. They began carrying out small-time crimes such as stealing in order to get by. Vito ended up being arrested in 1943 when they were caught in the act, and Vito was sent abroad to Sicily in order to fight in World War II. Over the next two years Joe began working for the Clemente crime family, run by Alberto Clemente, and managed to buy himself an apartment. He gained some contacts, such as Clemente soldier Henry Tomasino.
Following Vito being injured in battle, he was temporarily discharged in February 1945 and returned home. Joe collected Vito from the train station and gave him a lift home, and the pair shared a drink together before Vito reunited with his mother and sister. The following day Vito turned up at Joe's home, and Joe took Vito out to get him some work. Joe let Vito stay with him until he could get back on his feet.
- More to be added.
Vito is arrested for selling stolen gas stamps on the orders of Henry Tomasino. Despite Joe dealing with the snitch that informed the police, Vito is still given a ten year prison sentence, presumably due to Luca Gurino willing to let Vito go down. Joe has a go at Luca in front of other mobsters, causing an angry Luca to put a hit out on Joe. Joe is informed over the phone by Henry about the hit, and Joe is forced to leave town and moves down south to lay low.
Joe returns to Empire Bay after five years and meets his contact Tony Balls, who works for the Falcone crime family. Joe begins carrying out jobs for Tony in order to earn respect, and meets with Falcone capo Eddie Scarpa, who promises he will work on getting the Clemente family to call off his hit on Joe. Joe continues doing work for Eddie, and also assassinates Falcone underboss and traitor Rocco. Joe earns respect in the family and Falcone crime boss Carlo Falcone makes a deal with Alberto Clemente to call off his feud against Joe, much to Luca's irritation. Joe becomes close friends with Eddie.
In 1951, Vito is released after having his sentence reduced thanks to Leo Galante. He reunites with Joe, who welcomes Vito back by taking him to Eddie's nightclub the Cathouse. But that night all three men are forced to dispose of the body of mobster Frankie Potts, who Eddie discovered was an undercover agent and killed him.
Joe and Vito are eventually inducted properly into the Falcone crime family and become made men. They carry out a job killing Clemente, although Joe's young friend Marty is killed in the crossfire. This sends Joe into grief, who gets drunk at a bar and accidentally shoots the bartender dead, forcing an angry Vito to dispose of the body. Shortly after, Joe helps Vito massacre a bunch of Irish mobsters who burned Vito's house down as revenge for Vito killing Brian O'Neill in prison. Joe gives Vito the keys to Marty's downtrodden apartment.
Henry was now part of the Falcone family having been vouched by Vito. Several months following Vito losing his home, Henry proposes a job opportunity to Joe and Vito in which they will deal dope as a side hustle. Joe agrees, although Vito is hesitant but eventually gives in. They borrow a large sum of money from loan shark Bruno Levine, and buy the dope from the triads over in Chinatown. But they are ambushed by mobsters dressed as cops, and a shootout ensues which causes the destruction of the triads family. Throughout the day Joe, Henry and Vito begin dealing the dump to a bunch of different people in order to turn a profit, and begin making a good sum of money.
The following day Vito is told by Henry over the phone that Falcone found out about the deal and took Henry's cut, which means they don't have enough to pay back Bruno. Joe and Vito go to meet Henry at the park, only to find him brutally hacked to death by triad members. A vengeful Joe gets Vito to follow their enforcer Zhe Yun Wong back to their restaurant in Chinatown, where Joe and Vito massacre most of the Triads. They corner Wong in his office and demand to know what he has done with their money, but he refuses to speak as he would be dead either way, so Joe resolves it by blowing his brains out anyway. Joe and Vito return back to Joe's apartment, unsure on what to do next.
The next day, Joe summons Vito to assist him on a hit assigned by Eddie. This target is former mobster Tommy Angelo, who ratted out his crime family back in the city of Lost Heaven in the late 1930s. After killing Tommy, Joe and Vito split up to earn their own money and agree to meet up to pay back Bruno. Joe ends up being captured, and Vito sets out to look for him. Vito is captured and taken to a construction site, with Frank Vinci revealed to be the mastermind. He attempts to get information out of the pair about the massacre on Chinatown, due to the Triads blaming and threatening Vinci for the deaths. After Vinci leaves, Joe and Vito break free and gun their way through the Vinci family members, killing half of them. A badly injured Joe is dropped off at a mob doctor to receive medical help. Vito takes it upon himself to pay Bruno back, although now has to face the future wrath of the Commission and the Triads.
A day after the deaths of Vinci's men, Vito is summoned to Falcone's observatory on the outskirts of the city for a "meeting". Shortly after the call, Vito is picked up by Triads boss Mr. Chu as well as Leo Galante, who order him to assassinate Carlo Falcone in return for his own life. Vito agrees, and heads to the observatory. He guns his way through Falcone's men, and finally reaches Falcone himself. Joe appears and puts a gun to Vito's head, having presumably dropped all loyalties and agreed to side with Falcone. But Joe chooses not to kill Vito, and instead teams up with him to kill Falcone. Following Falcone's demise, Joe and Vito depart the building only to find Galante and Vinci's crew waiting for them. Galante congratulates them on succeeding and announces a celebration at the cathouse. Galante gets Vito to ride in a separate car to Joe, so they can "discuss" other things. But Joe ends up being taken in a different direction, with Galante regretfully informing Vito that Joe "wasn't part of our deal".
Fate[]
Shortly after killing Carlo, Vito was exiled from Empire Bay and sent by the commission down south to New Bordeaux to work under the Marcano Crime Family. Vito would find out that Vito managed to escape from the men that took Joe away and knocking out one of their front teeth and cracking the eye socket of another. Joe managed to escape, and left Empire Bay and hid out in Chicago and turned to some guys he knew for help.
Joe in 1968.
According to a source to Vito, the men Joe trusted turned on him. According to the source, Joe was beaten, his hands cut off and his face smashed to hell. This made identification impossible. A vengeful Vito spent a good amount of money and resources to find out those responsible, which took him a decade. He then turned to his new ally Lincoln Clay to help him carry out revenge. He then relayed the story of what happened to Joe. Because the body wasn't properly identified Lincoln asked Vito if he was sure Joe was actually dead. Although slightly sceptical, he stated that Joe would have tried to find him if he is still alive.
In actuality, Joe had survived and was now working as a driver to Leo Galante, but unable to contact Vito. Joe, along with Leo's men, came with Leo to New Bordeaux after Lincoln Clay wiped out all of the Marcano crime family. Leo allowed Lincoln to continue operating as long as the commission still got their cut. Joe then returned back to Empire Bay with Leo.
Trivia[]
- Joe and Vito originally appeared as two unidentified mobsters in the first game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. The second game's mission "Stairway to Heaven" confirmed them to be the same people involved in Tommy Angelo's death. The 2020 remake of the game Mafia: Definitive Edition use up to date models of Joe and Vito for Tommy's death scene.
- Despite Leo's driver clearly being Joe Barbaro, evidenced by the same facial structure and the camera lingering on him a little bit, the developers have refused to confirm if it is Joe. Joe's appearance in the Mafia: Definitive Edition (which uses some of the same resources from Mafia III) appears to confirm this is Joe due to reusing the same model (but made younger). The file for Leo's driver is also named "Joe".
- It is unclear how Joe was able to be spared from the triads, as he wasn't part of Leo's deal with Vito. Also the fact Joe shared no close friendship with Leo during the campaign of Mafia II or even interacted with him.
- Robert Costanzo reprised the show in 2020 for a YouTube channel dedicated to the Mafia series, in which Joe contacts Vito before leaving New Bordeaux and reveals that he is Lincoln Clay's son.
- This comes from a fan theory in which Lincoln is Joe's son, possibly born from an illegitimate relationship Joe may of had when living in exile down south (rumoured to be New Bordeaux). But this is unlikely as Lincoln was born in January 1945, and Joe wasn't exiled until later that year.
External Links[]
- Joe Barbaro - Heroes Wiki
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 Villains
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Mafia Mafia II Falcone Crime Family:
Vito Scaletta |
Joe Barbaro |
Carlo Falcone |
Eddie Scarpa |
Antonio Balsamo |
Henry Tomasino |
Marty Santorelli
Empire Bay Triads:
Mr. Chu |
Zhe Yun Wong Mafia II Mobile Mafia II: Joe’s Adventures Mafia II: The Betrayal of Jimmy and Mafia II: Jimmy's Vendetta Mafia III Mafia III: Faster, Baby! Mafia III: Stones Unturned Mafia III: Sign of the Times Mafia: Definitive Edition | ||