List of The Sopranos characters

This is a list of characters from the HBO series The Sopranos, and its prequel film The Many Saints of Newark.

Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero is portrayed by Vincent Pastore. Big Pussy was a longtime close friend and mob enforcer to Tony Soprano, and is also shown to be close friends with fellow DiMeo crime family mobsters Paulie "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri and Silvio Dante. He was once a close friend to Tony's uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano. In the tie-in video game it is revealed he has an illegitimate son named Joey LaRocca. Samson Moeakiola portrays a young Bonpensiero in the 2021 prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark.

The son of Lino Bonpensiero, Salvatore Bonpensiero started out as a cat burglar, and is affectionately known as Pussy in reference to those talents. He is called "Big Pussy" to distinguish him from Gennaro "Little Pussy" Malanga. Sal has a wife, Angie, and three children. He operates an auto body shop with his brother Edward "Duke" Bonpensiero. Sal is a soldier in the Soprano crew, and he backed "Johnny Boy" Soprano's wishes to have Tony Soprano become capo following Johnny's death in 1986.

In order to put his children through college, he deals heroin on the side. Sometime between 1995 and 1998, Sal was caught by the FBI and decided to inform against the Soprano crew in order to avoid the possibility of life in prison. He was assigned Agent Skip Lipari as his handler. He is revealed as an informant in the episode "Do Not Resuscitate". In flashbacks to 1995, it is shown that Sal was instrumental in organizing a sit-down between high-ranking capo Junior Soprano and acting boss Jackie Aprile Sr. He traveled to Boca Raton to persuade Junior to return to New Jersey and settle a trucking dispute with Aprile. However, Sal was suspiciously late for the sit-down and blamed the health problems of his comare's mother.

In 1998, he is arrested at a card game run by Soprano family capo Jimmy Altieri. He tries to escape but throws his back out and is caught. He is quickly bailed out, but is confined to his home due to injury. Dirty cop Vin Makazian tells Tony he has a rat in his organization and points the finger at Sal. Tony assigns Paulie Gualtieri to investigate and to kill Sal, but only if he sees explicit proof. At a bathhouse with Paulie, Sal refuses to undress, blaming high blood pressure and alleging it would be bad for his back, but implying it could be because he is wearing a wire.

The bathhouse incident further raises the crew's suspicions, especially when Sal disappears soon afterwards. Paulie takes over his collections, and the crew kills Altieri, whom they decide has been the rat. Sal resurfaces at Tony's home in 2000, claiming to have been in Puerto Rico receiving treatment from an acupuncturist for his bad back. He starts lying to Agent Lipari, showing reluctance to divulge details. Acquaintance Jimmy Bones spots Sal with Agent Lipari, so Sal kills him to prevent him from telling Tony what he knows. After Sal's return, he experiences relationship issues with his wife, Angie. Angie discusses leaving him with Carmela, who dissuades her, so she settles for sleeping in separate bedrooms.

When Tony becomes acting boss, he makes Silvio his consigliere and Paulie a capo, with new addition Furio Giunta on equal footing with Sal despite Sal's years of service. Sal wears a wire to A.J.'s confirmation, but he spends most of the time privately counseling A.J. instead of talking business with the crew. Following Christopher Moltisanti's shooting by associates Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte, Sal resumes his loyal soldier role despite his double life as an informant; he tracks down the escaped Bevilaqua and shoots him to death with Tony. Sal eventually gives Agent Lipari information on Soprano's stolen airline tickets scam, leading to Tony's brief arrest.

Tony accepts his suspicions about Sal after a portentous dream in which Sal appears to him as a talking fish, a reference to the Mafia saying "sleep with the fishes". To be certain, he searches for evidence in Sal's home and finds a wire in a cigar box. He then organizes a hit on a boat with Sal, with Silvio and Paulie. After a last toast during which Tony asks Sal if a prostitute he has allegedly been seeing in Puerto Rico really exists and Sal admitting that he has "fucked up", Tony, Paulie, and Silvio shoot Sal to death, wrap his body in plastic bags, chains, and weights, and dump it into the ocean. After his death, Sal makes several appearances in dreams or flashbacks. Tony and other members of his crew tell Sal's friends and family that he disappeared after entering the witness protection program.