Peter Gambi

"I love Lynn and those girls, but we knew this day would come. Jefferson, I've known you since you were 12 years old. You're like my son, so I have to tell you the truth. The promise you made Lynn was well-intentioned, but it always had an expiration date."

- Gambi

Peter Esposito, known under the name Peter Gambi , is a tailor, owning Gambi's Custom Tailoring, and the mentor of Jefferson Pierce.

Biography
At some point, Gambi became a member of a government organization called the A.S.A. He would later meet and train Lady Eve. In 1986, Peter was tasked with gathering meta-humans, but after realizing that the A.S.A.'s vaccine was killing children, he leaked the information to Alvin Pierce, who began an investigation. One day while Alvin was walking home from work with his son, Jefferson Pierce, Gambi waited on the side of the street, Alvin then noticed him and told Jefferson to go wait in the car. Gambi then told Alvin that he made a mistake by using names in the article that Alvin wrote, Gambi then tried to convince Alvin to give up his investigation as he knew it would get Alvin killed, but Alvin refused to give up his investigation and walked back to his car. Eventually, Alvin was killed by Tobias Whale. Sometime later, Gambi watched Alvin's funeral from afar and saw as a young Jefferson was heartbroken. Gambi opened a shop called Gambi's Custom Tailoring around September 2, 1987. One night Jefferson Pierce, the son of Alvin Pierce, took part in a riot, and after accidentally setting off his powers for the first time and knocking out two swat officers, Jefferson ran down an alley and was knocked unconscious after absorbing the electricity from an electric fence. Moments later Jefferson was found in the alley unconscious by Gambi, who realized that Jefferson had powers, and knew that if the A.S.A. found out they would come after Jefferson. So, Gambi decided to take Jefferson in and raise him, all while keeping Jefferson powers a secret. He trained Jefferson in fighting and tactics. Some years later, when Jefferson began acting as the vigilante Black Lightning, Gambi designed him a protective suit to wear. Jefferson eventually retired from vigilantism, much to the chagrin of Gambi.

Nine years later, working from his tailoring shop, Gambi arrived to find an injured Jefferson in his shop. He helped patch him up, suggesting he continue his vigilantism. Jefferson disagreed, but after his daughters were taken, he returned to Gambi, who unveiled a new vigilante suit for him.

Gambi proposed bringing down Lala to find out who he was working for, but Jefferson told Gambi that he would be done after they brought down Lala. Later, Gambi discovered Will's body in a dumpster and alerted Jefferson, planning to use his cell phone to uncover evidence. Lynn Stewart showed up at the shop and the two passed blame back and forth: Lynn blaming Gambi for trying to pull Jefferson out of a situation he was content with, while Gambi blamed Lynn for keeping Jefferson from his true calling of being a protector. Jefferson then returned and became Black Lightning for good again after Lawanda White's murder and his failure to protect her as a simple civilian.

Gambi improved upon the gauntlets in Black Lightning's suit, allowing Jeff to try them out. He later helped Jefferson to create a detour route for Reverend Holt's march, sending them on a route that Jefferson could easily watch over the crowd safely from a high vantage point. Later, Gambi discovered Tobias Whale's photo on camera footage and deleted the images to hide the truth from Jefferson.

Shortly following, Gambi was led to a crime scene following the death of Ronald Wright, a dealer of Green Light. Jefferson called him, tipping him off to Wright, but Gambi reported that he'd already found his dead body. After this, Gambi assisted Jefferson in a mission to find a stash of Green Light, but Jefferson was distracted by explosion-like sounds. He investigated the other scene, but found nothing, and so returned to the original scene. Gambi took a rifle and investigated the scene himself, taking a photo of a fracture in the ground.

Installing the ability for Jefferson to fly into his suit, Gambi watched on as he tested it out. Gambi left to tend to matters upstairs in his shop, Tobias Whale and Syonide having entered his shop. Tobias requested Black Lightning's identity, but Gambi feigned any knowledge of it. Discovering Joey Toledo to be back on the streets, Jefferson confronted Gambi. Gambi claimed to have not known that he was back, but was interrupted when Jeff passed out mid-sentence. Calling in Lynn, Gambi suggested that his collapse and prior headaches were related to his suit's new hover function. Shortly following, Gambi entered his bunker to see Jefferson putting on the Black Lightning suit. He urged him to not go after Toledo in his condition, but Jeff ignored him.

Having been beaten up by Toledo, Gambi went after Jeff, rescuing him in a van, taking him back to his shop to be treated by Lynn. The following night, Gambi had Jefferson test his powers, having figured the problem with his suit, figuring it to be a problem with the level of resistance in the suit. They began talking about Toledo and Tobias, Jefferson getting suspicious that Gambi clearly didn't want him to pursue Tobias. Following the interaction, Gambi went to see Lynn at her work, arriving before her. He emphasized her need to get involved, as Jefferson intended to kill someone, an action he believed to be one that he wouldn't come back from. That night, Gambi's computers were notified of Jefferson's activity as Black Lightning, but he was soon shut out from seeing anything. The night after, Jefferson having finally set up an opportunity to kill Tobias, Gambi patched Lynn through to him, convincing him not to follow through. Instead heading to Bowman College to help Lynn, Jefferson unknowingly beat up Anissa. They called Gambi, who helped transport her so they could patch her up. Annoyed at Lynn having been attacked, Gambi went to see Lady Eve, who questioned him on the metahuman that had attacked her crew.

After Tobias had become a problem for Black Lightning, Gambi went to visit Lady Eve, asking that she take him out. She refused to do so, both as he made her plenty of money and for fear of ruining the social ecosystem, and so instead suggested he kill Joey Toledo. The following night, Gambi went to a club run by Toledo, shooting him, before placing a box of albino dust on him as a message to Tobias. The following day, Lynn visited Gambi, hoping for him to make Anissa a vigilante suit. Having completed some sketches, he showed Anissa, promising to make it if he gave her some time.

Gambi met with Martin Proctor, leader of the Freeland division of the A.S.A., who was annoyed that Gambi had not yet killed Black Lightning, and so Proctor told him he'd send others to do so. Shortly after, Gambi led Jefferson and Anissa through Freeland City Morgue. Jefferson sent Gambi photos of Lady Eve's burnt corpse, figuring her death to be from some sort of nuclear weapon. He traced radioactive signatures in the city, pinpointing the weapon's location to Hampton Woods. Believing Jeff to be in danger of going, he offered to go, but Jefferson refused. Following this, Gambi went to church, watching a choir boy sing. He was visited by Mrs. Johnson, who thanked him for dressing for her daughter's wedding. She gave him advice, before leaving. Shortly following this, Gambi was visited by Lynn at his shop. She hoped to find some of his contacts to answer some questions for her regarding Green Light, but he shut her down, Lynn correctly inferring that he had to do with the drug itself. Because of this, Lynn sent Jefferson to talk to Gambi, with Gambi revealing his real name to be Peter Esposito, as well as his involvement in Jefferson's and others' powers (and thus subsequently Alvin Pierce's death). Jefferson threateningly told him to stay away from his family.

Gambi visited Thomas Hidalgo, ambushing him in his car and injecting him with black mamba venom, only offering an antidote if he offered up the name of the creator of the weapon that framed Black Lightning, to which Hildago could only give him a lead. He proceeded to contact the lead, discovering his identity, Caleb Scott, and blackmailing him into the identity of the weapon's creator. Gambi went to the facility, discovering it to be housing the bodies of metahumans, including one he'd personally helped put there, discovering the base as that of the A.S.A. Due to this, Gambi contacted Anissa in an emergency. He explained how he and Jefferson weren't on good terms, and explained the situation, before handing her her finished suit.

Gambi was visited by Lisa, who asked if she could put up a missing poster for her friend Neema, while Gambi asked her as to the circumstances regarding Neema's disappearance. Shortly after, Gambi was visited by Martin Proctor and some henchmen, who threatened to hurt civilians if he didn't comply and go with them. Making it back to a basement, the A.S.A. tortured Gambi, attempting to get him to reveal Black Lightning's identity, to no avail. Proctor brought in Jefferson, understanding him to be Gambi's foster son, and threatened to kill him. However, Jefferson caused a power outage, allowing Gambi to kill the two other men and the two escape. Jefferson helped Gambi back to his basement, where he rested, before the two mended fences. Gambi requested that Jefferson keep his family safe and find the A.S.A. spotter, as the meta-human kidnappings had resumed.

Gambi sent Black Lightning and Thunder to a location he was certain the A.S.A. were holding the meta-humans, but they couldn't find them. Returning back to base, Gambi assured them that he could find the meta-humans based off of their energy signature. When Jefferson went to get out of the suit, Gambi made Anissa promise to look after Jeff. The following day, after Jefferson was arrested at the behest of the A.S.A., Gambi and Anissa began working on attempting to convince the A.S.A. of Jefferson's innocence. Gambi cobbled together some makeshift technology, creating a self-driving car that projected a hologram of Black Lightning alongside Thunder. That night, Jefferson returned home, Gambi swinging by with a bottle of wine. Jefferson, noting that he couldn't forgive him for his prior actions, acknowledged all that Gambi had done for him. They sat down for dinner and Gambi said grace.

Personality
Gambi has been displayed to care about people, so much that he was willing to give himself up to the A.S.A., in order to prevent them from shooting innocent civilians. According to Martin Proctor, Gambi would rather kill a corrupt A.S.A. agent instead of an innocent civilian. Gambi also has good morals, when he discovered that A.S.A.'s vaccine that gave some children meta-human powers, but was also killing some of these said children, he leaked the information to Alvin Pierce, not only to end the A.S.A.'s illegal experimentations, but also to bring them to justice.

Abilities

 * Computer hacking: Gambi possesses impressive computer hacking skills, as he has stated that he can hack into any database, including Freeland Police Department. He was also able to easily hack in Freeland's power grid and shut it down.
 * Skilled marksman: Gambi is skilled in handling various types of guns and is capable of killing if necessary. He was prepared to use a rifle when he went to investigate a scene, and a pistol when Tobias Whale appeared in his shop. . He also killed Joey Toledo with two shots to the chest, and even Martin Proctor during their final confrontation.
 * Skilled engineer: Gambi is a skilled engineer as he created the Thunder suit for Anissa and the first and the second Black Lightning suit which was more armored and has more technology built into it such as as goggles with "electric vision" and a feature that helped with flight. Though the latter caused headaches to the user which was eventually fixed.
 * Indomitable will/High pain tolerance: Gambi was able to survive being beaten half to death and waterboarding by Martin Proctor's agents while also refusing to reveal Black Lightning's identity.
 * Infiltration: Gambi was able to break into Lynn's lab before anyone was even there.

Equipment

 * Self-driving van: Gambi upgraded his black van so that he could control it from his computer in his shop's basement.

Appearances
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Season 2
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shawnmichael as michael pierceTrivia

 * Jefferson has mentioned that Gambi is Italian.
 * Gambi has admitted that whenever Jefferson calls him "handsome", Gambi can't say no to him.
 * Gambi hates golf.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Peter Gambi is the man who murdered Jefferson's father, Alvin Pierce. However, in the series Tobias Whale is the one who murdered Alvin.
 * Also, in the DC comics, Peter also has a brother named Paul, who is a tailor in Central City. However, it is currently unknown if Paul will make an appearance in the series.