Michael Corleone - Played by Al PacinoThe trilogy’s other protagonist. Michael is Vito’s youngest son. At the beginning of The Godfather, he is uninvolved in the Mafia and seems headed for a successful career in politics or another “legitimate” field. Over the course of the film, he abandons these plans. He joins the family business and succeeds his father as head of the Corleone family. A cold-blooded Mafia don with no tolerance for dissent or treachery, Michael is even bolder, more violent, and more ambitious than Vito, and he becomes fantastically rich in the casino business. He proves much less successful in his personal life. Michael seems incapable of relaxing enough to smile, and his tense relationship with his wife, Kay, whom he divorces, is a constant source of anguish.