History VideoGame / SlyCooper

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sly_cooper_gang.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The gang prepares for a heist. [[note]]From left: [[RascallyRaccoon Sly]], [[GadgeteerGenius Bentley]] and [[LargeHam Murray]].[[/note]] ]]

->''"There's no [[HonorAmongThieves honor]], no challenge, no fun in stealing from ordinary people. You rip off a master criminal, then you know you're a master thief."''
-->-- '''Sly Cooper'''

''Sly Cooper'' is a series of 3D {{platformer}}s published by [[Creator/{{Sony}} Sony Computer Entertainment]] and developed by Creator/{{Sucker Punch}}. The only slightly lesser-known member of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2's trio of Mascots, along with [[VideoGame/JakAndDaxter Jak]] and [[Franchise/RatchetAndClank Ratchet]].

Set in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals, that takes pains to resemble a Saturday morning AnimatedSeries, the games in the ''Sly'' franchise tell the tale of the world's greatest, yet most honorable, thief. The Cooper family (all raccoons) have been thieves for generations, extending back to prehistory if the stories are to be believed. Sly, the latest in the line, is orphaned as a child when rivals show up at his father's home to finish him off. In the orphanage, he picks up two lifelong compatriots, [[TheSmartGuy genius]] Bentley (a turtle) and [[TheBigGuy super-strong]] Murray (a hippo). They grow up, and set off into the world to honor the Cooper legacy, mostly by robbing other criminals blind ([[ChallengeSeeker There's no honor, no challenge, and no fun in taking from good people; taking from thieves is a real test]]).

The gang is pursued by Carmelita Fox ([[SpeciesSurname a fox, naturally]]), Interpol inspector and primary love interest. As with Zenigata in ''Franchise/LupinIII'', Sly normally sets the bad guy he's up against to be arrested by Carmelita after he's done with them, while he escapes. [[note]][[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist That little allusion]] should indicate just what Carmelita's role is. Well, aside from being {{Fanservice}} and the LoveInterest.[[/note]]

The series currently spans three games for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and one on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita:

[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'' (2002)
* ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'' (2004)
* ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' (2005)
* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'' (2013)
[[/index]]

A fifth game [[SequelHook was teased at the end]] of ''Thieves in Time'', but never came about. Creator/SanzaruGames, creators of ''Thieves in Time'', have expressed interest in continuing the series, but have confirmed that it's up to Sony whether or not another Sly game will be made. However, with Sanzaru now an UsefulNotes/{{Oculus|Rift}} subsidiary and Sucker Punch having moved on to [[VideoGame/{{Infamous}} new]] [[VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima projects]], the series' future remains unknown at this point.

The gameplay in all of the titles is fairly consistent. Sly has incredible jumping and climbing ability, and can move silently for stealthy knock outs. Most missions involve getting to somewhere, fighting some guards, doing a minigame puzzle, and getting out again. In the second game, Murray and Bentley are playable, with an even bigger cast in the third, including some missions played as Carmelita (the gang tricks her into helping them out).

A pair of two promotional comics created by Sucker Punch Productions called ''ComicBook/TheAdventuresOfSlyCooper'' was published by [=GamePro=] Magazine and Creator/DCComics in 2004 and 2005.

In 2005, a short-lived manga was distributed in the Japan-only ''[=Comic BomBom=]'' magazine to promote the Japanese release of the second game, and can be read about [[https://slycooper.fandom.com/wiki/Sly_Cooper_(manga) here]]. Sly ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Bentley]]) also teamed up with ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' and ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' in the three-way crossover ''VideoGame/PlaystationMoveHeroes'', and Sly is also a playable character in the MascotFighter ''VideoGame/PlaystationAllStarsBattleRoyale''. [[WesternAnimation/SlyCooper2016 A film]] was also confirmed in 2014, but was cancelled as ''WesternAnimation/RatchetAndClank2016'' was a BoxOfficeBomb. However, [[http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/technicolor-sony-team-on-cg-sly-cooper-series/ a CG-animated television series was announced in its place]]. It was set for an October 2019 release, but has not aired and is believed to be in DevelopmentHell.

As a video game stylized after a cartoon, it draws heavily on AnimationTropes and VideoGameTropes.
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!!This series contains examples of:
* AesopAmnesia: In the second game, Carmelita warms up slightly to Sly and comes to somewhat enjoy their game of cat-and-mouse like he does. In the third game, she's not only back to her old hard-nosed self, but also becomes [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk cold enough]] to be considered an antagonist. Sly himself lampshades this in the third game when asking what happened to the "demure girl" that he used to know, to which Carmelita replies that she grew up and no longer takes grief from criminals. Also happens in between the first and second games. Justified in that at the end of both the first and second games, Sly does something to irritate Carmelita and she vows to continue tracking him down. At the end of the first game, he used the learning moment to [[spoiler:handcuff Carmelita to a rail so he can escape]], and in the second game, he [[spoiler:jumps out of the helicopter they were in carrying one of her prized possessions (only to give it back to her later)]]. Though Carmelita wasn't that upset about the latter, she seemed ''happy'' about it.
** Sly, between the third and fourth games. In the third, he decides that the cat-and-mouse game with her 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 already considering [[spoiler:getting back into crime]] ([[ChronicVillainy because he's bored]]) before the plot gives him an excuse to. He doesn't even seem to consider jeopardizing his relationship with Carmelita as a SadisticChoice.
* AirVentPassageway: Used as an Air-Vent ''Entrance'', usually.
* AllThereInTheManual: The two promotional comic books released before ''Sly 3'' benefit this trope. The first reveals How Sly, Bentley and Murray met in the orphanage and their first heist (for cookies, nonetheless), and how Sly met Carmelita (turns out that [[spoiler:Sly was the one responsible for Carmelita becoming an inspector!]]). The second one starts right after the end of the second game with [[spoiler:Sly seeing [=McSweeney=] in prison and learning about the Cooper Vault]]. Then Sly and Murray [[spoiler:break Bentley out of the hospital, which was right after Murray leaves the gang.]] Some of the panels from the comic book are used as cutscenes for the games!
* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: Many of the characters come in colors that don't occur naturally in their species. Purple seems to be popular, as Muggshot, the Panda King, Dimitri, Neyla, the Guru and Penelope all come in various shades. Then there's Murray and the ape mercenaries, who are [[RealMenWearPink pink]], and Jean Bison, who's fire-engine red.
* AmnesiacLover: [[spoiler:Courtesy of Sly]] at the end of ''Sly 3''. Turns out [[spoiler:he was faking it. ("That sneaky devil!")]]
* AntiAir: One mission in the last level of ''Sly 3'' consists of Sly taking out an intricate air-defense network Dr. M has set up around his base of operations.
** Bentley also has a few missions in ''Sly 2'' where he has to do this. Why there are anti-air defenses on a ''train'', though, is anyone's guess.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: In the first game, you will sometimes receive a horseshoe (or even two) if you die enough times in a single area. In the second and third games, some of the missions that involve retrieving items will let you keep the items you have already retrieved and restart you in a useful starting place for retrieving the next one in the event you fail the mission.
** In addition, the third game will increase your health/defense and eventually increase your attack strength if you repeatedly lose in a major fight (e.g., a boss battle).
* ArtEvolution: The art of the first game was pretty standard fare, taking notes from comic books of that time. However, in the sequels, The designs are less jagged, simplified, and the colors are sharper. ''Thieves in Time'' has more details and their animated cutscenes are all hand-drawn with more action.
* ArtShift: The gameplay is in CelShaded 3D, the cutscenes are flash style animations.
* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Inspector Carmelita Fox in unmitigated spades.
** First and foremost, the fact that she beats up criminals despite the fact they are incapacitated and already having suffered serious beatings from the Cooper Gang. In real life, cops are explicitly forbidden from using force against criminals if they are in custody.
** Using lethal force, or even deadly force against the Cooper Gang at all, even though the gang explicitly avoids harming police officers, and actually do the job for them.
* AssholeVictim: The victims of the Cooper Gang, who are master criminals themselves.
* AstonishinglyAppropriateAppearance: A gang of master thieves are raccoons, a crocodile is a HollywoodVoodoo priestess, the misogynistic General Tsao is a [[ParentalBonus rooster]], etc.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever:
** In ''Sly 3'', the evil Mask of Dark Earth makes anyone who wears it grow several times their size. This happens to a kangaroo miner, a dingo miner, another dingo miner and [[spoiler:even ''Carmelita'', who would then go on to serve as the boss of the level]].
** In ''Thieves in Time'', [[spoiler:Sly has to fight a giant knight-looking robot operated by [[{{Yandere}} Penelope]].]]
* AvengersAssemble: Five of the six levels of the third game involve getting together a team for the Cooper Vault heist, beginning with Murray.
** The fourth game has elements of this, in which Sly's ancestors must help defeat the various villains of the stages. [[spoiler:The final mission has all of the ancestors gathered in order to recover their canes and rescue Sly.]]
* BackStab: In the second and third games, Sly can Two-Hit KO enemies if he gets right behind them without being detected. This is especially useful against larger mooks who would otherwise rip him to shreds in one-on-one combat. Otherwise he has to brawl, and they usually alert other guards that way.
* BadBoss: Quite a few examples:
** Dr. M, who poisons one of his minions [[DisproportionateRetribution simply because he neglected to change the searchlight password]].
** "[[DirtyCop Sheriff]]" Toothpick, who enjoys overworking his minions to the point where he makes getting days off illegal and overtime mandatory, and is prone to accidentally shooting and killing his minions.
* BagOfSpilling: Parodied. At the start of ''{{VideoGame/Sly 2| Band of Thieves}}'', Bentley begins to tell Sly how to do the [[IHaveTheHighGround ninja spire jump]], and Sly chides him for assuming that he would forget one of his most important skills. True enough, Sly retains the spire jump and rail-walk techniques that he learned in [[VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus the first game]] for the rest of the trilogy, but he still forgot a host of other skills from that game, such as the power to turn invisible, alter time, and how to not [[SuperDrowningSkills take damage from falling in water]].
** Played straight for the jump between the second and [[VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves the third game]], especially with regards to equipment like the Paraglider or power ups like Silent Obliteration. Very annoying when you forget that you lose these...
* BandOfBrothers: Related or not, the Cooper Gang is more than just a group of friends, and they go above and beyond to help each other. Additionally, messing with one member invokes the wrath of the whole gang.
* BareYourMidriff: Carmelita and Neyla.
* BattleCouple: Sly and Carmelita, in the climax of each game minus ''Thieves in Time''.
* BearsAreBadNews:
** Both Canada levels in ''Sly 2'' have missions where you have to manipulate local bears to your advantage.
** The Grizz in ''Thieves in Time'' is a gangsta-style artist bear.
* BenevolentArchitecture: It's amazing how convenient the architecture can be for Sly Cooper and his various abilities. Apparently, criminals are fond of putting hooks randomly around to swing from, or peaks to land on. The only time hooks, peaks, and so on became dangerous was ... the Cooper vault itself, built by the guys who actually use the manoeuvres.
** Sly learns the "Spire Jump" in the first game, a move that specifically lets him land on small points. The fact that there are random lines going across gaps that just happen to have said points is remarkable, but all the others he can simply run across.
* {{BFG}}: The weapons wielded by some of the flashlight guards in the 2nd and 3rd games can qualify, though their scale relative to the guards wielding them can sometimes make them more akin to a HandCannon.
** Muggshot dual-wields BFG's during the boss fights against him in the first & third games.
* BickeringCouplePeacefulCouple: Sly and Carmelita form the bickering part, and Bentley and Penelope form the peaceful part, [[InvertedTrope but that's only on the surface]]; [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Carmelita]] does love Sly, while [[BitchInSheepsClothing Penelope]] [[spoiler:never loved Bentley in the first place]].
* BigBad: Clockwerk for ''Thievius Raccoonus'', [[spoiler:Neyla]] for ''Band of Thieves'', Doctor M for ''Honor Among Thieves'', and Le Paradox for ''Thieves in Time''.
* BigDamnHeroes:
** Chapter 6 of ''Sly 3'' begins with [[HeroAntagonist Carmelita]] rescuing Sly from certain death by the hands of Dr. M. Although, her aim appeared to be the capture of both Sly ''and'' Dr. M for thefts and attempted murder respectively.
** [[spoiler:Chapter 4 of ''Thieves in Time'' has one of those moments as well. Bentley was [[HeroicBSOD rendered unplayable]] after discovering the truth about Penelope, leaving the rest of the gang to confront her themselves. It wasn't until at one point when Sly was trapped himself and about to get crushed by Penelope in her suit of armor... when Bentley suddenly [[HeroicSecondWind comes to the rescue]] with a mech suit of his ''own''!]]
* BigEater: Murray. He is outshined by Bob Cooper and Salim Cooper, despite the latter's appearance.
* BittersweetEnding:
** The second game. [[spoiler:The gang manages to destroy the Clockwerk parts and foil the villains' plans, but Bentley is crippled, Murray has quit because he was unable to deal with what they had to go through and the team van is missing.]]
** ''Sly 3''. [[spoiler:The Cooper Vault is destroyed, eliminating the Cooper legacy forever, Sly becomes Carmelita's partner after faking amnesia and the rest of the gang go off on their own way. However, despite splitting up, Sly left his gang with a back door to some of the vault's riches, and the gang seems to be content with the lives they're living apart from one another. Further subverted with the destroyed vault; Bentley says that he and Penelope are making it even more secure.]]
* BlackAndGrayMorality: Sly and the Cooper Gang are master thieves, yes, but [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules their number one rule is]] ''[[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules never]]'' [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules steal from anyone except other crooks]], because, in addition to being immoral or wrong, there's [[ChallengeSeeker just no fun or challenge in stealing from civilians]]. Furthermore, the people they steal from and/or take on are, for the most part, criminals that are even worse than they are, such as murderers (the Fiendish Five) and drug dealers (the Klaww Gang).
* BoisterousBruiser: "The" Murray, at least after the first game. Jean-Bison from the second game is a villainous example.
* BottomlessMagazines: Almost always played straight, although some jobs have limits on how ''quickly'' you can fire the gun, lest it overheat.
** Averted during the ACES dog-fighting competition in ''Sly 3''.
** Subverted to good effect in ''Sly 3'' when [[spoiler:the Panda King]] is defending the crew's ship from the [[KrakenAndLeviathan Crusher]], using rockets to stun and repel the tentacles. His triumphant boasts are cut short when [[DramaticIrony he discovers he is all out of ammo and has to pass the baton to Sly.]]
* BreakoutCharacter: Although Sly is (obviously) the hero, Bentley nearly steals the narrative out from under him in the latter two games. Whereas in ''Sly 1'' he's a geeky Professor Frink type who mainly exists to give you mission objectives, he begins to undergo heavy character development when he's left to fend for himself halfway through ''Sly 2''. By the end of ''Sly 3'', he's [[spoiler:been crippled and confined to a wheelchair, gotten himself a girlfriend, and emerged as the real leader of the Cooper Gang.]] This becomes a plot point near the end of the third game. In fact, he even narrates the third and fourth games's credits!
* BulletTime: Each game gives Sly ability to slow time down, usually fairly late in the game.
* TheCameo: As part of a cross-promotion campaign, ''Sly 2'' and ''3'' each had codes to unlock Creator/{{Toonami}} goodies, including TOM as a distraction gadget.
* CaneFu: Given what Sly's main weapon is, this comes up quite the bit.
* CaperCrew: Sly, Bentley and Murray cover most of the basics of a typical Caper Crew by themselves. Sly handles jobs that require sneaking or burglary, Bentley handles all tech-related jobs such as hacking or demolitions while Murray pulls double duty as the driver and the muscle. The crew is expanded in the third game to include specialists who deal with very specific areas.
* CarnivoreConfusion: Everyone is an animal. ''What do they eat?'' Okay, not every animal eats meat, but that burger Murray's nomming on in the ''Sly 3'' intro looks pretty suspect...
** If you lose against Jean Bison [[spoiler:when fighting him as Bentley (with help from Sly)]] he'll make a comment that goes something along the lines of "Anybody in the mood for [[spoiler:turtle]] soup?"
** There are leather shoes in ''4'', somehow.
** Also in ''4'', The Grizz owns a saber-tooth tiger rug... when some of his guards ''are'' saber-tooth tigers. [[BadBoss Yikes.]]
* CelShading: The gameplay and non-animated cutscenes are this.
* CentralTheme: [[GreenEyedMonster Envy]]. Almost every main villain thus far has been motivated by jealousy, primarily of the Cooper Clan.
* CerebusSyndrome: The final mission of the first game, and the entirety of the [[DarkerAndEdgier second game]]. Lets up in the [[LighterAndSofter third and fourth games]].
* ChekhovsGift: Murray's Aboriginal necklace. Originally worn during his time with the Guru during ''Sly 3'' with no significance other than to mark his Dreamtime training, it went on to be an important device in ''Thieves in Time'' when [[spoiler:the van went out of control when reclaiming the stolen gold at the end of the Wild West chapter, and it was used to open up a time rift ''just'' before crashing at the bottom of a ravine]].
* ChildhoodFriends: Sly, Bentley, and Murray. This reaches the point where they consider themselves to be brothers.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder:
** [[spoiler:Neyla. Sweet mercy, Neyla.]]
** [[spoiler:Le Paradox from ''Thieves in Time''.]]
** [[spoiler:''Penelope'', strangely enough, in ''Thieves in Time.'']]
* CigarChomper: El Jefe in ''Thieves in Time''. Muggshot can also be seen with a stogie in the first game, but apparently kicked the habit by the time of his appearance in the third game.
* ClockworkCreature: Clockwerk. He's immortal--but not invulnerable--and runs on hate for the Coopers.
* CriminalFoundFamily: Main characters Sly, Bentley, and Murray met in an orphanage and became as thick as thieves (pun intended).
* CoatHatMask: Sly himself.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The subtitles for the dialogue is color coded to the character speaking. If it's Sly, it's blue subtitles. If it's Bentley, it's green subtitles. If it's Murray, it's pink subtitles. If it's Carmelita, it's orange subtitles. If it is a villain or other character, it's grey subtitles. Except for ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'', they can't be turned off.
* CompilationRerelease: For the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, the games are visually cleaned up and given [[CosmeticAward trophy]] support.
* ConspicuouslySelectivePerception: The guards; oh, lord, ''the guards''. If you are behind one picking his pocket, and he takes that moment to turn around to scratch his butt, he can come ''nose to nose'' with Sly's grinning face, look him right in the eyes, and not realize that he's being followed or is missing a few coins and the occasional treasure. This is less so with the main villains of the episode, but still applies to a certain degree.
* CoolCar: The Cooper van.
* CutlassBetweenTheTeeth: Or, rather, Cane Between The Teeth. Sly Cooper, and many of his relations in Sly 4, with the exception of Bob, who uses his tail, tend to carry their canes between their teeth when climbing up narrow vines, wire, rope, and other such things.
* {{Cutscene}}: Some in-engine, and others in between missions are vector/cel animation with voice-over.
* {{Cyberspace}}: Apparently, it's a ShootEmUp.
* DanceBattler: Mz. Ruby makes Sly do a voodoo dance if he wants to avoid getting shot in her boss fight in the first game. The Grizz and Murray do this to each other via ''figure skating'' in ''Thieves in Time''.
* DarkChick: Mz Ruby in ''Sly 1''.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Sly 2'' skirts with this, going deeper into Clockwerk's evil and dealing with an international drug cartel. ''Sly 3'' is slightly LighterAndSofter than ''Sly 2'' at points, but still manages to be darker than the first game due to Dr. M.
* DatingCatwoman: Sly and Carmelita's complicated relationship.
* DieChairDie: Many of the props can be destroyed, [[RewardingVandalism for some extra coinage]]. Often, the chairs have more change on hand than the guards!
* DisabilitySuperpower: [[spoiler:Bentley's wheelchair, starting with the third game.]]
** Ms. Decibel in the fourth game had a trumpet lodged in her trunk that prevented her from playing music normally [[DreadfulMusician (not that she was ever good at it in the first place)]], but it was able to allow her to play hypnotic tunes that causes her victims to do her bidding.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Bad enough Clockwerk tries to kill Coopers through the years he was alive out of sheer jealousy. [[spoiler:Le Paradox takes the cake as his plan to be the greatest thief who ever lived involved going back in time to steal the canes of the Cooper ancestors and wiping out the family line's very existence. Why? Because it was revealed his father, who was also a thief, was about to steal a huge diamond and frame Sly's father for the heist, only except Father Cooper had already stolen it first and Father Paradox was caught. Without a father to train him in the art of thieving, Le Paradox got jailed early and went to blame his family's misfortunes on the Coopers. Going so far as to erase a family's existence over something so petty...]]
* DominoMask: Sly and the Panda King.
* DoubleJump: Sly has a particularly flexible variant, as he can activate it at nearly any point in his jump arc, and it completely redirects his momentum towards the direction the stick is held in.
* DownerEnding: ''Thieves in Time''. [[spoiler:The gang was able to restore the time continuum back to what it once was and saved their futures, but Sly went missing after his battle with Le Paradox. When the blimp crashed, Le Paradox was found and arrested, but Sly was nowhere to be found. He had been missing for weeks, and the gang doesn't take it too well, Carmelita especially. She, Bentley, and Murray still continue to try and find the missing Sly. A secret ending confirms that Sly is still alive, but he's been stranded in Ancient Egypt]].
* DrivingStick: The Cooper Van.
* EasilyForgiven: Averted in one instance in the third game. Sly has to team up with one of the original game's villains (The Panda King), who was part of the gang that killed his parents. Neither one of them are happy about it, but they eventually decide that it's better to move on.
* EmotionalBruiser: Murray probably cries more than the rest of the Cooper Gang.
* EnemyMine: Carmelita is routinely forced to team up with Sly. This is relevant in ''Thieves in Time'' where Carmelita has no choice but to help since she's trapped in the past with Sly.
* EternalVillain: Clockwork from Sly Cooper is this trope to the Cooper Clan and their allies. He's an ancient criminal owl who use the Power Of Hate and cybernetics to live thousands of years just to get his revenge on the Cooper Clan for besting him in thievery. As such, he has spent generations in conflict with and killing members of the Cooper Clan, always returning to haunt the next generation. [[spoiler:Even after being destroyed for good in ''Sly 2'', his crippling of Bentley marks a permanent reminder of his hateful legacy.]]
* EverythingsBetterWithSpinning: Special melee attacks are almost always spinning attacks. Drake Cooper's fast dive technique, the charged move in ''Sly 2''... Especially noticeable in the third game, where even the upgraded push attack involves spinning!
* EvilBrit: Arpeggio, Ms. Decibel and Raleigh. [[spoiler:Also Neyla, who is actually Indian but spent a portion of her childhood in Britain.]]
* ExposedToTheElements: Practically every character in an arctic stage. Then again, (most) of them have fur.
** Averted with Carmelita in ''Sly 2'', who wears a heavier outfit when she appears in Canada.
* ExpressiveMask: Bentley's glasses, Murray's goggles, and Sly's DominoMask all change expression.
* {{Expy}}:
** Bentley sounds and acts similarly to Jerry Lewis.
** Murray is a lot like Chris Farley.
** Neyla's getup and accent resembles [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]].
** Penelope has some resemblance to [[WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers Gadget Hackwrench]], in that both are {{Wrench Wench}}es and ace pilots. [[spoiler:''Thieves in Time'' then turned Penelope into Gadget's EvilCounterpart]].
** ''Thieves in Time'' villain Toothpick resembles [[WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy Ren]] with his demented appearance, East European accent, and AxCrazy temper.
** Also Le Paradox in the same game reminds some people of [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Pepe Le Pew]], another french skunk.
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Penelope in ''Thieves in Time'']].
* FaceShip: Bentley's RC chopper.
* TheFaceless: Sly's father makes several appearances in flashbacks and portraits but his face is never seen.
* FakeUltimateHero: Carmelita Fox. As much as she makes headlines and ''is'' a competent cop, it's hard not to notice that she ''rarely'' makes arrests in the games that aren't bosses she either teamed up with Sly to beat or found after Sly beat. The exceptions are when Sly makes off with the Clockwerk wings; she gets so pissed she arrests almost everyone at the party who isn't a member of the Klaww or Cooper gangs, and Muggshot in the third game. Granted, it was already planned by the gang luring him towards her, but after they crossed each other she took him all by herself.
* FamilyExtermination: [[MechanicalMonster Clockwerk]] has this as his overall goal. A massive owl that's [[Really700YearsOld thousands of years old]], he so despises the Cooper family that he's gradually replaced his entire body with cybernetic parts just so he can keep tormenting them across the centuries. He's spent his immortal life trying to wipe out every single one of the raccoon thieves, and it's eventually revealed that the combination of his determination to massacre them and the sheer hatred in his heart have made him functionally immortal--he wants to kill the Coopers so badly that he ''can't die until he does.''
* FantasticDrug: Spice pretty much does everything.
%%* FinalExamBoss
* FirstPersonSnapshooter: The second game is rife with reconnaissance missions. Sly disguises himself as a professional photographer in the fourth level of the third game.
%%* FollowTheMoney
* FooFu: Panda King's Flame Fu.
* FourIsDeath: In the first game, one of the vault codes is 4-4-4, prompting Bentley to say "I had to deal with some personal demons to crack this code."
** Then there was episode ''4'' in Sly ''4'', though it's less "character death" and more [[spoiler:"death of a romance."]]
* FriendlyEnemy: Sly and Carmelita have this relationship. Despite being on opposite sides of the law, during moments when they are working together, or Sly is Carmelita's prisoner, they are able to talk in a more friendly manner.
* FreudianExcuse: We learn the backstory of every villain as they're introduced, some of them giving a reason why they came to crime, others were mostly ForTheEvulz.
* FrothyMugsOfWater: In the third game, Sly, Bentley and Murray engage a group of Australian miners in a ''lemonade'' drinking contest.
** The fourth game, has Bentley serving his home sarsaparilla in a bar in TheWildWest time frame!
* FunnyAnimal: ''Everybody''-- most are humanoid animals, with some variants as deemed stylistically appropriate. The Contessa is the greatest departure, being a spider-centaur creature, while Arpeggio the parrot and Sir Raleigh the frog are essentially unmodified animals.
* FurryConfusion: A fairly common problem here.
** Muggshot's levels have the enemies - Muggshot himself included - be made up of dogs. Some of the minions however are on leashes and behave like pets. The third game had a "real" wolf in Holland, only to have dingos walking in talking earlier in the game, wolves in Prague in the second game and coyotes with hats and guns in ''Sly 4''.
** The second game had the "real" elephants in Rajan's levels, used in a similar manner to the real world. This is complicated with the existence of Ms. Decibel in the fourth game.
** "Real" bears are present as wild animals in Jean Bison's levels. This is complicated with the existence of The Grizz in the fourth game.
** The third game had the "real" crocodile in Uluru -- particularly confusing given the existence of Mz Ruby.
** The "real" Kraken in the archipelago housing Blood Bath Bay, and the "real" sharks plus Doctor M's giant mutant creatures on Kaine Island.
** Heck, Dr. M's goons in general, which are all horrifying MixAndMatchCreatures, implying that they are the products of Dr. M's experiments, much like his giant half-machine mutants, and yet the tiny-winged gorilla-armed elephants he uses as flashlight guards (notably, also the least deformed looking of his minions) are capable of speech, and one even mentions having a wife and kid.
** "Real" rats can be found in ''Sly 2'', despite rats being a featured enemy ''in the same game''. This is further complicated with the existence of Penelope.
** "Real" chickens are found in the first and fourth game, yet General Tsao is present and in a high position of power in ''Sly 3''.
** The first chapter of ''Thieves in Time'' has "real" pigeons, while the first chapter of ''Sly 3'' has anthro pigeon mooks.
** Most disturbingly, in ''Sly 2'' Murray disguises himself as a moose... by wearing a ''stuffed moose head.''
*** This one is extra bad for one main reason: It's not a "real" moose head. It's an anthropomorphic head with the same expressive face as the moose guards and even wearing one of their hats. Generally the games seem to treat anthropomorphic and wild animals differently, but here some coworker got killed and they used him for decoration.
* GRatedDrug: Spice in ''Band of Thieves'', and Lemonade in ''Honor Among Thieves''. ''Thieves in Time'' has sarsaparilla.
* GadgeteerGenius: Bentley, Sir Raleigh, Penelope, Arpeggio and Dr M. are great inventors.
* GangplankGalleon: Sir Raleigh's island in the first game and Bloodbath Bay in the third game.
* GentleGiant: Subverted in a way with Murray who ''loves'' to break stuff and beat people up, but in the third game he embraces the peaceful side temporarily. On the other hand, he's a NiceGuy.
* GentlemanThief: Sly, of course.
** His ancestor, Thaddeus Winslow Cooper, was an even better example of this trope.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GottaCatchEmAll: The clue bottles in the first two games and ''Thieves in Time''. There's even a Trophy by a similar name, "Gotta find 'em all!", in ''Sly 2'' in the HD Collection. You get it by collecting 15 bottles.
* GreenAesop: Jean Bison's deforestation in the second game and the poachers' strip mining of the Guru's home in the third. Thankfully, they don't harp on it too much - they hang heavy lampshades on the fact that, before he was turned into a HumanPopsicle, his "tame the wilderness" mentality was pretty consistent with the values of his time, and you'd probably think he wasn't such a bad guy if not for all that spice trafficking he's doing.
* GrindBoots: Sly, derived from Tennessee Kid Cooper's Rail Slide move.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: The game practically runs on it.
* GuideDangIt: Finding the clue bottles can be a pain, it gets worse in ''Thieves in Time'' as they return and along with masks and treasures to locate can be frustrating.
* GunsAkimbo: Muggshot in the first & third games, and Toothpick in the fourth game.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: Most males are pantsless, most females are fully dressed. Most enemies from the second game onwards wear pants so that they have back pockets to pick.
* HandCannon: Carmelita's shock pistol packs so much kick that she barely holds onto it when she fires the thing.
* HarmfulToMinors: Sly saw the Fiendish Five murder his parents when he was only eight years old.
* HaveANiceDeath: Losing to a boss for the first time has them insult the character or make some of boast.
%%* HealThyself
* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: The characters don't even bother trying to hide the tutorials. Among other examples:
-->'''Bentley:''' Sly, press the X Button to jump, then-\\
'''Sly:''' Yeah yeah, I know, X Button to jump, then Circle Button to land on a spire.
** Judging by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2D3z73cg_M this sketch]] and the increased usage of this trope by the third game, one might say that it's become a RunningGag.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Clockwerk in the first, the members of the thieves guild in the second game wear purple cloaks and are seen physically only as yellow, slitted eyes. In the prologue of the third game, all of the members of the team are silhouetted in the binocucom, besides Sly and Bentley.
** However in the HD Remake, if you use your binocucom in the room "Deep Six" bombs, you can clearly see it's Dimitri.
* HiddenSupplies: Many of the characters seem to pull weapons and gadgets seemingly out of nowhere at a moments' notice.
* HighAltitudeBattle:
** [[spoiler:The final battle with Clock-La in the second game, and the fourth boss fight with Dr M. in the third game.]]
** Also [[spoiler:the hand to hand battle with The Black Baron.]]
** There is [[spoiler:the fight with Le Paradox on his blimp, taken UpToEleven as not only were they high up, they were high up in a time vortex]].
* HollywoodHacking: Bentley. It tends to take the form of a top-down twin-stick shooter.
* HonorAmongThieves: Sly and his crew all live by a code of honor, stealing only from master criminals. Sly mentions from the outset of the series there is no honor to be found stealing from the average person. Not to mention it's not nearly as much fun or challenging. The third installment is even called ''Honor Among Thieves''.
* HonorBeforeReason: Much of Bentley's character development in ''Sly 3'' is based on feeling inferior and worthless in comparison to Sly. [[spoiler:However, in the final mission he has a dialogue with Murray who reminds him that Sly would always have his back, and when Dr. M. comes along to essentially reinforce all of the things Bentley has been considering, Bentley comes to a realization and denies Dr. M., realizing that while both he and Dr. M. had the same kind of development, Bentley and Sly aren't rivals or coworkers, but friends whom will always help the other and do have respect. It helps that after everything that happened, Sly refuses to enter the Cooper Vault until his two friends whom have been at his side share this momentous occasion with him.]]
* HooksAndCrooks: Sly's only weapon is his oddly-shaped cane, passed down through his family. In ''Thieves in Time'', each ancestor also has their own cane weapon.
* IHaveTheHighGround: "The view is always better from the rooftops!"
* ILikeThoseOdds:
-->'''[[BoisterousBruiser Murray:]]''' Outnumbered...fighting impossible odds...it's perfect!
* IdleAnimation: Many of the player characters throughout the series.
** The title character's idle animations included him removing his cap and either twirling it or tossing it in the air and having it land perfectly seated on his head, holding his cane as if lining up for a golf swing, using his cane to scratch his back (resulting in one of his legs starting to twitch like a dog's), and leaning on his cane (sometimes with the cane slipping out from under him and causing him to nearly FacePlant).
** Bentley will often pull out a set of blueprints, look around nervously, perform a stationary wheelie in his wheelchair (in ''Sly 3''), or sneeze so hard that it causes him to double over (yet doesn't draw the attention of any nearby guards, interestingly enough).
** Murray will occasionally try to pull up his belt (why he wears a belt when he has no pants is anybody's guess), resulting in his hands slipping and Murray accidentally smacking himself in the face.
** Carmelita gets a few in the third game; She will occasionally glance about pensively (sometimes shifting her weight from one foot to another) or scan about with the flashlight on her shock pistol.
** Some of the NPC guards will also have idle animations. For example; in the China level of ''Sly 3'', the monkey guards will occasionally play with their shurikens, resulting in them pricking their fingers on the sharp points.
** The characters also have idle animations that play during the character selection screen; Sly's include balancing his cane on his hand, twirling his cap, and (in ''Sly 2'' and ''3'') pulling out his family book, the Thievius Raccoonus and reading it for a few moments, sometimes appearing surprised by what he reads. Bentley will look at blueprints and sometimes whip out a calculator and crunch some numbers. Murray will occasionally doze off briefly before startling back awake, and sometimes produce a slice of pizza from behind his back, scarfing it down in nearly one bite.
* IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect: Bentley says this so frequently it's his CatchPhrase.
-->'''Bentley:''' If I've done my math right, and I ''always'' do my math right...
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: As long as you keep moving, Carmelita cannot hit Sly. In the third game, when she chases Sly in the usual fashion, he stops and has a brief conversation with another character while Carmelita misses them both by miles, despite all parties involved standing still.
** One exception is in an episode of the second game. She actually aims ahead of you, forcing you to change directions or give her a wide berth.
** The flashlight guards avert this. [[ImprobableAimingSkills The only way you're going to avoid their shots is to put something between you and them]].
*** Though, at least in 2 and 3, their accuracy is limited to the area their flashlight shines on. If you get out of the light, their accuracy becomes more believable.
%%* ImplacableMan: Carmelita.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Carmelita is known to be a crackshot in Interpol (though not the case if you play Sly who easily dodges her shots, though she's almost always angry when shooting at him). Tennessee Kid Cooper is able to fire VERY fast with his special cane gun.
* InASingleBound: Becomes increasingly more common as the series progresses. Carmelita always had it. Sly got it in the second game with the Feral Pounce move, and he also gets the [[http://slycooper.fandom.com/wiki/Mega_Jump Mega Jump]] for [[http://slycooper.fandom.com/wiki/Mega-Jump_Job a mission]], after which it disappears (but after getting OneHundredPercentCompletion, there's a cheat that you can use to get it back). Murray got it in the form of the Turnbuckle Launch (then lost it again). Bentley uses {{Jet Pack}}s in [[SuperWheelChair various forms]]. Rioichi has the Leaping Dragon technique.
* InspectorJavert: Carmelita cannot know that all of Sly's efforts are for the redemption of his family name. Still he continues to evade her, leaving criminals in his wake for her to bag and tag.
* InterpolSpecialAgent: Carmelita Fox, of course. Also Neyla [[spoiler:before her FaceHeelTurn]].
* InterspeciesRomance: Sly and Carmelita. And in the third game [[spoiler:Penelope and Bentley... until the fourth game.]]
* {{Invisibility}}: In the first three games, Sly can learn how to turn invisible, by reading Riochi Cooper's section of the ''Thievius Raccoonus'' in the first game and getting the Shadow Power gadget in ''Sly 2'' and ''3''.
* InvisibleGrid: Averted, to a certain degree, with the blue sparkles.
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler:Because [=Clock-La's=] beak slammed down on Bentley, it left him entirely paralyzed from the waist down. Bentley took it on the chin and simply built a super wheelchair, however Murray, whom had accidentally released his grip on the beak, blamed himself for Bentley's paralysis. He blamed himself so much so that he left the group out of shame. Bentley tries to reassure Murray that not once did he ever harbor anger to Murray, and, just like when Murray left, simply states he knows it was an accident.]]
* JetPack: One of the gadgets for Bentley in ''Sly 2''.
* JiveTurkey:
** Dimitri, the best example in the series. Somewhat of a JustifiedTrope, as he learned English from American hip-hop videos.
** The Grizz in ''Thieves in Time'' [[RhymesOnADime talks in rhyme most of the time]].
* KickChick: Carmelita has this as a secondary attack in the third game for when enemies get too close for comfort. Her roundhouse kick is powerful enough to send even the burliest of flashlight guards flying several feet. She loses this in ''Thieves in Time'' as she does [[PistolWhip pistol whips]] instead.
* KickTheDog: More on the trope page.
** While Sly Cooper is as good an example of an [[GentlemanThief honorable thief]] as you can find, the villain in the third game implies that his father wasn't so noble.
* LanguageBarrier: Averted in ''Sly 3'' and ''Thieves In Time''. Everyone is able to understand what Guru and Bob Cooper are saying despite them [[TheUnintelligible speaking in gibberish]].
* LargeHam: THE MURRAY (add a response)!
** "That does it! ''I'll floss my teeth with your spine!''"
** "The Murray knows no song but [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment the triumphant horn section of his own triumph!]]"
** "The Murray stands tall! Like a freakin' totem pole of strongism!"
** '''Dimitri:''' Anything he says at all can be considered this.
** Most of the villains get a few good lines. Consider Sir Raleigh and Muggshot:
--->'''Sir Raleigh:''' So, without further ado, let me make make amends by, what... ''BLOATING'' TO ''GARGANTUAN SIZE'' AND ''SQUASHING YOU'' LIKE THE INSIGNIFICANT BUG THAT YOU ARE!!!!\\
'''Muggshot:''' What are you kidding me? You break into my place, steal my stuff, trash the joint, I feel transgressed and violated. Let's rock!
** Even The Panda King gets some in the third game.
--->'''Penelope:''' Panda King, can you launch my RC car to that pipe?\\
'''Panda King:''' Ha! With the fireworks it will fly as the bird! Fly bird, fly!
** Sir Galleth Cooper in ''Thieves in Time''.
--->'''Galleth:''' Yes, I believe the time is now! Let us rush forward, that we may ''strike'' a crushing blow against the [[{{Yandere}} black tyrant]] who imprisoned me!
** If the character isn't a DeadpanSnarker, they are probably this.
* LaserHallway: A common theme throughout the games. However, the security lasers are the most unique in the first game. The yellow lasers are harmless, but it will turn into deadly red ones once it detects you. It can be deactivated when Sly destroys the generators.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: [[spoiler:Subverted with Sly at the end of the third game.]]
* LawOfConservationOfDetail: If you see anything that even slightly stands out from the level's scenery or looks superfluous, you can be sure it will play a role in one of the jobs of that level.
* LeParkour: Even with a beefy guy like Murray, you can run on rooftops and inch around walls.
* LetsGetDangerous: Dimitri; his ridiculous mannerisms make it easy to forget that he was a boss in ''Sly 2'' (okay, [[WarmUpBoss the first boss]], but still). When he's playable in ''Sly 3'', he dives into shark-infested waters without protest, and later takes down one of the BigBad's many mutant monsters.
-->'''[[LetsDance LET'S DANCE!]]'''
* LifeMeter: In every game but the first, in which Sly's a OneHitPointWonder.
* LittleBlackDress: Carmelita has one she wears on rare occasions, when not suffering from LimitedWardrobe syndrome. She noticeably wears it in the second game when (unknowingly) dancing a tango with Sly at Rajan's palace, and during the ending cutscene of the third game.
* LoveableRogue: All the members of the Cooper Gang can be categorized under this trope.
* MadArtist: Dimitri, who turned to a life of crime forging paintings after his own "kinetic aesthetic" was rejected by the arts community. The Grizz in ''Thieves in Time'' should also count.
* MadScientist: Arpeggio from ''Sly 2'', Dr. M from ''Sly 3'', Le Paradox in ''Thieves in Time''.
* MagicalRealism: A minor but constant part of the series.
* MeaningfulName: Besides Sly, there's Jean Bison, who is a bison, and Carmelita Fox.
** Ms. Decibel due to her loudness as a form of attack. Le Paradox as he's basically interfering with the time continuum with his time traveling thefts.
** A cooper is a maker of barrels. Sly can hide from enemies inside conveniently-placed barrels throughout the series.
* MickeyMousing: Sneaking up on an enemy would shifts the music volume down and play a series of single notes in time with each step the player took.
* MisplacedADecimalPoint: Bentley sometimes steers you directly into security because of this or CarryTheOne. As a rule, [[IfMyCalculationsAreCorrect if he says his calculations are correct]], [[TemptingFate he's wrong]].
* MissionControl: Bentley, when Sly is playing, and vice versa. Murray, briefly, with Bentley in a few missions. He's hilariously bad at it.
* MookHorrorShow: This can be done in ''Sly 2'' and ''3'' with Murray's Guttural Roar, which causes all enemies to run away for six seconds.
* MoralDissonance: Bentley's plans can sometimes be unnecessarily ruthless, ranging from [[WhatMeasureIsAMook feeding live Mooks to a crocodile]] to luring Sly's love interest into taking out local thugs for the gang. This is lampshaded a couple times in the third game when Sly comments Bentley on the latter's growing experience with underhanded tactics.
* MultiStageBattle: ''Sly 3'' has a few of these.
** ''Sly 3'' went with style one when Sly first fights General Tsao on top of a forest of vines, then on the ground level of said forest. Same game, but with the Mask of Dark Earth in style four, first in a bar as a coyote, then as Carmelita in a mountain-like dune.
** Boss battles in ''Thieves in Time'' generally have multiple stages to them, with the player having to make them vulnerable so that they get a chance to take down 1/3 of their health
* MusicalAssassin: Mz. Ruby is technically this in ''Sly 1''. Ms. Decibel moreso in Thieves in Time.
** Don Octavio and some of Dr. M's mooks have a singing attack in ''Sly 3''.
* MusicalGameplay:
** The boss fight with Mz. Ruby in the first game, which can be a hassle to deal with if you haven't trained yourself for games like ''VideoGame/SpaceChannel5''.
*** Becomes NOTABLY harder in 'Sly Collection', because the music does not sync anymore with Mz. Ruby's attacks.
** The two dancing segments in "A Starry Eyed Encounter" in ''Sly 2'' are similar, though noticeably not as difficult.
** There's also the opera duet in ''Sly 3'', but the game really doesn't seem to care whether or not you have any rhythm.
** There's the Geisha dance with [[spoiler:Murray]], the figure-skating segments of Murray's fight with The Grizz, and [[spoiler:Carmelita's belly dance]] in ''Thieves in Time''.
* NeverSayDie: Considering [[SaturdayMorningCartoon its inspiration]], this is averted.
* NoPeripheralVision: The Mooks and some of the bosses during the trailing missions appear to suffer from this. Stand some distance in front of them or just to the side of them, and they won't notice you, even though you can pretty much look right into their eyes. Some types of Mook can't see you outside the circle of their flashlight, ''even in daytime''.
* NoodleIncident: What ''did'' Dimitri do that got him thrown into an Italian jail after his success as a dance instructor between the second and third games?
* NumberedSequels: For ''Sly 2'' and ''Sly 3''.
* OnceAnEpisode: Bar the first game, in which only Sly was playable, Murray gets into boss fights that were never part of the Cooper Gang's plans.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Outside of the times they have to team up, or those wherein they are friendly with each other, Sly and Carmelita have this going on. Sly keeps saving Carmelita, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because stealing would be no fun without her around. As for Camelita, she wants to be the one to bring in Sly, and it wouldn't look good for her if someone else did that, or worse yet, killed him.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping:
** Because her voice actress keeps getting replaced, Carmelita has a Spanish accent in the first game, gains a different, American accent in ''Sly 2: Band of Thieves'', and gets a ''different'' Spanish accent in ''Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves''.
** Constable Neyla's accent in ''Sly 2: Band of Thieves'', while meant to be British, was all over the place, once sounding briefly like a Southern Belle. Otherwise vaguely European. At one point, Bentley identifies her as Cockney. Alesia Glidewell voiced both Neyla and Carmelita, meaning she voiced ''both'' of the two biggest accent-slipping offenders in the series.
** The guard in the second Canada chapter of 2 sounds a lot more Canadian before you beat him at RC tankfighting than he does after he's beat.
* PacManFever: Ironically, the game Murray plays before you go to Haiti is this.
* PaintingTheMedium:
---> '''Bentley:''' To land safely upon small points, leapeth lively and press the triggering device with a round geometrical object emblazoned upon it.
* PairTheSmartOnes: [[spoiler:Bentley and Penelope in the third game....not so much the fourth game.]]
* PaperThinDisguise: Sly's dance clothes in the second game. He doesn't even take off his mask.
** His numerous disguises in ''Sly 3''.
** The Samurai costume in ''Thieves in Time'' helped Sly blend in with the enemy forces. Bentley's RC car managed to pass itself off as a chicken and a mouse by simply putting an animal hat on it. No joke.
* ParentalBonus: The series is peppered with quips, jokes, and pick up lines made to entertain the adults around. This is part of why Sly Cooper has a large adult fan base.
* PirateGirl: Henriette "One Eye" Cooper - a female raccoon, who sailed seas and stole from pirates .
** [[spoiler:Penelope becomes this to kick [=LeFwee=]'s ass in the pirate level of ''Sly 3''.]]
* PistolWhipping:
** During the second game, Bentley hits foes with his crossbow when they get too close to him to use darts on them.
** During the fourth game, Carmelita will use her pistol in this manner when foes get too close to shoot, having lost her ability to kick them from the third game.
** Also during the fourth game, "Tennessee Kid" Cooper's cane-gun is used in melee, in a manner similar to most other Cooper canes.
* PlayingWithFire: Murray's Fists of Flame upgrade makes his punches burn with flames. The Panda King's Flame Fu fighting style. El Jefe is able to control fire with his two katanas.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Murray breaks his old peaceful ways when Bentley gets knocked down [[spoiler:and is helpless on the ground since he's paralyzed]], and promptly beats the boss up.
** Bentley does this as well in the fourth game, saving everyone with his robot suit and saving his friends [[spoiler:even if he has to defeat his PsychoExGirlfriend.]]
* ThePowerOfHate: Clockwerk is centuries old and fueled on pure hate alone [[spoiler:which is made up for his intense hatred and jealousy of the Cooper Clan's better thieving ability.]] He is so enraged and hate-filled, he not only has found a way to live forever through a "hate chip", but has also replaced his entire body with machinery, leaving nothing biological in his husk whatsoever.
* PowerTrio: Sly's the ego, Bentley's the superego, and THE MURRAY is the id.
* PowerUp: Both in active and more passive flavors. In the first game, you could only use one of the active power-ups at a time, as they were all assigned to one button. The next two games allowed you to use three active power-ups at a time, as there were three power-up buttons to choose from. The fourth game has a lot more passive power-ups than active, though many of them are activated with specific button inputs.
* PreRenderedGraphics: The series uses 2D [[MotionComic comic book-style]] cutscenes.
* ProtagonistTitle: You play as '''Sly Cooper'''. 'Nuff said.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The bosses in the first two games were members of different fiendish organizations, while the third game had five completely unrelated bosses. The fourth one brings the fiendish organizations back though.
* RecruitingTheCriminal: Carmelita appears to do this at the end of the third game when Sly "appears" to have gotten amnesia after being struck by one of Dr. M's attacks, calling him her partner, "Constable Cooper." It's not yet known how successful this is though.
** Carmelita will often enlist Sly's aid in taking on the BigBad at the climax of the games, putting aside their rivalry to deal with a common foe.
** Inverted by Sly and the gang, most notably in ''Sly 3'' where they manipulate the now KnightTemplar Carmelita into unwittingly helping them out on several occasions.
* TheReveal: One in each game.
** In the first game, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Clockwerk]] reveals he used to be a rival master thief of the Cooper Clan, whose [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy of the Coopers]] allowed him to live for thousands of years. He also let Sly live after killing his father and stealing the Thievius Raccoonus, to show the world that without their book, the Cooper line would be nothing]].
** In ''Sly 2'', [[spoiler:it turns out Neyla was working for Arpeggio of the Klaww Gang all along, helping Sly's gang find and steal the Clockwerk parts from the other Klaww Gang members. Arpeggio needed all the Clockwerk parts to form Clockwerk's body, allowing him to live forever. Unfortunately, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Neyla had other plans...]]]]
** In ''Sly 3'', [[spoiler:[[BigBad Dr. M]] is revealed to have been TheSmartGuy in Sly's father's gang. Sly's father was apparently a bit of a {{Jerkass}} to Dr. M, who began to hate the Coopers himself, causing him to desire the Cooper fortune, locked away in a hidden vault]].
** And in ''Thieves in Time'', [[spoiler:Penelope pulled a FaceHeelTurn, betraying the Cooper Gang to Le Paradox by working as TheMole. Bentley did NOT take this well]].
* ReverseThePolarity: Technobabble is basically all that comes out of Bentley's mouth. Actually utters the phrase "reverse the polarity" in ''Sly 2: Band of Thieves''.
** Penelope exhibits this trait a lot as well, almost being a female version of Bentley. She even lampshades this at one point.
---> '''Penelope:''' Explaining it would involve a lot of multi-syllabic words. It'd be easier just to show you.
* RewardingVandalism: Whenever you break something, coins come out.
* RunDontWalk: The first game had Sly run by default, while lightly using the analog stick allowed Sly to move more slowly and sneakily. From the second game forward, the playable characters walk by default, but they move relatively fast. While the slower, stealthier movements performed by lightly using the analog stick still exist, there is now a designated sprint button. Sprinting make you more detectable to the [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy guards]].
* RunningGag: Sly's terrible Italian accent seems to have become this, having been used when going undercover in Chapter 1 of ''Sly 3''; and used again in Chapters 4 and 5 of ''Thieves in Time'' for a [[DidntWeUseThisJokeAlready ringmaster impersonation]] and further undercover work respectively.
* SafeCracking: The first game both has you [[DieChairDie literally cracking safes open]]... and then subverting the trope by just collecting enough clues to decode the safe's combination. Played straight in the third game.
* SamusIsAGirl:
** In ''Sly 3'', [[spoiler:the Black Baron is Penelope]].
** In ''Thieves in Time'', [[spoiler:the Black Knight is also Penelope]].
* SequelEscalation: The depth of gameplay, number of playable characters, and even the scale of the conflicts tend to increase with each game.
* SequelHook: [[spoiler:In ''Thieves in Time'', Sly has completely disappeared after his confrontation with Le Paradox, and the gang (Carmelita included!) are all worried about him. Meanwhile, Penelope has escaped prison and is still at large, with Bentley receiving some mysterious postcards...]]
* {{Sexophone}} A saxophone riff plays every time Carmelita steps into the scene.
* ShadowOfImpendingDoom: Countless examples can be seen in the games; ''Sly 2'' has shadows of incoming eagles and icicles in Canada and ''Sly 3'' has silhouettes of Crusher's tentacles and flaming boulders he spits, just to name a few examples.
* ShockAndAwe:
** Carmelita's shock pistol makes her this.
** Rajan in ''Sly 2'' can use the Clockwerk heart on his staff to electrify pillars.
** El Jefe in ''Thieves in Time'' can charge his katanas with lightning.
* ShoutOut: [[ShoutOut/SlyCooper Has its own page.]]
* SmokeOut: Smoke Bomb gadget for Sly creates a cloud of smoke, that distracts guards and allows him to escape fights.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple:
** Upon joining The Cooper Gang, Penelope remains as the only female member (not counting Jing King). [[spoiler:However, her siding with the villains in the fourth game brings the team back down to all men, until...]]
** Carmelita [[TeethClenchedTeamwork works with the gang]] in the fourth game.
* SpellMyNameWithAThe: "The Murray."
* StealingFromThieves: The Cooper Gang's modus operandi: they steal things from big-name criminals because there's no fun or honor in stealing from regular people. In Sly's words, "You rip off a master criminal, you ''know'' you're a master thief". This also helps them feel heroic to the audience, since nearly everyone they steal from is up to some horrible stuff that overshadows simple thievery, and often the Cooper Gang go out of their way to stop their operation alongside the thievery. This is [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]], however: in smaller stories such as the ''Sly 3'' train robbery short, their victims don't appear to have done anything wrong and are robbed simply because [[ItAmusedMe it's fun to steal something valuable from them]].
* StealthPun:
** The pig cops patrolling the museum in the beginning of ''Sly 2''. "Pig" is a common insult for police officers.
** The canine {{Mooks}} in the third game's pirate episode. ''Sea dogs'', you see.
** "El Jefe" means "the boss" in Spanish. El Jefe is the first boss of ''Thieves in Time''.
* SuperDrowningSkills: Sly can't swim in the first game and drowns if he falls into water with no Horseshoes, even though raccoons in RealLife can swim quite well. There is a skill from the Thievius Raccoonus that lets you avoid taking damage from water, but it still doesn't teach Sly how to swim. He then forgets about this skill in the second and third games, only to relearn it (along with the other playable characters) upon cracking the (optional) vault in Chapter 4 of the fourth game. Additionally, Murray is a hippo who can't swim (except in a cutscene) and Bentley is a turtle who can't swim. None of the mooks are able to swim either, drowning as soon as they enter the water.
** Sly states in an instruction manual that they shouldn't have skipped swimming lessons back at the orphanage. Bentley soon becomes justified after [[spoiler:he can no longer use his legs and travels around in a wheelchair.]]
** A number of enemies also have this weakness. Knock them into the water, watch them struggle for a bit, and then their coins come to the player's side as the enemy fades away.
* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Carmelita, of course.
* TechnoWizard: Bentley, who assembles a variety of machines for fieldwork and transport in ''Sly 3''; later Penelope as well [[spoiler:as a villainous version]].
* TeethclenchedTeamwork: Carmelita with Sly and his gang, prominently moreso in ''Thieves in Time''.
* TimmStyle: The art style of the original trilogy (the second and third games especially) combines this trope with more exaggerated ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-styled traits, giving the series a comic book-like aesthetic with cartoon-like expressiveness, along with a rich color palette. ''Thieves in Time'' also has elements of this style, but while the designs are more detailed, line work tends to be [[ThinLineAnimation thinner and more rounded]] in cinematic cutscenes.
* TookALevelInBadass:
** Murray. In the first game, he got scared when faced against grunts. In the sequels, he can pick them up, shake them dry of their possessions, and slam them on the ground. ''Even flashlight guards.''
** Another example is Bentley. In the first game, he was the typical MissionControl guy, who did little more than allow Sly to view previous cutscenes and instruct him on the different tutorials, occasionally providing comic relief. From ''Sly 2'' onward, he was promoted to [[MadBomber demolitions expert]], of all things. In ''Sly 3'', [[spoiler:seeing as how he is crippled, Bentley [[SuperWheelChair builds a wheelchair that has a jetpack (kind of), multiple explosive devices, and a pickpocketing mechanism.]]]]
** Sly himself from a gameplay perspective, having gone from a OneHitPointWonder in the first game.
** In the first game, most of the mooks could be taken down in one blow. From the second game on, aside from being the victim of a sneak attack, most foes took at least three or more blows.
* TopHeavyGuy: Muggshot, to the point of self parody. His arms are absolutely colossal pillars of muscle and he walks using hands that are each as big as his ''whole lower body''. His design in the "Timing is Everything" short is slightly less ridiculous, where he simply has comically exaggerated human proportions.
** Most [[EliteMooks Flashlight Guards]] from ''Sly 2'' onward are about 75% torso, the better to underscore why taking them on in a straight fight is an astonishingly stupid idea.
* TrainJob:
** More than one, in fact. [[spoiler:The sixth level of ''Sly 2'']] consists of a [[LocomotiveLevel series of train robberies]].
** The secret short film "Goodbye My Sweet" in ''Sly 3'' centers around one.
** Sly's Western ancestor Tennessee Kid Cooper was famous for these.
* TrueCompanions: The group is always together and working alongside each other. As a matter of fact, they willingly put themselves in danger for one another. The sequence in the second game where [[spoiler:Bentley saves Sly and then they save Murray]] was the first time they realized how much they meant to each other and how intense their friendship is to them all.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: An occasional racing or action segment is implemented to add variety to the platforming gameplay. There were more in 2, and even more in 3.
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: [[spoiler:In the second and third games, something will inevitably go wrong, usually on the last mission of the level.]]
* VariableMix: Even in the first game. The music is subdued when you’re skulking around, and gets all [[SeriousBusiness hardcore]] when you are detected.
* VillainOfTheWeek: Played straight. Each level has Sly and the Gang thwarting the schemes of a member from whatever organization they're from.
* VillainousBreakdown: Quite a few of them through the series.
** Rajan gets pretty pissed when his ball is ruined in the second game, leading him to retreat into the jungle that composes the third level. The artwork/cutscenes contribute to this as prior, Rajan is shown as an intimidating but relatively calm villain. In the artwork/cutscenes of the third level however, he is shown as far more feral, including a scene of him staring through a bush with rather bestial eyes. Befits the level title "The Predator Awakens", doesn't it?
-->'''Rajan:''' Black clouds and thunderbolts. My spice operations! RUINED!!
** Muggshot rages at Sly for trashing his entire operation, noting that he feels transgressed.
** When he is betrayed, [[spoiler:Arpeggio]] takes a moment to curse [[spoiler:Neyla]].
** At the end of ''Sly 3'', [[spoiler:Dr. M refuses to leave the Cooper Vault even as it collapses and presumably kills him in the process]].
** Once cornered and exposed as a [[GreenEyedMonster jealous]], [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] GoldDigger who foolishly believed [[spoiler:she]] is using [=LeParadox=] when it's actually the other way around, [[spoiler:Penelope]] snaps and attacks Bentley with [[spoiler:her]] mecha suit.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Done for the bosses in ''Sly 2'', the gang members in ''3'' and for the ancestors, enemies [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Dimitri]] in ''4''.
* WigDressAccent: A tuxedo and dancing shoes totally conceals Sly's identity from Carmelita, even as they dance a tango together, in ''Sly 2''; in ''Sly 3'' he gets past enemy guards with the help of slightly more convincing disguises.
* WingsDoNothing: For the bird and bat mooks, their wings are this. When Sly, or another character, shoves them off a roof, over a really high edge, or off of a bridge over water, they can't fly up. At best, they have to find a way to jump or climb up to Sly's location. At worst, they fall or drown to death. Sometimes they'll flap their wings uselessly before gravity takes them down.
* WorthyOpponent: Sly and Carmelita have a certain amount of respect for each other, which explains why Sly is willing to save Carmelita when she's in trouble, and why Carmelita will help Sly during the times they have a common foe.
* WouldHitAGirl: Sly may be a gentleman thief, but will attack anyone trying to harm him and his crew. The female enemies in Panda King's stage and Mz. Ruby in ''Sly 1''. [[spoiler:The Contessa and Neyla in ''Sly 2''. Penelope as the Black Baron in ''Sly 3'' though he didn't know it at the time, and again in ''Thieves in Time'', this time ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge knowingly]]'']]. Ms. Decibel in ''Thieves in Time''. Bentley to [[spoiler:a mech-suited Penelope while in his own mech suit in ''Thieves in Time''. Justified entirely since she broke his heart.]].
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: This exchange from learning the Spire Jump in the first game:
-->'''Bentley:''' To landeth safely upon diminutive points, leapeth lively and presseth the triggering device with the round geometrical object emblazoned upon it.\\
'''Sly:''' So jump and hit the circle button to land on narrow spots.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Inspector Carmelita has a dark shade of blue.
----
->Jump and hit the circle button to [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife ruin your life]].

A pair of two promotional comics created by Sucker Punch Productions called ''The Adventures of Sly Cooper'' was published by [=GamePro=] Magazine and Creator/DCComics in 2004 and 2005.