‘The Penguin’s Victor Aguilar boasts a connection to an iconic DC Comics character

Oswald “Oz” Cobb (Colin Farrell) has a new sidekick in The Penguin: Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz). Since the series is loosely inspired by DC Comics, many viewers will be curious if Aguilar has a comic book counterpart.

The Penguin takes place shortly after the events of The Batman and sees Cobb grasp the opportunity to become Gotham’s new crime kingpin. However, the road to power isn’t easy, as Cobb quickly runs into trouble with the Falcones and struggles to earn the respect of the city’s criminals. Fortunately, he finds an unexpected ally in Aguilar. The pair meet by chance when Cobb catches a band of teenage delinquents, including Aguilar, attempting to steal parts of his car. He scares the teenagers away with a firearm but manages to catch Aguilar. Cobb, who has a clubfoot, takes pity on Aguilar when he realizes the boy has a speech impediment.

Eventually, he employs Aguilar’s help. Although he initially intends to dispose of him afterward because Aguilar has seen too much, Aguilar manages to convince Cobb that he can be of use to him and becomes the villain’s righthand man. So far, the sidekick has played an important role in The Penguin by demonstrating Cobb’s humanity. Additionally, it will be interesting to see where the story takes him, considering he’s not particularly villainous and is more of a survivalist and opportunist.

Is Victor Aguilar inspired by DC Comics?

What makes Aguilar particularly interesting is that DC Comics offers little insight into his future on The Penguin. Aguilar does not appear in the comics and is an original character created specifically for the show. The closest match one can find to him in the comics is Jason Todd, the second iteration of Robin. Like Aguilar, Todd ran into a major DC character while trying to steal the tires off of their car. Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman) caught him in the process of removing the Batmobile’s tires and quickly apprehended the boy. He chose to take Todd under his wing, teaching him his crimefighting ways so he could become a hero in his own right.

Hence, Aguilar and Todd have similar beginnings but end up under the tutelage of two very different figures. Given the similar threads in their stories, one may question if The Penguin is setting up Aguilar to become the Batverse iteration of Robin. While Todd did end up taking on the mantle of a more villainous figure, Red Hood, it is more logical for Aguilar to evolve into an iteration of one of Oz’s henchmen, such as Chick. His name even fits the pattern of Cobb and his allies boasting names and nicknames that reference birds — “Aguilar” means “haunt of eagles” in Latin.

One also can’t help but notice that Aguilar shares a first name with several iconic DC villains, including Victor Fries (a.k.a. Mr. Freeze) and serial killer Victor Zsasz. However, aside from the first name, Aguilar doesn’t have anything in common with these villains. Ultimately, Aguilar doesn’t appear to be a direct adaptation of any DC Comics character. Still, The Penguin could always include a surprise twist to link him to an existing character later in season 1. It will be interesting to see his trajectory in The Penguin and whether he continues playing a role in the Batverse.