The Mafiya: Difference between revisions

While mobsters existed in [[Imperial Russia]] and the [[Soviet Union]] (a lot of people in [[The Gulag]] were actual criminals by objective standards), they really exploded with the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was widespread unemployment, [[Reds With Rockets|many ex-military men]] and others with [[Former Regime Personnel|the right skill-set for this sort of thing, but no work.]] Old KGB men and lots of abandoned military hardware quickly found themselves both with new homes. Note that before [[The Great Politics Mess-Up]], it was kinda taboo in [[The Mafiya]] to accept people who once wore uniforms and shoulderboards of any kind. After WWII, when the majority of Soviet male population (including the crooks) served in the Red Army, it even caused a major internal conflict in [[The Gulag|the gulags]], called "Bitch Wars" (Сучьи войны), when the ''vory v zakone'' refused to welcome back their former peers who fought in the war. But after the USSR fell, this restriction became mostly obsolete.

* A ''vor v zakone'' (lit. thief in law) is a high-ranking mafiya member, like an Italo "wiseguy". Traditionally, ''vory v zakone'' lived by an ascetic code of conduct that forbade having a family or large living expenses. By now, this code is a thing of the past. Another dying tradition is that because by the old proverb the prison is the home for a thief, no crook should be made without a prior conviction. Becoming a ''vor v zakone'' is a ritual that is often called "coronation" by the Mafiya members. Nowadays it's often enough to endow the "obschak"<ref>the underground mutual help fund-cum-expenses account</ref> with a large sum of money to be crowned. There is no Capo-equivalent boss rank in [[The Mafiya]]. The most powerful Russian criminal masterminds are simply the older, smarter ''vory v zakone'', with no special fancy title.

* A ''tolkach'' (possibly an outdated term) is a nonviolent crook with big connections, who uses these connections to help people for a price. Unlike [[The Don]] of an Italian Mob, a ''tolkach'' doesn't directly command lesser bros, but he knows many people who do. In modern times, these people are more associated with government graft than [[The Mafiya]] proper.

During the years following the collapse of the USSR, [[The Mafiya]] was very prominent in Russian life, running many protection rackets that most small to medium businessmen had to deal with. Even now, it's far from being gone, though crooked police officers are the ones running most protection rackets now, not [[The Mafiya]].

Something that no western media and little Russian media touchestouch upon is "Fenya" - a highly extensive thieves' cant that makes true Bratva dialogues indecipherable to civilians. Western productions have more than enough [[Lost in Translation|problems]] with regular Russian, and Russian productions would have to rely on [[Footnote Fever]] or assume [[Viewers Are Geniuses|viewers have extensive knowledge]] of the criminal world.

Note there are also Russian [[Gang-Bangers]], called ''gopniki''. The name comes from "gop-stop" (a Fenya term for mugging) and the same "nik" suffix as in "beatnik". They are not part of [[The Mafiya]], but rather your garden variety petty criminal youths from the [[Wrong Side of the Tracks]], speaking badly bastardized Fenya mixed with [[Cluster F-Bomb|Cluster F Bombs]]s, practicing street robberies, vandalizing buildings and beating the crap out of gopniki from another 'hood. Some of them eventually grow into full-size bros. Some don't.

* {{spoiler|Simon and Dennis}} from Durarara! {{spoiler|In their past, that is.}} Later volumes introduce Slon and Vorona.

* ''[[Eastern Promises]]'' features a group of Russian mobsters in London.

* Janus {{spoiler|aka Alec Trevelyan aka 006}} from ''[[GoldeneyeGoldenEye (film)|GoldenEye]]'' and Valentin Zukovsky from ''[[GoldeneyeGoldenEye (film)|GoldenEye]]'' and ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]''.

* The Russian mob dudes from ''[[Rock N RollaRocknRolla]]''.

* The Russian mob feature prominently in the action movie ''The Jackal'' where they hire the title character, a hitman {{spoiler|to murder the First Lady, in retaliation for the death of the mob boss's brother during a joint US-Russian arrest.}}

* Featured in ''[[Training Day]]'' where Alonzo has a debt to the Russian mob. {{spoiler|He doesn't pay it back in time.}}

* In the remake of ''[[The Italian Job (2003 film)|The Italian Job]]'' the most feared gangsters are Ukrainian.

* ''Playing God'', starring David Duchovny, has Estonian gangsters.

* ''The Sterling Inheritance'', by Michael Siverling, featured Uncle Gregori, who was quite kind to his nephew-in-law, even going so far as to {{spoiler|send an arsonist to help burn down a theater for insurance when the poor nephew lost the mafiya money that he was supposed to launder to an unscrupulous Nigerian Businessman.}}

* In [[Andrew Vachss]]' Burke book ''Dead and Gone'', Burke meets with some Russian dudes, not too clear whether they're Bratva or gopniks, and {{spoiler|has their tight-lipped leader assassinated so as to get in place a more talkative replacement.}} In ''Mask Market'', {{spoiler|this is subverted (!) The Russian thugs that show up are really Russian Jews.}}

* In ''Bandit Petersburg'' TV series old-school, elderly criminal authority figuersfigures (think [[The Godfather|Don Vito Corleone]]) are juxtaposed with modern, westernized, aggressive criminal types.

* In [[Dollhouse]], Lubov is introduced as a low-level mobster working with the Borodins. {{spoiler|Turns out, not so much.}}

* In the travelogue ''[[Long Way Round]]'', featuring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, the two stars stay at the mansion of a friendly Russian man who says he's in the "washing machine business." Ewan McGregor notes with increasing unseaseunease that their host seems to know an awful lot of very large men, and has a surprisingly comprehensive personal arsenal.

* In ''[[JAG]]'', pretty much every time a storyline involves either Russians or when the main characters go to Russia, this trope almost instantly comes into play or is hinted at.

* ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]'' also has C.J. and Big Smoke butting heads with Russian arms dealers in an early mission. Whether they were true bratvas or just gopniki is rather unclear. Most likely bratva, because gun running business is usually too big and dangerous for gopnik gangs to organize.

* Vladimir Lem and his arms-dealing empire in the ''[[Max Payne (series)|Max Payne]]'' series. One might consider Vlad something of a subversion of the normal Russian gangster portrayal, given that he is suave, sophisticated and [[Sympathy for the Devil|friends (kinda) with the protagonist]]. {{spoiler|That is, until the sequel.}}

* Russian organized criminals are sometimes mentioned in ''[[Hitman]]'' series. Arkadij Jegorov is a target in ''Codename 47'' and Sergei Zavorotko is a {{spoiler|[[Big Bad]]}} in ''Silent Assassin''.

* ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'' has contact with several elements of the russianRussian mafia during the Moscow mission. Sergei Surkov is an ex-''vory y zakone'' gone semi-legit businessman (who has a lot of his ex-KGB ex-mafiya friends on payroll as security). Konstantin Brayko is a still-active gang leader {{spoiler|and Surkov's former lieutenant}} who acts very much like a stereotypical ''bratok'', what with [[Disco Dan|his focus on Eighties pop culture]] and [[Fashion Victim Villain|general lack of taste in clothing]].

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070620184321/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030126 Show up] during the "Girls Night Out" arc from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''.

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