- "You're a smart monkey, but you're a monkey, and I'm the zookeeper."
- ―Salvatore Maroni to Oswald Cobblepot[src]
Salvatore "Sal" Maroni is an Italian-American mob boss in Gotham City who is the head of the Maroni crime family, a rising criminal organization that is a threat to Carmine Falcone's family.
Biography
Maroni befriends a restaurant worker named Paolo who works at his restaurant, who is really Oswald Cobblepot under a new alias.
Maroni makes a power play for the new development at the Arkham Asylum site, and even contracts Richard Gladwell to take out the Mayor, Aubrey James. Maroni catches Cobblepot snooping on the job and tells him to mind his own business. Maroni's restaurant is raided by masked attackers, who try to rob it. Cobblepot saves most of the money, and Maroni promotes him to manager - unaware that Cobblepot himself had instigated the robbery. The upshot is that, in an attempt to appease both sides in the power struggle, Mayor James puts forward a hybrid plan, giving Don Falcone a low-income housing area to build, but granting Maroni the rights he wanted to waste disposal.
Sal Maroni makes plans to rob a casino owned by Carmine Falcone. Carmine Falcone meets with the mob leaders on his side to detail about what to do with Sal Maroni. Sal Maroni later watches the news of the "Viper" drug when he thinks that they might be of good use. Oswald tells Sal Maroni that he knows the janitor there that might be of help to them. Sal Maroni claims that "Penguin" is a good name for him. Oswald later tells Sal Maroni that his real name and how he used to work for Fish Mooney until Carmine Falcone's men tried to kill him. Sal Maroni then pins Oswald's head to the table. Sal Maroni later sends his right-hand man to pick up James Gordon at the police station where Sal Maroni wants to see him about Oswald Cobblepot. James Gordon is brought to Sal Maroni at his restaurant where he wants to get confirmation about Oswald's story about Carmine Falcone to determine who is telling the truth. Sal Maroni hears from Jim Gordon about his investigation on Thomas and Martha Wayne and how he covered up Oswald's death to fool Carmine Falcone, Fish Mooney, and the Gotham City Police Department. Sal Maroni sees that Oswald is right and spares his life while letting James Gordon go. Sal Maroni states to James Gordon to keep their meeting private and that he might call on him again. After James Gordon leaves, Sal Maroni plans to use Oswald Cobblepot in their fight against Carmine Falcone. Later that night, Oswald and Sal await their men to come back from their heist at the casino. Upon the heist being complete, Sal has Frankie drive off.
Maroni makes a deal with Falcone to keep Penguin in exchange for giving Falcone the toxic waste dump Indian Hill, which is located in the Arkham District. But Maroni begins having doubts about Penguin's loyalty. This is first tested when Maroni's restaurant is attacked by the Executioner, a former partner in crime of Maroni. Penguin is injured in the attack and during a delirious state states that he needs to see Falcone. Maroni and his gang are put into protective custody at the Gotham City Police Department, in which Maroni grills Penguin about Falcone. Penguin talks his way out of it, and Maroni lets him off the hook for the time being.
When Falcone's lieutenant Fish Mooney is forced to go on the run after she is exposed as a traitor to the Falcone crime family, she phones Maroni and informs him that Penguin has been working as a snitch for Falcone all along. Maroni invites Penguin on a trip to a cabin in Gotham woods, with the claim they are going on a job. Maroni begins to question Penguin about his loyalty in the form of a game, which slowly brings the truth out about Penguin's true nature. Penguin reveals that he took Maroni's gun and points it in his face and pulls the trigger, although it is revealed Maroni loaded the gun with blanks having foreseen Penguin's betrayal. Maroni overpowers Penguin and takes him to a scrapyard where he has him placed inside a car and prepared to be crushed. Penguin manages to escape by phoning the scrapyard owner and threatening to have Falcone kill his family unless he releases Penguin. Despite Maroni's attempts to kill Penguin himself, Penguin escapes.
Maroni holds a meeting with Falcone at Falcone's mansion in which Maroni is adamant he wants him dead. Falcone comes to a peace agreement by offering Maroni a captured judge to enact his revenge on. Maroni drops his attempts on Penguin's life for the time being, although not before stopping by Penguin's nightclub and warning him that when Falcone dies he will come for him. A few weeks later Maroni returns to the club and mockingly reveals to Penguin's mother Gertrud about Penguin not being a normal businessman but in fact a cold blooded psychopath and murderer, and reveals to her that Penguin stabbed to death Maroni's friend Frankie Carbone with a knife multiple times. This causes Gertrud great distress, and Penguin threatens Maroni that he will pay.
Maroni hosts a welcome home party for his soldier Tommy Bones after his release from Blackgate Penitentiary after serving a ten year sentence. A hitman known as Connor stops by the bar with an associate to pay his respects and gives Maroni a "gift" from "Falcone". It is then revealed that guns were stashed at the bar and Connor and his associate gain access to them and prepare to kill Maroni, although the guns seemingly jam. The associate is killed and Maroni overpowers Connor, stating that he will give Falcone a message but Connor won't have to be alive for it to happen. Maroni then has Connor shot dead by Tommy Bones. They decapitate Connor and send it to Falcone, and begin a mob war with the Falcone family by attacking Falcone's territories. Unknown to both parties, Penguin hired Connor to try and kill Maroni and was the one who took the pins out of the gun so it jammed.
During the mob war Maroni begins gaining the upper hand, causing any judges and high-ranking law enforcement individuals to switch their loyalty to him. During the battle Falcone is injured and ends up in hospital, where he is trapped to a gurney awaiting Maroni's men to come and execute him. Penguin arrives earlier to kill Falcone personally, although is stopped by Jim Gordon. Gordon battles and kills several of Maroni's attacking hitmen, and manages to escape in an ambulance with Falcone, Penguin Harvey Bullock and Butch Gilzean. They arrive at a warehouse owned by Falcone, although are ambushed by Fish Mooney, who has returned to Gotham City with her own crew. They are captured and restrained, and Maroni arrives at the warehouse in which it is revealed he has formed an alliance with Fish. But before they can begin executing Falcone and Penguin, Maroni begins to mock Fish by calling her "babes" and saying that she is "number 2" in their partnership, which doesn't please her. Maroni continues to mock Fish despite apologising, causing an angry Fish to shoot Maroni in the head, killing him instantly.
When Penguin successfully takes over the criminal underworld he hires several lieutenants from Maroni's gang to join his crime family, which includes Tommy Bones.
Appearances
Gotham
- "The Balloonman"
- "Arkham"
- "Viper"
- "All Happy Families Are Alike"