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| “ | I've probably forgotten more about this business than you'll ever learn. | „ |
| ~ Leo Galante |
Leone "Leo" Galante is the overarching protagonist of 2K's Mafia franchise.
He is the Consigliere of the Vinci Crime Family, as well as a mentor and friend to Vito Scaletta.
In Mafia II and Mafia III, he was voiced by Frank Ashmore, who also voiced one of the sub-humans in Fire and Ice. In Mafia: The Old Country, he is voiced by Mark Whitten.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Leo serves as the consigliere to Frank Vinci and is the strategic mind behind the Vinci Crime Family, the most dominant criminal syndicate in Empire Bay’s history.
As a young man in Valle Dorata, Sicily, Leo worked with his grandfather, Niccolò Galante, who was the head of the Galante Crime Family in the town of Porto Almaro. He also became affiliated with Enzo Favara, who was a member of the Torrisi Crime Family. After finding out about Enzo's secret affair with Isabella Torrisi, he advised the couple to leave the country for America before he would eventually do the same.
Leo and Frank arrived in Empire Bay in 1908 and quickly established their empire—Leo orchestrated the operations while Frank handled enforcement. By the early 1920s, they had taken control of the Southport docks, a crucial asset that facilitated alcohol smuggling during Prohibition.
A devoted sports enthusiast, Leo has a deep passion for boxing and horse racing. Before gaining prominence in the underworld, he competed in bare-knuckle fights before transitioning into professional prizefighting. Eventually, he spent two decades running the city’s largest bookmaking enterprise. In 1933, he collaborated with Carlo Falcone and Steve Coyne to eliminate Tomaso Moretti, effectively ending the Vinci-Moretti War and dismantling the Moretti crime family.
Mafia II[]
After being imprisoned in 1945 for stealing and distributing gas stamps, Vito Scaletta is told by his friend Joe Barbaro to see Leo Galante in order to get help and to survive on the inside. In the yard of the prison, Vito gets into a fight with rival Brian O'Neill, which is witnessed by a curious Leo. After Vito spends a few days in solitary confinement for the fight, Leo gets the guards to release him and begins to take Vito under his wing and help train him how to properly fight and defend himself, as well as teach him about how the mafia is run. After Vito kills O'Neill during a fight in the gym, Leo has Vito relocated to his comfortable living quarters in the prison, and informs Vito that he will work to have his ten-year sentence extended once he gets out himself. Leo does keep his promise, as Vito is released in 1951, six years into his sentence. Vito went to work for the Falcone crime family along with Joe, a decision that Leo respected, as he felt Vito should be with his best friend.
Leo attended Vito's induction into the Falcone crime family in 1951, where he became a made man.
When Falcone crime family boss Carlo Falcone began a plot to bring down the Vinci crime family, he sent Henry Tomasino to whack Leo. Not wanting Leo to be executed, Vito got to his mansion before Henry and a crew could arrive, and they escaped. Leo made the decision to retire from his life of crime and got Vito to drive him to the train station, where he boarded a train for Lost Heaven.
A few months later, Vito and Joe's irresponsible actions caused tension in the criminal underworld, with crime families and gangs wanting the pair of them dead. Leo came out of retirement and returned to Empire Bay, in which he gave Vito the proposition to kill Carlo Falcone before he would be arrested and speak to the feds, or end up being killed himself. Vito accepted the offer, and along with Joe teamed up to kill Falcone at his observatory. Leo and Vinci mobsters arrived to pick up Vito and Joe, and Leo stated that they would celebrate at the cathouse club. However, Leo urged Vito to ride with him in a separate car from Joe, as they had more to "discuss". Whilst driving away, Vito noticed that the car containing Joe was going in another direction, and in panic asked Leo what was going on. Leo regretfully informed Vito that Joe wasn't part of their deal, making it clear to him that Joe was going to be killed.
Mafia III[]
It is revealed that following the events of Mafia II, Vito was relocated from Empire Bay to New Bordeaux to work for Sal Marcano and his family. In tie in material for the game, Vito is shown corresponding with Leo through coded messages. Despite keeping in touch, Vito feels resentment now towards Leo following Joe's "murder".
Seventeen years following the events of Mafia II, Leo and his crew visit Lincoln Clay in New Bordeaux following him killing Marcano and taking over his operations. Leo makes clear he isn't bothered by Lincoln being in charge of the city, just as long as he gives a cut to the commission. Lincoln agrees to the terms, and Leo goes on his way.
Trivia[]
- The producers had considered giving Leo more lines: "Sorry kid, Joe was not part of our deal. Joe has an appointment with Mr. Chu. Sorry, but that is how it is in this business." Only the first sentence made it into the game. Had all three sentences been spoken by Leo, that would have been more suggestive that Joe died, or likely faced some form of disfigurement at the hands of the Chinese Triads.
- Despite believing the end of his natural life was coming in the 1950s and wishing to retire, Leo Galante is shown to be alive and in an important position on the Commission in 1968. While he lived longer than planned, he is also shown to be more frail in the third game.
- Despite Vito believing that Joe is dead, a man resembling Joe is seen as Leo's personal driver near the end of Mafia III, implying that Joe managed to cut a separate deal with him; although Vito is left oblivious. This is later confirmed, as the character model is called "Joe" in the game files, and shares the same facial model as Joe in Mafia: Definitive Edition
- Leo appears in Mafia: Definitive Edition as part of a collectible cigarette cards in the games, which contains character biographies of those that operated during the prohibition. Leo's biography shows him younger and with blonde hair during the 1930s.
- Leo is one of the most prominent non-playable characters in the Mafia franchise, appearing in Mafia II, Mafia III, Mafia: Definitive Edition (as a collectible cigarette card), and the prequel Mafia: The Old Country. He has also met most of the (canonical) protagonists of the series, such as Enzo Favara, Vito Scaletta, Joe Barbaro and Lincoln Clay. Tommy Angelo is the only canon protagonist that Leo hasn't met, due to Tommy operating in Lost Heaven.
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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 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 Mafia: The Old Country | ||