Name: Primo “To & Fro” Corallo
Date of Birth: 03/05/2047
Height: 5'10
Weight: 178lb
Physical Description: Although certainly not the most important thing about him Primo is an undeniably handsome bloke. Even his old boxing couch expressed unease at putting him in the ring due to not wanting to ruin his “Hollywood looks”. Granted the old man was his father, but still. It's an extreme cliché among characters, I know, which is why I wanted to put it in here right away. So, yeah, his cliché better than average looks don't escape me.
Making the most out of his luck appearance wise Primo makes sure he is always very well kept. His hair is always very neat and it is a rarity to see him not clean shaven. He tends to always wear a crisp black suit, a white shirt, a black or blood red tie and black dress shoes. Once again, all looking crisp and more often than not new.
Years ago Primo was an avid boxer but it's been nearly half a decade since he trained routinely, much less religiously like he did once upon a time. Slowly he has been bringing on a more average build but his previous athletic lifestyle is still quite evident on his broad build in the form of still quite distinctive upper body muscles.
Occupation: Caporegime and Business Owner
Background:
Primo grew up poor but he didn't have it too bad. Not as bad as some of the other kids in his neighbourhood. For one he had both of his parents and both of them truly loved him. He was an only child too; a thing that seemed to be rare in Italian families. His dad had two jobs as well. One working at the docks and another working at a club in town as a doormen. They certainly weren't rolling in cash but they made just enough as a family that there wasn't arguments over money every other night. It was a bit of thing Primo remembered as a kid. Every time he saw one of his friends parents together they would be shouting at each other about money.
Eventually Primo's father saved enough money to fulfil a long time dream of his. He opened a boxing gym. Primo was only eleven at the time but almost instantaneously he became his fathers most enthusiastic student. It'd be easy to say Primo was a tough guy from the start, destined to be a bit of a bad ass. That wouldn't be true though. The truth is a hell of a lot more innocent. What made Primo into a tough guy... A truly skilled fighter was a young boy's desire to spend more time with his father. Especially since before the opening of the gym the only time he ever really saw his dad he was nearly always exhausted from working two jobs. Yup, what was the old man's dream soon turned into quite the dream for his son too.
Slowly over time more and more of the neighbourhood kids started coming to the gym. Soon enough it turned into what was cool in the neighbourhood, and what was coolest was when Old man Corallo gave you the go ahead to glove up and step into the ring. Primo loved it. Being one of the best trained and most enthusiastic kids gave him an edge and that edge made him very popular in the neighbourhood.
Unfortunately with the great later came the bad. As dozens of kids frequented the gym and it began making more and more money it was only a matter of time before the local crew of Mafioso's caught on. Primo was seventeen now and often watched over the gym whilst his father was taking care of the more business oriented things or out in the town treating his wife on some of the money neither of them ever thought they would see. He was out at dinner with Primo's mother the first time one of the mafioso's came to the gym.
Later Primo would learn that they always came in the form of one man at first. A soldier. He simply stated that from here on out Mr. Corallo would be paying him a small percentage of the gym's profits each week. Primo knew who these people were. His father had told him they were all over the place back in the old country, they ran it even, but this was America, things were different here. Pride and cute but mislead ignorance caused the young but by this point very tough Primo to say no. They would not be profiting off of his fathers dream. Things got a bit physical and the Mafioso was ejected from the gym forcefully.
The next day a much better dressed man; a Caporegime and three more soldiers came to the gym, this time armed. Even calmer than the day before the head man spoke. He told them that Primo would have to work for them for a short while as penance for putting his hands on one of his soldiers. A crime that was punishable by death in our thing. You didn't lay hands on a made guy. If they refused they would make his father sign the gym over and he, his old man and his mother would be 'punished' for his actions yesterday.
He didn't have a choice. He couldn't let his parents suffer for his stupidity. At first it was just debt collecting they sent him to do. Doing the same thing to people he had just had done to him. It made him feel like hell. That was just the start though. By the end of the month of his 'repayment' he had been given a Molotov cocktail and torched a taxi depot that belonged to a man that had been his fathers friend for more than a decade. He had never felt lower in his life. The worst part of it all though was that he enjoyed certain aspects of it. In all his life, even as a local boxing champion he had always been seen as just another poor Italian immigrant. Since he had started working for the crew of Mafioso's people had started showing him something he had never had before. He didn't know what it was. Some said respect, but whatever it was it made life easier and for a while more pleasurable.
Eventually he was called to once again meet the Caporegime, he hadn't seen him since that day in the gym. All of his dealings were done through one of his soldiers. The middle aged man basically thanked him, told him he had repaid his debt, complimented his talent as an associate and told him that if he ever needed work he knew where to find it. Having learned his lesson Primo politely declined and headed home. It was a night that defined his life's path.
When he returned home his mother and father were waiting up, sitting at the kitchen table. This was strange since it was late and for many, many years they had nearly always been in bed by this time. His father asked him a question. It was definitely a question, but it was cold, tired and unenthusiastic. A question in which the answer was already known. A wrong answer. A horrible answer. The old man asked whether he was responsible for burning down Mr. Abate's taxi depot. Primo didn't need to speak, the answer was blatant on his face. Mr. Abate was a good man. A near ancient war veteran, he had always been kind, even offering free fares sometimes to some of the poorest in the neighbourhood. He felt tremendous guilt for razing the old man's business. Even more so when his father told him that Mr. Abate had slept at the depot that night. His father told him his bag was waiting in his room. He must be gone by the morning or they could call the police themselves. They would not live with a murderer.
With no home, only a bag full of clothes and $40 Primo didn't see many paths he could follow. In two weeks the remainder of his money ran out along with the time his friends mother would allow him to crash on their sofa. He soon found himself meeting once again with the Caporegime, asking for more work, and so Primo's road was laid. He was good at his work despite his few decent qualities. He was kind where the other associates and soldiers were cold, calm where they were angry and forgiving where they were ruthless. Some thought this was stupid, wrong even funnily enough, but it worked. He somehow convinced people that they were his friend even whilst technically robbing them. He was the first Mafioso in his city to convince business owners that they were actually paying for a service. It wasn't extortion, it was protection. With his success came great wealth and power. Over the years Primo became the Caporegime's greatest earner and when the captain passed away some more years later the boss decided that Primo would take his place.
Today Primo is the de-facto captain of captains in Washington. He has nearly two dozen soldiers working under him and almost fifty businesses putting money into his pocket weekly. With the trouble as of late though business has become a little hard. People are complaining about looters and the lack of protection from them. Those who aren't complaining about thieves have grown balls out of seemingly nowhere due to the strife. Primo for the first time in years is actually having to work for his wealth.
Personality: Primo has standards and qualities but let's be honest, when it comes down to it he's the captain of a large grew of gangsters. One of the best, which means he's one of the worst. He certainly isn't a saint. Like mentioned before, he can be forgiving, kind and he's nearly always calm, but when he doesn't get what he wants... That's a whole other story. He is capable of intense levels of violence and not just with weapons. He's a solidly built bloke and has had years of training with his fists. He's quite capable physically and mentally of hurting people. He believes in the greater good and since he has no blood family any more in his mind that would be him. He'll do what he has to in order to protect himself. Values be damned. Except maybe Omerta. Primo believes deeply in the traditional code of silence, but the silence isn't primarily what he values it for. He believes in taking care of everything yourself. No police. No authorities. Handle your own affairs, or don't. Primo doesn't believe in relying completely on others for anything. He's a tad bit of a disciplinarian.
S: 6 - Despite not exercising anywhere near as often as he used to Primo still manages to maintain a portion of his previous physical strength.
P: 7 - His perception is the mixed result of the being thoroughly trained in boxing and the constant fear of rival crews trying to assassinate him. Fear tends to keep people on their toes.
E: 7 - Somewhat akin to strength but more of a life lesson. Primo learned at a young age that taking a beating is not the end of the world.
C: 6 - A key factor in the success of his work involves keeping the undisciplined disciplined. Takes more than a substitute teacher to do that.
I: 7 - In 'our thing', dumb equals dead. Primo was always a smart kid, being in the life just taught him to appreciate intelligence. Especially his own.
A: 4 - Being a captain means many things and one of them is that the vast majority of a time other people do your going and getting for you. A prolonged lack of use has slowed Primo down quite a bit. Ironic considering his nickname, I know.
L: 3 - His life. It's one unfortunate event after another. Though one could argue that everyone is about as lucky as thirteen pitch black cats for being alive at this point in history.
Weaknesses:Imminent Lack of Power: Primo has been a Mafioso for more than a decade. With that title comes power, fear and eventually near complete control. It is uncertain how Primo will respond when all of his power - all of his dominance is taken away from him. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely but absolute powerlessness does the same.” Even if Primo does somehow get through his loss of power okay he'll still have some major personality issues to deal with. The very qualities that make him a great crime boss will turn right around on him as flaws in circumstances where not everyone is under his thumb. His cool and decisive thinking for example could make him a great leader, but among people who haven't lived the life he has it could also make the others see him as cold, calculating or even crazy. Not everyone's greater good is the same, and some don't even see the greater good as being that. That along with his demanding, domineering nature and his declined ability to consider other peoples perspectives as just possibly being the best one might mark him out in a bad way among other survivors he may find himself with.