Overview
Joe Barbaro is a character in the Mafia series. He appears as an unnamed hitman in the original Mafia, a supporting character in Mafia II, the protagonist of Joe's Adventures DLC, and returns as a minor character in Mafia III.
Story
Background
Raised in Empire Bay as an impoverished child, Joe was the neighborhood bully. He met Vito Scaletta when the younger boy offered to fight him for a place in his gang. For the next 10 years, the two of them made for a great team until a robbery which ended up getting Vito arrested. After being given a deal between enlisting in the army and prison, Vito decided to join the U.S. Army to fight in World War II. In the meantime, Joe became involved in Empire Bay's criminal underworld - eventually getting into contact with affiliates such as Henry Tomasino.
After two years of active service, Vito was injured in action and deployed back to Empire Bay until further notice. At the train station's entrance, Joe waits to regroup with his old friend. When the two rejoice, they first decide to head to a nearby bar for a drink. Whilst at this bar, Vito explains that he will soon have to go back to fight in the war. Joe decides to call in favour for his friend, and gets into contact with a locksmith named Giuseppe who can forge discharge papers for army veterans.
Sometime after the events of Mafia II, Vito is relocated to work with Sal Marcano in New Bordeaux. After being betrayed by Sal's henchman Grecco, Lincoln Clay saves Vito as they plan to reclaim the River Row district. After helping Vito, Lincoln can visit him for a side mission where Vito wants Lincoln to kill several men tied to killing one of Vito's old friends.
After Lincoln eliminates each man, Vito reveals that everything Lincoln did was for his friend Joe. According to a rumour Vito overheard, Joe managed to escape from being killed by Leo Galante's goons and made his way to Chicago to seek help. However the people Joe went to meet turned on him - they beat him up, cut his hands off and didn't leave anything for anyone to find. Vito believes this rumour because he thinks that Joe would've found him at that point if he were still alive.
Shortly after Lincoln kills Sal Marcano, Leo Galante arrives at the construction site to give Lincoln a choice to rule New Bordeaux whilst giving the comission a cut of the profits or to leave everything behind - in which case, they will never speak with each other again. After Leo goes back into his car, his driver closes the door and briefly looks up, displaying prominent facial features, before heading back into the car. This driver is widely assumed to be Joe Barbaro, meaning that he is alive and well.
Trivia
- Joe Barbaro is voiced by Robert Costanza.
- He has the most usage of the word "fuck" out of any character in Mafia II.
- Alongside Vito, Joe has had an appearance in every game in the Mafia series to date.
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