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(Unknown first name[3]) Kowalski is one of the main characters in the Madagascar franchise.


Kowalski is usually the brains/knowledge of their operation. He is presumably the second-oldest and the tallest of the group.

Kowalski was voiced by Chris Miller in the film series and by Jeff Bennett in the TV series

Background[]

Early life[]

Kowalski was born in Antarctica with his other two brothers, Skipper and Rico, and raised in a family of penguins. Kowalski first realizes that they appear to be flightless after trying to get to the front of the line. Skipper sees an egg passing by and goes to rescue it with Kowalski and Rico following behind. The egg falls into the old boat, and Kowalski claims that no one ever comes back alive.

Skipper says that there is another bird down there, but leopard seals come and eat the bird. He lists their options on how to survive a situation to save the egg, before the trio of Penguins land via someone pushing them with their microphone. The three manage to save the egg but are also stuck on the cannon. Kowalski insists they fire, but Skipper tells them to when they see the whites of their eyes. He intervenes by pushing the leopard seal to the right and fires.

Kowalski and the others find that they are drifting away from Antarctica left with the egg. It hatches, bringing out a baby boy, who questions if they're his family. Kowalski comes out saying that the baby Penguin has no family and that they're going to die. However, Skipper and the other two penguins adopt the baby penguin into their family as they drift out to sea.

Zoo Residency[]

Eventually, Kowalski, Rico Skipper, and their new baby brother Private are found by humans while drifting to sea. They are later sent it the New York City Zoo. Unknowingly, Kowalski and his brothers had attracted all the attention of Dave, an octopus who swore revenge on the penguins, even though it wasn't their fault.

Madagascar[]

Several years later, the penguins grow tired of living at the zoo and wish to go to Antarctica. Kowalski uses shovels, which are plastic spoons, to bust them out of there. He reports back to Skipper that they had just broken their last plastic spoon. They later break out and return to their mammal friends in Madagascar. Kowalski helps distract them before they celebrate the downfall of their foes.

The Penguins of Madagascar (TV series)[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

In the episode, "The Trouble With Jiggles,"  Kowalski is put on "trial" by his friends for keeping Jiggles and not destroying it like they thought he did. They figure out the truth when Skipper accidentally walks into Kowalski and Jiggles in the science lab. Back in the present, Kowalski accuses Skipper of making the situation worse. During the second flashback, Kowalski reveals that he had adjusted Jiggles' appetite and that he doesn't eat fruit anymore. However, Skipper grows scared and begins hitting Jiggles causing him to create additional Jiggles creations. 

In "Time Out," Kowalski and Julien accidentally freeze time, friends, and strangers. For weeks, they spend their time vandalizing the city and using their friends as furniture. Kowalski figures out from Julien that he had put his gum in the time-freezing machine and undoes everything and everyone, resuming time. 

Personality[]

Kowalski is an intelligent individual.

He is arrogant and boastful, mostly about his intelligence. Kowalski gets easily jealous, seeing that he claims the bad guys "always get the good stuff". He doesn't believe in any supernatural things, because he is a man (or penguin) of science. Kowalski is nerdy but helpful in the worst situations. He is also highly sensitive. He is usually loved by more than one person. He claimed a truck beautiful before Skipper slapped him. He had a crush on a dolphin named Doris (who is the opposite of her brother). Later, Kowalski falls in love with an owl named Eva in the movie, who returns her affection in return.

Sometimes, his intelligence is his weakness. He doesn't know how to read, which is odd for a man who knows science and math Sometimes he comes out telling the cold hard truth, difficult to let out emotion. For example, he tells Private that he has no family members left and that they're all going to die. Ten years later, he says Private looks disfigured and could be hunted for sport.

He is known to be very emotional, as he cries every time his friend, Doris wants to stay in the friendship zone.

In the Penguins of Madagascar film, he came up with a ridiculous, nerdy way to get himself and the other penguins down to rescue the yet-to-be-hatched penguin, Private; In the series, Kowalski got overly protective of his creation, Jiggles, and called those who disliked him as "science haters". However, he did solve the problem by shrinking his monstrous creation.

Despite his nerdy quirks, Kowalski loves his brothers more than anything, for he told Skipper they didn't need the North Wind but Skipper and was shaken by Private's apparent death. He is loyal to them to a fault and always there to help them when one of his own is in danger, as he is adamant about saving other penguins from Dave. Kowalski highly admires and respects every one of them.

Love Interests[]

Eva[]

Eva is Kowalski's girlfriend in the film series. She is a white Russian snow owl who works on Classified's team of the North Wind. He is revealed to have a crush on her, watching her in admiration. Eva reveals her feelings for Kowalski at the end of the film, giving him kisses.

See Koweva.

Doris[]

A female dolphin who Kowalski is in love with. However, she wants to remain friends with Kowalski. However, he doesn't and always forgets that she had given him the "let's be friends" talk over a dozen times.

Relationships[]

The Penguins of Madagascar Wikia has a list of Kowalski's relationships can be found at Kowalski/Relationships

Gallery[]

The Penguins of Madagascar Wikia has a collection of image and media relating to Kowalski, which can be found here.

Abilities[]

Combat skills[]

At first, Kowalski shows being terrible at combat skills because his mind is easily weighed down on knowledge. During one exercise Private easily even defeats him in it (which is kind of embarrassing to see a younger brother defeat his older one so easily. Kowalski easily overcomes combat skills while fighting the chameleon's tongues.

Inventor[]

Kowalski invents good things but it always backfires. He created an enlargement ray and while intending to hit a fish, it hit Mort, causing him to become stronger and bigger but later created an antidote for it with Private's assistance. He created a shrinking ray, which was used to shrink his creation, Giggles. He also created a device he never knew what it did. It was stolen by Rhonda, known as Agent 12, working for Dr. Blowhole. He also created a time machine, which was later destroyed by him and his brothers.

Episodes focused on Kowalski[]

episodes

Shared with

A Kipper for Skipper Private and Rico
Body Double King Julien
Endangerous Species Skipper
Friend-in-a-Box Julien
Goodnight and Good Chuck his brothers
I Know Why the Caged Bird Goes Insane Marlene
Invention Intervention Julien
Operation: Big Blue Marble Skipper, Private and Rico, Julien
Operation: Good Deed SKipper, Private, and Rico
Our Man in Grrfurjiclestan Private-Rico-Skipper
Smotherly Love Private, Rico, and Skipper
The Most Dangerous Game Night Private, Rico, and Skipper
Time Out King Julien
Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole his brothers and the lemurs

Behind the scenes/Trivia[]

  • Kowalski was voiced by Chris Miller in the trilogy, the spin-off film, the short film "A Christmas Caper" and the special. Jeff Bennett replaced him in the first spin-off TV series and its same video game.
  • Seems a bit more taller and boastful in the TV series.
  • Kowalski's name is his surname.
  • Loves candy more than the other penguins, shown in "Happy King Julien Day."
  • Has a hard time thinking on his feet.
  • Has a tattoo of Doris the Dolphin (Love Hearts)
  • Kowalski has dentophobia, a fear of dentists, as revealed in "Needle Point", much to the animals' confusion.
  • Claims that he can read lips. However, Kowalski cannot do it very well.
  • Kowalski cannot read but is shown that he learns to read. 
  • Kowalski is proven to be a deep sleeper.  (The Helmet, Operation Break-Speare)
  • Kowalski can do the impression of the Red Squirrel (this is because both Kowalski and the Red Squirrel share the same voice actor. 
  • Is ambidextrous
  • Prone to babbling nonsense when the shock
  • Uses an abacus to calculate things

Gallery/Images[]

The wiki has a series of images relating to Kowalski here.

References[]

  1. Uses this alias to confuse Agent Rockgut while he is under the control of the real Red Squirrel.
  2. Refers to this in "A Christmas Caper" commentary
  3. In The Trouble With Jiggles, Skipper says "Anyone whose last name doesn't end in -OWALSKI have any options [to stop the jiggli]?" referring that it is his last name
Main Characters
SkipperKowalskiPrivateRicoKing JulienMauricePhilMasonMortMarleneClassifiedEvaDaveShort FuseCorporal
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