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Tommy Vercetti's Bio

Born in 1951, Tommy indicates that his father worked all his life in a printing shop, and adds that he has, years later, fond childhood memories of helping his father clean the rollers. Vercetti had wanted to follow his father in the family business, but Tommy had lived a different life and instead became a criminal in the employment of the Forelli crime family of the Liberty City Mafia. A possible reference that Tommy has served in the Vietnam War is made during a meeting with "Big" Mitch Baker, although it is not fully confirmed (Tommy only mentions being "locked up during" the 1959-1975 war, which also relates to his 1971-1986 prison term).Tommy was released from prison 15 years later, in 1986. Sonny Forelli realizes that having "The Harwood Butcher" returning to Liberty City and working on behalf of the Forelli family would be harmful to business, so Tommy was speedily sent by Sonny to Vice City to oversee an important drug deal between the Forelli family and the Vance crime family. Two Forelli henchmen, Harry and Lee, and Ken Rosenberg, a bent lawyer with Forelli connections, are sent to assist Tommy. The deal is supposed to be the beginning of the Forelli family's expansion "down south", but at the exchange, masked gunmen kill three of the people involved in the trade (Harry, Lee and Victor Vance), stealing both the drugs and the money Tommy was charged with protecting. Vercetti narrowly escapes with Ken and informs Sonny, who demands that Tommy get back both the cocaine and the money. Both Sonny and Tommy wish to kill those responsible for the theft.Tommy eventually teams up with Lance Vance, the surviving member of the Vance crime family who is also involved in the botched drug deal, and together they discover that Vice City drug lord Ricardo Diaz was responsible for the ambushed deal and the death of Lance's brother, Victor. Tommy infiltrates Diaz's operation stealthily, gaining Diaz's trust. However, Lance, believing he can overpower Diaz, stages a premature attempt on his life.Lance fails to kill Diaz and is captured and tortured by some of Diaz's men before Tommy rescues him. After Lance recovers in a hospital, both men forcefully invade the Diaz Mansion, killing many of Diaz's men and eventually Ricardo Diaz himself. Tommy then assumes control of Diaz's huge mansion in the process and renames it "Vercetti Estate". With Diaz out of the picture, Tommy takes over the Vice City drug market and sets up a successful protection racket. Tommy then goes on to assume ownership of multiple businesses and forms the Vercetti Gang in the process (of which he is the leader), becoming rich and powerful in Vice City. However, Lance begins to feel that Tommy is treating him like a child as his brother Victor used to do.Sonny Forelli becomes increasingly frustrated with Tommy's refusal to comply with his wishes. After it becomes clear that Tommy has gone solo, he sends collectors to attempt assuming control of Vercetti businesses and intimidating members of Vercetti's syndicate. Their plans are thwarted when Tommy kills all of the collectors, after which Sonny comes down to Vice City personally. Informed by the news, Tommy prepares three million counterfeit dollars to give to Sonny (having assumed control of a printing press, he uses it to print a large amount of counterfeit cash). Before Sonny leaves with the fake money, Lance Vance betrays Tommy and informs Sonny that the real money is in Tommy's office safe (citing business as a reason for betraying Tommy). It is also revealed that the incident which resulted in Tommy's imprisonment was an ambush that was orchestrated by Sonny.As a result, a huge gunfight erupts in the mansion, which involves in the massacre of countless Forelli members, including Sonny and the traitor Lance. The final cut scene in the game depicts Tommy engaging with Ken Rosenberg, stating that "this could be the beginning of a beautiful business relationship" between him and Ken.Vercetti was sent to prison in Liberty City in 1971 for multiple counts of homicide (which Sonny claimed totaled at eleven deaths), although Tommy was originally sent by friend and Forelli family head Sonny Forelli to kill just one man in Harwood, earning him the nickname of "The Harwood Butcher", after a district in Liberty City.Following the massacre of Forelli and his associates, Vercetti's organization no longer holds any ties to the "North", and Vercetti emerges as the most powerful crime lord in the city. While the longevity of his reign is uncertain, Tommy is indicated to be alive up until at least 1992 (the date and setting of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), when Ken Rosenberg phones him from a rehab clinic outside of Las Venturas. Rosenberg tries to get in touch with his old boss in The Introduction prequel machinima film, only to be turned away by one of Vercetti's associates, as Vercetti has apparently abandoned him.