- "I love Lee and I'll do whatever I have to to keep her."
- —Mario Calvi to Jim Gordon[src]
Dr. Mario Calvi (born as Mario Falcone) was the son of the late Carmine Falcone, the brother of Sofia Falcone and the husband of Lee Thompkins.
Biography
Mario was born to Carmine Falcone and his unnamed mother as Mario Calvi. After Mario's mother passed away, Carmine had previously promised his wife that he wouldn't drag Mario into the family business. While Mario was a disappointment to the family business, he did bring honor to it.[1]
Meeting Leslie Thompkins
In Atlanta, Mario met Leslie Thompkins and eventually got into a relationship with her. When Jim decided to leave Gotham City in order to find her, he tracked down her address and arrived with flowers in hand. But while peering through the window, he saw Mario and her together. Broken, Jim departed without letting her know about his visit and returned to Gotham City.[2]
Moving to Gotham City and meeting Jim Gordon
Upon moving to Gotham City and getting a job at Gotham General Hospital, Mario Falcone tended to Jim's injuries following his fight with some men at the Narrow's Bar. He mentions how Leslie has talked about him. At a restaurant, Mario later tells Leslie about his encounter with Gordon. They are then visited by Mario's father Carmine Falcone who talks to Leslie about his son's history. He then does a toast to their relationship.[1]
After Leslie is abducted by a deranged Jervis Tetch as part of his revenge game against Jim Gordon, Mario arrives at the precinct where he crosses paths with Gordon about to leave. Gordon received a clue about Leslie and Valerie Vale's whereabouts from the "White Rabbit", which was the home of Mario and Leslie. Although Mario felt Gordon should get backup, he eventually joins him so the both of them can rescue the two women without police interference possibly causing Tetch to kill them. As Gordon goes inside to join Tetch, Leslie and Valerie at his "tea party", Mario sneaks into the cellar to retrieve his gun. He arrives at the tea party where Gordon is forced to choose to let either Leslie or Valerie live, and points the gun at Tetch's head. But Tetch informs Mario that he foresaw this, and took the liberty of removing the bullets from the gun. Tetch then gets his henchmen the Tweeds to escort Mario to the bathroom and chain him up. When the ordeal comes to an end, which resulted in Valerie being shot in the stomach and fatally wounded, Mario gets to work in the emergency theatre to perform surgery and save her life. While Gordon and Leslie wait, Leslie assures Gordon that Mario is a good surgeon and will save her.[3]
Leslie told Mario that Jim told Jervis to kill her because he knew that Valerie would get shot instead, meaning that he actually saved her life that day. Mario told Leslie that he wanted Jim out of their lives. Later, Mario found Jim unconscious in the basement of the hospital, and successfully revived him before the virus could kill him.[4]
During a conversation, Leslie told Mario that Jim was returning to work at the GCPD, much to Mario's dismay. Later, at the engagement party, Jim showed up uninvited, looking for a suspect. Mario angrily confronted Jim about his feelings for Leslie. Jim told him to lose the jealousy, telling him that it is a sign of weakness and it would only push Leslie further away. In a fit of rage, Mario punched Jim in the face. Jim refused to fight back and returned to his search for the suspect.[5]
Infected by Alice Tetch's blood
The Court of Owls later made multiple attempts on Mario's life. The first attempt with a car bomb and the second with two assassins trying to attack him. When it came to the third attempt at a jewelry store, Jim took out one of the assassins while Mario brutally killed the second in self-defense. Carmine Falcone later had a discussion with Kathryn about the attacks on his son. Kathryn withheld any important information on the Court of Owls' motives for the attempt on Mario's life. After seeing Leslie leaving Gordon's apartment, two punks came up behind him and started messing with him only to be brutally taken down by Mario. It is then shown that Mario was infected by Alice Tetch's blood.[6]
Mario being shot by Gordon before he can stab Leslie.
Mario visits a Gotham Bio-Lab worker named Ryan Pfeffer at a bar. Mario kills the worker and takes his key card. Upon Gordon entering Gotham Bio-Lab and finding that his key card was used, he was ambushed by Mario Calvi, who knocked him out. Deciding not to kill Gordon, Mario writes his location on Gordon's hand and dares him to come look for him. After learning about Mario's condition from Jervis Tetch, Gordon has Mario brought to the GCPD where Lucius Fox runs tests on him. Lucius informs Jim that they found no sign of the virus in him. Confused, Jim tells them that the test is wrong and that he will find a way to prove it. When Gordon goes to visit Leslie, he finds Mario waiting for him. Mario warns Jim, that if anything happens to him, his father, Carmine Falcone will make him pay. Mario calls in Victor Zsasz who holds Gordon at gunpoint. After holding Jim prisoner for a couple minutes, Zsasz tells him that he is free to go, as he was only instructed to keep Jim occupied for a few minutes. Jim knocks Zsasz out to get his weapon back and makes his way to the church in order to warn Leslie about Mario being infected, but it is to no avail. When the wedding starts, Mario watches as Carmine escorts Leslie to him as they exchange their vows. They are pronounced husband and wife by the priest. Upon Lucius figuring out how Mario countered the tests, Harvey Bullock tells Alvarez to get a unit on Mario and Leslie. At his father's lakeside house, Mario thanked Leslie for sneaking them out of the reception. When Mario asks her if she still cares for Gordon, Leslie states that she loves Mario, but she will always care for Jim. Jim visited Carmine, asking for the location of Mario and Leslie. Carmine tells Jim that he will give him the location, only if he promises to bring Mario in alive. Jim promises and is given the location. When Gordon heads to Carmine's refuge, he sees Mario with a knife in hand, seconds away from stabbing Leslie. Jim stops Mario by shooting him twice in the chest.[7]
Legacy
After Mario's death, Leslie Thompkins begins an arrogant vengeance on Jim Gordon for his death, by attempting to have him arrested, in which end up in deaf ears to everyone. Even Carmine Falcone once tried to have Jim killed, but he later called the bounty off.[8]
An emotionally-unstable Lee had a dream about Mario, in which he was still alive and that the whole thing with the Alice Tetch virus and his infection and death was just a nightmare. Mario comforted Lee, and went to get her a drink, which consisted of his own blood. When she stared in disbelief, the imaginary Mario got angry and ordered her to drink it in a distorted voice, which prompted her to awaken. After Lee was infected with the virus, she destroys everything of her relationships with Mario in the fireplace.[9]
A year after his death, Mario's sister, Sofia orchastrated a revenge plot against the city, by hiring Professor Pyg to kill several police officers, getting Harvey Bullock replaced by Jim as captain, and threatening to frame Jim for Pyg's murder if he does not do what she says; which ultimately backfired, as the new police captain refused to give into her threats.
Personality
- "I understand why you'd want to believe the man who's marrying Lee must be mixed up in something. But my son is the most decent person I've ever known."
- —Carmine Falcone to Jim Gordon[src]
Mario initially appeared to be kind, caring and charming, however, in truth, he was actually arrogant, hostile and rude towards individuals he disliked for no apparent reason, in "Time Bomb", he was revealed to have a bad temper and was jealous of Jim; due to the fact that the latter was once in a relationship with Leslie Thompkins.
- "She... loves... me! And I won't let her go. She... loves... me!"
- —Mario Calvi[src]
These traits became much worse after he was infected by Alice Tetch's blood (off-screen) to the point where Mario became cold, cruel, sadistic, ruthless and immoral, this was evidenced by the fact that he tried to kill his new wife Lee, because he believed she might leave him for her ex-fiancée, this attempt led to Mario's death at the hands of Jim Gordon.
Powers and abilities
Powers
- "He'll cut and he'll crush and the blood will run thick. Though from healer to killer is no easy trick."
- —Jervis Tetch to Jim Gordon[src]
- Superhuman strength: After taking the Alice Tetch virus, Mario had gained a significant increase in strength. He was able to easily overpower and strangle an assassin, and later lifted a thief by the neck with one hand, while bending a second thief's arm back with the other, after witnessing Lee exiting Gordon's apartment. Later, motivated again by jealousy, he crushed Ryan Pfeffer's skull with his bare hands by squeezing it from either side, leading Gordon to believe it was the work of the also superhumanly strong Nathaniel Barnes.
Abilities
- "He's been offered head trauma position at Gotham General."
- —Lee Thompkins to Jim Gordon[src]
- Expert physician: Mario was a medical doctor and had on occasion prior to his infection, treated the wounds of those injured in dangerous situations, such as Jim Gordon when they first meet in person, as well as Valerie Vale when she was shot by Jervis Tetch. He instantly knew how to counteract the hallucinogen Red Queen with Haloperidol, an antipsychotic, when Gordon was unconscious. He also knew how to rig the test to indicate the Tetch virus in him three times by flooding his system with Cloracinamine in order to mask the presence of the virus inside him.
- Advanced tactician: Whether this was always present or brought out by the virus was unknown. However, Mario was good at planning things out, such as when he manipulated Leslie Thompkins into believing that Jim Gordon was a jealous psychotic ex.
- Skilled hand to hand combatant:
Appearances
Season 3
Season 4
|
Notes
- Mario Calvi is based off Mario Falcone from the DC Comics, who was created by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale and first appeared in Batman: Dark Victory #1 (December 1999). Like the comic character, he's a son of Carmine Falcone, who tries to maintain the image of an honest man in the family. Although his comic counterpart wanted to clear the name of the Falcone family as whole in his first appearances, before being re-imagined as a villain for future stories based on New Earth continuity. Just like some of his family members, Mario Falcone was later killed by Two-Face.