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The Italians
General
- Affably Evil: Nino Schibetta, Antonio Nappa, and Frank Urbano.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to the Aryans. They sell drugs, kill inmates, and commit other crimes, but they do most of it for financial reasons, compared to the Aryans’ fun-loving sprees of violence and sexual sadism. They also seem to be much less aggressive toward fellow Italians than the Aryans are to non-affiliated white inmates.
- Arch-Enemy: The Homeboys, and later on, the Aryans.
- Badass Decay: Zig-Zagged. Their power waxes and wanes over the course of the series like any other gang, but does generally trend downards, reflecting the Mob's decline on the outside. At the start of the series, they run all the rackets in the prison, their leader and his lieutenants enjoy specially prepared gourmet food (from a prison kitchen no less) and none of the other gangs will kill wiseguys. Dino Ortolani's death at the end of the pilot episode shows those days are over. By the end of the series, they're just another gang, deeply involved in power struggles and shifting alliances with the Homeboys and Latinos when they'd previously floated above, and in the ultimate humiliation in the final few episodes, are forced to cut a deal with the Gays as they have a superior drug connect. They do remain one of the major players in Oz throughout however.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: A favorite tactic of the gang as a whole.
- The Mafia: This gang's apparently entirely made up of Family members on the inside. This is highlighted when they attempt to recruit Ralph Galino, who points out that just because he's Italian-American doesn't mean he's interested in being a wiseguy.
- The Old Country: Nino Schibetta and Antonio Nappa are implied to be from Italy, the rest of the gang are first and second-generation Italian-Americans.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Subverted. Chucky Pancamo starts out as a more brute and muscular replacement to Joey D'Angelo in Season 1, as both are the gang's main enforcers and start out as The Dragon to the leader of the Italians. However, Pancamo goes through major character development and becomes an Ascended Extra, to the point of becoming a core character in the later seasons. D'Angelo is simply an Elite Mook who is injured and Put on a Bus shortly after.
Leadership
Nino Schibetta
Nino Schibetta
"What the fuck's wrong with this country? In the old days, murder was murder. You killed someone, it was business."
Played By: Tony Musante
Prisoner #95S604. Convicted December 12, 1995 - Two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Sentence: 120 years, eligible for parole in 70.
A mob boss and initial leader of the Italians.
- Achilles' Heel: He's established as the most powerful gang leader in Oz, as he enjoys a few advantages over other gangs. One is that he's got the pipelines to get anything he wants brought into Oz. The other is that several of the prison staff and guards, including Burranno among others, are on his payroll. That means he can get to anyone anywhere if he wills it. Even Adebisi of all people was wary of moving on Nino in a way that could be traced back to him. O'Reilly ends up finding and exploiting his weak point. As The Don, he's too Wicked Cultured to deign to eat the same slop as the rest of the prisoners. His insistence on his own individually prepared gourmet meals provides Adebisi and O'Reilly the opportunity to sneak finely ground glass into his food over the course of several months. It leads to his Cruel and Unusual Death.
- Actually Pretty Funny: When castigating Ryan for not liking tomatoes because the Irish "got no appreciation for the simple things in life", Ryan responds by asking if anything is simpler than a potato, causing Nino to laugh.
- And I Must Scream: What his last days amount to. The ground glass that has been snuck into his food over the course of several months leaves him in such unspeakable pain that he can neither speak or move while he lies utterly helpless on his deathbed. O'Reilly cannot help but do some Evil Gloating while force feeding him even more ground glass.
- Badass Long Robe: Specifically a bathrobe. He wears a bathrobe in most of his scenes, and is certainly a badass character, given he's arguably the most powerful gang leader in Season 1 and one of the most effective leaders in the series.
- Bad Boss: He's prone to insulting his subordinates and treats those under him with little respect, though he does feign affection for them on occasion. Even Adebisi, his supposed partner, is treated like an incompetent goon.
- Bullying a Dragon: Taunting Ryan was a BAD idea.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He inflicts these and is also a victim of it.
- The Don: Of his very own crime family. From what we see, he's just as powerful in Oz as he was on the outside.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: His son and dead wife, as well as his various associates.
- Even Evil Has Standards: For him, the drugs are just business and the killings are a practicality to be done as cleanly as possible. He can't stomach the more grotesque murders and sexual assaults that occur in Oz.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's polite and cultured, but his constant disrespect towards his underlings undercuts its genuineness.
- Honor Before Reason: His refusal to give up information on his gang.
- Longer-Than-Life Sentence: He's technically going to be eligible for parole, but only much farther in the future than he can reasonably be expected to live.
- Might as Well Not Be in Prison at All: It is strongly implied that he's still in charge of his mob family from inside the prison. It's made explicit that he's given charge of all of the Family members inside Oz.
- The Old Country: Implied to be Italian-born, along with his close friend Antonio Nappa.
- Politically Incorrect Villain:
- He's racist against both African Americans and Irish Americans, which leads to O'Reily and Adebisi turning on him.
- Zig-zagged when he tells his son to find a Jewish doctor to take care of his wife, as while he's not insulting the doctor for being Jewish, he does lean on cultural stereotypes that makes it clear he sees them being Jewish as their only defining aspect.
- Wicked Cultured: As expected of a Mafia Don, he appreciates the finer things in life and has the connections to access them from his prison cell. He's frequently seen dining on cheese and tomatoes.
Peter Schibetta
Peter Schibetta
"And so because I got one quick shot of poison instead of ground glass, I'm not as good as Pop, right?"
Played By: Eddie Malavarca
Prisoner #98S112. Convicted May 19, 1998 - Five counts of extortion: money laundering. Sentence: 35 years, eligible for parole in 20.
The son of Nino, Peter is handed the Italian leadership but is unable to keep it, first due to his refusal to follow Nino's code and then getting raped twice.
- Asshole Victim: Literally and figuratively. While being raped is a cruel and immoral punishment for it, on both occasions Schibetta had first tried to kill the man who then subdued and sodomized him.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Tries to be like his father but is ultimately too inexperienced to pull it off and fails tragically.
- Break the Haughty: His entire character arc is one humiliation after another. Rather than learn his lesson, he digs his heels in and becomes more and more reckless, eventually getting him killed by his own top enforcer.
- Butt-Monkey: With emphasis on the butt part.
- Cruel Mercy: Finds himself on the receiving not once but twice.
- Adebisi could easily have killed him after having beaten both Pancamo and Schibetta senseless. But Adebisi decides it's A Fate Worse Than Death to continue to live in Oz with the reputation of having been made Adebisi's bitch.
- Too Dumb to Live Schibetta reacts to a reminder of the above rape by impulsively deciding to try and take out Schillinger, who's with two other Aryans, all by himself. Schillinger, well aware of what Adebisi did to Schibetta and having him at his mercy, decides to give him a second raping.
- Defiled Forever: Treated like a joke by the other inmates after his rape, seemingly even more than the other prags, and even Said politely but firmly blows him off for this very reason when Schibetta suggests a partnership against their mutual enemy Schillinger. His brief position as the Italian leader likely exacerbated his lowlier status.
- Disproportionate Retribution: He decides to kill all of Ryan O’Reily's loved ones on the mere suspicion that he was involved in Nino's murder. He's right, of course, but he has no real reason to know that.
- Don't Tell Mama: After he is raped and hallucinates his father being alive he doesn't want him to know of the rape.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He loved his father and tries to avenge his death.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: He acts like a smug prick because he feels the need to live up to his father's reputation and his family's traditions.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Nino was a highly intelligent and respected mafia boss who was able to work with other gangs, who his soldiers looked up to, and knew what lines to cross or respect with prison authorities. Peter fatally lacks his father's intelligence or charm, needlessly antagonizes Warden Glynn by blackmailing him for petty gains, and is seen by even other Italians as a strutting wannabe whose ego massively outweighs his actual abilities. It is obvious that Peter would have been expelled or killed long ago if not for his last name and he is largely tolerated out of respect for his old man.
- The Load: He's treated like this by the other Italians after he recuperates from the rape. He's forced to be second banana to his former top enforcer, his desire for revenge is largely ignored, and he's generally treated like an embarrassment. It's clear that the only reason he's being kept around at all is out of respect for Nino.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: When Schibetta tries to recruit Said and the Muslims in his ill-conceived revenge plot against Schillinger, Said turns him down flat, saying that he will "always be known as one of Adebisi's bitches."
- Pride Before a Fall: The first half of his character arc shows him using his father's reputation and blackmail on Glynn to dominate the prison. The second half has him pragged by Adebisi and turned into a sniveling wreck treated as a joke by the other prisoners.
- Prison Rape: The only one committed by Adebisi onscreen. The rape itself and the trauma and loss of reputation that Schibetta suffers as a result are given much more spotlight than any other in the series.
- Rape as Drama: It's his second rape at the hands of Schillinger and his buddies that gets this treatment. In that case, it's not so much the rape itself, but Warden Glynn's refusal to punish the rapists, and his endorsement of such assaults as a form of punishment and inmate control.
- Rape Leads to Insanity: His attempts to regain his lost pride makes him suicidally reckless. Naturally, it does get him killed.
- Revenge Before Reason: After Schillinger stabs Pancamo, Schibetta makes a point to pay him back. He jumps at the first opportunity, which happens to be when Schillinger is with two of his friends. They fend him off effortlessly and then rape him a second time.
- Unperson: Having been raped by Adebisi means no one in Oz will ever take him seriously. Even his fellow Italians barely tolerate him as an embarrassment, more for the sake of honoring his legendary father than anything else. Said spells it out for him in "The Reason You Suck" Speech:Said: You were raped by Adebisi.Schibetta: Yeah, well I'm asking a ...Said: An answer. You may look like you've resolved the rape in your own head. It doesn't change the facts. Here in Oz you will always be known as one of Adebisi's bitches. No matter what you do, you cannot change that.Schibetta: I can.Said: Good luck.Schibetta: Thank you. (Gets up and leaves)
- Virtue Is Weakness: Averted. Peter thinks Nino made a mistake by trying to live with a code of honor. Given what happens to Peter when he chooses to ignore said code...
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He tries desperately to live up to his father's reputation, but he lacks Nino's patience and intelligence.
- You Killed My Father: He learns that O'Reilly killed his father with ground glass laced into Nino's food. So he informs O'Reilly that he plans to kill everyone O'Reilly loves with the Evil Eye, saving O'Reilly himself for last. It becomes a Stupid Evil move that buys O'Reilly enough time to turn Pancamo against Schibetta.
Antonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa
"Like God, man can finally create man in his own image and then sit back and watch all sorts of shit hit the fan."
Played By: Mark Margolis
Prisoner #98N744. Convicted June 4, 1998 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 80 years, eligible for parole in 50.'
Replaces the Schibetta leadership, and is far more old-school and thoughtful than Nino or Peter.
- Affably Evil: Witty, intelligent, respectful and reasonable. Nappa can be an easy guy to get along with.
- Bald of Evil: Difficult as it to remember, he's still as bad as they come.
- Cool Old Guy: Yes, he's a Mafia Don with a lot of blood on his hands, but he's a smart, witty old man with a sense of honor.
- Death Equals Redemption: After Adebisi infects him with HIV, Nappa starts regretting his life and starts writing an autobiography that names names to make up for it. Pancamo has him killed and his manuscript destroyed before it can be published.
- The Don: He's brought in specifically to take this role from the recently deceased Nino Schibetta.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- He mentions his own grandchild as his reason for helping Alex Rebadow.
- Part of his hatred for Adebisi is anger for Peter Schibetta's rape as Schibetta is his godson.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Nappa is so disgusted with baby-killing Malcolm Coyle that he arranges his death; doing so had no benefit for Nappa and could have caused problems with the Homeboys. He had Coyle killed out of a sense of moral duty.
- The Old Country: Along with Nino, he is implied to be from Italy proper, rather than a first or second-generation Italian-American like Ortolani or Pancamo. His name and accent certainly indicate it.
- Kick the Dog: Having Jara killed.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Like most of the Italians in Oz, he's vaguely racist and homophobic. Unlike most, this rarely turns into outright hostility; he's more genial with the Homeboys than Nino ever was, and he eventually befriends his trans woman cellmate Nat Ginzburg.
- Parental Substitute: Pancamo has a lot of respect for him and considers him something akin to this.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Unlike most of the gang leaders in Oz, save Morales, he prefers to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity rather than jumping at the first one.
Chucky Pancamo
Chucky Pancamo
Played By: Chuck Zito
Prisoner #97P468. Convicted June 4, 1997 - Sentence: 35 years, eligible for parole in 15.
The Italian muscle who slowly rises to become leader through circumstance.
- Ambition Is Evil: Averted. He rises to power through sheer luck as opposed to any ambition or power playing.
- Ascended Extra: Went from being a heavy that followed Peter Schibetta around without saying much to a very prominent character.
- The Big Guy: Definitely one of the more physically imposing of the Italians and their representative for the boxing tournament.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Much more subtle than most examples, but he's still hams it up on occasion.
- The Brute: He plays this role to two generations of Schibettas and Antonio Nappa before eventually taking over himself.
- Brooklyn Rage: He fits the stereotype, but he's just as likely to be from anywhere else in the country.
- Deadpan Snarker: He can be pretty witty on occasion.
- The Dragon: Starts out as this to Peter Schibetta and Antonio Nappa.
- Dragon Ascendant: Becomes the leader of the Italians partway through Season 3 and keeps it until the end of the series. Also, one of the few gang leaders to survive the end of the show.
- Dumb Muscle: Noticeably less intelligent than O'Reily or Adebisi.
- Enemy Mine: Despite have limited interactions as opposed to characters as seen with their backgrounds,he and Beecher form an alliance over their mutual hatred of Vern Schillinger.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Seems genuinely sorry for Tobias when his son was murdered and angry that Hank Schillinger got off.
- Chucky is not a rat. After Hank Schillinger's body is found he could have given up Beecher to protect himself from the Aryans but he chose to cover for him.
- Chucky admits Howell is the one person he's wary of.
- Faux Affably Evil: Compared to Schibetta and Nappa, Chucky's outward geniality is much more superficial. Makes sense considering his background as an enforcer, which requires much colder blood than your traditional Don.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: Beecher discovers this when he tries to call off the hit on Schillinger's son. Pancamo's already made it happen startlingly fast.
- Pet the Dog: He is noticeably soft-spoken and sincerely sympathetic to Beecher after his son is murdered and expresses genuine anger that Hank Schillinger got off and promises to make sure the crime never gets traced back to Beecher.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Pancamo has shown disdain for black inmates and mocks Cyril for being mentally challenged.
- The Worf Effect: As fearsome as he is, he gets his ass handed to him by Adebisi in the fourth season — both physically and by getting Out-Gambitted as Adebisi takes power in Em City. However, Adebisi's reign in Em City crumbles shortly after, given his death.
Frank Urbano
Frank Urbano
Played By: Antoni Corone
Prisoner number 02U672, Francis Urbano AKA Frank the Fixer. Convicted January 7, 2002 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: Life, up for parole in 25 years
Enforcer for the Italians under the leadership of Chucky Pancamo and later leader himself when Chucky is hopitalised following an encounter with the Aryans.
- Affably Evil: Reasonably so; he is affable enough with Tobias Beecher when Beecher requests the Italians no longer protect Adam Guenzel.
- The Dragon: To Chucky Pancamo.
- Dragon Ascendant: Becomes the leader of the Italians after Pancamo is stabbed by James Robson and never really loses his position of authority within the Italians even after Pancamo resumes his leadership.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He's disgusted by how much of an ungrateful dick Adam Guenzel is, outright calling him a prick and clearly not judging Beecher when he revokes his protection.
Soldiers
Dino Ortolani
Dino Ortolani
"Let me tell you something, coach. Even with all your good intentions, all your reforms, and all your overall policies, I ain't ever gonna change. We ain't ever gonna change. None of us."
Played By: Jon Seda
Prisoner #96C382. Convicted December 12, 1996 - One count of murder in the first degree, assault with a deadly weapon. Sentence: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
A hot-tempered and self-destructive Italian who becomes Beecher's sponsor.
- Abhorrent Admirer: His wife outside the prison notwithstanding, he acts like this toward Dr. Nathan.
- And I Must Scream: In his final moments, he's heavily drugged by the guards following one of his violent outbursts, leaving him completely immobile. It's heavily implied that he's aware of what's happening when the Homeboys set him on fire.
- Berserk Button: A man making sexual advances in the shower is enough to send him reeling into an uncontrollable rage. According to McManus, this is a pretty regular occurrence.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: He's burned alive while implicitly still conscious but too drugged up to do anything about it.
- Death Seeker: Since he's in the can for life without a chance for parole, he considers himself a dead man walking. It's implied that his self-destructive actions are him actively trying to get himself killed.
- Decoy Protagonist: Writer Tom Fontana had to argue for this, as it was unheard of to focus on one major character, only to kill him in the first episode.
- Despair Event Horizon: Interestingly, he crossed it before the series even starts. The first episode is spent trying to coax him back from over it.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely loves his family, and refuses to let them see him in prison both out of shame and to protect his children from seeing his life.
- Even Evil Has Standards: His last words to Schillinger imply that he resents bigotry.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Literally anything can set him off. O'Reily throwing half-hearted insults his way prompts Ortolani to beat him half to death.
- Hot-Blooded: He's pretty much a walking Italian gangster stereotype, easily offended and ready to throw a punch at anything with a pulse.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Dino tells his wife to find someone else.
- Jerkass: He's a short-tempered thug who constantly insults and belittles the people around him, when he's not flat-out assaulting them.
- Karmic Death: Subverted. It's foreshadowed that his temper will get him killed, but what ultimately leads to his death is one of his few acts of compassion.
- Kill It with Fire: How he meets his end, courtesy of Johnny Post.
- Meaningful Name: An "ortolan" is a type of bird considered a delicacy in French cuisine, which is traditionally roasted. Ahem.
- Mercy Kill: He kills a patient in the AIDS Ward he had befriended at the man's request, to spare him from the pain of slowly dying from the disease.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The only remotely good thing he does his perform a Mercy Killing at the request of his new friend in the AIDS Ward. Of course, this gets him sedated and thrown into Ad Seg, which led directly to his death.
- Papa Wolf: Wouldn't allow his kids to see him any further in OZ.
- Pet the Dog:
- His interactions with his family and an AIDS Ward patient serve to humanize him.
- Despite his asshole behavior to Beecher, he does give him advice on how to survive Oz.
- Plot-Triggering Death: His death is what sets off much of the main plot of Season 1.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Aside from his intense homophobia, he also seems to be racist, dismissing any advice Said might have for him due Said being the "wrong color".
- Troubled Sympathetic Bigot: He doesn't like gay men coming onto him referring them with slurs, hence his time working in the AIDS ward.
Don Zanghi
Don Zanghi
Played By: John Palumbo
One of the foot soldiers of the Italians, starts out as a silent Mook for Nino Schibetta, but becomes a prominent soldier and enforcer for the gang.
- Ascended Extra: Literally. Starts out as a background character hanging around with Nino Schibetta and doing nothing. Later becomes a mid-tier character and close friend of Chucky Pancamo, and one of the few characters who has been in the pilot to survive until the end of the show.
- Burger Fool: He never has a crime flashback and is strongly implied to have been working at a pizza parlor before ending up in Oz. If this is true, he may be the only member of the Italian gang who wasn't a member of the Mafia.
- Cryptic Background Reference: His job on the outside was a pizza delivery boy. It's mentioned several times, but never prominently brought up, only as a few quips in random conversation.
- Elite Mook
- The Mafia: Subverted, he is part of a gang of Mafiosos in prison, and most likely has connections, but is very young and as stated before, implied to be a simple pizza boy. He may or may not be a member of the Family at all. Zanghi is certainly not a made man.
- Mook Lieutenant: Becomes this as the series progresses.
- Noodle Incident: It's never explicitly stated, let alone shown why he's in Oz or the nature of his connections to the rest of the Italians.
Joey D'Angelo
Joey D'Angelo
Played By: Goodfella Mike G
"I have a boss, he tells me what to do."
Nino Schibetta's right-hand man and initial enforcer of the Italians.
- Affably Evil: He's shown to be pretty laid-back in the deleted scenes.
- The Brute: Though nowhere near as much of a brute as Chucky Pancamo or Jaz Hoyt.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Last seen recovering from his injuries in the hospital, and is never seen after that. No explanation is given to his disappearance, as he was a prominent member of the Italian gang, and Nino's other thugs, Zhangi and Mario Seggio DID return to Em City. He makes a few appearances as a background character much later on, but that's about it.
- The Dragon: Serves as this to Nino Schibetta in the first half of Season 1.
- Elite Mook: He's somewhere between Pancamo and the average foot soldier on the pecking order.
- Hot-Blooded
- Joisey: Has a typical appearance of a young New Jersey guido gangster, right down to his North Jersey accent and manner of dress.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Discussed in a deleted scene when he makes confession to Father Mukada. Mukada tries to get Joey to promise to sin no more, but Joey makes it clear that he'll do anything Nino tells him to, wrong or not.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Deals it out and is a victim of one as well.
- Noodle Incident: How he got into Oz is never explained, all we know is he's one of Nino Schibetta's most trusted men, and is either a low-ranking thug or a mid-level made man. It's never really clear.
- Put on a Bus: He gets a beatdown by the Homeboys and disappears after being sent to the hospital.
Gaetano Cincetta
Gaetano Cincetta
An unseen hitman on the outside often in contact with the Italians.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Inadvertently starts a war between the Italians and the Aryans after killing Hank Schillinger.
- The Mafia: A hitman on Mafia payroll. It's unknown if he's a Family member or an outside contractor.
- The Unfought: Schillinger never gets a crack at him. This is either because he's put in another prison or because he's taken care of by the Mafia for his failure to properly hide the body.
- The Unseen: He never makes an appearance in the series. It's only natural, given that his job requires a low profile.
Mario Seggio
Mario Seggio
Played By: Todd Etelson
"You think sorry is gonna be enough?"
A background mob guy who doesn't say much.
- Flat Character: Only has one line of dialogue, he just usually hangs around Chucky, and joining the fights the Sicilians get into, he is seen playing Basketball with Chucky and some Latinos, but that's about it.
- Jerkass : Shoots Beecher a peculiar look when he compliments his shirt, and the one time he does talk it's rude and condescending.
- The Quiet One: So much so that Carmen Guerra seems surprised the only time Mario talks.
Salvatore De Santo
Salvatore DeSanto
Played By: Phil Campanella
"My-My Head is..."
A background mob character who's only prominence was his death.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Dies crazy off his fucking mind due to Burr putting a high amount of LSD in his food
- Frame-Up: Gets blamed for giving Hill drugs by Poet, causing Hill's Papa Wolf to order his death.
- Ironic Death: Burr thinks it's this, that a drug dealer would die by a drug overdose.
