History Characters / SlyCooperTheMainTrio

** Clockwerk: Both were heads of a grand group of thieves, only their priorities were quite mirrored to each other. Sly wants to live into the reputation and legacy of his family lineage, while Clockwork only cared about his own glory and revenge. Eventually gaining immortality through his sheer hatred of the Cooper family and his trading ordinary skill for an entirely mechanical body. Sly may be a thief, but he's still empathetic towards many on his journey (carmelita, jean bison). Clockwork meanwhile is nothing but a sociopathic monster who wanted to prove he was right that the Cooper Clan would be nothing as he [[KillEmAll hunted them all down]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Kevin Miller (English), Cédric Dumont (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Matt Olsen (English), Yann Pichon (French)

->'''Voiced by:''' Chris Murphy (English), Gilbert Lévy (French)

* WouldHitAGirl: Sly has no qualms about smacking the female antagonists with his cane. Especially Neyla and Penelope, since both betrayed him.

%%**Clockwerk (legacy vs. immortality, empathy vs. sociopathy)

Our protagonists. They were initially a PowerTrio, but by the third game their ranks had grown to seven, [[spoiler:but then reduced to six as of the fourth game]].

* CaperCrew: Smaller than a usual crew, but the team gets by. Sly generally covers any jobs that requires sneaking, burglary or disguises. Bentley covers tech-based jobs such as demolitions or hacking while Murray serves as the team muscle/driver. In the third game, the Guru is recruited as a supernatural specialist, the Panda King is a dedicated demo man, Penelope [[spoiler:was]] an RC vehicles expert and Dimitri is a scuba diver.

** Over the course of the games, Sly more openly expresses his faith in Bentley and Murray as teammates and friends, and becomes more focused on their needs as a result. He also goes from smarmy and bitter in the first game, to more openly smug and self-confident in the second. The dramatic events of the second game's plot and the sacrifices that Bentley and Murray go through help him greatly, and begin causing him to consider the positive and negative impacts he's made on the people around him. [[spoiler: His talk with Doctor M. during the climax of the third game also demonstrates how fortune and wealth were never goals for him to attain, and he ends the trilogy choosing to duck out of a life of crime to live with Carmelita. He also hands over his family's ''massive'' fortune to the Cooper Gang, letting go of his heritage now that he's satisfied in proving himself.]]
** Murray starts off as a LovableCoward, but develops more confidence in the two-year TimeSkip, and becomes "The Murray", but his deeper voice tone implies this is all an act for the sake of his friends. [[spoiler: It comes crashing down when Clock-La cripples Bentley, and it takes Octavio kicking Bentley out of his wheelchair and insulting him for Murray to toss his cowardice (and pacifism) for good, and his voice returns to the way it was in the first game]].
** The bulk of character development is done by Bentley, who changes radically with each game. In the first, Bentley is the MissionControl NonActionGuy, content with giving Sly intel through the binocucom and helping you navigate the levels. During the climax, when Sly is trapped by Clockwerk, Bentley steps up and uses his hacking knowledge to save Sly from certain doom. His growing confidence continues into ''2'', where Bentley becomes a field operative, begins planning the heists that the player goes on, [[spoiler: and saves the day in Jailbreak when the rest of the gang becomes captured]]. After being [[spoiler: crippled]] during the climax of ''2'', [[spoiler: Bentley becomes saddled to a wheelchair. Rather than weigh him down, Bentley uses his ingenuity to become ''much'' more dangerous than ever before, even coming to rival ''Sly'' in mobility and Murray in destructive potential. He also begins to question his relation to Sly and the rest of the gang, with Doctor M. trying to prey on his feelings of [[AlwaysSecondBest inadequacy towards Sly]]. After Murray gives him a pep talk by pointing out how Sly would never abandon them and reminding him of how much Sly values their companionship, Bentley [[ShutUpHannibal rebukes Doctor M.]] and stays loyal to Sly. His reward is a veritable fortune and a new love in Penelope, though even when Penelope [[FaceHeelTurn turns traitor]], he showcases the strength he's gained over the years by saving his friends in the nick of time.]]

* HeelFaceTurn: Three of the recruits in the third game (Penelope, Panda King, and Dimitri) started off as villains in their debut. [[spoiler:Penelope eventually returns to villainy, in '''another''' Black-themed persona]].

* MultinationalTeam: Sly, Bentley, and Murray are Americans who live in France, Dimitri is French, the Guru is Australian, Panda King is Chinese, and [[spoiler: Former member]] Penelope is Dutch.

* RuleOfSeven: The group expands to seven by the end of the third game, with The Guru, Penelope, the Panda King, and Dimitri joining. [[spoiler:Penelope's betrayal reduces the number to six]].
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Penelope was the only woman in the team for awhile. [[spoiler:However, she pulls a FaceHeelTurn, leaving the team as an all-male group again]].

* TokenEvilTeammate: In ''Honor Among Thieves'', the Panda King, one of the Fiendish Five who killed Sly's father, is recruited into the gang. Whereas his teammates are simply thieves, he's expressly guilty of domestic terrorism, having buried entire, innocent villages in snow during the first game. While the tensions between them ease over time, Sly never outwardly forgives the Panda King. [[spoiler: Penelope retroactively takes his place as the true Token Evil Teammate before she defects to Le Paradox's group.]]
* TrueCompanions: Sly, Bentley, and Murray have been together since they were young children, and explicitly call one another family on multiple occasions. Near the end of the third game, Sly even calls the new recruits family as well [[spoiler:(even if Penelope turned out to be a FalseFriend later on)]].

* AesopAmnesia: Between the third and fourth games. In the third, he decides that the cat-and-mouse game with Carmelita is actually him being cowardly, and he even [[spoiler:fakes amnesia, giving up his life of crime and his family legacy,]] [[RelationshipUpgrade so that he can be with her]]. In the fourth game, Sly's begins considering [[spoiler:getting back into crime]] ([[CantStayNormal out of boredom]]) before the bigger picture even gives him an excuse to. He doesn't even seem to consider jeopardizing his relationship with Carmelita as a SadisticChoice.

* AmnesiacLover: Played with. [[spoiler:He fakes amnesia in order to finally get together with Carmelita in the third game.]]

* CantStayNormal: While he clearly loves [[spoiler:spending time with Carmelita, by the fourth game he admits he can't resist the itch to pull a heist again and was even planning on doing a solo job before the bigger picture was revealed.]]

* ChickMagnet: As pointed out by Bentley in the third game, ladies tend to flock for Sly. [[spoiler:Subverted with Neyla and Penelope, who flirt with Sly and are both evil]].

* CriminalAmnesiac: Inverted and subverted; [[spoiler:he only pretends to have amnesia to hook up with Carmelita.]]

* DominoMask: He has never been seen without it outside of some of his disguises, even as a child, while disguised for Rajan's ball and [[spoiler:while faking amnesia to get with Carmelita]].

* EasyAmnesia: Subverted in [[spoiler:the ending of the third game, where he only fakes amnesia to get with Carmelita.]]

* {{Flanderization}}: His portrayal in ''Thieves in Time'' steps back on some of the maturity he's gained over the course of the original trilogy, with his playful attitude being given more spotlight via him being more prone to making corny jokes, combined with how his urge for thievery comes back. It's still relatively downplayed compared to Murray or Carmelita, however, as his sense of justice is still present and he manages to keep his genuine love for his friends intact, such as [[spoiler: vowing to avenge Bentley when Penelope betrays the gang.]]

* GreaterNeedThanMine: Near the end of ''Sly 4'', [[spoiler:Sly tells Bentley and Murray to take Carmelita and get off of the blimp before it collapses while he goes to finish Le Paradox himself.]]

* ItsPersonal: In ''Sly 4'', Sly says this verbatim when [[spoiler:the gang learns of Penelope's betrayal. It's one thing to betray their trust and friendship, but she crossed the line by betraying Bentley's heart]].

-->[[spoiler:'''Carmelita:''' Sly, I, uh...]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Sly:''' I know. Me too.]]

* LoveEpiphany: Sly has always harbored a crush on Carmelita, but it's not until ''Honor Among Thieves'''s final episode that he realizes how serious his feelings are. The catalyst for this realization occurs in the episode's intro cutscene. Near-death and reflecting on his life, Sly explicitly recalls [[spoiler: Bentley and Penelope's loving relationship and decides that's what ''he'' wants, too. He vows to confess as much to Carmelita if he escapes Kaine Island alive. Sly ultimately makes good on his promise, leaving his thieving lifestyle behind to live with Carmelita as a changed man (until ''Thieves in Time'', that is)]].

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: The swave, calculating, Feminine Boy to Carmelita's hotheaded, agressive, Masculine Girl.
* MotiveMisidentification: In ''Sly 2'', [[spoiler: he initially believes that Arpeggio reassembled Clockwerk's frame solely because he couldn't fly, outright calling him pathetic for it. As it turns out, Arpeggio ''actually'' did so because he's [[ImmortalitySeeker after Clockwerk's immortality]].]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Near the end of ''Sly 2'', [[spoiler:he attempts to stop Clockwerk's reassembly by reversing the polarity on the magnetic fields they are using to do so in the hopes that Clockwerk will be pulled apart. Instead, he only ends up locking the Clockwerk parts together]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: If he drops his fun loving DeadpanSnarker demeanor, it means he's getting serious. Tsao, [[spoiler:Penelope]], and [=LeParadox=] would all learn the hard way.

* PhantomThief: This guy is very sneaky, he has not been to prison for all the laws he broke. [[spoiler:The sole exception is when Neyla betrays him and Murray to The Contessa, who throws him into her private prison, with Bentley breaking them out after exposing her treachery to Interpol]].

* PreciousPhoto: Carries one of him and Carmelita during happier times during the events of ''Thieves in Time.'' [[spoiler:It ends up in Carmelita's possession after he disappears in the end.]]
* PrimaryColorChampion: While he mostly wears blue, he has a red backpack and his cane, sleaves, belt, and scarf are yellow.

* StarCrossedLovers: Him and Carmelita. [[spoiler:It's played with in the first game with Carmelita's MercyLead, and he is rescued by his friends just as Carmelita was about to break out a glass of wine for the occasion of his arrest with him in the second. In the third game, he fakes amnesia after being injured by Dr. M. and ends up with Carmelita in Paris. In the fourth game, he vanishes without a trace to ancient Egypt as Carmelita and the Cooper Gang try to bring him back home]].
* StealthHiBye: He's a master at this, somehow he's been able to: [[spoiler: handcuff Carmelita to a rail after the ten second head start -- 9 he used to get to her and one to kiss her on the lips, no less! -- escape Rajan's palace and leaving a calling card in her hair, and even escape just as Carmelita wakes up from being possessed by an ancient mask.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In ''Sly 4'', Sly gives this to Le Paradox [[spoiler:when told of his revenge plan regarding the Cooper lineage -- to be known as the world's greatest thief by stealing their canes. Sly calls him out on this, pointing out that Le Paradox never did the ''actual'' stealing; rather, he got his "partners" to do all the dirty work before tossing them aside and claiming credit for what ''they'' did. Furthermore, Sly also mentions that going after the Cooper line for such a petty reason -- for no other purpose than to feed his ego -- was just downright stupid, because it not only ended up drawing Sly's attention (and thus interference) in the first place, it also drew Carmelita's attention to his stolen treasure smuggling ring. Put straight, Le Paradox lost everything because he couldn't resist showing off.]]
* ThisIsUnforgivable: His reaction in ''Thieves in Time'' when he discovers that [[spoiler:Penelope betrayed the team, broke Bentley's heart, and sold out to Le Paradox]] is outrage. Sly immediately declares ItsPersonal and goes out to make them ''pay''.

* TrappedInThePast: By the end of ''Thieves In Time'', [[spoiler:he's been stranded in Ancient Egypt.]]

* UnknownRival: Sly had no idea that [[spoiler:[[RivalTurnedEvil Penelope]] is plotting to murder him out of jealous spite]] until it was almost too late.

* WouldHitAGirl: Sly has no qualms about smacking the female antagonists with his cane. Especially [[spoiler:Neyla and Penelope, since both betrayed him]].

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Averted. Despite his scientific outlook, he has apparently found verifiable paranormal activity even before the first game, and does not hesitate to act upon it and utilize it to his advantage. Taken even further in the second game, where he is perfectly willing to fight one of the villain's black magic with "bad mojo" bombs and camera-rolls filled with ghosts. He is slightly skeptical of the Mask of Dark Earth's importance in the second level of the third game, however, but doesn't overlook it as a threat because of all the ghosts and demons they've encountered thus far. Played straight again in the fourth game, where he doubts the Moat Monster is real. [[spoiler:He turns out to be partly right: there is a monster, but it's a giant machine, not a flesh-and-blood creature.]]
* ArchEnemy: [[spoiler:''Of Mice and Mechs'' ends with Bentley and Penelope as enemies, and will eventually clash again if her postcards are to be believed.]]

* BadassBookworm: From the second game onwards, he's become a competent field man, but remains the MissionControl and brains of the operation.
* BarefootCartoonAnimal: One of the few characters who does not wear any sort of soled shoe, opting instead for just a pair of white spats. [[spoiler:Makes sense after the end of ''Sly 2'', in which case his feet are no longer useful for walking on.]]

* BirdsOfAFeather: He and Penelope connect over seeming to have many things in common: technological geniuses, apparently having similar interests, looking for love, etc. [[spoiler:Subverted in ''Thieves in Time'', when Penelope reveals her true colors as a ruthless, power-hungry villain in contrast to Bentley's loyalty to Sly and Murray. It turns out Penelope was faking her feelings to take advantage of Bentley and get make a huge fortune in weapon designs]].
* BreakTheCutie: Literally in [[spoiler:the end of ''Sly 2''. Brutally straight in ''Sly 4'']]. See HeroicBSOD below.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In ''Sly 4'', when Bentley fights against [[spoiler:Penelope]], he will sometimes taunt, "That mech design is so 2005!", which was the release year of ''Sly 3''.

* CowardlyLion: At least in the second game, anyway. Multiple times, Bentley is shown to be scared to death in the field, to the point that he cuts off a conversation with Sly in Paris in fear. But he presses ahead regardless, not letting it slow him down. [[spoiler:Strangely, being confined to a wheelchair actually seems to make him ''more'' courageous]], as in 3 and 4, he doesn't show nearly as much fear as before, likely having become much more comfortable with field work.
* CrazyJealousGuy: Played straight in the third game, when Penelope falls for Sly and compliments him all the time, best shown in the fourth level's opening episode, when he cuts off her flirting with him by telling him to climb up to Murray. [[spoiler:Eventually Bentley would earn Penelope's love when rescuing her from Captain LeFwee. Too bad LoveMakesYouEvil on her part]].

* CutLexLuthorACheck: Something [[spoiler:Penelope]] calls him out on in ''Thieves in Time''. As they point out, Bentley could easily change the world and make a fortune with his inventions, but instead, he chooses to waste his talents by being the brains of a gang of thieves.

* FalseSoulmate: [[spoiler:His first girlfriend, Penelope, turned out to be a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] GoldDigger who never loved him. Bentley has yet to find a SecondLove]].

* TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest: [[spoiler:Subverted. Despite his initial HeroicBSOD, Bentley quickly gets over his break-up with Penelope, mainly because he caught her trying to murder Sly, and saw her true nature as a [[GoldDigger gold-digging]] {{Yandere}}. Sly himself points out that Bentley became much happier and confident without her]].

* FriendVersusLover: [[spoiler:Bentley ends up in this dilemma when he realizes that Penelope irreconcilably hates his friends, conflicted by having to choose her or his friends. When he talks with her and learns she's nothing but a [[TheSociopath vile scumbag with no morals whatsoever]], Bentley chooses Sly and Murray and abandons Penelope for good]].
* GeniusCripple: In [[spoiler:the third game onwards, due to Clock-La crippling him with her beak at the second game's climax.]]

* HandicappedBadass: In the third game and beyond. [[spoiler:A wheelchair doesn't stop him from risking his life in the field and he has a much more useful melee attack.]]
* HeroicBSOD: Once Bentley realized that [[spoiler:the reason why Penelope vanished in the beginning of ''Sly 4'' was because she was TheMole for Le Paradox and that she betrayed him and the gang. Needless to say, he did not take it well, tucking inside of his shell. Due to this, Carmelita, Sly, and Sir Galleth were the ones narrating the chalk talk plan, which was usually exclusive to Bentley being the planner and all]].
* HeroicSecondWind: He gets over his HeroicBSOD soon enough and [[spoiler:shows up to take Penelope on himself with his own MiniMecha, JustInTime to stop her from killing Sly. As pointed out in Sly's narration afterwards, he bounced back stronger than ever]].

* KirkSummation: He calls out [[spoiler:Penelope]] for her selfishness, telling her that she's an idiot for siding with Le Paradox for petty reasons, and is now his puppet [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness who's strings will be cut when she's outlived her usefulness]]. [[spoiler:Penelope responds [[ShutUpKirk by attacking him]], proving that she's never truly cared for Bentley but saw him as a mere object, and always acted purely in self-interest]].

* NotSoDifferentRemark: Dr M. points out that they both [[spoiler:play the same role in the Cooper Gang, a role for which Dr M. felt marginalized. Bentley, though, gives a ShutUpHannibal in response.]]

* PairTheSmartOnes: Him and Penelope at the end of the third game... [[spoiler:not so much the fourth game.]]

* PreciousPhoto: Bentley is known to have two of them with him at all times, one of his deceased mother, and the other of Penelope. [[spoiler:The latter succumbs to MustacheVandalism when Penelope betrays him]].

* TheResenter: He comes close to this to Sly in the third game. [[spoiler:He gets over it before it can become a problem with a little help from Murray.]]
* ScarsAreForever: There's a reason why [[spoiler:he's in that wheelchair...]]

* SuperDrowningSkills: Ironic, even though he's a ''turtle''. However, this becomes justified from ''Sly 3'' onwards.
* SuperWheelchair: Due to the events of [[spoiler:''Band of Thieves''.]] He updates it with stuff like bombs and rocket boosters. In ''VideoGame/PlaystationMoveHeroes'', he's updated to a full-fledged hoverchair. It also gives him a better melee attack than before.

* ThisCannotBe: He does ''not'' handle [[spoiler:Penelope's betrayal]] well. ''At all.''
-->'''Bentley:''' It's not possible! [[spoiler:Penelope]]... But why would she...?! [...] Aah! I think I'm going to be sick.

* UndyingLoyalty: Twice in the series, he's offered a chance to join the opposing faction rather than work with Cooper (In the third game by Dr. M and [[spoiler:in the fourth game by Penelope]]). Both times he refuses.

-->'''Bentley:''' [[spoiler:"Pick me up... '''I can't walk!'''"]]

* WrongGuyFirst: [[spoiler:Bentley shows [[MyGreatestFailure nothing but regret]] for giving his heart to the sociopathic Penelope, who gleefully crushed it behind his back. He has yet to find another girlfriend, though]].

* AchillesInHisTent: The third game, due to his guilt over Bentley's crippling. It stops when [[spoiler:Murray sees Octavio kick Bentley out of his wheelchair, and he exclaims that "The Murray" is back.]]

* BadassDriver: Shown in the games, [[spoiler:and he's a professional race car driver at the end of the third game.]]

* BoisterousBruiser: THE MURRAY will gleefully chew the scenery as hard as he punches whatever's blocking his path.

* CompanionCube: The team van. [[spoiler:It even had a part to play in getting the Panda King to be a member of the team and extremely essential to the team in the fourth game.]] Whenever Murray loses it or finds it in trouble he'll run to save it by any means necessary.

* EmotionalBruiser: He certainly cries more than the other members of the Cooper Gang. He is also deeply affected when [[spoiler:Bentley loses his ability to walk. As a result, he leaves the gang, overcome with guilt at not being able to save his friend.]]

* HeroicBSOD: In-between ''Band of Thieves'' and ''Honor Among Thieves'', he goes through one because he [[spoiler:blames himself for Bentley's crippling injury at the hands of Clock-La. He gets over it during the fight with Octavio]].

* HesBack: "THE MURRAY RETURNS!" [[spoiler: when he fights Octavio]].

* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler:Murray blames himself for the damage dealt to Bentley by Clock-la during the ending of the second game, and refuses to go back to fighting as long as he has Bentley's blood on his hands (as far as he sees it). Bentley has a heart-to-heart with Murray during the third game where he tells Murray that, despite his injuries and paralysis, he has never blamed Murray for a moment for it. It takes Murray seeing Bentley knocked to the ground out of his wheelchair for him to throw his guilt away and save his friends.]]

* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:He blamed himself for Bentley's injuries at the end of Band of Thieves and quits the gang to try and find a more peaceful way of life during the time between the second and third games.]]

** Like Sly, Murray did ''not'' take [[spoiler:Penelope's betrayal]] well. This motivates him into walking into a moat in scuba gear to blow up a drawbridge, all while sporting a PsychoticSmirk. ''Never'' mess with "The Murray"!

* StepfordSmiler: It is made clear several times in the second game that Murray's confidence is all an act, and is still a LovableCoward, but he cares for his friends so much, that he's willing to fight in the front lines for them. [[spoiler:The act drops when Bentley is crushed at the end]].

* UnknownRival: Murray didn't know that [[spoiler:Penelope was plotting to murder him out of jealousy and spite]].

** [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Inspector Carmelita Fox’s]] role in the series makes her the most prominent foil to Sly in a number of ways. Both are greatly skilled in their fields, have a strong sense of righteousness, and even a family legacy to live up to ([[AllThereInTheManual the strategy guide]] for ''The Sly Collection'' describes Carmelita as a fourth-generation police officer). However, the two work on opposite sides of the law as a thief and cop, and have quite a number of contrasts personality-wise: Sly as a GentlemanThief is easygoing, collected and friendly towards his teammates, while [[InspectorJavert Carmelita]] is serious, obsessive and temperamental to the point of performing recklessness conduct when tailing Sly. To drive the point home, Sly and Carmelita [[AnimalStereotypes are also]] [[TanukiKitsuneContrast a raccoon and fox respectively]], with Sly embodying the playful jovialness associated with his species while Carmelita embodies the more aloof elegance associated with her species, even if lacking the more deceitful (or “[[JustForPun sly]]”) traits of [[CunningLikeAFox the archetypical fox]]. But if anything, this may as well be a case of OppositesAttract.

* NiceMeanAndInBetween: While all of them are honourable thieves, Murray is a BruiserWithASoftCenter (nice), Bentley is the most cynical and temperamental of the group (mean) and Sly is GentlemanThief but won't back down from a fight (in-between).

* NiceMeanAndInBetween: While all of them are honourable thieves, Murray is a BrusierWithASoftCenter (nice), Bentley is the most cynical and temperamental of the group (mean) and Sly is GentlemanThief but won't back down from a fight (in-between).

* MultinationalTeam: Sly, Bentley, and Murray are Americans who live in France, Dimitri is French, the Guru is Australian, and Panda King is Chinese. [[spoiler: Former member]] Penelope is Dutch.

* WeaponOfChoice: The Cooper Cane. His father's version, anyway. He's also handy with a bow.

* TurtlePower: A GeniusCripple turtle.

* MultinationalTeam: Sly, Bentley, and Murray are Americans, Dimitri is French, the Guru is Australian, and Panda King is Chinese. [[spoiler: Former member]] Penelope is Dutch.

->'''Voiced by:''' Chris Murphy (English), Gilbert Levy (French)

* NiceHat: In the first game, you can even make it into a bomb!

* GuestStarPartyMembers: In the second and third games, there is at least one episode where he isn't playable in the hub world but is still temporarily used in missions. In ''2'''s "Jailbreak", he's captured by the Contessa and only rescued at the very end, while in ''3'''s "An Opera of Fear", he has a strict vow of pacifism and only rejoins the gang after Octavio attacks Bentley.

* InformedAttribute: Supposedly they only steal from other criminals and never ordinary people, but numerous cutscenes throughout the series say otherwise. [[JustifiedTrope Of course]], Sly does say the Coopers ''specialize'' in stealing from criminals not that they ''only'' steal from them.