| Joe Barbaro | |
| |
| Character Information | |
| Nicknames/Allias | Joe |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 1924 - 1951 |
| Occupation | Mafia |
| Appearances | Mafia II |
| Voiced by | 1951 |
Joe Barbaro (1924-1951, his death is implied, but uncertain) is Vito Scaletta's best friend. While Vito was fighting in WWII, he started to get into illegal activities. When Vito returns from the war with nothing but family debt, Joe helps him out, inviting Vito to join him in his life of crime. He will also be the playable character of the upcoming DLC Joe's Adventures.
Background
Joe is a career criminal and lifelong friend of Vito Scaletta. Brash and unpredictable, Joe can seemingly make trouble out of nothing. As a child, Joe was the neighbourhood bully. He met Vito when the younger boy offered to fight him for a place in his gang. Over the next 10 years, the pair of them made a great team, rational Vito keeping wild Joe in check as they enjoyed a life of petty crime. The pair became closer than brothers and trust each other with their lives. These days Joe lives large - strong booze, fast cars and loose women. Moving up the criminal ladder is the perfect way for him to feed his vices.
When Vito returns home on leave from the war, Joe finds him and gives him forged discharge documents to ensure that Vito doesn't have to return. After Vito's father died, his debts to local loan sharks were passed on to his family. He convinces Vito to join him in the Mafia to settle his father's debts before the loan sharks come after his family. Joe and Vito become 'Made Men' in the Falcone family at some point in 1951.
Involvement
Joe greets Vito at the train station when he finds out Vito was coming home from the war, while catching up and having a drink with Vito Joe discovers that he is only on leave for a month, he then makes a call to Giuseppe and asks him to make some fake discharge papers so Vito doesn't have to go back. He then shows Vito around the city and introduces him to people such as Giuseppe, Tommy and Mike Bruski who gives Vito his first job.
The next day Joe introduces Vito to Henry Tomasino, a made man in the Clemente family, Henry then tells Vito to rob the Office of Price Administration. He is seen again in Murphy's Law where he and Vito are told to rob a jewellery store becuase the owner owes Don Clemente money, the robbery was joing accoring to plan until Brian O'Neill and his crew try to rob the same store while Vito and Joe are robbing it, they get away with the jewellery after a shootout with the Irish Gang and the Police. In The Buzzsaw Joe and Vito help Henry with killing Sidney Pen after waiting a couple of hours Pen arrives with his guards, after Vito kills the guards with an MG42 the trio go after Pen in his distillery, after a shootout with his guards, Pen shoots Henry, Joe then carries him out of the burning distillery and he and Vito take him to see El Greco for medical assisstance. He is next seen at Vito's trial and he visits Vito when he is in prison and tells him to see Leone Galante.
After Vito's release Joe shows him his new apartment, they then meat up with Eddie Scarpa, the Falcone crime family Underboss who he's been working for since the Clemente's tried to charge them for becoming made men. The trio go to th Cathouse to celebrate Vito's release however Joe and Vito discover that Eddie has the body of Frankie Potts, an FBI informant, in the trunk, they then go to bury him before Vito took Joe and Eddie back to Joe's place. To make up for the previous night's events Joe takes Vito to sell some Cigarettes but after a while some Greasers try to make them hand over the cigarettes to them as it is on there turf, Joe refuses so the Greasers set the truck on fire, Joe then shoots a greaser and he and Vito try to chase down some more. After telling Eddie what had happened they met up with Stephen Coyne to sort out the greasers, first the blew up their bar and then they killed all the greasers in the Empire Bay Forge, during this Marty saved Joe from been shot, Joe and Vito then steal some Hot Rods from the greasers and sell them to Federico Pappalardo to get Eddie his money back.
Joe is next seen in Balls and Beans, though this time he doesn't join Vito. He goes off to do another job while Vito is tasked with assassinating Luca Gurino. He is later at The Maltese Falcon where he and Vito bother become made man in the Falcone Family.
Later, Vito and Joe are told to kill Don Alberto Clemente, who had called a big meeting at the Empire Arms hotel. the plan succeeded, but Marty was killed in the process causing Joe to go into depression which resulted in him getting drunk at The Lone Star and shooting and killing the bartender, Leon.
Joe is seen again in A Friend of Ours where Vito goes to his apartment after his house was burned dow by the Irish Gang, by now Joe has re done his apartment in a "unique" style. He then helps Vito track down and kill Mickey Desmond, the boss of the Irish Gang and, and many of his guys, as well as destroying the Hill of Tara in the process.
Personality
Joe is very loud and flamboyant and therefore the opposite of his best friend Vito who is the strong silent type. He is very similar to Falcone Underboss Eddie Scarpa. He is a shoot-first-ask-later kind of guy and his best friend Vito is often left to clean up his mess.