The Sopranos large cast of characters, many of whom get significant amounts of character development—regardless of level of importance. Some only appear in certain seasons, while others appear (sporadically or constantly) throughout the entire series. All characters were created by David Chase, unless otherwise noted. Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) is the series' protagonist. Tony is one of the capos (and the unofficial underboss) of the New Jersey-based DiMeo crime family, at the beginning of the series; he eventually becomes its undisputed boss. He is also the patriarch of the Soprano household. Throughout the series, Tony struggles to balance the conflicting requirements of
FBI on The Sopranos the Soprano residence under surveillance by the use of an old lamp in their basement. He has a sister that used to live in the same neighborhood as the Sopranos in North Caldwell, New Jersey. The plumber "Mr. Ruggiero" who comes to repair the water leak is the same plumber that worked the neighborhood when his sister lived there. He compares Tony to Harpo Marx in how much he is heard talking about incriminating information on the phone, despite having the phones tapped for the last four years. The operation ends when Meadow takes the old lamp to college. When