Casey Russo

**⚠ This page contains spoilers.**

Casey Russo is a character in the Ima Crook Universe (ICU) and the deuteragonist of Vice.

## Biography

### Early Life

Casey was born in Chicago, IL in 2001. Little is known about his early life, but we know he grew up with his grandmother in Chicago. His relationship with his parents is unknown, as is the reason he ended up in his grandmother's care. Casey was poor growing up and lived with his grandmother in a small apartment in Chicago.

### Early Criminal Career

Though it's not known exactly when Casey's criminal career began, it's suggested that he started comitting petty crimes from a very young age; partly out of necessity, partly for fun. He comitted his first heist in 2011 at the age of ten when he and his friend were caught selling candy bars to sell at school.

Shortly before the events of Vice, Casey moved to New York City and started a gang with his childhood friends. Their presence, however, wasn't welcomed by The Commission and Casey was forced out of New York, knowing he'd be murded if he stayed. He fled to Miami where, pennyless, he met Ricardo Moreno Vega. The two of them comitted petty robberies to get by, living out of a warehouse on Montgomery Industrial.

## Appearance

Casey is described as a tall, muscular man with short black hair.

## Personality

Naturally, being the youngest, Casey is the least mature of The Trio. He's not stupid but he lacks the intelligence and experience of Rose and Ricardo. He's quick to anger and is the most sadistic of the trio, actively enjoying their criminal activities (for the most part). Despite his fear of heights, he's a very brave character and doesn't sweat in the face of mortal danger, being comfortable taking risks most people wouldn't.

When faced with obstacles, Casey chooses to plough straight through them. He lacks the ability and desire shared by Ricardo and Rose to find less risky solutions that don't involve harming people. If shooting someone is the easiest solution to solve a problem, it's the solution Casey wants to take.

Casey is generally calm and doesn't often try to anger or annoy others but he's prone to explosive anger when things don't go his way (and when he believes he's been betrayed). He also has a very dark and violent side which he doesn't try to hide or suppress.

Despite his flaws, Casey recognizes the value of Rose and Ricardo's experience and doesn't let his ego get in the way. When planning heists and other illegal activities, he understands that his way of doing things hasn't worked out in the past and lets Rose and Ricardo, who are both older and more experienced than him (though from different sides of the world of crime -- Rose is a seasoned cop who's spent years stopping criminals and Ricardo is a seasoned criminal who's spent years perfecting the art of crime), do most of the planning. Similarly, he recognizes that he has a lot to learn from both of them and actively seeks to learn as much as he can from them.

Casey is by far the most loyal of the trio, despite what his volatility makes those around him think. Where Rose has consistently used and abandoned those close to her to get a leg up and Ricardo has switched sides whenever it benefited him, betraying or abandoning those close to him never seems to cross Casey's mind.

In contrast to Rose, and similarly to Ricardo, Casey is a very messy person, rarely cleaning up the cafe and allowing the trash to accumulate, much to Rose's dismay.

Despite what other characters seem to assume, Casey truly cares about those close to him. Although we never see his grandmother, and Casey rarely talks about her, he does genuinely care deeply about her and worries that she'll come to harm due to his actions (though this only makes him want to do his job better, rather than giving up the life).

## Trivia

* Casey wasn't initially part of Vice and was written after the story had already been outlined to bring balance to Rose and Ricardo and complement their personalities.
* Casey was initially supposed to be a cold-blooded psychopath, described as "Trevor Phillips is he wasn't psychotic." He's still the most sadistic of the three main characters but that side of his personality was considerably toned down by the final draft.
* Casey was initially a suppressed bisexual. A scene was outlined where Casey was partying in The Mayan with Rose and ended up making out with a man, though this was eventually cut from Vice.
* The name "Russo" is of Southern Italian and Sicilian origin, implying that Casey is likely Italian-American, though this is never confirmed.
* Casey's name was initially "Kacey" but Ima changed it because she felt the original spelling was too feminine.
* His eyes were meant to be blue but the color was changed to brown in the later drafts.