Emilio "The Wolf" Barzini is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and in its 1972 film adaptation, in which he is portrayed by Richard Conte.

When Sonny refuses to enter the heroin trade after his father survives the attempt on his life, Barzini secretly conspires with the Tattaglia, Cuneo, and Stracci families to wage war on the Corleones, forcing them to make peace and open up their territory to drug trafficking.

To this end, he conspires with Vito's bitter son-in-law, Carlo Rizzi, to draw Sonny into a trap where he is assassinated by Barzini family hitmen while driving to his sister's house.

Before he died, the elder Corleone had explicitly warned his son that the family's enemies would attempt to kill him in exactly this manner — at a supposed peace meeting — with whoever approached him with the proposal unintentionally exposing themselves as a traitor.

Corleone enforcer Al Neri, disguised as a police officer, lies in wait for the Don outside of the New York Supreme Court building at Foley Square on the pretext of writing a parking ticket for Barzini's car.