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Oswald Cobblepot, like Bruce Wayne, was an ostensible billionaire in his 20s - but the similarities stopped there. Unlike Bruce, "'Ozzy" was rude, selfish, arrogant, homely, and a grotesque penguin-bodied character. While Gotham City's other villains may have it out for Batman, Penguin was unique in that his scorn was often directed at Bruce Wayne, who served as a constant reminder of everything that he was not. Employing the use of highly trained birds and an arsenal of deadly umbrellas, as well as his faithful Kabuki Twins, Penguin was determined to rebuild the Cobblepot fortune by criminal means.

Personality[]

Unlike other versions of the character, he is rude greedy and non-gentlemen like. He seems to have an attraction for beautiful women as he once hit on a girl at Bruce's party and teamed up with Catwoman due to finding her cute. He was willing to work with other's as shown when he formed Team Penguin to take down Batman. He also seemed to love his late mother mentioning how he liked that his mom said he was good looking. He hates Batman seeing him as a problem and will do whatever it takes to take him down. He is also not above murdering children as he once threated to blow up Gotham children's hospital.

History[]

Past[]

Oswald "Ozzy" Cobblepot is descended from an aristocratic family whose lineage goes back to Newcastle, England. Alfred Pennyworth's grandfather was once a butler to the English Cobblepot's and Alfred was raised on stories on how cruel and disrespectful the Cobblepots were to their staff. A few years ago, Cobblepot left Gotham City and spent several years traveling the Orient. There he met two silent female assassins known only as the Kabuki Twins who later went on to work for him as his personal bodyguards. Despite his portly physique, Cobblepot took an interest in martial arts, and trained his body into top fighting form.

The Batman[]

Oswald eventually returned to the United States whereupon he used his birds to nab various riches from Gotham's wealthiest citizens. He stored his ill-gotten gains in the aviary at Cobblepot Manor. One evening, Oswald crashed a charity drive hosted by Bruce Wayne at Wayne Manor. He nearly came to blows with Alfred Pennyworth whose memory of his grandfather's mistreatment at the hands of the Cobblepots was as clear as ever. After making a scene, Oswald managed to snatch the party's guest list and used this information to select his future targets. Bruce Wayne assumed that Cobblepot's return to Gotham City coincided with the most recent rash of burglaries and he investigated the crimes as his costumed alter ego – the Batman. Pennyworth, still angry with Cobblepot's behavior at the fund raiser, decided to take matters into his own hands. He went to Oswald's family mansion but was captured by the Kabuki Twins. Batman arrived at the manor shortly thereafter and Oswald and he faced each other for the first time. Now calling himself the Penguin, he demonstrated his fighting skills against the Batman and the two engaged in a protracted battle across the room. Batman eventually proved victorious, and the Penguin was captured.

Penguin soon declared revenge on both The Batman and Bruce Wayne. Despising Wayne's pretty boy image, Penguin went to the manor with his twins in an effort to get rid of Wayne once and for all. He tied up and tortured Alfred with his twins who managed to call Whane. The Batman interfered with Penguin's plans had a brawl with him while being recorded by camera men and eventually returned Penguin to jail once again after failing to take Batmans mask off. He did however gain one victory stealing the spotlight from Bruce.

Upon escaping, Penguin teamed up with Catwoman in an effort to steal two powerful, ancient Egyptian statues that gave the holder the ability to expel and use the power of light. After he double-crossed Catwoman, Penguin stole both statues, hand-cuffed Batman and Catwoman, and fled. He attempted to destroy Gotham, but Penguin was unsuccessful, as the team that he created was too much for both him and the Kabuki Twins to fight He and Catwoman escape getting arrested.

Peguin later broke into the art museum and stole valuable eggs but was stopped by Joker disguised as Batman. After a short argument the two battled each other until the original Batman showed up laughing crazily. but Cobblepot was also accidentally injected with the Venom that drives people insane. After Batman defeated Joker by making the clown laugh both him and Penguin laughed throughout the streets of Gotham.

Penguin eventually took control of Man Bat with a Sonic Bird Control Device making him commit crimes for him. Batman soon turns Man-Bat on Penguin putting both of them in Arkham

During penguins attempt to control Gotham. Both Joker and Riddler get in the way. The three criminal's agree that whoever defeats Batman can control Gotham. Near the end Penguin and Joker try to take out Riddler, but Batman arrives to stop them. Penguin is defatted by having Tar fall on him and gets arrested with the other two.

In The Batman vs. Dracula, Penguin searched for a lost mob treasure when he was unwittingly revived and was subsequently hypnotized by Dracula and became his servant. Later, while Batman fought Dracula, Penguin went after Vicky Vale and chased her through the cemetery. After he found her in a crypt, Penguin caught Vicky and pinned her against the wall when he was freed from his hypnosis and finally discovered the treasure that caused all the trouble in the first place. He was overjoyed but was then caught by the GCPD. News reporters stated that the people were under Penguin's control and that Penguin kept saying that they were vampires as he was taken away. Though he Joker and the Lost Ones forgot being slaves to Dracula, Penguin remembered everything, which made him, alongside Bruce, Alfred, and Vicky the only four people to know the truth behind the Lost Ones.

During a battle with Batman and Batgirl, Penguin sends Batman to the bottom of a river where he gets memory loss. He later crashes the Music festival with his twins and kidnaps Bruce. Later at his ice lair Penguin then cuts Bruce free, who then indeed does write the check, and hands it over, but Penguin is suspicious, and asks to see some ID. Batgirl, who is watching from above, who believes Bruce is Batman, hopes to see him free himself, but instead, he asks to be released, as was the deal, but Penguin tells him he lied, and kicks Bruce into the water behind him. Batgirl dives in after him, and Penguin sends the twins in after her. She frees Wayne, who promptly swims to the surface, leaving Batgirl to fend off the twins. When she surfaces, she is surprised to see Wayne already running to safety, which leads her to believe she was wrong about Bruce. While she is distracted, Batgirl is captured by the Twins, who bring her to Penguin, who leaps at the chance to kill her. Outside, an explosion is seen, which causes Bruce to stop running, and the Penguin fly's out, carrying Batgirl, who is tied up. Penguin is demonstrating to Batgirl how he will execute her, utilizing the clock's mechanical figurines. He then kicks the clock's hands to be at 11:55, so that Batman only has a limited time to save her, and then straps her to the table, where she will be killed. Batman then arrives, and proceeds to rescue her. Batman than defeats penguin by destroying his umbrella leaving him for the police.

Penguin, Joker, and Scarface are shown as members of Hugo Strange's therapy session. Penguin taunts the Ventriloquist asking him if he is old enough to be playing with dolls.

One night Penguin try's to make it rain chemicals, but Batman stops him after getting beaten he learns this wasn't the real Penguin, he was kidnaped by Posion Ivy along with James Gordon and replaced by a look alike. Once Ivy is defeated Penguin gets free.

In "The Icy Depths," Penguin and Mr. Freeze competed to get the sunken treasure that was at the bottom of Gotham Bay. Penguin used Alfred to help him find it. Once they arrived both Villain's began to fight each other for the treasure. The fight is broken up by Batman and the villain's are sent to the police while Freeze tells Penguin to shut up.

  • In "Team Penguin," Penguin got the idea to form a team of super-villains from a movie in order to "clip the Bat-jerk's wings." However, that only resulted in Penguin sitting back while he ordered his "team-mates" around, and snapped at them whenever they suggested a different name for his team. All Penguin got on his team were: Firefly, Killer Croc, Killer Moth, and Ragdoll. He did send out other invitations, but Bane was taken down by Batman, and Penguin mentioned to Croc that Joker, Mr. Freeze, and The Riddler all said "No!" Penguin and Moth get beaten by Batman while Robin and Batgirl stoped the rest of the team. Thus they broke up.
Vampire minions

The Penguin amongst Dracula's minions.

Penguin was one of the villains who was captured by Rumor (despite him trying to get Batman to turn him over to the police) and was accidentally frozen by Mr. Freeze. The villains are later arrested alongside Rumor.

In "The Joining, Pt. 2," he assisted Joker Bane Mr Freese and the GCPD force in fighting The Joining after Arkham gets attacked. He used his umbrealla to fire bullets at the aliens.

In "Ring Toss," Green Lantern's Ring flew right into Penguin and he had to master it before he robbed a charity party and Gotham. Batman and Robin fought Penguin before Sinestro crashed the battle. Sinestro chased after Penguin until Penguin gave the ring to Batman. Once Sinestro was defeated by Batman and Green Lantern he was taken away alongside Penguin.

Penguin later gets away from Batman and Robin thanks to Wrath and Scorn. Later he Joker, Scarface and Killer Croc are shown robbing a boat to get rich while Batman and Robin fought Warth and Scorn. Once the police arrived the Villains got away and Warth promised them Batman's Identy. Penguin encougred Joker to smile saying that its the end of Batman. This never happens due to Joker gassing them before they could tell him Batman's identity.

Powers and Abilities[]

Penguin2004

Penguin leaps to kick Batman

  • Martial Arts: This version of the Penguin was a more skilled martial artist, who learned in the Orient. He was capable of going toe-to-toe with Batman for a time.
  • Umbrella: Like most versions of Penguin, his umbrellas have a number of built in tools/weapons.

Appearances[]

The Batman[]

The Batman Strikes![]

  • Issue #1 "Penguin Rising"
  • Issue #11
  • Issue #15
  • Issue 16 "Hit and Run" (mentioned)
  • Issue #26
  • Issue #29
  • Issue 33 " Growth" (mentioned)
  • Issue 35 " The Clown Prince Of Late Night" (mentioned)
  • Issue 39 " Hostile Takeover"
  • Issue 40 "The Burning Question" (mentioned)

Trivia[]

  • This version of Penguin, much like his DCAU counterpart during the first few seasons of Batman: The Animated Series, is visually similar to his apperance from the 1992 film Batman Returns.
    • On a similar note, he also demonstrated similar vulgar traits to his Batman Returns depiction, although significantly toned down due to the intended age bracket of the cartoon.

Voiced by []

  • Tom Kenny (English)
  • Toshihiko Seki (Japanese)
  • Juan Perucho/Jorge Garcia Insua (Spanish)
  • Marco Simones (Portuguese)
  • Michael Pan (German)
  • Per Sandborgh (Swedish)
  • Muli Shulman (Hebrew)
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