Rico is the designated weapons and combat specialist of the Penguin Commandoes. He displays an obsession with explosives, some knowlege of Japanese and some rather questionable physiology (by firing candies from his gut like a machinegun, and regurgitating any item on cue) in the Christmas Caper, but his character mellows out by the time the Madagascar movie continuity begins, displaying more complicated skills such as picking locks and slicing fish into sushi with blinding speed.