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Sly Cooper

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Sly Cooper, the charismatic main character of the series.
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Sly Cooper, the charismatic main character of the series.

Sly Cooper is the star of the Sly Cooper game series (the series is known as Sly Raccoon in Europe, but the character's name remains unchanged) is the star character and hero of three platform games developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the Sony PlayStation 2.

Story

Sly is a young raccoon who is descended from a long line of master thieves. He grew up an orphan after his father was killed by a gang known as the Fiendish Five. This gang also stole the Thievius Raccoonus, a book containing the Cooper family's thieving techniques. Sly's quest to recover his family's book is the basis for the first game.

Sly's primary weapon in the games is his family's cane, which is a gold stick ending in the shape of a "C" at the top, presumably to stand for "Cooper". It can also be portrayed as a question mark, which represents "the raccoon of mystery". It has the power to unlock the cooper vault.

During the movie sequence that explains the story of Sly's past, it shows many of his ancestors with weapons that have the trademark "C" somewhere. For instance, his ancestor Tennessee Kid Cooper had two pistols, both of which had a golden "C" as the handle.

Sly Cooper is aided in his adventures by his friends Bentley, a brainy turtle, and Murray, a strong, muscular hippo that also acts as a get away driver.

Sly and his friends make their home in Paris, but the nationality of the characters is never made clear in the games, although it is strongly hinted that they originally hail from North America, as Sly states that "...it had been a long time since I had been back in the States" when visiting an American town in the first game.

The world in which Sly Cooper and his friends live appears to be inhabited only by anthropomorphic animals.

Sly's archenemy is Clockwerk, a mysterious robotic owl. He is likely the only animal in the game that is sapient, but not anthropomorphic. Clockwerk is revealed to have been hunting Sly's family line for years, which led to his decision to replace his body with machinery. It is also revealed that Clockwerk spared his life in the attack on his family to prove that the Cooper Clan would be unable to be great thieves without the Thievius Raccoonus.

In the first game, Clockwerk serves as the final boss, as well as the man "pulling the strings".

The second game focuses on a different gang, the Klaww Gang, who has stolen the pieces of Clockwerk's body that were left over after the first game to use in their own plans, and Sly's attempts to recover them.

Inspector Carmelita Fox as she appears in the first game.
Inspector Carmelita Fox as she appears in the first game.

In all three games, Cooper and his friends are pursued by Inspector Carmelita Fox, a detective from Interpol. Although the two are bitter rivals, they team up on occasion to defeat common foes. Carmelita is also portrayed as a possible love interest for Sly. Sly's side of his conversations with Carmelita is flirtatious but his comments are often said in a sarcastic tone.

The third game, , takes place about a year after . It is the first in the series where Clockwerk isn't the main enemy.

This games main objective is to get into the Cooper Vault. This is where the whole cooper line has hidden their loot. The only key into the vault is the cane.

At the end of the second game Bently becomes badly injured and causing him to be in a wheelchair the whole third game. Murray blames himself for the accident and leaves the gang to go study a magical art called the Dream Time in Australia.

You find out that Murray is on a walkabout and was last seen in Venice, Italy. He is told not to stop until "the black water runs clear". The is a perfect spot because the mob boss Don Octavio is pumping the canals with tar. At the end of this level Murray joins back up introducing the main goal of all the levels...building "an army of world class thieves" as Sly puts it.

The final team ends up at seven Characters. You end up teaming up with former enemies like the Panda King from the first game and Dimitri from the second.

Comic

Sly Cooper and other characters from the games were also featured in a comic book published in 2004 by Gamepro Magazine to promote the release of . Issue #2 was made in 2005 to promote .

Issue #1 acted as an in between story between the first and second game, apparently taking place sometime within the 2 year span between them. Murray and Bentley still appear as they did in Sly 1, Murray showing his more carefree demeanor from the first game showing no sign of his more hands on "The Murray" persona that he adopts during the second game and on. Considering Murray's surprise entrance at the beginning of the second game, it is assumed that this was done to keep it a surprise. Sly however, despite still looking quite young in comparison to later on, wears his thief bag around his leg as he does in Sly 2. The plot consists of two flashback stories. One a flashback to the Cooper gang's first taste of thief work as children at the Happy Camper Orphanage (stealing cookies from a greedy sitter), and the other detailing the first time Carmelita and Sly met...which the two relay to each other with opposing points of view during a rare peaceful conversation with each other. After all is said and done, Sly once again escapes Carmelita's grasp by seemingly jumping into the nearby canal. Carmelita is at first very worried that she may have made Sly do something dramatic...but to her chagrin sees that Sly had in fact jumped onto a boat also accompanied by the gang. As the three float down the river, Sly knows he will see Carmelita again soon. Of interesting note is that Dimitri from Sly 2 and 3 makes a cameo appearance, and is drawn in the comic style of the first game as opposed to the more streamlined style the characters are drawn in from here on out. Note that Carmelita swears in this issue.

Issue #2, as opposed to Issue #1's more carefree atmosphere, Issue #2 takes a bleak and darker twist. Taking place after the events of Sly 2, it is confirmed that Murray is the one who saves Sly from Interpol at the end of the said game. Sly is ambiguously rescued in a helicopter from captivity at the end of the said game and it's never revealed completely who it is, although its strongly implied that its Murray. The story of issue two is broken into four parts. The first part consists of Sly finding a member of his father's gang in a maximum-security prison due to an invitation. This member, McSweeny, after an initial tussle apologizes to Sly for not being able to have raised him himself after the murder of Sly's parents, due to his confinement. McSweeny tells Sly of a massive vault on a remote island that contains the accumulated treasure of all the Cooper family members stating it as Sly's inheritance. Informing Sly of where to find the map to this vault, we cut to part two. Part two details Sly and Murray breaking into a Hospital to rescue the injured Bentley from the authorities. Bentley is paralyzed due to the dramatic events at the conclusion of Sly 2. Sadly, Murray's once endless enthusiasm has waned and he has become increasingly insecure with his own actions. This is because he blames himself for Bentley's predicament. Sly worries about this, but concentrates on the matter at hand. The two convince Bentley to return with them, and comfort him by quelling his fears of being a burden on his friends. Just as the three are about to escape however, they are discovered and surrounded by Police. In an uncharacteristically dark tone, Murray demands Sly take Bentley and escape while he deals with the officers. Although Murray seems to have the situation well under control, Sly and Bentley worry that Murray is taking the burden of things too much and isn't using teamwork anymore. Although worried for his friend, Sly takes Bentley to safety with the vow that he'll be back to help Murray whether he likes it or not.

We cut to part 3 here, which consists of Carmelita reviewing footage of Sly and Murray's attempt to steal the map to the Cooper Vault's location from a Venetian museum. Carmelita is perplexed by their unusual sloppiness, and it is revealed that they had in fact failed to get the map and were barely able to escape themselves. She also questions on the missing Bentley, and wonders what's up with Sly's gang. Drifting off into sleep after, Sly breaks into her office and steals the map from under Carmelita's nose. Carmelita however, with an army of mercenaries vows that she will have the last laugh in the end. In the final part, we cut to an undisclosed time later at the Cooper gang's home in Paris. Sly enthusiastically observes Bentley construct an amazing Wheelchair full of gadgets and technology in order to keep on par in the field. Sly and Bentley are eager to start their search for the vault when Murray arrives. Welcoming their friend and brother back, Sly and Bentley are shocked to hear that Murray has decided to leave the gang. Although Bentley doesn't blame Murray at all for what happened, and Sly protests Murray feels that he doesn't want to endanger his friends anymore and leaves for parts unknown at the Comic's bleak conclusion. The events of this issue all tie into events in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, where most find their conclusion.

Biography

Sly as he appears in the Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.
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Sly as he appears in the Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.

Born into a long line of thieves, Sly was destined to inherit the archive of their techniques, the Thievius Raccoonus. However, Sly is robbed of his family and his inheritance when a ruthless gang of thieves raids his home and kills his family, along with stealing and dividing the Thievius Raccoonus. Sly winds up in an orphanage, where he meets his two best friends, Bentley the turtle and Murray the hippo. After forming their brotherhood, they set out to make a name for themselves. In doing so, they earn the attention of Inspector Carmelita Fox, whom Sly becomes rather attracted too.

After years of searching, Sly finds out where the Fiendish Five are and takes them down one by one. He learns about Clockwerk's relation to his family, and retrieves the Thievius Raccoonus. Afterwards, he tricks Carmelita with a kiss, and her reaction, though unnoticed by Sly, shows that she in turn cares for him.

Two years later, Sly and co. return to destroy the Clockwerk parts to prevent their use by evil. After surviving harrowing challenges, they defeat the Klaww Gang. Meanwhile, Sly's feelings of friendship with his pals and attraction towards Carmelita grow. This adventure ends in tragedy, as Bentley is injured.

A year later, Sly goes after the Cooper Vault, the location of his family's stolen fortune. Recruiting several new members to the team, Sly sets out to break into it. Along the way, Sly conflicts with the addition of Panda King to the group. Finally, during a near fatal encounter with Dr. M's simian monster, Sly realizes how much Carmelita means to him. After the final battle with M, Sly is hit and then fakes amnesia, causing Carmelita to take him home with her. In reality, Sly did it to grow closer to her.

According to Sony's Sly Cooper web site, Sly is 18 years old in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. This would make him 20 in Sly 2, and 21 in Sly 3.

Allies

Cooper Gang

Interpol

Others

Enemies

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

The Fiendish Five

The Klaww Gang

Sly's Ancestors

The end of Sly ?

It has been stated by Sucker Punch that the Sly series was meant to be a trilogy, and thus Sly 3 is supposedly the final game in the series. While disheartening at first, when one beats the game they'll find the ending leaves a great amount of unanswered questions. Although the ending seems to serve as a semi-conclusion, it creates more questions than it answers. Many believe that while Sucker Punch has said that the Sly series is over, they may not mean this literally. Bentley himself at the end says that although it is the end of their old adventures, there may be an even bigger one on the horizon. Given the series' popularity as well as a great deal of possibilities for future titles, most agree that this isn't the last we've seen of Sly and the gang, although this is probably the last we'll see him on the Playstation 2

It should be noted that Sly 2 also appeared to be the finale as well, and there has been evidence such as a comment in Disney Adventures magazine concerning Sly, that said "Once a thief, always a thief". Along with Bentley saying it was the end of their old adventures he also quoted: "Only time will tell. Literally, because I am working on a time machine to find out!" This may be a hint to another Sly title, only time will tell.

Many Sly Cooper fans theorize about his life post Cooper Vault Crack. Some think he faked concussion, others think he regained memory and hooked up with Bentley and Murray again, and yet more think that Sly 4 would feature Sly and Carmelita's Son/Daughter. Quote Bentley (again), 'only time will tell."

Awards

Sly Cooper won "Best New Character" at the Game Developer's Conference for 2002.

See also

External links

 


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