>>106090272>PenguinMy Penguin is more supervillain than crimelord, but the sheer amount of resources, contacts and information makes it so that all the other crimelords agree it's best to keep him alive, and although his pompous behavior and comical image makes many disdain him, everyone agrees that Cobblepot is best let alone, secure in his nest of power. He acts as the mediator between the city's crime bosses as well as the "freaks" of Gotham, so whenever one of them is looking to enlist, say, Killer Croc or The Scarecrow for a job, they go to Oswald.
>Rupert ThorneAgainst all odds, Thorne managed to survive the fall of the rest of Gotham's reigning crime lords, and even managed to thrive for a while. Thorne is the representative of the common class of criminal, and he's often the chief reason why most of Gotham's institutions are fundamentally corrupt. Because people like the mayor may not listen to Scarface waving a tommy gun in his face or Cobblepot waddling around blowing smoke everywhere, but they'll listen to their good old friend Thorne. Even though most of the rogues hate Thorne, and Thorne hates that he has to live off their scraps, the bloated toad persists either way.
>Warren WhiteDespite being ostensibly new, The Great White Shark was able to secure himself among Gotham's chief bosses by operating the Crime Exchange within his headquarters in Arkham Asylum, running his empire much like a business and ensuring that, no matter which new hot shot declares himself the King of Gotham this week, he'll always have a system in place to keep him on top. Warren is a sleazy Gordon Gekko, Disney's Hades type, having become much more likeable and charismatic after having turned into a bleached shark person. He and Penguin have the most power over the system that allows Gotham's hyper organized and super crime to thrive.
And that's about it for the head honchos, but then there's other figures like Fay Gunn or The Calculator that figure in their own niches.
