Oswald Cobblepot, otherwise known as the Penguin, was a crime lord based in Gotham City. He is a major antagonist in Giant Panda King's book Gotham 1919-1939. As well as the YouTube series of the same name from the Batfeed. He is portrayed by Keith Gordon.

Biography[]

Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot was born to Esther Cobblepot and Bill Tucker. Esther hailed from the English Cobblepot family, one of gothams founding families. In the mid 1880’s, she met Bill. He used her love for him as an opportunity to try marrying his way into her family’s wealth, and eventually she became pregnant with his child. Esther’s father however was disappointed to no end, and this caused him to cut ties with his daughter, and banish her from the family.

Esther and Bill moved into the Barrows, the slums of Gotham. Bill was angry that he couldn’t gain the Cobblepots wealth, and he would frequently beat both Esther and Oswald with an umbrella. Bill eventually left, leaving Esther to take care of their son on her own. She took great care of Oswald, dressing him good, feeding him well, and spending every cent she had to make sure he was happy. She had hoped he would one day reenter the high society she had once been apart of.

Oswald was bullied by the neighborhood children for his weight and the way he dressed. They would call him penguin, a name he hated. However, one day Oswald decided to turn the tables on them. He took his fathers umbrella, and used it to attack the biggest bully in the neighborhood, breaking his arm and nose. This earned Oswald the respect of his peers, mostly out of fear. Oswald then started a gang of neighborhood street delinquents. First he took over his street, then his block, then the whole neighborhood. By the time Oswald was 25 he ran half of Gotham’s underworld. Now bearing the name ‘Penguin’ with pride, he became the 2nd most powerful crime boss in the city.

Eventually he attracted the attention of the Falcone Crime Family. Carmine Falcone and his Brothers were the last remnant of Sicilian Mobsters in Gotham, being inspired by the crime families of New York and Chicago. With the recent appearances of the Batman, it showed Carmine was starting to lose his grip on the city, and Oswald was growing more and more powerful. This led to the Gotham gang wars of the early 1920’s between him, Oswald and Rupert Thorne, another gangster and business man. Carmine died in the end, and his organization crumbled, while Thorne was arrested.

Oswald then tracked down his grandfather, and murdered him as retribution for disowning both him and his mother. He made business dealings with Al Capone in Chicago. Together they struck a deal in murdering Big Jim Colosimo on the condition that Capone would stay out of Gotham. Oswald was now free to enjoy his untested rule over Gotham.

Over the years Oswald created a large ring of illegal Speakeasies and Booze Runners. The most popular front for this business was the Iceberg Club, a nightclub that brought in members of both middle class, and high society. He was also known to use many of the colorful and masked criminals of Gotham to his advantage. He would frequently employ the Killer Moth Gang, and Deadshot.

Oswald was well known for his trick umbrellas. He had a skilled craftsmen regularly customize his umbrellas to fit Guns, Knives, Billy Clubs and Flamethrowers. A symbol of his fathers abuse, would become a symbol for the people’s fear of the Penguin.

Oswald became one of the richest men in America, not even the Batman could stop him. Two of Batman’s allies, Oracle and Lucius Fox, tracked down oswasl’s accountant Noah “The Calculator” Kuttler, and found that Oswald hadn’t paid taxes in years. Batman brought this to the treasury department, and they were finally able to bring the penguin down. Oswald was sentenced to Blackgate Penitentiary. Though he would escape not too long after, and went back to running his criminal empire, which still remained in power, though they had been slightly subdued.

During the Shadow War of Gotham between Batman’s team and the League of Assassins, Oswald and his gang were growing tired of the unnecessary violence this war was bringing to Gotham, which was heavily affecting their business. They rescued the Batman during an encounter he had with the league, and asked to form an alliance to bring down the League. Batman reluctantly accepted, and Oswald was given the job of bringing down Ra's Al Ghul’s lieutenant Silver Monkey. Penguin’s gang engaged silver monkey, at first the fight was in silver monkey’s favor, but Oswald’s numbers overwhelmed him, and he was forced to retreat. After the Shadow War, Oswald went back to business as usual, though he would be diagnosed with syphilis. Eventually oswald would find himself arrested again, and was incarcerated at blackgate. This would lead to his empire crumbling.

In 1945, Oswald’s syphilis started causing him tremendous health issues. He would be released to Gotham general hospital, where he would eventually die. Oswald's death and the fall of his empire would mark the end of traditional organized crime in gotham. Many would try to reach the same legendary status that he had, though none would succeed.

Relationships[]

• Esther Cobblepot - mother
• Bill Tucker - father and abuser
• Robert Cobblepot - grandfather and murder victim
• Noah Cuttler - accountant
• The Penguin Gang - subordinates
• Al Capone - business associate
• The Killer Moth Gang - hired enforcers
• Deadshot - hired assassin
• The Batman - rival and one-time ally
• Carmine Falcone - business rival
• Rupert Thorne - business rival
• Silver Monkey - enemy

Trivia[]

• This version of The Penguin is heavily inspired by real life gangsters such as Al Capone and Mickey Cohen, and fictional gangsters like Harold Shand and Noodles Aaronson.
• The gang war between Penguin, Falcone, and Thorne was inspired by the real life Castellammarese War of New York, and the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.