Penguin

"I only take the best."

A brutal and sadistic crime lord, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot was known in the Gotham City Underworld as The Penguin who funded much of its criminal operations as one of its biggest black market manufactures. Directing his affairs from a dilapidated ship, the Final Offer, Oswald was seen as a reputable business man to the people of Gotham, but in reality, was a sadistic, mass murdering gang leader.

Cobblepot began to accumulate his power within Gotham City's criminal underworld, and began to build up his own forces to carve up a piece of the black market for his own profits and purposes. After he formed an alliance with Black Mask, the most powerful and sadistic crime lord in the entire city, who had put a $50 million bounty on Batman himself, the Penguin sought to crumble his competition, particularly the Falcone Crime Family and aid in killing the Dark Knight in order to consolidate his own power over the city.

He served as a minor antagonist in Arkham Origins, the secondary antagonist of Arkham City, a supporting antagonist in Arkham Knight and the main antagonist of the GCPD Lockdown DLC of Arkham Knight.

Biography
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot was born into one of Gotham's wealthiest families; a dynasty of generals, mayors, and industrialists. The Cobblepots were among the founding fathers of the city, however, a long-standing rivalry with the Wayne Family led to them encountering financial difficulties, and had them neglect their successful newspaper business in favor of a hotel chain. As a result of those difficulties, Oswald's father, Tucker Cobblepot, neglected his son, and packed him off to boarding school in London. Feeling abandoned, and ostracized by his fellow students for his grotesque appearance, Oswald skipped more and more classes, and preferred to associate with the criminal elements and other unsavory types outside of school.

Eventually, the family businesses, and Penguin's father along with them, went bankrupt, which gave Oswald a lifelong grudge against the Wayne Family, in particular the last member, Bruce Wayne, who Oswald saw as nothing more than a spoiled little rich boy. By that stage, Oswald had abandoned his education altogether, and preferred to educate himself into a criminal lifestyle in order to rebuild his family fortune.

Before Arkham Origins Incident
As an adult, Cobblepot established himself as an international criminal and arms dealer who was known as the Penguin, and returned to Gotham with plans to build a criminal empire within the city. Having purchased an aging cruise liner that was named the Olivia B. Meredith from a group of Somali Pirates, Penguin renamed it "The Final Offer", and exploited a legal loophole by selling weapons on-board, sales which would be illegal on US soil, but were perfectly legal on-board. He also used the casino on-board as an additional source of revenue, and cheated people out of their money. Penguin had, by that stage, developed something of a sadistic streak, and brutally killed anyone who had done something to wrong him, whether it be to fail in their duties as a henchman, or an attempt to cheat at gambling. The bodies of those who had wronged him were displayed in the Theater of his ship as a grim warning to others.

By the time he was 33, Penguin began to target his main rival for power in the city, Black Mask; both sought to usurp the grip that the Falcone and Maroni families held on the city. His assistant, Candy, revealed to him that Black Mask was actually billionaire businessman, Roman Sionis, and Cobblepot vowed to pay him a visit. He also managed to succeed in establishing several bases of operation in Gotham during this time.

Arkham Origins Incident
"Penguin. Not a dime changes hands in this city he can't tell you about. If anyone knows where Black Mask and his assassins are, it's him. But Penguin's hard to find. His men are doing a deal here. I'll make them talk."

- Batman reasoning that Penguin knows where to find Black Mask since the surveillance drone belonged to him On Christmas Eve, Cobblepot had Alberto Falcone kidnapped and taken to the Final Offer in order to make his family get out the weapon's trafficking business. He also arrived at Lacey Towers, and intended to kill Roman Sionis in his safe house, but instead found the body of Sionis' girlfriend, Tiffany Ambrose strung up from a chandelier, and a body in a black mask lying at his feet. Checking the body for Sionis' tell-tale pacemaker, Cobblepot found nothing. While in the apartment, Penguin accidentally left his fingerprints on the wall after he stabbed the body with his umbrella, which lead the Gotham City Police Department to think that he was behind the murder. Not wanting to be found at a crime scene, Penguin fled back to his ship where, unaware that he was wanted for murder (especially when his men bribed the cops to avoid pressing charges), he proceeded to host his annual fighting tournament in the ship's Boiler Deck. Having heard of the arrival of eight assassins from one of his GCPD plants, he also proceeded to sell several of them various arms, including Bane's army as well as Deathstroke and Deadshot. He also dispatched Ricky "Loose Lips" Leblanc, one of his arms dealers, to supply weapons to one of the gangs. During the festivities, Penguin began torturing Alberto, but was interrupted by Batman, who began to interrogate him as he smashed him into a mirror on the wall in his office.

Penguin started to tell Batman about a murder at Lacey Towers when Deathstroke used his Remote Claw to drag Batman out, and attacked him in the Fighting Pit. Penguin watched the fight between them, but when Batman won, he slapped Candy's butt, and then locked himself in his office with Tracey Buxton and Candy and sat out the remainder of the evening.

Afterward, Batman called the cops to seize the Penguin's illegal weapons and used his weapon Disruptor to destroy the locks from being opened on 6 stolen weapon crates that he found out about from Barbara. Penguin's actions to Alberto Falcone also succeeded in forcing his father out of the weapons racket, which also increased his popularity among the criminal underworld, and resulted in at least one of Firefly's men to consider quitting and transferring to Penguin's job.

Cold Cold Heart Incident
Sometime after Christmas, Penguin encountered Mr. Freeze, and provided him with muscle in exchange for cryogenic weapons that GothCorp had been developing. On New Year's Eve, Freeze and Penguin's thugs raided Wayne Manor, and captured Ferris Boyle. Batman tracked them to GothCorp, where Penguin was waiting. On the way to the lab, Penguin and his men betrayed Freeze, and demanded the weapons in exchange for Boyle. Batman intervened, which gave Freeze time to retaliate. He froze Penguin and his thugs in place, and blocked the path. Penguin pointed Batman to finding a cryodrill, which he had sent his men to get at My Alibi. Later, Batman returned with the drill, and opened a path to Freeze. However, he left Penguin there, much to his anger. He was later arrested along with Boyle, and Freeze and taken to Blackgate Prison. However, he adapted, and decided to deliberately stay within the prison so he could recruit several criminals into his enterprise while offering him safety from Batman due to already being locked up.

Arkham Origins Blackgate Incident
Following the breakout attempt at Blackgate, the Penguin decided to use the opportunity to go on a recruitment drive, and hired the best and the most hardened criminals for his gang. Also, he intended to utilize the prison's munition supply in order for his gang to gain dominance over both of Black Mask's and Joker's gangs.

After taking over the entire Cell Blocks portion of the prison, Penguin hosted several cage matches between his men and Bronze Tiger, who refused to join his forces.

During one such fight, Batman managed to make his way into the Penguin's fighting arena. After a brief brawl with Bronze Tiger, Batman tracked down Penguin who was hidden in a deeper section of the Cell Blocks. After he caught up to him, Batman faced off against Penguin who ordered his men to kill him and sent his drones to detect him. After Batman successfully took down the Penguin, he told Batman that he was obviously one of the least most dangerous inmates there and there was no need to lock him up. Batman replied that although he was not a physical threat, he was still a master manipulator and schemer and: "someone who's more than earned their place in this prison". Penguin tried to reason with Batman again, but Batman told him that he was also trying keep the people of Gotham safe from his criminal activities and hung him up and left. Penguin could only respond by screaming in horror and rage.

In the aftermath, Penguin bribed a guard to help him escape. The guard was cocky and rude to Penguin. Penguin then attacked him, and asked how many of his men were in the prison and how many were out of it. He obtained his trademark umbrella from the guard, used it to kill him, and then left.

Between Arkham Origins and Assault on Arkham Incident
During the years between the Christmas Eve Incident and the Arkham Asylum Incident, Penguin began posing as a reformed criminal, while in reality, he continued the arms selling business, became a criminal broker, and bought much of the Bowery, including the Cyrus Pinkney Natural History Museum, and turned it into the Iceberg Lounge.

Posing as an up-market restaurateur, Penguin became convinced that he had finally found the public acceptance that he had always craved from Gotham's in-crowd and elite, who saw him as a legitimate businessman. But beneath the surface of the Iceberg Lounge, a trendy nightclub that was converted from the themed restaurant of an old natural history museum, lay darker secrets, such as the nightly brawls to the death in the Gladiator Pit, massive stashes of weapons, and a chamber where those who had wronged Penguin were fed to a giant shark named Tiny. Below the lounge itself was a chamber that contained Solomon Grundy, a zombie-like creature which Cobblepot had used as punishment for his henchmen if they failed him.

To boost the Iceberg Lounge's reputation, Penguin decided to invite the Joker one night. Things seemed to go off without a hitch, but a clumsy waitress accidentally spilled a drink on Joker; he returned the act by melting the poor girl's face with acid from his flower. Angered by this action, Penguin decided to never allow the Joker back into his club again. At a later date, Joker forced himself back into the club; Penguin invited him to the V.I.P. room, and then right outside the door. Penguin stated "no clowns allowed", slamming the door in Joker's face.

"He belched smoke and laughed, laying his cards on the table. A 3, a 4, a 5, a 6, a damn 7! A straight flush. Next thing I'm thrown out on the street, penniless."

- Zsasz recounting Penguin cheating him out of cards

Penguin would later inadvertently help create the serial killer Victor Zsasz. Zsasz was playing poker in the Iceberg Lounge and started to doing very well. He eventually worked his way up to Cobblepot's personal table in the back. Throughout the night, Zsasz was winning hand after hand. Then, Zsasz then went all in, thinking he would win with his four 6's. The Penguin taught him the only person who wins in the Iceberg Lounge is the owner. Penguin cheated, pulling out a 6 that he had hidden. This gave him a straight flush of a 3, a 4, a 5, a 6, and a 7. He took all of Zsasz's money and kicked him out. This led to Zsasz's first murder, killing a man in anger because he demanded Zsasz's money.

One night, Penguin caught a man cheating at cards and tortured him in front of the crowd. The man's friend retaliated by smashing a glass bottle apart and running the bottom deep into Cobblepot's left eye, which disfigured him and giving him the appearance of always wearing a monocle. Penguin, having had his assailant blinded and thrown onto the Gotham Freeway at rush hour, sought the finest doctors to remove the glass, only to be told that the attempts to remove it would potentially kill him. Cobblepot eventually became content with it, and believed that it gave him a more "unique" look.

He would sometimes call on Deadshot to kill anyone who crossed him, citing that he was the best assassin that he knew, and that had to be true as Penguin went by the motto: "I only take the best."

Assault on Arkham Incident
""I heard you can get us into Arkham." "That I can, son. I've made arrangements to sneak you into the crazy farm.""

- Penguin discuss his deal with Waller to Deadshot. The Penguin was hired by Amanda Waller to supply arms to the Suicide Squad, and get them into "the crazy farm". However, he caught sight of Harley Quinn (a member of the group) and reacted with rage: she and the Joker had once stolen a truckload of cigarettes from him and had crashed it into the water "just for a laugh". However, Deadshot offered to kill Harley himself and pointed out that it would be bad for business if it was known that the Penguin had double-crossed his clients.

Fearing damage to his reputation, Penguin let the Suicide Squad go with the warning not to show up on his turf again. He gave them a one night stay in the upper floor rooms, and supplied them with whatever they needed before demanding them to "get out of his sight".

Road to Arkham Incident
Penguin was presumably arrested at some point and transferred to Arkham Asylum when it was re-opened. There, he was a patient of Dr. Young's. He got out of the asylum before the Joker's takeover, by presumably bribing his way out.

Arkham Asylum Incident
Since he was released before Batman had arrived, Penguin was not encountered on Arkham Island during the riot. However, his personal belongings could be found in the South Corridor in the Arkham Mansion as a riddle in the Riddler's challenges for Batman.

It's possible that Penguin was never sent to Arkham and the display case was for evidence that the guards liked to keep on display.

Between Arkham Asylum and Arkham City Incident
When Quincy Sharp sent a notice to Cobblepot for his eviction from the Museum, he instead wrote an angry letter to City Hall and informed the Mayor Sharp that he would not leave. Hugo Strange sent the TYGER Guards in to evict Penguin, who had his men shoot three veteran officers in retaliation. Found guilty of murder, Cobblepot was allowed to keep his museum, which was then a part of Arkham City. Shortly afterwards, the Joker arrived at the Iceberg Lounge, hoping Penguin would let bygones be bygones; however, Penguin still hated the Joker would damaging his club's reputation, slamming the door on him right before the Joker could attempt to spray acid at him.

Penguin started to enlarge his own gang and met Lester Kurtz, who wished to join the gang after fleeing from the Joker's. Unlike Joker, Penguin didn't want to put Kurtz through any initiation, and just told him to follow orders and that he'll be paid. Penguin then turned to another thug named Grisby, and revealed a picture that showed him double-crossing him by giving information to Harley Quinn. He then sent a panicked Grisby to "the man downstairs" and sent him down through a trapdoor. Kurtz asked him what was in the trapdoor, and Penguin simply replied: "Pray you never have to find out." Since Grisby had told the Joker about the raid on the security armory that was planned by the Penguin, he told his thugs that they would have to get the weapons before they got to the armory.

Due to the unexpected appearance of the Joker's goons, Kurtz had to destroy the guns, and infuriated Penguin, but Kurtz was able to talk his way out of being sent "downstairs", and instead had his pay cut in half, and also made him lead a strike on the weakened Joker's hideout the next day. To be sure that he didn't escape, Penguin told his men to lock Kurtz up for the night, but Kurtz escaped anyway by knocking out the goons.

Soon afterwards, Penguin was called into Hugo Strange's office to be interviewed. Unknown to Penguin, Strange saw he had a strong desire to own things and had a strong hatred of the Wayne family for being more successful than the Cobblepots. When their second meeting ended, Penguin handed Strange a list of equipment he wanted for his gang; Strange complied, giving him a purchase order in the next meeting. Strange even provided "dribbling monkeys" for target practice.

During their meetings, Penguin learned that the Joker was dying from his Titan overdose from back at the Asylum Takeover. Per their deal to ensure that Joker doesn't get proper care, Penguin was given a hostage of great value to the Clown Prince of Crime: Mr. Freeze. This served as a double-meaning deal, as Penguin wanted Freeze's technology as well. Penguin took Freeze to the museum, locking him in a display case in the War Room, while the Freeze Suit was sent to the armory.

Penguin kept the Freeze Gun for himself. Learning from Hugo Strange that Bruce Wayne would soon be getting sent into Arkham City, Penguin took some of his men to the gates to wait for him.

Arkham City
"Wakey-wakey, Wayne! Oh, what's wrong? You need me to call your butler? Cobblepot. Ah, you remember me. I'm touched."

- Penguin taunts Bruce Wayne Penguin was first seen when Bruce Wayne was thrown into the prison-city, and he knocked Bruce out with a stomp to the face. Penguin then took him into the slums, where he attempted to beat him with brass knuckles, but Bruce countered, broke his hand, and escaped after he took out Penguin's henchmen and Penguin himself.

After his encounter with the Joker, Batman tried to go to Mister Freeze's makeshift lab in the old G.C.P.D building at Amusement Mile, and found out that Penguin and his goons had taken Freeze captive. After one of his goons let slip that Penguin had Freeze taken to the Museum, Penguin tried to lock Batman in the building, although Batman made it out due to acquiring the city's municipal codes for his Cryptographic Sequencer. Batman then made his way to the Museum, although Penguin tried to blow up some of the highway in the city, to ensure that Joker couldn't get the upper hand and cut off his forces.

When Batman made it to the Museum, he tried to hack his way into the building, and found out that his hacking device was not working properly because of three communications jammers that were set up by the Penguin. When Batman returned from destroying the three jammers, he found out that Penguin's goons were not only holding Freeze hostage in the War Room, but several undercover police officers as well, who were sent in by Commissioner Gordon. As soon as Batman came to rescue them, he entered the Gladiator Pit, where he witnessed one of the officers get shot from behind by Penguin with his umbrella. After Batman refused to be part of the Penguin's exhibits, the latter sent in the inmates that wanted to join his gang to take Batman down, as part of his initiation into his gang. After Batman had defeated the criminals, Penguin released a Titan Henchmen to finish Batman, and revealed that he had a supply of the Titan Formula. Batman was able to defeat the other criminals and the Titan Henchman, but found that Penguin had already retreated to the Iceberg Lounge.

Following him, Batman found that Penguin was using Freeze's Freeze Gun, and had already frozen three of the police officers, and left them for dead, but Batman was able to save them. Batman then found out that the gun had a protective shield that protected its user, which meant that he couldn't stop Penguin. Batman then went to find Freeze, who eventually revealed that Batman could use a weapon's disruptor in Freeze's suit to jam the gun, as well as take the shield down. After retrieving the disruptor, and freeing the rest of the police officers that were held hostage in the Armory in the process, Batman returned to the Iceberg Lounge, and was able to jam the freeze gun. A panicked Penguin wondered why the gun was not working, before being uppercut by Batman, who sent him into the air and down onto the ground.

""No! I'm sorry! Please! Don't hurt me! " "I can't guarantee that." "Heh heh. Me neither.""

- Pretending to surrender, Penguin reveals the ace up his sleeve



Penguin begged for Batman not to hurt him, but Batman told him that he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't get hurt. Penguin then used a detonator which destroyed the iceberg pillar that Batman was standing on, and knocked down him into a room that was below the lounge, where he revealed that he had Solomon Grundy chained to a wall. After Batman defeated Grundy, Penguin attacked Batman with his grenade launcher. Batman was able to apprehend Penguin, however, and returned to the Trophy Room, where Mr. Freeze was waiting.

Mr. Freeze, wanting payback for the torture that he had endured, stomped on Penguin's already broken hand, which caused Penguin to scream out in pain. Batman ordered Freeze to stand down, as he was starting to go too far. Freeze obliged, but proceeded to grab Cobblepot, and smashed him into the exhibit in which a League of Assassins' Ninja was captured in; as a result the case was unintentionally damaged. Freeze then told Penguin that he would regret what he did to him. Penguin was then locked in one of his own displays (ironically, the one that he had saved for Bruce Wayne).

Penguin's gang soon fell apart without him to bark orders at them. Two-Face's Gang arrived shortly afterwards, threatening to takeover the area. Some of Cobblepot's men fled into the subway, while the others stood ready to fight off the invaders to Penguin's territory. To Penguin great displeasure, his men turned traitor, signing up with Two-Face to avoid death. Those underground whether either killed by Killer Croc or joined the ranks of the Joker's gang to save their skins.

In the Museum, Two-Face's gang were seen making fun of Penguin for getting locked up in one of his own exhibits and claimed that Two-Face would be back. If Batman returned to the Museum after had Two-Face taken over, he learned that Penguin had hid himself behind the display and was not even noticed by Two-Face, and thus, saved from death.

After Arkham City Incident
As there were many people who were falsely imprisoned by Hugo Strange in Arkham City, Penguin was also released as a result. While waiting for the compensation from the city to arrive, Penguin returned to his ancestral mansion, which was now marked for demolition to make way for the newer buildings. He searched through the rooms as one of his thugs suggested that they wait for the money to come in before they try starting up a new business. However, Penguin was smarter than that; he cracked a floorboard and pulled out the deed to North Refrigeration, just the business they can use as a cover for shipping illegal goods.

Before Arkham Knight Incident
"Your "puddin" is pushing up daisies."

- Penguin taunts Harley At some point afterward, Penguin, alongside Two-Face and Harley Quinn, were called in by Scarecrow for a meeting. While waiting, Penguin proceeded to smoke one of his cigars in front Two-Face, with the latter threatening him to keep it out of his face. Penguin then proceeded to make a tasteless reference to Two-Face's origin, while both he and Two-Face were being called "bozos" by Harley before Scarecrow told them to stop. Penguin then noted his arrival with the implication that he was late, and stated it was about time that he showed his face (with Harley Quinn making a dark reference to the injuries Scarecrow had sustained from Killer Croc). After Scarecrow explained that they were present because they feared Batman, Penguin arrogantly told him that they knew and asked him to tell them something they don't know. The Arkham Knight then arrived and told Two-Face that killing Batman was his job. They then agreed to enter a truce to kill Batman.

Sometime later, Penguin expressed his dislike of the Arkham Knight, called him a cocky gobshite, said he wasn't the first Bat-fanatic to muscle in on their turf, and expressed that he had no intention of trusting him. He then blew off Two-Face's insistence that the coin said to give him a chance and stated that he'd rather look a man in the eye when making deals, and also threatened to kill Two-Face in spite of Scarecrow's ceasefire after the latter made a sarcastic remark about Penguin's height. After being told to let the Arkham Knight and Scarecrow run their army and chase Batman while they took care of themselves, Penguin told Two-Face that, getting his cut aside, he wouldn't have anything to do with the latter's bank heist, before being told to make sure that their men were armed and their guns were loaded. Penguin then agreed that he'd do that, for as long as the truce was in effect.

Sometime later, after a meet at the docks that ended in failure, Penguin discovered the sole surviving member of his group at the meet with a broken arm and noted that he seemed like he had a round with Solomon Grundy. Although thinking that the man had betrayed them, the man then explained that someone got the drop on all of them, with Penguin deducing that it could only have been the Arkham Knight, which the man confirmed. Penguin then proceeded to break the other arm, in response to the phrase: "don't shoot the messenger."

Arkham Knight Incident
"Keep handing out guns to any idiot that shows up with a fist full of money."

- Penguin's orders to his men Nine months after the events of Arkham City, Penguin, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and all of Batman's other foes joined together to destroy the Dark Knight while under the command of Scarecrow. He sent Harley to Blüdhaven to rescue Poison Ivy, who was wanted by Scarecrow as part of his plans. Penguin remained in radio contact with Harley the entire time, and usually insulted her (mostly about her intelligence) or the Joker. Just as all the other villains had a specific role to carry out, Penguin's role was specifically to provide weapons and arms to the militia forces and the other villain crews, including Two-Face's, despite their mutual hostility toward each other. However, the Arkham Knight had ensured that there would be a truce between them by interrupting a planned double-cross to kill Two-Face's men during an arms deal and leaving only one survivor to tell his boss of the incident.

Penguin was smuggling guns from Gotham City to Blüdhaven, the home of Nightwing. Batman tracked Cobblepot down and interrogated him on the location of Barbara Gordon and the Arkham Knight. Oswald revealed that they were meeting with businessman, Simon Stagg. Penguin's men soon subdued Batman which allowed Peguin to escape. However, that came at the cost of the weapons cache being blown up by the Dark Knight, who had been saved by Nightwing. Penguin later got a call from another of his trucks, told them to lose Batman, and threatened to inflict bodily harm if Batman managed to find the cache. He also reminded them when they claimed that they couldn't see Batman that didn't mean he couldn't see them. Ultimately, they failed to prevent Batman from detonating the cache at Sionis Industries. Penguin later received a call from his third truck. Already irate at having lost two caches, he then angrily called them "sodding useless" and, after sarcastically accepting their apology, then proceeded to threaten to castrate them if Batman got to the third cache. He then blocked their calls, and was apparently being too irate with having to learn that Batman was pursuing them.

Penguin soon captured Nightwing who had snuck into his last weapon hideout at the AmerTek Building at Otisburg on Founders' Island alone, and then proceeded to make a video feed to Batman at the Water Filtration Plant revealing that, stated that he decided to "do a little taking of his own" in response to Batman's destruction of his various caches that night with the implied threat that he was going to kill Nightwing as revenge, and also hit Nightwing and called him a "cocky little bastard" after the latter told Batman that he found Penguin and that he's right where they wanted him. Batman soon came to his rescue and the two defeated Penguin's men, only for Penguin to hold Nightwing hostage at gunpoint just after Batman proceeded to rig the final cache to explode. Unfortunately for him, Nightwing escaped his grip and and he and Batman subdued Cobblepot before they blew up his weapon cache in front of him and knocked him out as Penguin angrily threatened to kill him.

"Aww.... You look tired. Taking me down took a lot out of you, I can tell. There's only so much the human body can take before it fails. Seeing you in here keeps me going."

- Penguin's attempt to taunt Batman backfires

Batman then imprisoned him in the GCPD holding cell. If Two-Face was imprisoned beforehand, Penguin said he should have told Scarecrow that it was a bad idea to involve him, only to be vaguely threatened by the latter. Penguin decided to talk business with Deathstroke, who informed him that if he lost a bit of weight, he could be a good combatant. He also made fun of Riddler, Deacon Blackfire, and Azrael. He was annoyed by Pyg's lack of concept about personal space, immediately telling him to back off.

Penguin also was alluded to in a hallucination of Joker's of the near future where Joker was forgotten, where it was revealed Penguin in one year's time would have usurped Joker's position of being the most well-known archenemy of Batman and even had a museum exhibit that was dedicated to him.

GCPD Lockdown Incident
""What's going on down there? Why am I stuck in a lift with no lights?" "We cut the power, boss, like you said." "AFTER, you morons! Cut the power AFTER I get out!""

- Penguin yells at his blundering thugs Sometime after the Knightfall Protocol and the presumed death of Batman, Penguin's thugs stormed the GCPD Prisoner Lockup so that they could release him from police custody. That gained the attention of Nightwing (who had himself learned of the breakout when foiling several members of Penguin's gang's attempts at retrieving a stash of Penguin's illicit funds that Penguin had attempted to direct them toward earlier) who traveled from Blüdhaven to make sure that the Penguin didn't escape.

After the thugs secured his release, the Penguin entered the elevator and instructed them to cut the power after he got out. They did so too early and that trapped the Penguin inside the elevator. That also turned off the lights, which forced him to stand in the dark as his thugs worked to help him escape. When he attempted to hail the thugs, Nightwing, while posing as one of the thugs, proceeded to act like they can't do anything before mockingly revealing that "[the thugs] got [their] asses kicked." Penguin then recognized Nightwing with some disgust. While he was in the elevator, Penguin started to panic as the dark "Brings back bad memories". Nightwing turned the power back on (which also restored the lights in the elevator) after he dispatched Penguin's armed thugs and Penguin began to taunt Nightwing as his thugs arrived in a chopper in bust him out. Nightwing taunted Penguin back by telling Lucius to cut the lights to the elevator much to Penguin's anger and stress.

After dispatching the thugs on the roof, Nightwing mimicked the voice of Penguin's thugs and told him that they had captured Nightwing. Excited to see him, and overwhelmed, Penguin got out of the elevator lighting a cigar, but looked up to see Nightwing perfectly fine and his thugs knocked out and he told Nightwing to "sod off" in defeat and got put back in the elevator. Penguin arrived back at the Lockup and Aaron Cash told Penguin it hadn't been the same without him as he took him back to his cell and he told Cash to "get stuffed" before being put back in jail and foiling his attempt to escape.

Personality
Penguin was known for his extravagance and brutality, and his brilliant and unorthodox mind naturally lead him to positions of power and respect. He demanded things done his way, and had an intense love of money. In his own words, he 'takes only the best' -- that went for weapons, equipment, assassins, and the like. That said, he felt the need to overcompensate for his shortcomings and comical stature through material wealth and violent outbursts. Penguin also takes pride in his aristocratic status and the influence and power on his family name in Gotham, speaking about it as if it were still happening despite the Cobblepots having lost most if not all of their influence. This also shows why he enjoys the very best; having lived a life of privilege, luxury and entitlement, it was simply a thing he got used to in his childhood and seeks to regain the power and wealth he lost through his crime empire. Though this makes his personality slightly sophisticated it does not hide who he is; a person who enjoys the suffering of others. His hedonistic desire for self-pleasure was displayed by how throughout the series he makes sexual advances on female characters, such as both of his female assistants Candy and Tracey Buxton, and an imprisoned League of Assassins Ninja in his display case. Aside from his sexual hedonism, he was also a glutton, as evidenced by his meeting with the Suicide Squad where he was "finishing up" a huge plate of seafood. On a similar note, it's implied he eats an extremely unhealthy diet due to preferring to consume raw, unprepared fish and octopi.

The one thing Penguin craves above all else was the subjugation of everyone and power over everything, something which he could only achieve through fear and total control as to overcompensate his insecurities regarding his stature. This can be attributed due to his megalomania and Napoleon Complex and, being helpless for most of his life towards his father's abuse has caused his one and only desire to dominate over others, forcing them to be helpless so he can feel powerful. This can cause him to act extremely aggressive, over dominative and ruthless towards everyone which leads him to flippantly shout out or even kill his own men over betrayal or irritations. He controlled his empire and men with fear, either intimidating them with an exaggerated cockney accent or brutal torture. His overly ruthless ways were such that at least one thug even called Penguin an "animal" when discussing Penguin and Joker's attempts at running Gotham, the implication being that he's even more brutal than the Clown Prince of Crime. Owing to this, he also tended to be very unforgiving regarding any failures as noted by his tendency to kill his own men for failure.

Though he appears menacing and powerful, when faced with a truly powerful opponent, such as Catwoman or Batman, Penguin reveals that which he is; a groveling coward. Despite this he has at times been defiant. A notable example is right when his final weapons cache had been destroyed, although he was being pinned down by Batman he managed to find the courage to angrily threaten to kill him and even provoked Batman to kill Penguin himself, or he would kill the Dark Knight, though it's unknown if he was serious regarding this. It should be noted however, that he reverted to his more cowardly mannerisms shortly thereafter, when Batman, while under the influence of the Joker infection, threatened to kill him out of irritation (though this only occurred if Batman still had traces of the Joker in him; otherwise, Penguin will remain defiant in large part due to his now knowing that Batman and Bruce Wayne were one and the same due to Scarecrow's news reveal and Batman being cured of the infection). Riddler when interacting with Penguin in jail even refers to the latter as among other things a bully, referring to his need to feel powerful yet a coward at heart. Similarly, he chose to confront Batman in person after the latter defeated Solomon Grundy, even though he could have easily fled. Although massively sadistic in his own right, he apparently has some limits, as he was noticeably disturbed at the carnage inflicted at Lacey Towers after the murder that occurred there, and in a recording for what was intended to be Joker's "exhibit", he admitted he didn't find the Joker's antics at all funny.

Although well-known for his brutal and merciless disposition, he is capable of either being merciful to an extent or otherwise grudgingly adhering to an alliance with enemies if it benefits him and his criminal empire in the long run. This is demonstrated during the Assault on Arkham incident, where despite wanting revenge on Harley Quinn for her role in the Joker destroying contraband-selling trucks for a laugh, he was talked out of killing her by Deadshot by reminding him that it would also be "bad for business" if he double-crossed his clients during that time, as well as the Arkham Knight incident, where he agreed to an uneasy alliance with Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and Scarecrow to take out Batman, both to get rid of the caped crusader, and also because the sales from the illegal gunrunning would ultimately benefit him and his group in the long run. This was also implied in one of his game over quotes in Arkham Origins where he admits he was too hasty to kill Batman due to realizing he was actually worth more alive than dead.

Living a troubled childhood has seemed to have an effect on him. Behind his intimidating demeanour, Penguin is actually terrified of the dark, as apparently he lived inside of a closet when he was a boy, and was extremely uneasy when while breaking out of GCPD, became trapped in an elevator which brought back "bad memories.' This fear of the dark was severe enough that when forced to endure an elevator with no lights late into the GCPD Lockdown incident, Penguin even considered being locked back up in GCPD a preferable alternative to being stuck in the dark. He is also shown to be very coarse, often using various curse words of British origin. He also is shown to be misogynistic and potentially homophobic (and also overall very offensive to various groups), as evidenced by his repeatedly referring to Catwoman and Harley Quinn by various terms as 'bitch' and 'harlot,' and also refers to his own forces as 'ponces' and also referred to Nightwing derogatorily as a 'fairy' twice, he also refers to the Arkham Lunatics as 'dribbling monkeys' in a discussion with Hugo Strange relating to his using them as target practice.

Penguin was also demonstrated to have a somewhat sarcastic demeanor, especially during the time of Scarecrow's attack. His sarcasm had been demonstrated twice: The first time was around the time where Batman is pursuing the third North Refrigeration truck and coaxing them into going to the third weapons cache, where Penguin when being called and apologized to by his minions as they're trying to flee Batman, he proceeded to "forgive" them just for saying sorry. The second time was while escaping from the GCPD, as, when his thugs are inquiring about his status inside the blacked out elevator, Penguin claimed that he was "having the time of his life" being trapped in the elevator. Both times, the thugs asked him if he meant it with a puzzled tone, only for him to scream what he actually meant (that he lost two weapons caches already, and threatening to castrate them if it goes up to three; and declaring that being locked in the elevator brings back very bad memories, respectively).

Arkham Origins
In Arkham Origins, Penguin was younger and had a thinning head of receding black hair. Like all versions of the character, he was short in stature and hefty in weight. He wore a custom brown coat with a collar that was lined with white fur over a silk button up shirt, along with black gloves, pants and shoes. He smoked a cigar and carried an umbrella, the latter of which was implied to come from a collection of such.

Arkham City
In Arkham City, Penguin was older. His hairline had receded significantly since Origins. On his eye was what at first glance appeared to be a monocle, but was later revealed to be the bottom half of a broken glass bottle that had been shoved into his eye during a bar fight at the Iceberg Lounge. As the result of either heavy smoking or an unspecified injury, Penguin also had a speaker in his throat. He wore a dark fur-lined black jacket over a button up shirt with a white cravat around his neck. After his fight against Bruce Wayne, his left hand was broken. It was shown in a cast for the remainder of the game.

Arkham Knight
Penguin's appearance in Arkham Knight had changed significantly. In comparison to his appearance in Origins and City, Penguin appeared to be rather sickly as his skin was pale, though he still had the 'monocle' and voice-box from City. At this point, Penguin no longer had any hair, having become bald at some point. Penguin's wardrobe was also less elegant, as it consisted of a pair of black overalls and a white shirt with a black tie. Penguin's hands were also wrapped.

Equipment

 * Penguin's Umbrella (Arkham Origins, Arkham City)
 * Grenade Launcher (Arkham City)
 * Mr. Freeze's Cryo Gun (Arkham City)
 * Pistol (Arkham Knight)

Penguin
Real Name: Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot

GCPD Profile
Initially affiliated with various street gangs and suspected of opportunistic fencing, Oswald Cobblepot is now believed to be the mastermind of an underground arms trade business. Additional alleged illegal businesses include a city-wide gambling ring, international arms smuggling, racketeering, and murder. Recent rumors also have him running an underground, unlicensed fighting ring. Several warrants exist for Cobblepot’s arrest, but he has never been served, due to a highly secretive off-the-grid lifestyle. Cobblepot’s name is not on the lease for any of his businesses, he owns no property, and pays no bills in his own name.

Of note: The only transaction Cobblepot has been officially associated with was the purchase of the Final Offer, an aging Somaliland-registered freighter believed to operate in U.S. waters.

Dr. Penelope Young
SHOULD NEVER BE GIVEN AN UMBRELLA!

Psychological Profile: Pushed into schizotypal behavior by an inferiority complex. Cobblepot's specific eccentricities revolve around an obsession with ornithology and intense ideation based around umbrellas. Even within the confines of the asylum, he has managed to create working umbrellas with "trick" features. Maltreatment by other inmates and probings into possible sources for his insecurities always trigger intense overcompensation on his part, in the form of rantings about his business acumen and misunderstood intelligence.

Additional Notes

His off-putting, antisocial behavior is frequently at odds with his need to be valued and admired.

He is compulsive about his sartorial appearance, which conflicts with his avoidance and denial of his physical shortcomings.

Dr. Hugo Strange
Oswald Cobblepot A.K.A Penguin

Attributes

 * Criminal and financial mastermind
 * Driven by a need to prove himself in spite of his comical appearance
 * Employs various weapons, many based on umbrellas and birds
 * Possesses an enormous amount of power and influence over the Gotham Underworld, granting him access to impressive amounts of technology and thugs that rivals even that of the Joker.

Quotes

 * Penguin/Quotes 

Batman: Arkham Origins

 * "And THAT'S why I'm the boss. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got business to attend to. Piss off!" (Batman)
 * "Boys, get 'im outta here, and don't ding up any of the gear. That's worth some money!" (Batman)
 * "Awww, it's a real shame you're dead. You're actually worth more alive." *laughs** (Batman)
 * "Worlds Greatest Assassin? YOU? Bollocks!" (Deathstroke)
 * "Someone rip off his mask for my collection, at least its not spandex." (Deathstroke)
 * "Break out the Champagne, boys! I think it's goin' to be a very, very good year." *laughs** (Bruce Wayne or Batman)
 * "What's a'matter, Brucey boy? D'ja choke on a pate? " *laughs** (Bruce Wayne)
 * "And THAT'S how you ring in the New Year!" *laughs** (Bruce Wayne or Batman)

Batman: Arkham City

 * "And there was me thinking it was going to be difficult. Get him out of here!"
 * "Anyone want a slightly used Batsuit? I'm sure the blood'll wash off."
 * "Someone cut the mask off his face. No need to be gentle."
 * "Having a little lie-down, are you? Enjoy it. It's your last."

Batman: Arkham Knight

 * "Well, would you look at that? A new stuffed head for my cigar room. Someone get me a hacksaw."
 * "Aw, don't be sad so Batman, Gotham's in good hands now. I'll take real good care of it."
 * "Take comfort from the fact I never got a hold of ya, would've been real messy."
 * "Come in here, thinking you can take me. You were way outta your depth boy and just paid the price." (to Nightwing, during dual-play combat.)
 * "You and Batman were friends right?! Now I hate your guts, but that's harsh." (to Nightwing, if executed.)
 * "(Laughter) I told Scarecrow sending you was a bad idea. I guess I'm gonna have to send one of my own men to finish the job. (Laughter)." (Harley Quinn)
 * "Should've known better, you never send a harlot to a man's job! (Laughter)" (Harley Quinn)
 * "Look at you, just as useless as The Joker. My only regret is I didn't kill him myself." (Harley Quinn)
 * "Not so cocky now, are ya?" (Laughter)
 * "(Laughter) You had it coming, pretty boy. Give Batman my regards."

Behind the Scenes
In the Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map, it was Penguin's birthday with signs that said "Congratulations" and "Happy Birthday" in the lounge and Killer Croc was the only one who was invited or attended -- or, at the very least -- the only one who stayed around for Penguin's birthday when Batman showed up. In Arkham Asylum, there was a poster on the wall that advertised the Iceberg Lounge, that stated the date of the event as July 13th.

Trivia

 * Penguin wore a top hat in his promotional art for Arkham City and yet was never seen wearing one in the final game. In fact, Penguin was never seen wearing a top hat or a suit in any of the Arkham games (with the exception being his biography in Arkham Asylum). However, a render for Penguin in Arkham City did have him wearing his top hat.
 * While the Penguin did not appear in Batman: Arkham Asylum, his top hat and a collection of his trademark umbrellas could be seen behind the glass display case at the South Corridor in the Arkham Mansion. An advertisement for his club, the Iceberg Lounge, could also be seen in the Transfer Loop at the Intensive Treatment Center in William North's Office. His name also appeared on Joker's "Party List."
 * Coincidentally, the riddle involving the poster for The Iceberg Lounge contains the word North on it, even before a sequel (in which Penguin would be voiced by Nolan North) was confirmed.
 * Curiously, despite it being noted Penguin prefers to be referred to by his actual name, he is not unfond of referring to the Penguin name indirectly, even once stating while fighting Batman in Arkham City it would be a fight between "the bat and the bird". Given his love of Penguin themed items, it may be that he only prefers to refer to himself as being the Penguin on terms he considers flattering to himself.
 * Despite being born in Gotham, Penguin spoke with a lower-class English accent, possibly due to his time in a London boarding school, as stated in his bio. It is also possible that he preferred to speak with this accent, to distance himself from the person that he used to be, which a hallucination of Joker also speculated was the case.
 * Similar to Batman, Penguin didn't have an heir, although he did intend to groom Tracey Buxton to be his heir during the events of Arkham Origins.
 * In the Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map, Penguin could be seen instructing his thugs to attack the player, while on the other side of the room, Killer Croc was watching the fighting while smoking a cigar and drinking.
 * Strangely in Lacey Towers while scanning his fingerprints, it said that he was 4'6", whether this was intentional or an oversight, remained unknown. In Arkham Asylum, he was listed as 5'2" in his biography.
 * The Penguin has an electrolarynx in his throat, implying that he had suffered damage to his vocal chords, either by his constant smoking of cigars, or possibly at the hands of Batman. He presumably got the electrolarynx some time after Assault on Arkham, as it was missing from his throat in the film despite his design otherwise matching with his Arkham City depiction.
 * He isn't voiced by Nolan North in the game Arkham VR, which has lead some players to believe that Penguin's British accent is indeed fake. However, the game is implied to be a dream (and dreams don't always reflect the real world), so it remains unknown if this is actually true.
 * This version of the Penguin appeared in Injustice: Gods Among us in the Arkham Asylum stage and would attack the player if they entered that area along with Two-Face, Riddler and Killer Croc who proceeded to beat the player into the next area.
 * In Arkham Origins, the bottle that would be smashed into his left eye socket was missing, which showed that the incident had occurred between Arkham Origins and Arkham Asylum.
 * The Penguin was 51 years old at the time of Arkham Origins, his age being shown on his mugshot.
 * Penguin had watched Batman in a fighting arena three times. In Arkham Origins, he watched Batman fight Deathstroke in the Boiler Deck Fighting Pit on his cargo ship, the Final Offer. In Arkham Origins Blackgate, he watched Batman fight Bronze Tiger in his fighting arena at Blackgate Prison. In Arkham City, he watched Batman fight the inmates in the Gladiator Pit in the Museum.
 * Despite the fact that Assault on Arkham had taken place before Arkham City, Penguin's left hand was bandaged up just like it was when it was broken by Bruce Wayne at the beginning of Arkham City. It was either a fashion idea, or he had simply injured it. If the latter, it wasn't to the extent of broken bones, as evidenced by his wielding his gun umbrella with no apparent problems during his standoff with Harley Quinn.
 * Based on Penguin's exchange with Nightwing in the climax of the Gunrunner Most Wanted mission in Arkham Knight, Penguin was unaware of the existence of the Flying Graysons.
 * In GCPD Lockdown, it was revealed that Penguin was afraid of the dark, as "It brings back bad memories". This phobia was presumably caused by Batman or, as one henchman suggested, his abusive childhood. This was mentioned twice, once by himself, and once by Nightwing, who then asked Lucius to remotely turn off the lights from the elevator that Penguin was trapped in.
 * Penguin might also be claustrophobic, a possibility that was mentioned briefly by his henchmen. That was strange because Penguin didn't seem to show any signs of claustrophobia when he was locked in a display case in Arkham City. However, it is possible that Penguin developed claustrophobia after Arkham City as a result of being locked in the display case surrounded by his enemies.
 * His claustrophobia combined with his fear of darkness caused Penguin to panic frequently, hyperventilate, and even clamed that he would quietly turn himself in or go back to his cell if Nightwing could get him out of the elevator that he was trapped in.
 * According to Penguin's Evidence Room recording, he was Aaron Cash's favorite criminal, largely due to his being one of the few constants in Gotham City.
 * Oddly, Penguin had a display case for Zsasz in his museum; this is strange, because one would think Penguin would actively avoid coming remotely close to Zsasz, due to cheating him out of his money and leading him to become the nihlist serial killer that Zsasz is. Of course, it's possible he might consider his creation an accomplishment, and wishes to capture him because of this.
 * The Penguin, despite his stature, can wield a sniper rifle. This is shown in the comics.
 * If it were not for Joker stealing Black Mask's position as top crime lord of Gotham and having no interest or joy in organized crime, Penguin may not have become the powerful player in the underworld that he was by the later years of the Arkham series.
 * If Joker was indeed created accidentally by Batman at Penguin_close_up_AC.jpg Ace Chemicals, that would mean that both Black Mask's downfall and Penguin's status would have been (very) indirectly be caused by Batman himself.
 * The cigar that Oswald smokes has the Arkham logo printed on it.
 * During the first encounter with Penguin in Arkham City, Wayne can deal with him in several ways.
 * If Wayne manages to turn around and attack Penguin just as gameplay starts, Wayne can knock him out before he even reaches the gate. Consequentially, this also removes his dialogue of him relaying orders to his henchmen to hurt Bruce in retaliation for breaking "[Penguin's] bloody hand" as well as angrily demanding for people to open the gate while asking if they know who he was.
 * If Wayne chooses to defeat Penguin last, Penguin will either slump down or be sent flying upward before falling back down to the ground, depending on whether Wayne beat him with a slide or an uppercut.
 * If Wayne decides to leave Penguin be after dealing with his opponents, Penguin can be heard yelling "I've always known you were a coward, Wayne!"
 * Penguin's feasting on a huge plate of raw fish and octopi, as seen in Assault on Arkham, is a reference to Danny Devito's portrayal of Penguin from the film Batman Returns. To a lesser extent, his more vulgar characterization in the Arkham series was also based on Devito's portrayal.