Skipper

* Films
* The Penguins of Madagascar
* Chick

Brian Stepanek ( Penguins of Madagascar videos on YouTube only)Andrew Quintero (Madagascar Animal Trivia DVD Game only)

**Skipper** is the leader of a band of four penguins in the franchise. He is a major character of Madagascar, a supporting character in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a major character in Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, the central protagonist of Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie, and the main protagonist of The Penguins of Madagascar TV series.

## Biography

Not much is known about Skipper's early life, though when he and his brothers Rico and Kowalski are young, Skipper decides to save a seemingly doomed penguin egg. They are successful, and the egg hatches into Private, although they eventually sail away on a detached iceberg. Skipper slaps Kowalski for proclaiming their impending doom and declares to Private that they are now his family.

He has revealed that - due to as-yet-unspecified circumstances involving explosions, a high-speed chase, and Hans the Puffin - he is unable to set foot in Denmark after being declared public enemy number one by Queen Margrethe II. In the episode "Skipper Makes Perfect" it is revealed that the incident had something to do with open-faced sandwiches.

Skipper also mentions, in the episode Mr. Tux, that he once woke up in a Kyoto hotel room on a bed of counterfeit Deutschmarks. This must have been many years ago because Deutschmarks are no longer in use.

Another of Skipper's enigmas is the two former penguin agents Manfredi and Johnson. Skipper has mentioned them on many occasions. They died under unknown circumstances (but it's later found out in The Penguin Who Loved Me that the two aren't really dead but trapped at Seaville). The only reason for this is that Skipper changes the reason every time he talks about them. He is also arch-enemies with the mad dolphin super villain Doctor Blowhole, although the circumstances under which they formed this enmity are unknown.

Also, we see what Skipper looked like as a baby in the episode Rock A Bye Birdie. It was also revealed that as a baby Skipper happened to be a little gassy and had a noxious flatulence capable of knocking a person out.

In Littlefoot, we find out that Skipper was in Mexico for 8 years learning how to play a Spanish guitar.

Skipper's age is unknown, but his sometimes old fashioned sexism and resentment towards counterculture hippies suggests that he is the oldest of the four penguins.

At some unspecified point Skipper and his team were in Cuba.

Years later, Skipper's journey to New York began on an iceberg. It is not known whether they arrived in Manhattan on the iceberg, or eventually found another way of transportation.

### Madagascar

As leader, Skipper was the mastermind behind a plot to escape the confines of the zoo and leave for Antarctica with three other penguins as his accomplices. As it were, Skipper and his troupe of penguins dug and dug under their enclosure until they reached the enclosure of Marty the zebra, thinking it to be the South Pole. Skipper explained to Marty that they would escape the zoo on the grounds and continued working their way out, while causing Marty to also venture beyond the zoo, setting the future events in action. Later that night, Skipper's team, Alex, Marty, Melman, Phil, Mason, and Gloria are captured by SWAT in the Grand Central station. They were tranquilized for shipping.

Skipper and his team regains consciousness, and Kowalski was confused at the lettering on the crate where they were held. He gets Mason to read it, who asks Phil to translate the text with sign language due to Mason's illiteracy. Skipper determines that they were headed to Africa, a climate they consider inhospitable. He gets Rico to pick the lock open and they hijack the ship before eventually dumping the crew in a lifeboat sailing for China. The team turns the freighter for Antartica and they unintentionally knock crates containing Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman off the ship.

Skipper returned from the South Pole after deeming that Antartica contains nothing of interest, beaching the ship on Madagascar. They were briefed by Gloria and Melman of Alex and Marty's disappearance. They briefly hold off the Fossa until Alex arrives and terrorizes the predators, causing them to retreat. Skipper then had had Rico prepare fresh slices of fish in the form of sushi for Alex and allowed them to board the ship. As his team was sunbathing, Private suggests Skipper to inform the animals that the ship is out of fuel. Skipper declined, and responds: "Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave."

### Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Skipper directs King Julien's denizens and his team to repair the wrecked airplane. However, Rico's flying and Skipper's poor landing choice caused the plane to disintegrate entirely, though all survived. He recruits chimpanzees with help from Mason and Phil. He and his team are responsible for hijacking tourists' vehicles while the chimpanzees dismantle them and reconstruct the aircraft. Near the end of the film, he directs the aircraft to the dam in a rescue attempt. Alex and Zuba are saved in time and the dam was destroyed, while the plane suffered minor damage. At the end of the movie, Skipper departs with all of his crew members and labor workers in the Super Plane, promising to return in several weeks, or when their newfound fortune (obtained during the rescue attempt) gets depleted. They then depart to Monte Carlo, Monaco, Europe.

### Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Skipper's team were gaining significant revenue. His team offered technology with Mason and Phil disguised as "King of Versailles". He intends to stay until they have enough fortune to purchase an aircraft (specifically a golden Airbus A380, which Kowalski objects due to its impracticality), return to Africa with it, rescue Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, and transport them to New York. However, an impatient Alex led to their cover being exposed and triggered a mass riot at the casino.

With Chantel DuBois on their trail, Skipper summons the Luxury Assault Recreational Vehicle, which bursts in soon after. Skipper directs his team to defend the vehicle, causing Marty to take over the steering wheel. When they fail to lose DuBois, Skipper activates Kowalski's nuclear reactor, causing DuBois to lose grip. However, DuBois soon arrives and manages to grasp Melman's neck with a steel harness, causing Skipper to increase the aircraft's throttle. The vehicle eventually loses DuBois but crash in France right after Kowalski reported a critical engine failure.

Skipper is adamant in restoring the aircraft, though most of the chimpanzees abandon them soon after, and he instead declares a hull loss. He joins Circus Zaragoza along with Alex & his friends and offer technical assistance in security, thwarting numerous attempts of DuBois on their lives. However, they were unsuccessful in preventing Alex & his friends' identity being discovered by the circus animals. Intending to stick with the circus, he accuses Alex of lying and the other animals split. They all return to New York.

Skipper notices King Julien walking inside with a tranquilizer dart on him while intoxicated by sedatives. He pulls it out and after recognizing its source, declares to everyone their former friends' lives will be under great peril. The circus then rescues the four successfully. At the end of the film, Alex asks Skipper regarding his disposal of DuBois and her crew, though the screen cuts to a freighter before Skipper could respond. It was revealed that he had shipped them to Madagascar while bound and gagged for their repeated attempts of murder.

### The Penguins of Madagascar (Series)

* Needle Point: Skipper started to panic when a visit to the vet revealed that the penguins were getting an injection. A frightened Skipper ran off but was convinced to come back when Private was taking Skipper's place. Learning that the shot would make him sick (or worse) (the worse part must mean that Private will die), Skipper reluctantly takes it.
* I Was a Penguin Zombie: After Skipper breaks his wing, the vet applies a topical cream to ease his pain. The cream has a slight sedation side effect, and this makes Skipper a bit loopy. As he escapes, a movie is played, and this makes Kowalski, Private, and Rico believe that Skipper became a zombie. Skipper manages to come back to his senses, but the remaining three still don't believe him, and all end up breaking their wings from a fall.
* Out of the Groove: King Julien's antics result in Julien getting his groove stolen. Desperate for help, Julien seeks the assistance of the penguins to get his groove back. But when fighting over the jar that contains his groove, it breaks and enters Skipper's body, and he starts dancing (even doing the moonwalk). The baboons will only help if King Julien apologizes, but given his stubbornness, he still refuses to apologize. Skipper has to make Julien apologize by dancing all over him, surprising the rest of the penguins and lemurs speechless to the point where Private says that he wants to cry (this is significant since penguins don't cry) because Skipper's dancing is so perfect, yet strange. The King's groove is later returned, and Skipper is left to wonder what made him dance until Private thinks he has a little dancer inside him. Skipper says: "Magic's real. Case closed."
* Miss Understanding: A small malfunction during a DNA test causes Skipper to believe he's a girl. After failed missions, Skipper then leaves the penguin's habitat to go visit Marlene and see what it's like being a girl. Marlene is very annoyed because of Skipper's small-minded attitude to what being a female is about - and especially because he hasn't changed at all, but thinks that just because he is a female he is no longer any good at being a commando. She takes Skipper to see the lemurs and save them from the wires. Then Rico, Kowalski, and Private show up to save the lemurs but end up getting stuck too. Skipper, believing that he is a girl, decides that the mission is not ladylike enough. Eventually, Skipper decides to take off his pink bow and makes an impromptu whip/dance ribbon. After that, the penguins take Skipper to do the test again and find a broken fuse. After they replace the fuse, the machine draws a vertical line through the minus sign, completing the plus mark and proving that Skipper is a boy. Foolishly, Kowalski gave the machine an optional beak-shiner, thus hogging more power. Marlene then becomes sad, hoping Skipper could be her friend. Skipper then puts a flipper around her, talking about Alice ("Well she's a mammal, everyone knows they're all morons") and Marlene gives him a nasty look and is insulted.

## Personality

Skipper is a hardened commando-type and the leader of the squad of penguins. He often acts like a 'Nam veteran with regards to some kind of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder, especially with regards to his raving paranoia (which even the other penguins sometimes consider as being over-the-top) and conflicting stories of past events. He believes that a friend is just an enemy who hasn't attacked you yet. Thanks to his training in commando skills, he seems to have absolutely no idea of how to act like a *real* penguin, with Private having to give him advice when he's under close observation by humans.

Skipper is very suspicious, and usually mistrusts those whom the other penguins have all fallen for. He is often proven correct. He can sometimes be a bit cold and often does things only because the other penguins, especially Private, want him to.

Of the four penguins, Skipper is the best at hand-to-hand combat, generally able to take down even their surprise attacks. However, he has a tendency to overestimate his own abilities, taking on opponents many times his own size, and continuing the attack even when it's shown to be totally ineffective. He claims to not know the meaning of the word 'surrender' and always has trouble admitting fear of anything.

Skipper cannot stand hippies, as seen in Night and Dazed, It's About Time and Hello, Dollface, and would very much like to either beat them up or make them get jobs. He also has trypanophobia (fear of needles) as shown in Needle Point and Love Hurts. In King Me he wasn't able to knit because of this fear.

He's a 50's style male chauvinist, believing women are weak and need protecting. He's also rather xenophobic, with the opinion that any species other than avian (especially mammals) is inferior. All of this ties in with his raving paranoia, and the other penguins don't always back him up on these points. It has also been stated that he has a fragile ego. In Madagascar 3 Skipper buys solid gold dentures to eat apples with. Unfortunately, by doing this he discovers he... doesn't really like apples.

## Relationships

### Kowalski

As his second in command, Skipper respects Kowalski's intelligence, but he's also fully aware that a large number of Kowalski's inventions try to destroy them all. Kowalski can be stupid in that special way that only the most clever of people can be, and when he starts losing it, like in Jiggles, it's down to Skipper to slap a little common sense into him, just like a great pal should.

### Rico

Rico is third in command, and despite being lower than Kowalski. Rico and Skipper seem to have a close relationship (probably because they share a love of violence). Skipper is fully aware of Rico's psychotic tendencies, but rather than try to change him, he has turned it into a skill. Skipper is always there to make sure Rico doesn't hurt himself or innocent people. Skipper is something of a respected older-brother figure to Rico.

### Private

Private and Skipper seem to have the closest relationship out of all the penguins. Skipper thinks of Private as naive and vulnerable to the harsh realities of the world and is determined to both toughen him up and protect him, two desires which sometimes clash. Either way Private helps Skipper to demonstrate his softer side. In both the series and the movie, Skipper has what reflects as a father-son relationship with Private - there is nothing more important to Private than impressing Skipper, while Skipper still sees Private as a child.