| “ | Let's just say he waddles to the beat of a different drummer. | ” |
—Raju | ||
| Penguin | |
|---|---|
| Name | Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot |
| Race | Human |
| Citizenship | American |
| Aliases | Penguin |
| Earth | Prime |
Oswald Cobblepot better known as the crimelord Penguin, was a gang boss in Gotham City. For a long time he was considered untouchable, but eventually, like all other gangsters, was brought down by the Batman. Due to the extreme negligence in his childhood, the Penguin became very insane as an adult. Despite this, he was also the smartest of all the pre-Batman gangsters, being the only one to still stand strong after the debut of the vigilante.
Biography[]
Rise and Fall[]
After an extremely troubled and demented childhood, Oswald Cobblepot would have no choice but to
turn to crime, despite the kindness shown to him by Carter Winston. Making his fortune in villainous wares, Cobblepot, for his "bird-like" attitudes, would be coined the Penguin. Due to Falcone's Mob, Cobblepot and other gangsters were able to rise in the criminal industry. Eventually he would take over his own gang and grow to be like many others in Gotham at that time, an untouchable. Becoming a good business partner with Luca Falcone, Cobblepot became a weapons smuggler. Building up his own successful crew, Ignatius Ogilvy soon came into the care of Oswald. During this time he also took up the bodyguard Lark Bird. Cobblepot would continue his criminal attitudes, even when the Batman would debut. Although he would, albeit for a brief time, be arrested by the police due to the caped crusader, Cobblepot would almost instantly be freed after which he would try to take down the Batman, but like all others, he would fail. However, the fall of Carmine Falcone due to the Batman had actually been beneficial for the insane gangster, as it had allowed him to become the empire of crime in Gotham. The Penguin then allied himself with the Scarecrow, with the two partners torturing Linda Friitawa into becoming Fright. Coming into contact with the newest technology, supposedly magical clay, the Penguin gave Basil Karlo the powers he used to become Clayface.
When election campaign planning would begin, Cobblepot would side with Mayor Hady. Cobblepot would take Mr. Toxic, Mr. Combustible, the Imperceptible Man and Hypnotic and have the three invest their money in him. He would plan to have Jill Hampton kill the three, giving their money to him and then in turn have Snakeskin kill Hampton, erasing traces of the crime. He would then plan to use the money to fund Hady's campaign and bribe other officials into backing out. Although he would be successful in getting Snakeskin to kill Hampton, he would fail to take the money of the three criminals due to interference from Batman. This would end up cementing Cobblepot's fall as the criminal emperor of Gotham city. Cobblepot would later be involved in a nuclear bomb conspiracy, selling the explosive to an unknown party.
On Halloween, the Penguin received an unknown invitation prompting him to go to the abandoned Arkham Detention Facility for Youth. There he met up with the Mad Hatter and Scarecrow, the three ended up being fearful the entire night that Batman was hunting them, though he never showed.
The Empire[]
Cobblepot would then try to regain his influence and power in Gotham by "replacing" Bruce Wayne. During this time Cobblepot would hire Lady Shiva and allow Rose Wilson into his employ. However, for the hit on Bruce Wayne, Oswald would hire the Ghost Dragons. However, after humiliating Wayne, Oswald would attempt to call of the hit, only to find he would be unable to do so. Therefore, Oswald would kill an assassin and make it appear that he saved Wayne himself. Oswald's joy would be short lived as Poison Ivy would begin wrecking his factories and he would be approached by the Joker. To stay out of harms way, Oswald followed the Joker into Arkham to watch his plans unfold, all while leaving his empire in the care of Ignatius Ogilvy. Upon the Joker's defeat the Batman locked Oswald up in Blackgate Penitentiary only to let him go free a while later. However, Oswald was shocked upon return to find that he had been reduced to nothing more than a middle class citizen by Ogilvy who had seized his empire under the guise of Emperor Penguin. After launching a failed attack on Ogilvy's new empire, Oswald was seized by an overtly violent Batman who was quick to inform the Penguin that even his lawyers had left him. However, despite this, Mr. Combustible stayed loyal to his old boss and helped him escape the trial without a mark to his record. Oswald then proceeded to aid the Batman in taking down Ignatius Ogilvy, effectively taking back his life and status as the criminal emperor of Gotham.
It did not take Oswald long to resume his criminal activities, though. Almost immediately afterwards he began a gang war in which he hoped to eradicate Catwoman and the new rising gang the Rat-Tails. Oswald easily began the war and soon after decided on a new way to eliminate his enemies. He decided on manipulating Clayface and the Mad Hatter, though the Batman quickly put an end to this plot. Clayface then proceeded to end his relations with Oswald, forcing the Penguin to resort to human trafficking. However, the Batman quickly put an end to the Penguin's new business. Although he played a relatively minor role in Gothtopia, the circumstances of the event made him the mayor of Gotham City. Oswald's empire was then thrust back to it's former glory when the Crime Syndicate thrust Earth Prime into a mode of forever evil, with the Penguin readily joining the Secret Society and allying himself with Scarecrow.
The Mayor[]
Due to his newfound alliance in the Secret Society, Penguin used his political connections to overthrow former partner Mayor Hady. Becoming the Mayor himself, the Penguin split the territories of Gotham between the villains, primarily favouring the Scarecrow. Encountered by the Governor, who happened to be Oswald's old friend Carter Winston, the Penguin found his old friend turned against him. In turn, the Penguin tortured Carter into commiting suicide during a press conference. Playing both sides during the Arkham War, after the restoration of Gotham, Hady was returned to his status as mayor, irreparably damaging their relationship. This came into effect as Hady had Commissioner Forbes focus on capturing the Batman rather than try and intervene in the gang war between Penguin and the returned Carmine Falcone. As a result of this gang war, the Iceberg Casino was blown up. Later, nearly forced out of his city, the Penguin received an anonymous tip on the location of Falcone. Arriving there, he murdered several of Falcone's men and was about to take down the Roman as well before being arrested by Jason Bard, who was also the one who sent in the anonymous tip.
Psyche[]
The Penguin had somewhat of a Napoleon complex. Despite having a very brilliant mind, he resented himself for his many physical deformities, the least of which was his height. He was very aggressive and violent, preferring to shoot first and ask questions later. Nonetheless, he was one of the most calculating villains.