Carmine Falcone

* Main
* 1992
* 1997
* 2016
* 2018

**Carmine Falcone** was one of the great crime lords of Gotham City, back when it was run by the mafia. Nicknamed **The Roman** for his unflinching ruthlessness and expansionism, he was one of the earliest enemies of the Batman.

## History

As a child, Carmine loved his mother very much and she sang arias to him.

In 1997, gangster Vincent Falcone brought his badly wounded son, Carmine, who had been shot several times by his rival, Luigi Maroni, to Thomas Wayne. Fearing Maroni would finish the job at a public hospital, he begged Wayne to perform surgery at Wayne Manor. A young Bruce Wayne watched his father save Falcone's life from a distance.

Shortly following this, Thomas Wayne asked for his favour returned when reporter Edward Elliot began investigating the Wayne family and discovered that Thomas Wayne's wife had a history of mental illness. Thomas went to Falcone and asked him to intimidate Elliot. Falcone instead had Elliot killed, and a distraught Thomas decided to go to the police about it. Soon after, Thomas and his wife were murdered in front of their son Bruce, possibly by Falcone's hand. At Thomas and Martha Wayne's funeral, Carmine Falcone, now part of his father's crime family, told Bruce that he could always ask a favour of him should he need it.

Some years after, Falcone shared a prison cell with Joe Chill, who murdered Bruce Wayne's parents. Falcone would later mock Wayne's late father, recalling that Chill told him Thomas Wayne "begged like a dog" as Chill killed him.

Later, Falcone became the most powerful crime lord in Gotham, and by the time of Batman’s first appearance he ran the underworld for over a decade. During this, he became afflicted with the secret society the Court of Owls and whilst never becoming a member, did come to an agreement to do whatever they wanted in return for him to be left to run his criminal empire.

When Carmine's daughter Sofia was a child, she once broke her ankles while playing with her cousins, causing her to cry in pain. Carmine told her to put ice on it but her mother went to the hospital with her. On the way she explained her daughter that cold actually increases the pain. What's needed instead is warmth. By the time Sofia was 13, Carmine sent her away, because he thought that Gotham was too dangerous for her.

In 2008, Joe Chill’s parole was granted after he informed Falcone he would testify against him otherwise. After Chill’s release, Carmine hired young associate Erin McKillen to persuade Bruce Wayne to kill Joe Chill for threatening to testify against him, depriving the police of Falcone’s proven involvement.

## Chronology

* 1968 - Carmine Falcone is born in Gotham City to Vincent Falcone.
* 1987 - Mario Falcone and Johnny Viti are born.
* 1989 - Sofia Falcone is born.
* 1992 - Selina Kyle is born and subsequently adopted.
* 1996 - Alberto Falcone is born.
* 1997 - Carmine Falcone begins to associate with Thomas Wayne, but he is killed a few weeks later. Carmine Falcone is sent to prison on an unrelated charge.
* 2005 - Carmine is released from prison and begins to retake his father’s empire.
* 2008 - Carmine arranges for the assassination of Joe Chill. Sal Maroni becomes boss of the Maroni family, Falcone’s primary rival.
* 2016 - The Batman threatens Carmine Falcone’s empire.
* 2017 - Alberto Falcone is killed; his body is never found.
* 2018 - Carmine Falcone is killed by Two-Face.