| “ | Career street thug. Robbery, assault, rape, extortion, drug dealing. | „ |
| ~ Harvey Bullock on Mario's past crimes. |
Mario Pepper is a character who appears in the "Pilot" episode of the DC TV Series Gotham. He is a man who is set up by the mob for the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and is the father of Ivy Pepper - the future supervillainess Poison Ivy.
Biography
After the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne at the hands of an unknown killer, the mob decide to set up Mario Pepper as a fall guy and plant a replica of Martha's necklace in the Pepper household. Detective Harvey Bullock then receives "information" from crime boss Fish Mooney and heads to the household with his partner James Gordon. It becomes apparent that Mario is abuse towards his wife and daughter, seeing as his wife has bruises on her face and Ivy is scared of him, even saying that "he's mean" to the two detectives. During questioning Mario attempts escape and Gordon chases him into an alleyway. Mario attempts to kill Gordon with a knife, but is gunned down and killed by Bullock. Gordon and Bullock are declared heroes for "catching" the murdering of Thomas and Martha after the necklace is found in his house.
However when Gordon discovers the truth, he is nearly killed by Butch Gilzean along with Bullock, but is rescued by Don Carmine Falcone. Falcone explains to Gordon the reason for setting up Mario was because he wanted the people of Gotham to see swift justice being done and to believe in the police department, and states it wasn't part of a cover up and he didn't kill the Waynes'.
This revelation leads Gordon down a path along with Thomas and Martha's son Bruce Wayne to get to the bottom of who killed Bruce's parents and fight against the crime and corrupting in Gotham City.
Despite his abusive nature, his wife and daughter are shown to envy the police, especially as Mario was set up for a crime he didn't commit. His wife later committed suicide, leaving their daughter orphaned.
Episode appearances
Season 1
- "Pilot"
