Gilberto Falco

Background

For over a decade, Gilberto Falco was Italy's most prominent anti-mafia prosecutor. He meticulously dismantled crime families by earning the trust of pentiti (collaborators of justice), protecting them and their families in exchange for information. His first target was a small-time gang. Falco identified members who wanted to leave the organization, protected them as pentiti, and guaranteed the safety of their families in exchange for information.↗↗

His success made him a national hero, with his face being even better known than that of any top Serie A football player, thanks to his frequent appearances in newspapers and on television. However, this made him a primary target for assassination. His life was under such constant threat that he was guarded by dozens of police officers twenty-four hours a day and took extreme personal precautions, such as confining himself to windowless rooms to avoid snipers.↗↗

His latest target became the rising gang, Passione. He built a massive case against them based on the testimony of a key witness and Passione money launderer, Pollo Albatero, leading to the arrest of thirty-two members and the beginning of a high-profile maxi trial.↗↗

Il Testimone della Parte Gangster

At the first hearing, Falco is confident of victory. However, he is blindsided when his star witness, Pollo, suddenly recants all of his testimony. This is due to a covert threat from Tizzano, who had Pollo's half-sister abducted and used her ring as a signal to Pollo in the courtroom.↗↗↗

Rattled but undeterred, Falco deduces the nature of the threat. Using his own detective network, he successfully locates and rescues Pollo's sister from a warehouse where Passione had hidden her. At the second hearing, after Pollo is again forced to lie, Falco dramatically brings the sister into the courtroom as a surprise witness. This act proves his dedication and earns him Pollo's absolute trust.↗↗↗

However, this was Tizzano's true plan. As a grateful Pollo prepares to finally tell the truth, Squalo uses his Stand, Clash, to secretly attach Tizzano's Stand, Talking Head, to Pollo's tongue. The Stand forces Pollo to say the opposite of what he means, turning his praise for Falco into a vile accusation, claiming Falco was the one who threatened him with his sister. Pollo is then killed by Clash to sow further chaos.↗↗

The courtroom erupts, and Tizzano presses the advantage, demanding Falco explain himself. As Falco takes the microphone to profess his innocence, Clash attaches Talking Head to his tongue. Falco is forced to confess to every fabricated crime, destroying his own reputation and the prosecution's case. Falco horrifically realizes what is happening. To stop himself from corrupting justice further, he bites a piece of his own tongue off, detaching Talking Head.↗↗

Falco's forced confession about arresting innocent people, threatening them, and coercing confessions is taken as truth, forever changing his reputation. This leads to the acquittal of the Passione members, and causes a major setback for the anti-mafia measures in Italy's judicial system.↗↗↗

Profile details

Status: Deceased↗

Cause of Death: Bites off a piece of his own tongue to stop Talking Head, then Squalo 's Clash rips off his whole tongue↗↗