Batman has so many interesting nemeses.

The Joker reminds us that evil men can actually relish in their diabolical deeds. The Riddler reminds us that criminals can be elusive and even criminally insane villains can evade detection. Scarecrow and Poison Ivy remind us that terrorism can undermine our basic optimism towards peaceful politics and jurisprudence.

However, the Penguin is the Shakespearean villain of Gotham City. He is deformed, and like Richard III, he is deformed because he is evil; he isn't evil because he's deformed. That is to say, the Penguin brings an air of pedestrian philosophy to criminality analysis.

When we think of criminals, do we think of base or gross behaviors likable to animals? Cobblepot may be a displaced person, but he carried himself with degrees of style and attitude (and a tricky umbrella to match). However, we refer to Oswald as the Penguin, perhaps especially because he moves around with a touch of creepy bloodlust.

My favorite renditions of Penguin include Danny DeVito's turn as the creepy crime-master in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" [1992] and Robin Lord Taylor's subtle presentation of a brooding Oswald Cobblepot fine-tuning his taste for mayhem on the critically praised television series "Gotham" [Fox TV].

If we want to think of Gotham City as an artistic rendition of apocalypto urbanization, then the Penguin is the ultimate mischief gargoyle.

When you think of this symbolic nemesis, do you think 'Penguin' or 'Oswald Cobblepot?' More importantly, can we imagine that the primary nemeses of Batman (such as Penguin) create their own portraits of Gotham City, and in that case, what is Penguin's Gotham?

Penguin (Wikipedia)

Richard III (Shakespeare)

Penguin's Pages

It surprisingly is difficult to imagine what Gotham is like without thinking about the impact of Cobblepot/Penguin.

Since the Penguin is deformed because he's evil (and not vice-versa as an otherwise normal/standard psychological profiling would reveal), the Gotham that he reigns in must be a place of serious eccentricity.

To understand the damage that Penguin creates, we should analyze pedestrian sore-point highlighting in Penguin (DC Comics) storyboards (i.e., Gotham infrastructure mismanagement). This would help us build better reviews of relevant Batman (DC Comics) presentations such as Dark City (DC Comics).

Batman: Zero Year (Dark City)

Shakespearean Metrics

The Gotham that would be 'run' by the Joker or Black Mask or Two-Face is a very different Gotham than the one that would be 'run' by the creepy Penguin.

Penguin is not a strict terrorist like Ra's al Ghul or a fear philosopher like Scarecrow. Rather, he is a goon of the underworld, a villain who seems to believe that criminality is somehow equivalent to emotions (not intellect or rage).

From our convenient Shakespearean perspective, Black Mask can be compared to Iago (Othello), Joker can be compared to Fortinbras (Hamlet), and Penguin can be compared to Richard (Richard III). Like Richard, Penguin/Cobblepot represents the profitability of malice, so his Gotham would be more unrefined.