When Tony Santos was just 4 years old, his father, Frederico Santos, was allegedly killed by a rival mob family and left floating in the river. Two years later, after his mother's death, Tony and his brother, Ray were taken in by their uncle. Tony's troubled childhood continued and, after dropping out of school at 16, he spent 18 months in jail. After his release, his uncle tried to discipline him, but when he died of cardiac arrest, Tony began insulting the other families, one of which put a contract on his life. Tony arrived in Springfield, in August 2000, seeking refuge from the other crime families. Unfortunately, Tony's arrival ended up getting his brother, Ray, almost killed when a rival family shot him! Although Ray recovered, their cousin Danny was furious at Tony and beat him to a pulp as punishment for his insolence. However, when a contrite Tony later apologized to Danny and took responsibility for what happened to Ray, Danny welcomed him into the family business. As he was reconnecting with the Santos family, Tony met and became immediately interested in the wealthy Marah Lewis. Although Marah tried to rebuff his advances, it was clear that she was attracted to him as well and the two later began dating in secret, since both the Lewis family and Danny were against the pair dating. Although cigarette girl May Merisi was able to convince Danny to let the pair see each other, they still had to hide their relationship from the Lewises. Although the relationship hit a roadblock when Tony swindled some money out of his rival, Sam Spencer, Marah found that she just couldn't resist Tony. In the meantime, Tony's grandmother, Maria Santos, discovered that author Blake Marler was writing a book that appeared to be about her son (Danny's father), Miguel. By having Tony spy on Blake, she was able to verify that not only was the book about Miguel, but Selena Davis had been his mistress. Under Maria's orders, Tony went to Selena's to retrieve a locket that belonged to Miguel. After struggling with Selena, he retrieved the locket and gave it to Maria. Although he was proving his value to Maria, as the year progressed, Danny still saw Tony as a hothead and refused to give him more power within the family. However, to his credit, Tony remained loyal to Danny. Meanwhile, Tony was trying to seduce Marah, but she was adamant about waiting until the time was right. She was also preoccupied with her father's upcoming marriage to Olivia Spencer, a woman Marah couldn't stand. In an effort to break up her father's wedding, Marah ran off with Tony in an attempt to get Josh to come after her. Unfortunately for Marah, the plan failed--Josh and Olivia married anyway and Tony was hurt that she'd only used him.

very soon into 2001, he forgave her and the two began dating again in secret. Then one day, several thugs came and knocked Tony unconscious and abducted Marah! Luckily, May and Catalina Quesada found Tony unconscious and revived him and called Danny for help. When Tony came to, he explained what happened. Realizing that one of the other families was probably behind this, Danny and Tony, with help from Sam, staged a rescue mission to save her. Despite the rescue, the couple still had resistance from the Lewises and some disapproval from Maria. In an effort to cover their romance, Tony pretended to be dating Catalina, who had become his friend. Unfortunately, Marah, seeing Tony and Cat dancing and not knowing it was an act, became jealous and starting hanging out with Sam. In the meantime, Maria was becoming disgusted with Danny's attempts to make the family business legit and gave Tony the option of betraying Danny in order to head the family. Torn between loyalty to Danny and the family business, Tony had a choice to make. Although he initially decided to go along with the hit, at the last minute, he had a change of heart and decided to remain loyal by warning Danny. After that, Tony decided to clean up his life so that Marah's family would approve of him and he accepted a job with Lewis Construction. Unfortunately, Marah broke Tony's heart when she became angry at his attempts to be chivalrous by refusing to sleep with her on her prom night. Though he tried to explain that he was acting in her own interests, Marah found the old Tony much more exciting and broke things off. About the same time, Tony lost his job at Lewis Construction after getting in a fight. Bitter and realizing that it wasn't paying to be a nice guy, Tony returned to the mob. About this time, Tony's old friend, Romeo Jones, came to Springfield and became his right hand man. With his help, Tony temporarily headed up the family business when Danny tried to go legit.

Tony tried to forget about Marah by dating Catalina Quesada, however that proved more difficult than he thought. When Tony and Romeo found proof that the photo implicating Marah's father, Josh, in bribery was a forgery, Tony let one of his henchman confess to the crime to protect Olivia Spencer, yet wouldn't reveal what he'd done to anyone. Though Romeo tried to get him to handle his rivalry with Sam by getting rid of him, Tony wanted to win Marah honestly and refused. Against his wishes, Tony's good deed was revealed and Marah declared her love for him. Though Tony tried to end his relationship with Catalina, Cat manipulated situations, soon seduced Tony and, in 2002, became pregnant. Wanting to do the honorable thing, he asked Cat to marry him. Planning to have Ray marry them, Tony was shocked when Ray refused to marry the couple and said that Cat knew the reason. When Tony demanded an answer from Cat, she claimed that Ray hit on her but Tony didn't believe it, which meant that she had to be lying. Since Ray was unwilling to tell him anything since he was bound to secrecy and Cat was tightlipped herself, Tony decided to cancel the wedding. It was then that Cat told Tony why Ray wouldn't marry them: because he knew Tony was still hung up on Marah. Realizing that she was right, Tony vowed to put his feelings for Marah aside and marry Cat. However, Tony was still suspicious and went to get the truth from Ray. Cat was devastated when Tony said he wanted to put their marriage plans on hold so she told him that Marah and Ben Reade were lovers. Reeling from that news, Tony warned Marah that Ben is not the guy for her, unaware that Cat and Ben were working together to separate him and Marah for good. After a confrontation with Ray who asked him to think of Marah, Tony announced that he would marry Cat the very next day. Moments after they said their vows, Marah burst in with news, but before she could tell it, Cat doubled over in pain and Marah was hustled out by bodyguards. The next day, Ray finally told Tony the truth about why he couldn't marry them: Catalina was faking her pregnancy; she lost her baby weeks ago! Angry, Tony rushed to the mansion to confront Cat and found an unconscious Marah and a dead Catalina, laying side-by-side. Assuming that Marah killed Cat, he told Marah that he'd take care of everything and reached for the murder weapon just as the police entered the room.

Tony was ready to go to prison to protect Marah when he learned from Carmen that Romeo was moving in on his business and love life. When he learned from Ray that Marah was asking questions about Cat's death, Tony not only realized that Marah was innocent but also figured out, with Ray's help, that the real murderer was Romeo, who was obsessed with having everything Tony had. With Carmen's help, Tony broke out of jail by faking a heart attack in order to protect Marah. With Ray's help, he arranged a meeting in the Lighthouse with Marah who was also suspicious of Romeo. They both confessed their love for each other and escaped together, but Romeo tracked them down at the carousel, threatened them with a gun. Marah knocked Tony out so Romeo would take her instead. Romeo then left and when he returned, Marah got the upper hand and tried to force the truth out of him. The situation turned ugly, with Tony arriving to stop any violence, and the police arrived to arrest both men for Catalina's murder, since both accused the other of doing it. A few days later, Romeo mysteriously confessed to the murder so Tony was cleared of all charges. He and Marah were free to be together. Before being shipped off to prison for good, Romeo spilled the beans to Tony about his one-nighter with Marah. Tony then confronted Marah in the back office at Infierno and, disgusted that the pure girl he had respected, waited for, put on a pedestal was a "whore", Tony almost raped her. When he realized what he was doing, he stopped, but the damage had been done. Battered physically and mentally, Marah broke up with him.

A guilt-ridden Tony tried to stay away from Marah, devoting himself full-time to mob activities, but in spite of his horrible act, Marah couldn't fully shake her feelings for him. When he apologized to her, months later, she nearly reached out to him, with only her mother Reva stopping her. At one point toward the end of summer, Tony and Marah were stranded on the Santos fishing boat and became closer than they had been in some time. However this was ruined by Tony beating up a worker who he thought he saw attacking Marah. Marah took this as another example of Tony's abusive nature and Tony, hating himself for his actions towards Marah, let her drift away. In the meantime, Tony became very friendly with newcomer Eden August. Though he kissed Eden a few times, Tony's heart remained with Marah and after she saw how remorseful he was, she decided to give their relationship another chance, in spite of the outrage from her family, her father in particular. When Tony found out from Carmen, in early 2003, that Eden had pushed his father off a rooftop and only initially grew close to him as part of a revenge plan (she believed the Santos had killed her father), Tony was tempted to hurt her, but decided that he was out of that life now. Not only had Tony learned to curb his violent nature, but he also earned the Lewis's trust enough to serve as Reva's body guard when she was being harassed by a stalker. Although Marah initially believed that Tony was the stalker, she was wrong and she and Tony grew closer than ever and finally made love. That summer, Tony started helping Eden who was very worried about her former employer, New York mobster, Vinnie Salerno, when it appeared that Salerno was trying to harm her. Later, Tony's violent past would come back to haunt him when Marah saw snapshots sent to Eden from Vinnie showing Tony beating up a woman. Confronted with the photos, Tony told Marah it happened the previous summer after he'd attacked her. Tony told Marah that the night he attacked her, he drove for hours and ended up in Chicago where he got drunk and let himself be seduced by a woman. Realizing that the woman was setting him up for blackmail, Tony supposedly beat the woman to a pulp, although he had no recollection of doing so. Already on edge due to the revelation that her friend Ben Reade was a murderer, Marah couldn't deal with Tony's violent past, believing that he'd fall back into it, and she left Tony. Distraught, Tony accepted Eden's help and went to New York to confront Salerno.

After Salerno admitted to doctoring the photos, an angry and bitter Tony sought comfort in Eden's arms and the two made love. Almost immediately after, Marah told Tony that she wanted him back! Feeling immensely guilty for cheating, Tony refused to go back to her, telling her that she was right about him--he'd only end up hurting her. Feeling unworthy, Tony continually rejected Marah and pushed her away. After leaving town for a few weeks, Tony returned and started flirting with Eden. In 2004, the pair found themselves thrown together when they were both summoned by a mysterious, disguised, figure who warned them that Lewis Construction was in league with the mob. Not believing it, Tony and Eden investigated the matter by gaining illegal access to Bill's office. With the files that they foudn, the pair learned that men connected to a gangster named Angelo Bruzzi were in fact on the Lewis payroll. However, Tony and Eden were still skeptical that Bill was involved in any wrongdoing and were certain that this was a set up concocted to destroy Danny's run for mayor. Wanting to protect his cousin's best interests, Tony not only confronted the men and forced them to leave Lewis Construction, but he also met with Bruzzi and ordered him to get out of town. Although Tony seemed to scare Bruzzi off, his scuffle with the mobster left him hurt and the incident was leaked to the press. Shortly after, Eden, against Tony's wishes, confessed the truth about the set up to Danny and later Bill. Although Danny insisted that he be told about any threats to his campaign or his family, Tony tried to convince him that if he was to become mayor, he'd have to keep his hands completely clean. Unfortunately, Danny's past came back to haunt him and, although he won the election, he was forced to concede amid allegations that he fixed the election. Weeks after Danny implied to him that the allegations were true, Tony was shocked to see Danny about to meet with Salerno about employment! Incredulous that Danny was considering going back to the mob, Tony tried to dissuade him when Danny suddenly realized that Tony was there because he already was working for Salerno. Apparently, Tony's claims of going straight were a lie and he'd been working for Vinnie ever since he returned to town. Although Tony was firmly entrenched in the mob, he didn't think Danny should go back to the life he tried so hard to leave and tried to dissuade him, even going as far as to hold a gun on him. Despite Tony's pleas that Danny get out for the good of his family, Danny was determined to gain employment with Salerno. Although Salerno was initially wary of Danny, Danny was able to earn his trust, especially when he completed a hit on Eden. However, unbeknownst to Danny, Vinnie didn't entirely trust Danny and approved of Tony trailing him to make sure the job gone done. Per his orders, Tony followed Danny and witnessed the explosion.

Wanting to investigate further, Tony went inside and was horrified to see Michelle amid the flames! Thinking fast, Tony rescued Michelle and got her to Cedars. Angry that Michelle had been hurt, Tony confronted Danny who confided in Tony about everything--that he was working with the DA's office to infiltrate the mob! He then confessed that he staged the hit on Eden and that O'Neill agreed to give Tony immunity for all of his past crimes. Although Tony could have betrayed him to Salerno, he decided to help Danny bring him down. So, as Michelle laid in Cedars, the sting went down again. Luckily this time, it went down as planned and the Feds arrested Salerno. Although glad that the mob business was done with, Danny was dismayed when Tony announced that he would be taking over Salerno's operation. Although Danny tried to dissuade him, even using Tony's position as Tony's godfather to deter him, Tony was adamant about paving his own way into the mob, despite the consequences. That same night, Michelle finally came out of her coma. Although she now had no memory of her life, there was one thing she did remember--her rescuer, Tony.

Feeling pressure from her well-meaning family and friends for her to begin to regain her memories, Michelle lashed out at everyone, except Tony. It was becoming obvious that the only person Michelle felt comfortable around was Tony, so Danny convinced a reluctant Tony to move into his and Michelle's house. It didn't take long for Tony and Danny to clash though over Danny's treatment of Michelle. While Tony felt that Michelle needed to know that entire truth about her former life, Danny made the decision to keep information away from her that he thought she couldn't handle, such as the fact they had a son. Later, in an attempt to please everyone, Michelle tried to fake a memory flash. Although her family bought into her act, Tony was on to her immediately, stating that if it was real, she'd be a lot more excited. That same day, despite Danny's attempts to get an extremely reluctant Tony to hide Robbie away from Michelle, Michelle learned the truth when Robbie got to her before Tony got to him. Although Danny tried to explain that he was trying to make things easier on her and Robbie, Michelle bristled under Danny's tendency to hide the truth from her, and asked Tony to take her away. Tony then took her to Laurel Falls on his motorcycle and when she asked him for the whole truth about her life. Tony revealed that Danny was in the mob and had a mother who tried to kill Michelle. Intrigued with the notion that she married a mobster, Michelle realized that there was more to Danny than she gave him credit for and decided to go back to him and try again. Weeks later, a frustrated Michelle located Tony at the Beacon to vent about Danny. Later, Michelle found herself drawn to the lighthouse out on the lake where she gazed over the town and wondered who she was. While trying to sort out who the new Michelle Bauer Santos was, Michelle continued to grow closer to Tony who she felt was the only one who appreciated her as she was. To other's dismay, Michelle's first act of friendship with Tony was to warn him that the police were about to raid his club. Although he tried to warn her to stay away from his business, this new Michelle wouldn't back down. Later, Tony found Michelle at her new hideaway, the lighthouse, and agreed to keep it secret from Danny. That day, when Tony returned to the social club he found Danny waiting. Shocked when Danny asked about Tony's intentions towards Michelle, Tony denied having any. However, it was becoming evident from his dreams that Tony was becoming very taken with this more carefree version of Michelle.

Although Tony tried to fight his feelings by getting involved with someone else, Michelle kept seeking him out. Tony's erotic dreams about Michelle continued, with eventually Danny finding out about them! When an angry Danny asked whether Tony had thing for his wife, Tony simply called Danny paranoid. Weeks later, Michelle, still trying to find her niche in the world, had the idea to turn the Lighthouse into a restaurant, and convinced a skeptical Tony to be her partner. Although Danny, concerned about Tony's mob ties, tried to put a squash on Michelle's plans, when and angry Michelle lashed out at him for controlling her life, Danny surprised her by giving her the permit, which Tony saw as simply an attempt to impress Michelle. Later, Michelle met a mysterious man named Sebastian Hulce who feigned interest in the lighthouse. At about the same time, Michelle found a gold coin in the lighthouse that instigated a memory flash of her mother, Maureen. When, Michelle told Danny about her memory flash, he surprised her by consulting a memory specialist. Unfortunately for Danny, his interference was unwanted and Michelle angrily recoiled at Danny's implication that she was damaged and needed fixed. After arguing, the couple decided to go their separate ways, leaving Tony free to pursue Michelle.

Not long after, Michelle received an intriguing offer from Sebastian to accompany him and Holly on a trip to Santo Domingo. Although Tony warned her not to go, she refused and went anyway. Still unsure of Sebastian's motives, Tony stowed away on the Sebastian's boat but was quickly discovered. A few days into their journey, Michelle discovered that Tony was right all along about Sebastian when the pair was drugged and Holly and Sebastian had disappeared. It didn't take long for them to find a note from Sebastian---he had Holly and would release her if they brought Ed Bauer to him. Deeply concerned, the pair traveled to Santo Domingo themselves in an attempt to rescue Holly. Soon, Michelle and Tony got the location of Sebastian's villa from the maid, Aurelia, when Tony flirted with her. Posing as brother and sister, Michelle went with Aurelia and Tony as Aurelia led Tony to where Sebastian supposedly was. During the trip, Michelle caught them kissing, When Tony called Michelle on her jealousy, he gave her a passionate kiss to let her know she had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, when they broke from their kiss, Tony realized that Aurelia stole his wallet, phone and map, leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere. As Michelle and Tony wandered through the jungle, Tony fell into a ravine after walking off to gather some wood. After some time, Michelle found him and tended to his injuries. After a while, the two realized that it was Thanksgiving and they made love for the first time. Afterwards, Tony was bit by a poisonous spider; with him feverish and delusional, Michelle had no choice but to get out of the ravine and look for help. After awhile, she located Sebastian's villa and found Holly! Seeing Holly alone, trapped in a cell, Michelle tried to let her out but was captured herself by Sebastian. It turned out that the reason Sebastian wanted to find Ed Bauer was because Sebastian was dying and thought Ed could save his life. When Sebastian demanded that Michelle get in touch with Ed, she re-fused to help Sebastian until he rescued Tony, and Sebastian reluctantly agreed. Later, when they found Tony and administered his medicine, a dangerous Sebastian handed Michelle a satellite phone and demanded she call her father. However, Michelle double-crossed Sebastian and called Danny instead and quickly hung up before Sebastian became suspicious. Afterwards, with all three of them prisoners of Sebastian, Michelle tried to convince Sebastian that she could create her father's medicine. Unfortunately for Michelle, Sebastian grew increasingly paranoid as he became sicker. He didn't trust Michelle's injection and violently fought her off.

As Michelle saw Sebastian getting weaker, she concocted a potion to knock Sebastian out. But her plan was foiled when Holly warned him. Soon after, Tony convinced Sebastian to let him leave to find Ed. Luckily for everyone, Tony ran into Danny (who had become suspicious because of Michelle's phone call) and Danny went to Sebastian's villa to rescue Michelle and Holly. In 2005, although Tony couldn't find Ed, he did find his notes. Radioing the information in, Michelle was able to recreate the cure based on Ed's notes, Tony then returned to the island to rescue the others. Though Tony was prepared to make sure a cured Sebastian never hurt Michelle or anyone else again. Michelle was able to convince him to leave Sebastian, alone in the villa, and they all left the island.

Back in Springfield, Danny and Michelle finally decided to end their marriage, since she was involved with Tony and he'd been dating Marina Cooper.. Although Ray tried to warn Tony that should Michelle's memory returned, she'd go back to Danny, Tony found himself falling for her and firmly believed that, no matter what, Michelle and he would be together. Meanwhile, Tony's jealousy of Danny was increasing and he told Danny that he wanted him out of the Lighthouse project. Danny had no problem with it but when Michelle stated that she wanted Danny to finish the job, Danny eventually agreed. Weeks later, Danny and Michelle finally decided to tell Robbie that they were divorcing. Unfortunately, he responded by running away. As Michelle, Danny, Tony, and Marina, prepared to search for a missing Robbie, Sebastian safely returned him! Danny and Tony were ready to hurt Sebastian but it was soon evident that he was the hero. In the meantime, Tony was becoming curious about Michelle's adamant approval of Danny and Marina's new relationship. When confronted, Michelle hedged at first but then confessed she feared that her memories could get in the way of her relationship with Tony. Tony assured her that nothing could come between them. Weeks later, Tony brought Michelle to Laurel Falls where their romance began and asked her to marry him. To his delight, Michelle happily accepted. Despite Ray's disapproval, since Ray was certain that Tony would get hurt, Tony was eagerly looking forward to his future with Michelle. Later, Michelle informed Tony that her memory had returned. Michelle did her best to assure Tony that her devotion to him was unchanged and that she still wanted to marry him. Later, Tony was not pleased to learn that Danny and Michelle's divorce proceeding was postponed, thinking that Danny was going after Michelle. As Tony's jealousy was starting to grate on Danny, he tried to assure Tony that there was no dark motive behind the postponement. Later, for his own peace of mind, Tony exaggerated Danny's feelings for Marina to Michelle. Days later, Tony presented Michelle with a wide range of options for their wedding, but she couldn't commit to any single one. That same day, Tony spotted Danny and Michelle kiss. Deeply affected, Tony informed Michelle that he wanted to elope as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, at this point, Danny arrived and informed them that while the divorce was going through, since the judge was sick, there would be a delay. Wanting to get the situation resolved as quickly as possible, the pair went to Las Vegas for a quickie divorce. Still worried about Danny and Michelle, Tony informed Marina about the kiss he'd seen, but Marina tried to advise him to simply trust the duo to make the right decision. Desperate to marry Michelle, Tony flew to Las Vegas and suggested a quickie wedding since Michelle was already divorced. Although plans were made, Michelle found that she couldn't go through with it since she still loved Danny. The day of their return, Tony took Michelle to Laurel Falls and begged her to remember that she loved him also. Unfortunately, things got heated between them when she continued to insist that she loved Danny. Finally, Michelle broke the news that she slept with Danny the night that she got her memory back. At that moment, Danny, who'd been hiking alone, returned. In his rage, Tony hurled himself at Danny and, during the struggle they both went over the edge of the cliff! Michelle managed to grab each of them but their combined weight was too much to bear. Realizing that Michelle couldn't save both men and was at risk of falling over herself, Tony made the ultimate sacrifice and let go of Michelle's hand, only to plummet into the water. Once safe, Danny climbed down to retrieve Tony from the water and he and Michelle desperately began CPR. Tragically, it was too late--Tony was dead.

Tony Santos, a lady-killer in general, was always torn between doing the right and wrong thing. Born of the notorious Santos mob family, Tony was torn between loyalty to the family business and loyalty to his family. Although Tony tried to change for love, he had trouble fully letting go of his violent upbringing. Unfortunately, Tony's jealousy of Danny would prove to be his undoing. Constantly chafing over what he saw as Danny's attempts to control everyone around him, Tony regularly fell into conflict with his cousin. In the end, Tony sacrificed himself to save the woman he loved, a woman he refused to admit was actually the love of Danny's life, not his. Tony died far too early, cutting short a life that he was trying to turn around. He will always be missed by those who loved him. .