Penny

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Penny is the hot blonde next door, or as Howard would put it, a “cheesecake scented goddess” with the ability to attract virtually any man she meets. She has keen fashion sense and knows the current trends as well as what’s going on in the entertainment world.

Her tomboyish upbringing has left her skilled in firearms, video games and athletics. She is as apt socially as the “geeks” are inept. In short, she’s the kind of girl every guy wants. Unfortunately, she seems to only pick jerks.

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History

Penny grew up on a farm in Omaha, Nebraska. She was mostly a tomboy and a “daddy’s girl” growing up. She always tried to impress her father and engaged in many activities, such as sports, to earn his love despite the fact she didn’t like to get dirty. He called her “Slugger” until she hit puberty, when evidently the greatest portion of his attention turned to her brother.

At the age of 18, she decided she had enough of small town life and headed to California to become an actress. She has auditioned constantly since arriving in California and had little success. In the meantime, she has written a screenplay about a young woman from Lincoln, Nebraska who goes to Hollywood to become an actress (which she says isn’t autobiographical).

Soon after she arrived in California, she met a beefy guy named Kurt, fell in love and soon moved in with him. After being with him for 4 years, she arrived home early one day to find him in bed with another woman. She moved out and into the apartment next door to a pair of young, genius physicists named Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper.

Big science, part 1

Since then she has had a blossoming friendship with them both, along with their friends Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali. Sheldon is extremely eccentric, bordering on autistic. While it’s obvious Sheldon annoys her as much as anyone else, she has become especially close with him. He has even shown some emotional attachment for her, which from him is quite a feat.

This may stem from similarities she seems to share with his own family and her patience with him (and ability to call him out and argue with him when necessary). He even hugged Penny on Christmas after she gave him his gift. The fact that she gave him a napkin used and signed by Leonard Nimoy , whom Sheldon idolizes, was a small gesture in her mind but meant the world to Sheldon.

She is most annoyed with Howard, who constantly hits on her. However, after pushing her too far one day, she went on a tirade and told him that no woman liked the way he hit on them. Upon realizing she was serious, he retreated to his home and didn’t come out for days.

She eventually went and talked to him (at Leonard’s request), and they had it out and seem to have come to a deeper understanding of one another. This event has reduced Howard’s advances and left Penny actually seeing his more vulnerable side.

Big science, part 2

It was Penny who helped Raj take the first steps towards overcoming his inability to speak to women. While she was practicing bartending, she gave him a drink and he learned he could speak around her (and other women) if he had been drinking. He has even managed to squeak out a “sorry” to her once while totally sober.

With Leonard, she has an on and off romantic relationship in the works. They’ve gone on a couple of dates and even come close to having sex once. However, her insecurities about relationships and the apparent difference in their IQs have kept her from pursuing things more fully.

Recently, Leonard left with the rest of the guys on an expedition to the North Pole to perform experiments regarding string theory. Penny gave Leonard a blanket with sleeves and a very… long… hug goodbye, but only admitted that she wished he wasn’t going once she was alone.

Description

Penny is an attractive “girl next door” literally. She’s blonde, has hazel eyes and a great figure. She usually wears brightly colored outfits that accentuate her figure, or her less flattering uniform from the Cheesecake Factory.

On days where she has run out of clean clothes, she’ll wear frumpier sweats and t-shirts until she buys new ones (or, as a last resort, does the laundry).

Personality

Penny is witty and headstrong, but also very emotional. Normally, she is very carefree and has a great sense of humor, but has a biting sarcastic wit when insulted. But, she goes through bouts of depression when she can’t get a role or breaks up with her current flame.

Her normal social life includes her acting workshops, parties, and dancing with her girlfriends. She enjoys trying new things and has even engaged in some of the “geekier” activities with the guys. She’s a whiz at Halo and has evidently even taken a liking to Star Trek.

She’s very liberated sexually, but does get embarrassed if the details of her love life are made too public. She seems to be attracted to guys who aren’t good for her. According to Leonard’s mother, this stems from the fact she didn’t get enough affection from her father.

She has self-esteem issues based on how other people see her, due to an external locus of identity.

Penny gives as good as she gets in verbal confrontations, especially with Sheldon. She does have a temper and can become violent if she feels her friends are threatened in some way.

Quotes

Penny: [picking out clothes from Leonard’s closet] “Okay. Well, let’s just see what else you have. Okay, here, take this, and this, and this, and these…”
Leonard: “Is this all stuff you want me to try on ?”
Penny: “No, this is the stuff I want you to throw out. Seriously, don’t even give it to charity; you won’t be helping anyone.”

Penny [playing Halo with the guys]: “Wait, wait, Sheldon. Come back, you forgot something.”
Sheldon: “What ?”
Penny: “This plasma grenade.”
[Explosion]
Penny: [laughs] “Look ! It’s raining *you* !”
Sheldon: “You laugh now. You just wait until you need tech support.”

Leonard: “What got into him ?”
Penny: “Oh, maybe a couple of ’virgin Cuba Libres’ that turned out to be a little slutty.”
Leonard: “You didn’t…”
Penny: “Hey, you do your experiments, I do mine.”

Sheldon: (At The Cheesecake Factory, where Penny is a waitress) “Whom do I speak to about permanently reserving this table ?”
Penny: “I don’t know, a psychiatrist ?”

Leonard: “If you don’t like this “Christy,” why are you letting her stay ?”
Penny: “Well, she was engaged to my cousin while she was sleeping with my brother, so she’s kind of family.”

Penny: “It’s just that Leonard and Howard and Raj, they aren’t like other guys. They’re special.”
Alicia: “OK, they’re special… and ?”
Penny: “Oh, Let’s see, how can I explain this ? They don’t know how to use their shields.”
Alicia: “Shields ?”
Penny: “Ya, you know like on Star Trek when you’re in battle and you have to raise the shields ?” [Realizing what she just said] “Where the hell did that come from ?”

Penny: “All right, my boss says you either have to order or leave and never come back.”
Howard: (Looking at the menu) “What do you recommend for someone who worked up a man-sized appetite from a morning of weight training and cardio funk ?”
Penny: “A shower.”

“Holy crap on a cracker !”

“It just creams my corn !”

DC Universe History

The entire Big Bang cast would make great supporting characters for any hero. Penny could be used as a typical girlfriend type. There are plenty of supers with an aspiring actress girlfriend in their civilian ID.

Bruce Wayne or Oliver Queen could ask her out as arm candy for some event, causing the rest of the guys to gate crash the party right as it’s being taken over by the Joker.

Alternatives

Another interesting option if you used the entire Big Bang Theory cast would be to give Penny super powers but no ideas on how to use them. The guys try to help her understand her powers, while competing to become her sidekick.

Finally, you could always have her fall for the villain du jour. Her track record with guys shows that she’d probably fall for the villain as quickly as the hero. Then as Leonard and the rest try to come to her “rescue,” they uncover the fact that the villain’s getting ready to unleash his doomsday weapon.

Their interference inadvertently tips off the villain just as the heroes were going to take him down. Now he knows someone’s on to him, and he’s got a bunch of squishy hostages!

By Adam Fuqua.

Source of Character: As portrayed in Big Bang Theory by Kaley Cuoco.

Helper(s): Wikipedia, Dr. Peter Piispanen, Darci.