Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna)

Det. Dante Angelo Falconeri is a fictional character on the popular daytime soap opera General Hospital. Dante is the son of the popular character Sonny Corinthos and his old flame Olivia Falconeri. He has been portrayed by Dominic Zamprogna since the character's debut on June 22, 2009.

Casting
Since the announcement of the character in the summer of 2008, there has been much speculation about who would portray the character. First Tom Pelphrey was considering the role. He had just relocated to California leading fans to believe he was joining the cast. Pelphrey later released a statement saying he wanted to seek work outside of daytime. Then in October 2008, it was announced that David Lago had reportedly been cast as Dante. All seemed to be going well except for the fact that Lago had never actually signed a contract and the deal fell apart. Lago instead returned to his former job as Raul Guittierez on The Young and the Restless. In late spring of 2009, it was announced that Canadian actor Dominic Zamprogna had been cast as the character of Dominic. Seeing that the character had the same name as the actor led to much speculation among fans. On July 8th, 2009, Dominic is confirmed to be Dante Falconeri.

History
Dante was born in Bensonhurst around 1984 to a 15-year-old Olivia Falconeri. Olivia dated Sonny Corinthos in high school. After the relationship ended, Sonny began dating Olivia's cousin Connie (now known as Kate Howard). After Sonny left Bensonhurst, Olivia learned she was pregnant. The only other person who knew Sonny was Dante's father was Connie. Olivia swore her to secrecy to protect Dante from Sonny's dangerous lifestyle.

Arrival


On June 22, 2009, Dante—operating under the alias "Dominic Pirelli"—arrives in Port Charles under the orders of Claudia Zacchara to kill Jason Morgan. However, Claudia's brother Johnny intervenes and saves Jason's life, killing several of the shooters. Though he is shot, Dante manages to slip away and finds Morgan Corinthos, who attempts to navigate Dante out of the forest until Carly Jacks, Morgan's mom shows up. While holding Carly and Morgan at gunpoint, Dante is attacked by Michael Corinthos. Carly tells him to leave and they can act like this never happened and he agrees. Dante finds his way to Sonny's house were he confronts Claudia about her failed plan. Claudia lets him sleep in her bedroom then attempts to kill him the next day. He meets Kristina Davis, Sonny's daughter and she helps him out. He finally shows himself to his mother who is kind of upset that he’s in Port Charles but also happy to see him. He doesn’t tell her why he’s there. Dante goes to Sonny looking for a job. He attempts to get Jason to trust him, but with Claudia and Johnny against him, Jason is hesitant. Dante then seeks out Kristina asking for access to her father. Sonny decides to give him a chance anyway when Dante storms into Sonny’s house while Carly is with him. Before Sonny shoots him, he explains that if he wanted trouble, he would have hurt Carly and her sons, but he didn’t.



Dante flirts with Claudia whenever he gets a chance knowing she hates him. Dante also has a crush on Carly Jacks and has a growing likeness for her. He unknowingly rents a room from his grandfather, Mike Corbin, at Kelly's Diner. On August 3, 2009, Dante, still going by Dominic, meets Lulu Spencer at Jake's. He is very much attracted to her and they seem to be getting along until her brothers, Lucky and Ethan, beat him up because he works for Sonny. Lulu pretends she's not interested in him but he doesn't stop flirting. After Lulu takes him to the hospital, Dante walks in on Johnny and Olivia about to have sex. Lulu and Dominic share their first kiss on August 26, 2009 after he dares her.

"Dominic" begins forming a close brother-like relationship with Morgan, ultimately leading Dominic to protect Morgan from being run over by Edward Quartermaine on September 4, 2009. After nearly facing death, Dante heals up but his identity is discovered by Jasper Jax, Carly's husband. He then finds himself identifying with both Sonny and Morgan when they talk about their pasts as baseball players and how they all played the same position.

Claudia discovers that "Dominic" is really Sonny and Olivia's son after hearing Olivia and Kate Howard talking outside of Jake's. Claudia threatens both Olivia and Dante with the secret. She tells Olivia that she will tell Dante about his paternity, and she tells both that she will tell Sonny that "Dominic" is not loyal. She forces Olivia to break up with Johnny and tries to get Dante into bed, wanting to become pregnant to save herself from Sonny. Dante refuses, later telling Lulu he wants his kids to be "planned for, wanted, loved."



Finding Out His True Father and Getting shot
In November, Lulu also discovers his identity, after the two were nearly killed in search of Claudia Zacchara, who kidnapped a pregnant Carly. Although Carly returns, Claudia doesn't, making Dante suspect Sonny of killing Claudia. Dante collects any evidence found in the Corinthos mansion and hands it to Ronnie. Dominic protects Sonny in an ambush in November 2009, gaining his trust. Dante figures out later that Franco's work corresponds with one of a tagger he arrested when he was a rookie cop. On December 11, 2009, he goes to the PCPD to look up the arrest, but he is caught by Lucky Spencer, Lulu's brother. Lucky, though, figures out who Dante is, and helps Dante try to bust Sonny. Dante takes Lulu on a date to the opera, and despite herself, Lulu finds that she likes the opera. On January 5, 2010, Franco kidnaps Sam, Jason's girlfriend, and Lulu. Jason calls Dominic right after a confrontation with Franco, and tells him where Lulu is, and that she's sitting on a bomb. Dante rushes to save her. Jason finds Sam, but they find out too late that the bomb that Franco planted was fake, but the one Lulu was siting on was real and blows up the warehouse. Luckily, both Dominic and Lulu make it out safely. When the warehouse is being cleaned up, the police find Claudia's body. While trying to get information on Claudia's murder case, he runs into Johnny, who reveals that he knows who Dante is. The two team up to bust Sonny in January 2010. Dante, meanwhile, confesses to Lulu that he loves her, and that's why he has to let her go. However, she tells him to let her decide for herself whether she's safe or not, and they decide to continue their relationship. On January 28, 2010, Ronnie informs Dante that the arrest warrant for Sonny has come in. Dante tells Ronnie they're going to wait until after Josslyn's christening to take Sonny down to let the family have "one last good day."

On the day of Josslyn Jacks's christening, Sonny discovers that Dominic is an undercover cop and shoots Dante while Olivia barges in. She desperately runs to Dante to save him, turning to Sonny and telling him that he just shot his own son. Sonny and Olivia rush Dante into the hospital, where the doctor tells them Dante needs to undergo surgery to have the bullet removed. Dante comes in and out of consciousness before going in for the operation, and one of those times, he wakes up to find Sonny next to his bed, and goes unconscious again right after Sonny tells him he's his father. Dante survives the surgery and wakes up on February 3, 2010 with Lulu by his side. Dante still remains angry with Olivia for not telling him the truth about who his father is. To avoid Sonny facing any other charges, Dante and Olivia lie to investigators on how the shooting actually happened, claiming Dante accidentally shot himself.

Sonny wants to build a relationship with his son, but Dante tells him he is not interested and he only thinks of him as the criminal he is intending to take down. He remains firm in his resolve to bring down Sonny as he is slowly recovering. Dante is visited first by Carly, then by Robin Scorpio, asking him to consider going easy on Sonny. Dante listens, but remains firm in his resolve to take down Sonny. FBI Agent Rayner suspects Dante of lying about his shooting, and takes away his NYPD badge and forces him to resign from the force. Commissioner Mac Scorpio later comes in and offers Dante a job as a PCPD officer, which Dante agrees to.

Sending Michael to Jail and Kristina's abuse
He is called by federal prosecutor Claire Walsh to testify at Sonny's arraignment while he's still recovering, and sticks to his story that he shot himself, but adds that Sonny has the resources to run. The judge chooses to not revoke Sonny's bail, and Dante later tells Sonny that he doesn't want him to go to prison for shooting him, but for killing Claudia. Dante is later assigned to find intel that will help put his brother, Michael, on the stand. He is reluctant to do so, but when Claire threatens to end his career unless he finds out what Michael knows, he decides to question Michael to see what he knows.

Dante goes to talk to Michael, who is staying at Sonny's house during the trial. He quickly realizes that it's not going to be easy, since Michael is fiercely loyal to his dad and resents Dante with a passion. Michael starts telling Dante that he knows something about Claudia's death, but before he gets any further, Sonny comes in and tells Dante to stay away from his brother. Dante realizes Michael knows something that Sonny won't let him say, and tries to convince Sonny to let Michael say whatever it is he knows about Claudia, to no avail. He and Ronnie come back later to talk to Michael, only to find Sonny has already made him disappear.

Dante and Lucky work together to find out what Michael knows, but they figure Michael saw Sonny kill Claudia. Dante goes to Sonny's island to get Michael, but he slips right under Dante's eye and he leaves without Michael. He's convinced he has a solid case without Michael's testimony. Dante testifies the first day, and is goaded by Claire into revealing Michael as a potential witness. He later confronts Claire, who refuses to proceed with Dante's airtight case unless she gets Michael as a witness. Dante defends Morgan from Ronnie at the police station once, making Ronnie question his loyalty.

Dante's sister, Kristina, is assaulted on March 12, 2010, and identifies Ethan Lovett as her attacker. Dante manages to stop Sonny from shooting Ethan, and later goes to see Kristina at the hospital. This is the first time they meet as brother and sister, and are able to get along. Dante later overhears Sonny telling Kristina about his mother's abuse, which he talks to Olivia about, grateful that he had a strong mother to defend him from any potential abusers.

Luke Spencer, Ethan's father, as well as Lucky's and Lulu's, asks Dante to help Lucky investigate Kristina's abuse when Ethan swears to Luke that he did not beat up Kristina. Dante agrees, worried his sister will get beat up again. Lucky and Dante manage to zero in on Kristina's volatile boyfriend, Kiefer Bauer. They interrogate him in a good cop/bad cop style, and they realize Kiefer was the one who beat up Kristina and wait for him to make a mistake to catch him.

Dante decides to go talk to Kristina, but he and Lucky find the Davis house open and blood on the floor. Lucky later finds out Kristina's mom, Alexis, brought Kristina in to the ER, badly beaten. Dante goes to the hospital to get her statement, and she finally admits that Kiefer beat her both times and has in fact been abusing her for months. Sonny, having listened outside the door during Kristina's confession, later asks for a minute alone with Dante, grateful that Kristina was able to trust him enough to tell him the truth. However, Dante rips into him, telling Sonny that the only reason Kristina lied was so that Sonny wouldn't kill Kiefer, and her biggest concern at this moment is whether or not Sonny has sent Jason out to do so when it should be getting better. He accuses Sonny of being a horrible father, and when Olivia walks in on the fight, Sonny takes his frustration out on her. Olivia holds her own, though, and when she leaves, Dante punches Sonny on behalf of his mother, challenging Sonny to "come and get him, if he pushes him too far." Dante realizes just how dangerous Sonny's world is, and reconciles with his mother when he comes down, thanking her for taking care of him and forgiving her for keeping the secret. Kiefer's abusive nature quickly becomes public knowledge, and Ethan is given a clean slate.

Meanwhile, Kiefer is killed in a hit-and-run on the same night of Kristina's second beating. While investigating this, Dante is pressured by Ronnie and prosecutor Claire Walsh to find Michael to testify at Sonny's trial. However, it turns up no results, and Claire resorts to putting Morgan on the stand. Dante finds out when Carly comes to the station, wanting her son back. Dante calls in a favor to tell Carly where Morgan is, but before she shows up, Dante bursts in and goes to bat for Morgan, only to end up in jail for contempt. Alexis later confesses to Mac Scorpio that she accidentally hit Kiefer while driving Kristina to the hospital.

After being released, Dante discovers from Molly and Morgan that Kiefer's father, Warren Bauer, is ruthlessly persecuting Alexis and Kristina for Kiefer's death and has launched a smear campaign to make everyone think that Alexis hit Kiefer on purpose and that Kristina accused Kiefer of beating her to cover it up. When they ask him for help, Dante explains that, as a cop, he has to see both sides of the situation; Warren has a right to an investigation because Alexis did hit Kiefer and kept going, and because Kristina lied to the police for weeks and didn't say anything about Kiefer attacking her until after he died.

Mac subsequently assigns Dante to a narcotics case, which he knows is a decoy. He finds out Ronnie went to Sonny's island to get Michael, so he goes to Jason, thinking he got Michael back in Port Charles to avoid Ronnie. However, it turns out Jason didn't know and after Dante leaves, he shifts Michael to a hotel room. Unfortunately, Michael calls Morgan, who accidentally lets Dante know where Michael is. Dante shows up at the hotel, with the subpoena in hand.

When Michael calls Dante on not getting him when he was on the island, Dante says that Michael should tell the truth that he saw his father kill Claudia. However, Michael yells that he was the one who killed Claudia and Sonny is covering for him. Dante is wondering why Michael is still covering for Sonny, but Michael gives him a bloody shirt, which he wore the night he killed Claudia. Dante decides to investigate his claim and takes him back to Port Charles to testify. On April 21, 2010, Dante gets proof that Michael killed Claudia, and goes to confront Sonny about it. Meanwhile, after briefly visiting Kristina at the Davis residence and being caught by Alexis, Michael escapes to the Quartermaine estate, but not before Alexis alerts the police to his return.

Dante walks into the courtroom right as the verdict on Sonny is about to come in and states that Michael is in fact the real killer. Michael is found by Lucky and confesses to killing Claudia again. Lucky brings Michael in to the PCPD. Later, Michael is charged with a Class D murder and is sentenced to 5 years of prison. Dante, like everyone else involved, is left guilt-ridden by his role in the tragedy; he had thought that the judge would see Sonny as detrimental to Michael's well-being and pass a lenient sentence on him. Everyone rails at Dante and blames him for sending Michael to prison, especially Carly who pulls a gun on Dante and verbally attacks LuLu, her cousin. Jason makes a deal with Claire and heads to prison to protect Michael. Claire and Jax turn to Dante for help on persuading the judge to release Michael, and Dante eventually convinces him to release Michael under certain conditions; Michael will stay with Dante, wear an ankle monitor, and have minimal contact with Sonny. On November 18, 2010, however, Claire arranges for the restrictions on Michael's release to be lifted, allowing Michael and Sonny to see each other at any time.

Franco and Brook Lynn
Dante is later assigned to a case to catch serial killer, Franco. Knowing that he is Franco's main target, Jason strikes up a deal with Dante and Claire and is released from prison as bait. After Franco visits all the people he formerly hurt in Port Charles and leaves many clues, they are lead to Franco's art show in Los Angeles, California. Jason confronts Franco in the stairwell of a building, leading to a shoot out that ends on the roof. Franco jumps over the ledge of the building and falls to his death. They later find that it wasn't really Franco who jumped from the building, but a look-alike. Jason is subsequently sent back to Pentonville only to be released a few weeks later when Claire discovers a loophole in his plea bargain.

In May 2010, Carly brings Brook Lynn Ashton to town when she learns of her past friendship with Dante. She wants Brook to break up Dante and Lulu by seducing Dante. Dante is initially excited to see Brook, as they have a history together. However, he doesn't realize Brooks true intentions. On August 17, 2010 Brook Lynn asks Dante to come to Jake's and talk. When he arrives she makes up a story that she is suffering from panic attacks, when in reality she is being paid by Carly Corinthos to seduce Dante and take a picture, in order to break Dante and Lulu up. Brook Lynn gets Dante a beer and drugs it. After they talk, Brook Lynn takes Dante back to the loft and seduces him. Lulu then arrives to see Brook Lynn in her underwear making out with Dante. Lulu kicks Brook Lynn out and yells at Dante. The next morning Dante doesn't remember anything, but Michael explains what happened. Dante then brings flowers and cupcakes to Lulu in an attempt to reconcile. Dante and Lulu make up and Dante goes to Kelly's to talk to Brook Lynn. Brook claims she didn't drug him. Brook leaves town a few months later.



Brenda Barrett, the secret, and the Bus Crash
When Brenda Barrett returns to town, it is revealed thet she and Dante have a past together. He had been assigned to guard her, along with three other officers. One night while they were on a walk, the Balkan's son, Aleksander Janacek, came after Brenda and attacked Dante. Brenda picked up the gun that had fallen and shot Aleksander. He died and Dante covered for Brenda by throwing the body in the water. She also was pregnant and Dante signed over his rights to her.

In late December, 2010, Dante's mother goes on the General Hospital ski trip as a chaperone. While driving to the ski resort, their bus crashes. Dante learns about the crash and rushes to find Olivia. Michael and Molly, who were also on the bus, signal for him and Brenda to pull over. Michael leads Dante to his mother and he tells her to promise that she will be okay, as no Falconeri mother ever breaks a promise to her child. The rescue crew comes and takes her to the hospital. Steve Webber tells him that his mother hung on for him. Once he arrives at the hospital, he constantly asks the doctors if they know how his mother is doing. Lulu arrives and tries to help Dante, and soon after, Patrick, who has been operating on Olivia, comes out and tells Dante that his mother has a 50/50 chance of making it, while in reality she has even lower chances. Dante and Lulu go into Olivia's room and find Steve with her. Both Steve and Lulu encourage Dante to talk to his unconscious mother. Once Steve has left the room, he tells his mother to keep fighting and that he loves her. On January 6, 2011, Olivia wakes up and tells him that she hung on for him.



A few weeks later, Theo Hoffman goes to Dante's apartment while Lulu is there. They start talking and Theo reveals that Brenda killed Aleksander in 2007 and Dante covered it up. Lulu confronts Dante and storms out. Dante later stops by her apartment, but she refuses to forgive him. They run into each other again near his apartment and he offers to take her somewhere, but she tells him that she can't date him if he's still in love with Brenda.

Jason calls Dante to an alley after Michael's friend Abby Haver is attacked. Jason tells him to take them home, but Dante wants to call the cops on Brandon Lowell, Abby's attacker. Abby is taken to the hospital and Dante takes her statement, in which she tells him that she wasn't raped, but she would have been if Michael hadn't shown up.

On January 31, 2011, Brenda stops by his apartment and talks to him about the baby. She says that she wanted to go on a trip and was cleared for travel, but when she got to Africa, she spiked a fever. She fainted, and when she woke up, she saw Suzanne standing over her and knew that she had miscarried. Dante tries to comfort her and she hugs him. Lulu stops by and finds Brenda in Dante's arms. She walks out and Brenda tells him to go after her. Lulu goes back to her apartment and Dante comes by. He knocks on the door but Lulu doesn't want to let him in. Maxie eventually opens the door and leaves to visit Matt. He explains that he had a rough night because Michael's friend was almost raped and he was only trying to comfort Brenda, still hiding the details of the baby. She says that she'll forgive him for tonight, but that they're still broken up.

He goes to the hospital to follow up on Abby's attack. Michael reveals to him that while he was in Pentonville, he was raped. Dante gives him a heartfelt apology, feeling as if it was his fault. He heads home and tosses his badge and gun on the table. He recalls the events of when Judge Carroll sent Michael to prison. Carly stops by and confronts him about Michael being raped in prison. She picks up his gun off the table and points it at him. He tells her to shoot him because she can't hate him any more than he hates himself.

The Balkan and relationship with Lulu
Through a series of flashbacks and conversations, it is revealed that Dante helped Brenda cover up the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Aleksander Janáček, the son of international crime figure, Theo Hoffman also known as The Balkan. Dante's secrets leads to Lulu breaking up with him. In February 2011, at Sonny and Brenda's wedding, with Dante serving as the best man, Carly shocks everyone by revealing that Brenda and Dante had a child together. Dante told the truth that he only pretended to be the father to keep The Balkan from finding out about the child. The Balkan plants a bomb on Sonny and Brenda car and Brenda disappears after it explodes. Though Brenda is eventually rescued, Dante's fellow police officers aren't happy with how he cooperated with Sonny and Jason to find her.

Dante and Lulu reconcile after he promises never to lie to her again. Luke leaves town, refusing to face the fact that his drinking caused him to run down his grandson Jake and Lulu goes after him. Dante tracks her to a bordello in Florida where Lulu works undercover as a waitress. The owner discovers Dante is a cop, and attempts to rape Lulu before she and Dante escape. The couple then travels to Helena Cassadine's island in Greece looking for Luke. Lulu's brother Nikolas convinces her to return home. In August 2011, Dante asks Lulu to move into his apartment and she is hesitant. He later asks Lulu to marry him and she hesitates but eventually decides to accept his proposal over dinner. When Dante goes to Sonny's warehouse to investigate he is shot by Anthony Zacchara. Dante recovers but Lulu is terrified to marry him fearing he'll leave her as a widow.

Marriage to Lulu
Lulu eventually comes to terms with her fear and accepts Dante's proposal. While on a trip to New York, Dante and Lulu are married by his cousin Tommy in a private ceremony, with only Olivia in attendance. Meanwhile, Lulu begins at the PCPD as the evidence room clerk. Dante, Ronnie and Dante's new partner Delores Padilla get involved in a case of a man who is beating strippers. In February 2012 Dante attends Sonny's charity benefit in his honor for General Hospital's pulmonary wing. Dante and Johnny get into an argument in which Sonny reveals that Claudia was Johnny's mother, not his sister. When Dante and Sonny argue in the parking lot, Sonny pushes Dante out the way of a bullet and Dante begins to understand just how much Sonny loves him and their relationship starts to mend somewhat. Dante and Michael find Starr Manning whose car is hanging off a cliff after a car accident with Anthony. It is soon learned that Sonny allegedly shot out Anthony's tires and Dante must arrest him. In May 2012, Dante is shocked when Ronnie is revealed to be the man beating up the strippers and he kidnaps Lulu when she figures it out. Fortunately with the help of John McBain, he rescues Lulu, who was shot in the arm. After that, Lulu ends up selling half of the Haunted Star to Johnny without telling him and that puts a strain on their marriage. On the night of the opening, Dante gets held up at work looking for his father-in-law, who was kidnapped by Heather Webber. On the same night, his Mom was drugged by Heather.

Olivia and Luke
Dantes' mother, Olivia is drugged by an insane Heather Webber and later that same night his father in law, Luke, is also shot by none other then Heather, which lands them both in the hospital. After everything settles down, Dante and Lulu have a serious talk about their marriage and decide that everything is fine.

Finding out
Olivia hallucinated that Lulu was heavily pregnant, when in reality Lulu might be pregnant. Dante doesn't know that Lulu took a test. On August 13, Dante finds the test, which is positive, but he thinks the test is Maxie's. Lulu tells him that Maxie isn't the one who is pregnant she is. He is so shocked that he almost chokes. Then he tells her how happy he is and asks her if she has any reservations and she said no. Afterwards, The expectant couple celebrates. They also decide to keep the pregnancy a secret until they know more. Lulu scheduals an OB appointment for that day.