Code of Iron vs. omertà

[drcube]

Is there any difference between these two and if there isn't why didn't nightow use the term omertà instead. That is baisacally the code of iron in the mafia.

[HX]

Well, maybe he thought people would understand COI better. They might not know what omertà means.

[gynocrat]

omerta is nothing but a vow of silence among thieves. No snitching to the established authority. Seriously - its roots are in the Sicilian Mafia...these men who screwed each other over all the time...BUT NEVER were to collaborate or snitch to the police on one another when screwing each other over. Business is business and best kept between business men. The concept of omerta is unity among the demons, what evil is perpetrated stays out of the earshot of ‘the man.’

The Code of Iron was more secular and meant never to betray the organization you worked for. Never put yourself before the family, never steal from the family, and never hurt anyone in the family. It’s an idealized unity that Asagi wanted to ensure his organization wasn’t made up of mad dogs. This is not the same concept as Omerta. If one used the concept of Omerta in Gungrave it might play out like this: Bear broke 'the Code[=omerta]' by having Harry sick the cops on Lightning when Vulkan and Brad Vo reared their ugly heads. Bringing in the law as leverage is a cruel omerta violation. In Gungrave, Harry skimming money from his profits to finance the necro project was a Code of Iron violation. Cid Girarde’s son violated the Code by killing Bear’s couriers from Algeirs; the Code is in place to make sure things like the above, don’t happen.