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- "It's gotta stop and it's going to stop"
- ―Mayor Jenkins referring to the chaos in Gotham[src]
Roscoe Jenkins was the mayor of Gotham City during The Penguin's reign of terror.
Biography
Though it is unknown how Mayor Jenkins' ratings fared during his term, the greatest threat to his career came in the form of Max Shreck's proposal to build a power plant supposedly for the purpose of preserving Gotham City's power in the future and avoiding an economic depression. Unknown to Jenkins was Shreck's secret intention for the power plant to drain Gotham of its electricity and store it, thereby bringing the city under the Shreck family's undisputed control. Jenkins was strongly against the idea of the power plant in the first place, which made him something of an enemy for Shreck, who hinted at getting Jenkins recalled, though Jenkins ignored the "threat". Despite this, Jenkins' capabilities as Mayor began to be questioned when the disgraced Red Triangle Circus Gang attacked Gotham in an attempt to kidnap Shreck.
Jenkins promised Gotham that such an attack would never happen again at a press conference, but a Red Triangle member kidnapped Jenkins' baby son in front of his very eyes and disappeared into the sewer. But the Penguin, until then regarded as a rumor ("The Mysterious Penguin-Man of the Sewer"), "rescued" Jenkins' baby and won the sympathy of the public, though this had been a ruse on part of both Shreck and the Penguin. Still scheming to rule Gotham, Shreck used the Penguin's newfound popularity to challenge Jenkins, and had the circus gang attack Gotham again to defame him. Jenkins tried to persuade Gotham that they had the situation under control, but the death of the Ice Princess apparently at Batman's hands before their very eyes and Batman's apparent rampage throughout the city served as the final straw, and the Penguin would very well have been elected to replace Jenkins had Batman not uncovered his schemes in time.
Following the Penguin's fall from grace, it is implied that Jenkins was forgiven and reinstated as Mayor and owes Batman for saving his job as the mayor. In a deleted scene, Jenkins and Commissioner Gordon stood by the Bat-Signal and contemplated recent actions, wondering if Batman would ever forgive Gotham for hunting him like a criminal. But Batman indeed showed up, indicating that he had forgiven the citizenry.
Behind the scenes
- In the original script and throughout the film Jenkins goes unnamed, and is constantly referred to as "the Mayor" or "Mr. Mayor". However, in the novelization, is named Roscoe Jenkins.
Gallery
