Dominic Toretto
Dominic "Dom" Toretto is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists of the Fast & Furious franchise. He is portrayed by Vin Diesel and first appeared on film with the other fellow protagonist Brian O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious. Dominic was created by screenwriter Gary Scott Thompson, who was inspired by an article on street racing that was published in the May 1998 issue of Vibe magazine, while Diesel was heavily sought after to play the character. The character also appears in the animated television series Fast & Furious Spy Racers and the video game Fast & Furious Crossroads, both voiced by Diesel.
As the patriarch of a group of street racers Dom acts as an influential voice. He was forced into the role of primary caregiver following his father's untimely passing. As the leader, he initially worked as an auto mechanic but eventually progressed to orchestrating carjackings, a multi-million-dollar heist, and illicit jobs for government agencies.
Dominic is gruff and strong and has a volatile temper, especially when his family is in danger. He preaches morality and loyalty and is often seen as affectionate and religious. He is married to Letty Ortiz with whom he raises a son. He is also implied to be the group's strongest and most skilled racer, a title that is challenged persistently by friend and brother-in-law Brian O'Conner.
The role made Diesel a Hollywood star, and remains the role with whom he is most associated. He won the 2002 and 2014 MTV Movie Awards for Best On-Screen Team with Paul Walker for his performances. Diesel has served as a producer for the franchise's later installments.
Development
The Fast & Furious film series was inspired by an article on street racing, "Racer X", that appeared in the May 1998 issue of Vibe magazine. Having witnessed his father's death in a stock car race, Dom is left with the responsibility of taking care of his younger sister, Mia Toretto, and leading the racers dependent on him. Vin Diesel was reportedly paid $2.5 million to star in The Fast and the Furious and $15 million to star in and produce Fast Five.Appearances
Dominic Toretto is a fearless street racer, auto mechanic, and ex-convict. The character is the older brother of Jakob and Mia Toretto. Throughout the series, Dom's crew has perpetrated many high-speed semi hijackings, stealing millions of dollars in merchandise. He has spent most of his life running from the law. He is married to Letty Ortiz, his longtime partner.''The Fast and the Furious''
In the first film, Dom runs his own automotive garage while Mia takes care of the family's grocery store in Echo Park. He also runs his own street race team, which consists of Letty, Vince, Leon, and Jesse. Dominic has a feud with his Vietnamese-American rival Johnny Tran due to a business deal that went sour and Tran catching Dom sleeping with his sister. Unknown to the public, he and his team drive black Honda Civic coupes and stage daring semi hijackings on the freeways, taking home millions of dollars in electronic appliances. He forms a friendship with rookie racer Brian Earl Spilner, who saves him from arrest when the LAPD raid a street race gathering. When showing Brian the [|1970 Dodge Charger] he had been working with his father before he died, he reveals what happened to the latter: During the last stock car race of the season in 1989, Dominic watched as his father Jack was run off the track by another racer, Kenny Linder, when Linder's car clipped his bumper. Jack was killed instantly when his stock car crashed into the wall at 120 miles per hour and burst into flames. Dominic remembered hearing his father screaming as he burned to death, but the people who witnessed the accident explained that his father had died before his car exploded. Dominic had been the one screaming. A week following the accident, Dominic encountered Linder and when given the opportunity, Dominic attacked Linder, beating him with a wrench. Dominic only intended to hit him once but lost control of his temper and kept attacking Linder until he couldn't lift his arm anymore. The result of Linder's injuries rendered him unable to race or, and Dominic was banned for life from the racetracks. During the Race Wars, Johnny Tran blames Dominic for a raid by SWAT forces; SWAT came into his house, causing disrespect to his family. Dom then attacks him and is promptly led away by Vince, who tells him to "chill out". During a hijacking job gone wrong, Dominic discovers Brian's true identity as undercover LAPD officer named Brian O'Conner. Following a drag race that ends with Dominic's 1970 Dodge Charger getting totalled, Brian hands him the keys to his Toyota Supra, as law enforcement have found out that Toretto has stolen millions in electronics with his crew. Dom ends up escaping to Mexico, while Brian, now a wanted man himself for aiding a known felon, flees the state.''2 Fast 2 Furious''
Dom plays no role in the second film's events, but is referenced when Brian tells Roman Pearce that the guilt he felt over Roman's arrest is what motivated him to let Dom go.''The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift''
Dom makes a cameo appearance at the end of the film challenging Sean Boswell in a drift race with his gunmetal silver 1970 Plymouth Road Runner, which he won from his friend Han LueThis film takes place after the events of Fast & Furious 6 and during Furious 7.
''Fast & Furious''
In Fast & Furious, Dominic, Letty, and their gang lead a successful hijacking of a gasoline tanker in the Dominican Republic, which catches the attention of the authorities, causing Dom to disband the team and leave Letty to protect them. Despite still being a fugitive due to the events of the first film, Dominic returns to L.A. upon hearing of Letty's death at the hands of Fenix Calderon. He and Brian once again team up to take down Mexican drug lord Arturo Braga, who had ordered Fenix to kill Letty and others involved in a drug run. He later finds out Brian was the last person who had contact with Letty; this enrages him, and he attacks Brian before the latter explains that Letty came to him for help in clearing Dom's name so he could return to the United States, becoming a spy to infiltrate Braga's organization. The two reconcile over the events of the 1st film and team up to avenge Letty's death. After successfully extraditing Braga back to the U.S., Dom turns himself in to the authorities and is sentenced to 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of early parole. However, the bus carrying him is ambushed by Brian, Mia, Rico and Tego; once Dom is sprung from the bus wreckage, the group flees the U.S. as fugitives.''Fast Five''
In the fifth, Dominic reunites with Brian, Mia and Vince in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They quickly make an enemy of drug lord Hernan Reyes after stealing a vehicle that contains information of his $100 million fortune, who has them framed for the murder of three DEA agents during a drug run on a train. As a means to get even with Reyes and avoiding capture, Dom and Brian form a team with Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, Han, Gisele Yashar, Rico and Tego to stage a heist and steal Reyes' stash of US$100 million in cash. Elite bounty hunter and DSS federal agent Luke Hobbs is sent to Brazil to hunt down and capture Dom and his gang, but when he is ambushed by Reyes' men, during which all of his team are killed, he forms an unlikely alliance with Dom and helps the gang execute their heist. Vince is badly wounded during the gunfight and later succumbs to his injuries. After killing Reyes, Hobbs allows Dom and his gang to leave Brazil with their stash by giving them a 24-hour window; Dom gives Vince's share of the money to his wife and son. Hobbs' partner Elena Neves also leaves the force and becomes Dominic's new love interest.''Fast & Furious 6''
In the sixth film, Dom is living peacefully with Elena, with no fear of being chased after. Hobbs tracks him down and offers him a job to help him hunt down mercenary Owen Shaw and his crime syndicate in exchange for pardons for him and his entire team; Hobbs also reveals that Letty is alive and working for Shaw. Dom and Brian reassemble their gang in London for the mission, agreeing to the deal. During the mission to capture Shaw, Dom is shot by Letty, and he later discovers that she is suffering from amnesia as a result of the explosion that nearly killed her in Fast & Furious. He saves her from falling to her death while the gang stops Shaw aboard a military tank on a bridge in Spain. Shaw, however, reveals his backup plan of kidnapping Mia, and uses her as leverage in order to be released from custody and allowed to leave with the top-secret microchip that was removed from the tank. Despite the death of Gisele, Dom and his gang defeat Shaw and kill his men while saving Mia and the microchip in a daring chase at a NATO military airfield. Hobbs grants their pardons, and Dom and his gang move back to the United States, even reclaiming Dom's old home. Seeing Dom and Letty back together for good, Elena bids him farewell and returns to working with Hobbs. In a post credit scene, Owen Shaw's elder brother, Deckard Shaw, apparently kills Han in Tokyo and calls Dom to threaten him.''Furious 7''
In Furious 7, it is revealed that Owen Shaw survived the events of the previous film but is comatose, and his older brother Deckard Shaw has gone rogue and is hunting Dom's team. Some time after the events of Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious 6, Dom and Letty have returned to L.A., but Letty later breaks up with Dom in order to find herself again after her memory loss. Meanwhile, Shaw kills Han in Tokyo and sends a bomb to Dom's house, blowing it up. After retrieving Han's body from Sean Boswell in Tokyo, a revenge-driven Dom decides to take Shaw down alone, but is stopped by a Covert Ops leader and Hobbs' friend Mr. Nobody. Nobody offers Dom a way to hunt Shaw through a software named "God's Eye"; however he also must save its creator, a hacker named Ramsey, from terrorist leader Mose Jakande and his men. Agreeing to the deal, Dominic, Brian, Letty, Tej and Roman lead a daring rescue through the mountains of Azerbaijan and succeed in liberating Ramsey from her captors. Ramsey tells them that she sent God's Eye to her friend Zafar in Abu Dhabi. After a successful retrieval of the God's Eye, they find Shaw's hideout, but are ambushed by Jakande's men; many of Nobody's men are killed and Nobody himself is gravely injured, while Dom and Brian barely escape. Afterwards, Dom decides to take down Shaw and Jakande on their home turf in L.A. Dom and Shaw end up in an intense fight on the rooftop of a parking garage, while Brian and the others distract Jakande and Ramsey initiates a hack to shut down God's Eye for good. They succeeded in doing so, and Jakande is killed when Dom hooks a bag of grenades onto his chopper before crashing his vehicle, causing his friends to believe that he died in the process. Letty then reveals that she has regained her memories of their relationship '', and Dom recovers from being unconscious. After this, Brian decides to retire from the crew in order to spend time with his family. Dom leaves without saying goodbye, prompting Brian to catch up to him at an intersection, and the two have one last drive before parting ways.The final drive scene was done to give Brian's role a clean retirement and a send-off after the actor who portrays him, Paul Walker, died in a single vehicle accident back in 2013.