Characters / Gotham - Gotham Mob

This page contains unmarked spoilers if you haven't seen season 3.

The Gotham Mob is split into two main factions at the series' opening — Don Carmine Falcone's family, and Don Salvatore Maroni's family. While the Falcone family has ruled Gotham's underworld for years, Maroni's power is growing and he's preparing to challenge the status quo.

Don Falcone has been the most powerful mob boss in Gotham for decades. He is an old school gangster who believes in respect and honor, though otherwise the Falcone "family" is an Equal-Opportunity Evil organization, in which several major lieutenants are either black, Asian, or Eastern European, along with more traditional "mafia" Italian-types such as Falcone himself. Falcone has divided up his territory under about a dozen captains (caporegime), who practically act as regional governors given how corrupt and controlled by crime Gotham has become. Falcone is getting old, however, and several of his younger captains do not share his older values of respect and restraint. Some, such as Fish Mooney, hope to depose Falcone.

However, as the series goes on, there are many shakeups, and the mob will never be the same, in part because of an ambitious young man named Oswald Cobblepot...

Chronology:

Spoiler warning

Very loosely the mob subplots follow the story outline of The Long Halloween, with the more "old school" mobsters of the older generation (who are concerned with running an orderly, money-producing business) gradually being replaced by the rise of various outlandish "freaks" and psychotics who will become mainstays of Batman's future rogue's gallery. The decades of stability under Falcone are shattered by chaotic mob wars as the series progresses, with numerous rounds of backstabbing, and the Penguin rising from nothing to top of the heap, only to lose it all, then regain everything, multiple times as various Gambit Pileup situations ensue. To try to keep track of it all, this is the short summary:

• At the beginning of the series, Don Falcone's aging criminal empire is being challenged by upstart Don Maroni, while one of Falcone's own caporegime, Fish Mooney, intends to manipulate the situation to depose Falcone herself. Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot - one of Mooney's underlings, nicknamed "the Penguin" - runs afoul of her and is set adrift after Jim Gordon refuses to kill him as a proof of loyalty to Falcone. Cobblepot then orchestrates his own rise through the rival Maroni family, rising from a dishwasher to Maroni's underboss, to get revenge on Falcone. Yet all of this was an elaborate ruse developed by the Penguin himself. He discerned that Maroni and Mooney were working together, so he presented a plan to Falcone in which he would only pretend to turn against the Falcone/Mooney side, so he could rise as a mole in Maroni's organization, then help bring down them both, then take over Mooney's territory within Falcone's regime. This plan initially succeeds, but various spanners get thrown in the works...
• After the Season 1 finale, Maroni and Mooney are dead, and Falcone retires, leaving the Penguin as the young new head of the unified mob. Butch Gilzean, tortured and mentally conditioned to be loyal to Falcone, stays as Penguin's lieutenant. Penguin triumphantly declares that he is now "King of Gotham". Cobblepot's hold over the city doesn't last for long, however...
• In Season 2.0, Theo Galavan's organization arrives in Gotham and starts muscling its way into power - starting with kidnapping the Penguin's mother as leverage on him, smoothing Theo's path to power as he successfully ran for mayor (after kidnapping the current mayor to force a new election). Cobblepot's plan to have Butch infiltrate the Galavans backfired, after Theo's sister Tabitha managed to undo his mental conditioning, after which he joined them to seek revenge. Theo then had his sister Tabitha Galavan kill Penguin's mother, but he escaped and unsuccessfully tried to kill now-Mayor Theo Galavan in public - making Cobblepot a public enemy on the run. Penguin finally managed to kill Theo Galavan with the help of Jim Gordon, but was later arrested. He managed to plead insanity to be sent to Arkham Asylum, and through a complex chain of events was released by its corrupt director, Dr. Strange.
• In Season 2.5, the death of Theo Galavan and Cobblepot's imprisonment, Butch Gilzean and Tabitha stepped in to fill the power vacuum, joined by their new accomplice Barbara Kean. Dr. Strange's experiments resurrected Theo Galavan as an assassin for the Court of Owls, causing the Penguin to return and team up with Butch to take him down.
• In Season 3.0, the escaped army of monsters created by Dr. Strange at Arkham Asylum (for the Court of Owls) ran rampant throughout the city - but Cobblepot led angry mobs to round up many of them, and capitalized on the credit for this to successfully run for mayor (taking back everything he'd lost to Theo Galavan since the beginning of Season 2, and even co-opting Galavan's plan to become Mayor). For a time, the Penguin stood at the height of power.
• In Season 3.5, internal conflicts within the Penguin's organization tore it apart. First, Edward Nygma usurped Butch's position as Cobblepot's right-hand advisor, while Barbara Kean rose in the underworld as a night-club operator along with Tabitha. Nygma manipulated Butch into using the Red Hood Gang to try to kill Cobblepot (and failing), causing Butch to go on the run with Tabitha. Nygma's plan succeeds too well, as Cobbleplot begins to realize he has romantic feelings for him - but when he is rejected, Cobbleplot kills Nygma's new girlfriend in revenge for "stealing" him away. When Nygma learns of this, he seeks revenge, allying with Butch, Tabitha, and Barbara. Barbara Kean, however, masterminds the plan to take down Cobbleplot, losing his mayor ship, and replaces him as the new "Queen" of the Gotham mob. Nygma, now "The Riddler", shot Cobblepot and left him for dead in the bay - but he managed to cheat death once again, nursed by to health by Ivy Pepper (Poison Ivy), who gave him the idea that he should build a new army of "freaks" from the remaining Arkham Asylum escapees (including Mr. Freeze, Firefly, etc.). Both factions then ran afoul of the Court of Owls' plan to destroy the city with an insanity virus. Butch and Tabitha, meanwhile, gradually grew uncomfortable with Barbara's increasingly deteriorating mental state (both Butch and Barbara were in love with Tabitha) and planned to depose her. Barbara's hold over the entire criminal underworld of Gotham was much more tenuous than Cobbleplot's initially was. Eventually, Barbara overreached herself by stealing the cure to the insanity virus the Court intended to unleash - intending to ransom the city for it. Jim Gordon, however, convinced Nygma that he would trade him Cobbleplot for the cure (as Nygma desired this personal revenge more than anything). Nygma thus betrayed Barbara to get the cure, but the whole plan failed: with no cure to ransom, Barbara realized too late that she had brought the full attention of the GCPD on her organization with nothing to gain, and she would have to flee into hiding. Butch then revealed that he intended to kill her during the trade-off and blame the police or Penguin, but Barbara shot him through the head (putting him in a coma). In retaliation, Tabitha killed Barbara by electrocuting her, then fled on the run herself (as Cobblepot would never forgive her for killing his mother, and her protectors were now dead). Meanwhile, the Penguin outwitted the Riddler, culminating in a final confrontation in which Cobblepot had Nygma frozen alive in a block of ice by Mr. Freeze. The Penguin then retakes control of the underworld organization, and even takes over Barbara's former nightclub, remodeling it as the center of his criminal empire: the Iceberg Lounge.
• At the beginning of Season 4, the Penguin has once again risen to the height of power and rules the unified criminal underworld of Gotham. He has lost the mayor ship, but is unconcerned with getting it back (having had a taste of what it's really like, he says he "doesn't envy" his replacement). While the Court of Owls, before it was destroyed, was able to unleash its insanity virus attack, the Penguin's iron hold on the unified mob managed to rein in most of the chaos, which helped the police focus on capturing all the infected. Now they find themselves dependent on the Penguin, however, with the new mayor and police commissioner on his payroll. Relative to his position at the start of Season 2, Penguin has a much firmer hold on crime in the city than ever: to the point of issuing a formal license system for criminals (a very structured extortion racket). Penguin's logical argument to the mayor and commissioner is that there will always be crime in Gotham, so it is better to keep it organized and under a relative amount of control (echoing Don Falcone's philosophy given in Season 1). Indeed, he points out, he has managed to reduce crime levels to historic lows with his licensing system (down 57% from what it was before he took over), so in exchange for that relative stability and some bribes, the mayor and commissioner agree that the police will ignore any criminal operating with one of the Penguin's licenses - leaving him the de facto ruler of Gotham. A few holdout criminals here and there are popping up who challenge Penguin taking a cut of their profits (met with swift retaliation from Zsasz), while an outraged Jim Gordon refuses to just give in to the new arrangement. Unfortunately, Gordon's attempt to solicit help from Carmine Falcone ends badly, as it inspires his ruthless daughter Sofia to come back to Gotham. Slipping into the affections of both Penguin and Gordon, Sofia uses Professor Pyg to both destabilize Penguin and frame Gordon, before killing her father and using Zsasz' betrayal of Penguin to her advantage, having Oswald thrown in Arkham. Taking control of Gotham (including breaking Lee Thompkins' hand with a hammer to get to Jim), she's undone by a combination of Penguin's resourcefulness, the re-emergence of the Riddler and Lee shooting her in the head.
• In season 4.5 the underworld is in chaos, as Penguin has lost his power base and the future Bat-villains begin to take centre-stage in Jerome's Legion of Horribles. Oswald spends this period of time instigating a risky series of alliances to restore his power, while Lee and Riddler claim ownership of the Narrows. Penguin's alliance with Jerome leads to him betraying Jerome, as their plans are too much even for him - but Jerome's death spawns an even worse threat in his brother Jeremiah who, with aid from Ra's Al Ghul, destroys all the bridges leading into Gotham. Penguin (who kills Butch in revenege on Tabitha), Barbara and the other villains carve out their own empires in Gotham, now declared a No Man's Land.

Cobblepot Family:

Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin

The self-styled King of Gotham, and the man most responsible for destroying Gotham's old order of organized crime to suit himself. For tropes regarding him, see his character page.

Victor Zsasz

The no.1 assassin for Falcone, and later Penguin. For tropes regarding him, see Gotham - Rogues Gallery: Cellblock B.

Mr. Penn

Penguin's long-suffering accountant - one who's more than he initially appears to be. For tropes regarding him, see Gotham - Rogues Gallery: Cellblock A.

Martin

Martin

Played By: Christopher Convery

A mute boy introduced at Sofia Falcone's orphanage, who becomes a two-way pawn in the rivalry between her and Penguin.

• Cute Mute: Played with, he's a sweet-looking boy but the first time we see him he's trying to set his bullies' schoolbags on fire. Oswald later coaxes out his written admission that he fantasizes about getting back at the other orphanage kids who tease him.
• Faking the Dead: Penguin tries to protect Martin from Sofia by faking the boy's death in an explosion. Backfires when Zsasz betrays him in Sofia's favor and claims Oswald really did blow Martin up.
• Hostage Situation:
  • The Pyg threatens to kill Martin at a benefit dinner for Sofia's orphanage, unless the wealthy attendees tuck into the pies he's baked from human flesh.
  • Later on, Sofia uses him to force Oswald to stay in Arkham after being framed for Martin's death.
• I Have Your Wife: Once she takes control, Sofia forces Oswald to remain in Arkham and to not try and escape by threatening Martin's life.
• The Speechless: He never utters a sound, even when there's a psychopath in a chef's hat holding a knife to his throat. It's never made clear if he can't talk for mental or physical reasons or if he just chooses not to.
• Punny Name: A martin is a family of birds. He's adopted by Penguin.
• Talking with Signs: Martin carries a sketchbook and pen which he communicates with via a combination of written words and drawings.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: His first scene has him soaking his bullies' schoolbags in gasoline and getting ready to set them on fire.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He's last seen at the very beginning of "The Sinking Ship, the Grand Applause" being rescued by the Riddler who later tells Oswald that he's now being hidden elsewhere, but is not mentioned again afterwards.

Tommy Bones

Tommy Bones

Played By: James Andrew O'Connor

A mobster and hitman recently released from prison. In Season 2, he is seen working for Penguin.

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• Back for the Dead: After getting Put on a Bus, Bones returns in Season 3 to be framed and murdered by Barbara in a scheme to take away Penguin's position as mob boss.
• Beard of Evil: He's a bearded murderer.
• The Brute: The man is bigger than Gilzean and fulfills a similiar role,
• The Dragon: Becomes Maroni's new one. Gets promoted to Penguin's later when he becomes mob king.
• Frame-Up: Barbara and Tabitha frame Bones for abducting Nygma and have him killed after Penguin believes he turned traitor.
• Mook Lieutenant: He has some authority within Maroni's family.
• Psycho for Hire: One of his jobs is to carry out murders, like he tried to do against Falcone in the season 1 finale.
• Put on a Bus: Is not really seen after the first few episodes of Season 2. The Bus Came Back in season 3, but only to kill him off.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Tabitha and Barbara frame him for abducting Nygma and betraying the Penguin, they have him executed when he's done playing his part.

Gabe

Gabe

Played By: Alex Corrado

A soldier in the Maroni family and Cobblepot's chief muscle. Formerly worked for Carbone.

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• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Penguin gains the upper hand on him, Gabe doesn't hesitate to try and weasel out of his impending death. It doesn't do him any good.
• The Brute: To Cobblepot.
• Crossword Puzzle: Is doing one of these in Season 2 Episode 3 when Penguin is watching the news about Jerome.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Getting disemboweled by a garden shear is not a pleasant way to go out.
• A Death in the Limelight: He gets much more attention in the Heroes Rise story arc, where he stabs Oswald in the back and holds him for ransom to sell to other criminals who want his head. Ironically, the first time he receives character development is also his last appearance since Penguin kills him.
• Dirty Coward: He only pretended to be Penguin's friend because he was afraid of him the whole time. He's also not above lying to him in order to stay alive.
• Dumb Muscle: Gabe is very strong and ruthless, but really he isn't that bright. He at one point asks out loud what a bonsai tree is.
• Facial Horror: Half of his face is sliced off after getting stabbed to death by the Penguin.
• False Friend: Turns out he never liked the Penguin.
• Fat Bastard: He's overweight and a mob enforcer.
• Large and in Charge: Of Cobblepot's muscle.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: He turns against Penguin after finally having enough of his harsh treatment.
• Only in It for the Money: He betrayed Carbone after Cobblepot offered him more money.
• Pet the Dog: He's got no love for Penguin, but seems to like his mother well enough, calling her "Mrs. K", obligingly dancing with her, and walking her home. He even appears to sincerely attempt to console Penguin after her death and offers to kill Galavan for him in vengeance.
• Put on a Bus: He is not seen after Season 2 Episode 11. Viewers assumed he may have been one of the not visible people killed by Mr. Freeze in Gotham Stories, that he was arrested and sent to Blackgate, or escaped after Mr. Freeze attacked the Penguin's new hideout. He was not seen with Penguin and Butch attacking the bus of monsters in Season 2 Episode 22. The Bus Came Back in Season 3, Episode 8.
• The Quisling: He tries to sell out Penguin instead of crawling back to him, severing their friendship for good.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: While under control of Poison Ivy's spores, he is forced to tell his real feelings about the Penguin, which reveals that he absolutely hates Cobblepot and still sees him as the pathetic servant who carried their umbrellas. This also gets him killed.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Penguin kills him after his betrayal.
• Slashed Throat: Penguin tears out his throat with garden shears.
• The Starscream: It's revealed that he's been against Penguin from the start. After Penguin loses control of the mob to Barbara and he contacts Gabe for help, he immediately turns against him and plans to sell out his old boss to the highest bidder to kill Penguin themselves.
• You Have Failed Me: Penguin butchers him for calling him a freak.

Falcone Family:

Carmine Falcone

Don Carmine Falcone

"I never lose sleep over my enemies. It's my friends that keep me awake."

Played By: John Doman

"You can't have organized crime without law and order. I love this city, and I see it going to hell. But I won't let it fall apart without a fight."

The Crime Lord of Gotham.

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• Abusive Parents: Subverted: the only time we see him losing control with his offspring is when he backhands Sofia in "Queen Takes Knight". However, that was well-deserved considering she'd conspired to start a gang war to claim the city, and shortly afterward he says that even though he is disinheriting her, he is not disowning her - she's still his little girl, no matter what. Which makes it even sadder when Sofia has him killed.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: The comics version of Falcone was a Faux Affably Evil killer who had no qualms threatening Jim's family or Gotham itself if it meant he could hold on to power. The Gotham version is actually friends (of sorts, anyway) with Gordon's family, respects Jim (even if it isn't reciprocated) and is simply trying to keep Gotham from falling apart. At the end of season 1, he acknowledges that Gotham is now in need of a lawman like Jim Gordon to lead it instead of a criminal like him and retires peacefully. Even in his return appearances his motives are generally good - he helps Gordon escape Blackgate, is willing to challenge the Court of Owls to save his son and disapproves of Sofia's ruthlessness.
• Affably Evil: Falcone is straight from the pages of the classic mob boss: polite, respectful, and civil to even his archenemies that he knows want him dead or in jail. In this he's the last of a dying breed in Gotham, as gangsters like Fish, Maroni and Penguin share none of his old-school morals.
• Age Lift: He's already in his 70s and mentions being friends with Gordon's father. In the comics, he's around this age when Bruce becomes Batman.
• Ancient Conspiracy: Is associated with the Court of Owls and has worked closely with them, albeit under duress.
• Apologetic Attacker: When he personally executes Liza for her role in Fish's scheme.
• Berserk Button:
  • Don't betray him. Ever. When Fish robs the family money's reserves, Falcone kills the member who was supposed to guard it, putting the fear of God in everybody else.
  • Never use his mother to your advantage. Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas, and when he finds out that Fish had been using his "sainted mother" against him, is he ever pissed.
• Big Bad Ensemble: While most of the conflict in Season 1 stems from Cobblepot and Mooney's scheming, Falcone is the current don, and as such the primary threat for most of the first half of the season.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: He realizes letting Gordon live is a risk, but believes that if Gordon will just get on board with his way of thinking, he can be a very valuable ally.
• The Chessmaster: He's pulling Cobblepot's strings to make him The Mole, and is fully aware of what's happening in his own ranks that his officers think he's ignorant about.
• Commuting on a Bus: He flees Gotham at the end of season 1, but returns in "Prisoners" to smuggle Gordon out of Gotham. He also makes several returns in subsequent seasons.
• Cool Old Guy: For a mob boss and local crime lord, Falcone is a pretty nice guy, and is nothing but polite with Gordon and Bullock.
• Cynicism Catalyst: His forced departure from Gotham. When Gordon comes to ask for his help in dethroning Penguin, he admits there was a time he would have done anything for Gotham, but those days are long gone.
• Death by Adaptation: Whilst he is killed in the comics during Batman: The Long Halloween, here he's killed much earlier when gunned down by an assassin hired by his own daughter Sofia, and therefore doesn't live to see the Dark Knight rise. Since he was already dying of a terminal illness, however, his death was inevitable.
• Dented Iron: His old age finally catches up with him in the fourth season, and as he reveals he's suffering a terminal illness that has forced him out of Gotham outright and doesn't have much longer to live.
• The Don: In Gotham. Butch actually addresses him as such.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Falcone loved his mother and Fish used this to get Liza, her Honey Pot, close to him. Liza approaches Falcone wearing headphones and listening to an aria that was Falcone's mother's favorite. Falcone is greatly touched hearing the music again and quickly bonds with Liza. Fish trained Liza to behave in a matter that would remind Falcone of his mother and thus get him to lower his barriers. To say he's livid when Penguin eventually tells him of Fish's plan would be a massive understatement.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Say what you will about him, but he's deeply loyal to his family and shows great love for his dead mother, Mario (even though he'd distanced himself from the family) and Sofia. Hell, when the Court of Owls, the shadowy group that even he obeyed, threatens his son he's willing to go to war with them to protect him.
• Even Evil Has Standards: His entire philosophy towards organized crime is this; organized crime has to be organized, and those that are a part of it need to have morals and strength to keep the structure intact. There's no profit to be had in chaos. As part of this, he claims that the framing of Mario Pepper was done to prevent panic from breaking out because citizens lost faith in the system.
  Falcone: You can't have organized crime without law and order.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: His vast crime syndicate includes Eastern European and Asian gangsters.
• Exact Words: At the end of "Time Bomb", he advises Gordon to stay away from the darker goings on involving his son. Because he doesn't want him endangered by any recklessness from those outside of the loop, something Gordon doesn't want either.
• Friendly Enemy: He claims to have been this with Gordon's father. In the present, he's this with Maroni: the two understand the mutual need for respect and rules.
• Genre Blindness: He's considerably smarter than either Fish or Maroni, but he still never seems to realise that he's not in a traditional gangster story like The Godfather, and that the viciousness and ruthlessness of the future Bat-villains like Penguin will send the city spiralling out of even his control.
  • Most disastrously, at one point he says Penguin is "clever enough to know that a freakish little man like him is never going to be the boss", indicating that just like everyone else he seriously underestimates Oswald's ambition and cunning.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Played with: the leader of the Gotham mobs, he's indirectly responsible for the corruption Gordon has to deal with, including that of Commissioner Loeb and Mayor James - as well as having been being Fish' boss (and later Penguin's). However, their feuds with Gordon are entirely independent of his orders. For the most part he acts in ways he feels can keep the city from falling further into chaos, representing a lawful evil compared to the viciousness of villains like Penguin and Jerome.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: In "All Happy Families Are Alike". At the very least, he acknowledges that the time has come for Gotham to turn away from organized crime and towards a lawman to guide it and decides to retire. Notably, most of his subsequent appearances have him at least nominally on the side of good, most notably against the Court of Owls.
• He's Back!: In "What the Little Bird Told Him", he's looking back at all his lieutenants plotting against him and wondering if his time really has passed, and it's time to retire and leave Gotham peacefully. Then Cobblepot tells him that Liza is The Mole for Fish, purposefully dolled up to look and act like Falcone's mother, and Falcone comes back with a vengeance. Falcone sums it up best when he thanks Fish for "reminding him" why he became The Don.
• I Have Your Wife:
  • Convinces Gordon to refrain from arresting him by pulling this, thanks to a spectacular moment of stupidity from Barbara.
  • Ends up on the receiving end in Season 3 when the Court of Owls forces him to do their bidding by threatening his son.
• Karma Houdini: Gets away in the season 1 finale, promising to never return. Barnes isn't too happy about it, even considering that he is now retired. Subverted in season 4 - he meets his demise at the hands of his own offspring, a woman whose ruthlessness has more in common with Penguin or Fish than him.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: He meets his end in "Queen Takes Knight" after being assassinated on his daughter's order.
• Keeping the Enemy Close: He knows Fish wants to usurp his place as the top dog of the organized crime world, but keeps her as his go-to gal, having a civil-toned conversation with her even as he has his men beat the crap out of her boytoy. In "Lovecraft" he is even directly asked why he has continued to let Mooney live, despite her ambitions: he responds that each of his major lieutenants would like to depose him, if they thought they could. That's just how organized crime works. The trick is being strong enough to convince the rest of them that it would be easier to work for him than to try to fight him.
• Large and in Charge: The overlord of the Gotham mobs, and at 6 feet 2 inches one of the series' most physically imposing characters.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Gordon comes to view him as this by the end of season 1, repeatedly referring to him as the least worst option when compared to having Maroni or Fish in charge. Invoked again in season 4, when Gordon starts seeking his aid in getting rid of Penguin.
• Mama's Boy: An Achilles' Heel Fish tries to exploit by sending a young woman with a resemblance to his mother to seduce him.
• Never My Fault: His anger at Jim for Mario's death is this considering that he acquired Indian Hill for the Court of Owls. If he had not done so, the test subjects might never have escaped and Jervis Tetch would've likely never come to Gotham looking for Alice and subsequently infecting Mario.
• Not His Sled: In the comics, he continued his activities around the time Bruce first became Batman, only to be killed by Two-Face in one of the former DA turned murderous psychopath's first criminal acts. Here, he retires not long after the Waynes died and is murdered by an assassin working for Sofia just as a teenaged Bruce is beginning his superhero career. Outside of all this, Carmine Falcone never even existed in the comics until Post-Crisis.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Fish's plan to force him out of Gotham almost works, even though he knows she's behind it all. When he finds out the true extent of the plot against him, though, he does some things she wasn't prepared for, including strangle Liza in front of her.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Fish believes he's gone old and soft, but it's only because, thanks to having the foresight to keep Penguin alive, he knows exactly what everyone is up to and is secure in that knowledge.
• Odd Friendship: God knows how he managed to inspire such Undying Loyalty in an Ax-Crazy serial killer like Zsasz.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • As Zsasz describes his reaction to Mario's death in "Ghosts": "He's beside himself. I've never seen him like this before."
  • After Mario's death, Falcone is typically hostile towards Jim, but in "They Who Hide Behind Masks", he shows him none of that hostility on the grounds that he literally doesn't have the strength for it on account of a terminal illness that will soon claim his life.
• Papa Wolf: He's wary of Lee marrying his son, because if she still has feelings for Jim she'd break his heart. He also cares so much about his son, he will get extremely dangerous if anything should happen to him. In fact, when Mario is shot and Falcone finds out who pulled the trigger, he doesn't take it well at all. Not so much with Sofia, but then she's not exactly the daughter he hoped for...
• Pet the Dog: When Lee indicates she wants to kill Gordon for what he did to Mario, Falcone tries to convince her to leave that to him so that she doesn't have to dirty her hands, which is something he doesn't believe she can live with.
  • In spite of arranging for Sofia to be banished and disinherited, he still allows her to keep the Falcone name because she's still his daughter and he still loves her. And then she has him murdered.
• Pragmatic Villainy:
  • Seems to want law and order in Gotham. He's not a good guy, but he seems to realize that Gotham is beginning its downward slide into chaotic violence rather than the organized crime of his generation, and that's not good for business. Also, unlike Fish, Falcone realizes that unnecessarily killing police officers has consequences, and will result in an undesirable backlash from the rest of the police.
  • He self-admittedly hates snitches, but ends up agreeing to keep Penguin alive since it gives him such an edge on Fish, and later Maroni.
  • He also decides to make peace with Maroni, since a mob war is unprofitable in the long run.
• Retired Badass: He may be retired, but he's still got a lot of fight in him. Heaven help you if you harm his son, even if you're part of a centuries-old shadow conspiracy that rules Gotham...
• Revenge: Sends Zsasz after Jim after he kills Mario, and only relents after Lee begs him not to after realising the insanity the Tetch virus brings on.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tired from all the betrayals and attempts on his life, he decides to quit being The Don and just wants to get out while he still can.
• Trailers Always Lie: The promo for "Time Bomb" makes him look like a full member of the Court of Owls, complete with the line "Gotham will burn." In truth, he's actually serving the Court under duress, and the aforementioned quote is part of a threat to the Court should any harm come to his son.
• Villain Cred: One of the most respected people in Gotham, even to other villains. Fish refuses to kill him on Butch's suggestion, observing he was great once and she owes him that at least. Maroni has a Friendly Enemy relationship with him, while Penguin views him as an Evil Mentor and insists on killing him personally. Even in season 4, when he's retired from Gotham affairs and Penguin is at the height of his power, he makes clear that Oswald will damn well honor the deal to not kill Sofia or there'll be serious repercussions.
• Villainous BSoD: After Fish coerces him into leaving Gotham in exchange for Liza.
• Villainous Rescue: In the pilot, Falcone saves Gordon and Bullock from Fish. In season 3 he shows up just in time to save the two again, this time by calling off Zsasz - though this time he's not happy to do so, having been forced to by the Court of Owls.
• Villains Never Lie: And Gordon turns out to be intelligent enough to recognize that he wasn't bluffing when he said Zsasz has taken Barbara. His honesty streak even convinces Gordon to pull a gun on his uncle.
• Villains Out Shopping: Feeds pigeons. He also likes to purchase and breed chickens - something used against him in the season 1 finale.
• You Have Failed Me: Personally shoots one of his men, who he claims was a friend of his for years, after failing to defend one of his vaults. Falcone admits he doesn't know if the guy sold him out, or if he was just incompetent, but either way he's dead.
• You Killed My Father: Subverted: Gordon is certain he had some sort of involvement in the death of his father, since he had paid for the defense of the guy who did it. However, it turns out Carmine merely did that at the behest of the Court of Owls, and that Gordon's father was actually killed by his own uncle, another member of the Court.
• You See, I'm Dying: His appearance in "They Who Hide Behind Masks" has him refusing to help Gordon take down the Penguin on the grounds that he's dying from something mysterious.

Dr. Mario Calvi

Dr. Mario Calvi

Played By: James Carpinello

The son of Carmine Falcone, and Lee Thompson's fiancé.

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• Adaptational Heroism: The series' version is more in-line with his debut in Dark Victory where he was trying to turn his family's name around before the stress of finding out his sister, Sofia, was the Cop Killer Hangman and killed their brother, Alberto, caused a psychological breakdown rather than his post-Battle of the Cowl appearances, where he succeeded his father and sister as the head of the family. Then again, even in his backstory, he's this, as he's the White Sheep of the Falcone family, whereas part of Dark Victory's backstory had him get arrested as a teenager for criminal behavior.
• Adaptation Name Change: Uses his mother's maiden name instead of his father's surname, to avoid being associated with the Falcone crime family.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: He's a doctor and the white sheep of the Falcone family here, as opposed to the criminal of the comics.
• Age Lift: In the comics, he's around Bruce's age. Here, he's closer to Gordon's.
• Ascended Extra: He's a much more prominent character in this show; in the comics, he's just another one of his father's thugs.
• Ax-Crazy: Once infected by Alice Tetch's blood.
• Batman Gambit: Despite being infected by Alice's blood, he pulls one to convince Lee that Jim is just a paranoid ex. He succeeds.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Once it's revealed he's infected by the Tetch virus, he turns out to be be jealous, arrogant and rude - especially towards Jim.
• Canon Character All Along: He appears to be a new character at first, until his last name and relations to Carmine were revealed.
• Character Death: Is killed by Gordon before he can kill Leslie in a jealousy-induced rage.
• Death by Adaptation: He's still around when Bruce becomes Batman in the comics, but here, he dies before any of that can happen, courtesy of Gordon.
• Green-Eyed Monster: His jealousy over Jim and Lee's remaining feelings for each other becomes the trait brought out by the Tetch virus, leading to his attempting to kill Lee at the end of the season.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: He says this to Jim, a Call-Back to what Jim said when they first met, when he told Mad Hatter to shoot Lee.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Once he realizes the Tetch virus can't be cured, he ends up enacting an episode-long Batman Gambit against Jim in order to make Lee think he'd gone mad with jealousy, before trying to kill her.
• Sanity Slippage: He was infected by Alice Tetch's blood during the events of "Red Queen", and slowly goes mad over the next few episodes.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: After he gets infected by the Tetch virus, he exploits his status as Carmine's son to have Victor Zsasz hold Gordon at gunpoint while he enacts his plan.
• Villainous Legacy: His death is the reason Jim and Lee are at loggerheads for the rest of season 3, and is the principle reason she takes the Tetch virus herself - culminating in her stopping Jim from defusing the Court of Owls' virus bomb, getting hundreds of others infected and leading to chaos in the city as a result.
• White Sheep: As his father puts it, he's very "different" from the rest of the Falcone crime family.
• Yandere: Once Alice's blood increases his jealousy significantly, he becomes obsessed with keeping Lee for himself, and is willing to murder and deceive people to ensure that nobody gets in the way of their marriage, especially Jim. Subverted when he decides to kill Lee after realizing that even after their marriage, she still cares for Gordon.

Sofia Falcone

Sofia Falcone

Played By: Crystal Reed

The daughter of Carmine Falcone. She comes to Gotham to continue her father's legacy and bring her family back into power, and to do that, she needs to wipe out the lone crime boss that stands in her way: Oswald Cobblepot.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: Sofia in the comics is an enormous Brawn Hilda who towers over father. Here, she's played by the beautiful Crystal Reed.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: This Sofia isn't nearly as cruel and intimidating as her comic counterpart. Instead, she comes off as a kindhearted, child-loving motherly figure... at first.
• All for Nothing: In the end, every action she made to recreate the Falcone empire with her at the head (including the assassination of her own father) amounts to nothing. She barely gets to enjoy her new empire for a couple of weeks before it all comes crashing down. Before Season Four is even over, she's in a coma, her empire has collapsed and permanently fractured the Gotham underworld, and whatever influence the Falcones had in Gotham is gone for good.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Has her own father killed when it becomes clear he'd never approve of her actions. That her tragic loss generates great sympathy for her with Gordon is also a plus.
• Asshole Victim: Absolutely no one sheds any tears for her when Lee puts a bullet between her eyes.
• Ax-Crazy: In notable contrast to Carmine: she doesn't bat an eye at the numerous deaths she causes in order to gain control of the Gotham underworld, and clearly enjoys inflicting emotional pain on Jim through the memory of all the cops Pyg killed, and actual pain on Lee through breaking her hand. It's implied that this is rooted in when she, at eight years old, walked in on her father murdering someone who was begging for mercy, and she got off on it.
• Batman Gambit: She's a very intricate planner who always manages to stay one step ahead of the game. Throughout the season, she and the Penguin engage in an all-out Gambit ''War''.
• Big Bad: For the first half of Season 4. She spends her time instigating a hostile takeover of the mob world.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Sofia comes across as very charming and kind-hearted initially, but is just as capable of cruelty as any other villain in the series. Notably, it never 100% works - Oswald's constantly suspicious of her, while Jim swiftly distances himself from their arrangement after she lets numerous people be killed to further her plans - but it's enough to throw them off-balance until she's ready to move.
• The Chessmaster: Does an outstanding job of playing Gordon and Penguin: from the moment she sets foot in Gotham they're unwittingly dancing to her tune.
• Crocodile Tears: She tries to turn Gordon against the Penguin by bawling her eyes out after he almost had her tortured. He doesn't buy it.
• Daddy's Little Villain: Unlike her brother, Sophia very much wants to be a part of their family's criminal legacy.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Despite her best efforts to come out on top of Gotham's mob, even successfully dethroning Penguin, she is shot in the head and rendered comatose halfway through the season.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Subverted. Most of her actions were out of a misplaced desire for her father's approval and it's also clear she loved her brother and was devastated by his death. However, that didn't stop her from having her own father assassinated in order to take down Penguin and claim his empire, nor from attacking Lee, Mario's widow, just to hurt and spite Jim. In the end, no matter how much Sofia might claim to love her family, her own desires always come first.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Can't quite believe what she's seeing when she walks in on Penguin teaching Martin how to shiv someone with his cane knife.
  • It's implied that she draws the line at hurting children - she's visibly shocked when Penguin appears to blow up Martin in a car bomb (though that might be because it was the first time Penguin hadn't reacted the way she'd anticipated).
• Evil Is Petty: She doesn't forgive Gordon for killing her brother, affected by Tetch's blood or not - and shatters Lee's hand, just to get at him.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: A beautiful, elegant young lady more than willing to murder and torture.
• Faux Affably Evil: She puts on a hell of an act, appearing to be kind and charitable towards everyone. But as soon as she gets power she proves she's got none of her father's morals, having people tortured and murdered left and right.
• Friend to All Children: One of her public fronts is as head of the Falcones' children's charity, and she's remarkably good at it. Given her moments above, it's implied to be the only part of her kind personality that is genuine or closer to it, at least.
• Genre Blindness: She's far more in line with the new breed of villains in Gotham in her levels of ruthlessness, but remains convinced she can take things back to the way things were pre-Penguin, with herself at the head of a new Falcone empire. In this she underestimates how much things have changed, and how determined and dangerous future Bat-rogues like Penguin and Riddler actually are.
• It's All About Me: It's telling that her principal concern when she has Gordon repeatedly shot and at her mercy is to hear him beg for her forgiveness. Even after all she'd done up to that point, it's clear she still sees herself as the wronged party.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Ultimately, her downfall comes as a result of her own petty and self-centered actions, culminating in Lee shooting her in the head for shattering her hand and taking the Narrows from her just to punish Gordon. She falls into a coma and her new empire completely collapses, with those under her, including enemies such as the Penguin and Lee, carving up what's left of it.
• Mafia Princess: She's the daughter of Gotham's most powerful crime lord, and unlike her brother, she's revels with that status.
• Manipulative Bitch: And how! Whether she's manipulating Gordon, the Penguin, or the Sirens, she always finds a way to turn things in her favour, one way or another.
• The Masochism Tango: Even after she confesses that she actually hates Jim for killing Mario, she's still attracted to him (both physically and because he's such a gratifying pawn for her to manipulate) and offers to let them start over if he just submitted to her. This is while she's threatening him with a gun, after having already shot him multiple times, leaving him on the floor, bleeding out, and dying. Understandably, Jim tells her to go to hell.
• Mythology Gag: After she is shot non-fatally by the gunman that killed her father, she feigns her injury by wearing a neckbrace and sitting in a wheelchair, a move that is taken straight out of Dark Victory.
• Never My Fault: After Sofia assassinates Carmine, she considers it his own fault for never "believing" in her.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Neither Falcone's return nor Penguin's seemingly blowing up Martin figure into her plans, but she's able to spin both to her advantage - the former by assassinating him and blaming it on Penguin, the latter by her discovering the boy was alive and subsequently using it to threaten Penguin into staying in Arkham.
• Patricide: It turns out that she was the one who ordered the hit on her father.
• Promoted to Love Interest: She becomes Gordon's primary love interest in the first half of Season 4. In the comics, the two never interacted with each other. However, Gordon is also a pawn in her agenda.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Her Bitch in Sheep's Clothing act is a good one, but when that falls away it becomes apparent she's a spoiled brat who demands the same kind of respect her father carefully earned, and who has her own sister-in-law's hand crushed just to spite her former lover Gordon.
• Revenge: She wants to take revenge on Jim Gordon for killing her brother Mario.
• Revenge by Proxy: Sofia brutalizes and humiliates Lee in order to make Jim suffer, first by seizing control of the Narrows from Lee by force and then smashing one of her hands with a hammer.
• Sadistic Choice: How she keeps Gordon in line: he can arrest her and she'll reveal he brought her to Gotham and covered up Pyg's murder, and watch the GCPD fall apart as a result of their "hero" captain's actions, or keep quiet and watch his soul erode as he gives into all her demands.
• Short-Lived Leadership: The new Falcone Empire, which she stole from Penguin, barely lasts for a few weeks before all of Sofia's actions come to bite her in the ass, ending with her being shot in the head and Gotham's criminal underworld once again falling into disarray, finishing off the Falcones' influence in the city for good.
• 'Tis Only a Bullet in the Brain: Courtesy of Lee, and she lives through the experience, leaving her in a comatose state.
• Too Clever by Half: She's an exceptionally skilled schemer and manipulator who plays others with ease and stays ahead of others effortlessly but she makes some crucial errors in judgement that end up undoing all her work. Sofia was smart enough to understand how much the criminal underworld in Gotham had changed and who the new players were and how they functioned but arrogant enough to think she could return things to how they used to be, with herself as te new leader.
• Uncertain Doom: She's shot in the head but doesn't die, ending up in a coma and never waking up with her eventual fate left a mystery.
• Underestimating Badassery: She underestimates Penguin's resourcefulness, Gordon's determination to get rid of her, Riddler's refusal to sell out his former friend and Lee's desire for revenge. The combination leaves her shot in the head and comatose.
• Villainous Breakdown: She begins to suffer this in "The Sinking Ship, the Grand Applause" as her enemies (Gordon, Penguin, Lee) start making their separate moves all at once.
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: At the end of the day, Sofia wants Carmine to see her as a suitable heir to his criminal empire.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite it being mentioned that Lee shooting her in the head had put her in a coma, she's never mentioned thereafter.
• The Woman Behind the Man: Arc Villain Professor Pyg is revealed to be a hired gun brought in by Sofia herself.
• Would Hurt a Child: Subverted. Despite being the founder of an orphanage, she appears to have no qualms hurting Martin if the Penguin doesn't abide by her rules. However, it's implied that she was never actually planning on hurting the boy, and that she was just telling Martin to play along in an effort to once again manipulate Penguin, and she's visibly shaken when it looks like Penguin killed Martin.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Penguin is near-constantly suspicious of her due to his natural paranoia (properly, in this case), so she's constantly enacting this to stay one step ahead of him.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Kills Pyg in order to frame Gordon.

Lazlo Valentin/Professor Pyg

See Gotham - Rogues Gallery: Cellblock B.

The Dentist

The Dentist

Played By: D. Baron Buddy Bolton

A torturer specializing in mouth-based torture. Initially worked for the Penguin before defecting to work for Sofia Falcone.

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• Attack the Mouth: Drills into his victims teeth and gums to deliberately inflict pain.
• Bald of Evil: Nary a hair on his head.
• Depraved Dentist: Deliberately invokes this.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: How Sofia's able to get him to switch sides - by threatening his wife and son will be killed if she's harmed by him.
• Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Wears a long, yellow rubber one.
• Spectacled Sadist: Wears a pair of coke-bottle specs.
• Torture Technician: Penguin and later Sofia's go-to guy in this category.

Samson

Samson

Played By: Stu "Large" Riley

A minor crime lord seeking control of the Narrows, who allies with Sofia Falcone.

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• Dirty Coward: Folds immediately to Lee's demands after losing his backing with the Falcones.
• Fat Bastard: Is seen eating multiple meals in what is implied to be one sitting in his debut episode.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted: tells a debtee his men are brutally beating that of course he wouldn't hurt his family - then kills him in front of them and adds unless they don't pay him.
• Large Ham: Is introduced having his lunch in an alleyway, in a Waistcoat of Style, complete with a table with a tablecloth and a fake window as a backdrop behind him.
• Revenge by Proxy: The recipient; as she'd already gunned Sofia into a coma, Lee smashes Samson's hand with a hammer after she regains control in the Narrows - just as Sofia had done to her.
• Scary Black Man: As his actor's nickname implies, is a very large, physically imposing man. Subverted, as it's eventually revealed that without Sofia's backing he's easily defeated.
• Smug Snake: Taunts Lee when Sofia is about to smash her hand, confident that it's the end of her. He's wrong, and pays for it later.
• Villainous Glutton: Samson is a very literal example of "conspicuous consumption."

Agnes/The Scandinavian Skinner

Agnes/The Scandinavian Skinner

Played By: Waltrudis Buck

An elderly retired hitwoman who used to work for the Falcones. Now runs a candy shop.

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• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Gives up the information Harvey needs almost immediately after he threatens to tell her grandchildren about her old career.
• Evil Old Folks: Skinned people alive for a living, and despite being retired, is very willing to filet Harvey with a long knife if he gets rough with her.
• Names To Run Away From Very Fast: Her nickname, the Scandinavian Skinner.
• Noodle Incident: Has "history" with Harvey Bullock, which apparently landed her in prison for four years.
• Retired Badass: She's long out of the assassination game by the time we see her, but it's pretty clear she could still gut Harvey like a fish if pushed.

Mooney Family:

Fish Mooney

Maria Mercedes "Fish" Mooney

'"I am relaxed."

Played By: Jada Pinkett Smith

"It's time... someone has to take over; it might as well be me."

The crime boss in Gotham's Theater District and a lieutenant to Falcone.

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• Action Girl: She doesn't really engage in combat herself until the end of the season, but when she does, she proves herself a formidable adversary.
• Adrenaline Makeover: Gets one hell of a makeover for the Season 1 finale.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Once Fish was rumbled and realized how much deep shit she was in with Liza and her men dead, she begged Falcone for forgiveness. Unfortunately, and reasonably, Falcone was no longer having any of her antics.
• Alliterative Name: "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon" reveals that her full name is Maria Mercedes Mooney.
• Back for the Dead: Returns at the end of season 3 to save Oswald from Riddler, proposing they rule Gotham together using the weaponised Tetch virus - but she's killed by Gordon (himself infected by the virus) not long after.
• Back from the Dead: Like Theo Galavan, she's brought back to life by Hugo Strange in "A Legion of Horribles", one entire season after her Disney Villain Death in "All Happy Families Are Alike".
• Badass Boast: At the end of Episode 15 after killing prison leader Mace.
  "My name is Fish Mooney! I'm in charge now!"
• Bad Boss: When Cobblepot sells her out to the cops in the pilot, she gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. She also has an employee/toyboy disposed of the moment he's no longer useful, and later leaves two of her Indian Hill followers to get stomped to death by an angry mob while she makes her own getaway. That said, judging by Butch's example, she can be pretty decent as long as you're loyal.
• Batter Up!: She's shown holding an aluminum bat in her promotional portrait. She also beats a guy who owed her money with one in the pilot, and later Cobblepot.
• Berserk Button:
  • Being betrayed, as Cobblepot and his broken legs can tell you. Threatening her is almost suicidal, as Bullock discovered.
  • Any form of sexism sets her off. She has Butch kill Saviano after he says her running the family is like "women's lib and all that", stabs Mace in the neck after he calls her "baby" (after she'd warned him not to) and shoots Maroni in the head after he repeatedly calls her "babes" as an insult.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Is opposed to the Penguin as she schemes to take over the underworld, even temporarily stealing his spotlight in the Season 1 Finale after capturing him, Falcone, Jim, and Harvey with Selina as The Dragon.
• Big Bad Wannabe: For most of season 1. She thinks that she can become the next ruler of Gotham's underworld, but is unaware of how she has already been greatly outmaneuvered by Falcone and Cobblepot.
• Boyish Short Hair: Prefers to keep her hair cropped short. See the picture.
• Break the Haughty:
  • Fish believes she could usurp Carmine Falcone and that he is "old and soft". Falcone pays a visit to her club and proves how wrong she is by beating up a barman she cares about. She is forced to watch tearfully and is visibly shaken by the ordeal.
  • She's freaked out when Penguin comes back as it puts a damper on her plans, and how her Honey Trap plot is going nowhere.
• Brutal Honesty: A large part of how she wins over the prisoners in the Dollmaker's facility; she's very upfront about the fact that she could get some of them out if they follow her orders, but not all, and that they will have to make sacrifices in return for freedom.
• The Bus Came Back: After Cobblepot lets her live, she's absent for most of the rest of season 3 but returns in the final episodes to instigate a Villain Team-Up with Penguin.
• Came Back Strong: When she's resurrected by Hugo Strange he mixes her DNA with that of a cuttlefish, allowing her to make people do whatever she says via touch. But...
  • Came Back Wrong: By the season 3 premiere she and the other Indian Hill escapees have discovered that using their powers shortens their lifespan, and they're frantically looking for a cure.
• Canon Foreigner: Has no comic book counterpart and was specifically created for the show as part of its prequel premise, showcasing a big name in Gotham's criminal underworld who was around before Bruce's adulthood and the rise of his familiar rogue's gallery.
• Character Tic: Her "Tsk tsk", complete with finger wagging motion.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Subverted. Fish is initially loyal to one person: herself. Everyone else is expendable or to be used until they become so. Then she gets exiled to the Dollmaker's island, and actually starts caring about the abductees marooned there, taking them with her when she escapes. On her resurrection, she admits she's proud of Oswald evolving from her umbrella boy to the Penguin, and at season's end appears to be absolutely sincere about her and Oswald ruling the city together.
• Combat Pragmatist: Uses whatever she has on hand as a weapon, uses her boys as a distraction while completely subverting Mook Chivalry and knocking out Gordon with a lamp.
• Compelling Voice: After being brought Back from the Dead by Hugo Strange. She first needs to physically touch her target, though.
• Consummate Liar: She bluffs the Dollmaker to his face and gets away with it.
• Cycle of Revenge: Subverted: She spends season 1 gunning for Oswald, and eventually gets killed by him, but when she comes back from the dead she spares Penguin's life instead of killing him, leaving him gunning for her for months. She later admits she couldn't kill something she had a hand in creating, as she's genuinely proud of all he's accomplished in her absence. This is enough for Penguin to spare her in turn.
• Dark Action Girl: In the latter half of season 1, where she's a lot more willing to deal with things herself instead of relying on her underlings.
• Deadpan Snarker: She's extremely sarcastic.
  Butch: Hiya, Fish. How you been?
  Fish: Well, let's see: I was alive, then I was dead, then I was alive again. Things are looking up.
• Determinator: Nothing will stop her when it comes to her goals. She gets cast out of Gotham and stuck in a body-harvesting nightmare where she's nothing more than a slave, and escapes with an army of new followers through sheer iron will, including gouging out her own eye at one point. Even death doesn't keep her down. Interestingly, it's a trait she shares most obviously with Penguin.
• Didn't Think This Through: Her plan to takeover from Falcone doesn't account for the fact that there are other mobsters who have more seniority than her and a better claim to be in charge of the family after Falcone's gone, and that they are willing to fight her on that point.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Is killed by a Tetch virus-maddened Jim (for good this time) and dies in a heartbroken Penguin's arms as she tells him to make Gotham his or burn it to the ground.
• Disney Villain Death: When Penguin pushes her into the water from a great height.
• The Dreaded: She's the only person Penguin is legitimately afraid of. At the start of season 3 he orders a $1,000,000 bounty on her! Even outside of her feud with Penguin, most characters on the show talk about and react to her with a kind of frightened awe, even after her death - Gordon even puts her in the same class as Jerome Valeska and Penguin when dismissing Pyg as a second-class psycho compared to them.
• Entertainingly Wrong: She thinks that she is going to be the one controlling all of the mob in Gotham, that Cobblepot is just a nobody and Falcone has no idea what she is up to. With the Foregone Conclusion that Oswald will still be about battling Batman as the Penguin years later, the fans are essentially just watching her setting herself up for failure.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: In "The Mask", she explains to Liza that when she was a girl, her mother was a prostitute, and one night one of Falcone's men killed her while Fish was hiding under a blanket only feet away, so she swore to work her way up over the years into a position to take revenge against Falcone. Then when Liza leaves, it turns out that the old jazz singer in the club is actually Fish's mother, and she does seem to care about her. She wasn't entirely lying, because when her mother asks, she said that she was embellishing what really happened.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She's shown that she has great affection for Butch, Harvey and (weirdly) Penguin. Part of the reason she seems to have taken his betrayal so hard is she regarded him like a son to her.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She's completely gobsmacked by the revelation that Gordon backed out of killing Cobblepot. Keep in mind that Cobblepot knew Gordon was a decent man and wouldn't kill him, and that this is why he asked Falcone to give Gordon the job.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even Fish, a ruthless and sadistic crime boss who kills with little to no provocation is truly disturbed by Dr. Dulmacher's little experiments.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: She laughs her head off at a horrific joke about a plane crash.
• Evil Is Petty:
  • She freely tells MCU that Gordon is rumored to have killed Cobblepot on Falcone's orders out of pure spite. It comes to bite her, when Cobblepot comes out of hiding to save Gordon from being arrested, which in turn triggers the gang war that Cobblepot wants so badly.
  • She rejects Cobblepot's attempts at reconciliation, still stinging from his "betrayal". It backfires on her, when Cobblepot kidnaps the new boy who took his place to interrogate him about whatever Fish's been cooking since he's been away-mainly Fish's Honey Trap gambit.
• Eye Scream: In a moment worthy of Xiahou Dun, when she's threatened with giving up her eyes to save her allies, she instead stabs one out herself and destroys it.
• Faux Affably Evil: Typifies this. She'll beat you senseless with a bat with a gentle smile on her face and crooning about how she cares about you. Or, in Cobblepot's case, she'll call you the son she never had and break your legs in half.
• Femme Fatale: Isn't afraid to use her looks to get things done. Mace learned this the hard way, and suffered a knife in the throat for his troubles.
• Femme Fatalons: Fish has long curved nails, all ornately painted in gold and black. Until she ends up with the Dollmacher, at which point she changes them to bright white to match her uniform.
• From Bad to Worse: She went from losing her men and nightclub to Falcone and Cobblepot due to her own incompetence, and when she flees Gotham, her boat is hijacked by pirates. She eventually killed their leader and claimed authority, but then appeared to have second thoughts when she realized she was dealing with human traffickers after one of the captives came back with no eyes.
• Genre Blind: Even after seeing all Cobblepot has accomplished in a very short amount of time, she still thinks he is no threat and orders her men to ignore him. This comes back to bite her, and eventually leads to her death at his hands.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't take much to make her angry.
• Hoist by Her Own Petard: She brought Cobblepot into the Family and then after she does nothing but treat him like crap he betrays her, gets her kicked out of the Family, and makes her the number one target on Falcone's hit list.
• Hypocrite:
  • In the pilot, she denounces Cobblepot's scheming by claiming she viewed him as a son, despite having her own ambitions to replace the Falcone family. The irony gets as thick as possible in the second episode, where Falcone comes by to cow her into submission while Fish begs and claims to regard him as a father figure.
  • Though very much subverted in the organ donor prison. After convincing the other prisoners to be willing to be beaten to death to deny a viable body for their captors once their name is called, Fish herself is willing to stab her own eye out for the same reason.
• I Lied: Practically her anthem in "Beasts of Prey" - she's caught snooping in the Dollmaker's office and is threatened to be shot dead by him, and is only forgiven because she pled for mercy while expressing her fear of becoming what happened to the Dollmaker's lieutenant after he failed to retrieve Fish's eyes. Of course it turned out to be a lie as Fish makes another attempt to escape, though successfully this time, but the Dollmaker corners her before he's beaten up by the prisoners who Fish broke out. Much earlier, she arranges a few prisoners to head for the boat during the escape, but they realize they were nothing more than decoys to allow her to escape just before they're gunned down by the guards. She even says it word for word.
• It's Personal: Played with. According to her, the major reason she wants to usurp Falcone is one of his men killed her mother when she was a child, and she listened to it happen from her hiding place, making a case of Revenge by Proxy. Her mother is still alive (implied to be the singer singing at the time she told the story), but Fish claims there is some truth in the story.
• Killed Off for Real: A Tetch virus-afflicted Gordon accidentally kills her late in season 3.
• Large Ham: She's got a very deliberate way of speaking and has a huge presence, even when she's not shouting, so she'll be the center of attention in most scenes she's in. Smith has said the performance is largely modeled on Eartha Kitt's Catwoman.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Strung up in the same meat locker where she had earlier had Gordon and Bullock held after Falcone rumbles her thanks to a tip from the Penguin, who she had earlier beaten up for snitching on her role in Pepper's framing for the Wayne murders.
  • Happens to her again in "Beasts of Prey": she had a few prisoners play as decoys while she and the remaining prisoners escape, but right after the decoys are gunned down, she ends up shot in the stomach while taking flight in the helicopter.
• The Leader: As of Episode 15, she takes charge of the prisoners and guides them to salvation after killing their former leader.
• Like a Son to Me: Played with. She actually directly tells Oswald this word for word in the first episode - shortly before crippling him for his betrayal, so it's not clear if she actually meant it or was just lulliing him into a false sense of security. However, there's definitely shades of this later on - her admission she's proud of her role in his transformation to lowly umbrella boy to Gotham gang overlord borders on a motherly So Proud of You (albeit in a very dark way).
• Made of Iron: The woman can sustain a lot of damage - from being able to stand for a few seconds with a victorious smile after scooping out her own eye to being shot in the stomach mid-taking off in a chopper and still being able to operate it. In the finale, she's shot by Butch and still manages to stand her ground before being pushed off the building by Cobblepot.
• Mama Bear: She tried to rush to Liza being strangled by Falcone, but was stopped by Butch.
• Manipulative Bitch: Though she is capable of getting her hands dirty, this is truly her greatest ability. Fish is at her best when manipulating others and formulating schemes to achieves her goals. Though her antics may not have worked on Falcone, it definitely saved her rear upon escaping the Dollmaker's island basically through lying, becoming his assistant, and sacrificing prisoners before they become subjects to organ harvesting, thus provoking the Dollmaker to somewhat agree on Fish's terms. Also to her credit, during her time trying to usurp Falcone, had not been for Cobblepot's intervention, her plan would've succeeded.
• Meaningful Name: To tie into Cobblepot / The Penguin; just as a penguin eats fish, Cobblepot is trying to usurp her power. She's eventually rumbled thanks to him, and when they fight during the climax of "All Happy Families Are Alike", guess who wins and who's dead? Ed spells it out for Oswald in Arkham after her resurrection, inspiring the chain of events that ends with her fleeing Gotham and him as mayor.
• A Mother to Her Men: She surprisingly becomes one in the organ donor prison, being completely upfront with the other prisoners that not all of them will survive her escape plan, and getting them loyal enough to lay down their lives if need be. And in case you thought it was just for show, she proceeds to rip out one of her own eyes to keep them from being killed.
• Not So Stoic: She usually keeps her cool, but as known, it's very easy to fire her up. On a serious note, once Fish was rumbled and has lost Liza and her resources, she's outright frantic and begging Falcone to forgive her.
• Odd Friendship: With Harvey Bullock, as she's had him nearly killed twice in the pilot and the finale, though the second time it's implied she was going to let him live, yet Harvey's helped her flee Gotham between the two incidents. She also became quite chummy with Selina Kyle in the finale after the cat thief joins her, to the extent Selina has rejoined her gang by the season 3 finale.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: After headshotting Maroni, her soldiers quarrel with Maroni's men. We don't see the entirety of the fight, but after Selina brings back Gordon, Bullock, and Falcone, we see that Maroni's men are dead or incapacitated. Until Cobblepot shows up to gun down her team after Falcone stated his retirement to Fish, she basically achieved her goal of becoming Queen of Gotham before being chased out of the room.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: She is mostly known as "Fish." Her real first name is almost never used.
• Pet the Dog:
  • In "Lovecraft", Alfred is able to charm her into helping them find Bruce and Selina after she initially refuses. All the more notable as her plot arc doesn't usually impact Bruce's.
  • She appears near the end of Season 3 to save Penguin from Riddler and Barbara - all the more notable as she had nothing to gain from it, but did it anyway out of fondness for her former lackey.
• Predecessor Villain: She plays a very similar role to what Penguin ends up becoming - being a mob boss who is allowed to thrive in exchange for information and cooperation with the police.
• Provoke Me Taunt: In Episode 15 when she cooly gives a warning to two men willing to fight for the new women - it actually sends them off scared.
• Put on a Bus: Disappears for most of season 3 after Penguin spares her life, only returning to save Oswald from Riddler at season's end.
• Really Gets Around: Implied, as she refers to her current male lover as a toy on the side, and part of her audition process for female singers is asking them to seduce her. Besides her relationship with Liza, she's also involved with Nikolai, an Eastern European mobster that also answers to Falcone.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives one to a grovelling Cobblepot in "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon'. And he immediately responds in kind, much to her fury.
• Refuge in Audacity: When Gordon asks about the screaming in the back alley, Fish at first says her boys are watching a scary movie, but then relents and says to his face that they're beating a thief that stole from her.
• Revenge Before Reason: After being ousted from the Family and stripped of her resources, her only goal is to kill Cobblepot despite the risk she runs of ever returning to Gotham. Her first attempt involves calling Maroni to tell him Cobblepot may not be so loyal.
• Sassy Black Woman: Considering her sarcastic nature.
• Scary Black Woman: Her sadistic tendencies make her outright terrifying at times.
• She's Just Hiding: In-Universe, Selina and the Pike Brothers believe there's a possibility she survived being shoved off the top of Falcone's safe house into the ocean the Season 1 Finale, since her body was never recovered. Butch doesn't believe it. He turns out to be right, as she really did perish in her fight with Penguin, but she's later brought back to life by Hugo Strange's experiments.
• Smug Snake: Fish may be a fearsome, intelligent and ruthless crime boss, but truthfully she's not as smart as she thinks she is. Her reaction to being rumbled by Falcone seals it. She also never seems to quite grasp how dangerous Cobblepot really is, even though he played her like a chump.
• So Proud of You: A villainous variant: when Penguin holds her at gunpoint and demands to know why she didn't kill him on being resurrected, she admits she's actually proud of the way he's gone from Oswald Cobblepot, her umbrella boy, to the Penguin, terror of Gotham, and regards his transformation as her greatest achievement. He actually spares her life in return upon hearing it.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • Ironically, she is this to Penguin in the first season finale, just as Penguin was to her earlier. He's successfully manipulated Falcone and Maroni into going to war, and stands ready to take over - then Fish returns with her new gang and all bets are off.
  • Near the end of season 3 she ruins Riddler and Barbara's attempt to kill Penguin, as nobody (not even Penguin) could have forseen she'd show up to save him.
• Super Villain Origin: An incredible, possibly unprecedented, five-fold instance of how one gains a superpower. She fell to her death into a heavily polluted river, then was genetically modified with cuttlefish DNA, injected with a resurrection serum, and shocked with an amount of electricity compared to a bolt of lighting, while in the presence of machines that give off a characteristic form of radiation. In this kind of setting, how could she possibly have come out of it without superpowers?
• Taking a Third Option: Almost word-for-word. In Episode 17, Fish was given two options: to either be killed alongside the other prisoners, or give up her eyes to protect them. Instead, she grabs a spoon, taking out her own eye and destroying it. She even uses the trope name near word-for-word.
  Fish: You forgot option three.
• The Starscream: To her boss, Carmine Falcone. However, Falcone is well aware of this.
• This Cannot Be!: Her reaction to learning that the Penguin's still alive.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: How she announces her identity to Hugo Strange upon being brought back from the dead with her memories intact.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • Her effort to overthrow Falcone ends in disaster, but for the rest of season 1 she does this hugely, breaking out of the Dollmaker's prison through cunning and sheer force of will, then returning to Gotham significantly more dangerous than before.
  • And then in season 2, she gains superpowers. Fitting with her Manipulative Bitch nature, they give her the ability to command anyone she physically touches.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After coming Back from the Dead, she treats Oswald with much more respect than she ever did previously.
• Torture Is Ineffective: She's got enough will-power to resist being tortured by Falcone's goons and even snark at her torturer, at least long enough for Butch to come rescue her.
• Twofer Token Minority: As a bisexual black woman, she rather stands out in the traditionally all-white, all-male, highly heteronormative mob.
• Unholy Matrimony: Had a fling/alliance with Nikolai to move against Falcone.
• The Unsmile: A victorious, yet broken one after she scooped out her eye as a form of flipping the bird to the Dollmaker's assistant.
• Villain Cred: Penguin admits to the brainwashed Butch he actually misses her in spite of all she did to him. Season 3 shows this goes both ways after she comes Back from the Dead, with her genuinely admiring how Penguin has become the terror of Gotham in her absence.
• Villainous Rescue: Returns just in the nick of time to save Penguin from being killed by Riddler. Even he's perplexed by it.
• We Can Rule Together: Proposes this with Oswald once they recover the Tetch virus and its cure. She actually seems to be sincere about it too.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: In "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon" - she could've easily beaten the crap out of Cobblepot before Zsasz and his gang showed up, but instead relished in him licking her feet and verbally breaking him.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Coldly dispatches Cobblepot after she learned that he was the one who snitched on her without even a token chance at earning her trust back. Later, when her "boy toy" is roughed to teach her a lesson, he gets worried about her safety. She laughs it off and tells him to go rest up. Then she has one of her men to hurt a woman as payback and go ahead and "take care" of her former lover, since he's not strong enough to handle the stress of being involved with a mob boss. In "Penguin's Umbrella", Cobblepot claims she's grooming Nikolai to usurp Falcone, but only so she can then usurp Nikolai.

Butch Gilzean

See Gotham - Rogues Gallery: Cellblock A

Nikolai "The Russian"

Nikolai

Played By: Jeremy Davidson

The head of the Russian mob in Gotham, operating within Falcone's organization

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• Character Death: Killed by Maroni's men during the short confrontation over Penguin. It was actually planned by Penguin and Falcone to get rid of Nikolai.
• Feminine Women Can Cook Invokes this in a mob meeting when pretending to criticize Fish.
• Hot-Blooded: He advocated violence and direct actions over more underhanded and patient moves.
• The Mafiya: He was a Russian mobster working for Falcone.
• Mother Russia Makes You Strong: He is very proud of his Russian heritage.
• The Starscream: Towards Falcone.
• Straw Misogynist: Says in Russia women either cook or are for sex "depending on their talents". Then again, he might be just posing for Falcone.
• Tattooed Crook: Covered in several vory tattoos.
• Unholy Matrimony: With Fish.

Liza

Liza

Played By: Makenzie Leigh

An ambitious and aspiring singer taken by Fish under her wing.

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• Becoming the Mask: Downplayed, she doesn't fall in love with Falcone, but she does grow fond of him, down to the fact he acts like a perfect gentleman towards her, when she was expecting him just to take advantage of her. So much so, she's actually okay with the idea of going off with him as with Fish's plan.
• Character Death: Strangled by the Roman himself when Fish gets rumbled.
• Dark Action Girl: When asked by Fish to fight another girl for a job, she beats her opponent to a pulp in very short order.
• Dye Hard: In-universe. Liza is introduced with raven black hair, but she turns it blonde to look more like Falcone's mother in order to catch his attention. There's no way of telling which one was her natural hair color.
• Faux Action Girl: She never uses the skills that got her hired again, not even when Falcone is throttling her to death. Justified, as she was never actually a trained fighter, just a tougher and more ruthless one than her opponent (another young woman, of very similar build and height) and is no match for a significantly larger and stronger man like Falcone.
  • Plus Victor Zsasz and his henchwomen were in control of the situation so she didn't have much choice in the matter when the enraged Falcone strangled her to death.
• Honey Trap: And Falcone fell for it. Until, that is, Cobblepot snitches on her employer in "What the Little Bird Told Him".
• The Mistress: On her way to become Falcone's.
• The Mole: Within Falcone's own house.
• Ms. Fanservice: Liza's wardrobe tend to show off Leigh's legs.
• Replacement Goldfish: Fish sets her to become Falcone's new mistress after Fish had the previous one suffer an "accident". However, the way her relationship with Falcone progressed, he seemed to see her as one for his mother. With good reason. The flashback at the beginning of 1.12 shows that Liza is the spitting image of Falcone's mother when he was a child.
• This Cannot Be!: Her reaction to Fish being rumbled.
• The Vamp: What Fish trains her to become. Ends up subverted though, as she actually does grow fond of her target, and they don't actually sleep together.

The Pike Brothers

Joe

Cale

Evan

Played By: Leo Fitzpatrick (Joe), Ari McKay Wilford (Cale), Noah Robbins (Evan)

Bridgit Pike's abusive stepbrothers, a group of arsonists loyal to Fish Mooney.

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• Asshole Victim: They were all pyromaniacs who ended up killed by their own foolishness.
• Big Brother Bully: They relentlessly abuse Bridgit.
• Bullying a Dragon: Taunting Bridget while she was equipped with a flamethrower and pointing said flamethrower in their direction was their last mistake.
• Dysfunctional Family: Force Bridgit to join them after Evan dies, threatening to expel her otherwise
• Jerkass: Their treatment of Bridgit firmly cements them as this. Even in his dying moment, Joe calls Bridgit a "bitch" despite her not being in the room.
  • Joe just scoffed at Selina when she gives him a Death Glare for the way he treated Bridgit in front of her.
• Karmic Death: Evan gets blown up when he gets in a firefight with Barnes and Gordon while carrying C4 stuffed down the front of his pants. Joe and Cale get barbecued by Bridgit when she stops tolerating their abuse.
• Mythology Gag: These boys are sometimes collectively referred to as "firebugs" by Harvey Bullock. Firebug is the name of another Batman arsonist.
• Never My Fault: At no point do Joe or Cale ever acknowledge their horrific treatment of Bridgit, but they later claim themselves the victims and Bridgit the villain because she tried to escape from them.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • Engaging two trained cops with guns while carrying explosives in his pants was not one of Evan's brighter ideas.
  • Joe and Cale see a deranged Bridget coming at them with her full arsenal of pyrotechnics, and they...mock her. Unsurprisingly, she kills them both.
• Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Joe is an Ax-Crazy arsonist-for-hire who abuses and enslaves his much-younger stepsister Bridgit, but he considers himself a "decent guy" because he allows the orphaned Bridgit to live in his apartment and doesn't force her into prostitution (which he threatens to do to her if she disobeys him.) When he catches her trying to escape, he berates her for being "ungrateful" even as he has her chained to a radiator while threatening to blow her up.

Maroni Family:

Salvatore Maroni

Don Salvatore "Sal" Maroni

Played By: David Zayas

A mob boss and rival to the Falcone family.

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• Asshole Victim: Shot in the head by Fish after treating her like crap. Nobody feels sorry for him.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Is seen personally leading his men to attack Falcone after the gang war starts.
• Benevolent Boss: To an extent; he's considerably more paternal to Oswald than Fish ever was, even encouraging him to claim the Penguin name as his own, but as seen when he finds out Oswald raised taxes on fishermen (and he even expresses appreciation and a measure of admiration for the fishermen) without his approval, he'll still punish any underling that goes against him harshly.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Spends season 1 determined to usurp Falcone and become the true Don of Gotham, but he's never intelligent enough to realise the extent to which Oswald and Falcone are manipulating him until Fish spells it out for him.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Semi-averted. When he has the Penguin in a car crusher, he stays around to watch. Too bad his victim managed to panic one of his underlings and Maroni chased after him...
• Boom, Headshot!: Should've stopped taunting Fish and calling her babes, Maroni.
• Brains and Brawn: Big, bulky Maroni doesn't shy away from getting physical, but he's hardly a slouch in the intellectual department either.
• Death by Adaptation: Shot in the head by Fish long before Bruce Wayne ever becomes the Batman.
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: He speaks with a slight rhoticism.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Becomes friendly towards Cobblepot when the latter says he "claims" his Italian heritage from his mother.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Very specifically notes his 20-year plus friendship with Frankie Carbone (who Penguin secretly killed) as one of the reasons he's making Oswald's death by car crusher such a painful one.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • He's legit pissed at Penguin for raising fishermen's taxes without his approval, noting furiously to Oswald that they go out and risk their lives on the ocean daily, and as such pay enough already.
  • He also doesn't like traitors, or people who Ain't Too Proud to Beg for their life.
  • When the Electrocutioner (who Maroni sold out) goes on the rampage, Maroni denies any knowledge of him to Gordon. But when Gordon mentions women and children might get killed, he tacitly agrees to act as bait within the GCPD HQ (while still claiming not to know anything),
  • Amusingly subverted in "The Balloonman":
    Maroni: [watching footage of a bishop being killed on TV] See this? This is not good. [makes the sign of the cross] You can't go around killing priests. At least not in public.
• Evil Mentor: He sees a lot of his younger self in Cobblepot and encourages him in ways Mooney never did: Mooney used the nickname "Penguin" to mock Cobblepot, Maroni tells him to embrace it.
• Faux Affably Evil: If you stay on his good side, he'll play nice and friendly - but he drops it the moment you look like a threat or he thinks he's got the upper hand. Best seen when Oswald reveals his true identity as Fish' former underling; Maroni's laughing and listening one moment, slamming Oswald's head into the table the next.
• Friendly Enemy: With Falcone. Maroni even says to him that if Falcone wants to go for a walk or have lunch to talk "business" with him, that's perfectly acceptable. Drops this in the first season finale when he thinks he's got the upper hand on his rival though.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Told Cobblepot he used to be nobody before rising to become a prominent mobster.
• Genre Blind: He seems to think he's the ambitious and ruthless new Don in town that will eventually depose the more old-fashioned Falcone, and is blind to the manipulations of both Falcone and Cobblepot throughout the season.
• Lightning Bruiser: By his own description, he's pretty quick for a big guy.
• Mixed Metaphor: "A bird in the hand is nine-tenths of the law."
• Not His Sled: As with Falcone, he continued his activities around the time Bruce first became Batman in the comics and is the one who caused Harvey Dent's transformation into Two-Face, being killed by Falcone's son, Alberto, not long afterward. Here, he's killed not long after the Waynes died, meaning that much like Batman: The Animated Series and The Dark Knight his role in Dent's transformation into Two-Face never comes to pass - the two never actually meet onscreen.
• The Peter Principle: The prospect of him replacing Falcone as head of Gotham crime is not relished by anyone due to his temper and comparative lack of intelligence. In the finale, Gordon, Falcone and Penguin all spell out that Maroni in charge means anarchy in the city.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He eventually makes peace with his chief rival Falcone, as war is ultimately unprofitable for both of them. He also drops his vendetta against Oswald at Falcone's request....simply because Falcone is old and will eventually die, after which Maroni can kill Oswald without any fuss.
• Race Lift/Fake Nationality: Puerto Rican actor David Zayas plays Salvatore Maroni who is white in the comics, but his character is still supposed to be Italian.
• Saved by Canon: Pointedly averted in one of the show's first signs it wouldn't be bound by the comics' canon. He dies before throwing acid in Harvey Dent's face, the deed he is most famous for in the comics.
• Self-Made Man: Claims to have begun with nothing, but through hard work, determination, and knowing when to keep his head down, he became a powerful force in Gotham's crime syndicates.
• Too Dumb to Live: In the finale, he repeatedly talks down to Fish, insults her standing in the mob by insisting she will be beneath him in the hierarchy when he gives her back her position, and calls her sexist nicknames after she tells him not to. Because Maroni just won't shut up and leave her alone, he gets a bullet in the head.

Frankie Carbone

Frankie Carbone

Played By: Danny Mastrogiorgio

Maroni's right hand man.

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• Beard of Evil: Short-cropped variety.
• Death by Adaptation: Cobblepot kills him in "Penguin's Umbrella", while the comic Frankie Carbone died during the events of The Long Halloween.
• The Dragon: To Maroni.
• Genre Blind: Though he's on to Penguin for manipulating Maroni, he doesn't realize that Penguin has also bought his own henchmen, which ultimately leads to his demise in "Penguin's Umbrella".
• Greed: Penguin spots this as being his key flaw, making his subordinates quite open to an offer of a higher pay grade.
• Meaningful Name: Is named after a character in Goodfellas, who is also a short-sighted gangster killed by a low-level mob boss to further their own goals.