Vercetti Gang

GANG Vercetti Gang
Members of the Vercetti Gang outside the Vercetti Estate.
Games:	GTA Vice City
Locations:	Vice City
Leader:	Tommy Vercetti
Type:	Italian-American crime family
Enemies:	Sharks Patrol Invest Group Haitians Forelli Family
Affiliations:	Cubans Bikers
Colors:	Blue
Weapons:	Pistol Uz-I
Businesses:	Armed Robbery Protection Black mailing Drug dealing/trafficking Prostitution Extortion Auto-theft ring Pornography Counterfeiting
Fronts:	Vercetti Estate Kaufman Cabs Boatyard Malibu Club The Pole Position Club InterGlobal Films Print Works Sunshine Autos Cherry Popper Ice Cream Factory
Members:	Tommy Vercetti Lance Vance (betrayed, deceased) Ken Rosenberg (excommunicated) Mario Mike Avery Carrington (Deceased)

The Vercetti Gang or Vercetti Crime Family is a very powerful criminal organization that is based in and around Vice City in the 3D Universe.

Description

The Vercetti Gang is headed by Tommy Vercetti, a renegade Forelli Family member who has assumed control of many businesses and property ventures during the events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, circa 1986. The organization is known to be involved in various illegal enterprises, including extortion, drug dealing and organized crime.

The gang's name presumably originates from dialog between Tommy Vercetti and Doris during the purchase of Kaufman Cabs. When Doris asks which gang Tommy belongs to in an announcement, Tommy responds that he does not belong to any gang (despite running a gang-like criminal organization at this point of the game). To Doris' annoyance, she improvises by simply calling it the "Vercetti Gang". This is the only instance of the name being used in storyline scripts.

Behavior

The Vercetti Gang congregate and move in groups. They usually do not patrol the streets separately. The Vercetti Gang are never hostile to Tommy, and will never attack in self-defense, unless under the influence of the "Pedestrians Hate You" cheat.

Vercetti Gang members may attack or be attacked by the Sharks and Patrol Invest Group if they are seen by Sharks gangsters or Patrol Invest Group security guards in Prawn Island or Vice Point. Likewise, Cubans and Haitians will shoot and kill Vercetti Gang members seen in Little Haiti, Little Havana or near the Print Works. The Vercetti Gang are frequently in conflict with the Haitians gang and the Cubans Gang over turf and control of their assets; police act against both parties when gun battles occur. In addition, policemen will pursue and kill Vercetti Gang members in the same manner as they do with gang members and street criminals, allowing the player to attain "Good Citizen Bonuses" worth $50 each for each punch/kick/attack delivered to a fleeing Vercetti Gang member. The Player must be careful though, as accidentally hitting the cop will give the player a one star wanted level, killing the cop will give the player two.

History

In 1986, Tommy Vercetti was originally dispatched by the Forelli family to Vice City to oversee a drug deal funded by Forelli family money; the drug deal was supposed to be the beginning of the Forelli expansion down south towards Vice City. After the deal was ambushed by Ricardo Diaz' gang members, Vercetti was forced to start over with no money or property and aided only by Ken Rosenberg, a bent lawyer with Forelli connections. He eventually killed the perpetrator of the drug deal attack, Ricardo Diaz, aided by his new friend Lance Vance. Following the killing, he seized many properties and businesses assets in the city, with no assistance from the Forelli family, forming the "Vercetti Gang" in the process.

The expansion of the Vercetti's throughout Vice City made Tommy a very rich, powerful, and influential man, infuriating Sonny Forelli who was demanding his cut of the profit and the money he lost from the cocaine deal. Seemingly coming to the conclusion that Sonny had set him up back in 1971, Tommy ignored the Forelli Family, focusing on his new growing empire. Tommy's refusal to give in led the Forelli Family to send collectors to Vice City to attempt to cut into the profits of Tommy's businesses by attempting to take over Tommy's businesses, which he bought. The Forellis' efforts were thwarted, and Sonny Forelli eventually confronts Tommy in person, which lead to a massacre, resulting in the death of many Forelli members, including a recently defected Lance Vance, and Sonny himself in the Vercetti Estate. Following Sonny's death, the Vercetti Gang is assumed to have total domination of Vice City.

The Vercetti Gang, or at least Tommy Vercetti himself, is presumed to remain in power for an undisclosed time. In The Introduction, the prequel film to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Ken Rosenberg, who was also initiated into the Vercetti Gang in 1986, is assumed to have been abandoned by Tommy after Ken is forced into rehabilitation for prolonged cocaine abuse. Following his release from the Fort Carson Medical Center, Vercetti no longer takes his calls and their relationship is dissolved. This led to Ken's subsequent assignment as a middleman for the Leone Family, the Forelli Family and the Sindacco Family over Caligula's Palace along The Strip, Las Venturas and then employment as an accountant to rapper Madd Dogg. The Truth makes a reference to the gang as a mob.

Tommy is referenced by name on Kent Paul's website in 2002, suggesting he is still alive, and still in control of Vice City at age 51.

Notes

• Though some might consider the Vercetti Gang a Mafia family, due to being led by a former mafia member, it cannot be a true mafia family because there are members, such as Lance Vance and Ken Rosenberg, who are not Italian, however not all mafia's are Italian, such as the Russian Mafia and Albanian Mafia. However, it does appear that Tommy structured it to resemble a mafia family. In San Andreas, The Truth mentions that Dwaine and Jethro had their business bought over by the mob.
• The Vercetti Gang are frequently hostile towards the Cubans. This is very strange, because the Cubans, unless threatened by Tommy, are friendly towards Tommy, who is the leader of the Vercetti Gang. It is possible that their conflict is simply over turf.
• There is a Modification, where if you are holding a selected weapon, they also have the weapon that you've selected.
• The Vercetti Gang is the only gang that the soldiers at Fort Baxter Air Base do not attack on sight.

Trivia

• After completion of the final storyline mission, the Vercetti Gang members will be armed with Uz-I submachine guns.
  • Also, after the player has achieved 100% completion, the player will be able to hire three Vercetti Gang members from the Vercetti Estate. They will follow the player around and will shoot anyone at whom the player aims a gun or anyone who attacks the player.
• When the player hits a Vercetti Gang member (without killing him or setting him on fire), he will not fight back, but fall on the ground, and get up after a while.
• If the player inputs the cheat code which makes everyone in the city hate Tommy, even his own gang members will attack. However, while they can blow up any vehicle the player is driving, any direct attack on the player character will not result in loss of health.

Reference

GTA III Era gangs