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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. | „ |
| ~ Michael Corleone's most famous quote as well as one of the most iconic movie quotes of all time. |
| “ | If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone. | „ |
Michael Corleone is the titular villainous protagonist of Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, the deuteragonist of The Sicilian, and the titular villainous protagonist of The Godfather film trilogy by Francis For Coppola.
He is the youngest son of Don Vito Corleone, the younger brother of Sonny and Fredo, the adoptive brother of Tom Hagen and the older brother of Connie Corleone. While initially wanting nothing to do with the "family business", he later succeeds his father as Godfather of the Corleone Family following his retirement and death.
Thanks to Michael's expert maneuvering, all of the Family's enemies and rivals are killed and the Corleone Family becomes the most powerful Mafia family in New York City. Michael tries to turn the family into a legitimate enterprise, but his ruthlessness and obsession with revenge keeps him in the criminal underworld, and ultimately destroys his family and his life.
He was portrayed by Al Pacino.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
- Kills a gangster and a police officer at the films while they were trying to negotiate peace.
- Cheats on his girlfriend Kay Adams by marrying Apollonia - a girl he had just met in Sicily, after she dies he goes back to marry Kay.
- Orders the murder of many crime bosses and some innocent people who was with them while he is renouncing Satan in a church’ this arguably makes him guilty of lying to the church.
- Orders the murder of his sister's husband.
- Michael sent his bodyguard to kill both Roth and his right-hand man he managed to kill Ola but was unsuccessful with Roth.
- He moved his trusted hitman, Al Neri, to brutally murder off-screen a prostitute and meticulously put her in the bed of United States Senator Patrick Geary to make him believe he accidentally killed her while high, severely traumatizing the man.
- After finding out that Kay had a abortion he hit her and forced her to move out.
- He later divorce Kay and take the kids for himself and he wouldn’t let her see there kids when he’s around.
- He cut ties with his brother and didn’t talk with him for years.
- He threatens Tom if he doesn’t go with his plans then he should move to Las Vegas instead.
- He also sends a guy to kill Roth while he was returning to Miami.
- He sent Tom Hagen to convince Pentangeli to commit suicide.
- Killed his brother Fredo.
- His actions indirectly lead to the death of his own daughter.
- While most mafia villains are rather generic, the sheer amount of time dedicated to Michael's personality defiantirtate him from mindless gangsters of other mafia bosses and his killing of family members is unique for his story making him pass both the general and in-story standard.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- The main reason he joined the mafia in the first place was to guarantee his family’s safety, especially given the tragedy of what happened to his first wife Apollonia, that further deeply pressures his motivation.
- He tried his best to make sure his crime business would slowly but surely become more lawful.
- Waited until his mother died to kill Fredo showing he had some care for his mother.
- Loved his first wife Apollonia and even Kay to a degree.
- Let his son join opera instead of the mafia.
- He is played for sympathy for the entire third film, for example the ending features him crying at his daughter's death.
- His death in the third film is also played for sympathy as he dies with his family destroyed after failing to keep them safe, completely alone except for his dog in a field.
- Feels a large amount of remorse for killing Fredo.
- Has some standards as he is unhappy with Vincent Corleone's idea of crime.
External Links[]
- Michael Corleone on the Villains Wiki
