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Oswald Cobblepot: Sharp dressed gangster with a bird fetish

Kromm

By Kromm
in Gotham

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Kromm

Kromm

gotham_penguin.jpg?w=527&h=857

Played by Robin Lord Taylor, with a variety of supporting roles and guest shots--most notably on The Walking Dead.  

Certainly looks the part of someone who everyone is going to eventually called "The Penguin".  His role on this show is described by Entertainment Weekly as:

 

a young man with “the brains of a chess grandmaster and the morals of a jackal, Oswald Cobblepot is a low-level psychopath who hides his sadistic lust for power behind an exquisitely polite demeanor.” Cobblepot works for gangster Fish Mooney, who is played by Jada Pinkett Smith.

So he's basically the main Lieutenant of a gangster.  Certainly a character who makes sense in a pre-Batman story,

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Actionmage

Actionmage

If they go the Gentleman Killer route for Oswald, while working for Fish Mooney, I could sort of love him. The Cobblepots were supposed to have been old money, right? If Mr. Taylor has an English accent, it could be extra fun.  Maybe Oswald and Alfred, as ex-pats, cross paths in a pub the wrong way and that is why Penguin seemed to pick on Alfred an awful lot in the 60s series! *g*

 

Still, a mannerly mobster could be interesting.

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darkestboy

darkestboy

I think he's going to be amazing as Oswald actually. In the trailer alone, he seemed to have the right characteristics for the character and the actor comes across brilliantly in the interviews he's done so far.

 

He's definitely going to be one of my favourites with this show.

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Kromm

Kromm

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And it appears that Oswald has a mother!

Wow.  If they have to cast a mother (and actually I think the comics had one for him, in flashbacks) then that's the perfect person.

As long as she doesn't take it TOO over the top (she's got a... tendency).  A little will be okay, but it can't be "camp".  But the look is right if you put her next to Robin Lord Taylor.

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Kromm

Kromm

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Okay, we're seeing his mother. That's interesting.

 

I still think he's going to wind up as my favourite in this show. Probably with Selina at second.

Well it the comics he's a massive mama's boy.  It's part of his origin story.

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The Crazed Spruce

The Crazed Spruce

Well in the comics he's a massive mama's boy.  It's part of his origin story.

Yeah, she's even where

his obsession with umbrellas

comes from. Y'see, in the comics,

his father died of pneumonia, and his mother was convinced that he caught it because he was stuck in a sudden rainstorm without an umbrella, so she insisted that young Oswald carry one wherever he goes

.

Don't know if that's the direction the show's gonna take it, though.

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Kromm

Kromm

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Yeah, she's even where

his obsession with umbrellas

comes from. Y'see, in the comics,

his father died of pneumonia, and his mother was convinced that he caught it because he was stuck in a sudden rainstorm without an umbrella, so she insisted that young Oswald carry one wherever he goes

.

Don't know if that's the direction the show's gonna take it, though.

Not just that.  

His obsession with birds came from his mother too, I believe.

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Actionmage

Actionmage

(edited)

from the picture's text:

"Doesn’t she look a bit like Downton Abbey‘s Dowager Countess gone batty?"  No, my first thought is Miss Havisham, the woman who refuses to move on. The Dowager would never wear faded gowns!

Edited by Actionmage
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darkestboy

darkestboy

Oswald was pretty awesome in the first episode. I'd go as far as to say he was the highlight of the episode.

 

Every scene with him was gold but the one where he was rubbing Fish's feet before she realised he snitched on her was priceless.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

I loved Penguin in this, but I have a question you may be able to answer. Wasn't the penguin of the comic books sort of a cool and calculating villain and sort of less of a blatant psycho?

Yes.  He's usually presented as a debonair dandy crime boss.  At the same time, he's generally not afraid of killing, so while this portrayal may be a bit extreme it's not a gross change to the character.

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darkestboy

darkestboy

I loved Penguin in this, but I have a question you may be able to answer. Wasn't the penguin of the comic books sort of a cool and calculating villain and sort of less of a blatant psycho?

I get where you're coming from but so far, the portrayal is slightly less extreme than Devito's was in Batman Returns.

 

Still though, this version seems to be a very beaten down one as well.

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Actionmage

Actionmage

this version seems to be a very beaten down one as well.

 

darkestboy, I think that's what clicks for me. He's currently like the Charlie Browniest of the criminals, even Butch Gilzean seems better off and has Fish's ear. Oswald, trying to do as those around him do, unfortunately made a mistake. He is paying for that, but, by the Ceiling o' Crazy, this time will sharpen his focus. He will also, apparently, hone his criminal skill set.

 

That, and weirdly enough, I want to give the guy a hug. I...am not even sure why. Probably his current status. Once he starts getting spooky? Who knows.

 

I sort of want Oswald's mom to meet Fish. It could be delightful!

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darkestboy

darkestboy

In two episodes, he's helped beat up one guy, gashed another guy's throat for a sandwich, then a frat boy with a beer bottle and then kept the other frat boy hostage and unsuccessful couldn't extort money from the guy's parents. I also noticed that he was wearing both of the frat guys clothing in the second half of the episode.

 

Loved his mother. She seriously needs to come back. We need scenes with those two very soon.

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MisterGlass

MisterGlass

I always enjoy Carol Kane.  Seeing her and Robin Lord Taylor together would be great fun.  However, I'm not sure she would survive the encounter, as unbalanced as Oswald is becoming.

 

I think he feels more sympathetic because he so desperately wants to be taken seriously, and rarely is.  He plays up his innocence and naivete in front of his superiors, but when his relative equals disrespect him it infuriates him.  When those frat boys slowed as they were driving past, and pretended twice that they were about to drive off, it was easy to imagine that it was the kind of antagonism Oswald's always gotten.  He wants to be suave and sophisticated, and while the language he uses is there, his reactions and appearance aren't yet.

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Jediknight

Jediknight

The Joker has always been extremely popular, but after The Dark Knight his popularity skyrocketed.  I think we could see the same thing with Penguin, obviously not on Joker's level.  Oswald's been the "breakout character" of the show (as much as one can be on a show that traces it's beginnings back 75 years), he's been the one that people look forward to the most, granted it's only been 2 episodes.  Thanks to this show I can see an increase in Penguin merchandise, and with his popularity getting an even bigger role on the show, and in the comics.

 

That being said, he's my number 1 choice as to who ordered the hit on the Waynes.  I say he did it because he wants to start a war.  He wants Fish, Falcone, and every other crime syndicate in Gotham to fight, while he bides his time, kills Fish, and ultimately takes over as Gotham's new crime lord.  He fed the information to MCU about Poison Ivy's dad being set up, he told Falcone what Fish had said, and when Gordon was going to kill him, he told Gordon that a war was coming, and that he could help Gordon.  Every move he's made has been to get himself in power, and it all started with ordering the hit on the Waynes, because he knew that would kickstart a war.

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MDKNIGHT

MDKNIGHT

Could he have been the man with the shiny shoes?  i.e. could he have done the hit himself? 

Remind me did fish copy the pearl necklace or was that the real one?  If it was the real one then she either called the hit or knows who did but I think they said she made a copy to frame poison ivy's dad.  That means you might be right and Oswald did the dead himself to cause a mob war so he could advance.

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Jediknight

Jediknight

One problem I have with that theory is that Oswald is too low-level to be able to order a hit on anyone, especially the Waynes.

 

Yeah he's low level, but he uses everything he has as Fish's trusted servant to make it seem like he's higher up, he possibly makes it seem like Fish ordered the hit.  He also did tell Gordon that he was clever.  He's played Falcone and Fish against each other, and tried to get in Gordon's good graces.  He's more cunning and smarter than the show's leading on.  He acts weak and pathetic to keep everyone's guard down.

Could he have been the man with the shiny shoes?  i.e. could he have done the hit himself? 

Remind me did fish copy the pearl necklace or was that the real one?  If it was the real one then she either called the hit or knows who did but I think they said she made a copy to frame poison ivy's dad.  That means you might be right and Oswald did the dead himself to cause a mob war so he could advance.

I don't think he pulled the trigger.  The necklace was a replica.  I got the impression that Fish doesn't know who really killed the Waynes, Falcone has admitted he doesn't know.

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darkestboy

darkestboy

The theory is interesting but I don't think it has anything to do with Oswald. Sure, he'll use the Waynes murder to his own advantage (like he tried to in the pilot by telling Renee and Crispus that Mario was a patsy), but actually being responsible for Thomas and Martha's murders, not likely.

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SoSueMe

SoSueMe

I love that he brings a certain pathos to the role, being crippled and bullied and ridiculed. I don't know if that was always part of the character, the whole Batman thing is pretty new to me. 

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Trini

Trini

I like the actor, and kinda the character, but him literally murdering people left and right is already old. If that's how he's moving up the ranks, who's going to be alive to work for him later?

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darkestboy

darkestboy

He's killed several people in four episodes. That is  .... a lot.

 

He might wanna slow it down a bit but I did like him a lot this episode. He's getting smarter but he could still do something to piss off Maroni like he did with Fish and Falcone.

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DigitalCount

DigitalCount

He almost did piss off Maroni. I like that he's making mistakes even as he's honing his skills, they avoid making him a super-villain right away (especially since they had him use the tensions surrounding Arkham to successfully steal from the mob).

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Actionmage

Actionmage

On-Screen kills:
*Pilot, 1--a fisherman, left for dead by river.
*Ep. 2,1--a smug college/rich guy; presumed dead from blood loss. 
*Ep. 3,2--Guy who was going to turn Oswald in to Fish and dishwasher guy with the Crocs.
*Ep.4,6 or 7--the restaurant manager and the guys in the money room (2 or 3 there) and his three stick-up men.

Total: 10/11
 
While there is worry over the number of bodies Oswald is leaving in his wake, it really could be much worse. He currently seems to kill for survival or to get back into the mobs. The SUV asses did not deserve death for being asses, but then we only know for certain one was. I'm waiting on the Scamp to show up in some way. The fisherman was an innocent victim. The dishwasher, though, could have told his manager/Maroni about some weirdo that rolled him for his Crocs and then Oswald would've been found out  or unable to implement his plan. While an innocent victim, Oswald probably justifies it as survival. (Or that the guy may have had eyes on moving up the ladder like he was, as opposed to just trying to earn a check.)
 
Now the restaurant hit, if there were civilian victims, I will add them to the list and to the innocent victim side. That's on Oswald because he chose indiscriminate thugs as opposed to professionals. (The promise of a big payday, care of Moroni , was probably for thugs, though. Pros may not have eaten dessert from the twitchy(?) boss with the unnerving smile.)

 

Not saying I'm okay with murder and Oswald's killings. It just seems that folks are adding to his killings. Yes, one is too many, but we are talking about a criminal and future super-villain. He's not going to tickle victims. 

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John Potts

John Potts

Here's a wild & wacky thought - what if Oswald isn't the proto-Penguin, he's the proto-Joker? I realise Oswald Cobblepot is the name given to the Penguin, but his characterisation seems wildly off from how Penguin is normally portrayed (in terms of Batman's rogues gallery, he's the one I'd be most hopeful of survival if I fell into the claws - well, flippers - of). I know he's not Penguin we know and.... well, know as Batman's foe yet, but he seems too much of a psychopath to develop into any sort of semi-legitimate businessman like the Penguin, but it'd be exactly what you'd expect for the Joker (who, famously, has no set backstory "If I have to have a history, I'm gonna make it multiple choice!" as he put it).

 

I'm pretty sure they won't go that way, but it's a thought!

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GreyBunny

GreyBunny

I love this guy.  The show teases the audience to figure out who is going to be the Joker but I couldn't care less.  Cobblepot is the guy who makes the show for me.  He's clever, funny, ruthless and dangerous.  So much fun to watch.   

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Trini

Trini

http://youtu.be/gnmAoVPdnLg

 

---------------

 

Here's a wild & wacky thought - what if Oswald isn't the proto-Penguin, he's the proto-Joker? I realise Oswald Cobblepot is the name given to the Penguin, but his characterisation seems wildly off from how Penguin is normally portrayed (in terms of Batman's rogues gallery ....

I don't think he's the Joker, but I definitely agree with you that his characterization and actions resemble that character more than the Penguin.

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