Penny

Polly (younger sister)

Mr. Cuddles (pet)

Leslie (cousin)

an unnamed paternal grandmother

**Penny Fitzgerald** is a supporting character in *The Amazing World of Gumball*. She is a shape-shifting fairy, formerly in a peanut shell, who is in Miss Simian's class in Elmore Junior High.

Gumball and Penny have always had massive crushes on each other, but the two of them had always struggled to express their feelings until the events of the episode "The Shell," when Gumball finally confesses his feelings to her, and the two kiss. The two have been dating as of that moment. She was part of the Treehouse Girls until it was disbanded due to the treehouse being cut down by Tobias and Banana Joe. She is in the school's cheerleading team.

## Appearance

From season 1 to "The Shell," Penny appeared to be an anthropomorphic antlered peanut. Like the rest of her family, she had a set of tan antlers that grew out of her head. The episode "The Shell" revealed that Penny, underneath her shell, is a shape-shifting, fairy-like creature. She can transform into certain creatures depending on her emotions, and most of the time the creatures have a set of antlers, with the exception of her monster arm form and her Medusa form. In her early concept, she did not have a visible mouth and her antlers were darker, as well as having smaller eye holes with no visible eyelashes.

As an antlered peanut, Penny did not normally wear much clothing, aside from a pair of orange sneakers with white knee socks and orange and white wristbands. However, she is sometimes seen carrying white pom-poms. From "The Shell" onwards, she wears no clothing at all, except wrist and headbands when practicing her cheerleading routine or playing sports.

In season 1, Penny had a straight, round shell similar to her father's, with noticeable holes where her arms and antlers came out of. Similar to other characters in their season 1 appearances, she also had a black shadow on the tops of her legs from her shell.

In season 2, the design of Penny's shell was curved a bit to resemble her sister's and her mother's, and it became seemingly smaller. Her antlers also became darker and smaller, and the holes in the shell on her arms and where her antlers come out are both dramatically smaller. She, like Darwin after season 1, loses an eyelash. Like other characters in their redesigns, the shadows on her legs are much lighter. Her shoelaces are also different. She keeps this appearance in the first few episodes of season 3, until "The Shell."

After Gumball helped Penny break free of her shell, its contents are revealed to be a yellow-orange gradient fairy-like creature with wings and antlers, which seems to be her default form. In this form, she can shape-shift into certain creatures, depending on her emotions.

Her body somewhat takes on the shape of her shell, having a round head with a slim body, and the upper half of her body gets progressively lighter shades of yellow, orange, and sometimes pale pink in coloration.

Her real eyes and mouth are now seen, and she also has visible white eyelashes connected to her eyes. She has orange-brown pupils and an orange mouth and eyebrows. Her body generates a dim glow, giving her skin a slightly reflective appearance. She also has wings that she can use to hover above the ground, and to fly fully, as seen in "The Bros" (to an extent) and "The Shippening."

After the events of "The Shell," Penny remains in her fairy-like form.

## Personality

Penny is very nice and friendly. She sticks up for her friends often, implying she has a strong sense of integrity. Such can be seen in "The Gi," in which she was one of the few people to not succumb to peer pressure and stand up for Gumball as opposed to ridiculing him. She also seems to be a pretty selfless and forgiving person, as evidenced in "The Bros," where she was willing to sacrifice her relationship with Gumball in order to make sure Darwin was happy and could cope with his own troubles. She also showed no anger when Darwin made several attempts to sabotage her relationship with Gumball, but rather sympathized with him.

She is one of the few people to understand Gumball, whom she has a massive crush on. The feeling is mutual, but neither of them has ever had a chance to properly express their feelings, despite that it is clearly evident, that is, until "The Shell."

Penny, however, is also very sensitive, as she can be easily hurt. Such can be seen in "The Meddler," in which Gumball's accidental slip-up of words cause her to cry, and later, she messes up her cheerleader performance. "The Storm" showcases this trait again, as she has nothing but cynicism after she is misled into believing Gumball intentionally kissed Carmen. Penny also tears up when Rob changes the language in "The Disaster" that caused Gumball to sound like he is shouting at her.

Her sensitive side is further exemplified when her true form is revealed in "The Shell." Without her shell, she is very self-conscious and shy, running away from society, believing everyone thinks she is a monster. Even worse, she transforms into the said monster as she runs away, fulfilling their expectations. After Gumball helps her come to terms with herself, though, she has become more open and enthusiastic than she was previously.

Penny, although not nearly to the same extent as Gumball, can resort to snarking. Her typical sarcasm is directed towards Tobias and his poor attempts to woo her. Such can be seen in episodes such as "The Move" and "The Butterfly," in which she cleverly turns down his advancements to get closer. She also seems to constantly belittle the conflict between Gumball and Tobias in "The Knights," having nothing but apathy and snark to share.

## Trivia

* Penny was originally pitched to *Nickelodeon* as a potential mascot that had a gun.
* Penny is allergic to blueberries, as seen and revealed in "The Dream." She mentions this allergy again in "The Voice." It is then seen again in "The Romantic."
* In *Project Exonaut*, Penny is available as an exosuit for 1,000 coins.
* As seen in "The Club," Penny is enrolled in the synchronized swimming club that also includes Darwin, Leslie, and an unnamed dog.
* She had the most major roles of any character that is not a Watterson, with thirteen.
* Early in her development, she had darker antlers.
* In "The Flower," it is stated that she has not had her tonsils taken out.
	+ In the same episode, it is revealed that Leslie is her cousin.
* In "The Void," it is shown that in her peanut form, her limbs can fall off if she falls from a great height.
* In "The Romantic," it is revealed that Penny and Gumball first met at the mall.
	+ In the same episode, she is revealed to have first talked to Gumball on the school bus.
* In the Icelandic dub, Penny was renamed "Jenný" due to the fact that "Penny" is unfit for the Icelandic declension.
	+ In the Italian dub, she was renamed "Nocciolina."
* She often chokes in front of Gumball, who is oblivious to her choking as a running gag.
* Although she only can shapeshift depending on her emotions as stated in "The Romantic," she shapeshifts into her wolf form during "Books Are Violent" even though she did not feel emotional at all.
	+ It is possible that, by the time of this episode, Penny had gained better control of her powers.
* She is one of the two characters to canonically undergo a permanent physical change in the show, the other being Rob.
* Penny's Gorgon form was cut in some dubs.
* She is the only member of her family to have broken out of her shell.
* Penny's hairy creature form bears a striking resemblance to the shadowy figure seen towards the end of "The Comic."

## Quotes

* Hey, leave him alone! If he wants to wear karate clothes, let him! At least he's brave enough to be himself.
* What are they talking about? *[Darwin splashes Penny again]* ***DARWIN!*** *[Leaves the room]*
* Jealousy's a pretty ugly thing, Gumball.
* My face planted so hard, I've got grass on my tonsils.