Ignatius Ogilvy (Prime Earth)

Emperor Blackgate
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 2011‎-present
Gallery
Real Name	Ignatius Ogilvy
Main Alias	Emperor Blackgate
Other Aliases	Emperor Penguin
Relatives	Edward "Ed" Ogilvy (father, deceased), Ann Ogilvy (mother, deceased)
Affiliation	Secret Society of Super-Villains
Base Of Operations	Iceberg Casino, Gotham City
Status
Alignment	Bad
Identity	Public Identity
Citizenship	American
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Crimelord
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6' 3"
Weight	225 lbs (102 kg)
Eyes	Blue
Hair	Blond
Skin	Blue
Origin
Universe	Prime Earth
Creators	John Layman · Jason Fabok
First Appearance	Detective Comics Vol 2 #13 (December, 2012)

You've proven yourself a capable underling, and you've more than earned by trust. I'm leaving you in charge. Keep my operation running smoothly, and your reward will be great.

— Oswald Cobblepot

Ignatius Ogilvy is a criminal in Gotham City who worked for the Penguin. He eventually became his own boss under the name Emperor Penguin and later Emperor Blackgate.

History

Origins

Years ago, Ignatius Ogilvy's parents had been murdered outside the Monarch Theater, not unlike another wealthy orphan's parents. His father Ed Ogilvy had been a small-time crook awhile ago. He had been loyal to his employers but was murdered in the process of a business negotiation. After his father's death, Ignatius worked his way to becoming one of the Penguin's top lieutenants, and eventually, his right hand man. While his father had never rocked the boat, Ignatius had seen how that worked out for him and decided to own the boat instead.

Climbing the Ranks

Ignatius Ogilvy was a young boy when he joined the Penguin's gang. He started off as a runner and a watchman and had his first encounter with the Batman during one of his operations. Batman beat Ogilvy's entire crew and, seeing the boy terrified in the corner, walked over to him and threatened him to stay out of trouble. Obviously, Ogilvy did not comply.

The boy stayed with the Penguin, going up in ranks after multiple successful missions. During one of those experiences, Ogilvy fought the Batman again but, this time, as a normal henchman. The criminal took three batarangs to his left arm, leaving a deep scar.

Continuing to help Penguin, even with Batman on his back, Ogilvy became one of the Cobblepot's right-hand men and, before long, became his favorite. The Penguin sent Ogilvy on a mission with a new recruit to collect data from a bank. While Ogilvy got the data, the new recruit raided the bank's vault, trying to impress the Penguin. However, Ogilvy was not impressed and killed the man for making such a stupid error.

Power Play

When the Joker returned to Gotham City, Cobblepot was rounded up by the Joker to help with his plan at Arkham Asylum. Penguin put Ogilvy in charge of his operations in his temporary absence, knowing that whatever the Joker was planning was going to be time consuming and ugly. Ogilvy, however, used the Penguin's absence to take over his gang completely. Ignatius freed Poison Ivy from an almost inescapable death and, adopting the alias Emperor Penguin, formally commandeered Cobblepot's operations.

Taking up Poison Ivy on a debt, Ogilvy used a combination of several drugs, including Venom, Man-Bat Serum, and some of Ivy's special plant concoctions in order to make himself develop superhuman strength and durability, in addition to changing his physical appearance to a hulking dark blue monster with red eyes, blue skin that was as strong as bark, and pointy ears. Though he was ultimately taken down by the combined forces of the Penguin and Batman, he managed to shake Cobblepot's power base and put his name in the history books. After being taken to Blackgate Penitentiary, Ignatius Ogilvy immediately killed a prisoner calling himself "the Boss" and, therefore, became the new leader of the crime organizations there as well, insisting that his underlings call him Emperor Blackgate.

Arkham War

When the Crime Syndicate came to Earth and seemingly killed the Justice League, super villains were allowed to roam free around the world. The lunatics from Arkham Asylum, knowing that fighting among themselves would be pointless, decided to divide Gotham, giving each criminal his own district. Bane, not liking this arrangement and instead wanting Gotham all to himself, tore open Blackgate and recruited its prisoners to join him in taking Gotham. Emperor Blackgate, representing Blackgate, agreed to fight in what would later be called the "Arkham War".

However, Cobblepot had declared himself mayor of Gotham during its anarchist state and acted as a neutral information broker between the two opposing forces. Initially helping Scarecrow draw up the plans to divide Gotham for the Arkhamites, Penguin agreed to sell Bane some information if the super villain would relinquish Ogilvy, one of his soldiers, to the new mayor. Bane, interrupting a fight to do just that, grabbed Emperor Blackgate and left his unconscious body on Cobblepot's desk.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Unique Physiology: Ogilvy's various powers come from a potent combination of one of Poison Ivy's plant concoctions, Venom, and the Man-Bat Serum. This mixture gives him a variety of powers in addition to a bark-like consistency to his skin.
  • Superhuman Durability: Capable of surviving a point-blank gunshot to the face.
  • Superhuman Strength: After his augmentation, Ogilvy has proven capable of easily killing people with his bare hands.

Abilities

• Deception: Ogilvy managed to deceive Cobblepot enough and became his right-hand man. Ogilvy then used this misplaced trust to commandeer the Penguin's criminal gang.
• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
• Tactical Analysis: Ogilvy has proven that, after enough scuffles with the Batman, he pretty much understands how the Batman decides which crimes are worth going after.
  

Paraphernalia

Weapons

• Penguin's Umbrella: Because Ignatius Ogilvy (as Emperor Penguin) claimed to be the Penguin's successor, he helped himself to Cobblepot's trick umbrellas.

Notes

• Detective Comics (Volume 2) #16 (First appearance as Emperor Penguin)
• Detective Comics (Volume 2) #20 (First appearance as Emperor Blackgate)
  

Trivia

• Ogilvy has a 3 lined scar on his left arm from one of his first fights with the Batman.

Related

• 21 Appearances of Ignatius Ogilvy (Prime Earth)
• 6 Images featuring Ignatius Ogilvy (Prime Earth)
• Quotations by or about Ignatius Ogilvy (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Ignatius Ogilvy (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Secret Society of Super-Villains member This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."