Somewhere in Gotham – Years Ago
Frank Gallo was born with a face people didn't trust.
Even as a baby, the nurses at Gotham General joked he looked like he was already mad about taxes. His mother, Lucia Gallo, said he had "a mafia scowl and detective eyebrows." His father, Angelo, was a no-show—unless you counted his court-ordered "donations" to child support.
Frank didn't cry much. Didn't laugh much either. He just… watched. Big eyes. Broad shoulders. Quiet. Always with that tired, vaguely menacing look like the universe played a joke and he was the punchline.
Childhood – East End, Gotham
Gotham's East End raised survivors. Frank was quieter than most and tougher than all of them—because he had to be.
Teachers didn't like him.
Other kids were scared of him.
Even the neighborhood cat avoided eye contact.
But Frank wasn't mean. He never started fights. He didn't yell. He just looked like someone who might.
In fourth grade, he told a bully:
"You shouldn't steal her lunch money. That's not nice."
But he said it in that slow, quiet voice. Staring. No emotion. The kind of tone you hear right before someone gets whacked in a mob movie. The bully cried. Frank got detention.
The Trauma – Age 11
Frank's life shattered on a rainy night when his stepfather came home drunk.
Lucia Gallo was a night-shift nurse—tired, underpaid, and fiercely protective. That night, her husband lashed out. Frank watched him stab her. And Frank—calm, quiet Frank—snapped.
He stabbed the man ten times.
His stepfather lived. Barely. He's still in a coma. Frank never spoke a word during the trial.
He wasn't sent to prison. Instead, the court placed him in a juvenile penitentiary rehabilitation school—"like a regular school," except you never went home. He stayed there until freshman year.
No fights. No smiles. No voice unless necessary.
Just silence. And that face.
High School Return – Age 16
Frank came back to public school as a sophomore. Taller. Stronger. Scarier.
He didn't go to parties. Didn't smoke, drink, or flirt. He studied. Worked part-time at his uncle's auto shop. Fixed stuff for elderly neighbors. Pulled a kid out of a burning car once.
People still whispered:
"He's in a gang."
"He probably has a body count."
"He stared at a mirror once and the mirror blinked."
What he actually had? A closet full of flannel shirts, a compost bin, and a one-eyed dog named Mr. Tibbles.
Lucia Gallo's Rules
Lucia gave her son two rules:
"Don't lie. And don't let Gotham turn you into something you're not."
She loved him fiercely. But she always worried the city would twist him.
Lucia: "You've got your father's shoulders and my frown. That's a dangerous combo."
Frank: "I'm not trying to look mean."
Lucia: "You don't have to. You were born with a 'don't mess with me' face."
Frank: "Great."
Lucia: "Better than looking like a victim."
The Split – The Other Frank
That night—the night of the stabbing—did something to Frank. Something deep. Hidden.
An alternate self was born. Cold. Efficient. Calm like fresh snow covering a crime scene.
Frank doesn't remember the first time his other self came out. But he knows now: when the pressure's too high, when he can't handle the misunderstanding anymore, someone else takes over. Someone with garden metaphors and surgical precision.
He's not violent on purpose. But the city sees what it wants. And Gotham's imagination does the rest.
Present Day – Age 30
Frank tries to live quietly now. He gardens. Drinks bad coffee. Fixes things. Pays his taxes. Grows vegetables. Avoids trouble.
But the world won't let him.
A blurry photo of him walking through fog went viral. People started calling him "The Gaunt Man." Gotham's underworld began whispering. Gangsters. Vigilantes. Even the League of Shadows.
He once stopped a mugging. Everyone assumed he was taking over the block.
He tried attending a composting workshop. Rival gangs mistook it for a secret summit.
He said "I have guys for that" once and half the GCPD went into lockdown.
The Truth
Frank Gallo is not a crime lord.
He's not a killer. (Well… not intentionally.)
He's not a vigilante or a demigod or the long-lost heir to the Court of Owls.
He's just a man with a terrifying resting face, a history of trauma, a misfiring reputation, and a deep desire to be left alone to grow cucumbers.
But in Gotham?
That's enough to start a movement.
And maybe… a war.