Ethel Peabody was a supporting character in the TV series Gotham, appearing in several episodes in Season 2 and the Season 3 premiere. She was the assistant of Professor Hugo Strange who helped him run his research facility at Indian Hill while also working as a psychiatric doctor at Arkham Asylum.
History[]
Working for Professor Strange[]
Dr. Peabody received a body bag at her lab in Indian Hill and told the workers that Professor Strange was interested in the corpse. She then opened the bag, surprising herself when she saw Theo Galavan's corpse with an umbrella stuck in his mouth.
When Hugo Strange took his secret elevator at Arkham Asylum to get to Indian Hill, he met with Peabody to learn the status of the experiments. She told him a certain chemical needed replacing and that Bridgit Pike was not cooperating with the experiments. Strange then received a newspaper detailing about how Mr. Freeze had found a way to perfect the cryogenics which he had been working on for a long time to handle for his experiments.
After Strange fruitlessly attempted to extract Fries' cryogenic compound from the body of one of his victims, he was approached by Peabody who informed him of the transfer request made by the GCPD. Ms. Peabody had her employees forcibly drag Oswald Cobblepot to a chair with restraints and he issued several threats, specifically to Ms. Peabody. However, Peabody disregarded the threats and put a helmet on Penguin for his rehabilitation to begin. After Peabody activated the electricity to shock Oswald, he woke up in the game room of the asylum, believing that he was having a bad dream. He was then convinced by Ms. Peabody to play a game of duck, duck, goose with the other inmates. At that time, the GCPD entered the asylum to transfer Nora Fries. Peabody escorted Leslie Thompkins and Nora to the medical wing of the asylum.
Strange decided to give Oswald a certificate which stated that he was cured and was legally sane, and could, therefore, be released. At that Cobblepot had a burst of joy and returned to his room to collect his belongings, but Ms. Peabody disagreed with the idea and suggested warning the police about Penguin's release. Somewhat annoyed, Strange revealed that Oswald was an experiment which he had deeper plans for, and at the moment could not reveal them to her for her own safety. Notwithstanding, Ms. Peabody found his explanation ridiculous and as what could be deeper than the monsters they were creating in the Indian Hill facility below.
Peabody was present when Strange was doing group therapy which Barbara Kean was part of. After Barbara was released from Arkham, Peabody was told by Strange that he did this in order to study her.
Ms. Peabody informed Strange that someone in Wayne Enterprises was seeking information about Karen Jennings and Pinewood Farms. Later, she informs Strange that Victor Fries had seen Jim Gordon and a boy, who Strange deduced was Bruce Wayne. Suddenly they were alerted by an alarm in the room about Patient 44. Upon arrival to the Indian Hill facility they saw a resurrected Theo Galavan brutally attacking his medical examiners and orderlies, and recited lines from the Order of St. Dumas, screaming "Azrael" towards the end.
Edward Nygma overheard Peabody and Strange talking about how Gordon was proving to be a problem to their current plans. Nygma called them over and offered his help in taking Gordon down, but Strange refused, though Nygma unintentionally gave him an idea of how to solve his problem with Theo Galavan. Later, Professor Strange and Ms. Peabody watched as Galavan watched a video teaching him about the Order of St. Dumas in the reanimation lab. Strange told Peabody that Galavan's mind couldn't reconcile death and rebirth until he gave it a grander context. In Arkham's cafeteria, Nygma was still upset about how Strange had dismissed him earlier. Ms. Peabody arrived and asked Aaron Helzinger to come with her. As she closed the door, Nygma held it open with a newspaper. He realized that Strange was hiding something, and followed Peabody and Aaron into a corridor and discovered a secret passage in the hallway. Aaron was brought into the lab, and Strange ordered Theo to vanquish him, as a test. He then pointed to a metal case and told him that it contained everything he needed to defeat Helzinger, though instead of opening it, he took the case and knocked Aaron unconscious with it. Strange then ordered Theo to open the case, and he found a sword, which Professor Strange told him was the Sword of Sin, though Peabody noted to Strange that it was only a replica. Professor Strange then ordered Theo to kill James Gordon.
While in Indian Hill, Selina Kyle overheard a conversation between Strange and Peabody in which they revealed themselves to be responsible for having sent Azrael after Gordon. Strange then told Peabody that the facility needed to be shut down, and all patients moved to a new location. Selina entered a training room where she saw her old friend, Bridgit Pike, who was dressed in a new fireproof suit. Bridgit prepared to burn Selina, thinking she was one of the test subjects sent by Professor Strange. Selina tried to remind her of their friendship and told her about her accident, but Bridgit ignored her as she was suffering from amnesia. Failing to reason with Bridgit, Selina tried to escape the room, but all the exits are locked. Though Selina pleaded with Bridgit not to attack her, Bridgit told her that her name was Firefly before using her flamethrower. Inside the control room, Strange and Peabody watched the events unfold.
Strange and Peabody revived a patient named Basil, who after being resurrected touched his face, and noticed that it had the ability to stretch. Unfortunately, the patient remembered nothing of his past life. Outside the room, Peabody warned Strange that their employers were going to shut them down. However, Strange was not deterred. Later, Nygma was cornered in a cell, with a cannibalistic inmate, Stirk. However, he pleaded with Peabody to let him out, offering to help stop Jim Gordon and the GCPD. Strange and Peabody observed the recently resurrected Fish Mooney in her cell from a security monitor. The two then theorized why Fish was able to come back with her memories, but Strange said that their employers would be pleased as they created the first true reanimate. Peabody then asked Strange whether he had thought about Nygma's offer, and he told her that he'd give Nygma a chance. She then informed Strange that Bruce Wayne was outside of Arkham asking for him. Peabody took Lucius Fox on a tour around the asylum, on his request. Lucius informed Gordon that if he saw anything suspicious he would mark it with white chalk. Lucius eventually found the entrance to the Indian Hill facility using his device and marked the wall with white chalk before continuing on the tour with Peabody.
Peabody was taken control of by Mooney and helped her escape. She attempted to stop Strange from getting the bomb to blow up, but he knocked her out. When she woke up, she was asked how to disarm the bomb, as Lucius and Gordon aren't able to come up with an idea on how to diffuse it. Peabody simply said: "water." With a few seconds left on the timer, Gordon threw water on the circuits of the bomb and it miraculously turned off. Afterward, he and Lucius realized that Peabody was actually asking them for water for her to drink.
After Arkham[]
Jim later encountered Peabody while she was under house arrest in exchange for testifying against Strange. Gordon stated that Fish might be after her. Gordon was actually using Peabody as bait when two Indian Hill escapees attacked. They defeated Gordon and the two of them made off with Peabody while one of the mutants was left to fight Gordon. In the presence of Fish, Peabody stated that she knew that her abilities were causing her body to reject her new cells. She stated that she couldn't re-order her DNA, but upon being touched by Fish, she stated that Strange might be able to fix her. Mooney then had her fellow escapee Marv drain Peabody's youth, causing her to die of old age.