The Falcone Crime Family, also known as the Falcone Crime Syndicate, was an organized crime family founded by Carmine Falcone in Gotham City. After the arrest of Salvatore Maroni in a sting operation instigated by both the Gotham City Police Department and the corrupt officials under Falcone's payroll, it became the most powerful mafia family in Gotham.
In the aftermath of Carmine's assassination by the Riddler and Alberto Falcone's murder by Oz Cobb, inner-rivalries within the Family emerged. After massacring most of the Family leadership, Sofia Falcone-Gigante reformed the organization's remnants into the Gigante Crime Family.[1]
History[]
Foundation[]
The family's early history is not very known besides the fact that two Falcone brothers came from Sicily back in the 1950s to Gotham City, and had numerous children. Later on, Carmine Falcone, one of the Brother's sons, founded the Mafia family that bore their name. Falcone was aided by other members of his family, such as his brother Luca Falcone, his cousin-in-law and Underboss Johnny Viti, and his trusted Consigliere Milos Grapa.
As time passed, the Falcones steadily grew in strength and power, founding several businesses, with their main one being the Iceberg Lounge, and its underground establishment the 44 Below. They had numerous politicians and half of the city's police force on their payroll.
Over the years, The Falcones would go onto have many rivals in the underworld, including the Triads, the Sullivan Crime Family, the Odessa Mob, the Burnley Town Massive, and the LoBoys. But their biggest rivals were the Maroni Crime Family, an Italian-Persian mob headed by their boss Salvatore Maroni, Carmine's greatest rival.
Thomas Wayne incident[]
In 2002, Falcone's associate Thomas Wayne asked him to intimidate Edward Elliot, a reporter on Maroni's payroll who threatened to reveal the dark family history of Thomas' wife Martha, asking him to "put the fear of god in this guy". Falcone tried to intimidate Elliot, but when it didn't work, he had one of his men kill Elliot. Thomas was distraught, and told Falcone he was going to the police, but Thomas and Martha were later killed by an unknown man. It is unknown if it was a hit orchestrated by Falcone or Maroni, or if it was just a random mugger. Regardless, with Thomas dead, Falcone, Maroni, and other corrupt city officials began using the Gotham Renewal fund as a front for laundering money and bribes. However, Falcone sought to gain more power.[1]
Rise to Power[]
Later that year, Falcone, as well as the Gotham City Police Department, and corrupt politicians such as Don Mitchell, Jr. and Gil Colson, put together a scheme in bringing down Salvatore Maroni's Drops operation, with him being put away for life. Falcone now had complete control of the Renewal Corporation, and advanced the careers of those who aided him to act as his puppets, such as Mitchell and Pete Savage, who rose to police commissioner. After this, the Falcones became the top Mafia family in Gotham, with them also taking control of the Maroni's Drops operation.[1]
Betrayal of Sofia Falcone[]
In 2012, Falcone had his daughter Sofia framed for the murder of GCN reporter Summer Gleeson, and six other strippers at the 44 Below, when in actuality it was he himself who had killed all of them. He also had numerous family members write affidavits claiming she developed a mental illness after her mother's death. Sofia was sent to Arkham State Hospital as a result, which caused friction between Falcone and his son, Alberto, who became a drug addict as a result.
The Family's Downfall[]
In 2022, a serial killer calling himself the Riddler began targeting and killing the top officials on Falcone's payroll, including Mitchell, Savage, and Colson. Following Mitchell's death, news leaked about a woman named Annika Kosolov who worked at the Iceberg Lounge who apparently knew something from Mitchell. Corrupt narcotics officer William Kenzie kidnapped her from her apartment, and brought her to Falcone, she then revealed that Mitchell let it slip to her that Falcone made a deal with the cops about Maroni's drops business. Wanting to keep it a secret, Falcone strangled her to death, prompting Annika's friend, Selina Kyle, who also happened to be Falcone's daughter, to avenge her, with aid from the Batman.[1]
After Falcone was murdered by the Riddler during an arrest by clean officers of the GCPD, the Falcones suffered major setbacks due to Carmine's demise and the Flooding of Gotham City, with other criminal organizations using this to their advantage to step up in Gotham's criminal underworld. Alberto assumed control over the family, although Alberto was murdered by Penguin after the former insulted his aspirations of wanting to become a well-respected mobster. Penguin then framed the Maroni Family for Alberto's murder, leading to a war between the two families.[2]
Falcone-Maroni Gang War[]
Carmine's younger brother Luca was soon brought in to be the new head of the family, and they officially went to war with The Maronis. During the ensuing war, the Family attempted to relocate their drops operation to Robbinsville, to avoid Police intervention. However, during the transport, they were attacked by The Maronis, who were acting on information from Penguin. Many of their men were killed, and Penguin retreated with the surviving men, with The Maronis taking the whole stash. Sofia proposed to the Family leadership that their was a rat in their family that was working with The Maronis.
Later on during Alberto's wake at the Falcone Mansion, Sofia and her bodyguard Castillo held the Maroni capo who robbed their drops convoy, Ervad Hakimi, hostage, hoping he would reveal who killed Alberto. Penguin killed Ervad to cover up his role in both Alberto's murder and the transport hijacking, however, Luca rounded up all present members and associates at the funeral to search them for evidence that they were the rat. Penguin successfully planted the knife he used to kill Ervad on Castillo, who was killed by Luca afterwards.
Dissolution of the Family[]
Finally having enough with her family for their past betrayal of her, Sofia sabotaged the pipes in the family mansion, gassing everyone else inside, with the exception of Johnny. Luca, Milos, and everyone else was killed in the gassing. Sofia, along with young Gia Viti, were the sole survivors, and Johnny was imprisoned by Sofia in her Family mausoleum.
Later on, Sofia used Johnny to put together a meeting with numerous family associates. During the meeting, Sofia killed Johnny, and declared that the Falcone legacy in Gotham was over, and that they were now being reorganized as the Gigante Crime Family. With the remnants of the family turning into the Gigante Family, the Falcone legacy was now over.
Members and Associates[]
| Name | Position | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Carmine Falcone | Founder / Don (Boss) / Police Informant | Deceased |
| Alberto Falcone | Don (Boss) | Deceased |
| Luca Falcone | Don (Boss) | Deceased |
| Johnny Viti | Underboss | Deceased |
| Milos Grapa | Consigliere | Deceased |
| Vinnie | Soldier | Inactive |
| Briscoe | Soldier | Inactive |
| Castillo | Soldier | Deceased |
| Mirti | Soldier | Deceased |
| Dom | Soldier | Defected/Deceased |
| Enzo | Soldier | Defected/Deceased |
| Pinchy Rovegno | Soldier / Police Informant | Deceased |
| Oswald Cobb | Associate (Lieutenant) | Defected |
| William Kenzie | Associate (Enforcer / Police Contact) | Incarcerated |
| Mikey Stone | Associate (Enforcer / Dealer) | Defected/Deceased |
| Nick Fuchs | Associate (Enforcer) | Defected/Deceased |
| Bruno Tess | Associate (Enforcer) | Defected/Deceased |
| Richie | Associate (Enforcer) | Defected/Deceased |
| Twin #1 | Associate (Enforcer) | Inactive |
| Twin #2 | Associate (Enforcer) | Inactive |
| Ray | Associate (Dealer) | Deceased |
| Reed Porcello | Associate (Racketeer) | Inactive |
| Desoto | Associate (Chemist) | Defected/Unknown |
| Zeke | Associate (Electrician) | Inactive |
| Marco | Associate (Hired Muscle) | Inactive |
| Trey Bloom | Associate (Chemist) | Inactive |
| Leo | Associate (Enforcer) | Defected/Deceased |
| Richard Stone | Associate (Lieutenant) | Deceased |
| John Joon | Associate (Distributer) | Deceased |
| Mr. Higgins | Associate (Enforcer) | Deceased |
Facilities[]
- Falcone Mansion: Home of Carmine Falcone and his family, located in Bristol Township.
- Iceberg Lounge: Nightclub owned by Carmine Falcone, and managed by the Penguin.
- Shoreline Lofts: Penthouse office used by Falcone.
- 44 Below: Nightclub located below the Iceberg Lounge.
- Gotham Renewal Corperation: Front for money laundering and Drops distribution.
- Gotham Sanitation
- Gotham Recycling
- Eastside Depot: Used for producing Drops.
- New Beginnings Animal Rescue: Used for distributing Drops.
- Gotham Casino: The Family owns a part of the gambling in the casino.
- Drops Plant: Used for producing Drops.
- Admiral Dairy Factory: Owned by Alberto, and later Sofia, used for secretly producing Bliss.
Relationships[]
Allies[] |
Enemies[]
|
Appearances[]
| Appearances for Falcone Crime Family |
|---|
| In chronological order: |
Behind the Scenes[]
- In the comics, the Falcone Crime Family, also known as The Roman Empire was the major crime family of Gotham City in Batman's early career that was ruled by Carmine "The Roman" Falcone. Following the events of The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, their number and power dwindled with the deaths of the more major family members.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Reeves, Matt & Craig, Peter (writers); Reeves, Matt & Clark, Dylan (producers); & Reeves, Matt (director) (March 4, 2022). The Batman.
- ↑ LeFranc, Lauren (writers); & Zobel, Craig (director) (September 19, 2024). The Penguin: 1.01: After Hours.
