Fish Mooney

Maria Mercedes "Fish" Mooney is a gang boss and an antagonist in the TV series Gotham, serving as one of two main antagonists (the other being Oswald Cobblepot) of the show's first season.

She is portrayed by Jada Pinkett Smith.

She is an underling of Carmine Falcone, who plans to try and usurp the aging Crime Lord's position. She is also the former employer of Oswald Cobblepot, the arguable true main antagonist of the series.

Cobblepot's Betrayal
While investigating Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder, GCPD detectives Harvey Bullock and his new partner, James Gordon, come to her nightclub to ask if she had heard anything as the crime had happened in her area. When they arrive, Mooney is in the middle of beating a man who had been stealing from her. Upon meeting, she warmly greets Harvey, they being good friends. After initially denying any knowledge on the identity of the Waynes' murderer, she promises to help in any way she can, while showing a cold interest in Gordon due to his straightforwardness and interest in the case. Later, she calls Bullock to tell him one of her men had received a pearl necklace, whose description matched to the one Martha Wayne had stolen from her, from a career criminal named Mario Pepper. Bullock and Gordon visit Pepper at his home, who denies any involvement in the Waynes' case. After Pepper is shot to death by Bullock while saving Gordon when the former flees, the pearl necklace is indeed found in his apartment, seemingly proving Pepper's guilt.

However, Mooney is soon visited by Gordon alone, who alleges her of framing Pepper by planting a replica of Martha Wayne's necklace on him. He also questions Bullock's involvement in this frame-up with Mooney. As Gordon is about to leave after trading words, Mooney has her men attack him, and then she herself strikes the telling blow from behind, knocking him unconscious.

Mooney is then seen watching an auditioning comedian for her club, finding him very amusing for his dark humor. She receives a call from her right-hand man, Gilzean, informing her of Bullock coming to save Gordon at her isolated plant. Bullock attempts to persuade Mooney to let Gordon go, going so far as to threaten to "go after her" if she kills his partner. Seeing this as disrespect and insult to her, she orders Gilzean on phone to hang and kill Bullock along with Gordon too. But the two detectives are saved by Mooney's superior, Carmine Falcone and his men's timely intervention.

Keeping Bullock's words in mind of how "somebody talked" from her gang to the GCPD Major Crimes Unit leading to Gordon blaming her, Mooney asks her lackey, Oswald Cobblepot, to massage her foot as she voices her ambitions to take over Gotham from Falcone, whom she now considers has gotten "old and soft". After verbally comforting Cobblepot, she confidently blames him for tipping off the Major Crimes Unit, as only he had seen with the fake pearl necklace. When he protests, stating that he would "open a vein" for her as a show of loyalty, she immediately suggests he do so while handing him a knife. When Cobblepot tries to back out, she turns her back, while mockingly calling him "[my] little penguin". Despised by this namecalling and seeing this as his chance, Cobblepot tries to attack Mooney with the knife, only to be brutally beaten by her with a chair, whilst breaking his leg, and giving him his distinctive limp. Later, Falcone orders Bullock to have Gordon kill Cobblepot for snitching against Mooney, but Gordon fakes his death by letting him swim away, telling Cobblepot never to return to Gotham City.

Despite Penguin's "death", he left trouble for Mooney. The next day, Falcone visits Mooney at her nightclub for a chat, and tells her that Cobblepot had revealed to him of her plans to take him out soon. After Mooney squarely denies it, Falcone gives the impression of believing her, and starts asking about her lover. When Mooney denies having one, only a "boy [she keeps] around for exercise" named Lazlo, Falcone implicably has the latter beaten by his men as a show of Mooney's place in his mob, much to her emotional distraught. He kisses Fish's hand and thanks her being honest. She aggressively orders everyone to leave her club soon after Falcone exits. Later, Fish's head thug Butch is telling her it was too early now to make a move on Falcone. She knows and voices her desire to amass more money and men to Gilzean, so that one day, she can personally kill Falcone with her "bare hands and [her] teeth". Butch offers to hold her shoes. She also sadistically wishes for Cobblepot to still have been alive, so that she could have made him suffer more for talking to Falcone about her plans against him.

When Gordon and Bullock return to her nightclub to ask her of the disappearance of street children from around her locality, Mooney shows little interest in the case, only revealing that there's an unknown "international buyer" who has able and healthy children kidnapped from Gotham's streets and shipped to him.

Escaping the Dollmaker
When departing Gotham, the boat Fish Mooney is on is attacked. She is kidnapped and awakens in an underground prison. She begins to takeover and demands her abductors that she meets the man in charge. Fish is brought to the associate of the man in charge, who reveals the man behind it is Dr. Francis Dulmacher. Fish is given the option of having her eyes removed or death. As a third option, she takes a spoon and gouges out one of her eyes and crushes it, and later collapses.

Fish later awakens to find herself being examined by Dollmaker, who has replaced her eye with a new one (although it is blue and not matching). Fish cuts him a deal to become his new assistant, in exchange for supplies to be sent to the basement, which Dollmaker complies. However she still plans to escape the prison and scouts out a way to escape.

Fish plans to fly a helicopter out of Gotham. After using some prisoners as bait by sending them to the boat, she escapes with other ones by helicopter.

Return to Gotham
Returning to Gotham, she forms a gang of the survivors from Dulmacher's island and street kids (including Selina Kyle). After making a deal with Maroni she is able to catch Falconi and Penguin.

After Penguin, Falcone, Gordon and Bullock have been caught, Penguin adresses Fish. He tells her that he knows that his life is forfeit but she should keep Falcone alive because after Falcones death Maroni would have no use for her anymore. Maroni dements that, telling Penguin that Fish is no threat to her because she is no boss but an underboss. Fish replies that a underboss takes orders and that she does not take orders. Maroni tells her to calm down and calls her "Babes". She shivers and tells him not to call her that. Maroni tells her that it is a term of endearment but accepts that he misspoke and that she is neither underboss nor babe. Fish tells him that they are partners. to which he replies that he is Partner 1 and she is Partner 2. Fish seemingly agrees. When Maroni calls her "Babes" again, he apologizes, swearing that this was the last time. He then adresses his men, telling them that with Falcone's death he will rule Gotham and establish a dynasty. When asking Fish if she agrees, he calls her "Babes" once again. He then laughs, telling Fish that he is joking with her. When he turns to his laughing men, telling them to not call her "Babes" Fish shoots him in the head.

Stand-off with Penguin
In the erupting Chaos, Penguin is able to get a gun and shoots Fish's remaining men although Fish is able to run to cover. Penguin follows her, chasing her to the rooftop of the warehouse. On the roof Fish attacks Penguin with a pipe, prompting him to drop his gun. Their fight brings them to the corner of the roof, where they are disturbed when Butch appears with Penguins gun. Both order him to kill the other. between his loyalty to Fish and his brainwashing by Zsasz, Butch resolves his inner conflict by shooting both of them in the stomach, killing none of them. He then realises what he has done and heads to fish, apologizing. Fish tells him that it is not his fault and that they messed with his mind. She tells Butch that she is going to be okay. At that moment Cobblepot knocks out Butch and attacks Fish, driving her to the rooftop corner and throwing her off the roof. Butch is only able to watch as Fish screamingly falls into the sea below.

Legacy
It is unclear if Fish survived her fall. Cobblepot appears to be convinced she is truly dead, and declares himself "The King of Gotham". A month following the incident, Harvey Bullock brings Fish up and says that Oswald owes him for what he did to her. A group of arsonists named the Pike Brothers that Fish Mooney had previous association with are convinced she is still alive and will one day return to Gotham, however Butch is not convinced as he was there to witness her "death".

Physical Appearance
Fish is a short woman, standing at 5'0" tall, with spikey pixie cut black hair and hot pink-dyed tips at the front. She wears very high heels or boots that make her appear taller, along with dangling earrings and expensive clothing and glittery/shiney eyeshadow, usually golden in color, and has very long and thick eyelashes.

Season One

 * "Pilot"
 * "Selina Kyle"
 * "The Balloonman"
 * "Arkham"
 * "Viper"
 * "Penguin's Umbrella"
 * "The Mask"
 * "Harvey Dent"
 * "LoveCraft"
 * "Rogues' Gallery"
 * "What The Little Bird Told Him"
 * "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon"
 * "The Fearsome Dr. Crane"
 * "The Scarecrow"
 * "The Blind Fortune Teller"

Trivia

 * Fish Mooney is the only main character who doesn't originate from the comics, as she was created exclusively for the TV series.
 * Pinkett Smith drew inspiration for the character from Norma Desmond, a faded silent movie star from the 1950's film, Sunset Boulevard, played by Gloria Swanson, and Griselda Blanco, a real life drug lord of the Medellín Cartel.
 * A body strongly resembling Fish Mooney can be seen in Hugo Strange's office at the end of the season 2 episode "Worse Than a Crime". Despite the striking resemblence and possibility, this hasn't been officially confirmed yet.