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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"The only native American criminal class is politicians."''
|'''[[Mark Twain]]'''}}
In fiction, gangs tend to share a few common traits:
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* Talk of [[Even Evil Has Standards|honor and loyalty]] ([[Moral Myopia|except when dealing with enemies, of course]]).
* An organised crime outfit.
* Majority is one ethnicity, we get [[Gratuitous Foreign Language|some of the language]] and customs for color - they may be referred to as "The [Ethnicity/Nationality] Mafia". Contrast with [[Equal Opportunity Evil]].
The second and fourth points are commonly played for drama, as combined they easily [[Mob War|spark conflict]]. A common convention is to have gangs of different ethnicities compete with each other, such as [[The Irish Mob]] vs. [[The Mafia]].
See [[Ruthless Foreign Gangsters]]. In terms of [[Alike and Antithetical Adversaries]], these guys fall on the "homogenous" side of the scale.
{{examples}}
The most common types of gangs are:
* [[The Cartel]] - South/Central American
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== Black Gangsters ==
The classier, more organized version of [[Gang-Bangers]] (who frequently despair at the latter and wish they'd [[Stop Being Stereotypical]]). Compare with [[The Yardies]], who are British/West Indian.
=== Film ===
* ''[[American Gangster]]'': Real life drug lord Frank Lucas models his empire on the Italians' to create an African-American mafia, with him as the patriarch.
** He is also probably aware that no one would take his gang seriously enough to investigate. He's wrong, though.
* Gambol from ''[[The Dark Knight]]''
* Lottery operators such as those depicted in the film ''[[Hoodlum]]''
* Mr. Black ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|haha, get it?]]) from ''[[Darkman]]'' appears to be one of these, from the way he dresses, but it's hard to tell because [[Black Dude Dies First|he is almost immediately killed]] by Durant.
* [[Morgan Freeman|The Boss]]'s gang in ''[[Lucky Number Slevin]]''.
* Nino Brown in ''[[New Jack City]]''.
* One of the [[Feuding Families]] from ''[[Romeo Must Die]]'' was this type of mob, the other being a [[Triad]].
== East Asian and Southeast Asian gangsters ==
=== Film ===
* ''[[Marrying
* The Hmong [[Gang-Bangers]] from ''[[Gran Torino]]''.
* The protagonist in the 1991 film ''[[The Perfect Weapon (1991 film)|The Perfect Weapon]]'' fights a Korean mob.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* Various versions of this appear in ''[[Magnum, P.I.]]''; there are Chinese ones, Japanese ones, and Southeast Asian ones. Not inappropriate as Hawaii has long had a large Asian population and Honolulu is a port for illegal as well as legal goods and services.
=== Video Games ===
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' has the Da Nang Boys (Vietnamese gangsters), and Korean mobs, in addition to the [[Triad]].
* Kiryu Kazuma fights Korean gangsters in ''[[Ryu ga Gotoku|Yakuza 2]]''.
== Eastern European Gangsters ==
These gangs take advantage of the [[The Yugoslav Wars|instability in the Balkans]] and flourished after the fall of communism. Stereotypically linked to people-smuggling, heroin, and [[Sex Slave|forced prostitution]].
=== Comic Books ===
* In ''[[The Punisher]]'' comic "The Slavers", the eponymous white slavers are these.
=== Film ===
* The British film ''[[Layer Cake]]'' includes a Serbian mafia.
* In ''[[Taken (film)|Taken]]'', members of the Albanian mafia are responsible for the kidnapping of the protagonist's daughter.
* "The Chechen" from ''[[The Dark Knight]]''
* Chechen gangsters appear in ''[[Eastern Promises]]''
* ''[[Bad Boys 2]]'' features some of these in a gang war with the South American variety.
=== Literature ===
* The bad guys in the Robert Crais novel ''[[The First Rule]]'' are part of the Serbian Mob.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* The Albanian mob appears in ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]''
* Chechens appear in an episode of ''[[White Collar]]'', where they [[Even Evil Has Standards|prove to have standards]] when it comes to an extortion racket involving the exploitation of [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|innocent Chechen children]].
* Eastern European gangsters are the main bad guys in the first and third seasons of ''[[Engrenages]]''. (The second season has a North African mob instead.)
=== Video Games ===
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' features the (very significant in [[Real Life]]) Serbian and Albanian Mafias.
== Greek Gangsters ==
Greek Gangs seem to be the go-to Ethnic Crime Gang for antiquities smuggling and gun-running; illegal (non-casino) gambling is another favorite.
=== Film ===
* Nick "the Greek" in ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]''
* Colombo and Kristatos in ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'', who were from the [[Ian Fleming]] short story "Risico".
* ''[[Men of Respect]]''. Has Greek Mob boss Alli "The Greek" Bernacci and other [[Greek Gangsters]].
* Played for laughs in ''[[My Big Fat Greek Wedding]]''.
{{quote|'''Cousin Nick:''' (in a very cheerful tone) Hey Ian, we're gonna kill ya! ''Opa!''}}
=== Literature ===
* The [[Martina Cole]] novel ''Dangerous Lady''
=== Live-Action TV ===
* An arc in Season Five of ''[[CSI New York]]'' has Stella Bonasera investigating a Greek antiquities smuggling gang.
* [[Soap Opera]] ''[[Days of Our Lives]]''. In the [[Backstory]], Victor Kiriakis was originally a member of a Sicilian Mafia-style Greek crime family in his home town of Nafplion, Greece.
* ''[[The Untouchables]]'' episode "Jack 'Legs' Diamond", The title criminal made a deal with a Greek crime family to buy $5 million worth of narcotics.
* In the second season of ''[[The Wire]]'', the primary antagonist is only known as "The Greek". {{spoiler|He's actually Turkish (but of Greek heritage), and his gang is multinational, with Israelis, Russians, and at least one genuine Greek as [[The Dragon]].}}
=== Real Life ===
* The [[wikipedia:Velentzas crime family|Velentzas family]] is a Greek-American criminal organization operating in the New York City area.
* The [[wikipedia:Philadelphia Greek Mob|Philadelphia Greek Mob]], mostly active in the 1970s and 1980s.
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These guys are usually involved with the [[The Mafia|Italian Mafia]] and based on Bugsy Siegel or Meyer Lansky. More modern ones will typically be Israelis—sometimes presented as [[Ruthless Foreign Gangsters]]—and always portrayed as some form of [[Badass Israeli|terrifying badass]] and involved in some way with the Mossad. Historically, the Jewish Mob was a dominant force in the brief period between when White America started seeing Irishmen as "white" and the rise of the more numerous Italian Mob. During that period, they were involved in the regularization and "professionalization" of organized crime in the US, with the establishment of [[The Syndicate|The Commission]] (the Italian-American Mafia's coordination/dispute-resolution body) and [[Murder, Inc.]] (organized, professional hitmen) being the brainchildren of Jewish mobsters (the Commission and Murder, Inc.'s parent organization, the National Crime Syndicate were specifically Lansky's ideas).
=== Comic Books ===
* The first arc of [[DC Comics]] book ''[[Caper]]'' by [[Judd Winick]] was about two brothers in the Jewish Mafia in turn-of-the-century [[San Francisco]].
=== Film ===
* Bugsy Siegel himself was played by [[Warren Beatty]] in the [[Very Loosely Based on a True Story|semi-biographical]] film ''[[Bugsy]]''.
* Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel and Arnold Rothstein appear in ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'', along with other, fictional Jewish Gangsters such as Manny Horvitz. The show largely averts this trope, though, as the generals consider personal loyalty more important than ethnicity.
* Moe Greene from ''[[The Godfather]]'' is based on Siegel.
* Meyer Lansky expies:
** Hyman Roth of ''[[The Godfather]] Part II''
** [[Robert De Niro]]'s character "Noodles" from ''[[Once Upon a Time in America]]''
* Sam "Ace" Rothstien (also played by [[Robert De Niro]]) of ''[[Casino]]''
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|The Rabbi]] and co in ''[[Lucky Number Slevin]]''. Complete with ex-Mossad bodyguards.
* Frankie "Four Fingers" and Uncle Avi's gang in ''[[Snatch]]'', although [[Fake Nationality|neither actor playing them is actually Jewish]] (they're played by Puerto Rican Benicio del Toro and Italian-American Dennis Farina, respectively).
* Nino in ''[[Drive (film)|Drive]]'' is a Jewish gangster who sets the events of the film in action with his plan to rip off the East Coast Mob, his associate Bernie is played by a Jewish actor and is heavily implied to be Jewish as well.
=== Literature ===
* Wolfshiem of ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' is a Meyer Lansky expy.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* In ''[[The West Wing]]'', Toby's father was a former hitman for the real Murder Incorporated, a Jewish crime syndicate from the 20's to the 40's that (as noted) did a lot of contract work for the Italian Mafia.
* Herman "Hesh" Rabkin in ''[[The Sopranos]]'', who was strongly based on the real Jewish Gangster and record-label owner Morris Levy.
* Icepick in [[Magnum, P.I.]] is a semi-retired gangster whose real name is Francis Hofsteader.
=== Video Games ===
* Isaac's gang in ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]''.
* The Cohen Crime Syndicate in ''[[L.A. Noire]]''.
=== Western Animation ===
* Zalmie Belinksy in ''[[American Pop]]''.
== Latin American Gangsters ==
Some can overlap with [[The Cartel]], but [[The Cartel]] tends to be strictly based on drugs and has a physical base in South America.
=== Film ===
* In the 1983 version of ''[[Scarface (1983 film)|Scarface]]'', Tony Montana's gang is Cuban.
* ''[[Carlito's Way]]'': Carlito is Puerto Rican.
* The first wish results in [[Brendan Fraser]]'s character becoming a Colombian drug lord in the ''[[Bedazzled]]'' remake, thanks to the [[Literal Genie]] Devil.
=== Video Games ===
* Ricardo Diaz in ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City]]'' and ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories]]''. Then Tommy (an Italian-American) takes over his drug business.
== Gangsters with obscure ethnicities ==
=== Live-Action TV ===
* The Indigenous Australian ([[Torres Strait Islanders]]) crime syndicate in ''[[The Straits]]'' smuggles drugs in one of the most naturally beautiful parts of the world (North Australia and [[Papua New Guinea]]). They also deal with Asian and Papua New Guinean criminal franchises. In this case, one of the co-founders of the indigenous crime gang is of Maltese ethnicity, however.
=== Video Games ===
* The Tsoo from ''[[City of Heroes]]'' are ethnically [[w:Hmong people|Hmong]] -- a Southeast Asian people who live mainly in Southern China, Vietnam and Laos.
== Gangsters with [[Fantastic Racism|fictional ethnicities]] ==
=== Film ===
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' gives us the Hutts.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* The Tauron Ha'la'tha from ''[[Caprica]]'' fits all four points (family-oriented with an old patriarch—the Guatrau—honor and loyalty, very organized, and all Taurons), despite including some elements of [[The Cartel]] (tattoos and rap, plus Taurons are [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Space Mexicans]]).
** The stoicism, use of tattoos to indicate rank and status, strong family ties, and preference toward edged/bladed weapons looks a lot like the Japanese ''yakuza''. The ha'la'tha look like an amalgamation of every stereotype about organized crime ever invoked in the media.
** The Ha'la'tha's transition from freedom-fighting organization to organized crime is reminiscent of the Irish mob's roots in "defense societies" in the old country.
* The Orion Syndicate in ''[[Star Trek]]''. While they have many operatives of various races, the whole thing is run by the Orions.
=== Video Games ===
* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', Ethnic Crime Gang seems to be [[Planet of Hats|the hat]] of the Vorcha. Pretty much all you ever get to meet seem to belong to street gangs.
** Though they usually have multi-species organizations, the [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|Blue Skinned Space Babe]] race of the Asari seems to run almost all major crime in the galaxy. The asari planet Illium is officially a "special economic zone", but in reality that means it's a primary hub for everything that is illegal to sell elsewhere.
{{quote|'''Garrus:''' ''"Don't be fooled. Illium is just like [[Wretched Hive|Omega]], only with more [[Nice Shoes|expensive shoes]]."''}}
=== Literature ===
* The Breccia in ''[[Discworld]]'' are the [[Our Trolls Are Different|Troll]] Mob. The name is something of a [[Genius Bonus]], as [[wikipedia:Breccia|breccia]] is a kind of rock made from fragments of smaller rocks cemented together.
* Erewhon in ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' is run by the ''descendants'' of gangsters. More specifically they used a planet as a money laundering center and it evolved into a fairly ordinary nation. Traces of its origin still remain but the old gangsters are more like a fairly informal but more or less civilized aristocracy; about as civilized as any other at least. One trace remaining is that in interstellar [[Realpolitik]] they are more likely to use traditional gangster methods (such as bribery, subversion, and manipulation) to outright [[Gunboat Diplomacy]].
** It is implied in ''Crown of Slaves'' that the theoretical potential of blood feud is still a thing among the most distinguished families of Erewhon, but that in practice the main effect is not to take politics to far lest one's own be the underdog in the future. The result is that internal politics is a stylized contest of shifting factions who always maintain certain limitations
**The Scrags are descendant from a Slavic-Supremist [[Proud Warrior Race|warrior cult]] of eugenic "superbeings". They always have as leader the [[Asskicking Equals Authority|fiercest and strongest]] among them. Effectively they are human space orcs.
* In the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'', "Jackson's Hole" is a planet inhabited by gangsters. These vary from the "not nice but not exactly evil" variety (like Ivan Vorpatril's in-laws) to the positively perverted (like people who raise slaves to remove their brains to sell their bodies to rich offworlders who want immortality, and one who collects torture victims as a "hobby").
=== Tabletop Games ===
* In ''[[Traveller]]'', the planet Granicus is run by gangsters. There are three main syndicates, two of which consider it [[Nothing Personal|just business]] and have no particular ethnic associations. The third, however, is a [[Fantastic Racism|Solomani-supremist]] cult.
* The Assassin's and the Thief's guilds in Tredroy in ''[[Banestorm]]''. They control the crime in town within their respective categories. They are given an ambiguous recognition by the town authorities: after a thief is captured and flogged(or whatever) he is dumped in the Thief's Guild's turf at night. If he was a dues-paying member they will bring him back to his own associates. If not they will [[Unusual Euphemism|deal with matters appropriately.]]
**At one time long gone by when the town of Tredroy was under siege the Assassins made an alliance with the government and well, began [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|assassinating people.]]
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Organized Crime Tropes]]
[[Category:
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