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Quote1 After I was shot, I woke up in the GCPD morgue. I was alone. I patched my wounds as best I could and crawled out. I hid in a store. An abandoned magic shop. That's where Mister Scarface found me... Quote2
Arthur Penn src

Arthur Penn, known briefly as the Ventriloquist, was a mob accountant with multiple personalities, the most violent of which he projected onto his dummy Scarface to get revenge on his old boss, the Penguin, who treated him poorly and caused him to get shot. He was killed by the Riddler during No Man's Land.

Falcone Crime Family

Arthur Penn was an accountant who worked for Carmine Falcone when Gotham City was still run by the powerful mob boss. For many years, Penn used to be the Don's loyal advisor and the only member of the crime family Falcone ever truly trusted. When Carmine retired to Miami, Arthur began working for Oswald Cobblepot, the new crimelord of Gotham City. However, Penn still stayed in contact with Don Falcone and served as his eyes and ears when he was down south in Florida.[2]

Pax Penguina

In the months following the Tetch virus incident, Penn was instrumental in helping Penguin in his efforts to assemble and establish the notorious crime license system. When Cobblepot started to worry that James Gordon might try to prevent the new regulation, he sent Arthur Penn to the GCPD Headquarters in order to discuss the situation with Captain Harvey Bullock. Penn informed him that Penguin had discussed the new guidelines with Mayor Burke and Commissioner Reynolds. Even though Bullock was impressed by the good numbers the Pax Penguina was accountable for, he was angered when Penn brought up Cobblepot's worries regarding Gordon and ordered the accountant to leave the GCPD. When Penn walked out of the Captain's office, he accidentally bumped into Jim Gordon, who was about to visit Harvey.

As a high-ranked member of the Cobblepot crime family, Penn was one of the many guests at the opening of the Iceberg Lounge, Penguin's newest nightclub in Gotham City. Unbeknownst to him, he was secretly observed by Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth, who planned to steal the license list from him. A few hours later, Bruce donned his vigilante gear and invaded Penn's office. Even though Arthur refused to give away the list, Bruce took it away from the scared man with effortless ease and then proceeded to vanish once again.[3]

Even though Don Falcone was retired, he still stayed in contact with his former trusted advisor. When Sofia Falcone came to Gotham, Carmine called his old ally Arthur Penn and asked him to keep an eye on his daughter. However, Sofia found out and threatened Penn's life, whereon he made a deal with her. He would stay alive and in exchange provide her with secret information about Penguin's crime family. In her scheme to take over Gotham's criminal underworld, Sofia ordered Penn to put her into contact with Professor Pyg, whom she then hired to kill corrupt cops working for Cobblepot. Unbeknownst to her, Arthur secretly informed Carmine Falcone about the plans of his daughter and the involvement of Lazlo Valentin.[4]

Once Penguin became suspicious of Sofia, Penn and Victor Zsasz presented him with evidence that she seems to rebuilt her father's fallen criminal empire behind Oswald's back. This then caused Penguin to tell Zsasz that they will pay Sofia a visit to interrogate her.[5]

Even though the Pax Penguina was falling apart at the time, the Street Demonz among other gangs were still under the protection of the Cobblepot crime family. When the Sirens decided to rob the Street Demonz, the leader of the notorious biker gang went to Penguin and his top enforcer Firefly at the Iceberg Lounge in order to complain about the violation of the guidelines. When Cobblepot discussed the issue with the gang leader, Barbara Kean, Tabitha Galavan and Selina Kyle, Penn entered the room to inform his boss about the recent occurrences in the Gotham Narrows, where Edward Nygma was mocking the Penguin in a bizarre stage play. Enraged, Cobblepot stabbed the Street Demonz leader to death and then told the Sirens that they now owe him for solving the problem for them. In exchange, he ordered them to go to the Narrows in order to bring Nygma to the Iceberg Lounge. Once the Sirens had left the nightclub, Penguin told Firefly that Penn will put her into contact with Cherry, his Narrows informant, so Bridgit can go down and murder the Sirens in case they don't manage to capture Nygma in time.

When it seemed apparent that the Sirens wouldn't retrieve Ed in time, Penn deployed Firefly to carry out Penguin's orders. However, Bridgit also failed to capture Nygma, forcing Penn to deliver the unpleasant news to the Penguin, who was currently busy at the Falcone Home and School for Orphans. Penn visited Cobblepot, Sofia Falcone and Martin at the principal's office, where Oswald was angered to learn about the failure. Additionally, Penn also reported that Mayor Burke had decided to promote Gordon to the rank of GCPD Captain.[6]

As Sofia made preparations to host a fundraiser event, Penn accompanied Penguin when the crimelord visited her at the Falcone Mansion. Cobblepot announced that he wouldn't take part due to Gordon's promotion to Captain, explaining that someone must have paid Mayor Burke off. He further stated that the mayor had vanished, forcing Oswald to track him down and learn the name of the enemy. After Sofia left the room, Penn advised the Penguin to sent Victor Zsasz after her, but Cobblepot refused due to lack of proof. Arthur then implied that Sofia might have killed Burke, whereon Oswald ordered his accountant to bring him Martin, so the boy could spy on her. However, Sofia had secretly overheard the conversation between Penn and Cobblepot, leading to her calling Gordon to inform him about it.[7]

When the great gang war between Sofia and Penguin finally broke out in Gotham, Cobblepot went into hiding to join forces with Carmine Falcone. Confused about Oswald's whereabouts, his henchmen went to the Iceberg Lounge, where Penn ordered them to wait for further instructions from the boss. However, the Sirens then appeared at the nightclub and quickly defeated all of Cobblepot's men. Sofia Falcone then entered the room and commanded Arthur to tell her where Penguin was hiding. She then had Tabitha torture him to learn about it, but the accountant endured the pain without divulging any information.[8]

No Man's Land

After the destruction of Gotham's main bridges, Penn once again worked for Oswald Cobblepot, who had established his own territory and taken over the abandoned Gotham City Hall. The Cobblepot crime family raided the armory and stockpiled weapons, then repurposed a factory to manufacture ammunition. Penn attended one of Penguin's propaganda ceremonies at the mayor's office, where Cobblepot tested one of the newly produced bullets in front of his staff and workers. The Penguin later sent Arthur to the Sirens nightclub in order to lead trade negotiations with Barbara Kean and Tabitha Galavan. Arthur's boss offered them a thousand rounds of freshly minted nine-millimeter stock for a thousand pounds of grade-A steak. Since Tabitha was still mourning the death of her boyfriend, Butch Gilzean, Barbara deliberately pushed the price up, knowing that food supplies were rare in Penguin's No Man's Land sector.[9]

Death

Roy Harper Cry for Justice
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Powers

  • Cheating Death: Penn proved himself capable of surviving lethal situations. He appeared alive after getting fatally shot by the Street Demonz and seemingly dying in Penguin's arms.[10]

Abilities

Other Characteristics

  • Cowardice: While his Scarface personality is confident and assertive, Arthur himself is extremely prone to anxiety. He is easily intimidated whenever he delivers unpleasant news to the Penguin.
  • Multiple Personalities

Equipment

  • Scarface


  • Andrew Sellon jokingly dubbed his version of the character "The Penntriloquist."[12]
  • The Gotham crew had no idea Sellon was a ventriloquist when they cast him.

Related

Footnotes


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