BATTAGLIA, renato

[attr="class","hdtitle"]PERSONALITY

[attr="class","hdinfo"]he's the type of guy that you could go on a long af journey to save the world with, nearly die for, and at the end of it all when u hug him, he'd give u an awkward pat on the shoulder and say "no homo, right"

[attr="class","hdtitle"]HISTORY/MISC.

[attr="class","hdinfo"]Born and raised smack in the middle of a populous Italian-American community in Manhattan, New York, the sound of raucous laughter characterized Renato’s childhood, and his home was filled with a constant cacophony of near-deafening voices and sounds as members of his family expressed themselves through loud gestures and equally loud words. However, yelling wasn’t at all associated with anger or fury, and fights, whether physical or verbal, were normal, customary even. The Battaglia family prided themselves on their namesake, and members of the clan embraced a rather chaotic, hedonistic lifestyle, particularly those with strong ties to their native country of Italy. Parties were held at their modest abode, a three bedroom and two bathroom apartment that was seemingly packed to the brim with family, friends, and neighbors. But despite having a plethora of visitors that seemed to flow in and out of their place, Renato shared the living space with only his younger sister, an energetic girl blessed with an array of talents, and his two parents, whom were embodiments of the stereotypical Italian-American couple.

Renato himself was an ordinary child, albeit one that was on the scrawnier side of the spectrum in terms of physical prowess. Nonetheless, he made up for his lack of strength in other ways. His sunny, almost innocent gap-toothed smile belied his cunning nature, and the boy learned to use his appearance to his advantage. Crafty and perceptive to an uncanny degree, he navigated through most of his childhood with relative ease, and any bullies, which were actually infrequent due to his inherent charisma, were easily dealt with through a mixture of manipulation and negotiation. However, this wasn’t to say that he was all brains. Early on, he was outed as a troublemaker, one that would cause mayhem and even go far as to instigate riots within the classroom for the thrill of it. This penchant for chaos was further exacerbated by his short fuse, which more often than not left him picking fights. But while this behavior was problematic to say the least, he was an otherwise benevolent boy, grounded by his own unique code of ethics, and carried out the rest of his days blissfully, often accompanying his family or going on excursions throughout his neighborhood with friends to pass the time.

Amid the technicolor haze of those transient, halcyon days, Renato remained oblivious to his family’s darker dealings, his innocence unsullied against the backdrop of bloodshed and death that plagued the world outside their home. Due to the efforts of his mother, he was spared from the grisly gang wars that raged on around them, but not even she could prevent him from entangling himself in the violence. He rolled with several gangs in East Harlem throughout his teenage years, his ambition and tenacity quickly earning him street credit as he rose through the ranks of whatever gang he was in. The teenager saw the rise and fall as well as the creation and destruction of several dozen during his time, and often he found himself mingling with those who he would’ve otherwise considered a sworn enemy just weeks before. Still, this wasn’t to say that there wasn’t any bad blood. No stranger to being backstabbed and seeing cherished friends die in the crosshairs of gang wars, he desensitized himself, figuring that there was no use in being upset over what was already gone.

By the time he was seventeen, he’d already failed three grades and was on the verge of dropping out of school entirely to dedicate himself to his current life of crime when an opportunity came his way. Seeing as Renato was on the brink of adulthood, an uncle reached out to the troubled youth, offering something more permanent and reputable: an initiation into the Cosa Nostra. Already, the majority of Renato’s male family members, his father included, were part of the esteemed crime syndicate, so it was only a matter of time before he, too, became a member. But fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), his mother caught wind of the invitation, and out of fear for her son’s safety shipped him off to Birchwood instead in hopes that he would reform and escape the inevitable, bitter fate that awaited his own father and male relatives.


★ Renato is fluent in Italian.
☆ He's extremely athletic and enjoys playing multiple sports, although his favorite is soccer.
★ A fun fact is that he's ambidextrous, although he shows a preference for using his left hand most of the time.
☆ He's an absolute sucker for Italian soap operas and will frequently watch them without subtitles just to piss off his friends.
★ He has a prosthetic left eye that he sometimes likes to pop out to show people just how cool it is (and for whatever reason doesn't understand why people freak out when he does this).
☆ While very clearly underage, he loves to drink and can hold his liquor well.
★ He loves to fight people. Just give him a location, date, and time, and he'll be there.