These are some headcanons I have from Mafia 2 (got inspo from cut content)
Vito got into trouble a lot as a kid for his smart comments, teachers hated him and his mother subsequently forced him to attend church to adopt kindness like his older sister Frankie.
Joe has memorized all the Ricky’s Records advertisements and pissed Vito off by reciting them randomly.
Charlie (Carlos Lopez) hired Joe for several missions when Vito was in Italy, that’s how Joe became affiliated with Giuseppe, Bruski and Henry Tomasino. Charlie and Joe bonded instantly over rock ‘n roll. Vito and Henry consider themselves too classy for it.
Whenever someone mentions Vito’s upbringing he gets salty- not because he’s embarrassed but because he believes his father was responsible for everything he couldn’t have.
When they were slightly younger, Vito and Joe would street-race each other and a few of their old pals around Little Italy.
Vito enjoyed watching dog races, and wanted a dog of his own at some point- hence why there's pictures of dogs on his wardrobe at his mother's home. He mentioned it to Leo at some point in prison and they bonded over it- it reminded Leo of his conversations with Don Vinci and reminded Vito of conversations with his father on the few occasions he wasn’t absolutely wasted.
There was a big cockroach racing scene in prison. Pepe had his own one, which he became attached to. Either Brian or one of the guards killed it and Pepe was sent to the hole because he crashed out. That cockroach won a lot of money for him.
Joe remembers more good times with Vito and his dad than Vito does. He wishes to fix Vito’s view on his father so Vito can heal, but it never happens.
Cats hate Vito and Joe likes to add sly comments whenever one passes by, such as “Can’t get any pussy, Vito?”, “They usually purr for me.” and “That’s the closest you’ll ever get to a real pussy.”.
Henry knows how to play the clarinet and prefers instrumental music, Vito wished he had the opportunity to play piano (like his mother maybe before she moved to America?) and if Joe had to play an instrument it would be African drums or the dhol. Loud and proud, like him! Frankie is an excellent singer- her and Joe used to sing along to the radio whenever he visited Vito’s place. Vito could sing, or hum a few tunes but you’d have to get him in a merry mood.
Vito showers twice a day, I don’t think he can rest until he’s showered- especially after serving two years. It gets worse after prison. But he hates washing dishes- his mother would make him and Joe do them as punishment when they were little. (Got this one because I physically cringe seeing the sinks in the game). Joe’s even more extra with hygiene, women love him because he smells the best.
Both of them love summer because it’s prime time for “booze, broads and baseball”. They do Henry’s head in because one time he let it slip that he prefers winter.
When it comes to food, Vito’s a bit lazy. He can whip up a good meal if need be, but never usually for himself. One beer in the morning and a ham sandwich for dinner is all he needs. But he makes out to Joe that he eats well. Joe knows his way around most cuisine culture present in Empire Bay, prefers to eat rather than cook. Henry is probably the best cook out of all of them, knowing recipes like the back of his hand and introducing the pair to new combinations and such.
There was a new kid from Lost Heaven that joined school in Empire Bay. Said kid was proud of his home city, especially when it came to baseball. Vito and Joe were probably playing it with the other teen boys at some point and Joe whacked the ball straight into the new kid’s eye. All because he claimed the Lost Heaven Lancers were better than the Empire Bay Cannons.
Vito and Joe are extremely tight, obviously. But one of the reasons for this is because Joe’s bullying provided Vito with an outlet to get rid of his frustrations. Vito definitely beat up a lot of other kids because of his father. The life his mother taught him, about being a good and kind christian was something Vito felt never worked for him, he probably sees Joe as the one who taught him about ‘the real world’.
Joe is the most brutal out of the trio and that’s why Eddie and Carlo offered him to be a capo instead of Vito.
If he wasn’t a mobster, Henry would’ve become a businessman or a corporate lawyer. Winning cases, especially lawsuits, would be such an ego boost for him. If he was a legit businessman it would be for premium cigars.
Vito learned how to cope with his emotions from his father. Drowning in a bottle. There’s a lot of subconscious behaviors he’s learned from his father- including facial expressions and body language.
Joe and Vito are huge pervs. (Sorry have you seen how often Vito checks women out?!) But I do feel that the military instilled a ‘look but don’t touch’ mindset into Vito. Piled up with all the breaches of privacy from prison and religious sex education that was to scare rather than teach, he’s a bit shy when it comes to actually doing anything with women until he’s had a few. Probably why he didn’t sound overjoyed in the mission: Loving Memory of Francesco Potenza.
A lot of guys treat Vito like shit because he’s handsome. Derek and Steve definitely went a little extra on their first time meeting Vito because of that.
Henry isn’t purposefully trying to be mysterious, he just forgets to mention a lot of things about himself. His English might be so good because he’s always wanted to leave Sicily of his own volition to explore.
Joe gets his looks and fashion sense from his mother. The older women from their first neighborhood still confuse him with his mother. In fact, Joe also gets a lot of personality from her too.
Henry also forgets to say a lot of what he’s actually thinking out loud (in general conversation). His father taught him to keep his mouth shut when it’s not business, to keep from others being able to read Henry’s personality. Vito and Joe stuck out to him from the beginning because their close friendship broke down his own walls.
Henry is also more of a devout Christian because religious beliefs and practices have been adopted, adapted, or used to justify actions within mob structures so church almost feels like his father talking to him sometimes.
With Henry’s guidance, Vito’s ability to get shit done and Joe’s out of the box thinking, they all could have eventually taken over and split Empire Bay into three- sort of like Morello and Salieri did. (I don’t believe that Henry was a rat)
