How & When The Corleone Family Adopted Tom Hagen Before The Godfather

Tom Hagen is an unofficial member of the Corleone family in The Godfather, but the movie leaves it unclear how and when the family adopted him. Tom is one of the most iconic characters in The Godfather trilogy, and one of the Corleones’ most trusted allies. Although he’s not a Corleone in name, he’s as much a son to Don Vito Corleone as Michael, Sonny, or Fredo. As the family’s lawyer and consigliere, Tom is much more valuable to the Corleone clan than Fredo.

Robert Duvall played the role of Tom in the cast of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, but the character didn’t appear in The Godfather Part III. The first two movies left Tom’s backstory a mystery, so when he was absent from the threequel, it remained unexplained. In the movies, it’s mentioned that Sonny brought Tom home and ingratiated him into the family, but the novel goes into more detail about Tom’s biological family and the adoption situation.

Tom Hagen’s Backstory In The Godfather Explained

Tom Was An Orphan Who Got Taken In By The Corleones

Mario Puzo’s original book version of The Godfather explores Tom’s backstory in a lot more depth than the movie adaptation. It explains that Sonny befriended an 11-year-old Tom, who was living on the streets after running away from an orphanage. Sonny took Tom home and demanded that his parents take him in and raise him as one of their own. Vito embraced Tom as a son and Tom considers Vito his true father, but Vito never officially adopted Tom, as he felt it would be disrespectful to Tom’s late mother and father.

After attending law school and getting his degree, Tom became Vito’s personal lawyer handling the Corleone family’s affairs. By tradition, Tom’s non-Italian heritage prohibited him from taking on a formal position within the mafia family, but Vito nonetheless made him the new consigliere after Genco Abbandando died. This caused the other New York crime families to mockingly describe the Corleones as “The Irish Gang.”

Don Corleone Adopting Vito Mirrored His Own Youth In New York

Vito Was Similarly Taken In By A Friend’s Family

Tom’s backstory is almost identical to Vito’s own childhood. Much like Tom, Vito was taken in by a friend’s family at a young age and raised as one of their own. Vito was similarly orphaned and living on the streets of New York when a childhood friend, Genco, convinced his parents to take him in. When Sonny brought Tom home and asked for him to be given a home and raised with love before the events of The Godfather, Vito undoubtedly saw himself in the young lad.

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The Godfather chronicles the Italian-American Corleone crime family from 1945 to 1955. Following an assassination attempt on family patriarch Vito Corleone, his youngest son Michael emerges to orchestrate a brutal campaign of retribution, cementing his role in the family’s illicit empire.

Runtime

175 minutes

Cast

Marlon Brando
, Al Pacino
, James Caan
, Robert Duvall
, Richard S. Castellano
, Diane Keaton
, Talia Shire
, Gianni Russo
, Sterling Hayden
, John Marley
, Richard Conte
, Al Lettieri
, Abe Vigoda
, Rudy Bond
, Al Martino
, Morgana King
, Lenny Montana
, John Martino
, Salvatore Corsitto
, Richard Bright
, Alex Rocco
, Tony Giorgio
, Vito Scotti
, Tere Livrano

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