With a cigarette in one hand and a flask of Irish whisky in the other, Maria took up a spot on the streets and began to speak surprisingly freely, given the topic at hand.

"Tyrants. Tyrants and tyranny, loathing and hatred. Family journals, old newspaper reports and good-old-fashioned word of mouth chit chat can tell you that they've been part of our world for a good old while now, and that there's been plenty of them. But what makes a good old garden variety tyrant, and what makes a tyrant that's a little bit extra special?

Is it good enough to be simply the strongest or simply the oldest or simply the most well connected, or does there need to be a little more? Do you need to have a running list of tyranty acts to your name, to enable grading of the level of tyranny?

And, indeed, who are the biggest tyrants in our history book? Who are the tyrants that we should be encouraging our sons and daughters to grow up a little more like?"

In my opinion, There are not many true tyrants, not many of the leaders my family has run into have came off to me as cruel and oppressive. They all do what they must for the survival of their family, their cities, and the people they care for. The fact that you may be the strongest person, or the oldest living person has absolutely nothing to do with it. You can be the oldest, and you can be the strongest. You could be the meanest person ever in one persons eyes, and a god in someone else. 

But, This man we all know as SpikeS may be the closest thing I have ever seen. He is truly a master of chess, We have seen him wipe out 3 fellows godfather in one night. He has all the power you could ever imagine right now, and the most ridiculous amount of respect from many of people in our way of life. Many people already consider him a tyrant, but in my opinion, Hes just a smart man who knows how to keep himself on top, and one step ahead of the opposition.

I WANNA BE LIKE SPIKE

The ones that are effective at establishing and fulfilling their goals. 

There are two kinds of tyrants, in my eyes. The ones that do the above, set up and work their way up an organization. Get established, develop a family, and deal with all threats to their little piece of turf. Make connections with other leaders, toe the line between diplomacy and action during tense situations. These are the ones you hear about the most, the ones that are always "killing those new to these shores" or "not letting some crewleader explain the actions of their tenth gangster to go on a wild shooting spree". You can pull out transcripts of those mostly frenzied and emotionally driven street outbursts, enough material for an entire book. This is the kind of tyrant you want to aspire to be.

The other kind of tyrant is the one that uses what clout they have to hold someone back for petty reasons. They mismanage what little, or great in the case of some well connected bloodlines, responsibility is given to them to the point of crippling a district. They hold the phrase, or the spirit of it, "My bold suit gives me the right to do as I wish" close to their chest and use it as an excuse to cover up obvious gaps in their personal ability to lead. The only reason you don't see more of this kind of tyrant wielding influence in Our Thing is quite obvious. 

They get shot by the first example of "Tyrant". 

I think you'll find the majority of claims against 'tyrants' to be in the immediate aftermath of wars for which there has, seemingly, been little justification. Personally, I think that is neither a necessary, nor a sufficient condition to be classified as a tyrant. A true tyrant takes what they want, when they want. Given that this is the mafia, where power speaks and reason doesn't, I think that few of us could truthfully admit that they would not like to gain this status. 

From my personal view, these days it is becoming more and more difficult to be a tyrant. In the past, Godfathers such as Marietta, ThomasRourke and Roman held the position of top dog due to the fact that they simply seemed unkillable in the sense that no other mafioso seemed able to dodge their way through their hordes of bodyguards and associates. These days, the top marksmen consider killing to be a simple game of numbers. With a certain amount of practice, a hitter can make any shot. This has made it difficult for individuals to rule with an iron fist, when they know that there are a dozen or so marksmen out there that could end their reign with the click of a trigger. 

I think tyranny will only reappear in the form of oligarchy in these modern times. You need a group of at least 6 powerful mafioso to successfully control the six cities and to deter attack from rivals. Then again, that can't really be described as tyranny, given the fact that decisions won't be made by one person alone. 

We make our own rules in this world, our own definitions of right and wrong. We teach the lessons of both how to behave and how to treat people, intentionally and unintentionally. Tyrants become tyrants by our own actions, new faces land on our shores every day, inspired and motivated to find their place in the world. 

What do they get? Themselves and their kin reach halfway up the pecking order before being cut down. The reasons given, legitimate or otherwise, don't satisfy their disgruntled minds and they learn the hard way how to act once in power. We breed tyrants, some would see the ultimate goal is to become a tyrant. 

Tyrants are the ones that live long enough to build up both a following, and an opposition. Those who don't live long enough to become tyrants, are not remembered for either. 

When Godly acts are required to strike you down, consider yourself a tyrant.