2378. Kowalski and Private Penguin

Kowalski (Jeff Bennett) acts as the group strategist and gadgeteer. Kowalski is a brilliant inventor, but cannot read (although he does carry around a clipboard which he records plan options on). He also tends to over-analyze situations.

Private (James Patrick Stuart) is the emotionally sensitive rookie of the group. Though younger and less experienced than the other penguins, he is the most down to earth; Private tends to offer simpler, more commonsense solutions in response to Skipper and Kowalski's complex strategies (Although he also shows an unusual interest in unicorns on occasion).

2377. Rico

Rico (John DiMaggio) is the team's weapons and explosives specialist, who mainly communicates through grunts and squeals. Slightly unhinged, Rico swallows useful tools, such as dynamite, and regurgitates them when needed, to the point of regularly regurgitating objects that appear to be too large for him to have swallowed in the first place. He has been referred to as a psychopath several times.

2324. Kowalski

2163. Private

Private is the youngest and shortest of the penguins. He is voiced by Christopher Knights in the movies/games and by James Patrick Stuart in the series. He has light blue eyes and speaks with a British accent.[11] Private has been known to be a rather curious penguin. He was overprotective of the egg in the episode "Paternal Egg-Stinct", though given how his team mates were treating it (Skipper put it through a dangerous obstacle course, Kowalski tried to use a machine to increase its intelligence with a painful shock, and Rico was flying it with a hang glider), this was (somewhat) rational. Private is very good at deciphering code. Private is also the shyest and least experienced in the group. Private also has a sugar addiction, as seen on the episode Skorka, where he ate the whole box of Peanut Butter Winkeys.
Private has been known to give life lessons like in "Mort Unbound" when he told Mort "There is a natural order of things" but then he was thrown all the way to the penguins HQ and became giant and in "Two Feet High and Rising" "They are just feet not love". Private is emotionally sensitive. Private has been known to say "Um, Skipper?", "Is it safe?", "Goodbye, telly old chum," and "Oh, dear!" Despite his sensitive nature, he is often portrayed as more observant or down to earth than the others (noticing that Skipper's ankle tag had not been taken off, indicating that he did not get a shot or suggesting that Maurice had stumbled back because of being blinded by a camera flash, which Skipper quickly labeled as preposterous though he nevertheless told Kowalski to run a scenario) as well as having fighting skills slightly below or at least on par with Rico and Skipper, as he was able to block rapid strikes from Skipper and disarm him with his feet while spinning on his head, all while blindfolded. On the wall of the Penguin's house is a stuffed fish with a sign "Private's First Prize", which hiding behind it (as well as a bunch of other electronic precautions) is his most prized possession: a butterscotch lollipop. Like Kowalski, he loves candy, but eating too much of it causes him to hallucinate. He has an abnormal fear of badgers and cockroaches, as shown in the "Badger Pride" and "Stop Bugging Me" episodes respectively. When Private is the last available penguin to fix a situation (such as when it's revealed that the penguins had spied on the rest of the zoo occupants or during 'Untouchable'), he is able to rise up to the occasion and reach an end that benefits everyone.
In the "Concrete Jungle Survival" episode, Private received the rank of Private First Class after successfully passing a test in the city. He had been just a Private beforehand.
In the Christmas special "Merry Madagascar" Private finds himself falling in love with Cupid, one of Santa's reindeer. The relationship is short lived however, as Cupid must return and work with Santa... Private reminded her that they would "Always have Madagascar!" as she flew off.

2154. Rico

Rico, voiced by John DiMaggio, does not really talk much. He originally was like the other penguins in Skipper's group (except for blue-green eyes), but the creators later gave him a Mohawk and a scar on his left cheek. Skipper describes him as a "world-class psychopath." Rico appears to be not merely particularly psychotic, but also mentally deficient. In "Friend In A Box" Kowalski points a mind-reading device at him which, while functioning for everybody else, picks up only the word "Fish" being thought by Rico.
He mostly communicates with various grunts, squeals, and gibberish, (though his language seems to have improved by the second season, as he is able to speak short fragments such as "Allow me" and "You're the King") and has displayed a fondness for a plastic doll toy. He's the team's weapons expert and his main function is to regurgitate any necessary tools that Skipper may need for a mission. He's very fond of explosives, and his answer to problems would always be "Kaboom!", if Skipper did not hinder him to blow up a stick of dynamite. In one notable episode, "All Choked Up", the penguins attempt to destroy a robotic zoo guide that has recently been installed, assuming that they will be replaced by robotic animals. Rico eventually regurgitates a time bomb that Skipper then activates. Meanwhile, Alice, upon noticing that Rico is constantly regurgitating, forces him to drink a liquid medicine as a remedy. The penguins then must try to get him to regurgitate the bomb before it explodes inside Rico. Among the many substances Rico ingests to induce vomiting is a combination of monkey feces, raw eggs, and other undesirable substances, which causes a loud rumbling in his abdomen which helps, in the end, Rico finally regurgitating Mort and the bomb. Mort is uninjured but the bomb lands in the robotic zookeeper's hands, and explodes, destroying the robot.
It is revealed that Rico has little tolerance for "mushy" stuff, and often becomes sick when Private gets overly emotional and "lovey-dovey" about something. Another characteristic of Rico is that he might be incredibly superstitious, as, after receiving a rather dismal sounding fortune in a fortune cookie, Rico was a victim of pranks by King Julien who was trying to prove he was right. Even after revealing that Julien was behind the accidents, Rico still needed to have him "take away the curse." He is also insanely skilled with knives and bladed objects, able to make sushi or carve a Christmas tree from ice in a matter of seconds and destroy bowling pins with a chainsaw while blindfolded.
Rico appears to have outstanding opera voice when excited (as seen in episode "Go Fish").

2079. Kowalski

The tallest of the penguins, Kowalski forms plans for the group and usually takes notes for Skipper. When Skipper is absent, he takes charge and his rank is Lieutenant. He has blue eyes and tends to over-analyze situations. He is voiced by Chris Miller in the movies/games and Jeff Bennett in the series.
Kowalski was part of a cadre of devious penguins who had made it their goal to escape captivity in the Central Park Zoo and leave for Antarctica. Often formulating plans for the group, Kowalski was a loyal supporter of his leader, Skipper. Kowalski had escaped the zoo with the other penguins, but was promptly captured and put into a crate for transferring with his comrades. The crates were all placed on a ship bound for Africa, where all the creatures from the zoo would be kept in a wildlife preserve. While in the crate, Kowalski confessed that he could not read (he said the words on the side of the box were an "older code", in slight reference to Star Wars VI) and asked another transferee, a chimpanzee named Phil, to read the words on the crate. As soon as this was done, the four penguins headed to the ship's bridge, knocked out the crew and captain, bound them up, and Kowalski plotted the ship's course to Antarctica.

2043. Skipper

Skipper is the leader of a band of penguins bent on a secret agenda of escaping the confines of the zoo and being free in Antarctica. He is voiced by Tom McGrath in all his appearances, making McGrath the only actor to have appeared in every Madagascar franchise. He has dark, sapphire-blue eyes. It is revealed that he, as well as the others, have no idea what is expected of the penguin species by humans aside from "smile and wave." It comes to the point where Private needs a bird biology book to tell the others how to act, even though it's not addressed how he, nor Kowalski, has been able to read the English language and yet still need Phil and Mason to translate in most instances.
As leader, Skipper was the mastermind behind a plot to escape the confines of the zoo and leave for Antarctica with Kowalski, Rico, and Private as his accomplices. Skipper and his troupe 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 that penguins do not belong in captivity and with that, ordered his accomplices to continue tunneling. Late that night, Skipper and the other penguins were caught by a SWAT team, as were six other animals found outside the zoo. The penguins were tranquilized and put into a crate to be transferred.
When they awoke, Skipper was confused at the lettering on the crate where they were held and ordered a nearby chimpanzee named Mason to read it, with Mason's companion Phil reading it: they were all bound for a wildlife preserve in Africa. Skipper ordered Rico to pick the lock on the crate where they were held, whereupon the four penguins knocked out the crew and took command of the ship, commandeering it to reach Antarctica. Skipper and his mates finally reached Antarctica and were sorely disappointed by the barren, desolate terrain (as evidenced by Private's exclamation, "Well, this sucks...").