Passione
Passione (パッショーネ, Passhōne, lit. Passion in Italian) is an Italian Mafia gang serving as the main antagonistic force of the fifth part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Vento Aureo. The gang was initially founded and led by Diavolo. The protagonist, Giorno Giovanna, later infiltrates the gang in order to seize control of it and end its drug dealing business.
Passione is remarkable by the secretiveness of its members and the unusually high number of Stand Users among them.
Summary
Passione is one of the most powerful gangs in Italy despite its reduced numbers, consisting of 756 members before Giorno Giovanna joins.[1] Unlike gangsters in other countries, Bruno Bucciarati remarks that Passione gangsters dislike attracting attention since it makes them a target for assassination.[2] The gang is based in Naples, but there are also members operating in Rome and Venice.
Hierarchy
Boss
Diavolo is the gang's founder and first head, being called The Boss (ボス, Bosu) by his subordinates. The boss leads all of the gang's members, keeping his identity a secret. Giorno Giovanna eventually becomes the second boss of Passione after overthrowing Diavolo, and reveals himself as the boss.[3]
Consiglieri
Directly beneath the boss is their most trusted right-hand man, the Consigliere (Adviser) (参謀, Sanbō). The first consigliere is Vinegar Doppio. When Diavolo is the boss, he only directly speaks to Doppio. Their role is to counsel the boss and act as a messenger between the boss and their direct subordinates. In the light novel Purple Haze Feedback, Jean Pierre Polnareff becomes Giorno's consigliere.
Unità Speciale per Boss
The Unità speciale (Special Squad) (親衛隊, Shin'eitai) is an elite subdivision in Passione who operate under direct orders from the boss and the consigliere, tasked with tracking down and killing traitors. The members either operate individually or with partners. The squad consists of Squalo, Tizzano, and Carne.
Caporegime
The Caporegimes (Lieutenants) (幹部, Kanbu, lit. executives) are officers tasked with running the gang's business smoothly, usually being assigned a territory. Every capo is dedicated to specific types of work and is also assigned one or several teams of gang members who are to obey them.
The caporegimes prefer dressing like normal civilians to blend in with the crowd. Some have ordinary civilian jobs in the day, such as being a barber, taxi driver, or toy store owner. In reality, they are rich and may own valuable items like a luxury yacht stored at a harbor. One can become a capo by gathering enough support and earning the organization several billion liras.[2]
There are nine caporegimes in total, although only three are known: Polpo, Pericolo, and Sogliola Lopez (in the light novel Golden Heart, Golden Ring). Bruno Bucciarati replaces Polpo as a capo after Polpo's death. There is also one unknown capo who is eighteen years old.[2] In the anime, Bucciarati states that he knows plenty of capos who got caught trying to discover the Boss's identity and were killed.[4]
Teams
- Sezione Gestione Giochi d'azzardo (Gambling Management Section) (賭博管理, Tobaku Kanri): A team in charge of gambling and betting operations, loansharking, and smuggling operations. Its caporegimes also have dominion over restaurants and hotels.[5] Polpo and later Bucciarati are the capos of this team in Naples, and Sogliola is the capo of the team in Venice.
- Sezione Droghe (Drug Section) (麻薬, Mayaku): Specializes in synthesizing drugs and drug trafficking. Its members are only in the light novel Purple Haze Feedback, consisting of Vladimir Kocaqi, Massimo Volpe, Vittorio Cataldi, and Angelica Attanasio.
- La Squadra Esecuzioni (Hitman Team) (暗殺者チーム, Ansatsu Chīmu): Specializes in assassinations. Its members defect after being threatened by their Boss for trying to expose his secret identity. The group consists of Risotto Nero, Formaggio, Illuso, Prosciutto, Pesci, Melone, Ghiaccio, Sorbet, and Gelato.
- Squadra Guardie del corpo (Escort Team) (護衛チーム, Goei Chīmu): A team assigned for escort missions. Diavolo specifically orders them to escort his daughter Trish Una to him. The group consists of Bruno Bucciarati, Giorno Giovanna, Leone Abbacchio, Guido Mista, Narancia Ghirga, and Pannacotta Fugo.
- Sezione Gestione Sistemi Informatici (IT Systems Management Section) (情報管理, Jōhōkanri): Specializes in data collection and information gathering using technology. Its only known members are an unnamed engineer in the anime and Cannolo Murolo in Purple Haze Feedback.
- Quartiere (District) (区, Ku): 25 groups of the lowest rank in Passione, made of six to ten members. Each group is lettered from A-Y. Passione members are initially required to join these teams and work within their designated territories. Team Bucciarati is part of this rank before Bucciarati becomes a capo, and their main source of income comes from protection money from casinos and small-scale stores.[2]
Policies
Like any gang, Passione generates income via illegal trades such as drugs and violently protects itself against any enemy, sending members to punish anyone who harms one of them as was the case with Luca.[6] It also entertains certain secretiveness as its members actively try to hide from the public.[1] However, the Boss of Passione has unusually introverted policies, refusing to personally meet anyone and giving orders through proxies. Diavolo spends his time trying to erase all traces of himself, ordering his own daughter to be brought before him so he could kill her. Moreover, any member who tries to uncover his identity is immediately branded a traitor and made an example of.
Passione seems to have poor discipline within its ranks, presumably due to the many vindictive Stand users in the gang. Corruption and infighting are not unusual, and comradeship doesn't exist beyond one's team. As a result, rebellion is omnipresent and many members plan to betray the Boss, some out of greed, others because they are dissatisfied that the gang is now dealing drugs, while they joined it because it claimed to fight the drug trade. Anyone betraying the Boss is condemned to death, to remind everyone of the risks of rebellion.
When a lieutenant dies, it is customary for his subordinates to attend his funeral.[7] Afterward, the next lieutenant is chosen by another lieutenant from among said subordinates who has performed a task greatly beneficial to the gang as a whole, for instance bringing several billions of liras' worth of jewels.[5]
Passione possesses a high number of Stand users despite having less than one thousand members, due to its harsh recruiting test. In order to join, one must be approved by a lieutenant in the gang through an interview. In Polpo's particular case, he is shown tasking Giorno with keeping a lighter alight for 24 hours. When the light goes out and is relit, Polpo's Stand automatically activates and attacks any witnesses with the Arrow. If it succeeds in stabbing someone, they will turn into a Stand user if they have enough spiritual energy. If not, they will die painfully. This is considered a cost-effective way to weed out the weak while simultaneously producing Stand users and reliable soldiers.[8][9] Moreover, as Pericolo points out, Polpo is the designated capo to handle Stand-related tasks. For instance, the order to protect Trish Una against enemy Stand users would have gone to him had he not been dead at the time.[5]
Revenues
Prior to the events of Vento Aureo, Passione controlled Naples' hotels, port construction sites, and restaurants. Its main businesses were originally gambling and drugs.[1] The latter drug trafficking was said to be worth billions of liras.
It can be presumed that Giorno Giovanna put an end to the drug trade, having joined Passione to stop it in the first place.
History
Diavolo founded Passione during the late '80s, presumably in 1986, which saw a dramatic rise in crime all over Europe.[10] During this early period, Passione pretended to fight the drug trade, but instead was violating its own code by setting up its own operations to expand the drug trade domestically.[11] Passione eventually became one of the most powerful gangs in Italy, in no small part due to the Stand users within its ranks.
It was during this time that the seeds of Diavolo's demise were sowed, first when Jean Pierre Polnareff began to track the whereabouts of the Bow and Arrow in Europe. Polnareff went to Italy and investigated Passione but the gang rapidly caught on to his actions. Diavolo personally confronted Polnareff and almost killed him during their fight. However, Polnareff escaped and, unable to get out of Italy unnoticed by the powerful Passione, went into hiding and waited for potential allies.[10]
Over the years Passione expanded, recruiting more Stand users. When Risotto Nero was recruited as an assassin by the gang in 1994, he formed La Squadra Esecuzioni. La Squadra Esecuzioni eventually grew dissatisfied of the mistrust the Boss had of them and asked for a territory instead of mere bonuses for each kill. After the Boss refused their request, Sorbet and Gelato began to investigate the Boss only to be made an example of. La Squadra never forgot the humiliation.[12]
In January 2001, Donatella Una, the Boss's former lover died, leaving behind her daughter Trish. Donatella's search for a man named Solid Naso, one of the Boss's pseudonyms, caught the attention of Passione, and the Boss, recognizing his daughter, ordered her brought to him. At the same time, he had sent Risotto, Ghiaccio, Illuso, and Prosciutto to investigate Donatella's room and erase all traces of him. Unbeknownst to him, La Squadra still wanted vengeance for Sorbet and Gelato and decided to track Trish Una as she could lead them to the Boss.
Vento Aureo (March–April 2001)
Giorno Giovanna joined the gang on March 30 with the intent to overthrow its Boss and seize Naples from him. Giorno was cooperating with Bruno Bucciarati, a gang member who was disgusted with the drug trade and wanted to put an end to it, and Bucciarati introduced Giorno to the lieutenant Polpo to have him admitted within the gang. Immediately upon his admission, Giorno assassinated Polpo, which enabled Bucciarati to become lieutenant in his stead. Bucciarati and his team were subsequently tasked by the Boss to protect Trish from Squadra Esecuzioni and bring her to Venice. Team Bucciarati managed to defeat and kill all but one man of the assassination team and brought Trish to Venice to meet her father.
The Boss then attempted to kill Trish, a move which outraged Bucciarati and he openly rebelled, swaying all but one member of his gang to follow him. Team Bucciarati, under Trish's counsel, went to Sardinia to investigate the Boss's past, defeating the members of Unità Speciale sent after them, and forcing him to personally intervene. In Sardinia, Diavolo defeated the last member of the assassination team, Risotto Nero, and also killed Leone Abbacchio, whose rewinding powers enabled him to uncover past events. Fortunately, Abbacchio had successfully recreated a negative of Diavolo's face and handprints.
Team Bucciarati's search for the Boss's identity caught the attention of Polnareff, and he proposed that they meet in Rome to acquire the Arrow, which would unlock a power enable to defeat Diavolo. They then departed for Rome, followed by the Boss. In Rome, the last members of Diavolo's Unità Speciale, Cioccolata, and Secco managed to slow Team Bucciarati enough for Diavolo to catch up to them and even confront Polnareff first, killing him. However, the Arrow transformed Polnareff's Silver Chariot into Chariot Requiem, a Stand able to manipulate souls, tasked with the protection of the Arrow. This began a frantic race between Diavolo and the remnants of Team Bucciarati to seize the Arrow first, and with Bucciarati's sacrifice, Giorno Giovanna took the Arrow and unlocked Gold Experience Requiem.
The Requiem Stand defeated Diavolo, and Giorno sheltered the Arrow within the turtle Coco Jumbo afterward before taking Diavolo's place as the second Boss of Passione.
Members
Other media
JORGE JOESTAR (37th Universe)
★: The character is leader
(✩: Subsequent leader / ✦: Leader of their own faction within the group)
(👻: The character remains as a soul or ghost)
☮: The character has resigned
⚓: The character retired (incapacitated) and/or their fate is unknown
Light Novels
An alternate version of the gang is featured in the novel JORGE JOESTAR.
Golden Heart, Golden Ring
GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: Golden Heart, Golden Ring provides further precision on Passione's operations. It notably introduces Sogliola Lopez as a capo of Passione based in Venice, who is responsible for the explosives trafficking operations of Passione. It also introduces Rigatoni, an independent Passione assassin specialized in dealing with Stand users.
The novel narrates the battle between Team Bucciarati and Sogliola Lopez, who lays an elaborate plan to corner the traitors and kill them using The Cure and Purple Haze.
Purple Haze Feedback
Purple Haze Feedback introduces the Narcotics Team (麻薬チーム, Mayaku Chīmu) responsible for the successful drug operations of Passione. Its members are Massimo Volpe, Vladimir Kocaqi, Vittorio Cataldi and Angelica Attanasio. After Giorno Giovanna's takeover, the narcotics team went rogue.
It also introduces Sheila E, a Passione operative assigned to Pannacotta Fugo, Gianluca Pericolo, son of Pericolo, another gang member who personally serves Giorno Giovanna, and Cannolo Murolo who is the leader of the Data Management team (情報分析チーム) responsible for spying and communication within Passione.
The novels details the activities of Passione members, Pannacotta Fugo and Leone Abbacchio, who committed murders ordered by Passione behind Bruno Bucciarati's back. It also adds that Sale and Zucchero survived their respective fights and went rogue, but were killed respectively by Vittorio Cataldi and Sheila E.
Background events in Purple Haze Feedback
Prior to the events of Vento Aureo, Diavolo created the narcotics team in order to make a profit. Massimo Volpe's Manic Depression allowed him to synthesize high-quality drugs which deteriorated quickly, cutting the costs of paying for actual drugs and preventing anyone from taking control of a large quantity of it. The drug trade then made Passione extremely wealthy. It was said that even Diavolo didn't dare cross the team as Vladimir Kocaqi's power could even defeat him.
At one point in the past Sheila E joined Passione to kill the assassin Illuso, and Cannolo Murolo provided information on Trish Una to Squadra Esecuzioni, enabling them to know of her.
Six months after the events of Vento Aureo, the new Boss Giorno Giovanna legitimized his position by pretending to have been the Boss all along. Jean Pierre Polnareff became the No.2 of Passione and Guido Mista became No.3. Giorno Giovanna also settled a deal with the Speedwagon Foundation, who were worried with the rise of such a group of Stand users, and sent Pannacotta Fugo, Sheila E and Cannolo Murolo against the narcotics team which went rogue.
The trio successfully managed to kill all of the narcotics team, putting a definitive end to the drug trade. Their secret goal of destroying a Stone Mask in Syracuse, which the narcotic team coveted, was also a success.
In the end, Passione gang member Pannacotta Fugo whole-heartedly swears fealty to Giorno Giovanna and Passione.
Testimone di gangster
Seven year after a "Great gang trial", Passione has been setting up a drug ring which would affect many people in Italia, including children. One Passione member named Pollo was outraged and decided to approach the police, leaking information about 32 members of Passione involved in the operation. Thus a trial was set in Palermo in order to condemn the gangsters, which would expose the true scale of Passione to the public.
Tizzano and Squalo are assigned the mission to stop the trial. Tizzano has proposed an unusual plan involving discrediting the prosecution and stop the trial without any violence involved. Tizzano and Squalo's leader at the time has agreed to the proposition but has also secretly told Squalo to kill Tizzano because as an old-fashioned gangster, he preferred to resolve things through violence and Tizzano incurred his wrath by proposing a completely different solution.
Tizzano and Squalo cooperate to make Pollo accuse Falco of illegally prosecuting the defendants then kill him. They also force Falso to declare he's guilty. The only hiccup in the operation is that Falco manages to realize something is wrong and bites off his tongue to have a last declaration against Tizzano and Squalo, but Squalo kills him finally. By ruining the reputation of Italy's top prosecutor, Tizzano and Squalo manage to depower the Italian justice system and protect Passione from retribution. The duo comes to deeply trust each other and they plan on killing their leader, knowing that his rash actions combined with his overdue payments to the Boss mean nobody will blame them.
JORGE JOESTAR
An iteration of Passione exists in the 37th universe. Its headquarters is on Nero Nero Island (ネーロネーロ島, Nēronēro Shima), the second largest island in Italy located just south of Sardinia. It is covered in rocks and is a tenth the size of Morioh.[13]
The 37th Universe's Passione has about three hundred members with several Stand users. The gang's territory extends to Rome and Naples. They also operate in America, presumably making political and military contacts. They're competing with the Sicilian Mafia and the Camorra. Like the original Passione, there aren't any records of the Boss's face, and he's so secretive that not even the inner circle has ever met the boss. However, people know that his name is Diavolo and are aware of his Stand's powers.
Like the 37th universe's Morioh, Nero Nero Island suddenly grows a barrier and six legs and starts swimming through the ocean. It eventually crashes into Morioh and lands on top of it. Several Stand users from Passione jump down from their headquarters and invade Morioh.[14]
It is later revealed that Diavolo and Giorno are the same person. An incarnation of Giorno from an unknown universe canceled his own death with Gold Experience Requiem and survived in a place between life and death before ending up in the 37th universe. Diavolo was his alternate personality, who had founded Passione in the 37th universe and acted as its Boss all along.[15]
Gallery
Passione Members in the First Half (Manga)
Passione Members in the Second Half (Manga)
Passione's Logo in the Anime
Passione Members in the First Half (Anime)
Passione's Headquarters on Nero Nero Island in JORGE JOESTAR
Nero Nero Island "swimming" towards Morioh in JORGE JOESTAR
The island walking on top of Morioh in JORGE JOESTAR
Trivia
- The English dub for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind features the characters calling the gang "la famiglia", an Italicism meaning "the family".
References
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