Penguin

The Penguin
Real name	Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot
Relationships
Relation-ships	Mrs. Cobblepot (sister) Joshua Cobblepot (nephew)
Backstage
Voiced by	Wayne Knight

The Penguin is a major antagonist of the DC Universe animated series Harley Quinn. He is voiced by Wayne Knight, and is based on the character of the same name from DC Comics.

He was killed by Harley Quinn after she escaped his confinement and stabbed him in the neck with the broken part of her bat in Season 2.

Appearance

The Penguin, as his name suggests, bears physical resemblances similar to a penguin, a long nose, round, short body, and always wearing black and white clothes. He is seen wearing a black top hat, black monocle with a gold rim, a black tuxedo with a pinkish red flower, a white dress shirt with a large black tie, black pants, and dress shoes. He often sports a cigarette holder in his mouth as well, and has light skin and slicked back brown hair. Shortly before his demise, his nose is bitten off entirely by Harley Quinn, leaving him with open, bloody nasal cavities.

Biography

Background

Oswald realized that he wanted to become a crime lord when he had his bar mitzvah. His successes as a criminal were so highly regarded in the Legion of Doom that they created a gold statue of him in the entryway.

Season 1

"A High Bar"

Main article: A High Bar

The Penguin is first seen when Harley Quinn invites herself to his nephew, Joshua Cobblepot's bar mitzvah. He initially mistook Harley as a dancer for the bar mitzvah, and laughed when he realized that it was Harley Quinn herself, saying that "rock bottom came fast since the Joker dumped you". Later, he gave a speech for Joshua's bar mitzvah and claimed that he was forcing his dream of doing crime onto Joshua. He planned for Joshua to "fight" through Gotham Chucklehut's finest improvisers, dressed as guards, so that he could rob a mock bank vault.

When the curtains were raised, Penguin was stunned to see that Harley had dispatched the improv troupe, having mistaken them for the actual Gotham Mint security. Enraged that Harley ruined Joshua's bar mitzvah, the Penguin smoothly shot a tranquilizer at Harley from his umbrella, incapacitating her. After she was bound by his goons, he gave Joshua his umbrella so that he could execute Harley, but ended up caving to the pressure of Harley's needling. Disgusted, the Penguin prepared to execute Harley himself, but Kite Man and Poison Ivy arrived and Harley then freed herself from her bonds.

The Penguin surrounds Harley and Ivy with the help of Scarecrow and Two-Face

The Joker then sicced the Legion of Doom members present on the trio, including the Penguin. The Penguin disarmed Harley with a surgically precise shot, and together they managed to surround Harley and Ivy, with Bane capturing Kite Man. Cornered, Harley wondered if Kite Man could help them, at which point the Joker noticed Bane attacking him and ordered him to refocus on Harley. He went overboard however, calling Bane a "dumb freakish monster", which Harley used to talk her way out of the situation, asking why anyone allowed the Joker to bully them so; this prompted the Penguin to lower his weapon and abandon the Joker. He became further angered at the Joker when Bane revealed that the Joker thought the entire bar mitzvah was stupid, and left him to be surrounded by Ivy's plants.

"Finding Mr. Right"

Main article: Finding Mr. Right

The Penguin watching the Tawny Young show

The Penguin watched the Tawny Young show with his nephew and his sister Mrs. Cobblepot, and became aggravated when Joshua rooted for Poison Ivy against Batman.

"L.O.D.R.S.V.P."

Main article: L.O.D.R.S.V.P.

The Penguin later attended the admittance party for new Legion of Doom members, and applauded Harley Quinn for driving off Aquaman, who was attacking the gathering.

"A Seat At The Table"

Main article: A Seat At The Table

Oswald also enthusiastically applauded Harley when she was formally inducted into the Legion of Doom.

Season 2

"New Gotham"

Main article: New Gotham

Following the Joker's defeat, the utter destruction of Gotham City, and its abandonment by the United States government, the Penguin used his goons to move in on the chaos. He began absorbing territory, even calling "dibs" on Harley Quinn's Gotham Mall, sending his soldiers to claim it (without success). In response, Harley Quinn incensed the goons of the remaining Legion of Doom members to revolt against their masters, ruining the Penguin's plans.

The Penguin sitting with the rest of the Injustice League

In response, the Penguin rallied the remnants of the Legion of Doom into the Injustice League, comprising himself, Two-Face, the Riddler, Bane, and Mr. Freeze. They all agreed that they needed loyal goons to continue their ways of life, and so the Penguin came up with a plan to get Harley on board, rather than opposing them, so that they could quell the goon insurrection. Although Harley responded to their invitation, she rejected the Penguin's proposed terms to divide up Gotham amongst themselves. Nevertheless, the Penguin insisted that there must be a hierarchy, so he had Mr. Freeze freeze Harley into a block of ice.

The Penguin himself took custody of Harley's frozen statue for two months, taking that time to resume command of his goons and to assert control over his agreed portion of Gotham territory. Within his micro-state he was treated like a celebrity, his loyal subjects always referring to him as "Mr. Penguin". After killing an attendant who annoyed him, he joined a party in his honor and gave a brief speech about how he was carving up the city, "and they're thanking us for it". However, Sy Borgman interrupted his speech to sing happy to him as a distraction, and eventually the Penguin insisted that it was not his birthday.

The Penguin blows away the smoke in seconds

Annoyed, the Penguin used his umbrella to easily dispel the smoke from the room, revealing Harley's crew rescuing her. He ordered his goons after them, and waited patiently in the arcade of his mansion for his goons to isolate Harley in front of him. He gloated before her, only half freed from her block of ice, and although he managed to easily disarm her, he came too close and she was able to bite his nose off. The recoil knocked Harley's block of ice over and shattered it, freeing her to attack him.

More depressed over the loss of his nose than bothered by the pain, he easily dodged Harley's attack with her bat, seeing it shatter on a pool table. Grinning with his face covered in a sheet of blood, he used his umbrella as a grenade launcher to blast Harley away, resulting in more smoke from the explosions. He noted that he should've killed her long before then, but lost Harley in the smoke, who began to taunt him from many directions to hide her location. However, the Penguin did not dispel this smoke as he did with easy minutes before, and instead stood around doing nothing, attempting in vain to spot her, until she came up behind him and shoved the shattered end of her bat into his throat, killing him.

Personality

Oswald Cobblepot, or The Penguin, is a ruthless, organized crime boss operating in Gotham city. He appears exceptionally confident and narcissistic at times, viewing himself as magnificent and virtually undefeatable. He seems to have more consideration for the well-being of innocent people than some other noteworthy villains in Gotham, such as when he made a point of noting how horrible it was or Harley to cripple an improv actor during his nephew's barmitzvah. However, he has both a quick temper and nonexistent time frame of hesitation to kill those he sees fit of receiving death at his hands. He always springs to pay for only the most high quality and distinguished goods and employees as stated by Clayface. He is rather happy to be the powerful and evil crime lord that he is. This interpretation of The Penguin is Jewish as is the rest of his known family.

Trivia

• This version of The Penguin is Jewish and isn't a only child.