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Oswald Cobblepot is a short, paunchy man whose schoolmates nicknamed "The Penguin". This, coupled with his mother's insistence that he carry an umbrella, made him the target of widespread ridicule, which lead to Oswald becoming obsessed with proving his worth and got his own back by becoming a force to be reckoned with in Gotham City's underworld.

As befitting his pedigree, Cobblepot conducts himself in a gentlemanly fashion and is almost always very polite, civil, and refined, preferring negotiation to bloodshed. However, he is also a ruthless mob boss and is responsible for much of the illegal trade in Gotham.

Background[]

Oswald Cobblepot was born into the Cobblepot Family, one of the most prominent families in Gotham City alongside the Waynes, Kanes and Elliots before they fell on hard times due to some poor business deals made by Oswald's father, Tucker Cobblepot.

Now reduced to running a pet shop, Tucker was disgusted by his son's appearance and took to neglecting and abusing his son physically and emotionally. For her part, Tucker's wife, Miranda Cobblepot, loved her son despite his appearance, but actively ignored her husband's abuses when questioned.
As Oswald got older, his brothers, Jason, Robert and William Cobblepot, looked upon him with the same disgust as their father. Due to his short, stubby appearance and distinctive nose; Oswald would get teased and bullied by other children. Most often comparing him to a bird due to his appearance and his love of the birds in the family pet shop, which he had taken to as his only companions due to the torment he suffered from his peers. Seeing his love of the birds, one day the schoolyard bullies invaded his man made aviary and tore down every nest in the aviary, killing the baby birds within.
As the years of torment continued, Oswald's brothers all died in a series of freak accidents. After the untimely death of her husband due to bronchial pneumonia, which he had contracted also in mysterious circumstances, Miranda made her son carry an umbrella whenever he went outside, convinced that Oswald might catch pneumonia and die like his father had, and beat him with it whenever he refused.

Not long after Oswald graduated from college, the stress of her family's decline caught up with his mother, soon suffering from a stroke and becoming invalid, leaving Oswald with a great deal of debt that sends their holdings into foreclosure and Oswald loses everything; including the pet shop and the birds within it.
Desperate, Oswald went to a known criminal and his confederates, and offered his services in exchange for money, however, Oswald was kicked out and mocked for his appearance. This final rejection spurred Oswald to become obsessed with proving his nay-sayers wrong and gaining vengeance. After killing the head of the criminal group and ensuring the late criminal's accomplices were arrested, Oswald took over what remained of the group and used illicit means to buy his way back into high society, restoring his family's former wealth and status.
Taking the name "Penguin" as his criminal alias and modifying his umbrellas to serve as weapons, Oswald rigged a jewel heist and attempted to steal an emerald penguin statue, encountering and escaping the Batman and Robin in their first encounter. While exploring the potential of going straight from time to time, Oswald could not overcome the prejudice of being a convicted criminal to gain profitable work nor gain the wealth that he personally desired. Thus, he frequently returned to criminal activities but would continually be found out and imprisoned by both non-powered and super powered law supporters. After spending some time with the Suicide Squad, Oswald had his criminal record expunged and he decided that it was in his own best interest to emulate his controller in the Suicide Squad and manipulate the many from behind-the-scenes rather than to continually operate exposed in the lime light.

After discovering a hunchback named Harold Allnut on a street being abused by two gang members, the Penguin kills the abusers and takes the technologically-gifted hunchback in, showing him kindness in exchange for services. After Harold builds a gadget that allowed the Penguin to control flocks of birds from miles away, which the Penguin utilized to destroy radio communications in Gotham and crash a passenger plane, Batman took Harold away from Oswald and hired him as his own mechanic.
Oswald later resurfaces during Jean Paul Valley's tenure as Batman as one of the few to deduce that Valley was not the original Batman. To confirm his theory, Oswald kidnaps James Gordon's wife and lieutenant, Sarah Essen Gordon, and places her in a death-trap set to go off at midnight, reasoning that only the real Batman could save her in time. As Valley manages to save Sarah and disprove Oswald's theory, although it was true, he also comments, "There's nothing the Penguin can throw at me that I haven't encountered before." The Penguin reluctantly agrees with this sentiment, accepting that he has become passé.
Subsequently, the Penguin turned his attentions to a new modus operandi and resurrected the Iceberg Lounge, a restaurant and casino historically associated with the Oswald family. Operating behind the front of the legitimate restaurant, Oswald turned to running a criminal empire in a similar manner to a smuggler or criminal kingpin.
While attaining social appreciation as a businessman and celebrity host of a successful restaurant and nightclub, Oswald also continued to gain success as a criminal mastermind manipulating the massive criminal underground members to work for him in his role as a clearing house for their illegal activities. Through the Iceberg Lounge, Oswald also gained acceptance within the social elite, who now recognized his legitimate businesses as one of the most elite societal locations in Gotham.
When Gotham City was nearly leveled by an earthquake, Oswald stays behind when the US government extradites the city and he becomes the leader of one of the city's major factions, vying for control of the city against the other major faction, Two-Face, using his connections to profit by trading the money that nobody else in Gotham could use for goods through his outer-Gotham contacts. One of these connections is discovered to be Lex Luthor, whom he later aids in rebuilding the city.

A few years later, when Gotham is driven into a large scale gang war between Gotham's various criminal factions, while Oswald did not participate directly he does take advantage of the chaos to sell weapons to the warring gangs and various super villains. Batman soon decides to eliminate the Penguin's business, sending Tarantula who holds him at gunpoint demanding that he leave Gotham. After the Gotham Underworld is united under Black Mask's rule, Oswald leaves Gotham for Bludhaven where he fills the void left by Blockbuster, while returning to Gotham frequently to tend to the Iceburg Lounge. However, his operations are somewhat hampered by the arrival of Batgirl and Robin before he is forced to abandon Bludhaven altogether following its destruction by the Brotherhood of Evil at Deathstroke's behest.
One year after the events of the Infinite Crisis, the Mafiosi Great White Shark and Tally Man kill many of Oswald's associates and frame the reformed Harvey Dent for their murders as part of a plan by Great White to take over Gotham's criminal syndicate and eliminate the competition, however, he is discovered and incarcerated soon after Batman's return to Gotham. Upon his return to Gotham, Oswald reopens the Iceberg Lounge in another public attempt to go legitimate following an epiphany that legitimate business was more lucrative in the long run. However, it was later discovered that Oswald still retained his criminal enterprises, having formed various gangs as part of an army to use against other criminal groups such as Tobias Whale's mafia and Intergang, and had now become associated with aiding the Suicide Squad in their missions as well.

Combat[]

  • Penguin (Gotham Old Subway)
  • Penguin (Shady Nightclub)
  • Penguin (Iceberg Lounge)
  • Controlled Penguin

The Penguin uses a variety of dangerous attacks in combat.

  • Standard melee attacks
  • Standard ranged attacks - these may push the player back.
  • Flamethrower - shooting flames in a circle, dealing 100+ damage rapidly. Vulnerable to interrupt.
  • Sonic attack - rapid mid-range 80s.
  • Bomb shower - possibly the most powerful attack, in which the Penguin launches a ring of bombs surrounding himself, with each hitting over 300 in point-blank range. Breaks blocks and is too fast to completely avoid unless the player is very far from the Penguin to begin with. May be a good chance to use Clown Box.

Involvement[]

  • Following Bane's defeat in the East End district, a cut-scene features the Penguin stating his anger at the competition from the Falcone Crime Family, Bane, Two-Face, the Mad Hatter, Hush, Killer Croc, the Catwoman and the Joker due to all the chaos. However, he plans on tricking them into wiping each other out and taking Gotham for himself.
  • Avaricious Penguin is one of the 24 iconic characters infected with the emotion mist in the War of the Light Part II episode.
  • The Penguin is the final boss in the Iceberg Lounge challenge.
  • Controlled Penguin is one of the possible bosses for the Starro: Invasion! alert in the Deluge episode.

Heroes[]

  • Hacking an information kiosk, Two-Face asks the New Hero player to help him stop Penguin's smuggling operation within the Gotham Old Subway system.

Villains[]

  • Hacking an information kiosk, Two-Face asks the New Villain player to help him stop Penguin's smuggling operation within the Gotham Old Subway system.

Associated Equipment[]

Trivia[]

  • The Penguin first appeared in Detective Comics #58 (December 1941)
  • Cobblepot is voiced by David Jennison.
  • Cobblepot loves tea, is a wine connoisseur, can play the violin, studied Shakespeare, and has an appreciation for opera, poetry, and world history. He is also a gifted engineer who usually makes his umbrellas and other mechanisms himself when not delegating the job to his employees.
  • Batman has reluctantly admitted that a criminal underworld under Cobblepot's control tends to be less dangerous for ordinary civilians and that there are worse people out there who would be more than happy to take Cobblepot's place. As such, Batman has on several occasions actively defended the Penguin against rival Mafiosi who have attempted to kill the villain and take over his empire.
  • Cobblepot and the Riddler share a mild friendship due to Cobblepot recognizing that Nigma was the only member of the Arkham Inmates that was intelligent and stable enough to engage with on an intellectual level. Cobblepot appreciates Nigma enough that he has passed the Iceberg Lounge on to him in the event of his death.
  • Oswald is one of the few of Batman's rogues who is considered sane and as such rarely gets sent to Arkham Asylum. He usually goes to Blackgate Penitentiary instead.
  • Cobblepot blames the Waynes for his family's fall from grace and has a bitter enmity against Bruce Wayne, who he sees as spoiled and immature.
  • As part of an army to defend his empire, the Penguin has assembled thematic street gangs like the Bat Killers (who are based on Batman's enemies), the Dead End Boys (who are based on the Suicide Squad), the Femme Fatales (who are based on female villains), the Five Points Gang (who are based on the Fearsome Five), the L.O.D. (who are based on the Legion of Doom) and the New Rogues (who are based on the Rogues).
  • Following his resurrection of the Iceberg Lounge, Cobblepot hired three henchwomen, Jay, Raven and Lark, to aid him in running the lounge and assist him in other "endeavors". Lark in particular is most constantly seen chauffeuring Cobblepot around Gotham.

Gallery[]

See also[]

External links[]

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