Emilio Barzini

Emilio Barzini
Richard Conte portraying Emilio Barzini
First appearance	The Godfather
Last appearance	The Godfather: The Game
Created by	Mario Puzo
Portrayed by	Richard Conte
Information
Nickname(s)	The Wolf
Gender	Male
Occupation	Gangster
Title	Don
Family	Barzini Family
Children	Emilio Barzini, Jr.
Relatives	Emilio Barzini, Jr. (mentioned)

Emilio "The Wolf" Barzini is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and in its film adaptation, in which he is portrayed by Richard Conte. The Barzini crime family was inspired by the Genovese crime family.

Barzini heads one of New York's Five Families, and is the second most powerful Mafia don in the country after Vito Corleone. His criminal interests are in narcotics, gambling, and prostitution, and is looking to expand his empire to Las Vegas and Nevada.

Barzini first appears as a guest at Connie Corleone's wedding. Soon after, Barzini arranges for drug lord Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo to meet Don Vito with an offer to enter the narcotics trade, openly backed by the Tattaglia Family. During the meeting, Sonny expresses interest in the deal, though Vito refuses the offer. Barzini attempts to assassinate Vito in hopes that Sonny, as his father's successor, will have to accept the deal. When Sonny refuses to enter the heroin trade as long as his father is alive, Barzini secretly conspires with the other families to wage war against the Corleones, forcing them to make peace and open up their territory to drug trafficking. To this end, he approaches Corleone's son-in-law, Carlo Rizzi, with a ploy to draw Sonny into an assassination. After Sonny's death, Don Corleone agrees to lend his political protection to the enterprise and honor the peace accord. It had initially appeared that Philip Tattaglia was leading the anti-Corleone alliance. However, at the peace summit, Vito realizes that Barzini was the mastermind behind it.