In the comics, Falcone is a powerful Mafia chieftain nicknamed "The Roman," where his stranglehold over Gotham City's organized crime is referenced as "The Roman Empire" at least once. In Batman: Year One, his penthouse is designed in a Roman architectural style.
Falcone appeared in the mini-series Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. The character is based on Marlon Brando's portrayal of Don Vito Corleone from the 1972 film The Godfather. Loeb stated in an interview that he paralleled the Falcone family to that of the Corleone family: Falcone's power and wisdom akin to Vito Corleone, his son Alberto's personality and appearance that of Fredo Corleone, and his daughter Sofia's temper matching that of Sonny Corleone. Lastly, his elder son Mario's deportation to Sicily, physical appearance and desire to legitimize the Falcone family are all traits shared with Michael Corleone.
Fictional character biography
In The Long Halloween, Vincent Falcone brings his dying son, Carmine (who had been shot several times by Luigi Maroni), to Thomas Wayne. Fearing Maroni would finish the job at a public hospital, he begs Wayne to perform surgery at Wayne Manor. A young Bruce Wayne watches his father save Falcone's life. At Thomas Wayne's funeral, Carmine Falcone tells Bruce that he can always ask a favor of him.
In Batman: Year One, Falcone virtually runs the city with the unnamed Mayor of Gotham City, the city council, Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, and Arnold Flass in his pocket. His power base comes under attack with the arrival of the mysterious vigilante Batman. In one scene, Falcone hosts a dinner party, attended by the commissioner and other corrupt high society members. Batman crashes the dinner party to announce that they will be delivered to justice.
Despite Loeb's desperate attempts to stop him, Batman's attacks on Falcone's organization become even more brazen. Batman has Falcone's car dumped into the river, invades his home, assaults him, strips him to his underwear, and leaves him hogtied to his bed. Humiliated, Falcone orders Batman killed. Batman is too elusive, and he later helps Catwoman attack Falcone and she leaves three scratch marks on his face. Finally, Falcone orders police detective Jim Gordon's wife and child kidnapped to bring him to heel. He orders his nephew Johnny Viti for the job. The plot is in part foiled by Gordon while Batman rescues his son, James Jr. Eventually, investigations led by Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, with some secret assistance by Batman, restore law and order to Gotham: Loeb is forced to resign and Falcone's power is put under threat by the new opposition he faces. Angered by Johnny's failure, he orders his nephew killed. Johnny survives the attempt on his life, meaning Falcone now has to battle his sister Carla Viti, the head of the Viti crime family in Chicago.
The plot of The Long Halloween involves a serial killer named Holiday. This mysterious assassin targets Gotham's crime families, with particular attention paid to the Falcone family. Falcone's son, Alberto, confesses to all of the Holiday killings, in an attempt to be accepted into the family business.
During The Long Halloween, Falcone is able to frustrate his enemies with a careful mix of murder and influence. The situation changes when Batman and Dent discover one of Falcone's warehouses, containing millions in stockpiled cash. They burn the money, striking a blow against Falcone he cannot ignore. This drives him to take desperate measures, hiring "freaks" in the form of what becomes Batman's Rogues Gallery. He also has a hand in the birth of Two-Face: infuriated by Harvey Dent's efforts to disrupt his operations—and convinced that Dent is the Holiday killer—he persuades his former rival Sal Maroni to kill Dent while standing trial. Falcone's men provide Maroni with a vial of acid, which he hurls at Dent during a court proceeding. This happens on August 2, Falcone's birthday. The acid disfigures the left side of Dent's face, leading to him becoming Two-Face. At the story's climax, Two-Face led the rest of Batman's Rogue's Gallery (consisting of Catwoman, Joker, Mad Hatter, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and Solomon Grundy) into breaking into the Falcone penthouse. Two-Face kills Falcone following a coin flip that lands on the scarred side.
In Batman: Dark Victory, Falcone's grave site is robbed and his body goes missing. His finger is cut off and sent to his daughter, Sofia Gigante, the new leader of the Falcone Family. This is described as an "old style message", signifying that someone is out to take everything away from the Falcone Family. Alberto is put under house arrest, and he begins to hear his father's voice in the home. Ultimately the dead body of corrupt District Attorney Janice Porter ends up in Alberto's bed while he is sleeping. His father calls him a failure, and urges him to commit suicide. Knowing his father abhorred suicide, Alberto figures out that the voice is part of a ruse, and shoots a mirror: Behind the mirror is the Calendar Man, who shoots him as he tries to escape. When Batman and Gordon investigate, they find secret passages and microphones for the Calendar Man to move freely about the house. They then learn that Scarecrow had laced Alberto's cigarettes with fear toxin. Not until the end it is revealed that Two-Face has Falcone's body in his possession, having frozen it using Mr. Freeze's cryogenic technology. Selina Kyle briefly visits the grave at the conclusion of the story, where it is revealed that she believes that Falcone is her biological father.
The New 52
In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Carmine Falcone appears in the second issue of Batman Eternal determined to reclaim his empire after Commissioner Gordon is framed for mass murder.
Falcone's plot to retake control of Gotham City progresses, with it clear that he controls Mayor Sebastian Hardy (who has been the Mayor of Gotham City for 5 years with Falcone's help) and also control of the Gotham City Police Department. While Falcone and Mayor Hardy instruct the police to hunt down Batman, Falcone's henchmen begin attacking arms caches belonging to his chief rival Penguin.
It is revealed at the conclusion of the story that Falcone was unaware of the larger plot against Batman, and was simply informed that he would have a chance to strike by an anonymous letter sent to him by the true mastermind.
Family
The following are relatives of Carmine Falcone:
Vincent Falcone - Carmine's father.
Carla Viti - Carmine's sister. Boss of Viti Family in Chicago.
Louisa Falcone - Carmine's wife. Her current location is unknown.
Johnny Viti - Carla's son and Carmine's nephew.
Lucia Viti - Carla's daughter and Carmine's niece.
Sofia Falcone Gigante - Carmine's daughter. Mario later legally changes his sister's name to Sofia Gigante.
Alberto Falcone - Carmine's son.
Mario Falcone - Carmine's son.
Selina Kyle - Carmine's alleged daughter.
Kitrina Falcone - Carmine's granddaughter.
Television
Don Carmine Falcone appears in the TV series Gotham portrayed by John Doman. He is depicted as a Mafia Don who has Gotham City's Mayor Aubrey James (Richard Kind), Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Peter Scolari), and specific members of the Gotham City Police Department in his pocket. He also claims that Detective Jim Gordon's (Ben McKenzie) late father, who was Gotham's district attorney, was on his payroll. Falcone is served by many operatives including the assassin Victor Zsasz (Anthony Carrigan). Throughout the first season, Falcone faces several threats to his power: his associate Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) is secretly planning to overthrow him; Gordon vows to bring him down; and his main rival Sal Maroni (David Zayas) is encroaching on his territory. Falcone enlists small-time criminal Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor) to help him destroy his enemies. Falcone also becomes enamored of a young woman named Liza (Makenzie Leigh), who is secretly working for Mooney. He later strangles Liza to death when he discovers where her allegiances lie. As punishment for her treason, he has Mooney imprisoned and gives control of her nightclub and the remnants of her gang to Cobblepot. Bent on ruling Gotham himself, Cobblepot instigates a turf war between Falcone and Maroni. In the season finale, "All Happy Families Are Alike," Falcone is wounded by Maroni's men, and Cobblepot and his henchman Butch Gilzean (Drew Powell) go to the hospital to kill him. Gordon foils the assassination attempt, however, and takes Falcone, Cobblepot, and Gilzean to Falcone's safehouse - where Mooney and Maroni are waiting, intent on killing them all. During the meeting, Mooney double-crosses Maroni by shooting him in the head, which leads to a fight between Maroni's men and Mooney's gang. While Cobblepot fights Mooney, Gordon, Bullock, and Falcone manage to escape back to Gordon's apartment. Falcone announces that he is going to retire and leave Gotham, and gives Gordon a knife that was given to him by Gordon's father. In the second season, Falcone emerges from retirement to help Gordon escape Blackgate Penitentiary, where he had been jailed on a false charge. He then uses his criminal contacts to smuggle Gordon out of Gotham so he can clear his name. In the third season, Falcone's son Mario Calvi (James Carpinello) gets engaged to Dr. Leslie Thompkins (Morena Baccarin). When an attempt is made on Mario's life, Falcone tortures one of the detained assassins that the Court of Owls arranged the hit. He meets with the group's representative Kathryn and demands that they leave Mario alone, saying that the group owes him for letting them use the Indian Hill property. Kathryn withholds a dark secret about Mario and states that he and those on his side won't win against the Court of Owls if they come after them in retaliation. After his son's wedding, he is confronted by Gordon that Mario has a Tetch virus and he's willing to kill Leslie. He tells Gordon to bring his son alive. In "Mad City: Ghosts," Carmine Falcone attends his son's funeral. In a talk with Leslie Thompkins, Carmine tells Leslie to let him carry the burden of Mario's loss as he had done with other burdens. This leads to Carmine Falcone sending Victor Zsasz to do a hit on Gordon. After visiting Nathaniel Barnes at Arkham Asylum, Leslie tells Carmine Falcone to call off the hit since Mario would've acted the same way that Leslie did. Carmine comments that he knows that Leslie still loves Gordon. When it came to the shootout at Gordon's apartment, Carmine arrived telling Victor Zsasz that the hit has been cancelled causing Victor to take his leave. After Gordon apologizes to him about what he had to do to Mario, Carmine quotes "If it were up to me, you'd be dead." Carmine then takes his leave from Gordon's apartment.
Carmine Falcone appears in Justice League Action episode "Time Share," voiced by Jason J. Lewis. Chronos, Batman, and Blue Beetle go back in time to Batman's first fight against Carmine Falcone and his men where it was his first case as the Dark Knight. Chronos even tipped off Carmine Falcone which resulted in Batman fighting Carmine Falcone and his men. Batman and Blue Beetle stop Chronos from altering the outcome to protect the past Batman from being erased from the time stream and secretly help the past Batman into catching Carmine Falcone.
Film
Carmine Falcone appears in Batman Begins played by Tom Wilkinson. He controls Gotham City's criminal underworld, flooding the city with drugs, crime and poverty. He is effectively above the law, as most government officials are either on his payroll or afraid of him. He has Joe Chill (Richard Brake), the murderer of Thomas and Martha Wayne, killed for threatening to testify against him, depriving Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) of the chance to take his own revenge. Following Chill's death, Wayne confronts Falcone and tells him that not everyone in Gotham is afraid of him. Falcone has his men beat up the young billionaire, and tells him that real power comes from being feared. This inspires Wayne to travel the world in a journey that culminates in his transformation into Batman. When Falcone goes into business with Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) and their mysterious benefactor Ra's al Ghul (Liam Neeson), he smuggles a hallucinogenic chemical compound into Gotham. In return, Crane, who runs Arkham Asylum, diagnoses Falcone's henchmen as insane when they are arrested so they can avoid prison. Batman foils the plot and hands Falcone to the police. While in prison, Falcone tries to blackmail Crane into giving him a cut of what he believes to be profits from the smuggling operation. In response, Crane sprays Falcone with his fear toxin, literally terrifying him out of his mind. Falcone is incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, where he lies catatonic and mindlessly muttering the word "Scarecrow".
In The Dark Knight, it is mentioned that Falcone is still in Arkham Asylum. In his absence, Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts) has taken over his crime family.
Carmine Falcone appears in Batman: Year One voiced by Alex Rocco. He is first seen hosting a dinner party with Gotham City's corrupt politicians and crime bosses, which Batman crashes to announce his presence to the criminal underworld. Later on, Batman catches Falcone, strips him naked, and ties him up in his bed after dumping his car in the river. When Falcone makes plans to dispose of Sergeant James Gordon, their meeting is interrupted by Batman and Catwoman, who defeat his men and hand him over to the police.
Video games
Tom Wilkinson reprises his role as Carmine Falcone in the 2005 video game version of Batman Begins. In the game, Batman confronts Falcone at the docks to show him that there is now something on the streets worse than his criminal empire, using a crane to lift Falcone's car into the air (with Falcone in it) to make his statement.
Carmine Falcone's crime family is featured in DC Universe Online. In the villain campaign, Killer Croc mentions that he has been hired by the Falcones to put an end to Bane's drug trafficking operations. Some of the Falcones are seen in Penguin's cutscene at the Iceberg Lounge where the Penguin plans to take advantage of the gang war.
The Falcone Crime Family (specifically Carmine) are mentioned several times in Batman: Arkham City. Scanning several items related to the Falcone and Maroni families offer stories about them. The exposition reveals that the Falcones won the war with the Maroni family by first offering to parlay with them in Maroni's restaurant only for Falcone's men to start shooting up the building. The few Maroni Family survivors fled to Bludhaven. One of Hugo Strange's interview tapes reveals that the Falcone Family gave the man that would become the Joker the Red Hood costume he wore during his fateful first encounter with Batman. Another tape reveals that Harvey Dent was the prosecutor of the Falcone Family's trial, which led to Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face. A boat can be found on Amusement Mile, containing an invoice from Falcone shipping for the attention of Dr. J. Crane, saying the first 15 shipments of "Live Insects for Medical Purposes" have arrived. If the player visits Calendar Man as Catwoman, he hints at Carmine being her father.
The Falcone Crime Family (specifically Carmine) are also mentioned a few times in Batman: Arkham Origins. One of the extortion tapes, specifically regarding Alberto Falcone, reveal that Black Mask and Falcone were old acquaintances. In addition, it was revealed through dialogue that Carmine Falcone was forced to give up on the weapons business after Oswald Cobblepot abducted and heavily tortured Alberto, his son. It was also implied that Carmine would have been notified about any potentially untreated psychological issues regarding Alberto by then-shrink in training Harleen Quinzel as a threat to ensure Alberto continued with Hugo Strange's psychiatry therapy sessions.
Carmine Falcone appears in the mobile game Batman: Arkham Underworld, voiced by Jon Polito. Though not appearing physically, Falcone mentions that he is under heat from the new district attorney Harvey Dent and will occasionally pop up after completed missions (specifically ones that involve attacking his businesses) to either express his admiration of the player's "moxie" or give thinly-veiled threats warning the player to back off.
Carmine Falcone appears in Batman: The Telltale Series, voiced by Richard McGonagle. He is shown to have connections with Mayor Hamilton Hill. During a private fundraiser where Bruce Wayne would support Harvey Dent's campaign as Mayor of Gotham City, he ends up meeting Carmine Falcone who wants to discuss a partnership with Bruce Wayne. Bruce rebuffs his offer, making himself an enemy of Falcone. After Batman discovered Carmine Falcone's connections with Mayor Hamilton Hill, he fights pass Carmine Falcone's men and interrogates Falcone about the chemicals. Falcone admits to having ownership of the chemicals, but denies playing a part in the shootout at the warehouse. Falcone also reveals that everything said about the Wayne family being affiliated with his organization is true and this is confirmed when Batman notices a fallen photograph of Falcone and his parents. Batman leaves Falcone for the police to pick up and departs Falcone's headquarters. Carmine Falcone is later placed in medical care by the police. Depending on if the evidence of Carmine Falcone's crimes is handed to either Vicki Vale or James Gordon, nobody will be allowed to see him including his wife. With help from Harvey Dent pulling some strings, Bruce Wayne visits Carmine Falcone who states that he had no knowledge of calling the hit on Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne. Even after Bruce either ease's his pain or hurts him to get the truth out of him, Carmine is asked by Bruce about his parents deaths. Carmine tells Bruce that he had no part in Thomas and Martha's death while stating that not everybody in Gotham City is trustworthy. Before he can continue talking to Bruce, Carmine Falcone is shot by Renee Montoya who had been drugged by Oswald Cobblepot.
