Salvatore Maroni was a major criminal kingpin in the early Batman mythos, operating one of Gotham City's most fearsome mobs during the early days of Batman's career. In the TV series Gotham, which is set long before Bruce Wayne dons the cowl of the Caped Crusader, Maroni is a devious and violent thug who's gang dominates Gotham's drug trade and is seeking to oust Carmine Falcone's family as the top organised crime syndicate in Gotham. He is portrayed by David Zayas.
History[]
Sal Maroni is a powerful crime boss, but is considered second-fiddle to Carmine Falcone. Maroni seeks to remove Falcone from the top spot and sees an opportunity to do so when a dish washer at his restaurant offers him information and insight regarding the power struggles within the Falcone crime family. The dish washer in question is Oswald Cobblepot, former lackey of Falcone underboss Fish Mooney who staged his death and then used his anonymity to find work within Maroni's organisation. Unbeknownst to Maroni, Cobblepot is actually working as a spy for Falcone while at the same time is pursuing his own agenda.
Impressed with Cobblepot's insight and cunning, Maroni allows him to manage his restaurant and Cobblepot steadily worms his way into a greater position of power within Maroni's organisation. Following an encounter with the psychopath Jack Buchinsky, however, Penguin unintentionally reveals to Maroni that he is working for Falcone. Some time after this revelation, Maroni attempts to kill Penguin in a car crusher, but Cobblepot escapes and returns to Falcone.
Maroni seeks revenge against Penguin for manipulating him, but Don Falcone reaches an agreement with him, having abducted and tortured a judge and offering him to Maroni in exchange for Penguin's life. Maroni agrees, but he pays Penguin a visit at his new club and makes it clear to him that as soon as Falcone is out of the picture, so is he.
Penguin later orchestrates a failed attempt on Maroni's life, making it seem as though Falcone had put out the hit. This action results in an all-out war between the Maroni and Falcone families.
Death[]
In the Season 1 finale "All Happy Families Are Alike", Maroni forms an alliance with former crime boss Fish Mooney upon her return to Gotham, with the plan to kill Falcone and for them to rule Gotham. During the mob war Maroni forms an alliance with police commissioner Gillian Loeb and sends his men to kill Falcone who is in hospital. However this plan is stopped by Jim Gordon, who saves Falcone and escapes the hospital with him, Harvey Bullock, Penguin and Butch Gilzean in an ambulance. But later they are captured by Fish and her gang at Falcone's warehouse and are tied up. Maroni arrives with his men and is pleased. But things go wary when Maroni begins to foolishly make sexist remarks towards Fish, and although insisting he is only joking he continues to jibe her and refer to her as "babes". Having had enough, Fish shoots Maroni in the head, killing him instantly and causing a firefight to break out between the two factions.