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My sense is that, for Dom from the Fast & Furious series family takes precedence above all else. Beyond that, honor seems to be critically important, but because Dominic is an outlaw, his principles don't necessarily hew to the laws of nations.

In cinema, the idea of the hero's code is important. We see it arising in the modern form out of Westerns and detective films. A famous example is Shane from the George Stevens film of the same name. Shane's code, as gunslinger, is not the code of civilization, represented by the farmer and his family, and for this reason, Shane leaves at the end of the film.

  • What is Dominic Toretto's personal code?
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Family

The only code that Dom Toretto lives and swears by is family! He might be a thug and criminal by definition but his actions have always been motivated by his drive to care for his family.

He feels this innate responsibility for the people he cares for. This extends not only to his actual family like Mia but also to his friends.

As does he say in Furious 7,

"I don't have friends. I got family."

Dominic and his crew regularly take the law in their hands. Agreed that their motives are not always altruistic at best but most often than not they are pushed into a corner and conflict is their only way out.

Dom makes his views abundantly clear to Owen Shaw in Fast & Furious 6 -

"Your brother never told you never to threaten a man's family? It's a pretty stupid thing to do."

A person's code is the philosophy they believe in, something that defines who they are. These are a set of rules that ought to be unwavering, even in moments of extreme pain or difficulty. Dom's belief in his code is so strong that he never forsakes them.

Again in Fast & Furious 6, after he's been shot by Letty, he says to Brian -

"You don't turn your back on family. Even when they do."

Above all, his love for his family trumps everything. To Dom, family is the only thing worth living for. And if the situation demands it, then dying or it too! Caring for his family, providing for them and doing right by them is the code Dominic Torreto lives by.

At the end his philosophy is simple, something that he vocalizes in Fast 5 while talking to his crew -

"Money will come and go. We know that. But the most important thing in life will always be the people in this room, right here, right now. Salut mi familia."

Quote Credits

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  • Family is certainly #1. instead of Hobbits delivering The Ring it’s the guys from Fast and Furious But I think there's more. Respect is very important to Dom, and it seems to have to be earned. Also who Dom will kill and who he will protect. How he deals with being compromised by those who want to manipulate and use him. – DukeZhou Jul 6 '18 at 18:18
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    When you talk about his personal code, it largely revolves around his family. A lot of these aspects like respect and honor permeate from that. I could pad up the answer with a lot of conjecture but at the crux, the way he feels about his family shapes his moral code. And about killing, Dom isn't really a killer and wouldn't go out of his way to exact revenge unless his people are threatened in the first place and need to be violent to survive. – Sayan Jul 6 '18 at 20:11
  • What about "Live quarter a mile at a time"? – Worse_Username Jul 12 '18 at 13:38
  • @Worse_Username That's a good one! But is it meaty enough to qualify as a personal code? IMO, at best it's a tenet that Dom likes to quote since it has close bearing to his life as a racer. – Sayan Jul 12 '18 at 19:00

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