Penguin (character)
| The Penguin | |
|---|---|
| File:DetectiveComics824b.jpg The Penguin, as seen in Detective Comics #824 Art by Simone Bianchi | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #58 (December 1941) |
| Created by | Bill Finger (Bob Kane credited by DC) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot |
| Team affiliations | Injustice League Suicide Squad The Society |
| Abilities | - Criminal genius - Assorted bird-related paraphernalia - Deadly 'trick' umbrellas - Vast underworld connections - Skilled in organized leadership - Expert in judo |
The Penguin (Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot), is a DC Comics supervillain and an enemy of Batman. He was introduced by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, making his debut in Detective Comics #58 (December 1941).
The Penguin is depicted as a short villanous man and is one of Batman's archenemies. He is known for his love of birds and his specialized high-tech umbrellas. A mobster-type criminal, he fancies himself a "gentleman of crime". Unlike most Batman villains, he does not theme his crimes around a psychotic obsession; his intelligence and aristocratic personality starkly contrasts with demented Batman villains such as the Joker or Two-Face. His nightclub business provides a cover for more low-key criminal activity, which Batman tolerates as a source of criminal underworld information.
Actor Burgess Meredith popularized the Penguin in the 1960s Batman television series, partially because of his signature squawking laughter. Danny DeVito played a much darker version of the character in the 1992 film Batman Returns. This version was not just an unattractive criminal but a physically deformed, sadistic, megalomaniacal monster. Subsequent Batman animated series have alternately featured the deformed Penguin and a more traditional version.
The deformed version of the character has also appeared in comics, most notably in the miniseries Batman: The Long Halloween and its sequel Dark Victory. He only appears for a minor cameo at the end of the Long Halloween, and has no lines. He plays a slightly more notable role in Dark Victory, when Batman goes to him for information. This incarnation also added elements of the 1966 TV series character, as he shouted the well-known "waugh waugh" while talking.
Fictional character biography
Born Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, the Penguin is bullied as a child for his short stature, obesity, and beak-like nose. Several stories relate that he was forced as a child to always carry an umbrella by his over-protective mother, due to his father dying of pneumonia after being drenched in a downpour. These traits make him an outcast in his rich, high society family; their rejection drives him to become a criminal. In keeping with his family's tradition of wealth, the Penguin lives a life of crime, yet executes it with his own self-proclaimed class and style. In keeping with his pretensions of being a refined gentleman, he also prefers to wear formal wear such as a top hat, monocle, and tuxedo during his jobs.
The Penguin received his alias from a childhood nickname, bestowed by his peers, who teased him because of his grotesque appearance and love of birds. (Retellings of his origin suggest he also suffered from some sort of hip ailment, which caused him to waddle when he walked. The Penguin shows no signs of suffering from this affliction today.) Some comics suggest that he tried to abandon the nickname, which he hates, but it has been permanently brought into popularity by his high-profile criminal career. He has cashed in on its popularity with his Iceberg Lounge nightclub in Gotham City.
Unlike most of the Batman villains, the Penguin is a gentleman villain, in control of his own actions and perfectly sane, features that serve to maintain a unique relationship with his archenemy, Batman. This has extended into the current situation with the Penguin ceasing his direct involvement in crime, instead running a nightclub that is popular with the underworld. As such, he is an excellent source of information on crime, so Batman grudgingly tolerates his operations. However, the entrepreneurial Penguin is often fencing stolen property or arranging early furloughs for incarcerated former criminal associates - for a hefty fee, of course - on the side. During the storyline "No Man's Land", when Gotham City is nearly leveled by an earthquake, he stays behind when the US government shuts down and blockades the city. He becomes one of the major players in the mostly-abandoned and lawless city, using his connections to profit. One of these connections is discovered to be Lex Luthor and his company.
The Penguin keeps a presence in Gotham as it is rebuilt, mostly due to the efforts of Lex Luthor.
Infinite Crisis
The Penguin becomes swept up in the events of Infinite Crisis. In the limited series' seventh issue, he is briefly seen as part of the Battle of Metropolis, a multi-character brawl started by the Secret Society of Super Villains. The Penguin, along with several other villains, are bowled over by the surprise appearance of Bart Allen.
While the Penguin is away from Gotham City, the Great White and Tally Man kill many of the villains who worked for Penguin, and frame Harvey Dent. Great White had planned to take over Gotham's criminal syndicate and weaken all his competition - Penguin included. Upon his return to Gotham, the Penguin continues to claim that he has gone "straight" and reopens the Iceberg Lounge nightclub, selling overpriced penguin merchandise. He urges Riddler to avoid crime, as it's more lucrative in their current, non-criminal lifestyle.
Gotham Underground
The Penguin is also featured as a prominent figure in the new Gotham Underground tie-in to the series Countdown. He's "hired" by Batman as a snitch, using his criminal contacts to give Batman an edge over Gotham's criminals. He is also in a gang war with Tobias Whale and Intergang.
Powers and abilities
The Penguin is a master criminal strategist; he uses his considerable intellect to gain wealth and power through less than legal means. He usually plans crimes, but doesn't often commit them himself. Though he appears to be in poor physical condition, he is remarkably agile and has trained himself in hand-to-hand combat and judo.
The Penguin always carries an umbrella due to his Mother’s fanaticism. The umbrellas usually contain weapons such as guns, missiles, laser guns, flame-throwers and acid spraying devices. He usually carries an umbrella with the function to transform its top into a series of spinning blades. This can be used as a mini helicopter or as an offensive weapon.
In other media
Television
Batman (1960s TV series)
The Penguin was played by Burgess Meredith in the Batman television series of the 1960s and the spin-off movie. A largely campy interpretation because the series was essentially a situation comedy, Meredith's performance is perhaps best remembered through his signature laugh, meant to mimic the squawk of a penguin. One cause of the laugh was the smoke from the cigarettes the character always smoked, which irritated Meredith's throat and made him cough, as he had already quit smoking in real life. A notable scene involves Penguin having Batman and Robin dangled over a pit of acid while he runs to "get help" as both a ploy to remove his enemies and gain some positive press as a good Samaritan. Also of note: Either the writers of the show or, perhaps, Adam West himself took pains to demonstrate how the normally even-tempered Caped Crusader would lose his temper over the Penguin's antics; as if the "fowl fiend" got under his skin more than his other foes. In an episode where the Penguin stole the Batmobile, Batman used a remote control to manipulate the car's steering and doors; taking great pleasure over the villain's frustration. On Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Dick Cheney is often played in fake TV movies by Meredith's Penguin. Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, also frequently uses Meredith's Penguin laugh to imitate Cheney.
The only available information on his early life is that he was once an actor. One of his catchphrases was "Great Heavenly Icebergs." Although called a "Pompous waddling master of fowl play," Penguin thinks of himself as an "Aristocrat of Crime." In one episode, when the Penguin tried to get himself taken back into prison by committing obvious crimes as part of a greater plan, he was furious when the Batman had him locked up in the city jail as a common criminal for violating a Gotham City ordinance. The Penguin's thugs wear black bowler hats, with dark clothing adorned with names of various animals of prey; these are either birds ("Hawk") or fishes ("Shark").
The Monkees
The Penguin, portrayed by Burgess Meredith, made a brief cameo appearance in the 1968 episode of The Monkees entitled "The Monkees Blow Their Minds."
Scooby-Doo
Along with the Joker, Penguin was one of the villains from the The New Scooby-Doo Movies episodes, "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper" that were later combined on the "Scooby-Doo Meets Batman and Robin" DVD.
The New Adventures of Batman
In Filmation's series The New Adventures of Batman, Penguin is played by Lennie Weinrib. He frequently rolls his 'r's and laughs in a similar manner to Burgess Meredith's portrayal. He appears in four episodes: Reading, Writing and Wronging, Birds of a Feather Fool Around Together and Have an Evil Day Parts 1 and 2.
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians
The Penguin appeared in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, where he gained Superman's superpowers by accident when Felix Faust tried to get them for himself. Ironically, Batman was not featured in the episode. This version of the Penguin was voiced by Andre Stojka.
Batman: The Animated Series
When Batman: The Animated Series debuted in 1992, the Penguin was voiced by Paul Williams. Due to the close relation in time between Batman Returns and the animated series, the freakish look of the film's version of the character remained, although somewhat toned down. While physically altered, The Penguin returned to the gentleman of crime of the comics, fancying himself a high society elite.
In the 1997 follow-up to the original animated series, The New Batman Adventures, the Penguin lost his deformed appearance,[1] regaining his five-fingered hands and losing his hunched back (although, like the other changes characters underwent, this was not a story point, but merely a new artistic interpretation of the character). His new appearance also saw him return to a role more similar to the one in the comic books: a "legitimate" businessman and mob boss that ran a night club called the "Iceberg Lounge". (This was in deference to the character's re-imaging by comics writer Chuck Dixon)
He also appeared in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman as the main villain, this time voiced by David Ogden Stiers.
The Batman
The character has also appeared on The Batman, voiced by Tom Kenny. In this continuity, the Penguin is primarily concerned with reestablishing the Cobblepot family name in society by stealing from the citizens of Gotham to rebuild his wealth. His speech is often peppered with confused squawks. He does, however, possess a few of his key personality traits from the comics and earlier animated series, such as his enormous greed and his way of considering himself a high society elite (despite, in reality, being a wanted criminal).
He is sometimes aided by two henchwomen: a masked pair called the Kabuki Twins. (Although their names have never been mentioned in the show, the first The Batman comic book, which starred Penguin, Penguin reveals their names to be Gale and Peri.) In addition, it is clear that he also knows some form of martial arts, and is athletic enough to engage in hand-to-hand combat with Batman, dodging and parrying with his various trick bumbershoots. He also seems to be in a rivalry with The Joker (and, to a lesser extent, the Riddler) for the title of Gotham's most dangerous criminal. This Penguin also regards Bruce Wayne as a personal enemy and has held him hostage on multiple occasions (though he is unaware of Wayne's alter ego). In one episode, he even manages to infiltrate Wayne Manor, though does not discover the Batcave. He also has a grudge against Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth, due to the Pennyworths having left the service of the Cobblepots generations ago.
In the episode "The Bat, The Cat, and the Very Ugly", he and Catwoman team up to retrieve two special statues of a cat and a bird. They team up after successfully retrieving the cat statue and go back to Penguin's new hideout. Later, they retrieve the cat statue, and Penguin betrays Catwoman and leaves her handcuffed to Batman with a special pair of handcuffs that only he has the key to. Batman and Catwoman later find out that Penguin is using these statues to attack the city and hold it for ransom, and they go after him. Batman then handcuffs him to Catwoman, but the two criminals get away on one of Penguin's jet umbrellas.
The episode "The Icy Depths", reveals that one of the Penguin's disgraced ancestors stole the British crown jewels. The complex map to their location was hidden in a trick umbrella, suggesting this gimmick is a family tradition. He, as well as Batman, Alfred and Mr. Freeze, find the jewels, but then they are soon sunken underwater again.
In "Team Penguin", he assembles a team of Gotham's villains (after seeing a heist film), including Killer Croc, Firefly, Ragdoll, and Killer Moth, whom he dubs "Team Penguin", (Firefly suggests "Gotham Gangstas" and Ragdoll thought of "Villains United", to which Penguin angrily replies by saying that the name is not up for debate.) He plans on using Bane, but after seeing his recorded failure with Batman, Batgirl and Robin, he looks elswhere for hired help.
In the Season 5 episode "Ring Toss", he is accidentally given the Green Lantern Power Ring by Hal Jordan who intends it to go to Batman so it didn't get into the hands of his nemesis Sinestro. Penguin uses the ring to cause widespread mayhem throughout Gotham, stealing everything he sees. Batman, Robin and the Gotham City Police Department fail to stop him, until Green Lantern rams into him with a gas truck. Green Lantern eventually gets the ring back after Sinestro defeats the Penguin, and uses it to defeat Sinestro.
Penguin is one of several villains whose escape is aided by Wrath in "The End of the Batman". Later Wrath calls on him, along with The Joker, Killer Croc, and The Ventriloquist, to come to a meeting to discuss doing away with Batman once and for all. Croc, still sore over the Team Penguin fiasco, sourly asks him if this was his idea, which Penguin denies. One of his throwaway lines is used for the episode's title.
Unused concept art from the show indicates that a more classic version of the Penguin was considered for the show. [2]
Krypto the Superdog
In the animated cartoon series called Krypto the Superdog, the Penguin's pet birds are recurring foes of Krypto and Ace the Bat-Hound. Although the Penguin is referenced in this series, he never makes an appearance in any episode.
Non-Traditional Appearances
- In a Saturday Night Live skit called "Superman's Funeral", he attended Superman's funeral and made the same sound he made for laughing when he cried (which he explained when Batman and Robin told him to stop laughing).
- In the Tiny Toon Adventures short "Bat's All Folks", the character is parodied as 'The Puffin', while the Batman Returns version also makes a cameo appearance.
- The Penguin appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Drippy Pony" voiced by Seth Green. In a segment that parodies March of the Penguins, The Penguin's personal life is portrayed as living in a rundown apartment, making trips to the liquor store, and arranging assignations with fat, middle-aged women over JDate.
- In the Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein". The Penguin makes a small appearance jumping up, and down as the nuns enter the bus.
Film
Batman (1966)
Burgess Meredeth reprised his role as the Penguin in the 1966 film Batman alongside several other villains from the television show.
Batman Returns
In Batman Returns, the Penguin was portrayed by Danny DeVito. Director Tim Burton, inspired by the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, re-imagined the character not as an eloquent gentleman of crime, but a physically deformed sociopath with a homicidal grudge against Gotham City. While this Penguin retained a number of trademarks, such as a variety of trick umbrellas and the use of a monocle, he was given a huge visual makeover. Where the comic version had varied between a full head of hair and varying degrees of thinning, this Penguin was bald at the top, with his remaining length of hair long and stringy. His hands were now flippers, with a thumb and index finger, and the remaining three fingers fused together. An unidentified thick, dark green bile-like liquid sometimes trickled from his nose and mouth.
Instead of a tuxedo, he wore a more gothic, Victorian-style outfit, with a jabot as opposed to a bow tie. Other instances show him in black boots, a dickey, and something akin to a child's blanket sleeper, or the old long john-style underwear of the 1800s. However, Burton's design maintained the top hat seen in the comics.
At the beginning of the film, the Penguin's origin story is told. When he is born disfigured, his wealthy parents throw their infant son into Gotham's sewers. The child survives, floating down Gotham's sewers and under the city zoo, where he is taken in by a group of penguins and, later joins a circus freak show. Batman reading newspaper articles while researching Penguin, speculates that during his time in the circus freak show, the Penguin was responsible for the disappearance of children.
Years later, the Penguin returns to Gotham, and develops both a partnership with corrupt millionaire Max Shreck and unrequited lust for Catwoman. The Penguin becomes a hero to Gotham City when he rescues the Mayor's infant son from a member of the Red Triangle Gang (who, of course, is working for him.) He then runs for Mayor and frames Batman for murder. Batman eventually learns that the Penguin's run for mayor is a cover for his true intentions: to kidnap and murder every first-born child in Gotham City as a twisted act of revenge for being abandoned as a child.
Batman foils the Penguin's plans by recording one of his tirades against the city and playing it in front of a crowd. In a final, desperate act, the Penguin tries to destroy Gotham with missiles launched from the backs of penguins. Thwarted once again, Penguin attacks Batman, but crashes through a plate-glass window and falls back into the waters of his sewer home. In a later scene, Penguin rises from the water, fatally poisoned by toxic waste which had been dumped into it. In a final act of defiance, Penguin opens an umbrella he believes to contain a weapon, only to reveal it is designed for entertaining toddlers. Upon discovering the carousel-like device within the umbrella, he remarks, "Shit, I picked the cute one." He lets out a final gurgle and falls dead. Two lines of penguins, acting as a funeral parade, move his body down the slope and into the sewer river, where it sinks into the depths.
Nolan Series
In response to speculation that Philip Seymour Hoffman was approached for the role of the Penguin, as a British arms dealer in The Dark Knight, franchise director Christopher Nolan said he considered the character difficult to portray on film, explaining, "I'd be more excited to have Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film than to have the Penguin. There are certain characters that are easier to mesh with the more real take on Batman we're doing. The Penguin would be tricky."[3] Recently, viral marketing for The Dark Knight included a Gotham Times newspaper, featuring a newspaper ad for the Iceberg Lounge, one of the Penguin's businesses.[citation needed] Prior to the release of The Dark Knight in 2008, David Goyer ruled out using the Penguin or Catwoman as a villain in a future film, preferring to use antagonists from the comic that had not yet been portrayed on the big screen.[citation needed]
Other
Lego set
Danish building toy maker Lego's Lego Batman line includes one particular set, 7783-The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion, which features The Penguin. He appears as a minifigure in the set, with short, unbending legs, the classic top hat and monocle and a purple pin-stripe suit. The Penguin rides in a submarine reminiscent of the one in the 1960s TV series and is assisted by miniature penguin robots. The Lego also includes a depiction of the Batcave.
He also appears in the Batman Lego promotional video. He is the final crook to be caught (after Two-Face, Mr. Freeze and Joker).
Video game appearances
The Penguin has also appeared as a boss in several Batman video games. They are Batman: The Caped Crusader, the various video game adaptations of the movie Batman Returns, Batman: The Animated Series and Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Super NES.
At one point he was planned to appear as a boss in The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD, in which he would try to kidnap Summer Gleeson. The Penguin was cut from the game because it was tight on villains, but the storyboards for his animated cutscene are displayed in Paul Dini's book, Batman Animated.
He is the main enemy in the Batman the Cobblebot Caper. First he is in the bank attacking with his umbrella which fires an electrical rope. On Level 2 he blows up the lab but Batman eventually escapes the building. On Level 3 he orders the Kabuki Twins to rob the Gotham Steelworks and at the end of the game he is in a giant robot bird that can spit flame and shoot missiles.
More recently Penguin appears in Lego Batman: The Video Game.
Al Gore parody depiction
In August of 2006, The Wall Street Journal found out that a Republican-led PR firm, DCI Group, was behind a YouTube video making fun of Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth. The video portrayed Gore as the Penguin, apparently as depicted in Batman: The Animated Series, using one of his trick umbrellas to hypnotize a flock of penguins into believing in the existence of global warming. [4]
References
- ^ Movie Poop Shoot
- ^ The Batman Unused Character Designs - Behind the Scenes I Batwave News I Bring On The Batman | BringOnTheBatman.com | Jeff Matsuda The Batman I The Batman Cartoon I The Batman Kids WB Cartoon Network I New Batman Cartoon 2004 - The Official Legions of Gotham The Batman fansite! - Featuring Mattel The Batman toys - Mattel the Batman action figures
- ^ Kimberly Potts (October 16, 2006). "Tipster: Penguin Unlikely for Dark Knight". Movies.com. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
- ^ Who is behind penguin spoof of Al Gore?.
External links
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