Penguin (comics)

The Penguin, real name Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger introduced the character in Detective Comics #58 (December 1941). The Penguin is one of Batman's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery.

The Penguin is depicted as being short and portly, and he is known for his love of birds and his specialized high-tech umbrellas. A mobster and thief, he fancies himself as being a "gentleman of crime;" his nightclub business provides a cover for criminal activity, which Batman sometimes uses as a source of criminal underworld information. According to Kane, the character was inspired from the then advertising mascot of Kool cigarettes – a penguin with a top hat and cane. Finger thought the image of high-society gentlemen in tuxedos was reminiscent of emperor penguins.