We knew that "Gotham," Fox's upcoming show about the humble beginnings of the Dark Knight, was going to be told through the eyes of a younger Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie). What we didn't know until we watched the pilot, however, was that the breakout star of the series would be the Penguin -- or, in his earlier, pre-Batman days, Oswald Cobblepott.

Cobblepott, who is played by an excellent Robin Lord Taylor, is a bona fide scene-stealer. So we at MTV News are thrilled to debut a first look at this complicated, treacherous character, who will make his debut on the "Gotham" premiere on September 22.

"Anybody ever tell you, when you walk, you look just like a penguin?" a driver asks as he picks up a hitchhiking Cobblepott in the video.

"No," Cobblepott replies, with an eerie demeanor that suggests this good Samaritan is not long for this world. "Nobody has ever told me that."

We then see a peek at Cobblepott's rise through the ranks of Gotham's seedy underworld, as Taylor and showrunner Bruno Heller ("Rome") explain how a man this despicable is able to make things work.

"In the beginning, Oswald starts out as a toadie, as a grunt, for Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), who is a crime boss in Gotham City," Taylor explains.

"There is a split in the underworld between the Maroni family and the Falcone family, so a character like Penguin, for instance, is able to come in and play both sides against each other," Heller adds.

And it's not just the crime families -- in the rest of the clip, we also see Cobblepott hilariously playing with some Gotham detectives.

"When Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered, he sees that as an opportunity to make his move, to finally become someone of power and of status," Taylor concludes. "He's learned to play good people off of bad people off of good people. It's fascinating."

Find out more about Cobblepott -- including McKenzie's thoughts on the character -- in the clip, and be sure to check out the "Gotham" premiere on Monday, September 22 at 8 p.m. on Fox.