Random Fact

Hmm...You know what'd be interesting? For their to be some shared upgrade pools for the various members of the Gang, you know when it's more than just the main trio. Like if there's some overlap between the characters in terms of playstyle, they could be some sharing of moves. I got the idea from that picture you reblogged making me remember that Penelope IS a Champion Boxer, so now I'm imagining her sharing some of Murray's punch based moves.

Frankly, any acknowledgement of Penelope’s boxing prowess would probably be a good idea

Is she a frail nerd or isn’t she? They really flipflop on it

Thieves In Time Redux: Full Story Preview

I thought I'd repost one of my full story previews from DeviantArt. A few months back, I posted this there. It's set during Episode 0, during Sly's portion of the tutorial in Chapter 2. We open just after Sly's little accident crossing over to the museum building...

It wasn't too long before Sly happened upon a small rat guard with a gas mask. Somehow he looked familiar upon a close inspection… Sly brushed it off and picked his pocket before taking him out. "Nah… It couldn't be." Just a coincidence, right? He didn't dare tell Bentley. What would he think?

Almost immediately afterwards, Sly started hearing voices coming from inside the museum. He could hardly make out what they were saying, but he did see shadows in the window. Among the figures he spotted was a strangely familiar… skunk? He didn't bother staying long enough to hear what they were talking about. There was a job that still needed completing.

Sly almost swore he could have heard a squeak coming from Bentley's end of the line, followed by a splash. "Something happen in there, you two?"

This time, it was Penelope, the mouse, talking. "No need to worry about us, Sly. We're fine! Just a literal rat!"

A smile escaped from Sly, followed by a small chuckle… "First-timers are the best, aren't they?" He pressed onward, happy to have someone other than just Bentley and Murray on the main roster for a change. He fondly remembered Bentley and Murray's first time way back in Cairo… Those two had come so far since those humble beginnings…

But whenever he recalled that memory, he couldn't help but remember Neyla, the traitorous Interpol officer/Klaww Gang member… Things were different now. She was purged from this world. Surely he'd never meet anyone like her again, right?

As it happened, Penelope had never been on a full scale adventure like this before. Not from the very beginning, at least. Her experience level easily dwarfed everyone else's. Not that it was her fault. Sly had the gall to retire before she could gain any real experience as a full time member.

He started to regret that decision as he kept going… How could he do that to someone he recently hired? Still, Sly looked forward to seeing what Penelope could do beyond what she had initially been hired for. Better later than never, he thought.

Sly Cooper Characters as Firefly Quotes

Sly: “I aim to misbehave.”

Bentley: “It’s a real burn, being right all the time.”

Murray: “Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious.”

Carmelita: “Sir? I think you have a problem with your brain being missing.”

Neyla: “Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!”

Penelope: “I can kill you with my brain.”

Dimitri: “Your mouth is talking. You might wanna look to that.”

Riochi: “I’m a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.”

Tennessee: “If anyone gets nosy just...y’know, shoot em.” “Shoot em?” “Politely.”

Bob: “Shiny.”

Galleth: “Time for some thrilling heroics.”

Salim: “Is that him?” “That’s the buffet table.” “...Well how can we be sure, unless we question it?”

Feel free to add more characters/alternative quotes.

Thieves In Time Redux Meme #15

Seriously, fans? Why does Sly get to have all the fun?

I know having Penelope go that hard is a bold move, but come on. If she started this whole mess, and feels a need to correct her mistakes, shouldn't she end it herself?

We can even have her feel like she has to do it alone, or else her attempt to atone for what she did won't count.

But because I'm not a monster, let's also have the rest of the playable cast join her so they can kick some skunk tail!

And for good measure, Penelope also gets to finish Le Paradox off. Complete with a speech on what she learned about friendship.

Of course, she will have to be told her attempt did count. And that she nailed it. And no, Sly will not be lost in time.

haaaaave another pirate penelope!

Thieves In Time Redux Mission Recaps

Here's what happens in each mission:

Paris Tutorial Intro: Our four heroes break into a museum to steal a dagger so they can travel through-- wait, hold up. Four?!

Sly Cooper, The Thief: A museum break-in goes almost according to plan.

Bentley, The Brains: A turtle and mouse run through a sewer system, then get separated.

Penelope, The Wild Card: A mouse feels overprotected and underestimated as she reunites with her other half.

Murray, The Brawn: A hippo cleans house with some weak rat guards.

Carmelita, The Ex-Girlfriend: One secret-keeper escapes suspicion by the skin of their teeth while another gets caught in the act.

Episode 1 Intro: The van goes on its maiden voyage as Penelope reconsiders her life choices.

Photo Op: Our heroes settle in while Sly does recon work.

Breakout: Sly breaks his first ancestor out of prison.

Sushi House Startup: Penelope does background research while Rioichi reclaims his sushi restauraunt.

Something's Fishy: A turtle, hippo, and mouse go fishing in a not-so-secret fishing hole.

Pretty In Pinker: Murray embraces his feminine side while Penelope does more background work.

Tiger Tail: Penelope convinces Bentley to take her place so she can go snooping around elsewhere.

Spiked Sushi: Rioichi spikes his sushi while Penelope does even more background work.

Altitude Sickness: Our heroes deal with El Jefe. Also, Penelope tries to go rogue.

Episode 2 Intro: A mouse gets parented as the team ventures off west.

Under Arrest: Sly gets himself arrested to save another of his ancestors.

Jailhouse Blues: Sly tries to break Tennessee out of prison. Meanwhile, Penelope re-examines her priorities.

Cooper For Hire: Scorpions attack a turtle. Tennessee reclaims his cane from Toothpick.

Saloon Bug: Lots of guards see double while Penelope snoops around in a saloon's air vents.

Blind Date: Penelope stays behind while everyone else tries to save a captured Carmelita.

Jail Break: Penelope, Carmelita, and Tennessee try to break the boys out of Toothpick's jail. At the same time, Penelope sees a dark future.

Grand Key Larceny: Murray, Sly, Carmelita, and Penelope compete to win keys to free the Cooper Van from its prison.

OP: Gold Digger: Our heroes reclaim their van, steal some gold, then take Toothpick down.

Episode 3 Intro: Our heroes get stranded in prehistory. A hot-headed fox storms off on her own.

Stone Age Reconnaissance: Sly scours a prehistoric ice age for missing time machine parts.

Unexpected Ties: Sly finds an ancestor in a cave wolf.

Getting Stronger: Bob gets training in, then someone else falls ill. Spoiler alert: It's Penelope who gets sick.

Going Up: A benched Murray searches for healing herbs while Bob scales a mountain.

Starving Starving Hippo: Murray searches for more healing herbs while reclaiming time machine parts from penguins.

Ice Ice Bentley: Bentley goes searching for healing herbs while tagging The Grizz.

Duty Calls: Sly chases The Grizz, then runs into a familiar fox… Meanwhile, Penelope sees the error of her ways.

OP: Jurassic Thievery: The Grizz gets his tail handed to him by a hippo and a newly reformed mouse.

Episode 4 Intro: Penelope treads familiar ground while evading suspicion.

Shopping Spree: Sly goes material hunting.

Juggling Act: Sly releases another ancestor from his prison.

Cane Swipe: Sly reclaims Sir Galleth's cane.

Eye In The Sky: Sir Galleth strikes down some evil-eyed blimps.

Mechanical Menace: A lady slays a mechanical dragon for a knight. Meanwhile, Sly gets relationship advice.

Short Supply: Our heroes systematically shut down some systems of the Black Knight.

Untitled SSH: Penelope's kidnappers are identified at last.

Hard Target: Sly engages in target practice, but trouble arises afterwards…

Princess Out Of Distress, Part 1: A somewhat distressed princess escapes from a tower.

Princess Out Of Distress, Part 2: A princess and her knight in a shining wheelchair defeat a robotic impostor. Confessions are made.

OP: Frog Trap: Sir Raleigh gets royally clapped by a reformed traitor and her blissfully ignorant friends.

Episode 5 Intro: A scorching hot desert does nothing to douse a mouse's rising spirits.

Lost And Found: Sly searches around for yet another ancestor.

Open Sesame: Sly pays a price with some priceless gems.

Rug Rats: Salim finds and frees the first of his friends.

Up In Smoke: A turtle and mouse double team some air defenses.

Copy Cats: A raccoon, a hippo, and a mouse get trapped in a cave.

Heavy Metal Meltdown: Miss Decibel gets a taste of modern music… and hates it.

???????????: Penelope finally starts to feel like she belongs in a real family.

All Rolled Up: A terrible secret is exposed. An elephant is also trounced by a mouse and her friends.

Episode 6 Intro: The boys make a deal with the traitor in their ranks.

The Final Plan: Penelope nearly cracks under the pressure while preparing for what may be her final mission.

Deja Vu All Over Again, Part 1: Penelope works to redeem herself for real.

Deja Vu All Over Again, Part 2: Le Paradox's plot finally meets its end.

Epilogue: Everything is wrapped up. Our heroes prepare for a new adventure in the present day.

2024 saw me bring these four together for the events of Thieves In Time...

I'd actually been working on it for 10+ years, but 2024 was when I finally decided to turn that story into a full length fanfiction.

Bentley and Penelope wedding scenes

==I just felt like drawing some cutesy stuff. I wouldn’t put it past Dimitri to try hitting on the bride one last time before she’s officially off limits. And I totally believe that Carmelita would be one of those annoying work-a-holics who can NEVER just forget about her job for a few hours.

“If a fifth Sly game is confirmed, I personally hope that we not only get to see Penelope redeem herself, part of me wishes that we can have actual platforming sections with her aside from the RC sections.”

Confessed by: coopergang1

(NO WAR IN BA SING SEEEEEE. ~Mod)

(Art by genevievetsai)

Thieves In Time Redux Characters: Deep Dive

Time to dive deeper into each of these character arcs. Namely, the lessons our four heroes will need to learn by the end of the story.

I don't need to remind you how poorly written Thieves In Time was. What a storytelling trainwreck.

If Sly 3 was about a seasoned gang of thieves pulling the heist of the century, Thieves In Time Redux is now about a less experienced member learning the ropes and building on her foundations. With, of course, a helping of betrayal mixed in.

Note that Thieves In Time Redux is an AU where Penelope gets dragged into the events of Thieves In Time as a playable character.

First up, Sly.

In canon, Sly jumped into this time travelling adventure because the "old itch" hit him like a truck. We can do better than that. Let's have his initial motivation instead be more about him missing Bentley and Murray. He can still have the itch. But no way is that going to be his number one reason for coming back. Also, when he starts thinking about Penelope now being on the main roster, it leads to him regretting how he ditched all his friends back on Kaine Island...

And when Carmelita comes back for Episode 2, let's just say things won't be pretty... I'm sure you can guess what he needs to do.

Bentley's turn. With Penelope now dragged into the adventure, our favorite turtle now gets a new character arc to navigate.

Bentley is perfectly fine with Sly and Murray risking their lives on the regular... but Penelope, his beloved girlfriend? Not so much. At the beginning of this story, she doesn't have a whole lot of experience yet. The fact that she was nearly kidnapped during the prologue doesn't help. This leads to Bentley being overprotective, but only towards her.

Long story short, Bentley will need to learn to let go of all that fear and let Penelope soar, because spoiler alert! She's actually a badass. It might even save their relationship...

Time to talk about Murray.

Instead of Murray feeling useless from out of heckin' nowhere, he... doesn't have much of an arc to follow. You'd think he'd now have nothing to do, but since Penelope is here for the ride, guess what? Murray has been seeing her as a younger sister. He even goes as far as only calling her "Sis". His focus is now on being a good older brother.

While Murray doesn't get a lot of development here, he does end up being incredibly wholesome.

Which brings us to our main protagonist, Penelope.

I'm not going to reveal her motive here. But I did change it from canon. No longer is she after "something something fame/money/power". As she spends time with our other heroes (and sees how much they care about her), she realizes that her motive isn't worth chasing after.

The lesson she needs to learn is obvious. And it's all about friendship.

I don't even know how to begin covering the ancestors and villains... That'll be for another day. And Carmelita? She's in the same boat.

Thieves In Time could have been so much better. So here. Here's one way it could have gone without ruining the characters.