Hailing from the distant land of Griffonstone in the Equestrian World, Giovanni was originally a Noble during the reign of King Guto. Upon the loss of the Idol of Boreas and the Collapse of Griffon Society that followed afterwards, Giovanni was forced to flee Griffonstone to seek greener pastures and a more stable society. However, as he fled, he had injured himself during a struggle with several griffons with a bone to pick on him. Last thing he remembered was falling into a pool of water and being suddenly spat out of it. Waking up in a world where he was no longer himself and most definitely wasn’t his own world.
Giovanni had fallen into a dimensional rift situated in a magical pool of water and emerged out of a corresponding pool in the Human world. The era in the Human World he found himself in being the late 1910s. Unable to return and seizing the opportunity to make a profit off of these strange creatures, he dabbled into the art of organized crime and over time, built a respectable criminal empire in the City of Canterlot. running several Casinos, Clubs and Speakeasies across town. That wasn’t the only enture se focused on. There were others too: racketeering, contract-killing, lone sharking, forgery of money and other goods and during the prohibition era, the illegal production and smuggling of alcoholic beverages. By the 1930’s he had built up a reputation as a notorious and powerful crime boss and Gangster in Canterlot.
To his partners and those who work for him, he is known simply as "Big G" or "The Gryphon". And he is also known to have killed people he doesn't like using his Limousine.