(no subject)
Nov. 8th, 2011 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Jill
AGE: 25!
JOURNAL:
ironjill
IM: ComeHereHand
E-MAIL: SephyGirl [@] gmail [.] com
RETURNING: ffffffffffffffffffffffive
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. The Penguin
FANDOM: DC Comics!
CHRONOLOGY: Just after Gotham Underground
CLASS: VILLAIN. Kind of. Less so now
SUPERHERO NAME: The Penguin
ALTER EGO: Oswald Cobblepot. A legitimate businessman!
BACKGROUND:
The world Oswald comes from is rife with heroes and villains, as well as the cliched comedy and tragedy. Gotham, in particular is where Ozzie’s story both starts, and will likely end. His family, the Cobblepots, were one of the founding families of Gotham. That being said, Oswald is most certainly the black sheep, if not just in appearance, than also in lifestyle. Oswald’s life was rife with bullying as a child. Mocked already for his short stature, odd gait, and peculiar nose, when his father was caught in a flash rainstorm and died of pneumonia, things could only get worse. His mother was convinced that he had to have a umbrella at all times, just in case. It is also punctuated by his love of birds, which of course is enough to be mocked about. These days is where the nickname turned moniker, The Penguin, came from.
Later in life, Oswald began his life of crime. He, of course used the nickname of his childhood to begin a series of thefts all punctuated by trick umbrellas and penguin-themed paraphernalia. It was a revolving door between Oswald and Blackgate prison, and continued for a short period of time, and none of these remain of particular note, as the reality of Earth-One was destroyed and merged into Earth-Two. This is where the Penguin began to grow and become both the villain and businessman he is today. As he was often in and out of Blackgate prison, the Penguin found himself, surprisingly, with a deal. Offered to join the Suicide Squad for a time, Penguin traipses off to Russia with the other members of the Squad, and finds himself inspired to use the removal of his criminal record to attempt to work from the shadows, instead of taking on the Caped Crusader head on.
However, during this period, he still danced the line between neutral and evil. The Penguin in this period was much more a mob boss than a businessman with underground connections. The Penguin fakes his death in an attempt to make a clean getaway with both blow and diamonds, failing to get either, but also managed to stay out of jail. Another important act was when he recruited Harold Allnut, a man deformed and mute, and Oswald supposedly befriended him. He used Harold’s genius to create a way to control birds, using them to attack batman, and even attempts to sell the method on the black market in an attempt for quicker cash. Unfortunately, Penguin made a misstep in this, as Harold overheard him speaking about how he was secretly disgusted by him, and he was in the end betrayed by the man he’d “befriended”. The Penguin was left to return to Blackgate. Again.
Penguin, of course, gets out of Blackgate again after some time, likely parole, as he begins another attempt at a reformed lifestyle. However this time, he decides to blackmail a childhood rival, and pays off a woman he’d paid to attend a dance with as a much younger Oswald. He convinces Bruce Wayne to let him stay at Wayne Manor, and trashes the place while he lives the high life. Of course, his attempt to blackmail and take the money of a childhood enemy is discovered, and his one-time-date betrays him, and he loses everything once again.
After this point, Oswald actually does go legit. He founds the Iceberg Lounge, and begins amassing money and power as he looks over Gotham from the penthouse he owns above the nightclub. In the Lounge, the old and new money mingle, and there’s plenty of underground connections within, but the Penguin becomes smarter, and starts trading in goods and information. Penguin becomes quite wealthy, but he still craves the ‘old days’, and goes through a series of heists, each one more ludicrous and culminates with a statue of Horus, and Batman catches him, but the Penguin manages to outwit him, pointing out that he can’t testify in court, and he’s left back in the lounge, but without his loot. At least he got the thrill out of it.
This is when he forms the strong bonds that set up for one of the more important periods of his life, when Gotham is victim to a terrible Earthquake, and the city itself is declared No Man’s Land. With the citizens of Gotham trapped inside, Oswald becomes the crafty head of an entire district, and the only one who can give you what you want, for the right price. Rumors abound during this period that he has a connection to the outside, and we learn later that he actually does. Penguin deals in more than goods and services, but also information, and an Underground Railroad out of Gotham, but you have to be willing to pay. What the price does, of course, is buys you the Penguin’s loyalty for a time. During the period in No Man’s Land, the Penguin starts with a great deal of gang-territory, but he can’t always be very business-savy, and squeezed between Two-Face and the remnants of the Gotham Police Department, Oswald makes the wrong deal, and loses much of his territory. Desperate, he attempts to make a deal with Lex Luthor, which of course, leaves him at a disadvantage yet again. This time, of course, he strikes back, hiring Catwoman to take down a good portion of Lex’s property. By the time order is restored back to Gotham, Oswald didn’t end up on top, but he most certainly didn’t end up worse for the wear, and managed to squeak out with only enemies in his wake, instead of dead or back in prison. As he was generally the leader of the biggest black market, he’d taken valuables in exchange for rarities such as fresh fruit and necessities, and was still quite well-off in the end.
After the period during No Man’s Land, Oswald continues his business, and seems to even settle in, dealing in information for the right price, or to keep from being punched in the face by Batman. Go figure. However, one moment of note in this is that while Oswald was preening his feathers (hah), Wayne Industries bought out the Iceberg Lounge. Pressed from both Wayne and Batman, the Penguin cracked, and after losing a battle in court over it, yes his first act was to go about it legitimately, and when this didn’t fly, he ordered Bruce’s lawyer assassinated. Of course, since she was with Batman in disguise, that didn’t fly. Losing his nightclub and his livelihood, he scrambles by, managing to escape prison again, and only left with his other interests, and fantasies of killing Batman.
However, the Penguin isn’t going to lie down quite yet. He reforms his holdings, once again becoming the information and goods broker in Gotham, and that is when someone starts killing off Batman’s rogues gallery. First is someone who was unfortunate enough to be in Killer Moth’s outfit, and then comes the Penguin, each one marked with a coin like Two-Face’s, but with both sides marred. After a lengthy investigation, Batman discovers that not only did Oswald fake his death while working with the Gotham Police, but also that in the past, some of his greater foes had come up with a plan to kill him, but one of the integral pieces, Two-Face, had balked. When left with their key piece gone, they’d hired a method actor, Paul Sloan, and he’d taken to the role, and even thought he could be Two-Face. Of course, after being betrayed and tortured, he went after the rogues, but Penguin being totally legitimate is used as bait for Batman to lure both Sloan and Two-Face out of hiding. After this period, he returns to his regularly schedule smarmy, mob-boss-esque lifestyle.
Of course, when someone activated one of Batman’s backup plans, all the mob bosses in Gotham went to war, of course Penguin was in the middle, and even a suspect in bringing the volatile criminal gang-leaders together. He managed to scrape by alive, but not without being in the middle of a particularly nasty battle. However, after some time, with some of the larger crime families missing, Intergang, an organized crime group out of Metropolis attempts to move into Gotham. Never able to get a hold in a place filled with organized masked criminals before, with some of the larger groups missing, Tobias Whale began to move in. Penguin in particular was targeted due to both his history as a masked criminal, as well as a prolific criminal gang leader. He takes the fight to them, giving every two-bit criminal in Gotham costumes, but they don’t fare well until Batman and his own group of highly-trained associates get their feet in. Penguin, thinking he’s about to lose, decides to go out with class. However, Batman stops the Death Squad from murdering him, and they form an uneasy alliance to ensure that Intergang won’t make their way into Gotham.
PERSONALITY:
Oswald is one of the more unique rogues when it comes to Gotham. Although he spent some time in Arkham, he’s never really truly been insane, per se. While he has his own hangups and problems, for the most part, Oswald Cobblepot is perfectly in control of himself. That, of course, is what makes him particularly dangerous.
While physically small, round, and with a beaked nose, Oswald was never exactly popular amongst his peers. He came from a long line of the founding families of Gotham, but unlike his predecessors, Oswald’s demeanor kept him from ever becoming too successful, and he loathes it. Oswald craves one thing, and that’s to be respected. It doesn’t matter how much power he gets, or how much money he has, at the end of the day, at the core of him, is this little boy who was always laughed at. So he balks to this, and has amassed fortunes and lost them, had a custom suit fitted for him at Blackgate prison, and spent time in Arkham, because more than anything, Oswald Cobblepot wants to be respected. Or feared, really. He’s not particularly picky.
Beyond that, the Penguin has always prided himself on his devotion to class. He is the unflappable (hah) occasional leader of Gotham’s underground, and he always does it differently than most. He runs his cartels from deep inside the Iceberg Lounge, and more often than not, seems to have a way out.
Generally, Oswald isn’t the nicest of people. He’s selfish, and a coward. He desperately wants to be respected, but he isn’t really willing to get his hands really dirty to get it. He’s all about the delegation. If he’s threatened with physical harm, he normally capitulates, and will spill any information to save his own skin. In that, Oswald is most certainly a coward. As long as he has the upper hand, he’ll use every trick in the book to keep it, but once his grasp is lost, he keels over and gives up what’s asked. Mind, the Penguin doesn’t always give the best information, or he’ll withhold what he can. This is more true for anyone but Batman. Then again, who wants Batman to beat them up? While Oswald will wheel and deal to save his skin, he’s also notorious for using what little advantage he can get to stab others in the back if it’s convenient for him, or for profit.
While there are bad traits, there are some good ones. Oswald is quite intelligent, and fancies himself a gentleman for a reason. He’s charismatic, and there’s definitely a je ne sais quois to him, despite his appearance. He’s also quite the businessman, and his lack of scruples aid him more than harm him when it comes to his holdings. He seems to have a great sense for predicting what people will want and need, and doesn’t have any problems with letting them know that he is the avenue to get it.
POWER:
Immunity to the cold, and the ability to turn birds into umbrellas and back into birds
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
Voice
Hero, was it? I don’t think anyone’s been stupid enough to call me a hero before! [ A soft, chortling laugh ] And this is supposed to be some sort of advanced communicator, is it? Pretty little bit of technology, if I do say so myself. I’m no expert, mind, but I think this could go for a pretty bit if you pulled it apart.
[ There’s an ironic sort of mirth in his voice. ]
I suppose introductions are in order, birds of a feather need to know each other before we can stick together, and all that nonsense. Oswald Cobblepot, and you could say I’m something of a businessman. I’m sure I’ll have something any of you could need at one point, or another.
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
Oswald Cobblepot, they didn’t call him. In fact, more often than not, despite trying to slake off the title time and time again, he was still The Penguin. Oh, he knew he had never done much to fight the name, dressing in a tuxedo, the number of times he’d used birds in whatever scheme or another he’d attempted to make, but the fact of the matter was, he often felt like he’d become what he hated, if only just to get over the damn thing.
Not that he had, he reflected, swinging an umbrella on a finger, walking unfamiliar streets. Fresh starts were hard to come by, if he did say so himself. Of course, he was without goods, or information, or really much of anything to move. That didn’t mean he’d be without a nest for long. Places like this? It didn’t matter if there was a wholly good police force, there were always cops who needed something, there were always people he could use.
The lights flickered to life, signaling the death of the day, and the beginning of twilight. Night was falling, and men like him? They thrived in the night life. The best clubs would slowly start filling soon, but he had a few hours. Enough to find his roost, and put his ear to the ground. Maybe he could even get a bit of something to eat. Restaurants were a great place to gather a spot of information, if you listened closely. Normally, he had people to do this, and he did hate to soil his tail feathers, but he couldn’t start with nothing, now could he? Besides, if he did this right, he might be better off than he’d ever been in Gotham.
NAME: Jill
AGE: 25!
JOURNAL:
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
IM: ComeHereHand
E-MAIL: SephyGirl [@] gmail [.] com
RETURNING: ffffffffffffffffffffffive
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. The Penguin
FANDOM: DC Comics!
CHRONOLOGY: Just after Gotham Underground
CLASS: VILLAIN. Kind of. Less so now
SUPERHERO NAME: The Penguin
ALTER EGO: Oswald Cobblepot. A legitimate businessman!
BACKGROUND:
The world Oswald comes from is rife with heroes and villains, as well as the cliched comedy and tragedy. Gotham, in particular is where Ozzie’s story both starts, and will likely end. His family, the Cobblepots, were one of the founding families of Gotham. That being said, Oswald is most certainly the black sheep, if not just in appearance, than also in lifestyle. Oswald’s life was rife with bullying as a child. Mocked already for his short stature, odd gait, and peculiar nose, when his father was caught in a flash rainstorm and died of pneumonia, things could only get worse. His mother was convinced that he had to have a umbrella at all times, just in case. It is also punctuated by his love of birds, which of course is enough to be mocked about. These days is where the nickname turned moniker, The Penguin, came from.
Later in life, Oswald began his life of crime. He, of course used the nickname of his childhood to begin a series of thefts all punctuated by trick umbrellas and penguin-themed paraphernalia. It was a revolving door between Oswald and Blackgate prison, and continued for a short period of time, and none of these remain of particular note, as the reality of Earth-One was destroyed and merged into Earth-Two. This is where the Penguin began to grow and become both the villain and businessman he is today. As he was often in and out of Blackgate prison, the Penguin found himself, surprisingly, with a deal. Offered to join the Suicide Squad for a time, Penguin traipses off to Russia with the other members of the Squad, and finds himself inspired to use the removal of his criminal record to attempt to work from the shadows, instead of taking on the Caped Crusader head on.
However, during this period, he still danced the line between neutral and evil. The Penguin in this period was much more a mob boss than a businessman with underground connections. The Penguin fakes his death in an attempt to make a clean getaway with both blow and diamonds, failing to get either, but also managed to stay out of jail. Another important act was when he recruited Harold Allnut, a man deformed and mute, and Oswald supposedly befriended him. He used Harold’s genius to create a way to control birds, using them to attack batman, and even attempts to sell the method on the black market in an attempt for quicker cash. Unfortunately, Penguin made a misstep in this, as Harold overheard him speaking about how he was secretly disgusted by him, and he was in the end betrayed by the man he’d “befriended”. The Penguin was left to return to Blackgate. Again.
Penguin, of course, gets out of Blackgate again after some time, likely parole, as he begins another attempt at a reformed lifestyle. However this time, he decides to blackmail a childhood rival, and pays off a woman he’d paid to attend a dance with as a much younger Oswald. He convinces Bruce Wayne to let him stay at Wayne Manor, and trashes the place while he lives the high life. Of course, his attempt to blackmail and take the money of a childhood enemy is discovered, and his one-time-date betrays him, and he loses everything once again.
After this point, Oswald actually does go legit. He founds the Iceberg Lounge, and begins amassing money and power as he looks over Gotham from the penthouse he owns above the nightclub. In the Lounge, the old and new money mingle, and there’s plenty of underground connections within, but the Penguin becomes smarter, and starts trading in goods and information. Penguin becomes quite wealthy, but he still craves the ‘old days’, and goes through a series of heists, each one more ludicrous and culminates with a statue of Horus, and Batman catches him, but the Penguin manages to outwit him, pointing out that he can’t testify in court, and he’s left back in the lounge, but without his loot. At least he got the thrill out of it.
This is when he forms the strong bonds that set up for one of the more important periods of his life, when Gotham is victim to a terrible Earthquake, and the city itself is declared No Man’s Land. With the citizens of Gotham trapped inside, Oswald becomes the crafty head of an entire district, and the only one who can give you what you want, for the right price. Rumors abound during this period that he has a connection to the outside, and we learn later that he actually does. Penguin deals in more than goods and services, but also information, and an Underground Railroad out of Gotham, but you have to be willing to pay. What the price does, of course, is buys you the Penguin’s loyalty for a time. During the period in No Man’s Land, the Penguin starts with a great deal of gang-territory, but he can’t always be very business-savy, and squeezed between Two-Face and the remnants of the Gotham Police Department, Oswald makes the wrong deal, and loses much of his territory. Desperate, he attempts to make a deal with Lex Luthor, which of course, leaves him at a disadvantage yet again. This time, of course, he strikes back, hiring Catwoman to take down a good portion of Lex’s property. By the time order is restored back to Gotham, Oswald didn’t end up on top, but he most certainly didn’t end up worse for the wear, and managed to squeak out with only enemies in his wake, instead of dead or back in prison. As he was generally the leader of the biggest black market, he’d taken valuables in exchange for rarities such as fresh fruit and necessities, and was still quite well-off in the end.
After the period during No Man’s Land, Oswald continues his business, and seems to even settle in, dealing in information for the right price, or to keep from being punched in the face by Batman. Go figure. However, one moment of note in this is that while Oswald was preening his feathers (hah), Wayne Industries bought out the Iceberg Lounge. Pressed from both Wayne and Batman, the Penguin cracked, and after losing a battle in court over it, yes his first act was to go about it legitimately, and when this didn’t fly, he ordered Bruce’s lawyer assassinated. Of course, since she was with Batman in disguise, that didn’t fly. Losing his nightclub and his livelihood, he scrambles by, managing to escape prison again, and only left with his other interests, and fantasies of killing Batman.
However, the Penguin isn’t going to lie down quite yet. He reforms his holdings, once again becoming the information and goods broker in Gotham, and that is when someone starts killing off Batman’s rogues gallery. First is someone who was unfortunate enough to be in Killer Moth’s outfit, and then comes the Penguin, each one marked with a coin like Two-Face’s, but with both sides marred. After a lengthy investigation, Batman discovers that not only did Oswald fake his death while working with the Gotham Police, but also that in the past, some of his greater foes had come up with a plan to kill him, but one of the integral pieces, Two-Face, had balked. When left with their key piece gone, they’d hired a method actor, Paul Sloan, and he’d taken to the role, and even thought he could be Two-Face. Of course, after being betrayed and tortured, he went after the rogues, but Penguin being totally legitimate is used as bait for Batman to lure both Sloan and Two-Face out of hiding. After this period, he returns to his regularly schedule smarmy, mob-boss-esque lifestyle.
Of course, when someone activated one of Batman’s backup plans, all the mob bosses in Gotham went to war, of course Penguin was in the middle, and even a suspect in bringing the volatile criminal gang-leaders together. He managed to scrape by alive, but not without being in the middle of a particularly nasty battle. However, after some time, with some of the larger crime families missing, Intergang, an organized crime group out of Metropolis attempts to move into Gotham. Never able to get a hold in a place filled with organized masked criminals before, with some of the larger groups missing, Tobias Whale began to move in. Penguin in particular was targeted due to both his history as a masked criminal, as well as a prolific criminal gang leader. He takes the fight to them, giving every two-bit criminal in Gotham costumes, but they don’t fare well until Batman and his own group of highly-trained associates get their feet in. Penguin, thinking he’s about to lose, decides to go out with class. However, Batman stops the Death Squad from murdering him, and they form an uneasy alliance to ensure that Intergang won’t make their way into Gotham.
PERSONALITY:
Oswald is one of the more unique rogues when it comes to Gotham. Although he spent some time in Arkham, he’s never really truly been insane, per se. While he has his own hangups and problems, for the most part, Oswald Cobblepot is perfectly in control of himself. That, of course, is what makes him particularly dangerous.
While physically small, round, and with a beaked nose, Oswald was never exactly popular amongst his peers. He came from a long line of the founding families of Gotham, but unlike his predecessors, Oswald’s demeanor kept him from ever becoming too successful, and he loathes it. Oswald craves one thing, and that’s to be respected. It doesn’t matter how much power he gets, or how much money he has, at the end of the day, at the core of him, is this little boy who was always laughed at. So he balks to this, and has amassed fortunes and lost them, had a custom suit fitted for him at Blackgate prison, and spent time in Arkham, because more than anything, Oswald Cobblepot wants to be respected. Or feared, really. He’s not particularly picky.
Beyond that, the Penguin has always prided himself on his devotion to class. He is the unflappable (hah) occasional leader of Gotham’s underground, and he always does it differently than most. He runs his cartels from deep inside the Iceberg Lounge, and more often than not, seems to have a way out.
Generally, Oswald isn’t the nicest of people. He’s selfish, and a coward. He desperately wants to be respected, but he isn’t really willing to get his hands really dirty to get it. He’s all about the delegation. If he’s threatened with physical harm, he normally capitulates, and will spill any information to save his own skin. In that, Oswald is most certainly a coward. As long as he has the upper hand, he’ll use every trick in the book to keep it, but once his grasp is lost, he keels over and gives up what’s asked. Mind, the Penguin doesn’t always give the best information, or he’ll withhold what he can. This is more true for anyone but Batman. Then again, who wants Batman to beat them up? While Oswald will wheel and deal to save his skin, he’s also notorious for using what little advantage he can get to stab others in the back if it’s convenient for him, or for profit.
While there are bad traits, there are some good ones. Oswald is quite intelligent, and fancies himself a gentleman for a reason. He’s charismatic, and there’s definitely a je ne sais quois to him, despite his appearance. He’s also quite the businessman, and his lack of scruples aid him more than harm him when it comes to his holdings. He seems to have a great sense for predicting what people will want and need, and doesn’t have any problems with letting them know that he is the avenue to get it.
POWER:
Immunity to the cold, and the ability to turn birds into umbrellas and back into birds
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
Voice
Hero, was it? I don’t think anyone’s been stupid enough to call me a hero before! [ A soft, chortling laugh ] And this is supposed to be some sort of advanced communicator, is it? Pretty little bit of technology, if I do say so myself. I’m no expert, mind, but I think this could go for a pretty bit if you pulled it apart.
[ There’s an ironic sort of mirth in his voice. ]
I suppose introductions are in order, birds of a feather need to know each other before we can stick together, and all that nonsense. Oswald Cobblepot, and you could say I’m something of a businessman. I’m sure I’ll have something any of you could need at one point, or another.
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
Oswald Cobblepot, they didn’t call him. In fact, more often than not, despite trying to slake off the title time and time again, he was still The Penguin. Oh, he knew he had never done much to fight the name, dressing in a tuxedo, the number of times he’d used birds in whatever scheme or another he’d attempted to make, but the fact of the matter was, he often felt like he’d become what he hated, if only just to get over the damn thing.
Not that he had, he reflected, swinging an umbrella on a finger, walking unfamiliar streets. Fresh starts were hard to come by, if he did say so himself. Of course, he was without goods, or information, or really much of anything to move. That didn’t mean he’d be without a nest for long. Places like this? It didn’t matter if there was a wholly good police force, there were always cops who needed something, there were always people he could use.
The lights flickered to life, signaling the death of the day, and the beginning of twilight. Night was falling, and men like him? They thrived in the night life. The best clubs would slowly start filling soon, but he had a few hours. Enough to find his roost, and put his ear to the ground. Maybe he could even get a bit of something to eat. Restaurants were a great place to gather a spot of information, if you listened closely. Normally, he had people to do this, and he did hate to soil his tail feathers, but he couldn’t start with nothing, now could he? Besides, if he did this right, he might be better off than he’d ever been in Gotham.