Zé Pequeno

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Near Pure Evil

Full Name

José Eduardo Barreto Conceição

Alias

Zé Pequeno (Li'l Zé)

Dadinho (Li'l Dice)

Origin

City of God

Allies

His gang

• Benny †
• Tuba † (formerly)
• Tiago †
• Steak n’ Fries †
The Tender Trio (formerly)
• Shaggy †
• Clipper
• Goose †

Powers / Skills

Intelligence

Intimidation
Thievery
Assassination
Drug trafficking
Leadership
Gunmanship
Firearm skills

Goals

Establish a drug empire in the "Cidade de Deus" favela and kill all of the other drug dealers (succeeded for a while)

Get revenge on Carrot for Benny’s death. (failed)
Kill Knockout Ned (failed).

Moral Event Horizon

Shooting up a brothel and sadistically laughing while doing so.

Killing Goose.
Forcing Steak n’ Fries to kill one of the Runts.
Raping Knockout Ned's girlfriend and forcing him to watch.

Kill Count

Dozens

Crimes

Drug trafficking

Rape
Mass murder
Theft
Vandalism
Treason
Torture
Assault

Type of Villain

Psychopathic Drug Lord

“	Dadinho é o caralho. Meu nome agora é Zé Pequeno, porra. (Li'l Dice, my ass. My name is Lil' Ze now, motherf-cker.)	„
	~ Zé Pequeno

José Eduardo Barreto Conceição, better known as Zé Pequeno (best translated as Li'l Zé and "Little José"), is the main antagonist of the 1997 Brazilian semi-autobiographical novel Cidade de Deus/City of God and its 2002 live-action film adaptation of the same name.

He is a Brazilian gangster and drug trafficker that terrorized the city of Rio de Janeiro during the 70s and 80s.

He is portrayed by Leandro Firmino as an adult. While as a child, he is portrayed by Douglas Silva.

His Evil Ranking[]

What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]

While the Tender Trio forced him to wait outside the motel as they robbed it, he shot out a window, falsely alerting them that the police have escaped. Then he goes into the motel and guns down all the personnel and customers while sadistically laughing.
- This makes him responsible for the Tender Trio disbanding, leading to the death of Shaggy at the hands of the police.
He and Benny had assaulted and robbed a man.
He shoots and kills Goose for trying to steal money from him and Benny, then defiles his corpse by shooting it.
By the time he is 18, he had already robbed and killed countless people.
He beats up Knockout Ned and draws a gun on him for accidentally bumping into him even after he apologized.
Overtime, he controls all the rackets, killing his rival drug dealers along the way.
Barges into Blacky’s apartment and shoots him in the leg while taking his territory, forcing Blacky to join Zé’s gang.
Uses his wealth to bribe the police to let him do what he wants.
When he hears that a street gang of children called the Runts have shoplifted from a market, he captures two of them and shoots them both in the foot. He then sadistically forces a boy named Steak n’ Fries to kill one and let the other one go as a warning.
Although he had beaten up and kicked out Blacky as punishment after he killed his own wife, it was only because this would attract attention from the police.
Forces Knockout Ned to strip naked at gunpoint to humiliate him after finding out he’s the boyfriend of Zé’s love interest.
He angrily threatens to kill Benny’s girlfriend Angelica if she doesn’t leave and blames her for Benny’s death.
Sexually harasses Knockout Ned’s girlfriend, brushing up on her and asking for a kiss.
Beats up Ned and forces him to watch as he and his gang rape his girlfriend. He then shoots Ned near his ear.
He and his men approach Ned’s house and ask him to come outside. When Gerson, Ned’s brother comes out, he intimidates Gerson until Gerson attacks him. Because of this, he and his men shoot and kill Gerson and then shoot up Ned’s house, killing Ned’s uncle.
- This led to Knockout Ned becoming a criminal and seeking revenge against Zé while slowly descending into villainy.
Kills Tuba, his own henchman for annoying him about how they were both wounded in their arms.
Sends Steak n’ Fries to tell Carrot to kill Ned so Zé leaves Carrot alone.
Kicks out an arms dealer named Charles for not getting him the guns he wants, but keeps the guns anyway, resulting in Melonhead, a corrupt policeman killing the arms dealer.
As he tries to escape, he fatally shoots a young member of Ned’s gang named Otto in the stomach.
Although his death at the hands of the Runts was rather brutal, with all of them shooting him multiple times in the back after knocking him down, it does not make him a scapegoat for his vile, sadistic and vindictive personality.
While he has one comedic moment of himself falling off of his bike while racing against Benny, it was before Benny’s death meaning this does not detract from his villainy in the slightest.
He easily passes the heinous standard as he is the only criminal in the movie who is a homicidal maniac and rapist, and not just a simple drug dealer or thief.

What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]

He has a genuine friendship with Benny as the two have also spent quality time outside of committing crimes and Zé was enraged upon witnessing Benny getting killed by Blacky, which led to him wanting to kill Carrot. Benny also prevented Zé from crossing lines and Zé was also sad that Benny abandoned his business.
Shows some slight affability to Rocket by giving him the camera which was gifted from Benny, stating that Benny would’ve wanted him to have it. He also never shows malice towards Rocket throughout the film.