The Russo Family is a family of wizards whose lineage traces back to Italy—and possibly even to Ancient Rome—before eventually immigrating to the United States, specifically New York City. In later generations, the family also acquired Latino heritage through Theresa Russo.
The Russo family, plus Harper.
History[]
Its earliest known member is Ignatius Russo, a wizard who wrote the first known joke book about giants. Ignatius had an unknown child, whose own grandchild would go on to have Ignatius's great-grandson, Hank. In the 1950s, Hank founded a sandwich shop that would later become a family staple. He later married a woman named Rose. Together, they had three wizard children: Jerry, Megan, and Kelbo Russo.
Jerry eventually fell in love with a mortal woman, Theresa. Because wizards are forbidden from marrying mortals, Jerry chose to give up his powers, transferring them to Kelbo, whom he believed needed them more. This decision caused a long-standing rift with their sister Megan, who had wanted Jerry to give his powers to her instead. As a result, the siblings did not speak for decades. Jerry later took over his father's sandwich shop, presumably after Hank's retirement.
Jerry and Theresa married and had three children: Justin, Alex, and Max Russo. All three inherited wizard abilities and were trained by their father, now an ex-wizard. At the end of the series, Alex retained her powers after winning the wizard competition, Justin kept his powers after being appointed headmaster of WizTech, and Max lost his powers and took over the family sandwich shop.
Sometime later, Justin was fired from his position as WizTech's headmaster after being framed by his assistant, Alistair Goodspeed, who orchestrated a scheme to replace him. Following this, Justin met and married a mortal woman named Giada. They had two sons, Roman and Milo Russo, who initially showed no signs of magical ability. Justin concealed both the Wizard World and his own magical past from them.
Years later, Alex arrived at Justin's home on Staten Island and asked him to take in a young and rebellious wizard named Billie. Giada, Roman, and Milo eventually learned about the Wizard World and Justin's history as a wizard because of Billie.
Months later, Roman and Milo were struck by energy from a Power Vacuum, which awakened their latent magical abilities. They were subsequently declared eligible to train for the wizard competition alongside Billie, who had by then become an honorary member of their family.
It was later revealed that Alex had met, fallen in love with, and married a fellow wizard named Damian Pennwolf. Damian had originally followed a dark path, much like his father, Lord Morsus. However, after falling in love with Alex, he ultimately betrayed his father and chose a more honorable path. Alex and Damian had a daughter, Billie, who inherited powerful magical abilities from both parents and was revealed to be the subject of a mysterious prophecy foretelling that she would one day save the world.
To protect their daughter from her paternal grandfather—who sought to exploit her powers—Damian suggested hiding Billie's existence. Alex and Justin enrolled Billie at WizTech for formal wizard training and cast the powerful memory-erasing spell Cerebellum Erasus to remove all knowledge of Billie's true heritage from everyone, including Alex herself, ensuring Billie's safety.
Family Tree[]
Members[]
- Ignatius Russo (deceased)
- Carmela
- Francesca
- Bianca
- Gino
- Hank Russo
- Rose Russo (through marriage)
- Jerry Russo
- Megan Russo
- Kelbo Russo
- Theresa Russo (through marriage)
- Justin Russo
- Alex Russo
- Max Russo
- Giada Russo (through marriage)
- Damian Pennwolf (through marriage)
- Roman Russo
- Milo Russo
- Billie Russo
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In Quinceañera, Jerry says that his family is Italian. The last name Russo is a common Italian surname.
- In the episode Hugh's Not Normous, the family tree says the name of Jerry's parents: Rose and Duke Russo, and his great-great-grandfather: Ignatius Russo wrote the first joke book about Giants.
- However, in the episode "Rock Around the Clock," when the Russos go back to the year 1957 to see Jerry's father, they call him "Hank." This is most likely an oversight, retcon, or he went by two different names.
- Megan, Alex, and Billie Russo are the only known female members of the Russo family that aren't related through marriage in the entire franchise.
- At least two mortals Theresa and Giada Russo married into the Russo family, which is a family of wizards.
- Billie is first considered an honorary Russo but is later revealed to be Alex's biological daughter.
- Kelbo and Alex Russo are the known family wizards of the Russo family.
References[]
TBA
External Links[]
List of Relationships between members of the Russo family.