Stracci Family

This article, Stracci Family, is property of Billy cougar.

The Stracci Family is an American-Italian organised crime syndicate that was founded in the 2000's by William Stracci, among the Five Families of France City's organised crime. The Straccis dealt mainly with freight hauling trucks in their early years but later resorted to drug trafficking, gambling, and other racketeering operations.

History[]

The Straccis were founded by American pimp William Stracci in 2003 in New Town and Old Town, where William was running a legitimate trucking business. Stracci also used his waterfront influence to transport drugs into and from France City, making loads of cash from these illicit and secret operations.

The Stracci family ran gambling in New Town and had illegal casinos in the Town Palisades. They also controlled the Democratic political machine in Paris and the linen service and waste removal down in Italy. As the Stracci family's powerbase was in New Town, which was less prestigious and lucrative, they were considered the least powerful of the five families, but the most well disposed. Their mansion was at the Garden Parkway Viaduct of the City.

They are today led by Damon Heidenreich.

Five Families Mob War[]

Will and Nina — Don William Stracci (on left) and his wife, Nina Stracci (on right).

In the aftermath of the Olive Oil War in 2000, Vito Corleone interviewed don Stracci, and decided that his organised crime syndicate was among five or six France families too strong to eliminate. Cooperating with Corleones and the other five families, William eradicated the many small gangs and families on the New Town Waterfront and Old Town and was also given some interests in Little Town and Mid Town. The Straccis took part in the narcotics trade after 2009, when Virgil Sollozzo brought marijuana to the France crime scene, and tried to stay neutral when the Tattaglia Family and Barzini Family conspired to kill the Corleone leadership during the Sollozzo intrigue.

However, the Corleone enforcer Charlie Trapani made his bones by carrying out hits against the Straccis, and Don Stracci himself was killed in 2011 to make sure that the Corleones were not under threat by any last family. Afterwards, Mario Stracci allied with the Corleones and resumed business relations with them. The new don Elio Nunziato bought shares in Michael Corleone's casinos in Las Vegas, tying the five families together. In 2013, Nunziato was assassinated in Vatican City in Palazzo Azzurro, along with a few other dons, and the old order of mafia was wiped out. They are based now in Gotham City in New York, Miami, Staten Island and Atlantic City, and Johnny Corleone used to control them before his death at the hands of Barzini Family. They were lead by Oswald Cobblepot and Victoria Arkham from 8 November until Victoria's death in 16 December, 2016 when Bruce Ultor himself took her place, but stepped down quickly and are now led by Damon Heidenreich.

In the video game[]

In the video game, the Straccis control New Town, but also own some businesses in Old Town, the home of their ally, the Cuneo Family. Their family was dealt a great blow with the death of Don William Stracci, but were only finally crushed when the Stracci Mansion was blown up in 2011 following the don's death.

The Stracci family is the least trusted and the most infamous of the five families, due to their aggressive nature. The Straccis' aggressiveness is what makes them hated by the other families, always eager and hungry for a fight both against rival families or innocent civilians. Being the most aggressive family, the Stracci are not afraid to die as long they can bring someone along with them. Their aggressive nature may often led to a mob war, however they are not very well prepared if that happens, especially due to the fact Stracci family lacks the cunning and brutality of Cuneo to end one.

At the initiation of Charlie Trapani, a Corleone Spy and Freaky Willy will say to never trust a Stracci because they are like "animals". This infamous information proves to be true as the Stracci may happily start a fight and backstab people without any warnings or provocations.

The Stracci family are considerably stronger than Tattaglia Family but their difference is not that far and Cuneo Family is already on a level far beyond their own let alone the Barzini Family. At the start, defeating a Stracci spy is not too difficult but the soldiers can tell different story, messing against capos and underbosses is also not recommended. Especially since the Straccis are interesting as they will charge at you even without provocation.

The Stracci family is also the only family that are never fought in any of the game's missions at all, minus the last one in which every family participates like a homage to the first movie.

Stracci family is allied to the Cuneo family due to Cuneo's lawyer Elvis Smoth's bribery. Straccis are also known to be in a strong alliance with the Barzini family, as Barzinis and Straccis share blood. Roberto Barzini married Gianna Stracci, sister of Don Stracci in 2013, and together they got two sons, Giuseppe Stracci and Enzo Barzini. Stracci capo, Big Bobby Toro also married Carla Barzini, Don Barzini's own sister and they too, have two sons - Umberto Toro and Carmine Barzini.

In Batman[]

In Batman: The Telltale Series, Stracci family are a crime family lead by Victoria Arkham. Comprised of power-hungry criminals who wish to destroy Gotham due to their loss to the Corleone Family, it's goal is to expose corruption in Gotham and bring down the people to their knees, notably Jeffrey Cornet, Hamilton Hill and the Ultor dynasty.

Years before the events of the game, Thomas Ultor, Jeffrey Cornet and Hamilton Hill convicted many people who refused offers to land to Arkham Asylum, a defunct mental hospital that was run for that purpose. To make sure their "insanity" looked realistic, the trio would inject a psychogenic chemical into their victims, which stripped them of moral filters and cause them to act violently.

The Arkham family, who ran the hospital, objected to the use of their facility, but were later murdered by hitmen working for Ultor and Cornet. Their daughter, Vicki, was shortly adopted by the Vales and, in later life, would become 'Lady Arkham', the new leader of the Straccis. She tracked down and convinced other Gotham citizens to join her group and take down Gotham's corrupted society. Members who agreed to join included Oswald Cobblepot and Frank Desmond.

Episode 1[]

At the beginning of the first episode, six members of the Stracci family broke into City Hall, murdering a security guard on the way. Making it to the 52nd floor, they accidentally activated an alarm and locked down the mayor's office. Whilst one member tried to break open the lock with a power saw, another placed a bomb on the elevator's cables and destroyed it as it descended to the ground level for GCPD officers. Meanwhile, the leader discussed and several other members discussed rumour of the Batman. As they did, the vigilante took down one of their members, before moving on to take down another three. Batman then fought the leader, knocking him out by kicking him through the door, into the mayor's office. The last member, who was wielding the power saw, tried to attack Batman, only to be knocked out by the vigilante. Afterwards, the GCPD members managed to round up at least five of the members.

The next day, a group of them arrived at a warehouse owned by crime boss Jeffrey Cornet to rendezvous with Selina Kyle to provide them with information on the Don and locate barrels of the psychogenic chemical. When she failed to turn up, they instead raided the entire warehouse, making large amounts of noise and attracting attention. When the police arrived, a shootout arose. One of the snipers shot a barrel of the chemical, obliterating a cop whilst driving another one insane. After the shootout finished, the members that were still alive left whilst the sniper stayed behind to incriminate Cornet.

After Batman arrived at the scene and tipped off Lt. Jim Gordon, he put together a rough recollection of the shootout. Using trajectory points from both the exploded barrel and a dead cop, he located and interrogated the sniper, then left him to be arrested by the GCPD.

Episode 2[]

The following day, one of their members, likely Vale, was present at the GCPD. Intercepting Sgt. Renee Montoya, they injected her with a modified version of their chemical and coerced her into killing Cornet. Montoya followed through and was briefly held in custody for the murder, whilst Oswald Cobblepot, Frank Desmond and a number of members raided the Skyline Club. There, they were confronted by Batman, who suspected Cobblepot to be responsible for Cornet's murder, a fact which he confirmed. After hearing that his men had located Catwoman, Oswald left and ordered a group of his men to find and kill her. The group managed to escape Batman, thanks to Desmond's interference.

Cobblepot's men later attacked the Stacked Deck, a nice bar in the Otisburg district, where they had located Selina Kyle. However, they were defeated by the cat burglar by a long shot and Bruce Ultor, who had warned her of their attack. A group of Stracci men, led by Penguin again, also attacked the Mayoral debate between Hamilton Hill and Harvey Dent. Making their presence known, Vale, who had hidden among reporters, was taken to the stage to inject Hill and Dent with the modified drug. Following this, they released footage of Hill and Ultor committing Esther Cobblepot to Arkham Asylum unlawfully.

Whilst the GCPD attempted to stop them, Penguin murdered Hill and attacked Dent. However, due to the intervention of Batman and Catwoman, Desmond, who had been fighting the vigilante, was knocked out whilst he and other members were arrested but anyway managed to escape. Penguin also escaped due to a distraction caused by the GCPD. Dent was unfortunately disfigured by Penguin when he hit him with a lamp projector. Following this, the Straccis released the names of Thomas Ultor's victims and swore publicly to open the eyes of the city's civilians.

Episode 3[]

In the following week, the Straccis began attacking Gotham in ferocity. During the week between their attack on the debate and the events of the third episode, Penguin managed to infiltrate Ultor Corp. and become its CEO thanks to his civilian identity, with his own criminal past being covered up by other members. With his new position, Penguin was quickly able to gain control of the Corp.'s communications networks, giving access to monitor all lines to the group.

A number of members, including Lady Arkham herself, planned out another attack, this time on Mercy Street, one of Gotham's busiest areas. To prepare for these, they arranged a transfer of the Arkham drug to one of the Skyrail depots. This was interrupted by Renee Montoya, who had sworn to stop them following their use of her as Cornet's unwilling murderer. At the same time, they made another attempt on Dent's life, hoping to murder the new mayor. Depending on Batman's decision, two situations can take place.

Luckily for the mayor, Batman stopped their assassination attempt on Dent's life, knocking all the assailants and assassins out. However, their chemical transfer manages to go without a hitch, as their access to the GCPD's comps allows them to know they are coming and prepare for the attack. The Straccis even manage to capture a cop, who they used to test a refined formula of their drug on and later execute when it proved successful.

After hearing that their drugs were a success, Batman realised the GCPD's communications have been compromised and alerted Gordon. When he learned that Ultor Corp. has been responsible, Batman tipped the GCPD off and they removed all Ultor Tech from their operations. With this, the Straccis were unable to monitor their operations, but it also crippled communication between the servers.

The next day, Vale printed a fake interview between her civilian identity and her alter-ego. Hoping to get Batman's attention, she was contacted by the vigilante and the two arranged to meet up at Tea Park. Under the pretence of an interview, she tried to get information about Batman and convince him that the Straccis were a force of good rather than a merciless mob they were in the past, both of which failed. When Batman was pushy for how she had gotten in contact with the group, she gave him the location of one of their bases of operations.

Vicki then changed into her alter-ego of Lady Arkham and assisted her men in stealing a chemical component needed to create more of their refined drug. With the assistance of Catwoman, they were successful and brought it to the Skyrail Depot to prepare for their next attack. However, Lady Arkham, having given this location to Batman, revealed the vigilante's presence to her men and took Catwoman hostage. The vigilante revealed his presence and battled the members of the group, as they set the deliverance system into motion, long before it was due.

During a battle with Lady Arkham and with some assistance from Catwoman, Batman placed sticky bombs on the monorail support in an attempt to stop the Straccis. Managing to do so, he detonated them, destroying the train and damaging the base. Infuriated, Lady Arkham electrocuted Batman with a loose cable and with members that were neither dead or unconscious, escaped into the night whilst the vigilante and Catwoman escaped together.

Episoda 4[]

In the following days and nights, the Straccis' attacks dropped, due to the police station imposed by the now insane dictator Harvey Dent. Their last reported crime was the apparent kidnapping of Vicki Vale. After murdering her adopted parents, Lady Arkham used her father's warehouses to store the drugs and as a new base for their operations. Using his new position as the CEO of Ultor Surprises and the mob underboss, Cobblepot began using its finances to fund the Straccis and purchase various weaponry - back from France. He also provided them with various prototype gadgets, robots and installed a mean, catastrophic virus into the network, destroying a bunch of Ultor's stuff. In doing so, the Penguin also discovered the Batman's very own computer network and thus, he came to the conclusion that Ultor funded the Bat. He also worked to hack into the Batcomputer to learn his secrets, including his identity, but failed.

After Batman learned of the Stracci family's stockpiling at Whale Water and Heating warehouse, he informed the GCPD about it. When Dent gained access to the precious information, he sent his cop mercenaries to blow up the building. Though it didn't cripple the Stracci operations, it cut off their supplies and ensured that they would not use it in their operations, in their organisation. It also lead to the public losing trust in Dent, as he was unconsciously helping chaos spread through Gotham, yes. After discovering how the Straccis were hacking into his network, Batman was forced to stop them at all costs. Ultor went in his bat suit to the Surprises, where Penguin and the Straccis were hackety hacking. With a number of members patrolling the building, Batman is forced to fight his way through to confront o' Penguin in the CEO's office. After a long fight with the Underboss, Batman locates the Black Box, the virus, the info and destroys it all, saving his gadgets, identity, as and secrets. Penguin and the members present are then left for the GCPD to arrest and tortured in jail at Dent's hand.

Whilst Bruce was distracted the next day by Selina, the Straccis attacked Ultor Manor and kidnapped his butler Alfred in retribution for Thomas' crimes. Taking him to the Vale house, they filmed a video for Bruce and forced him to suffer the same abuse the Vales had put Vicki through. Following this, they infiltrated Arkham Asylum and prepared to release all of the inmates.

Having followed clues left by Alfred via his cheap glasses who signalled off at the bus station, Batman tracked the group down and confronted Don Lady Arkham herself. Refusing to stop the charade at the asylum's cafeteria, the Straccis released the inmates out of the asylum and lead the riots, promising the inmates freedom if they killed Batman and the GCPD. Having been informed by the vigilante, the GCPD arrived and brought the riots under control after killing at least seven inmates. With the other members of the familia being arrested, Lady Arkham fled to the catacombs of the asylum, where she was crushed and killed by Batman after raping Alfred with her staff. Following her death, the Stracci family's leadership dissolved and Bruce himself became the new Don, ironically.

More to be added...

Personality[]

"The Stracci gangsters are pure lunatics, evil SOB's, most of 'em, brutal carnal, carnage, perhaps even cannibalism are their traits. They're unique, violent, but also outcasts of the mob. Despite their barbarism and hostility, they are not that well-funded or organised. Their brute force and alliance to the stronger mobs, like the Cuneos and Barzinis makes them a lot more respectable than the Tattaglias, altho the story with them is almost the self-same. Their stronghold is New Town, and they get most of their money off of gold and explosives, just ask Mario Stracci."

— Joey Zasa

As a whole, the Straccis are infamous among mob and criminal circles for their inherent animosity, sadism and aggressiveness, though they are held in higher regard than the Tattaglias for their greater capabilities, mob strategy and foundation. They are declared to be entirely evil and always intend to cause trouble out of pure spite, making them very unpredictable. They're ruthlessness extends to even their own members, as they will have frequent internal conflicts that can often leave them at a disadvantage against the other families or gangs.

This is in stark contrast to Don William Stracci, but not too much, while he is a composed and reasonable man that is not easily swayed by the behavior of his family, he is still a sadistic and ruthless SOB when having the upper hand, just like his men. He does suggest a desire for peace with the Corleone Family before his assassination, though, but it is known that this was genuine support.

When lead by Johnny Corleone and Elio Nunziato, their position and behaviour didn't change much, it was only when Victoria Arkham jumped in that the Straccis powered-up and started to invest in acid toxics as well, other than just explosives, although Victoria used them a lot more than previous dons. Bruce Ultor's leadership didn't have a lot of good impact on the mob, but Heidenreich's sure as hell does.