Private is the youngest penguin in the Madagascar films.
Private is the smallest and youngest member of the penguin team led by Skipper. He often approaches missions with more innocence than the others, but he is also brave and eager to prove himself. His teammates are Skipper, the commander; Kowalski, the strategist and inventor; and Rico, the team’s unpredictable specialist.
The character’s name is a military rank, fitting the penguins’ parody of a covert operations unit. Private’s role is not the same as being the team leader or chief planner. Those positions belong to Skipper and Kowalski respectively, while Rico is known for swallowing and producing an unusual range of equipment.
Private appears in the original Madagascar films and later became one of the central characters of The Penguins of Madagascar television series and the 2014 feature film Penguins of Madagascar.