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Quote1 Think you're gonna scare me with that mask and that cape? I'm gonna start cryin' and all of a sudden some big secrets come out? Let me tell you somethin'... whatever I know, whatever I've done, it's all goin' with me, to my grave. Quote2
Carmine Falcone src

Carmine Falcone was the cruel and deceitful head of the Falcone Crime Family. Operating in Gotham City, he ran several tight criminal operations and used the city's Renewal fund to control it from the inside out for several years. His eventual death led to a power vacuum within Gotham's criminal underworld that erupted into a gang war, spearheaded by the Penguin and his daughter Sofia.

Early career

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A young Carmine Falcone

Born September 5, 1957,[3] Carmine Falcone was a ruthless criminal who rose to power in Gotham City, New Jersey as the leader of his crime family. Over the years, he amassed many powerful allies, including Johnny Viti, his cousin-in-law and underboss, and Thomas Wayne, a socialite and surgeon who saved Carmine's life one night.[2][4]

Carmine married Isabella Gigante and fathered two children, Sofia and Alberto, who he sought to be his heirs, and raised them in Gotham out of the Shoreline Lofts, the penthouse upper level of the Iceberg Lounge.[1]

The Hangman murders

In 1994, Isabella decided she could no longer live with Carmine and attempted to flee with their children.[5] Enraged at this, Carmine strangled her to death, and hanged her body from the ceiling with rope to make it appear to the authorities, as well as his children, as though she had committed suicide.[1]

By 1997, he'd had relations with several women who worked at the Iceberg Lounge, and strangled and hanged them in the same manner as his wife. With the GCPD unable to identify him as the killer, the press began referring to him as "The Hangman".[1] One of these women, Maria Kyle, gave birth to his daughter Selina that same year, completely unbeknownst to Carmine. He eventually killed her as well in 2004.[2]

Expanding his empire

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Conspiring with Thomas Wayne

In 2002, Thomas Wayne began running for mayor and founded the Gotham Renewal Corporation, a massive charitable fund for projects like the Gotham Orphanage. When a reporter began investigating the Wayne family and discovered that Thomas's wife had a history of mental illness, Thomas went to Carmine and asked him to intimidate Elliot. He instead had Elliot killed, and a distraught Thomas decided to go to the police about it. That night, Thomas and his wife were murdered in front of their son Bruce, possibly by one of Carmine's men.

After the Waynes' deaths, Gotham's crime lords, including Sal Maroni and Carmine, and corrupt politicians such as Don Mitchell, Jr. and Gil Colson, took control of the Renewal fund and used it for bribes and money laundering. Some time later, Carmine acted as a GCPD informant for a bust on the Maronis' Drops operation, working with Mitchell, Colson, and policeman Pete Savage to have Sal Maroni incarcerated.

Once they told the public the operation was shut down, the Falcones took control of it and the Renewal fund. Carmine put his aides in positions of great power, making Mitchell mayor, Colson district attorney, and Savage police commissioner, while they were all on his payroll to help him control the city from behind the scenes.[2]

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Sofia confronts Carmine about the Hangman murders

In 2012, Carmine was informed by Sofia's personal driver, Oz "The Penguin" Cobb, that reporter Summer Gleeson was investigating the Hangman killings, and was talking to Sofia about them. After he confronted Sofia directly and realized she believed Gleeson, Carmine strangled and hanged the reporter, framed Sofia for the murders, and had her institutionalized at Arkham State Hospital. Fearing his wrath, the other Falcones did nothing and allowed Carmine to smear her name, maintaining his control over Gotham. As a reward for his loyalty, Carmine promoted Oz, and eventually he became his top lieutenant.[1]

Exposed by the Riddler

In October of 2022, Mayor Mitchell let slip to a prostitute the truth about Renewal, so Carmine strangled her in her apartment, not knowing she was the girlfriend of his daughter Selina. Soon after this, the Riddler, an enigmatic serial killer, began slaughtering Carmine's allies in the city government, including Mitchell, Savage, and Colson and publicly exposing their criminal activities in an effort to publicize the knowledge of his control of Renewal.

The Riddler's murders, as well as his online video messages and livestreams, led to a movement in support of his actions, and some like Selina calling for the heads of those like Falcone. As Carmine's empire began to crumble, his relationship with the GCPD began to strain. An ally of the police, a vigilante detective called the Batman, investigated the killings and the Falcones. Working alongside police lieutenant Jim Gordon, his investigation led him to interrogate Oz and enlist the help of Selina to discover the truth himself.

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Brought to justice

On November 5, after they recovered and sent to the press a voicemail recorded of Falcone killing the prostitute, the Batman and Gordon arrested Falcone at the Iceberg Lounge. They were prepared to bring him in and potentially lock him in Blackgate Penitentiary, before they exited the club and the Riddler fatally shot him with a sniper rifle from his apartment across the street.[2]

Legacy

After Carmine's death, the Riddler destroyed the city's seawalls to complete his statement about the city's corruption, killing thousands and destroying much of Gotham.[2] With the city in ruins and a power vacuum in the criminal underworld, the Penguin began manipulating the other members of the Falcone Crime Family in an attempt to take full control. Around the same time Sofia was released from Arkham, Oz killed Alberto to spark a gang war between the Falcones and the Maronis,[4] which quickly erupted into further violence.[3][6]

The Penguin (TV Series) Episode Homecoming

Sofia in her family's crypt, prepared to tarnish Carmine's memory

After Sofia learned the Penguin killed Alberto, she decided she was fed up with being betrayed, and killed all her remaining relatives, save for young Gia Viti.[1] To truly destroy her father's legacy, she adopted her mother's maiden name to become "Sofia Gigante" and reshaped the remaining Falcone Crime Family into the Gigante Crime Family.[5]


Abilities


  • After Carmine took down Sal Maroni's drops operation, he took his ring and wore it as a trophy until his death, when it was taken by Alberto and later Oz.[4]
  • Falcone enjoyed pool.[2]

Related

External Links

Footnotes


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Batman Villain(s)
This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

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