Thomas Feargal "Tom" Hagen is a fictional character in the Godfather books and films. He was portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films. He is the informally adopted son of Don Vito Corleone, a qualified lawyer and the consigliere to the Corleone Mafia family. Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, he serves as the voice of reason within the family. The novel and first film establish that he is of German-Irish ancestry.He was found homeless at age 11 by Sonny Corleone, who took him home to see him taken in by the Corleone family. Although the Don never formally adopted Tom, thinking that this would be an act of disrespect to Hagen's parents, Hagen thought of Vito Corleone as his true father. After graduating from law school, Hagen offered to work for Corleone as though he were one of the Don's own sons. His non-Italian ancestry precluded his formal membership in the Mafia, but after the death of Genco Abbandando, Hagen acted as consigliere to Don Corleone. While Hagen loved all the Corleones, he always idolized Sonny, and Hagen blamed himself when Sonny was murdered. When Vito moved into semi-retirement in 1954, and his youngest son Michael became the operating head of the family—on his father's advice—Michael removed Hagen as consigliere in favor of having his father take the role on an informal basis, thus restricting Hagen to handling the family's legal business in Nevada, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Michael declared that if he needed advice, he would turn to his father – "the best possible consigliere".
First appearance
The Godfather
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