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The article focuses on the character of the Godfather, made famous by Mario Puzo’s novel, and then by Francis Ford Coppola’s film saga. This character is placed in the various narratives that structure his fictionalization (social history, family history, initiation story, love tragedy), and then considered through the prism of Marcel Mauss’ gift theory. The particular form of social and affective economy illustrated by the Godfather sheds light on the specificity of the Mafia gift. The article then focuses on the character’s verbal representation, which support his ethnicised character. In its final movement, the article then asks why the Godfather is a Sicilian migrant, and how it helps understanding the social dynamics in which he evolves.